The Atlanta Thrashers, one of the expansion teams, was awarded to Atlanta by the NHL on June 25, 1997. The team debuted in October 2, 1999. It was the Stanley Cup, where they were defeated by the New Jersey Devils. The Atlanta Spirit, a different hockey team purchased the Thrashers on September 21, 2003. The period till 2005 was not good for the team. There were many prominent players in the Atlanta Spirit but during that period two of the famous players passed away and thus, the hard time hit the Thrashers. In 2006-07 season, they made a significant performance in Stanley Cup playoffs. In the same season they also achieved their first Division Championship. They have only one winning Championship in their record till date.
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Although the team continued to play well throughout the seasons, they stayed away from winning an award before 2006. It was very inportant for them to raise the team standard. They felt the necessity of some quality players, so that, they could play the playoffs in 2005-06 season. They signed Mike Dunham, Peter Bondra, Bobby Holik, Jaroslav Modry and Scott Mellanby. The team earned a club-record of winning 41 games in the season 2005-06. The Thrashers got a chance to play against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first game of an event telecasted by a new American Channel, Sport South on October 13, 2006. But they failed to win the game.