Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators are an NHL franchise in the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference.

Ottawa was founded in 1883, and was a member of the NHL from 1917 until 1934, but became defunct for a number of years following that. In 1992, they rejoined the league, finishing last for their first four seasons. These last place finishes earned the Senators a number of key draft picks which have been used to create one of the most successful teams in today’s NHL. Although Alexandre Daigle turned out to be a waste of a pick, Radek Bonk, Chris Phillips and Wade Redden proved to be anchors of the Senators throughout the late ‘90s. With the emergence of Daniel Alfredsson in 1996, and captain Alexei Yashin leading the way, Ottawa began to make the playoffs on a regular basis. In 2001, Yashin was traded for big defenseman Zdeno Chara and a draft pick which was turned into current star Jason Spezza.

In 2005, after the lockout, Marian Hossa was traded for Dany Heatley, and Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson became one of the top offensive lines in the NHL. In 2007, the Senators made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to Anaheim in five games. The following season, Ottawa was knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins, leading to the firing of coach Bryan Murray.