 The birth of the new franchise marked NHL hockey's return to Georgia, as the Atlanta Flames, established in 1972, departed for Canada in 1980 to become the Calgary Flames.The Flames had been the League's first foray into the southern U.S., and their failure discouraged further efforts to bring NHL hockey to the region for another decade.The nickname "Thrashers," after Georgia's state bird, the Brown Thrasher, was selected from a fan poll.