Ottawa Senators facts for kids

Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
	2012–13 Ottawa Senators season
Conference	Eastern
Division	Northeast
Founded	1990; (began play in 1992)
History	Ottawa Senators; 1992–present
Home arena	Canadian Tire Centre
City	Ottawa, Ontario
Colours	Red, black, gold and white
Media	Sportsnet East; RDS; TVA Sports; Team 1200
Owner(s)	Eugene Melnyk
General manager	Bryan Murray
Head coach	Paul MacLean
Captain	Daniel Alfredsson
Minor league affiliates	Binghamton Senators (AHL); Elmira Jackals (ECHL)
Stanley Cups	0
Conference championships	1 (2006–07)
Presidents' Trophies	1 (2002–03)
Division championships	4 (1998–99, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2005–06)

For other uses, see Ottawa Senators (disambiguation).

The Ottawa Senators are a professional 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 play their home games at the 19,153 seat (20,500 capacity) Canadian Tire Centre, which opened in 1996.

The team was started by Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone, the team is the second NHL franchise to use the Ottawa Senators name. The original Ottawa Senators, founded in 1883, had a rich history, winning 11 Stanley Cups and playing in the NHL from 1917 until 1934. On December 6, 1990, after a two-year public campaign by Firestone, the NHL awarded a new franchise, which began play in the 1992–93 season. The current team owner is Eugene Melnyk, and in 2011, the club was valued by Forbes Magazine at $201 million.

The team has had success, qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs in twelve of the past fourteen seasons, four division titles, the Presidents' Trophy in 2003 and appeared in the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals. The success has been reflected in attendance. The club has averaged over 18,000 fans per game since 2005–06, peaking at 19,821 in 2007–08.

Players and personnel

Team captains

	From	To
Laurie Boschman	1992	1993
Mark Lamb (Oct–Mar)	1993	1994
Brad Shaw (Oct–Mar)
Gord Dineen (Mar–Apr)
No captain	1994	1995 (lockout)
Randy Cunneyworth	1995	1998
Alexei Yashin	1998	1999
Daniel Alfredsson	1999	2013
Jason Spezza	2013	present

Source: Ottawa Senators 2009–10 Media Guide, p. 206.

Lamb and Shaw were co-captains for most of the 1993-94 season.
After Lamb was traded, Dineen replaced Shaw as captain for the rest of the season.

Head coaches

	Nat	From	To	Regular Season						Playoffs
	Nat	From	To	G	W	L	T	OTL	Pct	G	W	L	Pct
Rick Bowness		1992	1996	235	39	178	18	—	.204	—	—	—	—
Dave Allison		1996	1996	25	2	22	1	—	.100	—	—	—	—
Jacques Martin		1996	2004	692	341	234	82	20	.592	66	31	35	.470
Roger Neilson		2002	2002	2	1	1	0	0	.500	—	—	—	—
Bryan Murray		2005	2008	182	107	55	—	20	.643	34	18	16	.529
John Paddock		2007	2008	64	36	22	—	6	.609	—	—	—	—
Craig Hartsburg		2008	2009	48	17	24	—	7	.427	—	—	—	—
Cory Clouston		2009	2011	198	95	83	—	20	.530	6	2	4	.333
Paul MacLean		2011	present	82	41	31	—	10	.561	7	3	4	0.430

General managers

	From	To
Mel Bridgman	1991	1993
Randy Sexton	1993	1995
Pierre Gauthier	1995	1998
Rick Dudley	1998	1999
Marshall Johnston	1999	2002
John Muckler	2002	2007
Bryan Murray	2007	present

Source: Ottawa Senators 2009–10 Media Guide, p. 206.

Honoured members

Hall of Famers

Roger Neilson – Senators assistant coach & head coach (2001–03), was inducted (as a Builder) on November 4, 2002, for his career in coaching.

Retired numbers

No.	Player	Position	Career	No. retirement
Ottawa Senators retired numbers
8	Frank Finnigan	RW	1923-31, 1932-34	October 8, 1992 ¹
99 ²	Wayne Gretzky	C	-	February 6, 2000

¹ Finnigan was honoured for his play from 1923 through 1934 for the original Ottawa Senators (as a right wing, 1923–31 & 1932–34). He was the last surviving Senator from the Stanley Cup winners of 1927 and participated in the 'Bring Back The Senators' campaign.

All-time players

Team record

Statistics and records are current after the 2011–12 season, except where noted.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Last five seasons

Season	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
2007–08	82	43	31	8	94	261	247	2nd, Northeast	Lost in Conference Quarter-finals, 0–4 (Penguins)
2008–09	82	36	35	11	83	213	231	4th, Northeast	Did not qualify
2009–10	82	44	32	6	94	225	238	2nd, Northeast	Lost in Conference Quarter-finals, 2–4 (Penguins)
2010-11	82	32	40	10	74	192	250	5th, Northeast	Did not qualify
2011–12	82	41	31	10	92	249	240	2nd, Northeast	Lost in Conference Quarter-finals, 3-4 (Rangers)

All-time

	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA
Overall	1446	638	620	115	73	4152	4269
Home	723	348	274	60	41	2147	1983
Away	723	290	346	55	32	2005	2286

Source: Ottawa Senators.

Images for kids

Pre-launch logo 1989–1991
Inside the Senators' arena, Canadian Tire Centre, their home since January 1996.
Jason Spezza played on the Ottawa Senators from 2002–2014. He was selected with the draft choice received in exchange for Alexei Yashin in 2001.
Forward Dany Heatley netted two consecutive 50 goal seasons in 2005–06 and the following year.
Captain Daniel Alfredsson improved his play in the 2007 playoffs, tallying a playoff leading 22 points
Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson is regarded as a cornerstone of the franchise as it rebuilds.
The Senators played their home games at the Ottawa Civic Centre from 1992 to 1996
Elgin Street after the Senators Game 3 win.