Saying Goodbye To The 2014-15 Ottawa Senators, A Look Back At The Season That Was
By Jack Leiper
Mar 28, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson (65) talks to defenseman Marc Methot (3) as they warm up before playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
January: Methot’s Return
January is probably the least memorable month of the season. Not much happened as Ottawa failed to make any impressions, positive or negative. January saw a new-look Senators squad, not on the ice, but behind the bench with Dave Cameron taking over full-time. Cameron has Marc Methot back and by his side as well as Karlsson’s, leading the team a few positives.
The Sens went 5-5-2 to play at a pace that didn’t excite anyone.
Late January brought on the NHL’s all-star game, where the Senators had two repsentatives sent to Columbus for the weekend. The All-star game always brings along interesting antics and a cool atmosphere. Bobby Ryan represented the team in the regular game and Mike Hoffman competed in rookie skills.
As stated before, January wasn’t an exciting month. The idea of American thanksgiving setting who is in the playoffs was (obviously) broken this season, but that idea and Ottawa look for out of the playoff picture had many writing the team off early on.
- Bobby Ryan represented the Senators in the all-star weekend, Mike Hoffman tagging along for the rookie skills portion.
- Buffalo didn’t win a game this month, and Toronto struggled mightily. Not Sens related, but two big storylines from Jan that dealt with the divisional opponents.
- Mark Stone began to turn it on in terms of production, as well as Milan Michalek, each who had amazing 2nd halfs to the season.
- Marc Methot’s return to the lineup stabilized Erik Karlsson, earning him a Norris trophy nod
February: The Hamburglar Rises
This was the month where Ottawa turned it on. They found themselves 14 points out of a playoff spot on February 14th, and holding onto hopes of a 2% shot at making the playoffs.
February is very late in the season to make any sort of a run, and Senators fans were ready to throw in the towel on their playoff hopes. It certainly didn’t appear to help the matter when Clarke MacArthur ran goaltender Robin Lehner, giving Andrew Hammond his first NHL start. But it ended up being a blessing in disguise.
Andrew Hammond took the Senators on a fairy tale run as an AHL callup and a player with a sub .900 sv% in the minors. Hammond would end up going 20-1-2 in what became the story of the year for the Senators and the NHL.
Ottawa’s start to February wasn’t pretty, but it was actually a road trip out west that led to a near-sweep of some of the western conference’s powerhouses.
- Ottawa won 5 in a row to finish February heading into the NHL trade deadline
- Andrew Hammond was at the center of it all, defeating Montreal, Florida, Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose to start his NHL career.
- Methot signed an extension in February. After a contract that was much speculated, Methot took a 4 year, 4.9 million dollar deal. Term and AAV that most fans were pleased with.