In 2011, the then Atlanta Thrashers relocated from Atlanta, Georgia, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, to re-establish the Winnipeg Jets. In 1996, the Jets left Winnipeg and moved to Arizona to become the Arizona Coyotes.
Since 2011, there has been talk of the NHL potentially returning to Atlanta. It would be the third time that Atlanta would get a team if a new team was to happen. The Atlanta Flames were the first NHL team Atlanta had before the franchise moved in 1980 to Calgary, Alberta.
The talks of Alanta getting a new NHL team has heated up as of late. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly recently said that the NHL needs a firm bid before considering a new expansion team in Atlanta. With potential of another chance at an NHL team in Atlanta, it brings back a memory in Ottawa Senators history when the Thrashers existed 20 years go.
Heatley-Hossa trade from 2005 is a Senators memory that helped bring major success to franchise
In 2005, Marian Hossa was one of the best players on the Senators. Dany Heatley was one of the best players on the Thrashers. Then in August 2005, the Senators and Thrashers made a trade that sent shock waves throughout the NHL before the 2005-06 season began.
The Senators traded Hossa and defenseman Greg de Vries to the Thrashers in exchange for Heatley. At the time, some may have seen the trade as a shock considering Heatley was a former Calder Trophy winner in Atlanta. Heatley was one of the cornerstone players the Thrashers had hoped to build the franchise around along with Ilya Kovalchuk.
In Ottawa, Hossa became a dynamic player. However, to receive a good player in a trade, teams have to give one up. That is what the Senators did with trading Hossa away to get Heatley. In the end, trading for Heatley paid off.
In his first two seasons as a Senator, Heatley recorded back-to-back 50-goal seasons. In 2007, Heatley did something in Ottawa that Hossa never did, which was help the Senators reach the Stanley Cup Finals.
After the trade, Hossa was still a dynamic player in Atlanta. In 2007, Hossa helped the Thrashers win the Southeast Division to help the franchise make the playoffs for the first and only time in franchise history. However, the Thashers were swept in the first round of the 2007 playoffs by the New York Rangers.
By 2008, Hossa's tenure in Atlanta ended when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hossa helped the Penguins reach the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals. In what can be considered irony, Hossa and the Penguins swept Heatley and the Senators in the first round of the 2008 playoffs.
In the end, Heatley was more productive in Ottawa than Hossa was in Atlanta. With both players retired and the NHL potentially looking at a new team in Atlanta, remembering the Senators-Thrashers trade from 20 years ago will always be infamous for both franchises with the impact from both players.