Nigel Dawes hoping for home with Thrashers

Nigel Dawes is looking to put down some roots.

On his fourth team in two years, Dawes is fighting for roster spot with the Thrashers. After stints with the New York Rangers, Phoenix and Calgary, the forward is in Atlanta's training camp just two weeks after agreeing to a contract.

“I’ve been traveling a lot the last few years,” Dawes said. “I want to find a steady place here and be in the lineup every game. I want to be able to contribute and stick around on a team and be part of it.”

Dawes was in the lineup when the Thrashers opened the preseason against Columbus at Philips Arena on Tuesday night.

The Thrashers got a goal and an assist from Bryan Little and Fredrik Petterson in a 5-2 loss to Columbus. The Blue Jackets scored twice early in the first-period, 28 seconds a part, en route to the win. They score once in the second period and twice in the third. Little scored a first-period power-play goal with assists from Jaime Sifers and Pettersson. Pettersson knocked in the rebound of a Little shot in the third period. Freddy Meyer got the assist. Ondrej Pavelec took the loss, stopping 21 of 26 shots.

The Thrashers used the game to look at several prospects. Six players who have never appeared in an NHL game dressed.

They also wanted to look at several veterans, including Dawes, Sifers, Meyer and Patrick Rissmiller.

"I thought Dawes did a great job for us," Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said following the game.

Dawes, 25, knows what he is up against. He doesn’t lack for confidence.

“You definitely take a look at [who is in camp],” Dawes said. “Coming in I felt pretty confident that I would be able to fill one of the voids they have. It is not just me here. There are a lot of good players here that might be able to as well. It’s going to be a battle. I’m a pretty confident person and if I go out there and play to my capabilities and they way I can, I think I have a pretty good shot.”

Dawes, 5 feet 9 and 200 pounds, agreed to a two-way contract with the Thrashers after being put on waivers by the Flames in June. He said he received several offers during a “slow” summer and that the Thrashers contacted his agent several times. In the end, he felt Atlanta was the right place.

Dawes has 83 points (39 goals, 44 assists) in 199 NHL games. Drafted by the Rangers in the fifth round of the 2003 draft, he played parts of three seasons in New York. He was traded to Phoenix in March of 2009 and finished the season with the Coyotes with just two assists in 12 games. Calgary claimed Dawes off waivers and he scored 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in 66 games last season for the Flames.

“Coming off the way I played last year and the way I know I can play, I’m pretty confident I will be able to get one of those spots,” Dawes said. “... I think I can provide some offense and be reliable defensively. Just play a solid game and a consistent game night in and night out.

“It’s kind of the way I play the game and the way I have to play to be successful and be able to contribute in my best way. I know that coming to camp and exhibition games. It’s something I have to do. I can’t let the offensive side of the game take over. I have to be able to play solid all over the ice, create chances and do things defensively as well.”

With a Canadian mother and Jamaican father, Dawes played for Team Canada at the 2004 and 2005 World Junior Championships. In 2004, he tied for the team lead with 11 points, including a team-high six goals. He scored twice and added an assist in the gold medal game loss to the United States.

Notes

• The Thrashers trimmed their training camp roster by six players Tuesday. Forward Ian McKenzie and goaltenders Chris Carrozzi and Edward Pasquale were assigned to AHL Chicago. The Wolves begin training camp Monday. Defensemen Ben Chiarot (Sudbury, OHL), Sebastian Owuya (Medicine Hat, WHL) and Cody Sol (Saginaw, OHL) were re-assigned to their junior teams.