The Senators for me are another one of those teams that I just kind of don’t have an opinion of one way or another. While they found very little success this season, I think they have a talented enough roster to come back fighting this season.
Here is the abridged overview:
- Located in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference
- Founded in 1992
- Located in Ottawa, Ontario
- Arena: Canadian Tire Centre
- Owner: Eugene Melnyk
- GM: Pierre Dorian
- Head Coach: Guy Boucher
- Captain: Erik Karlsson
- Minor League Affiliate: Binghamton Senators
- Stanley Cups: none
And now for some facts about the team:
They are based on the original Ottawa Senators (part of the Original Six). When the NHL expanded into the U.S., the Senators financial losses forced them to move to St. Louis in 1934. They were unsuccessful in St. Louis, so the NHL suspended the franchise and transferred the players to existing NHL teams.
54 years later, Bruce Firestone successfully lobbied the league to award Ottawa a new franchise, which became todays Ottawa Senators.
The first season was successful for what the owners wanted. They had a goal of not setting a record for fewest points in a season, and wanted to finish low enough in the standings in order to get higher draft picks. So good job?
They operated like that the next few seasons. Intentionally finishing low in the league standings (last, 3 years in a row, actually), to get high draft picks, with the goal to eventually develop into a strong contender. But understandably, fans got restless and attendance began to dwindle.
They made the playoffs for the first time in 1997 under new management and coaching staff. They lost to the Sabres in the first round, but it was progress.
The Senators had to file for bankruptcy in 2002, and continued to operate with emergency financing. Despite financial issues, they won the Presidents Trophy that season, and were one win away from making it to the finals.
In 2007 they did make the Stanley Cup Finals, and became the first Ottawa team to do so since 1927 (with the original Sens). They lost to the Anaheim Ducks.
They entered into a bit of a rebuild state with shake ups among the front office staff.
In 2010, they traded Mike Fisher to the Predators. Conveniently he had just purchased a home in Nashville with his new wife, Carrie Underwood. Since he was a fan favorite, this led to some backlash against Carrie Underwood (totally makes sense…) and some local radio stations banned her songs from being played on air.
At some point the Senators acquired Ales Hemsky from the Oilers via trade, so for part of the season he played on the same line as then captain, Jason Spezza. At the end of that season Spezza requested a trade, which eventually led to him becoming a Dallas Star.
This past season they failed to make the playoffs (as did all Canadian teams, so…), and fired their head coach, Dave Cameron. They brought on Guy Boucher for the new season.
Notable Players:
- Daniel Alfredsson
- Frank Finnigan
- Dominik Hasek
- Jason Spezza
- Bobby Ryan
- Erik Karlsson
- Dion Phaneuf
- Alexei Yashin
- Wade Redden
- Marian Hossa
Like I said above, I don’t have a particularly strong opinion about this team. I think they are a bubble team that might surprise some teams down the stretch.
Walk the Blue Line 