Ottawa Senators: Remembering the CASH line

The Pizza Line (also known as the CASH Line) consisted of the top scorers of the Ottawa Senators. They consisted of franchise legend Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley the 2-time 50 goal scorer, as well as the young and up and coming centre, Jason Spezza. This was the first forward line to be named to the All-star game in 2008, which was the first time since 1981 in the NHL.

They lead the Ottawa Senators to the 2007 Stanley Cup Final and had one of the most dominant offensive lines of the past two decades. This was during the years 2005-2009, and in those 4 seasons together they put up a grand total of 1,057 points.

The name CASH Line comes from the initials of the player’s names, captain Alfredsson, Spezza and Heatley. The Pizza Line comes from a promotion where if the Ottawa Senators scored at least 5 goals in a home game then all the fans that attended the game received a free slice from Pizza Pizza. This happened 10 times out of the 41 regular-season home games in the 2005-06 season and 5 times in the 2006-07 season.

How they got together

At the time when Heatly was traded, 2 of the 3 players, Alfredsson and Spezza had already been drafted by the Senators and were playing for them. It was on August 23, 2005, that the final piece to the line fell in when Heatly was traded from the Atlanta Thrashers to the Senators for Marian Hossa and Greg de Vries.

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First Season: 2005-06 season

In their first season together, which was the year after the lockout, they put up 296 points together with Alfredsson hitting 103 points (43 goals, 60 assists) in 77 games, Heatly also hit 103 points (50 goals, 53 assists) and Spezza hit 90 points (19 goals 71 assists).

Heatly had a very impressive first year with the Senators and among players with new teams, Heatly registered a 22 consecutive game point streak, breaking Hossa’s previous franchise record of a 13 game streak. Heatley’s 22 game streak is the 2nd biggest point streak in history, just behind Gretzky’s 23 game streak. During this season, Heatly also hit the 50 goal mark, the first time in franchise history.

The Ottawa Senators finished 1st in the Eastern Conference and 2nd in the league but got eliminated in the 2nd round of the playoffs by the Buffalo Sabers.

Second Season: 2006-07 season

Dany Heatley had another dominant season, putting up another 50-goal season, which was the first back-to-back 50 goal season since Pavel Bure in 1999-2000 and had an impressive 105 points, which has yet to be surpassed. Alfredsson took a step back in terms of production and put up 87 points (29 goals, 58 assists) in 77 games and Spezza put up 87 points (34 goals, 53 assists) in 67 games.

The trio all put up 22 points in 20 playoff games and helped their team make it to the Stanley Cup finals where they lost to the Anaheim Ducks in 5 games.

Third Season: 2007-08 season

After back-to-back 50 goal seasons from Heatley, he slowed down and scored 41 goals, which is still quite impressive. In 71 games he had 82 points (41 goals, 41 assists), while Spezza had his career-high with 92 points (34 goals and 58 assists) in 76 and Alfredsson also had a career-high this time in goals with 40 and managed to put up 89 points (40 goals and 49 assists) in 70 games.

In the playoffs, they got swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who went on to the Stanley Cup finals and lost.

Final Season: 2008-09 season

In his final season with the Senators, Heatley put up 72 points (39 goals, 33 assists), which was the worst season he had with the Senators. Spezza managed to play all 82 games but had the lowest point output, 73 points (32 goals, 41 assists), since the 2003-04 season. Alfredsson had the most points out of the trio but only 1 point ahead of Spezza and put up 74 points (24 goals, 50 assists).

This was a very disappointing season for the Senators as they finished 11th in the Eastern Conference and failed to make the playoffs.

How the trio fell apart

Dany Heatley was not impressed with how the 2008-09 season went, coming off the lowest point total since his rookie season, and requested a trade. Due to the fact that Heatley was unhappy with the role under new head coach Cory Clouston, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks. Both Alfredsson and Spezza stayed for a bit longer after that but Alfredsson left to the Detroit Red Wings via free agency in 2013, and Spezza was traded to the Dallas Stars in 2014.

In their final years with the team, Spezza and Alfredsson were not as productive after Heatley was traded. After all, they had their most dominant seasons during their career with the Pizza Line as Spezza hit the 90 point mark 2 times during this time and Alfredsson hitting 103 points in their first season together. Even Heatly was not as dominant in the years afterwards, with his new team, the San Jose Sharks, though during the first year he put up 82 points. After that first season with the Sharks, he declined heavily until he was demoted to the AHL and finally moved to the German Professional League.

This line is considered one of the top lines in hockey history though it is interesting to see that one bad season could destroy a line that was so offensively dominant.