Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators are an ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada. They play in the North-American 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 gladiator

Division titles won: 3 (1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03)

League championships won: 0

Original Franchise

The original Ottawa Senators franchise was based in Ottawa from 1901 to 1934. They competed in the National Hockey Association and the National Hockey League and won a total of nine Stanley Cups. This franchise was originally nicknamed Silver Seven, and later nicknamed Senators. The original Senators relocated to St. Louis, Missouri and played their final season 1934-1935 as the St. Louis Eagles. This franchise was completely separate from the modern-day Senators franchise.

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 Metropolitains 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).

Current Franchise

In 1992, the Ottawa Senators began play in the modern era, under original owner Bruce Firestone. The Senators suffered through several miserable seasons, among the worst in the NHL record book, after they started play. The Senators began play in the Ottawa Civic Centre a small arena by professional standards, seating approximately 10,500.

Two major things happened for the Ottawa Senators in January 1996, Jacques Martin became coach in January 1996 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, this 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.

The Senators are considered by many to be one of the favourite teams to win the 2004 Stanley Cup. As of the start of the 2003-04 season, the general manager is John Muckler and the head coach is Jacques Martin.

Ottawa has made the playoffs every year since their original visit, however, they have had limited success in the playoffs, having won only four series in their seven trips to the postseason, including several consecutive losses to the Maple Leafs, leading to a heated rivalry between the two teams.

Players of Note

Hall of Famers:

None

Current players:

Not to be forgotten:

Retired Numbers:

8 Frank Finnigan (from the original Senators franchise)
99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)

Ottawa Senators official web site