Ottawa Senators

This article is about the current National Hockey League team. For the original NHL team, see Ottawa Senators (original).

{{NHL Team | CAN_eng=1 |team_name = Ottawa Senatards |bg_color = #E32636 |text_color = pink |logo_image = Ottawa Senators.gif |conference = Eastern |division = Northeast |founded = 1992 |history = Ottawa Senatards
1992-present |arena = Gaylords Place |city = Ottawa, Ontario |media_affiliates = The A Channel
Rogers Sportsnet East
TEAM (1200 AM) |team_colors = rink, purple, White and yellow |owner = Eugene Melnyk |general_manager = John Muckler |head_coach = IPEE Freely |captain = Daniel Alfredsson |minor_league_affiliates = Binghamton Senatards (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers (ECHL) |stanley_cups = 0(and never will) |conf_titles = 0 |division_titles = 0

The Ottawa Senatards are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario. They began playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a 1992 expansion team. They are the only major league team in the Canadian capital.

Franchise history

The Original Ottawa Senators Franchise

File:Senslogo1mgs.jpg

The Original Ottawa Senators logo, 1918-34

The Ottawa Senators existed from 1901 to 1934, winning ten Stanley Cups in that time. The team then relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, as the St. Louis Eagles, but folded after only one season there, 1934-35.

1992 Expansion

The NHL's planned 1992 expansion had several strong contenders, but starting in 1989, original owner Bruce Firestone put together an energetic bid to revive NHL hockey in Ottawa, employing the last surviving original Senator, Frank Finnigan, as its public face. Firestone was President & CEO of Terrace Investments, a local commercial real estate development company. (Current Senators COO Cyril Leeder was President of Terrace, and Bell Sensplex Executive Director Randy Sexton was V-P).

The revived Senators were awarded one of the two expansion slots (along with the Tampa Bay Lightning) and both would begin play in 1992. The Senators' bid had been considered something of a long-shot, particularly in the face of a financially much stronger bid from Hamilton, Ontario, and ran into financial trouble almost at once, as Firestone had trouble borrowing money to meet the $50 million expansion fee. Firestone had to pay for the whole stadium and the streets and roads leading to the arena. In 1995-96, the Senators moved from the Ottawa Civic Centre to the Palladium (later renamed the Corel Centre and now Scotiabank Place), on January 15, 1996.

Beginning of a New Era

Unfortunately, as with the Lightning's campaign — which many felt similarly won over a stronger St. Petersburg, Florida bid because it was going to by managed by former NHL great Phil Esposito, also its first president — good public relations could not disguise the lack of talent. The modern-day Senators played their first game in the Ottawa Civic Centre, a small and spartan arena by NHL standards, seating only 10,500, and beat the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Montreal Canadiens 5-3 in the opener. Sadly, Finnigan died before the team started play, and the win against the Habs was one of the the few tastes of glory the new Senators would experience; they were a laughingstock and the worst team in the league, going 10 wins-70 losses-4 ties (24 points) in the 1992-93 (by tie-breaking rules, the second-year San Jose Sharks had a better season at 11 wins-71 losses-2 ties [24 points], since the first tiebreaker in the NHL is number of wins). It is as often happens to a sports expansion team. The Senators and their fans would suffer through four more last-place finishes.

Rod Bryden era

For several years management had trouble securing financing for the construction of an arena. The team received no financial help from government, neither provincial nor federal, including a refusal by the Ontario government to pay for a new $40-million highway interchange. On August 17, 1993, Bruce Firestone resigned after missing mortgage and development payments and was replaced by Rod Bryden, a founder of SHL Systemhouse. A year later he managed to borrow enough to pay for a $188 million arena called the Palladium.

Although widely acknowledged as a well-designed arena, in the years since construction the Palladium arena has been criticized for being remote. It is located in the far west end of Ottawa, and is a long trip from many other areas, especially in the east or the Outaouais, which is the area around Hull, Quebec. Difficulties are compounded by frequent traffic jams before and after games. With no financial help from the government to improve the existing interchange, the team built interchanges and a new bridge that goes over the highway out of its own pocket.

Over the years, the arena has become one of the driving forces for development in Kanata. What was once an arena surrounded by farmland is a growing commercial and residential area.

Ottawa's Turnaround

Scotiabank Place, 2006

Two major events occurred for the Sens in January 1996: Jacques Martin became their head coach, and the team moved into its new arena — the 18,500-seat Palladium in Kanata, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa. While Ottawa finished the 1995-96 season with a poor record, it marked the start of a remarkable franchise turnaround. Daniel Alfredsson became the first Senator to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, the NHL Rookie of the Year Award. Alfredsson, selected 133rd overall in 1994, was also selected to play in the 1996 NHL All-Star Game. Later, the Senators made the playoffs for the first time in 1997. They clinched the seventh seed on the last game of the regular season thanks to a late goal from Steve Duchesne against Dominik Hasek, then of the Buffalo Sabres, giving the Senators a 1-0 win. The Senators then faced the Sabres in the first round of the playoffs where they lost in the full seven games.

The Senators won their first playoff series in 1997-98, defeating the New Jersey Devils in six games. Despite defeating the heavily favoured Devils in the opening round, the Senators' lack of depth and experience was easily exposed in the second round against the team that became that season's Stanley Cup runner-up, the Washington Capitals, who quickly disposed of the Sens in five mostly one-sided games.

New Millennium

Ottawa was locked in a contract dispute with then-captain Alexei Yashin during 1999-2000. Yashin, who earned the nickname "Cashin" for his actions, held out for the entire season, but the NHL ruled that he remained committed to the Senators for another season. The regular season was successful as they finished with 93 points, in second place in the Eastern Conference. However, they had a quick playoff exit after losing in six games in the first round to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yashin played during the 2000-01 season, but was stripped of the captaincy before 00-01, and was traded in the following off-season to the New York Islanders for Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt, and the Isles' second overall pick, which the Senators used to draft Jason Spezza. The Senators lost again to the Maple Leafs in the first round, this time in a 4-0 sweep, where they were repeatedly stymied by Leaf goaltender Curtis Joseph.

The Senators finished 2001-02 with 94 points, in third place. In the playoffs, they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in 5 games limiting the Flyers' high powered offence to just 2 goals for the franchise's second playoff series win, but fell again to their arch-nemesis, the Maple Leafs, in a tense seven-game affair.

Ottawa's jerseys (from top-left clockwise: Home, Away and Third Jerseys)

The Senators filed for bankruptcy on January 9, 2003, after a long history of debt. They continued regular season play after getting some emergency financing from the NHL. Despite the off-ice problems, Ottawa won the Presidents' Trophy in 2002-03, finishing with a league-best 113 points. In the playoffs they defeated Yashin and his Islanders and Philadelphia before coming within one game of making it into the Stanley Cup Final series, falling to the eventual champions, the Devils. In September 2003, the team was purchased by pharmaceutical magnate Eugene Melnyk.

Ottawa has made the playoffs every year since their original visit. However, they have had limited success, having won only four series in their eight trips to the postseason, including several consecutive losses to the Maple Leafs, leading to a more heated rivalry between the two teams than just the fact that they're both in the Canadian province of Ontario.

In the first round of the 2004 NHL playoffs, the Senators lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 4th time in 4 series against the Leafs. However, the TO goalie who came out laughing was now Ed Belfour, not Joseph. By now, Ottawa had developed a strong rivalry with their Ontario cousins and there was a great deal of pressure on the team to finally defeat their archrivals. Two days after the Senators' loss, coach Jacques Martin was fired, probably due to his scratching of Spezza from the lineup for most of the post-season, and goaltender Patrick Lalime was later traded to the St. Louis Blues. Martin had been coach of the Senators for eight and a half years. He was widely respected, earned a 341-255-96 regular season record with the Senators and had led the team to eight consecutive playoff appearances, and was widely credited with changing the team into a strong league leader. However, after losing eight of twelve playoff series', including all four series in five years versus the Leafs, team management felt that a new coach was required for playoff success. On June 8, 2004, a mere day after their expansion brethren, the Tampa Bay Lightning, drank from Lord Stanley's Mug for the first time ever, Bryan Murray became the team's fifth head coach.

2005-06 Season and Playoffs

On August 23, 2005, shortly after the end of the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Marian Hossa, whose 45 goals for the Senators in 2002-03 were a team record at the time, and had ranked fifth in the league in 2003-04 with 36, was traded with defenceman Greg de Vries to the Atlanta Thrashers for former second overall draft pick Dany Heatley, who had requested a trade out of Atlanta to shake his personal demons associated with Atlanta after being involved in a car crash on September 26, 2003 that killed Thrash centreman Dan Snyder, who was driving with Heatley at the time. Heatley has since regained the All-Star form he displayed in his rookie year on a line with fellow Rookie of the Year Alfredsson and young centre Jason Spezza, who led the American Hockey League in scoring during the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

On October 5, 2005, Alfredsson and Heatley became the first players to score the winning goals for a shootout in National Hockey League History; they both scored against Toronto goalie Ed Belfour. Their sticks were subsequently sent to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Heatley also set a team record with the longest consecutive point-scoring streak at 22 games. On February 2, 2006, the team set its own record scoring three short-handed goals in one game in a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Antoine Vermette and Mike Fisher both scored short-handed within the same penalty in the second period and captain Alfredsson scored the third short-handed goal in the third period.

Heatley became the first Ottawa Senator in franchise history to reach 100 points on April 13, 2006, recording two assists during a 5-4 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers and five days later became the first to reach the 50-goal mark and the fifth player to do so in the league in the 2005-06 season. He finished with exactly 50 goals, fourth in the league. His 103 points also recorded fourth in the NHL.

On October 15, 2005, Dominik Hasek recorded his 300th career win in a 5-1 win, stopping 34 of 35 shots.

On April 15, 2006, scoring an assist against the Maple Leafs, Daniel Alfredsson became the second player in franchise history to reach 100 points. Heatley and Alfredsson now each hold the team record for most points in a season with 103. Jason Spezza also set a club record with 71 assists despite missing 14 games due to an injury, which was also partly the reason that cost him the NHL scoring title. His 71 assists were second, but he was behind with a considerable 25-assist margin — Art Ross Trophy-winner Joe Thornton led with 96 in the assist column.

Meanwhile, defenceman Wade Redden became the first Senator to win the NHL Plus/Minus Award, tied with New York Ranger Michal Rozsival, with a +35 despite missing 17 games due to a sprained ankle and personal reasons. Andrej Meszaros narrowly missed on being the first rookie to win the plus/minus title with a +34 rating. At one point he led the NHL with +39.

File:Alternate-1999.gif

Ottawa's alternate logo; a more detailed version of the Senators' trademark Roman legionnaire logo, turned three-quarters instead of at a profile view. The eyebrows and outlines are darkened to black on the jerseys recently.

On April 29, 2006, the Senators defeated Tampa Bay in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, four games to one. Ray Emery became the first rookie netminder since Philadelphia's Brian Boucher in 2000 to win a playoff series. The Senators were defeated by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round on May 13, 2006, losing the series four games to one. This loss was particularly devastating since the Senators were widely tipped to win the Stanley Cup, or else, said none other than Maple Leafs third string goaltender Jean-Sébastien Aubin, lose it to Thornton, leading goaler Jonathan Cheechoo and their powerful San Jose Sharks, and were the highest seeded team left in the playoffs after the elimination of the Detroit Red Wings by the Edmonton Oilers, who in the same playoff season lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final. Despite the high expectations, however, the Sens dropped the first three games of the series including two at home; ultimately losing on home ice, in overtime, on a short-handed goal scored by Buffalo's Jason Pominville in Game 5 of the series.

Respected hockey broadcaster Bob McKenzie described the Senators' 2005-06 postseason as "an epic failure". This failure was not for lack of effort, as in both Games 1 and 3, shots rang off the post that would have won the game for Ottawa. Once again, the excellence shown during the regular season couldn't translate into postseason success.

After their latest playoff failure, Eugene Melnyk (the team's owner) comforted fans in an open letter, by saying that their team would not only win the Stanley Cup in the future, but, once they had it, they would, he boasted, "hoard" it year after year.

2006-07

Pre-Season

In July 2006, the Senators lost four players to free agency; defencemen Zdeno Chara (who signed a 5-year deal with the Boston Bruins), Brian Pothier (who signed with the Washington Capitals), goalie Dominik Hasek, (who's signed a 1-year deal, 750,000+bonuses if Hasek goes back to the Cup Final with the Detroit Red Wings), and forward Vaclav Varada who has signed with HC Davos of the Swiss Elite League). They replaced Hasek with former Carolina Hurricanes starter Martin Gerber and also signed defenceman Joe Corvo, late of the Los Angeles Kings. A short time later, they traded star forward Martin Havlat and centre Bryan Smolinski to the Chicago Blackhawks for Tom Preissing, Josh Hennessy, Michal Barinka and a second-round draft pick in 2008. On September 12, 2006, the club announced that they signed Russian centre Alexei Kaigorodov to a two-year entry level contract. They signed blueliner Jamie Allison, re-signed Antoine Vermette, Chris Neil and Peter Schaefer to avoid arbitration proceedings. They signed Chris Kelly and Spezza for 2 years each, as well as Christoph Schubert.

The pre-season games kicked off September 19, 2006.

Regular Season

The Senators played 9 pre-season games before they started the regular season with a match-up against their Ontario rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, on October 4, 2006 in which they defeated the Leafs 4-1. In their second game they were defeated by the Leafs 6-0. In their third game, versus the Buffalo Sabres, they were defeated 4-3 despite a late comeback. Spezza scored twice in the last 5 minutes. In their next game they were defeated 1-0 by Calgary, but were able to defeat Montreal 3-2 in a shootout the following game. Ray Emery played both games. Gerber then returned to the net for a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. This was Wade Redden's 700th career NHL game. The Senators then won 8-1 against the New Jersey Devils, with many of their new players, Joe Corvo, Tom Preissing and Dean McAmmond, producing goals in the win. They then went on to defeat Toronto in a 6-2 victory. A fight between Darcy Tucker and Patrick Eaves added more heat to the rivalry. However, Ottawa managed to defeat Toronto again 7-2 two days later. Ottawa's next two games were both losses, 2-1 to the Bruins (Chara scored the winning goal), and 4-2 to the Montreal Canadiens. As of November 8th, 2006, the Senators lost five games in a row for the first time since 1996, and lost three consecutive games started with a lead, losing to Carolina 3-2 after a 2-0 lead, Washington 4-3 in overtime after a 3-0 lead, and then Atlanta 5-4 after 3-1 and 4-2 leads. Then they turned their game around and won 6-3 at Pittsburgh, only to lose 4-3 at the hands of the Boston Bruins the next night. Then their struggles continued as they fell to the Canadiens 6-3.

Third Sweater

The current home sweater of the Ottawa Senators was originally introduced as a third sweater in 1997, and in 1999 replaced the Senators' original black sweater, which was identical in design to the white sweater still in use today.

The current third sweater was introduced in 2000. It was black with coloured stripes of red, white, and gold. The gold strip is modeled after an ivy length around the jersey. The same striping pattern is found on the sleeves. The logo is the same as on the home jersey, the face of a Roman face looking forward.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Records as of August 21, 2006.

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1992-93	84	10	70	4	—	24	202	395	1716	6th, Adams	Did not qualify
1993-94	84	14	61	9	—	37	201	397	1710	7th, Northeast	Did not qualify
1994-951	48	9	34	5	—	23	117	174	749	7th, Northeast	Did not qualify
1995-96	82	18	59	5	—	41	191	291	1553	6th, Northeast	Did not qualify
1996-97	82	31	36	15	—	77	226	234	1087	3rd, Northeast	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Sabres)
1997-98	82	34	33	15	—	83	193	200	1091	5th, Northeast	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-2 (Devils) Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1-4 (Capitals)
1998-99	82	44	23	15	—	103	239	179	892	1st, Northeast	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Sabres)
1999-00	82	41	28	11	2	95	244	210	850	2nd, Northeast	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Maple Leafs)
2000-01	82	48	21	9	4	109	274	205	1062	1st, Northeast	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Maple Leafs)
2001-02	82	39	27	9	7	94	243	208	1347	3rd, Northeast	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-1 (Flyers) Lost in Conference Semifinals, 3-4 (Maple Leafs)
2002-03	82	52	21	8	1	113	263	182	1135	1st, Northeast	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-1 (Islanders) Won in Conference Semifinals, 4-2 (Flyers) Lost in Conference Finals, 3-4 (Devils)
2003-04	82	43	23	10	6	102	262	189	1270	3rd, Northeast	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Maple Leafs)
2004-052	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005-063	82	52	21	—	9	113	314	211	1443	1st, Northeast	Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-1 (Lightning) Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1-4 (Sabres)
2006-07 4	17	6	10	—	1	13	56	52	245
Totals5	1036	435	457	115	29	1014	2971	3069	15905	—	—

¹ Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.

² Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

³ As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).

⁴ As of November 13, 2006.

⁵ Franchise total stats after 2005-06 season.

Notable players

Current roster

As of November 8, 2006. [1]

Goaltenders
#		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
1		Ray Emery	L	2001	Cayuga, Ontario
29		Martin Gerber	L	2006	Burgdorf, Switzerland
1		Kelly Guard	L	2004	Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

Defencemen
#		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
4		Chris Phillips - A	L	1996	Calgary, Alberta
5		Christoph Schubert	L	2001	Munich, Germany
6		Wade Redden - A Injured	L	1996	Lloydminster, Saskatchewan
7		Joe Corvo	R	2006	Oak Park, Illinois
14		Andrej Meszaros	L	2004	Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia
24		Anton Volchenkov	L	2000	Moscow, Russia
42		Tom Preissing	R	2006	Arlington Heights, Illinois

Forwards
#		Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
11		Daniel Alfredsson - C	RW	R	1994	Gothenburg, Sweden
12		Mike Fisher - A	C	R	1998	Peterborough, Ontario
15		Dany Heatley	RW	L	2005	Freiburg, Germany
16		Brian McGrattan	RW	R	2002	Hamilton, Ontario
17		Denis Hamel	LW	L	2003	Lachute, Quebec
19		Jason Spezza	C	R	2001	Toronto, Ontario
20		Antoine Vermette	LW	L	2000	Saint-Agapit, Quebec
22		Chris Kelly	LW	L	1999	Toronto, Ontario
25		Chris Neil	RW	R	1998	Markdale, Ontario
27		Peter Schaefer	LW	L	2002	Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan
37		Dean McAmmond	LW	L	2006	Grande Cache, Alberta
44		Patrick Eaves	RW	R	2003	Calgary, Alberta

Team captains

• Laurie Boschman, 1992-93
• Brad Shaw, Mark Lamb, & Gord Dineen, 1993-94
• Randy Cunneyworth, 1994-98
• Alexei Yashin, 1998-99
• Daniel Alfredsson, 1999- present

Hall of famers

Builders

• Roger Neilson, Assistant/Head coach, 2001-03, inducted 2002

Retired numbers

• 8 Frank Finnigan, RW, 1923-31 & 1932-34 (original Senators), number retired October 8, 1992
• 99 Wayne Gretzky, number retired league-wide February 6, 2000

First-round draft picks

• 1992: Alexei Yashin (2nd overall)
• 1993: Alexandre Daigle (1st overall)
• 1994: Radek Bonk (3rd overall)
• 1995: Bryan Berard (1st overall)
• 1996: Chris Phillips (1st overall)
• 1997: Marian Hossa (12th overall)
• 1998: Mathieu Chouinard (15th overall)
• 1999: Martin Havlat (26th overall)
• 2000: Anton Volchenkov (21st overall)
• 2001: Jason Spezza (2nd overall) & Tim Gleason (23rd overall)
• 2002: Jakub Klepis (16th overall)
• 2003: Patrick Eaves (29th overall)
• 2004: Andrej Meszaros (23rd overall)
• 2005: Brian Lee (9th overall)
• 2006: Nick Foligno (28th overall)

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Senators player

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
Daniel Alfredsson*	RW	721	266	417	683	.95
Alexei Yashin	C	504	218	273	491	.97
Radek Bonk	C	689	152	247	399	.58
Marian Hossa	RW	467	188	202	390	.84
Wade Redden*	D	705	89	250	339	.48
Shawn McEachern	LW	454	142	162	304	.67
Martin Havlat	LW	294	105	130	235	.79
Magnus Arvedson	RW	393	92	118	210	.53
Jason Spezza*	C	194	55	131	186	.96
Andreas Dackell	RW	401	65	115	180	.45

NHL awards and trophies

Presidents' Trophy

• 2002-03

Calder Memorial Trophy

• Daniel Alfredsson: 1995-96

NHL Plus/Minus Award

• Wade Redden: 2005-06 (shared with Michal Rozsival of the New York Rangers)

Jack Adams Award

• Jacques Martin: 1998-99

Franchise individual records

• Most Goals in a season: Dany Heatley, 50 (2005-06)
• Most Assists in a season: Jason Spezza, 71 (2005-06)
• Most Points in a season: Dany Heatley & Daniel Alfredsson, 103 (2005-06)
• Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Mike Peluso, 318 (1992-93)
• Most Points in a season, defenseman: Norm MacIver, 63 (1992-93)
• Most Points in a season, rookie: Alexei Yashin, 79 (1993-94)
• Most goaltender wins in a season: Patrick Lalime, 39 (2002-03)
• Most shutouts in a season: Patrick Lalime, 8 (2002-03)
• Lowest G.A.A. in a season: Ron Tugnutt, 1.79 (1998-99)
• Best SV% in a season: Ray Emery; Dominik Hasek, .925 (2005-06)
• Highest +/- rating in a season: Wade Redden, +35 (2005-06)

Miscellaneous

Television broadcasting

Local coverage of the Ottawa Senators can be found on Rogers Sportsnet and the A-channel. National coverage is less frequent; however national broadcasting is usually done by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).During the 2006-2007 season, Senators fans can watch their team play on Pay-Per-View for the first time in franchise history, as they face the Red Wings in Detroit on Monday, Dec. 12; the Rangers in New York City on Tuesday, March 13; the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Sunday, March 18, and the New Jersey Devils in East Rutherford, N.J., on Tuesday, April 3.

See also

• List of Ottawa Senators players
• Head Coaches of the Ottawa Senators
• Battle of Ontario
• Spartacat
• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons
• List of ice hockey teams in Ontario

External links

• Official website of the Ottawa Senators