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Stadium:
Philips Arena
The Philips Arena is an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Completed in 1999 at a cost of $213.5 million, it is home to the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL, the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA and Arena Football League's Georgia Force. It is owned and operated by Atlanta Spirit, LLC, the group of investors that also owns the Hawks and Thrashers. The arena seats 20,300 for basketball and 18,750 for ice hockey. It includes 96 luxury suites and 2,100 club seats. For concerts and other entertainment events, the arena can seat 21,000.

Seating Chart:
Philips Arena Seating Chart

Team History:
Atlanta was awarded an NHL franchise in 1997 to replace the Atlanta Flames, who departed for Calgary in 1980 and became the Calgary Flames. The nickname "Thrashers", after Georgia's state bird, the brown thrasher, was selected from a fan poll. "Thrashers" had actually been runner-up to "Flames" for Atlanta's first NHL team, and Philips Arena, the Thrashers' new home, was built on the site of the former Omni, which had been home to the Flames. The newly-formed Thrashers selected Patrik Stefan with the first overall selection in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. They played their first game on October 2, 1999, losing 4-1 to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the New Jersey Devils. Captain Kelly Buchberger scored the franchise's first goal in the loss.

Season Preview:
Last season began with significant expectations for a retooled Atlanta squad, expectations that took a major blow just 20 minutes into the regular season when rookie goaltending phenom Kari Lehtonen went down with a groin injury. The Thrashers went through a raft of goaltenders as they tried to stay in the playoff hunt while Lehtonen recovered. They did stay close, but Lehtonen went down again late in the regular season and Mike Dunham spit the bit in the team's penultimate game. Once again, Atlanta was shut out of the playoffs, falling two points short. In the offseason, the Thrashers got a little grittier by adding Steve Rucchin, but a lot less explosive with the departure of Marc Savard (97 points) and Peter Bondra (21 goals in spite of a groin injury). In a market that still views the Thrashers as a kind of curiosity, missing the playoffs for the seventh straight season will be potentially devastating to a franchise whose ownership remains in a state of troubling flux and likely will cost GM Don Waddell and coach Bob Hartley their jobs.

Official Site:
http://www.atlantathrashers.com/