After a second round elimination by the Washington Capitals and
after coming off their best-ever season in 1997-98, the Senators
were preparing themselves for the 1998-99 season with the hope
that they could again battle for a playoff spot and then take
another strong playoff run.
Never could they have imagined a 103-point season and a first
place finish in the Northeast. After starting off strong with
three quick wins, the team slipped to a 3-3-0 record for 9th
place in the Eastern Conference. The battle for the playoffs was
on.
By mid-December the team was playing just over .500 hockey and
battling for 4th in the Northeast. An 11-game winning streak
lifted the team into contention for first place overall in the
Eastern Conference and plus .500 hockey kept them there for most
of the rest of the season. Late season letdowns let New Jersey
pass them for first in the East as the Sens coasted to the
playoffs.
After a 103-point season, playoff expectations were clearly high.
The Buffalo Sabres, a team the Senators played .500 hockey
against during the season, were the first-round opponents. The
Senators could not deliver and were swept in four, a bitter end
to such a great season.
Some season high and low lights:
SHINE OFF: Prior to the start of the 1997-98 season, Sens GM
Pierre Gauthier explained that life as an NHL GM became too much
of a strain on him and his family, so he decided to quit while he
was ahead and spend more time with the wife and kids. Noticing a
tinge of sincerity in his voice, we all embraced his 'courage',
and wished him well.
Before we could all say "Time Magazine's Man of the Year",
Gauthier suddenly announced himself as president and GM of the
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Apparently, life as a hockey executive
in California isn't quite as hectic, even with double the
workload. That's up for debate. But there is one undeniable truth
in this whole saga: Gauthier treated Ottawa fans like a bunch of
suckers.
SHINE ON: With the Gauthier shenanigans behind us, Sens fans
welcomed the team's fifth GM in Rick Dudley. Dudley, if you
recall, played for many years with the Buffalo Sabres and even
coached them during the early 1990s. His impressive track record
with the IHL's Detroit Vipers was enough to convince Senators
brass that he was the man to lead the Sens into the next
generation.
SHINE OFF: Rick Dudley proceeds to pull a Gauthier and leaves the
team after just one year under his belt. What was more
embarrassing was his decision to skip town for the chance to
manage Alex Daigle and the rest of the has-beens in Tampa Bay.
Is Ottawa really that bad a city?
SHINE OFF/ON: Prior to the season, Ottawa lost a future
head coach in Craig Ramsay, who left to take the assistant's
position in Philadelphia. This was a key loss, as many credit
Ramsay for building the Senators solid defensive gameplan.
However, Ottawa more than made up for Ramsay's departure by
hiring on former Toronto Maple Leaf head coach Mike Murphy.
SHINE OFF: The departure of Randy Cunneyworth. Cunneyworth was
given his walking papers in the early part of the off-season, and
promptly joined the club which originally drafted him way back in
1980, the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo left Cunneyworth unprotected,
and when he wasn't picked up by any clubs, gave him his
unconditional release. They later picked him up again and
assigned him to the farm. He was called up for the finals
against Dallas.
If the Nosebleeders were King for a Day, Cunneyworth would be
re-hired in the Senators front office. This guy is a natural
leader, and his presence and experience would do wonders in
whatever capacity he is given.
SHINE OFF: Beer prices went up yet again and Odgen Entertainment
introduced the ooh-so-easy-to-go-overboard-with 28-ounce $11
beer. Parking prices were one dollar higher at $9 (to cover the
costs of bailing out inebriated Sens fans?) but were now 125 more
parking spots to choose from (we never found them). Ticket prices
jumped between 4 and 19 percent for the regular season but season
tickets and complicated game packs discounts could bring the
prices right back down again.
SHINE ON: Yummy. SpartaCat, the Senators mascot, got a new hot
dog throwing device.
SHINE OFF: According to the Official Senators Media Guide: Alexei
Yashin's Favorite Musical Group - The Spice Girls. Blech...
SHINE ON: The Senators kicked off their 1998-99 season with a
big road game in the Rockies against the Colorado Avalanche. The
Sens' win over Colorado was partly due to goalie Patrick Roy's
obvious unease with his newly downsized goaltending equipment.
Just thought we'd list this here because of our obvious dislike
for Mr. Roy.
SHINE WAY OFF: The ugliest part of the Sens-Avs match came
courtesy of Colorado defenseman Adam Foote's stick. Sens star
Alexei Yashin was carrying the puck up ice while being harassed
from behind by a Colorado player. As they neared the Avs' blue
line, the puck fell into their skates. Yashin looked down to try
and fish the puck out. Just as he looked up again, Foote came
crashing into Yashin's face, stick shaft between both hands at
mouth level. Sens reaction, both on and off the ice, to Foote's
stupidity? They simply turned the other cheek. In fact, Sens GM
Rick Dudley had the opportunity to send video replay of the
incident to Colin Campbell, the league's new VP of After School
Detentions. Instead, they decided to forego registering a
complaint.
The reason? Suspending Foote would leave Colorado short-handed in
their next game against Buffalo, explained Sens head coach
Jacques Martin. Let's get this straight, here. The Sens decided
not to pursue disciplinary action against an individual who
could have easily sidelined the Sens' star player indefinitely,
because pursuing such action against the aforementioned
individual would possibly jeopardize Colorado's ability to deny
division rival Buffalo's ability to earn two points? Did we get
that right, Jacques? The playoff stretch run, we can understand.
The third game of a seven month, 82-game marathon, we can't.
SHINE OFF: Those of you who know the Nosebleeders know how much
we dislike Sports Illustrated and their obvious ignorance of the
game of hockey. Well, step aside SI, you've got company.
In an obviously futile attempt to preview the upcoming NHL
season, ESPN.com predicted that Ottawa would not make the
post-season this year, mainly because of the departure of winger
Pat Falloon, which they described as a "major loss." ESPN even
goes so far as to predict that Sens bench boss Jacques Martin is
on "thin ice."
Exactly who was doing ESPN's hockey research?
SHINE OFF: Lindros' hit on Andreas Dackell. A legal but uncalled
for hit. The more interesting thing was that after Lindros turned
Dackell into a board advertisement, not one Senator rushed to his
defense. In fact, supposed tough guy Phil Crowe was seen
chatting up a storm with Eric in the hallway during intermission
("So how's the kids? Good, good. Wanna see some photos?").
SHINE ON: Ah November, a wonderful month. Up until the 1998-99
season it had almost become a month of hockey in Ottawa that
could completely ignore - as if it never really happened.
A month where strange comments came from die-hards "I spent all
weekend raking leaves and missed it, what was the score
anyway?"... "Hey did I see a great college volleyball game on the
weekend"... "No kidding, Katrina's really in the December issue."
This season changed everything as the Senators actually put
together a November winning streak and finished the month a
respectable 5-4-3.
|
Marian Hossa
by Meredith Martini
|
SHINE OFF : Marshies free peanuts were discontinued.
SHINE ON: The play of Marian Hossa upon returning from injury.
Rookie of the year - no matter what the NHL says or does.
SHINE OFF: The gift that stopped giving. Last season, Yashin was
honored in Ottawa for giving the National Arts Centre (a facility
that houses local and international plays and theaters as well as
the National Symphony Orchestra) a one million dollar donation.
In mid-season, Yashin announced that he was reneging on the one
million dollar gift to the Ottawa arts community. It turns out
that the NAC was up to no good and the deal that they had struck
with Yashin was not as he expected it to be.
SHINE ON: Ron Tugnutt and Alexei Yashin make the All-Star team.
SHINE OFF: Tugger's performance at the All-Star Skills
Competition.
SHINE OFF: Canadian market conditions continued to plague the
team this period. Despite sellout or near sellout crowds in every
game, top Sens brass were suggesting the City of Kanata knock
some part of their property tax from the arena. They further
suggested that other concessions should be thrown their way in
order to ensure that the team can compete for top talent. Rod
Bryden expressed his concern that he may not be able to continue
to subsidize the team and may have to sell them if market
conditions don't improve.
SHINE ON: Ron Tugnutt finishes the season with a league-best 1.71
GAA.
You may recall from last season's summary we wrote....
START QUOTE
"* SHINE OFF - In one of the strangest moves of the season, Sens
GM Pierre Gauthier refuses to allow players to wear jersey
numbers above #35 (goaltenders excepted). Alex Daigle (R.I.P)
goes from 91 to 9, Bonk trades in his 76 for 14, and Stan Neckar
dropped from 94 to 24. The decision also prevents rookie Chris
Phillips from wearing his beloved 77. Instead, he opts for #5,
then #4.
Guess that rules out any chances of Wayne Gretzky finishing his
career in Bytown? "
END QUOTE
How wrong could we be? On April 15th, Wayne played his last NHL
game in Canada as the New York Rangers played the Sens to a 2-2
tie. The media was out in force and Gretzky was the focus of
attention. Gretzky was that he was awarded all three stars.
Count the Nosebleeders in to the "Forget Bettman, Gretzky should
award the Cup to the champs" cause.
|
Alexei Yashin
by Meredith Martini
|
TEAM MVP: Alexei Yashin. Last season's team ups and downs
were generally Alexei Yashin's ups and downs. Yashin ended with
44 goals and 94 points (6th in the league). He led the team in
three star selections, winning the Molson Cup. In addition to
being the 1998-99 MVP, the future of this team is definitely
linked to the future of Mr. Yashin. Unfortunately, Yash was
unable to find the net in the playoffs and was held off the
scorecard completely as the Senators went down in four.
SURPRISE: Radek Bonk. Radek won the DISAPPOINTMENT award
last season but his play this year has made believers of many.
Bonk has become a defensive specialist, consistently being
matched against the likes of the Jagrs and Hulls of the NHL.
Bonk notched 48 points on the season (compared with 16 last
season) and was a plus 15. The only downside? We didn't have half
as much fun this year writing our articles without Bonk to bash.
Runner up SURPRISE: 103 team points. This was unexpected and
perhaps not a good thing as expectations for next season have now
been set.
DISAPPOINTMENT: Chris Phillips. The pressure to perform
is indeed high, particularly in front of some of the most
knowledgeable hockey fans around. Phillips was awarded last
season's surprise of the year but this season was injured for
much of the year playing in just 34 games and scoring six points.
He was last on the team with a -5 +/-. Phillips did start to take
regular shifts at both defense forward but when he did play he
was inconsistent and rarely played to the form of last season.
Runner up: The team's playoff run, or maybe we should say lack of
playoff run. The Sens lost four straight to the surprising
Buffalo Sabres.
OFF-SEASON CHANGES: Ignoring their inability to beat
Buffalo, with a few key changes and if the Sens continue at this
pace of improvement they should be hoisting Lord Stanley's mug
next June. Almost to spite this path in the early past of the
off-season already much has happened and there is much more to
come.
For the second year in a row the Senators lost their GM to
another team. After less than 12 months on the job, Sens GM Rick
Dudley has bolted the organization to join the Tampa Bay
Lightning and his previous employers the Davidson Group. At
least Dudley had the manliness to tell the Senators what he was
thinking of doing. This allowed the team the opportunity to come
to agreement with the Lightning for compensation. The agreement
which is known to "have a number of elements" will not be in
effect, and will not be released, until the William Davidson
Group has closed the purchase of the team with outgoing owner Art
Williams. The contents are known to the NHL which has approved
the deal.
One day after the Dudley announcement, came the announcement that
Marshall Johnston would be taking over as GM. Johnston, who has
been with the organization in key hockey roles for the last three
years, has agreed to a three-year contract and publicly agreed
not to bolt the team before the end of his contract, that is "if
they will have me for that long". The Nosebleeders think that he
will work out just fine. Terms of the agreement were not
disclosed.
Marshall has experience on all levels of the game and is known to
have strong loyalties and a respected work ethic. Johnston was
the Senators' director of player personnel from July 1996 to
March 1999. Perhaps in anticipation of this move, he was named
the club's assistant general manager in March.
Johnston has more than 30 years of NHL experience including
assistant general manager (Colorado Rockies), director of player
personnel (New Jersey Devils) , scouting combine executive
director (the combine included the Dallas Stars, Hartford
Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets), head coach,
assistant coach (New Jersey Devils) and player (Minnesota North
Stars 1967-1968 to 1970-71, California Golden Seals 1971-72 to
1973-74). Johnston has played in two Olympic games (Bronze medal
in 1964) and coached in two others. He was named to the
International Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998.
Unable to protect two goaltenders for the upcoming entry draft,
the Senators decided to get what they could for one of their
goaltending duo as they traded Damian Rhodes to the Atlanta
Thrashers for future considerations. The move made available
Rhodes' salary which could come in handy for Johnston as he
steers the team towards the 1999-2000 season. Some close to the
Senators are hopeful that the future considerations include the
Thrashers picking up the $2 million dollar plus salary of Sens
defensemen Igor Kravchuk.
The Senators then acquired goaltender Patrick Lalime from the
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim sending left winger Ted Donato and the
rights to defenseman Antti-Jussi Niemi to Anaheim. Patrick Lalime
is not expected to be the main starter for the upcoming season
but is clearly slated to become the Senators' goaltender of the
future.
In other moves to date:
- A deal was struck for a two-year affiliation agreement with the
International Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins.
- 23-year-old right winger Chris Szysky was signed to a
multi-year deal. Szysky was the only full-time national team
player on the roster of the 1999 Team Canada team (bronze medal)
playing alongside current Senators Wade Redden and Ron Tugnutt.
Szysky was not selected in the NHL's Entry Draft and played his
four major junior hockey seasons with Swift Current of the
Western Hockey League.
- The Yashin whining started less than one day after the team was
eliminated from the playoffs. Yashin has one year remaining on
his latest contract which pays him $3.5 million per year. It
is expected that Yashin will be looking for $8-10 million a
season and he would easily get it with most other NHL teams.
In addition to more than likely having to deal with Yashin's
contract, GM Johnston will also have to deal with a number of
free agents and contract extension expectations including Ron
Tugnutt, who posted the lowest GAA in the NHL.
The Nosebleeders would like to see the team try to keep Nelson
Emerson who was acquired late in the season and also try to pick
up one or two gritty forwards. The team is in need of protection
for players like Alexei Yashin, Daniel Alfredsson and Marian
Hossa. As much as the Nosebleeders like Ron Tugnutt, we are not
confident in his abilities to carry the team to the Cup.
This is the Nosebleeders signing off and wishing everyone the
best of summers. Thanks to LCS for a great run...like the Great
One, you will be missed.
