All-Time Team: the Atlanta teams (1972-80, 1999-2011)

Howdy, fellas. Here's another all-time fantasy roster of some defunct National Hockey League teams for you. This time we'll be looking at the two Atlanta, Georgia, based franchises, the Flames and the Thrashers. Both these teams were but curious blips in NHL history and they didn't last too long, making Atlanta the only city to have lost more than one hockey franchise (in the modern era of hockey). Before we look at the best players these clubs had to offer let's take a brief look at Atlanta's sad history with hockey.

Atlanta Flames (1972-80)

The NHL originally had no immediate plans to add more franchises after 1970 but the formation of the rival World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1971 was a catalyst for further growth. As the two leagues battled for new markets – such as the American South – the NHL announced it would grant a team to Atlanta. While unsurprisingly the Flames missed the playoffs in their inaugural season, they did qualify in their second thanks to the efforts of top-scoring rookie Tom Lysiak. After missing the postseason in 1975 the Flames got a new coach, Fred Creighton, whose technical style produced a team that consistently finished at or above .500 for the following five seasons. However, the team's exploits weren't exactly headline-grabbing for a city like Atlanta, a place that barely gets snow. Attendance gradually subsided and the Omni Coliseum's lack of luxury boxes certainly didn't help the club's financial woes. The Flames, which had earned a net loss of $12 million during its history, were sold to the Seaman brothers and moved to Calgary in 1980. In their eight seasons in the NHL the Atlanta Flames made six playoff appearances, winning only two playoff games in the process. Kent Nilsson was the last remaining Atlanta Flames player in the NHL and he played his last game in 1995.

Atlanta Thrashers (1999-2011)

The Thrashers entered the NHL as part of the league's 4-team American expansion scheme in the late 1990's (the other new teams were Columbus, Minnesota, and Nashville). Their first year was pretty bad – as is usually the case for expansion teams – and their top two draft picks in 1999 turned out to be great big flops. Fortunately, the Thrashers' top draft picks in 2000 and 2001 were far better: playmaker Dany Heatley in 2000, followed by franchise player Ilya Kovalchuk the following year. These two guys made their debuts in 2001-02 and they finished first and second in the league in rookie scoring. While the team wasn't any good, the games were still entertaining and attendance held steady. After the NHL lockout in 2004-05, the Thrashers made a series of trades that saw the team's output improve from 78 points in 2003-04 to 90 in 2005-06. A playoff berth still eluded them but the following season Atlanta finally saw playoff action in 2007... only to be swept by the New York Rangers in the opening round. It turns out that this would be the Thrashers only foray into postseason play. Key players (Kovalchuk, Marc Savard, and Marian Hossa) would be traded away, coaches were shuffled round, the team's ownership group was at eachother's throats, and ticket sales were dropping. The franchise – which had allegedly lost $130 million in its last six years – was sold to True North Sports & Entertainment and relocated in 2011 to become the new Winnipeg Jets. (Winnipeg previously had an NHL team called the Jets from 1979 to 1996, but they were moved to Arizona for some confounded reason.) In their eleven seasons, the Atlanta Thrashers won one division championship.

So let's take a trip down memory lane and have a look at what both these clubs might offer to a hypothetical fantasy team. As usual only these players' achievements as an Atlanta-based player will factor into consideration. Also, only players who participated in at least 200 of Atlanta's games qualified. And in case you're wondering, no player has ever played for both the Flames and Thrashers. Let's begin.

Forwards

L-R: Kovalchuk, MacMillan, Hossa

Ilya Kovalchuk (2001-10)	Tom Lysiak (1973-79)	Marian Hossa (2005-08)
Vyacheslav Kozlov (2002-10)	Guy Chouinard (1974-80)	Bob MacMillan (1977-80)
Keith McCreary (1972-75)	Bill Clement (1976-80)	Willi Plett (1975-80)
Eric Boulton (2005-11)	Chris Thorburn (2007-11)	Jeff Odgers (2000-03)

Let's load up the first line with some top-notch scorers, shall we? For Atlanta fans there’s no one better than the Thrashers all-time leading point scorer Kovalchuk (5x40 goals), the Flames all-time leading point scorer Lysiak (5x60 points), and Marian Hossa, the only Thrasher to score 100 points. Right behind them is some deft passing from Kozlov (3x70 points), Chouinard's goal-scoring ability (50 goals in 1978-79), and playmaking ability from the squeaky-clean MacMillan (1.06 PPG). On the third line Keith McCreary and Bill Clement bring some defensive stability, while Willi Plett (also my pick for the Minnesota North Stars' all-time team) contributes his trademark aggression combined with a not-insubstantial amount of scoring (3x30 goals, 3x171+ PIM). The fourth line adds some hard-nosed tough guys, chief among them Jeff Odgers.

Honourable mentions: Dany Heatley, Marc Savard

Defensemen

L-R: Quinn, Enstrom

Randy Manery (1972-77)	Tobias Enstrom (2007-11)
Pat Quinn (1972-77)	David Shand (1976-80)
Andy Sutton (2001-07)	Garnet Exelby (2002-09)

For our first defensive pairing we have the versatile Randy Manery, who can kill penalties, defend consistently, and adeptly move the puck up to his teammates (never less than 29 points). At his side is the durable Tobias Enstrom (played all 82 games in 3 seasons) who never scored less than 32 points. The second pair has solid stay-at-home defence from the tough Pat Quinn and the consistent David Shand (+21 or higher three times). The rugged Sutton and hard-hitting Exelby hold down the fort on the third pairing.

Goaltenders

Lehtonen

Kari Lehtonen (2003-10)

Dan Bouchard (1972-80)

This one was a close call. At first glance Lehtonen and Bouchard (whom I previously chose to be the Quebec Nordiques' all-time starting goalie) don't seem all that different. They posted similar per-year stats for games played, minutes, and shutouts. But Lehtonen's performance seems just a bit more admirable when you consider that he did this while playing with squads that weren't as good as the ones Bouchard played with. Bouchard always had a fine defensive corps in front of him, so of course he ended up never having a losing season. In contrast, Lehtonen was one of the few things holding his team together. And he did it while maintaining a more consistent GAA and save percentage.