Why is ottawa called the senators

Expansion to the U. Attendance was low for games against U. In attempts to increase revenues, the team played "home" games in other cities. In , the team played two "home" games in Detroit, collecting the bulk of the gate receipts thus allowing them to actually finish in the black for that season.

They repeated the Detroit plan the following season, and in , the team transferred two scheduled home games to Atlantic City one each against the New York Rangers and New York Americans , two to Detroit, and one to Boston. With the onset of the Great Depression, the team would sell its stars to other clubs.

On January 31, , Frank Nighbor was sold to Toronto. After the deal, Clancy was mad and stated he'll be in the ground for 20 years before the Senators win the Stanley Cup again co-incidently enough, Clancy died on November 10, , and it would not be until that the Senators would advance to the finals, however they would lose to the Anaheim Ducks.

The team fell into last place for the first time in their history. In , there was a potential deal involving the Chicago Stadium 's owners including James Norris Sr. Summary of the last game 0n March 18, vs. Returning after a one-year hiatus, but depleted of talent, the Senators finished last in the two seasons that followed.

Frank Finnigan , one of the stars of the Senators' last Cup-winning season, recalled that they frequently played home games before crowds of 2, or fewer. In June , former captain Harvey Pulford was given an option to buy the team and move it to Baltimore , but the option was never exercised.

The once-proud franchise barely survived the season , with the team losing its last home game to the equally strapped New York Americans. The final game of the season was a tie with the Maroons at the Montreal Forum on March 18, The Senators then proposed to merge with the New York Americans. However, the league was not willing to lose another team a year after the Philadelphia Quakers suspended operations.

It persuaded the Senators' backers to move the franchise to St. Louis, where they formed the St. Louis Eagles. The franchise played only one season in St.

Louis before the NHL bought it out. With the relocation of the Senators, the city of Ottawa would not have an NHL franchise again until the season. See the article Ottawa Senators. Teammate Syd Howe also played for Ottawa, but didn't play in the playoffs. Starting in the season, the same season that the NHL franchise played in St. Louis, an Ottawa Senators senior amateur team, with the same owners, logo, and sweaters started play in the Auditorium.

It was nicknamed the 'Senior Senators. This team played against Montreal area teams much like the earlier amateur Senators club did. The club would last until , winning the Allan Cup in See the article Ottawa Senators senior. For senior hockey Senators seasons from to , see Ottawa Senators senior hockey. Ice Hockey Wiki Explore. Players Teams Leagues Seasons Arenas. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Ottawa Senators original.

Edit source History Talk 0. Defeated Montreal Victorias in two-game total goals series , on March 7 and 10, Defeated Rat Portage Thistles in two-game total goals series , on March , Defeated Winnipeg Victorias in best-of three series , , on December 30, and January , Defeated Toronto Marlboros in two-game total goals series , on February , Played Montreal Wanderers to a tie on March 2, Wanderers would refuse to continue series unless the tie was replayed, and forfeited.

Defeated Brandon, Manitoba in two-game total goals series , on March , Defeated Dawson City Nuggets in two-game total goals series , on January , Defeated Rat Portage Thistles in best-of-three series , , on March 7, 9 and 11, Defeated Queens University in two-game total goals series , on February , Defeated Smiths Falls, Ontario in two-game total goals series , on March , Ottawa would play it's first game on Feb 7th, losing to McGill University by a score of Old Scores, New Goals , p.

Annual Report. Cancel Save. His 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 The proposal included a hotel and 20, seat arena, named The Palladium on acres 0.

He is the sole owner and holds the titles of governor and chairman. Eugene has repeatedly stated that the team is not for sale and he would never consider selling it. Although the Ottawa Senators are a Read More See Full Story. The Senators play their home games at the 18, seat 20, capacity Canadian Tire Centre which opened in The original Ottawa Senators, founded in , had a famed history, winning 11 Stanley Cups and playing in the NHL from until The Senators had aimed low.

Firestone had set beating the old record the Senators' goal for the season, as the team planned to finish low in the standings for its first few years in order to get high draft picks. In , the club would add prospects Alexandre Daigle front and Alexei Yashin. Yashin would have an outstanding rookie season and become a finalist for the Calder Trophy in one of the few highlights for the Senators, who would again finish last in the league. The club would go on to finish last in the league in and as well.

Among the disappointments during the early years of the resurrected Senators was Alexandre Daigle , the number one overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft. During the season, it had become clear that Daigle would be the number one pick.

The Quebec Nordiques publicly announced that they would trade several players for him, as they wished to build a new arena and needed a marquee francophone player. As the season progressed, both the Senators and the San Jose Sharks were neck and neck in last place, and at that time, NHL rules meant the worst team would get the first pick. This 'competition' was variously dubbed the 'Daigle Cup' and the 'Yelnats Puc'.

Near the end of the season, the Senators would call other teams to ask for their opponent's best players to be playing them in upcoming matches, making plans to field a weaker squad if their opponent did so also. After the season, Bruce Firestone would make comments to the press about how the team deliberately lost games, expecting that comments would be 'off the record'.

The club would promote Daigle over Yashin, as seen in the yearbook photo. In , Yashin would qualify as a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy as outstanding rookie, although the Senators had promoted Daigle as their pick. In the end Daigle did not come close to the career the Senators hoped for. After scoring only 74 goals in just over four seasons, he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. He is regarded as one of the biggest draft busts in sports history.

In December , one month before the Senators were to open the new Palladium, after three straight last place finishes, and poor attendance at the Civic Centre, the Senators organization was in turmoil.

The situation was a big concern for the Senators ownership and especially for Ogden, which had a lot invested in the soon-to-open Palladium, and which did not want to open the Palladium to poor attendance. Ogden brought in Roy Mlakar to assist in sorting out the turmoil. He would eventually become team president and CEO, posts he still holds today. In the midst of the upheaval, the new Palladium had opened. The Senators, still coached by Allison, lost their first game in the arena 3—0 to the Montreal Canadiens on January 17, The event was much more subdued than their first game.

The Cup banners were raised, but the winches jammed, blocking the view of many fans. There were no entertainment big names, and only Firestone and Bryden participated in the ceremonial face-off. While Ottawa finished last in the league for the fourth year in a row, the season ended with renewed optimism, partly from the debut of new star Daniel Alfredsson , who won the Calder Memorial Trophy , the NHL Rookie of the Year Award, the first Senator to do so.

The season would see the Senators qualify for the playoffs for the first time, in dramatic fashion. They clinched the seventh seed on the last game of the regular season, thanks to a late goal from Steve Duchesne against Dominik Hasek , then of the Buffalo Sabres , giving the Senators a win and the first playoff appearance for an Ottawa-based team in 67 years. The Senators then faced the Sabres in the first round of the playoffs and were eliminated in the full seven games.

Despite holding a lead in game seven, Alexei Yashin put the puck in his own net, allowing Buffalo to tie the game and eventually win the game and the series on a goal by Derek Plante in overtime. The next season, , the Senators improved further. They improved their regular season record, finishing with their first winning record in franchise history one game over.

In the first play-off round they upset the top-seeded and the heavily favoured New Jersey Devils in six games to win their first playoff series. The Senators next faced the eventual Eastern Conference champion Washington Capitals and lost in five games.

After the season, Rick Dudley would become general manager, after Gauthier returned to Anaheim to become the Ducks' general manager. The Senators have qualified for the playoffs every year since. However, they met with limited success at first, only winning five series in their first nine trips to the post-season.

In , the Senators jumped from 14th in the previous season to 3rd, with points--the first point season in club history. However, they took an embarrassing pratfall in the playoffs; they were swept by the Sabres and only scored three goals in the process. Ottawa was locked in a contract dispute with then-captain Alexei Yashin during Yashin held out for the entire season, hoping either to play elsewhere or claim his contract was for , not a year of service.

The team responded by suspending him for the entire season and granting the captaincy to Alfredsson, who still holds it today. Yashin tried to sign on with a team in Switzerland , but the International Ice Hockey Federation banned him from playing internationally until the dispute with the Senators was resolved. An NHL arbitrator rejected Yashin's request to make him a free agent, instead ruling that he owed the Senators one more season if he ever returned to the NHL.

The Senators even took legal action to recover damages suffered as a result of the dispute. Despite the distraction, the Senators' regular season was successful as they finished with 93 points to qualify for the playoffs in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Like the previous year, they had a quick playoff exit, losing in six games in the first round to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Yashin returned for the season, no longer the captain of the team. Despite being booed at home and in most arenas, being cursed as "Alexei Cashin" [45] or "Cashin Yashin" [46] by the fans, he played well for the Senators. And the Senators had another successful season, finishing with points, winning the division and good enough for second in the Eastern Conference. For the third straight season, the Senators could not win a playoff round, losing again to Toronto in the first round, this time in a 4—0 sweep.

In , the Senators regular season points total dropped to 94 points, third in the division, but the team did qualify for the playoffs.

Jacques Martin stepped aside as head coach for the final two games to allow assistant coach Roger Neilson to have 1, games as head coach in the NHL.

This led to a second round series with Toronto, the third straight year the Senators had met the Maple Leafs in a 'Battle of Ontario. After the disappointing end to the season, there was speculation that front-office changes were coming. He had been interested in the Ottawa job in , but he chose not to wait for the Senators to make him an offer, and he joined the Buffalo Sabres organization.

In off-ice problems dominated the headlines. The Senators filed for bankruptcy on January 9, 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 Presidents' Trophy , finishing with a franchise-record points, making them the first Canadian team to win it since the Calgary Flames in This was also the highest finish by an Ottawa team in 77 years since the original Senators finished first overall in In the playoffs they defeated Yashin and his New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers before coming within one game of making it into the finals, falling to the eventual champions, the New Jersey Devils.

Jason Spezza, now Ottawa's top center, was picked with the draft choice received for Alexei Yashin. In the off-season, Eugene Melnyk would purchase the club to bring financial stability and the team entered the season with high expectations. Coach Jacques Martin would guide the team to another good regular season, finishing with points.

This was good for only third in the tightly-contested division, as the Bruins would have and the Leafs The seedings meant that the Senators would play the Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth straight time.

By now, Ottawa had developed a strong rivalry with their Ontario cousins and there was a great deal of pressure on the team to finally defeat the Leafs. Despite missing their captain Mats Sundin and other veterans, the Leafs would win the series on the back of 'hot' goaltender Ed Belfour who had two shutouts, defeating the Senators in seven games.

In the seventh game, Senators goaltender Patrick Lalime would surrender three goals before the first period was done and would be replaced by backup Martin Prusek. The Senators were not able to come back from the 3—0 deficit, losing 4—1. Two days after the Senators' loss, Martin was fired.

After losing eight of twelve playoff series, including all four series in five years versus the Leafs, team management felt that a new coach was required for playoff success.

Muckler even suggested that the new coach would have "to fix the dressing room", implying the team was not responding to Martin. He would not actually coach until due to the NHL lockout, instead spending time on scouting. The Senators like the other NHL teams did not play during the lock-out. Most players chose to play in Europe, although some, like Jason Spezza played for the Senators farm team, the Binghamton Senators.

Prior to the lockout, the Senators had acquired free agent goaltender Dominik Hasek. He did not play for any teams during the season, but did practice with Binghamton.

Daniel Alfredsson had a very good season in Sweden, and his club team won the Swedish championship. The NHL season was expected to be a strong season for the Senators. The media predicted the Senators to be Stanley Cup contenders, as they had a strong core back after the lockout, played in an up-tempo style fitting the new rule changes and Hasek 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 points, placing first in the conference, and second overall. Forward Dany Heatley netted two consecutive 50 goal seasons in and the following year. Heatley, together with Alfredsson and Spezza, formed one of the league's top offensive lines, [53] dubbed the "CASH line" by fans in a contest held by the Ottawa Citizen. The name is made from the initials of C aptain A lfredsson, S pezza, and H eatley.

Off the ice, owner Eugene Melnyk drew the ire of fans. However, fans were disappointed and Karlsson himself was saddened by the move. National Hockey League The NHL website features the latest league news and statistics, video clips of game highlights, and more. Check the bottom of the page for additional links. Ligue nationale de hockey Site Web de la Ligue nationale de hockey. Search The Canadian Encyclopedia.

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