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10 Interesting Facts About the Ottawa Senators
The Senators were a dominate team when they made their NHL debut in the 1917/1918 season, in fact the team went on to 5 first place finishes in its first 7 years. But due to the financial woes experienced by small market teams the Senators were forced to trade away star players such as Hooley Smith, Ed Gorman, Cy Denneny and Frank Nighbor to large market teams in the 1920s. Then in 1930 they traded away the biggest name of the bunch the legendary King Clancy to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After a 58-year absence from the NHL, the Ottawa Senators returned to the National Hockey League in 1992 resurrected as an expansion team. Their first season back in the NHL was not a pretty one though as they tied with the San Jose Sharks for the worst record in the league, winning only 10 games with 70 losses and 4 ties for total of 24 points.
The modern day Senators Logo is a Roman Centurions head facing sideways with laurel leaves in a golden circle to the right and a red helmet with black wings on the left.
The poor preformance of the new era Ottawa Senators continued as they finished last overall for their first few seasons. The good news was that poor finishes resulted in good draft picks. Although their 1993 first overall draft pick Alexandre Daigle wound up being one of the greatest draft busts in NHL history,they chose Radek Bonk in 1994, Bryan Berard (who they traded for Wade Redden) in 1995, Chris Phillips in 1996, and Marian Hossa in 1997. This was the foundation for better years in the near future for the Senators.
1996 saw the emergence of a talented rookie from Sweden named Daniel Alfredsson, who would win the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year that season.
New head coach Jacques Martin brought a strong defense first philosophy to the Senators, helping them qualify for the playoffs every season that he coached, but he was criticized for the teams lack of success in the playoffs, notably losing four straight series against the provincial rival Toronto Maple Leafs.
On the day of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Alexei Yashin was traded to the New York Islanders in exchange for Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt, and the second overall selection in the draft, which Ottawa promptly used to select centre Jason Spezza.
In 2002-03 the Ottawa Senators were forced to file for bankruptcy mid-season, but after getting emergency financing they still managed to place first overall in the NHL and win the Presidents Trophy. Prior to the following season, pharmaceutical billionaire Eugene Melnyk purchased the club for $92 million bringing financial stability to Ottawa. Since then, the club has flourished and the Senators attendance records are among the highest in the league. (the the club had 40 sell-outs out of 41 home dates during the 2007–08 season). In 2008, a Forbes Magazine reported the value of the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club at $207 million.
In 2006, the Senators had their best season in franchise history with a record of 48-25-9 for a total of 105 points. Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson also tied for a new team record for most points in a season with 103.
In 2006-07 the Senators made it to the Stanley Cup finals, the first time Ottawa had been there since 1927. Unfortunately, they were facing the heavily favorited Aneheim Duck who took the series in 5 games.
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