1992–93 Ottawa Senators season

Background

The second iteration of the Ottawa Senators began in 1989 when Bruce Firestone, Cyril Leeder, and Randy Sexton came together to plan their attempt at acquiring a National Hockey League (NHL) franchise. The NHL was looking to add two new franchises by the 1992–93 season and after adding key personnel such as Jim Durrell, and Frank Finnigan from the original Senators franchise, the group submitted their proposal to the NHL. On December 6, 1990, the group was awarded a franchise upon payment of a $50 million expansion fee, which required additional investors, led by Rod Bryden.

In August 1991, Mel Bridgman was named the Senators first general manager. While awaiting approval of the Palladium, their planned arena, the Senators agreed with the City of Ottawa to lease the Ottawa Civic Centre in December 1991, to play in for the upcoming season.

Offseason

On June 2, 1992, the then city of Kanata, Ontario, gave approval of the "Palladium" project. On June 29, the club held ground-breaking ceremonies for the Palladium project at the site. The team was still seeking partners for financing the project and Ogden Corporation would back $120 million in loans on November 11. Actual construction would begin in 1994. On June 15, Rick Bowness was named as the team's first head coach. Bowness was previously a head coach for the Winnipeg Jets and Boston Bruins. He added Alain Vigneault, former coach of the Hull Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and E. J. McGuire, former coach of the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League (AHL) and assistant coach in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers, as his own assistant coaches. Jim Durrell, a former Ottawa mayor who became the team's first president on December 17, 1990, resigned on July 29.

Preseason

The Senators held their first training camp beginning on September 8 with medical evaluations. Forty-four rookies and 32 veteran players were invited to the camp. The camp was split between the Robert Guertin Arena in Hull, Quebec, from September 11 to 24, and the Kanata Recreation Complex from September 25 to October 7. Additionally, an intra-squad game was held in Brockville, Ontario on September 20. The first roster cuts took place on September 13, with the release of 11 players. On September 15, 28 players were assigned to Ottawa's AHL affiliate, the New Haven Senators.

The team played its first preseason exhibition game in Hartford against the Hartford Whalers on September 18. The game ended in a 1–1 tie, and the Senators first goal was scored by Neil Brady. The Senators cut nine more players after the game, releasing five players and sending four others back to their junior teams. The Washington Capitals won the first game played in Ottawa on September 21 in overtime, 4–3. Dubbed the "Capital Cup", they played a second game against the Capitals on September 22, in which they were blown out, 8–1. The first win by the Senators since re-entry into the NHL was recorded on September 24, a 4–3 victory over the New York Islanders. Defenceman Brad Shaw scored the winning goal. Ottawa then lost the next game to the Tampa Bay Lightning on September 25, 3–2. The team followed that up with another loss to Tampa Bay on September 27, 4–3.

On September 27, it was announced that Ottawa had signed former Philadelphia Flyers' winger Brad Jones to a professional tryout contract (PTO). On September 30, the Senators lost 4–3 in overtime to Hartford. Ottawa finished its preseason schedule with another 4–3 loss to Hartford on October 1. Following the game, Ottawa cut four more players from its training camp roster, bringing the total remaining to 31. On October 4, the Senators claimed Norm Maciver in the waiver draft from the Edmonton Oilers. In a final series of roster cuts before the season began, three more players were assigned to New Haven bringing the number down to 29. On October 7, just before the start of the regular season, the Senators announced Laurie Boschman as the team's first captain, with Sylvain Turgeon, Brad Shaw, and Brad Marsh as the alternates. The same day, Jones' PTO expired and the Senators sent him to New Haven on an amateur tryout. However, by the end of October, the team and the player could not agree on a contract and Jones departed.

Regular season

The Senators finished last in goals scored (202), wins (10), points (24, tied with the San Jose Sharks), even-strength goals scored (129), power-play goals for (66, tied with the Edmonton Oilers and the San Jose Sharks), power play goals against (115) and power play % (14.73) and shooting percentage (8.9%; 202 goals on 2,281 shots).

The Senators recorded their first win of the season in their opening game against the Montreal Canadiens in Ottawa, 5–3. They did not win again until November 25, a 3–1 victory at home over the New Jersey Devils. Despite being the worst team in the league, two players — defenceman Brad Marsh and goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz — were selected to play in the 1993 NHL All-Star Game. The Senators only won six more times after the All-Star break, recording their only road victory of the season against the New York Islanders, 5–3, on April 10, 1993.

Highlights

The new Senators played their first game on October 8, 1992, in the Ottawa Civic Centre defeating the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens by a score of 5–3. The game was televised on Hockey Night in Canada and was in front of a sold-out Ottawa Civic Centre with 10,449 in attendance. Lyndon Slewidge performed the national anthem before the game. The ceremonial faceoff between Laurie Boschman and Denis Savard was done by Frank Finnigan, Jr. (his father having died on Christmas Day, 1991), Bruce Firestone and NHL president Gil Stein. There was much pre-game spectacle—the skating of Brian Orser, the nine banners being raised to honour the original Senators' Stanley Cup wins, retirement of Frank Finnigan's jersey number and the singing of the anthem by Alanis Morissette. The game was attended by Russell Williams, an Ottawa fan who had witnessed the last Stanley Cup win in Ottawa in the 1927 Stanley Cup Finals, and would later attend the games of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals, held in Ottawa.

The starting lineup of the team's first ever game consisted of;

• Peter Sidorkiewicz, goal
• Ken Hammond, defence
• Brad Shaw, defence
• Neil Brady, centre
• Jody Hull, right wing
• Sylvain Turgeon, left wing

The remaining players filling out the game day roster included: forwards Mark Lamb, Doug Smail, Darcy Loewen, Jamie Baker, Laurie Boschman, Andrew McBain, Tomas Jelinek, Mike Peluso, Marc Fortier, defencemen Norm Maciver, Chris Luongo, Mark Osiecki, Darren Rumble, and goaltender Steve Weeks. Brady scored the first goal for the modern-day Ottawa Senators franchise in the game. Smail had the first multi-goal game of the team's history, notching two.

Two Senators recorded hat tricks during the regular season; Bob Kudelski scored one in a 3–2 victory over San Jose on January 10, 1993 and Laurie Boschman scored one on April 10, 1993, in a 5–3 win on the road against the New York Islanders.

Final standings

Schedule and results

|- | 1 || October 8 || Montreal || 3–5 || Ottawa || || Sidorkiewicz || 10,449 || Ottawa Civic Centre || 1–0–0 || 2 || |- | 2 || October 10 || Ottawa || 2–9 || Quebec || || Weeks || 15,399 || Le Colisée || 1–1–0 || 2 || |- | 3 || October 12 || Ottawa || 3–6 || Boston || || Sidorkiewicz || 13,056 || Boston Garden || 1–2–0 || 2 || |- | 4 || October 14 || Ottawa || 1–4 || Hartford || || Sidorkiewicz || 7,628 || Hartford Civic Center || 1–3–0 || 2 || |- | 5 || October 16 || Ottawa || 1–5 || Washington || || Sidorkiewicz || 12,911 || Capital Centre || 1–4–0 || 2 || |- | 6 || October 20 || Ottawa || 3–5 || Toronto || || Sidorkiewicz || 7,186 || Copps Coliseum || 1–5–0 || 2 || |- | 7 || October 22 || Hartford || 5–1 || Ottawa || || Sidorkiewicz || 10,392 || Ottawa Civic Centre || 1–6–0 || 2 || |- | 8 || October 24 || NY Rangers || 3–2 || Ottawa || OT || Sidorkiewicz || 10,089 || Ottawa Civic Centre || 1–7–0 || 2 || |- | 9 || October 27 || Pittsburgh || 7–2 || Ottawa || || Sidorkiewicz || 10,500 || Ottawa Civic Centre || 1–8–0 || 2 || |- | 10 || October 30 || Ottawa || 3–12 || Buffalo || || Weeks || 15,088 || Buffalo Memorial Auditorium || 1–9–0 || 2 || |- | 11 || October 31 || Buffalo || 2–2 || Ottawa || OT || Sidorkiewicz || 10,500 || Ottawa Civic Centre || 1–9–1 || 3 ||

| Legend:

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Goaltending

Awards and records

Awards

• Molson Cup – Sylvain Turgeon
• NHL All-Star Game selection – Brad Marsh, Peter Sidorkiewicz

Milestones

Source:

Transactions

The Senators were involved in the following transactions during the 1992–93 season.

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Player signings

Contract has an additional option year.

Draft picks

Expansion draft

The Senators participated in the 1992 NHL expansion draft on June 18, 1992, to fill their roster for the 1992–93 NHL season.

Entry draft

Ottawa's draft picks at the 1992 NHL entry draft in Montreal, Quebec.

Farm teams

The New Haven Senators were Ottawa's senior affiliate, playing in the American Hockey League. An agreement was reached with the team in December 1991 to be Senators' first affiliate. Ottawa came to an agreement with the Thunder Bay Thunder Hawks of the Colonial Hockey League in September 1992 to be their secondary affiliate and established their minor league training and development centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

New Haven Senators

The New Haven Senators were coached by Don MacAdam. The team finished the 1992–93 season with a 22–47–11 record, earning 55 points and fifth place in the North Division. The club failed to reach the post-season.

Greg Pankewicz led the Senators with 23 goals, while Martin St. Amour had a team-high 60 points. Darrin Madeley and Mark Laforest each earned 10 wins, while Madeley led the team with a 3.32 GAA.

Thunder Bay Thunder Hawks

The Thunder Bay Thunder Hawks were coached by Bill McDonald. The Thunder Hawks finished the 1992–93 season with a 33–24–4 record, earning 70 points and third place in the league standings, qualifying for the post-season. In the playoffs, the Thunder Hawks defeated the Muskegon Fury in the first round, however, the team lost in the round-robin qualifiers with a 1–3 record against the Brantford Smoke and St. Thomas Wildcats.

Jason Firth led the team with 36 goals and 100 points, finishing fourth in the league in points. In 11 playoff games, Firth scored a team-high eight goals and 17 points. Mark Michaud led the Thunder Hawks with 12 wins and had a team best 3.84 GAA.

Notes

References

Bibliography

References

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