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{{main|Ottawa Senators (original)}}
{{main|Ottawa Senators (original)}}
The original Ottawa Senators existed from 1893 until 1934 (using various team names), winning ten [[Stanley Cup]]s. The team lasted one more season ([[1934-35 NHL season|1934-35]]) as the [[St. Louis Eagles]] before folding.
JEEF ABSOLUTELY HATES THIS FUCKING TEAM. The original Ottawa Senators existed from 1893 until 1934 (using various team names), winning ten [[Stanley Cup]]s. The team lasted one more season ([[1934-35 NHL season|1934-35]]) as the [[St. Louis Eagles]] before folding.


===1992 expansion===
===1992 expansion===

Revision as of 15:54, 31 May 2007

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

Ottawa Senators
(Sénateurs d'Ottawa)
File:Ottawa Senators.gif
ConferenceEastern
DivisionNortheast
Founded1992
HistoryOttawa Senators
1992-present
Home arenaScotiabank Place
CityOttawa, Ontario
Team coloursRed, Black, White, Gold
MediaA-Channel
Rogers Sportsnet East
TEAM (1200 AM)
Owner(s)Canada Eugene Melnyk
General managerCanada John Muckler
Head coachCanada Bryan Murray
CaptainSweden Daniel Alfredsson
Minor league affiliatesBinghamton Senators (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers (ECHL)
Stanley Cupsnone
Conference championships2006-07
Division championships1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2005-06

The Ottawa Senators (French: Les Sénateurs d'Ottawa) are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario. They began playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a 1992 expansion team.

Franchise history

The Original Ottawa Senators Franchise

File:Senslogo1mgs.jpg
The Original Ottawa Senators logo, 1918-34
Main article: Ottawa Senators (original)

JEEF ABSOLUTELY HATES THIS FUCKING TEAM. The original Ottawa Senators existed from 1893 until 1934 (using various team names), winning ten Stanley Cups. The team lasted one more season (1934-35) as the St. Louis Eagles before folding.

1992 expansion

The NHL's planned 1992 expansion had several strong contenders, but starting in 1989, original owner Bruce Firestone put together a bid to revive NHL hockey in Ottawa, employing the last surviving original Senator to win a Stanley Cup, 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 [citation needed], 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, 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 few tastes of glory the new Sens would experience; as they would have the worst record in the league that year, winning only 10 games with 70 losses and 4 ties (24 points) in the 1992-93 season. As often happens to a sports expansion team, the Senators and their fans would suffer through four more last-place finishes. Among their many disappointments during this period was Alexandre Daigle, the number one overall pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, widely regarded as one of the biggest busts in professional athletics.

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[citation needed], 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 the eastern parts of the city and the Outaouais, which is the area around Gatineau, 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

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. 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 and lost in the full seven games. In game seven despite holding a lead, Alexei Yashin would score on his own net allowing Buffalo to tie and eventually win the game.

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.

Ottawa has made the playoffs every year since their original visit. However, they have had limited success, winning only five series in their nine trips to the postseason. They had several consecutive losses to the Maple Leafs, leading to a heated rivalry between the two teams, added to by their geographic proximity in Ontario. A very difficult period for the team was between 1998 and 2001 when the Senators were swept by the Sabres and Maple Leafs, and lost another series to the Leafs all in the first round.

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 sixth 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.

New millennium

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 Sens 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, making them the first Canadian team to have won it since the Calgary Flames in 1989. In the playoffs they defeated Yashin and his New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers before coming within one game of making it into the Stanley Cup Final series, falling to the eventual champions, the New Jersey Devils.

File:Alternate-1999.gif
Ottawa's alternate logo; a more detailed version of the Senators' trademark Roman legionary logo, turned three-quarters instead of at a profile view. The eyebrows and outlines are darkened to black on the jerseys recently.

In September 2003, the team was purchased by pharmaceutical magnate Eugene Melnyk.

On March 5th 2004, in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a record was set for the most penalty minutes in a game by both teams at 419 minutes. Five brawls broke out in the last 2 minutes of the game. It took the officials until 90 minutes after the game was over to sort out the penalties. By the end of the game Philadelphia had 213 penalty minutes and seven men left on the bench, while Ottawa finished with 203 penalty minutes and six men left.

In the first round of the 2004 NHL playoffs, the Senators lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 4th time in four series against the Leafs. However, the Toronto goalie this time was Ed Belfour, not Curtis 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, 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 well respected, earned a 341-255-96 regular season record with the Senators, had led the team to eight consecutive playoff appearances, and was widely credited with changing the team into a 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

The Senators' arena, Scotiabank Place, its name since January of 2006 since signing with Scotiabank for a 25 year, $25 million contract.

On October 5, 2005, in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Senators became the first team in National Hockey League history to win in a shootout. Both Daniel Alfredsson and newly acquired Dany Heatley scored goals against Toronto's Ed Belfour. Their sticks are subsequently on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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. 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 the death of his mother.

On April 29, 2006, the Senators defeated Tampa Bay in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, four games to one. Despite having accquired the very playoff and cup experienced Dominic Hasek, The Ottawa Senators lost him to a hamstring injury that occured during the 2006 Winter Olympics, midway through the season. It was then up to back-up Ray Emery who then went on to become the first rookie netminder since Philadelphia's Brian Boucher in 2000 to win a playoff series, however the Senators were defeated by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round, four games to one.

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 season and playoffs

Main article: 2006-07 Ottawa Senators season

The Senators' early 2006-07 season was characterized by a struggle to reach .500 (an even win-loss ratio). Game-by-game results are available here.

On January 3, 2007 the Ottawa Senators acquired center Mike Comrie from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for prospect Alexei Kaigorodov. Ottawa was in need of another centre (due to the loss of Spezza, Vermette and Fisher for an extended period of time), and was eager to shed Kaigorodov, who was suspended for refusing an assignment to the AHL's Binghamton Senators after being sent down, instead opting to play in Russia. Phoenix will continue his suspension, meaning he will not be paid until he returns to the NHL.

Heatley was the representative for Ottawa in the 2007 all-star game for the East, managing a 94.0 MPH slapshot and a goal in the East's 12-9 loss to the West, meanwhile Andrej Meszaros and Patrick Eaves went to the NHL Youngstars competition.

At the annual Senators' super skills competition, Mike Fisher accomplished a 102 MPH slapshot, McAmmond was awarded as the fastest skater, and Vermette managed the team best accuracy in the competition, hitting all 4 targets.

The Senators finished the regular season in 4th place in the East and would take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. Ottawa won the first round easily by a count of 4 games to 1. The second round saw a rematch of the 2003 Eastern Conference Finals as Ottawa took on the New Jersey Devils. The Senators won the series 4 games to 1 and went on to face the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference Finals, winning that series 4 games to 1 as well to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history. After the Calgary Flames in 2004 and the Edmonton Oilers in 2006, the Senators are the third Canadian team in three seasons to reach the finals. Currently, the Senators trail the Anaheim Ducks 2-0 in the Finals.

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, with a Roman soldier at a three-quarters view instead of at a profile view.

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Senators. For the full season-by-season history, see Ottawa Senators seasons

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 February 20, 2007. [1]

Season GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs
2001-02 82 39 27 9 7 94 243 208 1347 3rd, Northeast Lost in Conference Semifinals, 3-4 (Maple Leafs)
2002-03 82 52 21 8 1 113 263 182 1135 1st, Northeast 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)
2004-05 Season cancelled due to 2004-05 NHL Lockout
2005-061 82 52 21 — 9 113 314 211 1443 1st, Northeast Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1-4 (Sabres)
2006-07 82 48 25 — 9 105 288 222 2nd, Northeast In Progress (See 2006-07 Ottawa Senators season)
1 As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).

Players

Current roster

As of April 19th, 2007. [1]

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
1 Canada Ray Emery L 2001 Cayuga, Ontario
29 Switzerland Martin Gerber L 2006 Burgdorf, Switzerland
Defencemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
2 Canada Lawrence Nycholat L 2007 Calgary, Alberta
4 Canada Chris Phillips - A L 1996 Calgary, Alberta
6 Canada Wade Redden - A L 1996 Lloydminster, Saskatchewan
7 United States Joe Corvo R 2006 Oak Park, Illinois
14 Slovakia Andrej Meszaros L 2004 Považská Bystrica, Slovakia
24 Russia Anton Volchenkov L 2000 Moscow, U.S.S.R.
42 United States Tom Preissing R 2006 Arlington Heights, Illinois
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
5 Germany Christoph Schubert LW L 2001 Munich, West Germany
11 Sweden Daniel Alfredsson - C RW R 1994 Gothenburg, Sweden
12 Canada Mike Fisher C R 1998 Peterborough, Ontario
15 Canada Dany Heatley LW L 2005 Freiburg, West Germany
16 Canada Brian McGrattan RW R 2002 Hamilton, Ontario
19 Canada Jason Spezza C R 2001 Mississauga, Ontario
20 Canada Antoine Vermette LW L 2000 Saint-Agapit, Quebec
22 Canada Chris Kelly C L 1999 Toronto, Ontario
25 Canada Chris Neil RW R 1998 Markdale, Ontario
27 Canada Peter Schaefer LW L 2002 Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan
37 Canada Dean McAmmond LW L 2006 Grande Cache, Alberta
44 United States Patrick Eaves RW R 2003 Calgary, Alberta
61 Russia Oleg Saprykin LW L 2007 Moscow, Russia
89 Canada Mike Comrie C L 2007 Edmonton, Alberta
  • To see the Senators' individual player pages, click here.

Team Captains


Honoured Members

Hall of Famers: The Senators assistant coach & head coach Roger Neilson (2001-03), was inducted in 2002 (as a Builder) for his career in NHL coaching.

Retired Numbers: The Senators retired number 8 for Frank Finnigan, on October 8, 1992. Finnigan actually played for the Original Senators (as a RW, 1923-31 & 1932-34), but he was instrumental in getting Ottawa an NHL franchise again (see Frank Finnigan). The number 99 of Wayne Gretzky was retired league-wide by the NHL February 6, 2000.

First-round draft picks

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 783 291 467 757 .97
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 758 95 277 372 .49
Shawn McEachern LW 454 142 162 304 .67
Jason Spezza* C 246 82 171 253 1.03
Martin Havlat LW 294 105 130 235 .79
Magnus Arvedson RW 393 92 118 210 .53
Dany Heatley* LW 164 100 108 208 1.27

NHL awards and trophies

Presidents' Trophy

Prince of Wales Trophy

Calder Memorial Trophy

NHL Plus/Minus Award

Jack Adams Award

Franchise individual records

Franchise record Name of player Statistic Year(s)
Most Goals in a season Dany Heatley 50 2005-06, 2006-07
Most Assists in a season Jason Spezza 71 2005-06
Most Points in a season Dany Heatley 105 2006-07
Most Points in a season, defenseman Norm MacIver 63 1992-93
Most Points in a season, rookie Alexei Yashin 79 1993-94
Most Penalty Minutes in a season Mike Peluso 318 1992-93
Highest +/- rating in a season Daniel Alfredsson +42 2006-07
Most playoff games played Daniel Alfredsson 94 (milestone)
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 Dominik Hasek .925 2005-06

Miscellaneous

Television broadcasting

Local coverage of the Ottawa Senators can be found on Rogers Sportsnet and A-Channel. National coverage is less frequent; however national broadcasting is usually done by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which has increased the number of Senators games broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada in 2006-07 compared to previous seasons. Five games in 2006-07 are to be broadcast on pay-per-view in the Ottawa area; this started with a game at Detroit on December 12, 2006.

At many home games the fans are entertained both outside and inside ScotiaBank Place with a myriad of talent-live music, rock bands, giveaways and promotions. A fixture on the concourse before regular season and playoff games is the official-unofficial pipe band of the Ottawa Senators, The Sons of Scotland (http://www.sospb.com)

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ottawa Senators.
  1. ^ Hockeydb.com, Ottawa Senators season statistics and records.
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