The Ottawa Senators franchise is set to celebrate their 20th season in 2011-12, and in preparation for the milestone, the club has unveiled a new tagline for their anniversary (Hockey Makes Us), as well as a promotional calendar for each of their 41 home games. In recognition of the modern Sens’ first two decades, here’s a look at the top 20 players to ever suit up for Ottawa. The list was made based on a combination of time served, individual and team accomplishments during their stay and – perhaps most importantly – the player’s overall impact on the Senators franchise.
20. Erik Karlsson
Representing the new generation of Senators, Karlsson broke out in his second NHL season, scoring 13 goals and 45 points on a dreadful offensive team that featured just one 20-goal scorer and ranked 29th in the NHL in goals for. Already having showcased his electrifying raw offensive talent and the ability to log 25 to 30 minutes a night, Karlsson’s defense will improve as he bulks up, refines his pivoting and plays in front of a legitimate starting NHL goalie. At an age where most defensemen of his size would still be toiling in the AHL or overseas, he’s already established himself as Ottawa’s top blue-liner, and will only get better.
19. Steve Duchesne
Duchesne joined Ottawa for two seasons (1995-1997) following a trade from St. Louis. Of the 83 regular season points he scored for the Senators, none was bigger than his last one: the goal he scored against Buffalo’s Dominik Hasek to send the Sens to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
18. Shaun Van Allen
A member of the original Senators playoff team in 1997, Van Allen signed with Dallas in 2000, before returning to Ottawa as a free agent two years later. In addition to setting the tone for the most memorable playoff series in Senators history, he also kick-started the custom of a beloved bottom-six grinder sporting #22 for Ottawa, continued by Chris Kelly and, starting next year, Erik Condra.
17. Magnus Arvedson
Drafted at the age of 26 out of Farjestad in the Swedish Elite League, Arvedson played just seven NHL seasons, six in Ottawa. A perennial Frank Selke candidate as the league’s top defensive forward (he finished second in 1998-99, which was also his best offensive season), Arvedson established himself as a key role player and a steady two-way presence on the powerful Senators squads of the early 2000s.
16. Shawn McEachern
The Senators’ ninth-leading scorer in franchise history, McEachern netted 142 goals and 304 points over six seasons in Ottawa. Like Arvedson, the Waltham, MA native didn’t suit up for the Senators until his late twenties, but enjoyed several productive years as a member of Ottawa’s top two forward lines.
15. Radek Bonk
Drafted 3rd overall in 1994 out of the International Hockey League, Bonk was often derided during his time in Ottawa for a supposed lack of aggression. He struggled to transition to the NHL early on, failing to top 35 points during his first five seasons as a Senator. He would eventually emerge as one of the league’s top two-way players, breaking out for 60 points in 1999-2000 and netting a career-high 70 two seasons later. Bonk bridged the gap between Alexei Yashin’s departure and Jason Spezza’s arrival as Ottawa’s top centre, and while he may not have lived up to lofty draft day expectations, he was certainly no Alexandre Daigle.
14. Martin Havlat
As a testament to the team’s depth in the early 2000s, Havlat was the third right-winger on the Senators depth chart for almost all of his five years in Ottawa. One of the most exciting Senators of all time, he was capable of scoring at a point-per-game pace, never failing to attempt a highly improbable dangle and never succeeding at staying completely healthy. There were more complete players that suited up for the Sens, but very few could electrify the Corel Centre crowds like #9.
13. Patrick Lalime
It’s unfortunate that after playing 283 regular season and 41 playoff games for Ottawa, Lalime’s legacy will come down to the same tenet as Steve Duchesne’s: he’s only remembered for his final outing. His trade to St. Louis in the 2004 off-season was abetted by his disastrous Game 7 performance against Toronto, which might qualify as the most painful loss in franchise history. It’s easy to forget that Lalime was simply dominant at times, allowing just two goals in five games during the first round of the 2002 playoffs against Philadelphia, and posting the greatest numbers of his career the next season as Ottawa came within a game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Joe Nieuwendyk’s wrist shots aside, Lalime is the best goalie in the history of the Ottawa Senators franchise. (And yes, it was purely coincidental that he came in at #13 on this list.)
12. Anton Volchenkov
After drifting in and out of Ottawa’s lineup during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons, the A-Train paired with Chris Phillips to form a surefire shutdown tandem in front of Dominik Hasek and Ray Emery for the first two years after the lockout. He was hardly impressive on the offensive end, scoring less points for Ottawa than Norm MacIver despite playing 267 more games (and for decidedly higher-scoring teams), but stood out in other areas, blocking shots from every conceivable angle and hounding the opponent’s top forwards. He was deemed too expensive and a tad too injury-prone by Bryan Murray and was allowed to bolt to New Jersey last summer, but his devastating body checks and throttling defensive play will live on.
11. Chris Kelly
The consummate role player, Kelly scored his first career goal in an 8-0 drubbing of the Maple Leafs in 2005, and reached at least double digits in goals every season since. He was the perfect third-line centre, providing sound defensive play and chipping in offensively when necessary, playing in 459 of a possible 467 games in his five-and-a-half seasons in Ottawa, and centering Jarkko Ruutu and Chris Neil on the Sens’ most reliable non-Pizza Line trio in the post-lockout era. In essence, he was a better Shaun Van Allen, and watching him hoist the Stanley Cup for Boston was one of the few highlights of Ottawa’s dismal 2010-11 season.
Later this week: The top 10 Ottawa Senators of all-time.
