1999/00: Nearly 20 years after the Flames left for Calgary, the NHL returned to the city of Atlanta with an expansion team owned by media mogul Ted Turner named Thrashers. The Thrashers played their first game before a sold out crowd at Philips Arena on October 2nd losing to the New Jersey Devils 4-1, as Kelly Buchberger scored the first goal in franchise history. The Thrashers would get their first win nearly 2 weeks later when Damian Rhodes blanked the New York Islanders 2-0 on the road. The Thrashers would until October 23rd when they beat the Calgary Flames in their return to Atlanta 2-1. However wins would hardly come in bunches as Andrew Brunette led the team in scoring with a modest 50 points as the Thrashers finished last in the Southeast Division with a NHL worst record of 14-61-7-4.

2000/01: Veteran Ray Ferraro has a solid season to lead the Thrashers in scoring with 76 points as Donald Audette scores 32 a team high goals, before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline. However, the Thrashers would continue to struggle to win games as they narrowly avoided finishing in last place with an awful 23-45-12-2 record. 

2001/02: Despite languishing in last place with a league worst 19-54-11 record, Thrashers fan had plenty to be excited about as a dynamic duo of rookies Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk both made their debuts. Kovalchuk got the early attention as he stole the show in the Young Stars game on NHL All-Star Weekend. However, an injury to Kovalchuk would shift the focus to Dany Heatley who would beat out his teammate in scoring on the Thrashers while winning the Calder Trophy with 26 goals and 41 assists. Despite the injury Ilya Kovalchuk would also have impressive first year numbers at 29 goals and 22 assists. 

2002/03: Despite continued exciting play from their dynamic young stars Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk the Thrashers got off to a terrible start as they went winless through their first 10 games, as they struggled to find a consistent goalie. The Thrashers struggles would continue into Christmas when Coach Curt Fraser is fired with the Thrashers sitting in last place with a terrible 8-20-1-3 record. Under General Manager Don Waddell who served as interim coach the Thrashers played mediocre hockey posting a 4-4-1 record before Bob Hartley is hired on January 14th. Under Hartley the Thrashers would play much better hockey as they posted a 19-14-5-1 record in the final 3 months to finish in 3rd place with a record of 31-39-7-5. Along the way Dany Heatley became as hockey's brightest young star winning the All-Star Game MVP with 4 goals as he finished his second season with 41 goals and 48 assists.

2003/04: After finishing the previous season on a strong note, the Thrashers entered camp full of optimism. However, before the season even began it was all replaced with sorrow as young star Dany Heatley and Dan Snyder were involved in an ugly car accident. Snyder would later succumb to his injuries as Heatley suffered a knee injury, while facing felony charges for his reckless driving. As the Thrashers started the season with heavy hearts they played well not losing any games in regulation through their first 7 games. The Thrashers continued to play well through December holding a 19-13-3-1 record on December 26th. However as the New Year started the Thrashers began to struggle winning just 2 of their next 21 games. Not even the return of Dany Heatley could help the falling Thrashers who would end up missing the playoffs again with a record of 33-37-8-4, which landed them 2nd in the Southeast Division. Obviously slowed by the knee injury suffered in the car accident Heatley would only score 13 goals in 31 games, while Ilya Kovalchuk led the way with 41 points and 46 assists.

2005/06: After the Thrashers emerged from the lockout they were forced to almost start from scratch as they traded Danny Heatley to the Ottawa Senators for Marian Hossa and Greg de Vries, while trying to bridge the gap left behind with veteran free agents like Bobby Holik and Peter Bondra. The new look Thrashers would get off to a terrible start posting a 3-8 record in October as Goalie Kari Lehtonen was injured early in the season opener against the Florida Panthers. The Thrashers would begin to play better in November as Michael Garnett came up from the IHL and played solid in the nets helping to get them back to .500 as Lehtonen returned at the end of December. January would be an up and down month for the Thrashers as they won 7 of 8 but lost it all back with 7 straight losses as they went into the Olympic Break at 26-26-6. The rest of the way the Thrashers would be in a dog fight for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as Ilya Kovalchuk became the first Thrasher to score more then 50 goals at 52. However, the Thrashers would fall two points short in the postseason goal posting a winning record at 41-33-8.