The Atlanta Thrashers hired Craig Ramsay as their fifth-ever head coach June 24. Throughout his playing and coaching career, he has been the epitome of perseverance and consistency.

At one point during his NHL career, Ramsay played in 776 straight games. For eight consecutive seasons, the former Buffalo Sabres forward scored 20 goals or more, which is quite a feat for a guy better know for his defensive prowess and whose primary role was to shut down opponents’ top lines. During several seasons, the Sabres checking line of Don Luce, Danny Gare and Ramsay scored more than 90 goals

Ramsay won the Selke Trophy in 1985 as the NHL's most accomplished defensive forward, was runner-up for the award on three other occasions, and his career plus/minus rating was + 326. In 1,070 NHL games spanning 14 seasons, Ramsay had just 201 penalty minutes.

Former roommate Rick Dudley, now the Thrashers general manager, hired Ramsay because of the latter’s ability to instruct young players on the nuances of the game.

“I don't think there is a better teacher in the game. We think we have some inordinately talented people here and we want him working with them,” Dudley said recently.

As an assistant coach for the past eight seasons with Tampa Bay and Philadelphia, and previously for Ottawa, Florida and Buffalo, Ramsay has been out of the public spotlight for most of his coaching career, toiling anonymously behind the bench. He had brief head coaching experiences in Buffalo and Philadelphia, both times replacing NHL legends, Scotty Bowman and Roger Neilson. In each instance, he was replaced by successors, Ted Sator and Bill Barber, who had little success.

Dudley said Ramsay was labeled as an assistant coach by others in the business.

“He was the smartest hockey player I ever played with by a considerable margin. There was never a doubt he was going to be a coach,” Dudley offered. “He got tagged as an assistant coach, but I never believed that. I saw what he did with Philadelphia and he did a great job there.”

As an assistant coach in Tampa Bay, Ramsay is credited with providing a stabilizing, calming influence with Lightning players, a stark contrast to the 2004 Stanley Cup champions' head coach John Tortorella, who was more mercurial in both nature and method than Ramsay.

“Craig had to understand what his role was there. His role was to repair some of the damage that a very volatile coach caused, and he did it magnificently,” Dudley stated.

Ramsay’s communication skills also are a key to his success.

“He gets players to understand what he wants and buy into what he's trying to sell. A good coach is a good salesman, and he's very good at it,” Dudley said.

What Ramsay will try to sell to his players in Atlanta, is an attacking style of play predicated first on being a smart hockey team.

“I’d like them to learn the game and feel comfortable every time they go out there,” Ramsay said. “When things break down, it’s the people who can react, still keep their composure, deal with it and still be successful.”

“X’s and O’s are great. Tacticians are great, important, wonderful, but if you’re going to win, it’s because your team has figured out the game. They’re committed, they are smart and have a feel for the game,” Ramsay related. “Not many teams win who aren’t smart.

“I try to keep the game as simple as I can. I don’t have convoluted theories on where people should go and don’t have 100 percent rules on where people should be,” Ramsay added. “It’s going to take some time. It’s not going to happen overnight. You hope to shorten the learning curve, but there is a learning curve.”

Ramsay’s attacking style includes ferocious forechecking first, followed by responsible backchecking and clogging the neutral zone if the forecheck fails. His goal for the Thrashers is to play from the red line in, making it difficult for opponents to clear their own defensive zone, and using overall team speed to counterattack. Thrashers defensemen will be provided the liberty to join the offensive attack too, creating odd-man situations and applying pressure to the opponent’s defense. That means opposing offensive-minded players have to play more often in their own zone.

“In my era, there were a lot of pests whose primary responsibility was to shadow the opponents’ best players. We want to make those good players play in their end. They don’t like it. They don’t want to play in their end.

“That’s how we decided to beat opponents when I was in Buffalo. If I followed Mario Lemieux around the ice, eventually he’s going to score a goal. But, if he has to play in his own end, he’s not a happy boy,” Ramsay said. “We wanted to score. It’s so much more fun to play in the offensive zone. The trap style? I am not interested. I don’t want to stay on the bench and watch it,” he said.

The Thrashers roster now has a group of forwards who seem equipped to handle Ramsay’s style. Recent acquisitions from the Stanley Cup champion, Chicago Blackhawks, who had to shed several players because of salary cap restrictions fit nicely.

Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien and Ben Eager play a high-energy game and are no strangers to applying pressure in the offensive zone. They join a group of Thrashers including Jim Slater, Evander Kane, Chris Thorburn and Rich Peverley who have shown a penchant for solid forechecking and responsible defensive play in the past.

But as Ramsay is quick to point out, his style of play commands that all players buy into the commitment of aggressive play, competing on a nightly basis and leadership.

“A leader isn’t always the guy with the “C” on his sweater, sometimes that is a misnomer. I think leadership means that everyone is involved in the team process,” Ramsay related. “A coach really has to reward everyone that participates. You can have a lot of great leaders who play on the third or fourth lines, or maybe the fifth and sixth defensemen, because they come and compete every night.

“Teaching your team to compete and demanding it, and recognizing the guys who do compete and having them help you get the other guys on board. Hockey isn’t a one-man game and Atlanta’s had some great players here that perhaps have been unsuccessful. Leadership is a team event.”

With the right kind of leadership, where players hold teammates accountable for maximum effort, teams are better equipped to believe in one another and their ability to win as a team.

“We want them expecting to win and not just hoping to win,” Ramsay said. “It starts with the coach, but it’s about every player on the team committed to that one goal, which is winning and being a successful team. That’s my idea of leadership.”

Dudley believes coaching has become a more important part of the game than ever because younger players are playing more because entry-level contracts enable teams to stay within NHL mandated salary cap restrictions.

“The reason Ramsay is here is that he is the best in the business of expediting the process. I don't know anybody like him in terms of what he has done with some young players,” Dudley said.

During his previous coaching stops, Ramsay’s teams have shown noted improvement. After joining Claude Julien’s staff in Boston for the 2007-08 season, the Bruins finished 8th in the Eastern Conference after missing the playoffs the year prior. In 2008-09, Boston finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference and went to the conference finals this year.

Asked about his expectations for the 2010-11 Thrashers, who have missed the playoffs in nine out of 10 seasons, Ramsay was succinct.

“I’m not sure we can finish first or not. Maybe we’ll have to finish second,” he said.

By Dec. 1, Thrashers fans should have a good gauge if Ramsay’s claim was sincere.

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