Building the Sens
Piggy backing on Nords article, the Sens were built much different then their cross province rival, and it adds to the intrigue of the Battle of Ontario – the small market start up team versus the rich, historied, arrogant Leaf nation. Two teams with different building philosophies, both sucessful, with multiple 100 point seasons, but no Stanley Cup to show for it.
The Sens are the model franchise of the NHL, drafting players and bringing them through the system. Of the 23 players on the Sens roster this year, 14 were drafted, 2 added via free-agency, and the other 7 were added via trade.
John Muckler has changed the tone, look, and style of the Senators in the 3 seasons he has been the GM, and built a very different team then the team that was sucessful for many years under Jacques Martin.
Muckler has brought a focus to win the Stanley Cup, and although he wanted to change the team and “get rid of the lambs” for Wolves, his acquisitions via trade haven’t been for the tough guys one would think. Muckler has added Schaefer, Smolinski, Bondra and De Vries, and for toughness he added Varada.
His acquisitions this season have been unquestionable. Adding Hasek via free-agency and Heatley via trade have been incredible moves by Muckler.
Hasek has taken a big leadership role on the team and has challenged his teammates to work on the mental part of their game. Heatley is tops in the league in scoring and points, and always seems to score when the Sens need him to. Big and solid, with a Brett Hull one-timer and hands like Mario within 3 feet of the net, Heatley has been claimed by Ottawa fans as one of their own.
Here’s how the Sens were built.
Free Agency
Dom Hasek – Healthy, hungry and a champion in every sense of the word, Hasek has turned the team around. He started talking about the teams mental toughness at the beginning of the season, and will have the players fully confident come playoff time.
Brian McGrattan – he should win some sort of award for being the best young enforcer in the league. Who says the goon is dead?? McGrattan’s got a long career ahead of him in Ottawa.
Trades (insert Milbury joke here)
Zdeno Chara – could of been had by any team in seems, but the Sens have him and he could easily wear the C for the Sens.
Brian Smolinski – acquired by Muckler for a first round choice (Tim Gleason), Smoke plays all three forward postions and is effective no matter where he is inserted into the line-up. A good versatlie vet that all teams need to be sucessful.
Peter Schaefer – acquired by Muckler(his first team trade) for Sami Salo. If he just shot the puck like he did when he was on a line with Brendan Morrison, he could easily score 20.
Dany Heatley – Muckler should get a special section in the Hall of Fame for this trade. Could be the captain one day, can’t wait to see Dany in his first playoff game.
Wade Redden – (Bryan Berard deal) ladies love him, Gretzky loves him, Ottawa loves him. the oil that keeps the Sens machine rolling along.
Vaclav Varada – another first round choice (Jacob Klepis) by Muckler to get him, he got into a bidding war with the Leafs at the trade deadline (good tactic Quinn???). maybe overpayed, but he plays hard tough minutes for the Sens. Plays well in the playoffs.
Brian Pothier – (traded for Shawn Macheran) good solid 5-6 guy on defence. Not big, but solid.
Draft
Alfie – the cornerstone of the franchise. he embodies the Sens organisation. drafted in the 6th round, he is now one of the league’s best. Alfie’s come a long way from his rookie of the year campaign when his equipment looked to big and he played harder in a Sens uniform then any player before, or since. Only player that Toronto fans booooo.
Chris Phillips – #1 choice. Total pro, he saves his best games for the playoffs.
Jason Spezza – acquired the #2 selection from Milbury. Big day for the Sens.
Mike Fisher – a friend of Roger Neilson since he was a kid, and a class act, Fisher could one day be an All-Star and Olympian.
Chris Neil – tough as nails with a pain threshold of Rambo. One of the Sens most improved players this season. additon of McGrattan has helped his game
Martin Havlat – mach9 brings fans out of there seats. he is injury prone, and not great in the playoffs.
Antoine Vermette – fast as lightning, but hasn’t found a role on the team.
Patrick Eaves and Brandon Bochenski – Good rookies. Bochenski is a shooter and Eaves more of a give and go player.
Chris Kelly – #4 center. does everything quietly and does it well. a coaches player.
Anton Volchenkov – need to see him in the playoffs to evaluate his progress.
Andrej Meszaros – bad hair, but good player. Jagr gave him his Mullet when he got drafted.
Christoph Schubert – #7 D. likes to shoot, has played well when in the line-up.
Ray Emery – Ron Lowe says he’s set for stardom. in the game against Atlanta, Ottawa didn’t want to play and left Razor to play the Thrashers alone.
The Sens will experiance a role over in players to free agency, (Varada, Smoke) and have some players that will want raises (Spezza, Phillips, Hasek)and the team could look very different next season. They are looking to keep Reds and Chara, and Hasek may play a season or two more.
Muckler has said he would like to add some depth. Look for him to add a #8 defenceman for a long playoff run and a forward somewhere on the top 2 lines.