Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators (French: Les Sénateurs d'Ottawa) are a professional men's ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators are the most recent Eastern Conference champions, holders of the Prince of Wales Trophy and runners-up in the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals. The Senators play their home games at the 20,500 capacity Scotiabank Place (originally named the 'Palladium', and later the 'Corel Centre').
Founded and established by Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone, the team is the namesake of the original Ottawa Senators hockey club, which won 11 Stanley Cups and played in the NHL until 1934. An expansion franchise was awarded on December 6, 1990, after a two year public campaign by the developer to return the NHL to Ottawa. The club began regular season play in the 1992-93 season, playing in the Ottawa Civic Centre.
The club has seen its share of struggles, both on and off the ice. The team has had two changes of ownership, from Firestone, to Rod Bryden in 1993 due to the arena development process and its financing, and subsequently to Eugene Melnyk after the team filed for bankruptcy in 2003. On the ice, the club finished last in the league for its first four seasons. Changes in hockey management have led to steady improvement of the team's play, resulting in the team qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs each season over the last 10 years. Today, the club is among the most successful teams in the league, consistently finishing high in the standings. The team has several all-star players and one of the league's top lines, the "CASH" line.

Team history

The "Bring Back The Senators" campaign
Ottawa had been the home of the original Senators, considered the best team in Canada in the first half of the 20th century. Founded in 1883, the Senators were Stanley Cup champions in eleven seasons. However, the club fell on hard times in the late 1920s and the franchise relocated to St. Louis after the 1933-34 season, playing one year as the Eagles before folding for good.
After the NHL announced its plans to expand in the late 1980s, Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone thought that Ottawa was now ready for another franchise. His firm, Terrace Investments, launched a bid for the franchise. Firestone first told his fellow Terrace executives, Cyril Leeder, and Randy Sexton, after a game of shinny in March 1988. Both were surprised; Leeder thought the idea was "ridiculous".
Terrace did not have enough assets to finance the team, but Firestone believed that they could do so as part of a development project. Their plan was to build a mini-city (named 'West Terrace') of 9,000 in a 600 acre site around a $100 million arena and hotel development on 98 acres of vacant land. Getting an NHL club for the arena would drive up the price of the surrounding lands and Terrace's net worth would jump from $100 million to $400 million by 1997. The strategy was straightforward: "buy the site, win the franchise, build the building." In 1989, Terrace found a suitable site west of Ottawa in the then-suburb of Kanata on undeveloped farmlands.

On June 22, 1989, Terrace publicly announced their intentions to acquire an NHL franchise and revive the Senators name. The name choice provoked threats of legal action. Firestone, however, obtained permission from original-era / Senior Senators club owner Tommy Gorman's descendants to use the old Senators name and settled with the Ottawa Jr. Senators' owners.
To kick off the "Bring Back the Senators" campaign, Terrace held a press conference with special guests Frank Finnigan, representing the old Senators' players, and Joe Gorman, representing the Gorman family. Finnigan, the last surviving member of the Senators' last Stanley Cup champion (in 1927), was presented with a new number 8 jersey and the promise to have him drop the first puck at the first game if they emerged victorious. Terrace unveiled drawings of the $55 million, 22,500 seat arena, now named the "Palladium", designed by Rossetti Associates, architects of the The Palace of Auburn Hills arena. Also unveiled was a logo for the team using a stylized Peace Tower and Canadian flag, designed by David O'Malley of Ottawa. The theme song for the franchise drive was Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down".
The Senators' bid was considered something of a longshot. Jim Durrell, mayor of Ottawa at the time, but later part of the Senators' front office said "It's not that the area isn't a big enough market to support a professional hockey team, it's just that we're not going to get it."NHLPA head Alan Eagleson was quoted as saying "local fans are being led through the petunia patch if Bruce Firestone thinks he can land an NHL expansion franchise for Ottawa this century, well into the next or ever." Despite the naysayers, 11,000 fans sent in $25 non-refundable pledges toward season-tickets by November 1990.
In December 1990 the NHL held a league meeting in Palm Beach, Florida to consider expansion applications. The NHL executives were reportedly impressed by the Ottawa presentation, including Finnigan's participation, the several hundred fans and the marching band who traveled to Palm Beach, but apparently were more impressed at the fact that the group was one of the few willing to pay the $50 million franchise fee without reservations. On December 6, 1990, the Terrace group was approved to purchase one of the two franchises (along with the Tampa bay Lightning) to start play in the 1992-93 season.

Financing struggles
The Senators ran into financial trouble almost at once, as Terrace Investments needed to borrow money to meet the $50-million franchise fee. The original franchise fee had been expected to be $30 million. Terrace formed a limited partnership with community ownership, the first investor being the Ottawa Nepean Canadians Sports Club, who with 66 other limited partners would own 48% of the club. To complete the franchise fee payments, Ottawa high-tech mogul Rod Bryden would pay $3 million of his personal funds and become 50% owner of Terrace itself.
Since the location for the new arena was on land designated for agriculture, the new arena and development had to be approved by the Ontario government. The Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae was not sympathetic to the conversion of farmland and would not lend any assistance to the project. As the rezoning hearings dragged on, Firestone was offered $20 million to relocate to Anaheim, which had an arena, but no team. Firestone turned it down, claiming "I didn’t bring back the Ottawa Senators to play in Anaheim." Eventually, the rezoning was approved with the club being forced to pay for all infrastructure required for the project. The Palladium's size was reduced to 18,500. Terrace was also forced to scrap its plans for the rest of the "West Terrace" development, which limited the site's value. According to Firestone, Terrace's investment lost $80 million in value to secure the zoning. Eventually, the strain to complete the payment on the franchise to the NHL and to build the arena led to Firestone's resignation on August 17, 1993 after Terrace missed mortgage and development payments. He was replaced as club president by Rod Bryden, who would lead the franchise for the next ten years.
Financing of the arena project was difficult. Terrace had four financing deals fail. As it became clear that the Senators could not finance a needed highway interchange without government backing, the provincial government was persuaded successfully to provide a $27 million dollar loan for the highway interchange construction. In the end, the firm of Ogden Entertainment, a New York city facilities management firm, backed the project with a $20 million loan in exchange for a 30 year contract to manage the facility. In addition, U.S. banks loaned $110 million, the federal government gave the Senators $6 million, $10 million from Terrace and $15 million from a Canadian pension fund.
The Senators played the first game at the Palladium (today called Scotiabank Place) on January 17, 1996. It would only be known as the Palladium for one month. In February 1996, Corel Corporation bought the naming rights and the arena was renamed the Corel Centre. Following Firestone's original vision, the arena has become one of the driving forces for development in Kanata. What was once an arena surrounded by farmland is a growing commercial area.
The cost of the arena debt weighed heavily on the Senators. For several years, Bryden tried to reschedule the debt on the arena. There were various attempts at filing tax losses to write off the debt, all rejected by the federal government. In 2002, Ogden went bankrupt. It had re-invented itself as Covanta Energy and failed not long after the Enron scandal. This led to the Senators filing for bankruptcy on January 9, 2003, when it could not arrange financing to pay all it owed to Covanta, becoming due because of Covanta's bankruptcy.
On August 26, 2003 the team and arena was purchased by Biovail CEO and Toronto St. Michael's Majors owner Eugene Melnyk who had shown interest for several years in the team. The limited partnership between Terrace and the limited partners was dissolved and Covanta's creditors received the proceeds of the sale towards the money it was owed for the NHL franchise fee and the Palladium.

1992-1995: Expansion club struggles
The new Senators played their first game on October 8, 1992, in the Ottawa Civic Centre against the Montreal Canadiens. There was lots of pre-game spectacle — the skating of Brian Orser, the raising of banners commemorating the original Senators' eight Stanley Cup wins, retirement of Frank Finnigan's jersey number and the singing of the anthem by Alanis Morissette.
NHL president Gil Stein took part, presenting Bruce Firestone with a "certificate of reinstatement" to commemorate Ottawa's return to the league after 58 years. The ceremonial face-off between Laurie Boschman and Denis Savard was done by Frank Finnigan, Jr. (his father having died on Christmas day, 1991), Firestone, Stein, and original Senator Ray Kinsella.
The Senators would defeat the Canadiens 5–3 that night, but it would be one of the few highlights that season for the Senators. The club would tie with the San Jose Sharks for the worst record in the league that year, winning only 10 games with 70 losses and 4 ties (24 points) in the 1992-93 season. The club would go on to finish last in the league for the next three seasons as well.

Daigle Cup
Among the disappointments during the early years of the resurrected Senators was Alexandre Daigle, the number one overall pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. During the 1992-93 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'. Instead, his comments were reported, the NHL investigated, and the team was fined $100,000 for his comments.
The Senators would sign Daigle to a $12.25 million contract, the largest rookie salary in league history, which would lead to a cap on rookie contracts a few years later. Daigle, however, never came 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. The NHL changed its rules as of the 1995 Draft so that a lottery would be held for the top draft picks.

1995-1998: Ottawa's turnaround
In December 1995, 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. Star player Alexei Yashin, angered that management favoured Daigle over him despite posting higher numbers, was a contract hold-out. First round draft choice Bryan Berard, who had left the Senators training camp unsigned to a contract, had publicly stated that he would never report to the Senators. After head coach Rick Bowness demoted Daigle had been demoted to the fourth line, general manager Randy Sexton fired Bowness and his assistant coach Alain Vigneault on November 20, 1995. He replaced the coaches with Prince Edward Island Senators coach Dave Allison and gave the assistant coach job to former Hartford Whalers head coach Pierre McGuire, who was working as a scout for the Senators. Daigle was returned to full-time duty, but Sexton's changes did not improve the teams' play.
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.
The turnaround process started with the firing of Sexton on December 11, 1995 and the hiring of Anaheim Mighty Ducks assistant GM Pierre Gauthier as GM, Ottawa's first with previous NHL executive experience. Before the end of January, Gauthier had signed Yashin to a three-year contract, traded Berard to the New York Islanders for Wade Redden, and hired Jacques Martin as head coach.
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, 1996. 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. The club would lose its first four games at the Palladium, winning none for Allison who was fired on January 24 after the team lost 22 of 25 games. While Ottawa finished last in the league for the fourth year in a row, the 1995-96 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. Alfredsson, selected 133rd overall in 1994, was also selected to play in the 1996 NHL All-Star Game.
The 1996-97 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 1-0 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, 1997-98, the Senators improved further. They improved their regular season record, finishing with their first winning record in franchise history (one game over .500). 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. Dudley would be the Ottawa GM for only a year, leaving to join the Tampa Bay Lightning, (for which the Senators received Rob Zamuner as compensation) and was replaced by Marshall Johnston.

1998-2003: Emergence as Stanley Cup contenders
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 1998-99, the Senators jumped from 14th in the previous season to 3rd, with 103 points--the first 100-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 1999-2000. Yashin held out for the entire season, hoping either to play elsewhere or claim his contract was for 1999-2000, 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 2000-01 season, no longer the captain of the team. Despite being booed at home and in most arenas, being cursed as "Alexei Cashin" or "Cashin Yashin" by the fans, he played well for the Senators. And the Senators had another successful season, finishing with 109 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. After the season, on the day of the 2001 Entry Draft, Yashin would be traded to the New York Islanders for Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt, and the Islanders' first round draft pick (second overall), which the Senators used to draft Jason Spezza. Yashin would sign a $87.5 million ten-year contract with the Islanders.
In 2001-02, 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 1,000 games as head coach in the NHL. In the first round, they upset the Philadelphia Flyers in five games, limiting the Flyers' high-powered offence to just two goals for the franchise's second playoff series win. 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.' The Maple Leafs won the series in a tense seven-game affair, after the Senators had led the series 3–2 after five games.
After the disappointing end to the season, there was speculation that front-office changes were coming. In the end, GM Marshall Johnston retired, but Martin and Mlakar were re-signed.[44] John Muckler was hired on June 12, 2002, the Senators' sixth GM, and the first with previous experience as a general manager (with Buffalo). He had been interested in the Ottawa job in 1991, but he chose not to wait for the Senators to make him an offer, and he joined the Buffalo Sabres organization.
In 2002-03 off-ice problems dominated the headlines. 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 Presidents' Trophy, finishing with a franchise-record 113 points, making them the first Canadian team to win it since the Calgary Flames in 1989. This was also the highest finish by an Ottawa team in 77 years (since the original Senators finished first overall in 1926). 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.

2003-04: End of the Jacques Martin era
In the off-season, Eugene Melnyk would purchase the club to bring financial stability and the team entered the 2003-04 season with high expectations. Coach Jacques Martin would guide the team to another good regular season, finishing with 102 points. This was good for only third in the tightly-contested division, as the Bruins would have 104 and the Leafs 103.
The seedings meant that the Senators would play the Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2004 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. It was Lalime's last appearance in a Senators' uniform, and Jacques Martin's last game as coach. 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. On June 8, 2004, Bryan Murray of nearby Shawville, Quebec, became the team's fifth head coach, leaving the Anaheim Ducks where he had been general manager. He would not actually coach until 2005 due to the NHL lockout, instead spending time on scouting.
Also during the lockout, the Senators acquired Dominik Hasek as a free agent. With Hasek on the roster, there was no room for Lalime, and he was traded to the St. Louis Blues for a 4th round conditional pick in the 2005 NHL Draft.

2005-06: High expectations unfulfilled
The 2005-06 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 had acquired Hasek as a free agent a year earlier.
In another acquisition, the Senators acquired Dany Heatley in a blockbuster trade with the Atlanta Thrashers for Marian Hossa and Greg DeVries. The team rushed out of the gate, winning 19 of the first 22 games, in the end winning 52 games and 113 points, placing first in the conference, and second overall.
Heatley, together with Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, formed one of the league's top offensive lines, dubbed the "CASH line" by fans in a contest held by the Ottawa Citizen. The name is made from the initials of Captain Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley. Cash Line won out over finalists 'Dash Line' and 'Dazzle Line,' which Spezza reputedly despised and wanted to veto. However, during the press conference to introduce the teams for the 2007 Stanley Cup Final, Dany Heatley went on record to say he likes the 'Cash line' name.
The line made a dramatic and historic debut, playing in the first game of the 2005-06 season on October 5, 2005, against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. In the pre-season, right winger Brandon Bochenski had been playing on the line as he had played with Spezza in the AHL during the lock-out. But with five minutes to go, with the Senators trailing, then Senators' coach Bryan Murray replaced Bochenski with Alfredsson and Alfredsson scored a game-tying goal with 62 seconds left. Heatley and Alfredsson would then go on to score the first shootout goals in NHL history to win the game that night.
Heatley became the first Ottawa Senator in franchise history to reach 100 points on April 13, 2006, recording two assists during a 5-4 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers and five days later became the first to reach the 50-goal mark. Meanwhile, defenceman Wade Redden became the first Senator to win the NHL Plus/Minus Award, tied with New York Ranger Michal Rozsival, with a +35.
The acquisition of Hasek was ill-fated, as Hasek suffered an adductor muscle injury while playing for the Czech national ice hockey team during the 2006 Winter Olympics. He had played only one game for the Czech team and returned to Ottawa to heal. He would not play for the Senators again. Rookie netminder Ray Emery took over the starting goaltender duties and played well helping the team to finish first in the Eastern Conference and the second-best record in the league.
Despite the regular season success, the team entered the playoffs under a cloud as the media was predicting an early Senators demise due to Hasek's absence. In the first round, Emery would become the first rookie netminder since Philadelphia's Brian Boucher in 2000 to win a playoff series when the Senators defeated Tampa Bay, four games to one. The Senators then played the Buffalo Sabres in the second round, a series in which all games were decided by one goal. The Sabres won the first three, the Senators would win the fourth to stave off elimination, but the fifth would be won by the Sabres.
This was the last hurrah for several Senators, as Zdeno Chara, Dominik Hasek, Martin Havlat, Bryan Smolinski and Brian Pothier all left the team after the season. Chara, Hasek and Pothier left as free agents, while Havlat and Smolinski were traded.

2006-07: Trip to the Stanley Cup Finals
The Senators' season went off to a poor start, and was marked by a struggle to reach a .500 win-loss ratio. Until December, the team had a 21-18-1 record; however, they had much more success in the remaining half of the season, eventually finishing second in the division after the President's Trophy-winning Buffalo Sabres and earning the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Dany Heatley was the representative for Ottawa at the 2007 All-Star Game for the East, managing a 94.0 MPH slapshot in the skills competition and a goal and two assists in the East's 12-9 loss to the West. For the 'YoungStars' game, sophomore defenseman Andrej Meszaros and forward Patrick Eaves participated.
On January 3, 2007, Ottawa acquired centre Mike Comrie from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for prospect Alexei Kaigorodov. Ottawa was in need of another centre due to injuries and was eager to shed Mr. Kaigorodov, who was suspended for refusing an assignment to the Senators' American Hockey League affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, instead opting to play in Russia.
On February 22, 2007, the Senators were involved in a large on-ice brawl with the Buffalo Sabres over an alleged late hit by Chris Neil on Sabres co-captain Chris Drury. Although the referees ruled it was a legal hit (and replays and analysts concurred after the game), a fight ensued after play restarted. Eight players were assessed a total of 100 penalty minutes, and five players, including Senators Ray Emery and Chris Phillips, were ejected. The Senators lost the match, 6-5, in a shootout, one of a record eight overtime games and four shootouts that night. They ultimately finished with 105 points, their fourth straight 100-point season and sixth in the last eight.
In the playoffs, Ottawa was seeded fourth, so the first-round playoff series was against the fifth-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins. Some media were expecting the Penguins to win the series because the Penguins had won the season series, the Senators' past playoff troubles and the strong young talent of the Penguins, including Sidney Crosby. However, the Senators won easily by a score of four games to one, including a 3-0 win in the fifth game. This was the only series where the Senators were the higher-seeded team.
The second-round series was versus the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils, in a rematch of the 2003 Eastern Conference Finals. The Senators again won by a score of four games to one.
Next, the Senators faced off against the Buffalo Sabres in the Conference Final, looking to get even for losing to the Sabres in the 2006 playoffs. The Senators took the series, again by a score of four games to one, earning the Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference Champion and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, to face the Western Conference champion Anaheim Ducks. Daniel Alfredsson scored the series-winning goal, (see video) in overtime, redemption for being beaten a year before on the goal that eliminated the Sens from the playoffs. It was also the first series win by the Senators against the Sabres.

First Stanley Cup game in the capital in 80 years
The 2006-07 Senators thus became the first Ottawa team to be in the Stanley Cup Finals since the original Ottawa Senators club defeated the Boston Bruins in the 1926-27 season. Despite that 80 year gap, one fan attended both finals. The third game of the series and first home game for Ottawa on June 2, was attended by 99–year old Russell Williams as a guest of the Senators. He had attended the last Finals game in Ottawa on April 13, 1927, played in the old Ottawa Auditorium. His presence was a good-luck charm; as the game was won by the Senators, marking a potential comeback after losing the first two games.
It marked the first time that a NHL team captain from Europe had made the finals, as Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson is from Sweden. Previously, only Americans or Canadians had captained teams in the Finals. The Ducks were captained by a Canadian (Scott Niedermayer) and had more Canadian players than the Senators. Alfredsson would be one of the bright lights for the Senators in the series, as he had been in all of the playoff series. But he would be one of the few bright lights as Anaheim won the series in five games bolstered by strong defensive play and opportunistic scoring. The Ducks had been favoured to win the Cup since before the season started.
The Senators were the third consecutive Canadian franchise to reach the Final and they suffered the same fate as the Calgary Flames of 2004 and the Edmonton Oilers of 2006, losing in five games, the same length as all of Ottawa's previous playoff series.

Sens Mile
The city was swept up in the excitement of being in the finals. Businesses along all of the main streets posted large hand-drawn 'Go Sens Go' signs, residents put up large displays in front of the their homes or decorated their cars. A large Ottawa Senators flag was draped on the City Hall, along with a large video screen showing the games. A six-story likeness of Daniel Alfredsson was hung on the Corel building and the Senators organization held rallies at City Hall, and car rallies of decorated cars paraded from Lynx stadium, through downtown to Scotiabank Place. But the fans on their own inaugurated the 'Sens Mile.'
Much like the Red Mile in Calgary during the Flames' 2004 cup run and the Blue Mile in Edmonton during the Oilers' 2006 cup run, Ottawa Senators fans took to the streets to celebrate their team's success. The idea to have a Sens Mile began as a grassroots campaign on Facebook by Ottawa residents before Game 4 of the Ottawa-Buffalo Eastern Conference Finals series.
Their idea was to use Elgin Street as a gathering place for Sens fans to celebrate after games won. Since Scotiabank Place is located in suburban Ottawa, spontaneous celebration did not occur during the Senators' cup run until that point, like it did in cowtown and Edmonton where the arenas are located more centrally. When the Senators beat the Sabres in Game 5, people flocked to Elgin Street in celebration. After the Senators won Game 3 of the Final, fans celebrated on Elgin Street once again, and Ottawa Police closed the street down.

2007-08
The Senators made major changes in their hockey staff during the off-season. On Sunday, June 17, 2007 general manager John Muckler was fired; he had been in the last year of his contract. Head coach Bryan Murray was promoted to GM. On July 5, 2007 he hired his nephew Tim Murray as assistant GM, followed by the promotion of assistant coach John Paddock to head coach on July 6, 2007. On August 15, goaltending coach Ron Low was named as assistant coach and Eli Wilson was named goaltending coach. Assistant coach Greg Carvel retained his duties.
A major incident occurred in the pre-season game against the Philadelphia Flyers on September 25. Ottawa forward Dean McAmmond was hit in the head by the Flyers' Steve Downie. Downie was given a match penalty as McAmmond was diagnosed with a concussion, later won by the Senators up by two goals. Downie was suspended for 20 games, adding a 9 game suspension from the American Hockey League. Later on the Senators won all 7 of their pre-season games, followed by a five game undefeated streak to begin the regular season.
On November 5, 2007, the Ottawa Senators set a franchise record eighth straight win with their victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. On November 6, six Senators were named to the All-Star Game ballot: Daniel Alfredsson, Ray Emery, Dany Heatley, Chris Phillips, Wade Redden and Jason Spezza, the most from any one team in the NHL

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