Ottawa Senators
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| Team Jersey |
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| League |
| National Hockey League |
| Coach |
| Bryan Murray, 2004- |
| General Manager |
| John Muckler, 2002- |
| Most Games |
| Radek Bonk: 686 |
| Most Points |
| Daniel Alfredsson: 568 |
| First Game |
| Ottawa 5 - 3 Montreal (Ottawa; October 8, 1992) |
| Largest win |
| Ottawa 9 - 1 New York Rangers (Ottawa; January 24, 2003) |
| Largest defeat |
| Ottawa 0 - 10 Calgary (Calgary; January 15, 1994) Ottawa 1 - 11 St. Louis |
| Stanley Cups |
| Winners: 0 |
The Ottawa Senators are an ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They play in the National Hockey League.
- Founded: 1992-1993 (franchise awarded December 6, 1990)
- Arena: Corel Centre (capacity 18,500)
- Uniform colours: black, red, gold, white
- Logo design: Roman legionnaire
- Division titles won: 3 (1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03)
- President's Trophies won: 1 (2003)
- League championships won: 0
- Minor league affiliate(s): Binghamton Senators
- Rival(s): Toronto Maple Leafs
| Contents |
Original Franchise
The greatest team of the early days of hockey, the original Ottawa Senators franchise was based in Ottawa from 1901 to 1934. They competed in the Canadian Amateur Hockey League, the National Hockey Association and the National Hockey League and won a total of nine Stanley Cups, starting back in the days where the Cup was still a challenge trophy. The team had several nicknames -- most famously, the Silver Seven of early hockey legend -- but was generally known throughout its history as the Senators. The names of the team's players resound through hockey legend -- Frank McGee, King Clancy, Harry Westwick, Bruce Ridpath, Clint Benedict, Alex Connell, Frank Nighbor, Cy Denneny, and many others. A full thirty of the team's players would be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Senators were a founding team of both the NHA and the NHL, and won four more Cups in the NHL days, three against western league teams, the last in 1927 against the Boston Bruins after the NHL had secured sole ownership of the trophy. However, the term "small-market franchise" is by no means a new one, and as the NHL's smallest market by far, even as early as 1927 Ottawa sought financial relief from the league. The team slowly sold its stars to other clubs, and with the Great Depression striking, peddled superstar defenseman King Clancy for an unprecedented $35,000 in 1930. Even that was not enough, and the franchise suspended operations for the 1932 season.
The Senators returned the season thereafter, but depleted of talent, finished with poor records its two remaining seasons in Ottawa. The once-proud franchise relocated to St. Louis and played its final season 1934-1935 as the St. Louis Eagles.
This franchise has no relation to the modern-day Senators franchise.
Career Leaders (1917-1934)
- Games: Frank Finnigan, 368
- Goals: Cy Denneny, 245
- Assists: Denneny, 67
- Points: Denneny, 312
- Penalty Minutes: George Boucher, 604
List of Stanley Cup final appearances by Ottawa based teams
- March 22, 1894- Montreal AAA 3-1 Ottawa Capitals
- December 27, 1897- Montreal Victorias 15-2 Ottawa Capitals
- 1903- Ottawa Silver Seven defeat the Montreal Victorias March 7 & 8 (1-1, 8-0) and they defeat the Rat Portage Thistles March 12 & 14).
- 1904- Ottawa Silver Seven defeat the Winnipeg Rowing Club December 30, 1903, January 1, & 4 (9-1, 2-6, 2-0) they defeat the Toronto Marlboros February 23 & 25 (6-3, 11-2) they defeat the Montreal Wanderers March 2 (5-5- Montreal loses by default) and they defeat the Brandon Wheat Kings March 9 & 11 (6-3, 9-3).
- 1905- Ottawa Silver Seven defeat Dawson City January 13 & 16 (9-2, 23-2) and the Rat Portage Thistles March 7, 9, & 11 (3-9, 4-2, 5-4)
- 1906- Ottawa Silver Seven defeat Queen's University February 27, & 28 (16-7, 12-7) and Smiths Falls March 6 & 8 (6-5, 8-2).
- 1906- Montreal Wanderers defeat the Ottawa Silver Seven March 14, & 17 (9-1, 9-3).
- 1908- Montreal Wanderers defeat the Ottawa Victorias January 9, & 13 (9-3, 13-1).
- 1909- Ottawa Senators go unchallenged
- 1910- Ottawa Senators defeat Galt January 5, & 7 (12-3, 3-1) and the Edmonton Eskimos January 18, & 20 (8-4, 13-7).
- 1911- Ottawa Senators defeat Galt March 13 7-4, and Port Arthur March 16 13-4.
- 1915- Vancouver Millionaires defeat the Ottawa Senators March 22, 24, & 26 (6-2, 8-3, 12-3).
- 1920- Ottawa Senators defeat the Seattle Metropolitans March 22, 24, 27, 30, & April 1 (3-2, 3-0, 1-3, 2-5, 6-1).
- 1921- Ottawa Senators defeat the Vancouver Millionaires March 21, 24, 28, 31, & April 4 (1-2, 4-3, 3-2, 2-3, 2-1).
- 1923- Ottawa Senators defeat the Vancouver Maroons March 16, 19, 23, & 26 (1-0, 1-4, 3-2, 5-1) and the Edmonton Eskimos March 29, & 31 (2-1, 1-0).
- 1927- Ottawa Senators defeat the Boston Bruins April 7, 9, 11, 13 (0-0, 3-1, 1-1, 3-1).
Original Ottawa Senators Year-by-Year Record (NHL only)
Season---W--L--T--OTL-GF--GA---PTS--Finish----Playoffs
1917-18--9-13--0--0---102-114--18-3rd, NHL--Out
1918-19-12--6--0--0----71--53--24-1st, NHL--Lost Final
1919-20-18--5--0--0---121--64--38-1st, NHL--Won Cup
1920-21-14-10--0--0----97--75--28-2nd, NHL--Won Cup
1921-22-14--8--2--0---106--85--30-1st, NHL--Lost Final
1922-23-14--9--1--0----77--54--29-1st, NHL--Won Cup
1923-24-16--8--0--0----54--32--32-1st, NHL--Lost Final
1924-25-17-12--1--0----83--66--35-4th, NHL--Out
1925-26-24--8--4--0----77--42--52-1st, NHL--Lost Final
1926-27-30-10--4--0----86--69--64-1st, CD---Won Cup
1927-28-20-14-10--0----78--57--50-3rd, CD---Lost QF
1928-29-14-17-13--0----54--67--41-4th, CD---Out
1929-30-21-15--8--0---138-118--50-3rd, CD---Lost QF
1930-31-10-30--4--0----91-142--24-5th, CD---Out
1932-33-11-27-10--0----88-131--32-5th, CD---Out
1933-34-13-29--6--0---115-143--32-5th, CD---Out
QF = Quarter Final, CD = Canadian Division
Current Franchise
The NHL's planned 1992 expansion had several strong contenders, but original owner Bruce Firestone put together an energetic bid, using the last surviving original Senator, Frank Finnigan, as its public face. The new-look Senators won one of the two slots (along with the Tampa Bay Lightning) and began play in 1992.
Unfortunately, as with the Lightning (who many felt won its bid over a more favored St. Petersburg group by virtue of its leadership of NHL great Phil Esposito), PR could not disguise the lack of talent. The modern-day Senators played their first game in the Ottawa Civic Centre, a small arena by professional standards, seating approximately 10,500, and beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3. Tragically, Finnigan died before the team started play, and the win against the Habs was the last bit of glory the new Senators would see; they lost more games in the 1993 season (70) than any team ever had, and suffered through several miserable seasons thereafter.
Two major things happened for the Ottawa Senators in January 1996: Jacques Martin became their head coach and they moved into a new arena, the 18,500-seat Palladium (now known as the Corel Centre) in Kanata, a former suburb of Ottawa and now part of the city of Ottawa. While Ottawa finished the 95-96 season with a poor record, it marked the start of a remarkable franchise turnaround. Daniel Alfredsson became the first Senator to win the Calder Trophy. The 96-97 season saw the Senators make the playoffs for the first time, where they lost a thrilling seven-game series to the Buffalo Sabres.
The Senators won their first playoff series following the 1997-98 season, defeating the New Jersey Devils in six games.
Ottawa was locked in a contract dispute with Alexei Yashin during the 1999-2000 season. Yashin held out for the entire season, but it was ruled that he still owed the Senators a year. The regular season was successful, as they finished with 93 points, in second place, however a 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs ended the playoffs quickly. Yashin played during the 2000-2001 season, but was traded in summer 2001 to the New York Islanders for Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt and the Islanders' first round, and 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 Leafs' goaltender Curtis Joseph.
The Senators finished the 2001-02 season with 94 points, in third place. In the playoffs, they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers for the franchise's second playoff series win, but fell again to their nemesis, the Maple Leafs, in a tense seven-game affair.
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 President's Cup in the 2002-03 season, finishing with a league-best 113 points. In the playoffs they defeated the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers before falling to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, and came within one game of the Stanley Cup final before being defeated by the New Jersey 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 heated rivalry between the two teams.
In the first round of the 2004 NHL playoffs, the Senators lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 4th time in 5 years. 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, Jacques Martin was fired. He had been coach of the Senators for 8 and a half years. Martin was widely respected, had 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 four straight to the Maple Leafs, team management felt that a new coach was required for playoff success.
On June 8, 2004, Bryan Murray became the team's fifth head coach.
See also: List of Ottawa Senators captains, Head Coaches of the Ottawa Senators
Current Ottawa Senators Year-by-Year Record
Season---W--L--T--OTL-GF--GA---PTS--Finish----Playoffs
1992-93-10-70--4--0---202-395--24-6th, AdD---Out
1993-94-14-61--9--0---201-397--37-7th, NED---Out
1994-95--9-34--5--0---117-174--23-7th, NED---Out
1995-96-18-59--5--0---191-291--41-6th, NED---Out
1996-97-31-36-15--0---226-234--77-3rd, NED---Lost CQF
1997-98-34-33-15--0---193-200--83-5th, NED---Lost CSF
1998-99-44-23-15--0---239-179-103-1st, NED---Lost CQF
1999-00-41-28-11--2---244-210--95-2nd, NED---Lost CQF
2000-01-48-21--9--4---274-205-109-1st, NED---Lost CQF
2001-02-39-27--9--7---243-208--94-3rd, NED---Lost CSF
2002-03-51-21--9--1---263-182-113-1st, NED---Lost CF
2003-04-43-23-10--6---262-189-102-3rd, NED---Lost CQF
CQF = Conference Quarter Finals, CSF = Conference Semi Finals, CF = Conference Finals, AdD = Adams Division, NED = Northeast Division
Players of Note
- None
Current players:
- 11
- Daniel Alfredsson, RW
- 10
- Peter Bondra, RW/LW
- 3 - Zdeno Chara, D
- 5
- Greg de Vries, D
- 1 - Ray Emery, G
- 12 - Mike Fisher, C
- 39
- Dominik Hasek, G
- 9 - Martin Havlat, RW
- 18 - Marian Hossa, RW
- 49 - Chris Kelly, LW
- 33
- Josh Langfeld, RW
- 7 - Curtis Leschyslyn, D
- 25 - Chris Neil, RW
- 4 - Chris Phillips, D
- 2 - Brian Pothier, D
- 31 - Martin Prusek, G
- 6 - Wade Redden, D
- 15 - Peter Schaefer, LW
- 27 - Todd Simpson, D
- 21 - Bryan Smolinski, C
- 19 - Jason Spezza, C
- 22 - Shaun Van Allen, C
- 26 - Vaclav Varada, RW
- 20 - Antoine Vermette, C
- 24
- Anton Volchenkov, D
- 28 - Todd White, C
Not to be forgotten:
- Magnus Arvedson
- Clint Benedict (Old Ottawa Senators)
- Radek Bonk
- Buck Boucher (Old Ottawa Senators)
- Punch Broadbent (Old Ottawa Senators)
- King Clancy (Old Ottawa Senators)
- Alec Connell (Old Ottawa Senators)
- Randy Cunneyworth
- Andreas Dackell
- Alexandre Daigle
- Cy Denneny (Old Ottawa Senators)
- Frank Finnigan (Old Ottawa Senators)
- Hec Kilrea (Old Ottawa Senators)
- Shawn McEachern
- Frank Nighbor (Old Ottawa Senators)
- Vaclav Prospal
- Damian Rhodes
- Ron Tugnutt
- Alexei Yashin
- Jason York
Retired Numbers:
- 8 Frank Finnigan (from the original Senators franchise)
- 99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)
Historical
Ottawa Senators official web site (http://www.ottawasenators.com/)
| National Hockey League | 
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| Trophies and Awards: Stanley Cup | Prince of Wales | Clarence S. Campbell | Presidents' Trophy | Art Ross | Bill Masterton | Calder | Conn Smythe | Hart | Norris | King Clancy | Lady Byng | Lester B. Pearson Award | Rocket Richard | Plus/Minus | Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award | Jennings | Vezina | |
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