Saying Goodbye To The 2014-15 Ottawa Senators, A Look Back At The Season That Was
Apr 22, 2015; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators players celebrate after defeating the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in game four of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
What a season it was for the Ottawa Senators. An incredible finish and incredible run after what had originally looked like a less than mediocre season. Let’s take a look back on the season that was 14-15, starting back in October.
October: The Start
Ahh the start of the hockey season, fans excited to be back and the Sens ready to hit the ice.
October 2nd – simply known as one of the most exciting days in recent memory. The Senators ink pending UFA Bobby Ryan to a 7-year deal and name Erik Karlsson their captain.
A busy summer it was for the Senators, we already saw Ottawa lock up Craig Anderson, Bobby Ryan, and Clarke MacArthur, but heading into the season only one top UFA remained.. Marc Methot. Methot went into training camp looking fine, but suffered a set-back in his back injury. We wouldn’t see him until December.
The Senators would drop their first game, but would win 4 in a row right after. The start to the season didn’t resemble the mediocrity we were used to by January as Ottawa would go 5-2-2 to start their year.
- Mika Zibanejad‘s slow start was a big part to the first few games. No points through 8 games had many calling for him to be sent to Binghamton.
- Robin Lehner and Craig Anderson were big stories early on. Lehner had not lost a game in regulation and each goaltender had held a sv% of over .930.
- A ton is made of Colin Greening and Erik Condra, both who cannot find their ways into the lineup. Of course for one, that would change.
Dec 4, 2014; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators former player
Daniel Alfredsson(11) takes part in a pre-game ceremony prior to game against the New York Islanders at Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
November: ugh.
November was where things started to fall off and the mediocrity set in. A 5-7-2 record through 14 November games had few remaining optimistic.
There were no major storylines to follow up until this point, but one remained that Marc Methot was still out and it was hazy as to when he would return. A lot was made about how the media was not made aware about his status and that the team was very hazy about any timetables regarding rehab or improvement.
The goaltending continued to be a huge reason to the little success the team had and why the Senators even picked up the 5 wins they did. Until Andrew Hammond took over late this season, Craig Anderson was spectacular. Through Ottawa’s first 23, Anderson started 13, with Anderson and Lehner being a 1a/1b tandem. The numbers might not be there any longer, but Lehner was good early on as well.
- Senators fans got word of Daniel Alfredsson’s pending return to the city. A Dec. 4th date in Ottawa was scheduled as being Alfredsson’s retirement party.
- Goaltending remained the key early on. I’d hate to see Lehner or Anderson go this off-season as judging just based on a few months late play may cost the Senators if they do decide to move on from either one.
- Lehner especially, still super young and has had success in the past. Heck, he’s above average with a .914 sv% since 2012. Keep him around a little longer yet.
December: Alfredsson Returns To Ottawa
December kicked off a major point in the Senators’ season. Daniel Alfredsson returning to the Senators’ organization and signing that 1-day agreement to mend any issues he previously had with the team. Looking back on it now, this is probably the best part of the year for the Senators in a season that was one of the best in recent memory.
I think as Senators fans, we’ll look back on this event fondly. Even if the Senators didn’t make the playoffs, Alfredsson’s return had shaped up a season that wasn’t previously looking up.
Another large turn in the Senators’ season came just a few days later with the dismissing of Paul MacLean as Senators head coach. The news wasn’t really a shock as the early record did see some success but the mediocre theme continued. Some bizarre usage was likely what led to MacLean’s firing as the early 14-15 and 13-14 seasons didn’t cut it for him to remain behind the bench.
In terms of production on the ice, it wasn’t a pretty month but it certainly had its ups and downs. Mika Zibanejad really turned it on as well as Mike Hoffman, a surprise coming out of December. It was a 5-6-2 record in December, again following the trend of mediocrity and leading up to what was a 14 point gap between the Sens and the playoffs.
- The Senators saw the Hoffman – Zibanejad – Ryan line formed and had some great success.
- Mike Hoffman jumped out early as the Senators’ leading scorer, and Mark Stone found himself playing some meaningful minutes and contributing.
- Dave Cameron takes over as head coach. Not a popular choice at the start, I think there are less complaints about his style of coaching now.
Next: Methot Returns, Hamburglar Rises
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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.
February 26, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Ottawa Senators goalie Andrew Hammond (30) defends the goal against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
March: The Playoff Run
An incredible run began in March. The Senators would finish the season 24-4-4 as they were the team’s hottest squad leaving March.
March began with the NHL trade deadline. While deals were made league wide, the Senators held their ground. I can remember James Duthie calling the Senators 5-game winning streak before the deadline “fool’s gold” and using that as reasoning to why the Senators did not make a move. Bryan Murray discussed a few small deals with rumours mainly surrounding Erik Condra and Patrick Wiercioch. Neither were moved and both played a big part in Ottawa’s late success.
The Sens’ 3rd line of Condra-Pageau-Lazar was formed and became a huge part of the team and after not dealing Condra, Murray’s team found some depth success.
Looking back on it now, we can congratulate Andrew Hammond for his regular season success. At the time we were all asking the question.. when is this going to end? and it didn’t.. at least not in the regular season. You might call Hammond Ottawa’s MVP this season as he can be held responsible for getting Ottawa into the playoffs.
- Mark Stone begins to play at a PPG pace, putting him in the middle of Calder Talk
- Erik Karlsson is also at the middle of the Senators success, as he is mentioned for Norris talk.
- UPDATE: with today’s news, both Karlsson and Stone have been nominated for the Norris and Calder, respectively.
April: The Playoffs
The end was exciting. The last few weeks of the season saw Boston eclipse Ottawa and vice versa. At the end of the day, a few Boston losses mixed with Ottawa winning their last 4 led to an Ottawa playoff birth and the final stage in what was easily the best Ottawa Senators season I’ve ever watched.
The ups and downs, the end story and the playoffs. That’s how it was drawn up for the Senators this season and it couldn’t have came with a better regular season ending.
Ottawa saw (arguably) their most incredible game of the year during early April, one where they narrowly avoided a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins by overcoming a 3-0 lead early in the game. Mark Stone and Kyle Turris were at the height of their games at that point as Stone scored two and Turris help drive Stone’s success.
A fantastic end to the season and an end that saw the Senators go 5-0-1 in their final 6 games.
The playoffs didn’t start well. A 3-0 series deficit proved to be too much to handle. Carey Price hasn’t lost 4 games in a row this season and he didn’t this series. A well fought back series led in a 4-2 defeat and one where, quite frankly could have gone to either side.
Regardless of how the playoffs ended, the Senators have lots to look forward to and you’ve got to love the positivity fans have showed even after their playoff exit.
- 5-0-1, just that Leafs SO loss holding the Senators from being perfect to finish the year.
- Mark Stone. Unbelievable. Kyle Turris. 1st Line Center. A ton of awesome stories/players to follow late this year.
- And the Hamburglar. It didn’t work out in the playoffs, but man. What a run it was. You have to think that in years to come, Senators fans will look back on 2014/15 and maybe the year the franchise turned around.
There’s the season. I feel like I’ve said it 5 or so times now, but wow. What a year, here’s to 14-15 and to looking forward to 15-16 as the Senators enter the year with something they haven’t liked in previous years.. expectations.