32 NHL Cities in 32 Days: Ottawa Senators

Alexis Bazydola
May 21, 2020
5 min read

The Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

The Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is home to the Ottawa Senators. The arena opened in 1996 as The Palladium. It has also been named the Corel Centre and Scotiabank Place before it was named the Canadian Tire Centre in 2013. This venue can seat just over 18,600 for a home hockey game. The Centre has also hosted concerts over the years and welcomed iconic entertainers including Celine Dion, Tina Turner, Prince, Lady Gaga and so many others.

Team History

The Ottawa Senators were a founding NHL franchise and 11-time Stanley Cup winners; however, financial instabilities forced the league to move the team to St. Louis in 1934. This team continued to prove unsuccessful and was dissolved. Years later, a campaign was started by Bruce Firestone, Cyril Leeder and Randy Sexton to “Bring Back the Senators.” In 1990, the NHL approved an expansion franchise to be placed in Ottawa to begin play in the 1992-93 season.

Mel Bridgman was hired as the first general manager and Rick Bowness as the first head coach. The first season in the league was unsuccessful for the Sens as they tied with the San Jose Sharks for the worst record in the league. This was part of management’s plan in order to secure better draft picks. Bridgman was fired with Randy Sexton taking over his managerial duties. Firestone also left the team with Rod Bryden coming in as the new owner.

The next three years the Sens continued to finish with abysmal records in order to continue to build their young talent through draft picks. They selected stars like Marian Hossa, Alexei Yashin, and Chris Phillips during this time. With the 1995-96 season beginning to look the same as the past few years, attendance records began dropping as fans became restless for results. Bowness was fired in 1995 and replaced by Dave Allison. Sexton was also fired and replaced by Pierre Gauthier. Gauthier began to set the team on track and brought in Jacques Martin as the head coach. There was a sense of optimism ending the season in 1996 which also saw the emergence of Daniel Alfredsson.

In 1996-97, the team qualified for the playoffs but fell to the Buffalo Sabres in the first round. The next season they faced the New Jersey Devils and secured their first playoff series win as a franchise. In the 1998-99 season, the team had their first 100-point season. The 1999-00 season saw the first “Battle of Ontario” series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sens did not make it past that round. With Yashin’s play on the decline in Ottawa, he was traded during the 2001 Draft for Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt and a draft pick where the Senators selected Jason Spezza.

In the 2001-02 season, the team beat the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs for their second series win as a franchise. They did not make it past the second round. The next season the Senators were hit with financial issues as they filed for bankruptcy mid-season. Competitively they battled through these hardships and secured their first Presidents’ Trophy. While they were able to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals that year, they were unable to have their chance to play for a Cup.

Eugene Melyk bought the Senators prior to the 2003-04 season. The team was knocked out of the first round of the playoffs again this year. Bryan Murray was brought in as head coach during the offseason. They also traded Patrick Lalime and Radek Bonk and signed Dominik Hasek during free agency. After the lockout of 04-05, the team traded Marian Hossa for Dany Heatley and was ready to test out its new team. While the Senators played an outstanding regular season, Hasek was injured in the 2006 Winter Olympics forcing the team to put in rookie goaltender Ray Emery during the playoffs. They were eliminated in the second round by the Buffalo Sabres.

The Senators would finally have their chance at a Stanley Cup when they made it to the finals in 2007. This was the first time a team from Ottawa would compete for the Cup since 1927 and the fans were ripe with excitement. They faced the Anaheim Ducks in the finals. While they were able to push the series to five games, Anaheim prevailed and won the Cup. After this season, assistant coach John Paddock was promoted to head coach after the dismissal of Bryan Murray.

The next season was another abysmal season for the Sens and Paddock was dismissed halfway through the season. Murray was brought back on an interim basis. While they were able to qualify for the playoffs, they were swept in the first round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Sens were faced with insufficient goaltenders during the 2008-09 season and missed the playoffs for the first time in 12 seasons. While they were able to return to the playoffs the next season, they were again eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

Another dismal season in 2010-11 saw the team begin to trade away veteran talent at the deadline in favor of draft picks. Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, and Brian Elliot were all traded away. The 2011-12 season was seen to be another losing year but the team returned to the playoffs against the New York Rangers. They were able to extend the series to seven games but did not prevail. The next year, Ottawa beat the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs in five games. They faced the Pittsburgh Penguins next but lost the series in five games. Following this season, Alfredsson signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings after spending 17 seasons with the Senators.

With more roster moves to try and improve the Senators in 2013-14, the team was eliminated from playoff contention during the last week of the season. In 2014, Erik Karlsson was named captain. While they were able to battle during the regular season in 2014-15, they would again be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens. None of the Canadian teams were able to qualify for the playoffs during the 2015-16 seasons.

In 2016, assistant general manager Pierre Dorion was promoted to general manager. Guy Boucher was brought in as the new head coach as well. During the 2016-17 season, the Sens returned to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Pittsburgh Penguins. They lost in double overtime of game seven. During the offseason, they traded for Matt Duchene in exchange for Kyle Turris, Shane Bowers, Andrew Hammond and draft picks.

They 2018-19 season was not much better for the Sens as they finished with a losing record, their worst since the 1995-96 season. This offseason saw the departure of Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks, and Duchene, Mark Stone, and Ryan Dzingel. The team finished last in the NHL. At the current season’s pause, the Sens sit at 30th in the league with 62 points.

Fanbase & Traditions

The fans of the Senators are known as the Sens Army. During their Stanley Cup run in 2006-07, the Sens Army was known to have Red Rallies to support their team by decorating cars and hosting fan rallies along the Sens Mile. To celebrate the success of the team, the residents of Ottawa closed down Elgin Street which has various restaurants and pubs along it. The street was closed for each game during the Stanley Cup Finals that year.

Spartacat has been the mascot of the Senators since his debut in 1992. Like many other NHL mascots, he has also been known to drop from the rafters of his home arena to hype up the crowd before home games. He also has a well-known rivalry with Carlton the Bear, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ mascot.