The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in the Ottawa metropolitan area. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Canadian Tire Centre, which opened in 1996.
Founded and established by Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone, the team is the second NHL franchise to use the Ottawa Senators name. The original Ottawa Senators, founded in 1883, won the Stanley Cup 11 times, playing in the NHL from 1917 until 1934. On December 6, 1990, after a two-year public campaign by Firestone, the NHL awarded a new franchise, which began play in the 1992–93 season. The Senators have made 18 playoff appearances, won four division titles, and won the 2003 Presidents' Trophy. They made an appearance in the 2007 Stanley Cup Final but lost to the Anaheim Ducks in five games.
History
Ottawa had been home to the original Senators, a founding NHL franchise and 11-time Stanley Cup champions. The original Senators' eventual financial losses forced the franchise to move to St. Louis in 1934 operating as the Eagles while a Senators senior amateur team took over the Senators' place in Ottawa. The NHL team was unsuccessful in St. Louis and planned to return to Ottawa, but the NHL decided instead to suspend the franchise and transfer the players.
Fifty-four years later, after the NHL announced plans to expand, Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone decided along with colleagues Cyril Leeder and Randy Sexton that Ottawa was now able to support an NHL franchise, and the group proceeded to put a bid together. This effort was supported by key individuals including Jeff Kyle and Mark Bonneau who later became executives with the Senators. Firestone's firm, Terrace Investments, did not have the liquid assets to finance the expansion fee and the team, but the group conceived a strategy to leverage land development. In 1989, after finding a suitable site on farmland just west of Ottawa in Kanata on which to construct a new arena, Terrace announced its intention to win a franchise and launched a successful "Bring Back the Senators" campaign to both woo the public and persuade the NHL that the city could support an NHL franchise. Public support was high, and the group would secure over 11,000 season ticket pledges. On December 12, 1990, the NHL approved a new franchise for Firestone's group to start play in the 1992–93 season.
Early years (1992–1996) The new team hired former NHL player Mel Bridgman, who had no previous NHL management experience, as its first general manager in 1992. Ottawa signed former Boston Bruins head coach Rick Bowness. The new Senators were placed in the Adams Division of the Wales Conference and played their first game on October 8, 1992, in the Ottawa Civic Centre against the Montreal Canadiens with much pre-game spectacle. The Senators defeated the Canadiens 5–3 in one of the few highlights that season. Following the initial excitement of the opening night victory, the club floundered badly. Eventually, it tied the San Jose Sharks for the worst record in the league, winning only 10 games with 70 losses and four ties for 24 points, three points better than the NHL record for futility. The Senators had aimed low and considered the 1992–93 season a small success, as Firestone had set a goal for the season of not setting a new NHL record for fewest points in a season. The long-term plan was to finish low in the standings for its first few years to secure high draft picks and eventually contend for the Stanley Cup.
Terrace needed a partner to make the final franchise payment to the NHL. Firestone sold 50% of Terrace to Rod Bryden, a technology executive and entrepreneur. A limited partnership was set up to own the hockey team and a new company, Palladium Corp., which was charged with building the new arena. The partnership included local high-tech executives and singer Paul Anka, who was born in Ottawa. Bryden would become the sole owner of Terrace and majority owner of the Senators in August 1993, buying out Firestone.
Bridgman was fired after one season and team president Randy Sexton took over the general manager duties. The strategy of aiming low and securing a high draft position did not change. The Senators finished last overall for the next three seasons. For the 1993–94 season, the team now played in the Eastern Conference's Northeast Division. Although 1993 first overall draft choice Alexandre Daigle wound up being one of the greatest draft busts in NHL history, they chose Radek Bonk in 1994, Bryan Berard (traded for Wade Redden) in 1995, Chris Phillips in 1996 and Marián Hossa in 1997, all of whom would become solid NHL players and formed a strong core of players in years to come. Alexei Yashin, the team's first-ever draft selection from 1992, emerged as one of the NHL's brightest young stars. The team traded many of their better veteran players of the era, including 1992–93 leading scorer Norm Maciver and fan favourites Mike Peluso and Bob Kudelski in an effort to stockpile prospects and draft picks.
As the 1995–96 season began, Yashin refused to honour his contract and did not play. In December, after three straight last-place finishes and a team which was ridiculed throughout the league, fans began to grow restless waiting for the team's long-term plan to yield results, and arena attendance began to decline. Bowness was fired in late 1995 and was replaced by the Prince Edward Island Senators' head coach Dave Allison. Allison would fare no better than his predecessor, and the team would stumble to a 2–22–3 record under him. Sexton himself was fired and replaced by Pierre Gauthier, the former assistant general manager of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim team. Before the end of January 1996, Gauthier had resolved the team's most pressing issues by settling Yashin's contract dispute, and hiring the highly regarded Jacques Martin as head coach. While Ottawa finished last-overall once again, the season ended with renewed optimism, due in part to the upgraded management and coaching, and also to the emergence of an unheralded rookie from Sweden named Daniel Alfredsson, who would win the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year in 1996.
Jacques Martin era (1996–2004)
Martin imposed a "strong defence first" philosophy that led to the team qualifying for the playoffs every season that he coached, but he was criticized for the team's lack of success in the playoffs, notably losing four straight series against their provincial rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In 1996–97, his first season, the club qualified for the playoffs in the last game of the season and nearly defeated the Buffalo Sabres in the first round. In 1997–98, the club finished with their first winning record and upset the heavily favoured New Jersey Devils to win their first playoff series. However, they were ousted in the second round by the Washington Capitals. In 1998–99, the Senators jumped from fourteenth overall in the previous season to third, with 103 points—the first 100-point season in club history, only to be swept in the first round by the Sabres. In 1999–2000, despite Yashin's holdout, Martin guided the team to the playoffs, only to lose to the Maple Leafs in the first Battle of Ontario series. Yashin returned for 2000–01 and the team improved to win their division and place second in the Eastern Conference. Yashin played poorly in another first-round playoff loss and on the day of the 2001 NHL entry draft, he was traded to the New York Islanders in exchange for Zdeno Chára, Bill Muckalt and the second overall selection in the draft, which Ottawa used to select centre Jason Spezza.
The 2001–02 Senators regular season points total dropped, but in the playoffs, they upset the Philadelphia Flyers for the franchise's second playoff series win. The Sens would go on to push their second-round series to seven games, but they were ultimately once again defeated by the Maple Leafs. Despite speculation that Martin would be fired, it was general manager Marshall Johnston who left, retiring from the team. He was replaced by John Muckler, the Senators' first with previous management experience.
Although the Senators were bankrupt, they continued to play in the 2002–03 season after getting emergency financing. Despite the off-ice problems, Ottawa had an outstanding season, placing first overall in the NHL to win the Presidents' Trophy. In the playoffs, they came within one game of making it into the 2003 Stanley Cup Final, losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils. In 2003–04, Martin guided the team to another good regular season but again would lose in the first round of the playoffs to the Maple Leafs, leading to Martin's dismissal as management felt that a new coach was required for playoff success.
Bankruptcy and sale to Eugene Melnyk In 2000, owner Bryden publicly appealed for tax relief from the Government of Canada for all Canadian NHL teams, coping with a significant drop in the Canadian dollar. His appeal was first met with a plan for tax relief, but the program was cancelled. Bryden then announced the sale of the club outright to a limited partnership in 2002 for million, which would include creditors and Bryden himself. After its principal creditor Ogden Entertainment failed, the Senators entered bankruptcy protection in January 2003, owing million for the club and million for the arena. The deal fell through in 2003 when American investor Nelson Peltz declined to get involved.
In August 2003, pharmaceutical billionaire Eugene Melnyk purchased the club for a reported million. Melnyk, principal shareholder of Biovail Pharmaceuticals, chose to finance half of the purchase price for the club and arena with debt. Share values of Biovail were depressed, and he did not want to sell them at the lower price.
Bryan Murray era (2004–2016) After the playoff loss, owner Melnyk promised that changes were coming, and they came quickly. In June 2004, Anaheim Ducks general manager Bryan Murray of nearby Shawville became the head coach. That summer, the team also made substantial personnel changes, trading long-time players Patrick Lalime and Radek Bonk, and signing free agent goaltender Dominik Hašek. The team would not be able to show its new line-up for a year, as the 2004–05 NHL lock-out intervened and most players played in Europe or in the minors. In a final change, just before the 2005–06 season, the team traded long-time player Marián Hossa for Dany Heatley.
The media predicted the Senators to be Stanley Cup contenders in 2005–06, as they had a strong core of players returning. They played an up-tempo style that fit the new rule changes, and Hašek was expected to provide top-notch goaltending. The team rushed out of the gate, winning 19 of the first 22 games, in the end winning 52 games and 113 points, placing first in the conference, and second overall. The newly formed 'CASH' line of Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley established itself as one of the league's top offensive lines. Hašek played well until he was injured during the 2006 Winter Olympics, forcing the team to enter the playoffs with rookie netminder Ray Emery as their starter. Without Hašek, the club bowed out in a second-round loss to the Buffalo Sabres.