1995–96 Ottawa Senators season

1995–96 Ottawa Senators
Division	6th Northeast Division
Conference	13th Eastern Conference
1995–96 record	18–59–5
Home record	8–28–5
Road record	10–31–0
Goals for	191
Goals against	291
Team information
General manager	Randy Sexton (Oct-Dec) Pierre Gauthier (Dec-Apr)
Coach	Rick Bowness (Oct-Nov) Dave Allison (Nov-Jan) Jacques Martin (Jan-Apr)
Captain	Randy Cunneyworth
Alternate captains	Unknown Unknown
Arena	Ottawa Civic Centre (Oct-Jan) The Palladium (Jan-Apr)
Average attendance	13,271 per game (544,108 total)
Team leaders
Goals	Daniel Alfredsson (26)
Assists	Daniel Alfredsson (35)
Points	Daniel Alfredsson (61)
Penalty minutes	Dennis Vial (276)
Plus/minus	Pat Elyniuk (+2)
Wins	Damian Rhodes (10)
Goals against average	Damian Rhodes (2.77)

The 1995–96 Ottawa Senators season was a season with plenty of change for the club. The club changed coaching staffs twice, changed the General Manager and moved into the new Palladium arena in Kanata. The team would again finish last in the league.

Offseason

'Smitty' patch

Prior to the season, on August 2, 1995, Brian Smith, former NHL hockey player and sportscaster at Ottawa TV station CJOH-TV was killed. He had been the primary reporter on the Senators for the station. The Senators would honor him with a patch on their jerseys, with his nickname 'Smitty' and number 18, which they would wear on their jerseys for the whole season. The team would also raise a banner in his memory.

Regular season

There were some bright spots during the season, rookie Daniel Alfredsson would lead the team offensively with 61 points (26 goals-35 assists), while Alexei Yashin was out of the lineup for 36 games. Alfredsson would go on to win the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL's rookie of the year.

After getting off to a good start with a 6–5–0 record, the Senators would then lose their next eight games, which ended up costing head coach Rick Bowness his job, as the club replaced him with Dave Allison, who was previously the head coach of the Senators AHL affiliate, the Prince Edward Island Senators. The Dave Allison era did not last long in Ottawa, as the club would only win two of 25 games (2–22–1) before he was replaced by Jacques Martin. Under Martin, the Senators would be more competitive, going 10–24–4 in his 38 games to finish the year with an 18–59–5, their fourth straight season at the bottom of the NHL standings.

Highlights

After taking over from the fired Randy Sexton as General Manager, on December 6, 1995, Pierre Gauthier made three moves to strengthen the club. He hired Jacques Martin as head coach, signed hold-out Alexei Yashin to a contract and engineered a blockbuster trade on January 23, 1996, dealing away Don Beaupre, Martin Straka and Bryan Berard, while acquiring Damian Rhodes and Wade Redden. It was a three-way trade between the Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the New York Islanders and was necessary because Berard, the Senators' first-round pick, was refusing to report to the Senators.

The Senators played their first game in The Palladium on January 17, 1996 in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, which turned out to be a 3–0 Senators loss. The pre-game ceremonies were ruined when the raising of the Senators' Stanley Cup banners failed, leaving the banners obscuring some fans' view of the scoreboard.

On April 13, 1996, the Senators played the defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils, who needed a win to clinch the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Senators would play the role of spoiler, defeating New Jersey 5–2, officially eliminating the Devils from post-season play and giving the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team that entered the league the same year as the Sens, their first playoff birth.

Final standings

Northeast Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Pittsburgh Penguins	82	49	29	4	362	284	102
Boston Bruins	82	40	31	11	282	269	91
Montreal Canadiens	82	40	32	10	265	248	90
Hartford Whalers	82	34	39	9	237	259	77
Buffalo Sabres	82	33	42	7	247	262	72
Ottawa Senators	82	18	59	5	191	291	41

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

Regular season schedule

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 7, 1995	1–3	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	0–1–0
2	L	October 13, 1995	2–6	@ Florida Panthers (1995–96)	0–2–0
3	W	October 15, 1995	7–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	1–2–0
4	W	October 19, 1995	4–2	Calgary Flames (1995–96)	2–2–0
5	L	October 21, 1995	1–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	2–3–0
6	W	October 22, 1995	4–2	@ New York Rangers (1995–96)	3–3–0
7	W	October 24, 1995	2–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	4–3–0
8	W	October 26, 1995	5–4	Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	5–3–0
9	L	October 28, 1995	1–4	Florida Panthers (1995–96)	5–4–0
10	L	October 29, 1995	2–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	5–5–0
11	W	November 2, 1995	5–0	@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96)	6–5–0
12	L	November 4, 1995	4–5	Hartford Whalers (1995–96)	6–6–0
13	L	November 8, 1995	1–7	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	6–7–0
14	L	November 9, 1995	3–4	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)	6–8–0
15	L	November 11, 1995	2–3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	6–9–0
16	L	November 15, 1995	2–3	@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96)	6–10–0
17	L	November 16, 1995	3–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	6–11–0
18	L	November 18, 1995	1–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	6–12–0
19	L	November 19, 1995	0–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	6–13–0
20	L	November 22, 1995	1–3	Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)	6–14–0
21	T	November 25, 1995	3–3 OT	Boston Bruins (1995–96)	6–14–1
22	L	November 28, 1995	2–7	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	6–15–1
23	L	November 30, 1995	3–5	New York Islanders (1995–96)	6–16–1
24	L	December 2, 1995	2–4	New York Rangers (1995–96)	6–17–1
25	L	December 5, 1995	1–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	6–18–1
26	W	December 7, 1995	5–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	7–18–1
27	L	December 9, 1995	3–7	Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	7–19–1
28	L	December 12, 1995	1–2	@ San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	7–20–1
29	L	December 13, 1995	2–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	7–21–1
30	L	December 15, 1995	2–4	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	7–22–1
31	L	December 17, 1995	1–4	@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	7–23–1
32	L	December 18, 1995	1–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	7–24–1
33	L	December 23, 1995	2–4	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	7–25–1
34	L	December 26, 1995	4–6	@ New York Rangers (1995–96)	7–26–1
35	W	December 27, 1995	4–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	8–26–1
36	L	December 30, 1995	1–4	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	8–27–1
37	L	December 31, 1995	0–3	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	8–28–1
38	L	January 3, 1996	1–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	8–29–1
39	L	January 5, 1996	2–4	@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96)	8–30–1
40	L	January 6, 1996	4–5	@ New York Islanders (1995–96)	8–31–1
41	L	January 11, 1996	1–6	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96)	8–32–1
42	L	January 13, 1996	1–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	8–33–1
43	L	January 17, 1996	0–3	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	8–34–1
44	L	January 22, 1996	3–7	Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	8–35–1
45	L	January 24, 1996	3–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	8–36–1
46	L	January 25, 1996	2–4	Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	8–37–1
47	T	January 27, 1996	2–2 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	8–37–2
48	W	January 29, 1996	4–2	St. Louis Blues (1995–96)	9–37–2
49	L	January 31, 1996	1–3	Boston Bruins (1995–96)	9–38–2
50	L	February 1, 1996	2–4	Washington Capitals (1995–96)	9–39–2
51	L	February 3, 1996	2–3 OT	New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	9–40–2
52	L	February 6, 1996	1–3	@ Calgary Flames (1995–96)	9–41–2
53	L	February 8, 1996	2–6	@ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96)	9–42–2
54	W	February 10, 1996	5–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	10–42–2
55	W	February 12, 1996	4–1	@ New York Islanders (1995–96)	11–42–2
56	T	February 15, 1996	2–2 OT	San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	11–42–3
57	L	February 17, 1996	1–2 OT	New York Rangers (1995–96)	11–43–3
58	W	February 20, 1996	7–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1995–96)	12–43–3
59	L	February 22, 1996	2–3	@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)	12–44–3
60	L	February 25, 1996	2–4	@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	12–45–3
61	L	February 28, 1996	2–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	12–46–3
62	L	March 1, 1996	2–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	12–47–3
63	L	March 2, 1996	1–4	New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	12–48–3
64	L	March 7, 1996	1–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	12–49–3
65	L	March 9, 1996	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	12–50–3
66	W	March 13, 1996	4–1	Dallas Stars (1995–96)	13–50–3
67	W	March 15, 1996	2–0	Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	14–50–3
68	W	March 17, 1996	5–0	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	15–50–3
69	L	March 19, 1996	2–5	@ Florida Panthers (1995–96)	15–51–3
70	L	March 21, 1996	1–3	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)	15–52–3
71	T	March 22, 1996	1–1 OT	Hartford Whalers (1995–96)	15–52–4
72	L	March 24, 1996	2–3	Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	15–53–4
73	L	March 27, 1996	2–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	15–54–4
74	L	March 29, 1996	0–5	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96)	15–55–4
75	L	March 30, 1996	1–3	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	15–56–4
76	T	April 1, 1996	1–1 OT	Boston Bruins (1995–96)	15–56–5
77	W	April 3, 1996	3–2	Florida Panthers (1995–96)	16–56–5
78	W	April 5, 1996	4–2	New York Islanders (1995–96)	17–56–5
79	L	April 6, 1996	3–4	Washington Capitals (1995–96)	17–57–5
80	L	April 10, 1996	2–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	17–58–5
81	L	April 11, 1996	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	17–59–5
82	W	April 13, 1996	5–2	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	18–59–5

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Alfredsson, DanielDaniel Alfredsson	RW	82	26	35	61	28	-18	8	2	3
Yashin, AlexeiAlexei Yashin	C	46	15	24	39	28	-15	8	0	1
Cunneyworth, RandyRandy Cunneyworth	LW	81	17	19	36	130	-31	4	0	2
Duchesne, SteveSteve Duchesne	D	62	12	24	36	42	-23	7	0	2
Bonk, RadekRadek Bonk	C	76	16	19	35	36	-5	5	0	1
Chorske, TomTom Chorske	LW	72	15	14	29	21	-9	0	2	1
Straka, MartinMartin Straka	C	43	9	16	25	29	-14	5	0	1
Quinn, DanDan Quinn	C	28	6	18	24	24	-8	4	0	0
Hill, SeanSean Hill	D	80	7	14	21	94	-26	2	0	2
Modry, JaroslavJaroslav Modry	D	64	4	14	18	38	-17	1	0	1
Demitra, PavolPavol Demitra	LW	31	7	10	17	6	-3	2	0	1
Daigle, AlexandreAlexandre Daigle	C	50	5	12	17	24	-30	1	0	0
Drury, TedTed Drury	C	42	9	7	16	54	-19	1	0	1
Tormanen, AnttiAntti Tormanen	RW	50	7	8	15	28	-15	0	0	0
Huffman, KerryKerry Huffman	D	43	4	11	15	63	-18	3	0	0
McCleary, TrentTrent McCleary	RW	75	4	10	14	68	-15	0	1	0
Gaudreau, RobRob Gaudreau	RW	52	8	5	13	15	-19	1	1	0
Neckar, StanStan Neckar	D	82	3	9	12	54	-16	1	0	0
Archibald, DaveDave Archibald	C/LW	44	6	4	10	18	-14	0	0	1
Picard, MichelMichel Picard	LW	17	2	6	8	10	-1	0	0	1
Pitlick, LanceLance Pitlick	D	28	1	6	7	20	-8	0	0	0
Mallette, TroyTroy Mallette	LW	64	2	3	5	171	-7	0	0	0
Vial, DennisDennis Vial	D/LW	64	1	4	5	276	-13	0	0	0
Musil, FrantisekFrantisek Musil	D	65	1	3	4	85	-10	0	0	0
Elynuik, PatPat Elynuik	RW	29	1	2	3	16	2	0	0	0
Bourque, PhilPhil Bourque	LW	13	1	1	2	14	-3	0	0	0
Dahlquist, ChrisChris Dahlquist	D	24	1	1	2	14	-7	0	0	0
Roy, Jean-YvesJean-Yves Roy	RW	4	1	1	2	2	3	0	0	0
Beaupre, DonDon Beaupre	G	33	0	2	2	17	0	0	0	0
Laukkanen, JanneJanne Laukkanen	D	20	0	2	2	14	0	0	0	0
Levins, ScottScott Levins	C/RW	27	0	2	2	80	-3	0	0	0
Rhodes, DamianDamian Rhodes	G	36	0	2	2	4	0	0	0	0
McLlwain, DaveDave McLlwain	C/RW	1	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Bales, MikeMike Bales	G	20	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Cirella, JoeJoe Cirella	D	6	0	0	0	4	-3	0	0	0
Laperriere, DanielDaniel Laperriere	D	6	0	0	0	4	2	0	0	0
Traverse, PatrickPatrick Traverse	D	5	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Rhodes, DamianDamian Rhodes	2123	36	10	22	4	98	2.77	2	1041	943	.906
Beaupre, DonDon Beaupre	1770	33	6	23	0	110	3.73	1	892	782	.877
Bales, MikeMike Bales	1040	20	2	14	1	72	4.15	0	560	488	.871
Team:	4933	82	18	59	5	280	3.41	3	2493	2213	.888

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

• Calder Memorial Trophy, All-Rookie team - Daniel Alfredsson
• Molson Cup - Damian Rhodes
• NHL All-Star Game selection - Daniel Alfredsson

Transactions

Trades

April 7, 1995	To Pittsburgh Penguins Norm Maciver Troy Murray	To Ottawa Senators Martin Straka
April 7, 1995	To Boston Bruins Craig Billington	To Ottawa Senators future considerations (Bruins' eighth-round pick in 1995 Draft (Ray Schultz))
April 7, 1995	To Quebec Nordiques Bill Huard	To Ottawa Senators Mika Stromberg (Nordiques' fourth-round pick in 1995 Draft (Kevin Boyd))
April 7, 1995	To St. Louis Blues Ottawa's ninth-round pick 1995 Entry Draft (Libor Zabransky)	To Ottawa Senators Daniel Laperriere St. Louis's ninth-round pick 1995 Entry Draft (Erik Kaminski)
July 8, 1995	To New Jersey Devils Ottawa's fourth-round pick 1995 Entry Draft (Alyn McCauley)	To Ottawa Senators Jaroslav Modry
August 4, 1995	To St. Louis Blues Ottawa's second-round pick 1995 Entry Draft (later traded by St. Louis)	To Ottawa Senators Steve Duchesne
September 20, 1995	To Colorado Avalanche Jean-Francois Labbe	To Ottawa Senators future considerations
October 5, 1995	To New York Rangers Steve Larouche	To Ottawa Senators Jean-Yves Roy)
October 5, 1995	To New Jersey Devils Ottawa's third-round pick 1997 Entry Draft (Alyn McCauley)	To Ottawa Senators Tom Chorske
October 7, 1995	To Calgary Flames Ottawa's fourth-round pick 1997 Entry Draft (Chris St. Croix)	To Ottawa Senators Frank Musil
January 23, 1996	To Philadelphia Flyers Dan Quinn	To Ottawa Senators future considerations
January 23, 1996	To New York Islanders Don Beaupre Martin Straka Bryan Berard	To Ottawa Senators Damian Rhodes Wade Redden
January 26, 1996	To Colorado Avalanche Brad Larsen	To Ottawa Senators Janne Laukkanen
March 1, 1996	To Pittsburgh Penguins Dave McLlwain	To Ottawa Senators Pittsburgh's eighth-round pick 1996 Entry Draft (Erich Goldmann)
March 19, 1996	To Philadelphia Flyers Kerry Huffman	To Ottawa Senators future considerations
March 20, 1996	To Los Angeles Kings Jaroslav Modry Ottawa's eighth-round pick 1996 Entry Draft (Stephen Valiquette)	To Ottawa Senators Kevin Brown

Waivers

October 2, 1995	From Carolina Hurricanes Ted Drury
October 2, 1995	From Los Angeles Kings Justin Hocking

Source: (2008) Ottawa Senators 2008–09 Media Guide. Ottawa Senators, 187–188. 

Free agents

Player Former team Dan Quinn Los Angeles Kings Eric Lavigne Los Angeles Kings Joe Cirella Florida Panthers

Player New team Corey Foster Pittsburgh Penguins

Roster

1995-96 Ottawa Senators
Goaltenders 1 Damian Rhodes  33 Don Beaupre  35 Mike Bales		Defensemen 2 Lance Pitlick  3 Frank Musil  4 Sean Hill  5 Kerry Huffman  6 Chris Dahlquist  18 Patrick Traverse  21 Dennis Vial  23 Jaroslav Modry  24 Daniel Laperriere  27 Joe Cirella  27 Janne Laukkanen  28 Steve Duchesne  94 Stan Neckar		Wingers 7 Randy Cunneyworth  - C 10 Rob Gaudreau  11 Daniel Alfredsson  12 Dave Archibald  14 Jean-Yves Roy  17 Tom Chorske  20 Trent McCleary  22 Antti Tormanen  25 Pat Elyniuk  26 Scott Levins  29 Phil Bourque  36 Troy Mallette  49 Michel Picard  78 Pavol Demitra		Centres 9 Dan Quinn  13 Ted Drury  19 Alexei Yashin  27 Dave McLlwain  76 Radek Bonk  82 Martin Straka  91 Alexandre Daigle  GM: Pierre Gauthier Coach: Rick Bowness Coach: Dave Allison Coach: Jacques Martin

Draft picks

Ottawa's draft picks at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft in Edmonton, Alberta.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	1	Bryan Berard	United States	Detroit Jr. Red Wings (OHL)
2	27	Marc Moro	Canada	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
3	53	Brad Larsen	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
4	89	Kevin Bolibruck	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
4	103	Kevin Boyd	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
6	131	David Hruska	Czech Republic	Banik Sokolov (Czech.)
8	183	Kaj Linna	Finland	Boston University (NCAA)
8	184	Ray Schultz	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
9	231	Erik Kaminski	United States	Northeastern University (Boston) (NCAA)

Farm teams

• Prince Edward Island Senators (American Hockey League)
• Thunder Bay Senators (Colonial Hockey League)

See also

• 1995–96 NHL season

References

• Ottawa Senators staff (2007). Ottawa Senators Media Guide 2007. Ottawa Senators. 
• The Internet Hockey Database.
• NHL staff (2006). National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007. NHL.