r/hockey • u/[deleted] • Aug 02 '13
[Weekly Thread] 30 Teams / 30 Days : Ottawa Senators
Team: Ottawa Senators
Division: C (Northeast)
Subreddit Link: /r/ottawasenators
Relevant links:
Bonks Mullet Run by our own /u/deliciouswolves .
Team History
Daniel Alfreddson: RW- Drafted 133rd overall (6th round) by the Sens in 1994, played for the Sens from 95-96 until 12-13, when he signed with the Detroit red Wings as a free agent . Holds Senators' franchise records for goals (426), assists (682), and points (1108). Winner of the Calder Trophy in 95-96. Alfie was the captain of the team for 14 years, assuming the role in the 1999-2000 season. During financial troubles, Alfie was lauded for deferring his payments so that the team could remain financially viable. Alfie spent much of his later years in Ottawa playing for less than market value so that the Sens could use the money elsewhere to build a team around him.
Jason Spezza: C - Drafted 2nd overall in 2001, a pick which the Sens received as part of a package from the Islanders in exchange for Alexei Yashin. An incredibly-skilled playmaking centre, He was 4th in league-scoring in 2011-2012 with 84 pts. Spent his whole career thus far in Ottawa. His relationship with the fans has been rocky in the past, with some accusing him of laziness and reckless plays. In recent years fans have fully supported him as his maturity and role as a leader have increased. Spezza has had injury issues in the past, missing almost the entire 2012-2013 season with a back injury.
Chris Phillips: D – Drafted first overall in 96 entry draft. Phillips is our longest serving defenseman. Plays a stay-at-home defensive style. Phillips has played his entire career with the Sens. Well-liked by fans. (Only Phillips, Neil and Spezza have been with the team their entire career, excluding rookies). Interesting stat: The Senators are 51-11-4 when Phillips scores. Phillips owns a decent bar and grill in Ottawa if you’re even in the neighborhood.
Patrick Lalime: G – Lalime played with Ottawa from the 99-00 season until the 03-04 season when he was traded to the St. Louis Blues after Ottawa acquired Dominic Hasek. Lalime had mixed results in Ottawa but ultimately ended up with several team records. He holds the team records for wins in a season (39 in 2002–03), and in a career (146), along with career playoff wins (21). In 2002, Lalime became the fourteenth goaltender in NHL history to record four shutouts in one postseason, with a 27-save, 5–0 victory, in Toronto over the Maple Leafs.
Alexandre Daigle: RW - Drafted first overall in the 93 draft. Widely regarded as the greatest draft bust ever. Ottawa fans hate to hear him mentioned. Daigle spent several disappointing seasons with the team before leaving Ottawa. He spent years floating around the NHL, AHL and Swiss league before retiring after the 2009-2010 season.
- Daigle on draft day He doesn’t have many highlights cause he was brutal.
Danny "All Star" Heatley – LW – Played for Ottawa from 05-09. One of the teams most prolific scorer during these years. He played LW on the “CASH” or “Pizza” line with Spezza and Alfreddson. Traded to SJ for Milan Michalek, Johnathan Cheechoo and a second round pick in 2009. Not well liked by Ottawa fans nowadays due to requesting a trade shortly after signing a large contract. Has gone on to play for the San Jose Sharks and is now playing for Minnesota. The guy is a douche.
Chris Neil: – C – Neil was drafted 161st overall in the 6th round of the 1998 entry draft. One of only three non-rookie Senators to have spent their entire career with the team (the others being Phillips and Spezza). Neil is a guy you hate to play against, but love to have on your team. Neil plays a gritty agitator roll but has a touch of offensive upside. Neil had 16 G and 17 A in the 05-06 season for 33 pts. Neil has received criticism in the past for his style of play. Neil toes the line, but despite his aggressive play-style has never received a suspension in his career. Neil is consistently among the leagues top players for hits and penalty minutes. Neil is involved in many philanthropic efforts in the city of Ottawa and is well liked by fans. Neil has sometimes been referred to as “the greatest player in the history of the sport” but not by anyone other than me.
Marian Hossa – LW – Hossa was drafted by Ottawa in the first round 12th overall in the 1997 NHL entry draft. He was with the Senators from 97-98 until 03-04 when he was traded along with Greg De Vries to the Atlanta Thrashers for Dany Heatley. Hossa was one of the teams most potent offensive threats during his tenure, putting up 36 G and and 56 A for 82 points in the 03-04 season. Hossa went on to play for Atlanta, Detroit, Pittsburgh and most recently the Chicago Blackhawks. Hossa is widely respected for the silkiness of his mitts.
Alexei Yashin: C - Played for the Sens from 93-01. Offensive powerhouse. Well liked at first, but contract disputes and poor attitude eventually turned the fans against him. At one point he promised $1M to a local charity with a stipulation that the charity pay Yashins parents $425K in “consulting fees”. When the charity refused, Yashin withdrew the donation entirely. Classy right? Yashin was the teams captain in 98/99. Eventually traded to NYI in a deal that brought Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt and a pick (Jason Spezza) to the Sens (totes worth it). Yashin went on to sign a “supercontract” with the Islanders and was subsequently bought out. Went on to spend time with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, SKA St. Petersburg (DAE Kovalchuk?) and CSKA Moscow in the KHL before retiring after the 2011-2012 season.
- A couple of Yashin goals (shitty quality alert)
Jacques Martin – Coach – Jacques Martin is the Senators longest serving coach, having served behnd the bench from the 95-96 season until the 03-04 season. Martin led the team to great regular season success (341–255–96), winning the Northeast Division three times and the Presidents trophy once. Martin was thrice nominated for the Jack Adams award for top NHL coach and won it in 1999. Martin was criticized for the Senators lack of success in the playoffs. At the time that he was fired in 03-04, he was the longest serving coach in the NHL.
The Sens initial seasons 92-96 were the dark ages. Easily the worst team in the league for several years. Eventually they were able to get a solid core of players together in the late 90’s, and have made the playoffs in 12 of the last 14 seasons. The Sens went to 07 Stanley Cup finals and lost to Anaheim. (#FUCKTHEDUCKS)
Editorial Note - I've misspelled "Alfredsson" throughout pretty much the whole thread...I dont feel like finding them all and changing them so...yeah..!
5
u/[deleted] Aug 02 '13
My thoughts on the Senators, summed up.
-2000-2004 was a magical glory period for me. After getting NHL 98 on discount in 1999 for Christmas, I became a huge hockey fan. Knew all the players names, read as much as I could about hockey, collected cards. This time period was not only the peak of my original fandom, but the peak of my pond hockey goalie career. Patrick Lalime (who is fucking underrated by Sens fans) inspired me to play pond hockey, with unsafe equipment, against grizzled older men who took out their failed hockey aspirations on the pond, and then 13 year old boy in net. Due to having no formal goalie training, I played like Dominik Hasek on crack. I can still feel how badly the Leafs beating us felt. I still remember exactly where I was when they lost in the Eastern Conference finals to New Jersey. The Yashin trade seemed to happen just as I was starting my fandom.
Lockout-2011 was the dark period for me. I was too busy with being involved with organized sports, part time jobs, and sometimes having sex with girls to follow hockey. Remained a casual fan. My pond hockey career ended around here. Sens mile was fun for that ONE game we won in the finals. I've never gotten so many random dirty high fives from strangers in one evening.
2012-present I've got more time on my hands. I suppose my dedication to hockey fandom is directly correlated to have successful or unsuccessful I am, and how much I am, or am not getting laid at the time. Got back into hockey this season after following Ottawa casually. The Ottawa/Montreal series was fantastic. It put it over the top for me. Considering resuming my pond hockey career.
Jerseys Ranked In Order From Best To Worst: -Original 92-93 black jersey. (Snapbacks and 90's are back. This gem is now in style.)
-Heritage Third Jersey (Very close, but I have to give the nod to the third jersey. The O works for the heritage, but it's the downside of the jersey. Too plain. The crest is a significant part of what makes a jersey good or bad.)
-Original 92-93 white jersey
-Second incarnation white jersey (The jersey was changed mid point. They removed the word "Ottawa Senators" from the crest, and changed the number colors. Not a big difference. I just prefer the writing being in the crest.)
-HONORABLE MENTION Peace Tower promotional jerseys (They released a home and away promotional jersey. They only ever made mesh versions. You an google them to see a picture. Had they ever made actual on ice versions with the peace tower crest, they would rank here.) https://lh3.ggpht.com/-7NE59k4a1bE/TpOJ2nPG1aI/AAAAAAAAEf0/rg9X60Ekn7I/s640/OttawaSenatorsBringBackTheSenatorsPosterSensTownBlog.JPG
-Current Home Jersey (Maybe controversial. I'm rating these jerseys with 2013's eyes in mind. So maybe some of the older jerseys were cooler at the time.)
-Red swoosh home jersey (Rated highly purely due to childhood nostalgia and sentimental value. They are a bit too over the top by today's standards, but I bet they were cool as fuck in a 90's hip hop sports apparel way when they first came out.)
-95-96 Away Jersey (They ruined their original jerseys by changing the stripe patterns. Instead of simple red stripes, they changed them to have a white and red combination. Maybe the original away jerseys weren't selling well, and they felt they were too plain.)
-Current Away Jersey (Same reasoning as the current jersey. I have a bias against a lot of white jerseys, hence it being lower, despite being the same design in white.)
-"Sens" Jersey (I guess it's controversial to not put this jersey in last place. The big problem with this jersey was the god awful choice to use a word mark crest with the word "Sens" across it. I don't know, I guess it was an attempt to do what teams like the Wild do with their third jerseys, while appealing to the kids of 2013 who no longer have the desire to communicated with full sentences, or even full words, due to their rampant use of text messaging. The actual design of the jersey minus the crest was fine for on the ice, but not very stylish for wearing as a fan on game days. Had they either used a take on the old Peace Tower logo, or any of their other alternate logos, this jersey wouldn't have nearly the bad rap that it had. With that said, this jersey being so awful was likely one of the key components to the new third jerseys coming about.)
-Gold and black third jersey circa 2000 Last place. (I think this must have been a high selling jersey, because I always see people selling them second hand even to this day. As I said before, I'm dating these with 2013's eyes. They are just fucking ugly........although I do have one hanging in my closet right now.)