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2006–07 Ottawa Senators season 

2006–07 Ottawa Senators
Eastern Conference Champions
Division 2nd Northeast
Conference 4th Eastern
2006–07 record 48–25–9
Home record 25–13–3
Road record 23–12–6
Goals for 288
Goals against 222
General Manager John Muckler
Coach Bryan Murray
Captain Daniel Alfredsson
Alternate captains Chris Phillips
Wade Redden
Arena Scotiabank Place
Average attendance 20,081
Team leaders
Goals Dany Heatley (50)
Assists Daniel Alfredsson (58)
Points Dany Heatley (105)
Penalties in minutes Chris Neil (177)
Plus/Minus Daniel Alfredsson (+42)
Wins Ray Emery (33)
Goals against average Ray Emery (2.47)

The 2006–07 Ottawa Senators season (the team's 14th season) saw the team rebound from a disappointing early exit from the 2006 playoffs. The team made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals before losing to the Anaheim Ducks. After numerous personnel changes at the start of the season, the team had a poor record until December. The poor record sparked numerous trade rumours in the media. The team turned their play around to place second in the division and won three playoff series to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, the first in Ottawa in 80 years.

Contents:
Regular season – Playoffs – Player stats – Awards and records - Transactions
Roster - Draft picks – Farm teams – See also – References


Summary

Player Changes

In July 2006, the Senators lost four players to free agency; defencemen Zdeno Chara (who signed a 5–year deal with the Boston Bruins), Brian Pothier (who signed with the Washington Capitals), goalie Dominik Hasek (who signed a 1–year deal with the Detroit Red Wings), and forward Vaclav Varada (who signed with HC Davos of the Swiss Elite League).

Former Carolina Hurricanes starter Martin Gerber was signed to fill the void left by Hasek, and Ottawa also signed defenceman Joe Corvo, formerly of the Los Angeles Kings. A short time later, they traded star forward Martin Havlat and centre Bryan Smolinski to the Chicago Blackhawks for Tom Preissing, Josh Hennessy, Michal Barinka, and a second-round draft pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

The club signed Russian centre Alexei Kaigorodov to a two-year entry level contract. They also signed blueliner Jamie Allison and re-signed Antoine Vermette, Chris Neil, and Peter Schaefer to avoid arbitration proceedings. In addition, Ottawa re-signed Chris Kelly and Jason Spezza to two-year contracts each, as well as Christoph Schubert. Midway through the season, the Senators acquired centre Mike Comrie from the Phoenix Coyotes.

The goaltending duty was platooned between Ray Emery and Martin Gerber at first. Gerber struggled and Emery won the starting job.

Highlights

After starting with a 21–18–1 record until the end of December, Ottawa played better from January on (27–7–8).

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 Kaigorodov, who was suspended for refusing an assignment to the Senators' American Hockey League affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, instead opting to play in Russia.

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 defenceman Andrej Meszaros and forward Patrick Eaves participated.

On February 22, 2007, the Senators were involved in a huge fight with the Buffalo Sabres over an alleged late hit by 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.

The stellar play of the top line attracted media attention
The stellar play of the top line attracted media attention

The team finished second in the Northeast division, behind the Presidents' Trophy-winning Buffalo Sabres, and third in the conference in points (the team was seeded fourth due to the precedence of divisional winners). Because the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs both narrowly missed the playoffs, the Senators were the only Canadian-based team in the Eastern Conference to qualify for the playoffs.

Postseason

For more details on this topic, see 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Senators started the playoffs against the fifth-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins, whom they defeated four games to one. The second-seeded New Jersey Devils were their next opponent, with the same four-games-to-one result, again in favor of the Senators. In the Eastern Conference Final, the Senators faced the top-seeded Buffalo Sabres. Once again, Ottawa won in five games, which gave the Senators their first ever trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. This was also the Sens' first series win against the Sabres.

Finals
For more details on this topic, see 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

The Anaheim Ducks were their opponent in the finals and the four-games-to-one result stayed the same for the Senators, the only difference being this time it was in the opposing team's favor. The Ducks were successful in shutting down the Senators's top line to the point where it was broken up in game five. All games were close except for game five which the Senators lost 6–2, when two goals went in off Senators defencemen and Phillips caused an own-goal, which turned out to be the game-winning and Cup-winning goal attributed to Travis Moen, and possibly the only such goal in Finals history. Alfredsson was the Senators' top forward in the series as he had been all playoffs, scoring four goals. Heatley and Spezza were held to one goal and two assists in total.

Key Contributors

After a poor start to the season, several players picked up their play and the Senators played well from December to the Stanley Cup Finals. The defence pairing of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov won praise from the media for their "shutdown effectiveness" against opposing top lines.[1] The 'CASH line' of Spezza, Heatley, and Alfredsson was outstanding offensively, scoring nearly half of the Senators' goals in the post-season, appearing on The Hockey News cover for their play.[2] The line tied for the NHL and team scoring lead with 22 points in 20 playoff games. Goaltender Ray Emery played all 20 games and posted 13 wins.

Regular season

Season standings

Northeast Division GP W L OTL GF GA PTS
Buffalo Sabres (1) 82 53 22 7 308 242 113
Ottawa Senators (4) 82 48 25 9 288 222 105
Toronto Maple Leafs (9) 82 40 31 11 258 269 91
Montreal Canadiens (10) 82 42 34 6 245 256 90
Boston Bruins (13) 82 35 41 6 219 289 76

Game log

October

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
1 October 4 Ottawa 4 – 1 Toronto Gerber 19,520 1–0–0 2
2 October 5 Toronto 6 – 0 Ottawa Gerber 19,237 1–1–0 2
3 October 7 Buffalo 4 – 3 Ottawa Gerber 19,202 1–2–0 2
4 October 12 Calgary 1 – 0 Ottawa Emery 18,404 1–3–0 2
5 October 14 Ottawa 3 – 2 Montreal SO Emery 21,273 2–3–0 4
6 October 19 Colorado 2 – 1 Ottawa Gerber 17,728 2–4–0 4
7 October 21 New Jersey 1 – 8 Ottawa Emery 19,166 3–4–0 6
8 October 24 Ottawa 6 – 2 Toronto Gerber 19,485 4–4–0 8
9 October 26 Toronto 2 – 7 Ottawa Emery 19,178 5–4–0 10
10 October 28 Ottawa 1 – 2 Boston Gerber 13,281 5–5–0 10
11 October 31 Ottawa 2 – 4 Montreal Emery 21,273 5–6–0 10

November

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
12 November 4 Carolina 4 – 2 Ottawa Gerber 19,548 5–7–0 10
13 November 6 Ottawa 3 – 4 Washington OT Gerber 10,485 5–7–1 11
14 November 8 Ottawa 4 – 5 Atlanta Gerber 16,253 5–8–1 11
15 November 10 Ottawa 6 – 3 Pittsburgh Gerber 17,052 6–8–1 13
16 November 11 Ottawa 3 – 4 Boston Gerber 15,772 6–9–1 13
17 November 13 Montreal 6 – 3 Ottawa Gerber 20,051 6–10–1 13
18 November 15 Ottawa 4 – 2 Buffalo Emery 18,690 7–10–1 15
19 November 17 Ottawa 2 – 3 New Jersey Emery 15,133 7–11–1 15
20 November 18 Buffalo 2 – 4 Ottawa Emery 19,770 8–11–1 17
21 November 20 Minnesota 3 – 5 Ottawa Emery 18,094 9–11–1 19
22 November 22 Ottawa 3 – 2 Philadelphia OT Emery 18,990 10–11–1 21
23 November 24 Ottawa 6 – 4 Florida Emery 16,544 11–11–1 23
24 November 26 Ottawa 1 – 3 Tampa Bay Emery 19,819 11–12–1 23
25 November 28 Ottawa 4 – 1 Carolina Gerber 14,393 12–12–1 25
26 November 30 Florida 0 – 6 Ottawa Emery 17,814 13–12–1 27

December

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
27 December 2 Tampa Bay 2 – 5 Ottawa Emery 18,618 14–12–1 29
28 December 5 Ottawa 4 – 2 NY Islanders Gerber 8,741 15–12–1 31
29 December 6 Ottawa 2 – 6 Washington Emery 10,926 15–13–1 31
30 December 9 NY Rangers 3 – 1 Ottawa Emery 19,192 15–14–1 31
31 December 10 Ottawa 2 – 6 Columbus Gerber 15,797 15–15–1 31
32 December 12 Ottawa 3 – 2 Detroit Emery 20,066 16–15–1 33
33 December 14 Ottawa 0 – 6 Nashville Emery 12,718 16–16–1 33
34 December 16 Ottawa 3 – 1 Buffalo Emery 18,690 17–16–1 35
35 December 19 Boston 7 – 2 Ottawa Emery 19,153 17–17–1 35
36 December 21 Tampa Bay 4 – 2 Ottawa Emery 18,603 17–18–1 35
37 December 23 Ottawa 6 – 3 Philadelphia Gerber 19,268 18–18–1 37
38 December 27 NY Islanders 0 – 2 Ottawa Emery 20,192 19–18–1 39
39 December 29 NY Rangers 0 – 1 Ottawa Emery 20,214 20–18–1 41
40 December 30 Ottawa 3 – 2 Toronto OT Emery 19,483 21–18–1 43

January

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
41 January 1 Atlanta 3 – 2 Ottawa OT Emery 19,707 21–18–2 44
42 January 3 Buffalo 3 – 6 Ottawa Emery 19,777 22–18–2 46
43 January 6 New Jersey 3 – 2 Ottawa Emery 19,548 22–19–2 46
44 January 7 Philadelphia 1 – 6 Ottawa Gerber 18,509 23–19–2 48
45 January 9 Boston 2 – 5 Ottawa Emery 18,292 24–19–2 50
46 January 11 Ottawa 6 – 4 NY Rangers Emery 18,200 25–19–2 52
47 January 13 Montreal 3 – 8 Ottawa Emery 20,038 26–19–2 54
48 January 16 Washington 2 – 5 Ottawa Emery 18,810 27–19–2 56
49 January 18 Vancouver 2 – 1 Ottawa Emery 19,161 27–20–2 56
50 January 20 Ottawa 3 – 0 Boston Emery 17,565 28–20–2 58
51 January 27 Boston 1 – 3 Ottawa Emery 19,846 29–20–2 60
52 January 29 Ottawa 1 – 3 Montreal Emery 21,273 29–21–2 60
53 January 30 Washington 2 – 3 Ottawa Gerber 19,178 30–21–2 62

February

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
54 February 3 Toronto 3 – 2 Ottawa SO Emery 20,112 30–21–3 63
55 February 7 Ottawa 2 – 3 Buffalo Emery 18,690 30–22–3 63
56 February 8 Montreal 1 – 4 Ottawa Emery 19,915 31–22–3 65
57 February 10 Ottawa 5 – 3 Montreal Emery 21,273 32–22–3 67
58 February 14 Florida 0 – 4 Ottawa Gerber 18,561 33–22–3 69
59 February 17 Atlanta 3 – 5 Ottawa Gerber 19,881 34–22–3 71
60 February 20 Edmonton 3 – 4 Ottawa SO Gerber 19,716 35–22–3 73
61 February 22 Ottawa 5 – 6 Buffalo SO Gerber 18,690 35–22–4 74
62 February 24 Buffalo 5 – 6 Ottawa Emery 20,040 36–22–4 76
63 February 27 Ottawa 4 – 2 Carolina Gerber 17,812 37–22–4 78
64 February 28 Carolina 0 – 2 Ottawa Emery 19,261 38–22–4 80

March

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
65 March 2 Ottawa 2 – 4 Atlanta Emery 16,190 38–23–4 80
66 March 4 Ottawa 3 – 4 Chicago SO Gerber 13,917 38–23–5 81
67 March 6 Pittsburgh 5 – 4 Ottawa SO Emery 20,074 38–23–6 82
68 March 8 Toronto 1 – 5 Ottawa Emery 20,018 39–23–6 84
69 March 10 Ottawa 3 – 4 Toronto OT Emery 19,527 39–23–7 85
70 March 13 Ottawa 3 – 2 NY Rangers Emery 18,200 40–23–7 87
71 March 15 NY Islanders 2 – 5 Ottawa Emery 19,989 41–23–7 89
72 March 17 Philadelphia 2 – 3 Ottawa Emery 19,639 42–23–7 91
73 March 18 Ottawa 3 – 4 Pittsburgh SO Emery 17,132 42–23–8 92
74 March 20 Ottawa 4 – 2 St. Louis Gerber 13,188 43–23–8 94
75 March 22 Ottawa 4 – 2 Florida Emery 14,202 44–23–8 96
76 March 24 Ottawa 7 – 2 Tampa Bay Emery 20,342 45–23–8 98
77 March 27 Boston 3 – 2 Ottawa Emery 19,786 45–24–8 98
78 March 30 Montreal 2 – 5 Ottawa Emery 20,185 46–24–8 100
79 March 31 Ottawa 5 – 2 NY Islanders Gerber 15,598 47–24–8 102

April

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts
80 April 3 Ottawa 1 – 2 New Jersey SO Emery 11,642 47–24–9 103
81 April 5 Pittsburgh 3 – 2 Ottawa Emery 20,064 47–25–9 103
82 April 7 Ottawa 6 – 3 Boston Emery 17,565 48–25–9 105
  • Green background indicates win.
  • Red background indicates regulation loss.
  • White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.

Playoffs

The Ottawa Senators ended the 2006–07 regular season as the Eastern Conference's fourth seed.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: vs. (5) Pittsburgh Penguins

Ottawa wins series 4–1

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series
1 April 11 Pittsburgh 3 – 6 Ottawa Emery 19,611 1 – 0
2 April 14 Pittsburgh 4 – 3 Ottawa Emery 20,133 1 – 1
3 April 15 Ottawa 4 – 2 Pittsburgh Emery 17,132 2 – 1
4 April 17 Ottawa 2 – 1 Pittsburgh Emery 17,132 3 – 1
5 April 19 Pittsburgh 0 – 3 Ottawa Emery 20,179 4 – 1

Eastern Conference Semifinals: vs. (2) New Jersey Devils

Ottawa wins series 4–1

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series
1 April 26 Ottawa 5 – 4 New Jersey Emery 15,512 1 – 0
2 April 28 Ottawa 2 – 3 New Jersey 2OT Emery 19,040 1 – 1
3 April 30 New Jersey 0 – 2 Ottawa Emery 19,636 2 – 1
4 May 2 New Jersey 2 – 3 Ottawa Emery 20,248 3 – 1
5 May 5 Ottawa 3 – 2 New Jersey Emery 19,040 4 – 1

Eastern Conference Finals: vs. (1) Buffalo Sabres

Ottawa wins series 4–1

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series
1 May 10 Ottawa 5 – 2 Buffalo Emery 18,690 1 – 0
2 May 12 Ottawa 4 – 3 Buffalo 2OT Emery 18,690 2 – 0
3 May 14 Buffalo 0 – 1 Ottawa Emery 20,171 3 – 0
4 May 16 Buffalo 3 – 2 Ottawa Emery 20,294 3 – 1
5 May 19 Ottawa 3 – 2 Buffalo OT Emery 18,690 4 – 1

Stanley Cup Finals: vs. (W2) Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim wins series 4–1

# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series
1 May 28 Ottawa 2 – 3 Anaheim Emery 17,274 0 – 1
2 May 30 Ottawa 0 – 1 Anaheim Emery 17,258 0 – 2
3 June 2 Anaheim 3 – 5 Ottawa Emery 20,500 1 – 2
4 June 4 Anaheim 3 – 2 Ottawa Emery 20,500 1 – 3
5 June 6 Ottawa 2 – 6 Anaheim Emery 17,372 1 – 4
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  • Green background indicates win.
  • Red background indicates loss.

Player stats

Scoring Leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Regular Season
Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM
Dany Heatley 82 50 55 105 +31 74
Jason Spezza 67 34 53 87 +19 45
Daniel Alfredsson 77 29 58 87 +42 42
Mike Fisher 68 22 26 48 +15 41
Peter Schaefer 77 12 34 46 +7 32
Playoffs
Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM
Daniel Alfredsson 20 14 8 22 +4 10
Jason Spezza 20 7 15 22 +5 10
Dany Heatley 20 7 15 22 +4 14
Mike Fisher 20 5 5 10 -2 24
Wade Redden 20 3 7 10 +6 10

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses;
GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average

Regular Season
Player GP TOI W L OT GA SO Sv% GAA
Ray Emery 58 3351 33 16 6 138 5 .918 2.47
Martin Gerber 29 1599 15 9 3 74 1 .906 2.78
Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L OT GA SO Sv% GAA
Ray Emery 20 1249 13 7 0 47 3 .907 2.26

Transactions

Trades

July 9, 2006 To Chicago Blackhawks
Martin Havlat
Bryan Smolinski		 To Ottawa Senators
Tom Preissing
Josh Hennessy
Michal Barinka
3rd round pick in 2008
January 3, 2007 To Phoenix Coyotes
Alexei Kaigorodov		 To Ottawa Senators
Mike Comrie
January 5, 2007 To New York Islanders
Tomas Malec		 To Ottawa Senators
Matt Koalska
February 26, 2007 To Washington Capitals
Andy Hedlund
6th round pick in 2007 NHL Entry Draft		 To Ottawa Senators
Lawrence Nycholat
February 27, 2007 To Phoenix Coyotes
2nd round pick in 2007		 To Ottawa Senators
Oleg Saprykin
7th round pick in 2007

Free Agents Acquired

Player Former Team
D Joe Corvo Los Angeles Kings
G Martin Gerber Carolina Hurricanes
F Serge Payer Florida Panthers
F Dean McAmmond St. Louis Blues

Free Agents Lost

Player New Team
D Zdeno Chara Boston Bruins
D Brian Pothier Washington Capitals
F Tyler Arnason Colorado Avalanche
G Mike Morrison Phoenix Coyotes
G Dominik Hasek Detroit Red Wings
D Filip Novak Columbus Blue Jackets

Lost on Waivers

Player New Team
F Denis Hamel Atlanta Thrashers

Draft picks

2006

Ottawa's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.[3]

Round # Player Nationality NHL Team College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 28 Nick Foligno (LW) Flag of the United States United States Ottawa Senators Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
3 68 Eric Gryba (D) Flag of Canada Canada Ottawa Senators (from Boston) Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)
3 91 Kaspars Daugavins (LW) Flag of Latvia Latvia Ottawa Senators HK Riga 2000 (Latvian Hockey League)
4 121 Pierre-Luc Lessard (D) Flag of Canada Canada Ottawa Senators Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
5 151 Ryan Daniels (G) Flag of Canada Canada Ottawa Senators Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
6 181 Kevin Koopman (D) Flag of Canada Canada Ottawa Senators Beaver Valley Nitehawks (KIJHL)
7 211 Eric Kondra (RW) Flag of the United States United States Ottawa Senators Notre Dame (NCAA)

See also

References

  1. ^ Garrioch, Bruce (2007-05-22), "NHL Team Reports", The Hockey News: pg. 22 
  2. ^ Warren, Ken (2007-05-22), "Top Line Makes Sens", The Hockey News: pp. 18–19 
  3. ^ 2006 NHL Entry Draft Results nhl.com - accessed December 9, 2006

External links

2006–07 Ottawa Senators Roster

Goaltenders:

1 Emery • 29 Gerber 

Defensemen

2 Nycholat • 4 Phillips • 5 Schubert • 6 Redden • 7 Corvo • 14 Meszaros • 24 Volchenkov • 42 Preissing 

Forwards

11 Alfredsson • 12 Fisher • 15 Heatley • 16 McGrattan • 19 Spezza • 20 Vermette • 22 Kelly • 25 Neil • 27 Schaefer • 37 McAmmond • 44 Eaves • 61 Saprykin • 89 Comrie 

General Manager: John Muckler •  Coach: Bryan Murray
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