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Top Five ‘What-Ifs’ in Ottawa Senators History

By Joe Hanniman

BUFFALO, NY - FEBRUARY 4: Dominik Hasek #39 of the Ottawa Senators looks on against the Buffalo Sabres on February 4, 2006 at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres won 2-1 in a shootout. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - FEBRUARY 4: Dominik Hasek #39 of the Ottawa Senators looks on against the Buffalo Sabres on February 4, 2006 at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres won 2-1 in a shootout. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images) /
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Turin, ITALY: Picture of Czech goalkeeper Dominik Hasek (R) taken during the ice hockey men’s preliminary round Czech Republic vs Germany at the 2006 Winter Olympics, 15 February 2006 at the Palasport Olimpico in Turin. Hasek played just six minutes of the Czechs’ first game before getting hurt. “Our medical staff decided that I’m not able to play,” said Ottawa Senators All-Star netminder Hasek. “It’s over. Also I don’t want to get hurt for the rest of the National Hockey League but playing in the Olympics was one of my dreams.” AFP PHOTO MARC-ANTOINE BAUDOUX (Photo credit should read MARC-ANTOINE BAUDOUX/AFP via Getty Images)
Turin, ITALY: Picture of Czech goalkeeper Dominik Hasek (R) taken during the ice hockey men’s preliminary round Czech Republic vs Germany at the 2006 Winter Olympics, 15 February 2006 at the Palasport Olimpico in Turin. Hasek played just six minutes of the Czechs’ first game before getting hurt. “Our medical staff decided that I’m not able to play,” said Ottawa Senators All-Star netminder Hasek. “It’s over. Also I don’t want to get hurt for the rest of the National Hockey League but playing in the Olympics was one of my dreams.” AFP PHOTO MARC-ANTOINE BAUDOUX (Photo credit should read MARC-ANTOINE BAUDOUX/AFP via Getty Images) /

#1 Dominik Hasek Injury

The 2005/06 Ottawa Senators were poised to make a deep playoff run. They finished the regular season 1st in Eastern Conference with a 52-21-9 record. This roster was absolutely stacked. Dany Heatley scored 50 goals for the first time in his career while amassing 103 points. Daniel Alfredsson had 103 points. Jason Spezza had 90 points to fill out the big-three of this roster. This roster also had depth on offence. Martin Havlat was nearly a point per game despite missing 58 games. Mike Fisher, Antione Vermette, Peter Schaefer, and Patrick Eaves all scored 20 or more goals.

On defence, this roster had the most talented defence corps this franchise has seen to date. It included the likes of Wade Redden, Zdeno Chara, Chris Philips, Anton Volchenkov, and Andrej Meszaros.

To top it all off, a legendary hall of fame goaltender, Dominik Hasek. Hasek had a .925 save percentage during the regular season. The team was showing no signs of slowing down their dismantling of the league.

That was until the 2006 Winter Olympics.

During the first game of the tournament, Dominik Hasek played just six minutes against Germany before leaving with an injury. He never played another game for the Ottawa Senators.

Without their legendary goaltender, the powerhouse Senators limped into the playoffs winning only 3 of their last 10 games. Ray Emery would step up with a valiant effort in goal, getting the Senators to the second round where they would lose against the Buffalo Sabres in 5 games.

The team that placed second in the Eastern Conference behind Ottawa in the regular season, the Carolina Hurricanes, would go on to win the Stanley Cup.

Next. Ottawa Senators: Defence Outlook 2020-21. dark

This one is a definite #1 for me because of how well this team was built. They seemed to have everything that a championship team needs. I don’t mean to cast all of the blame on Ray Emery either, he played admirably given the shot to team morale that comes with losing a legendary goaltender. I truly believe that was the year the Ottawa Senators had the best chance of bringing a Stanley Cup to Ottawa.

What-if Dominik Hasek didn’t get injured in the 2006 Winter Olympics?

An honourable mention goes out to the 2004/05 NHL lockout. The lockout froze NHL play at a time when Ottawa was contending for Stanley Cups every year. Another ticket to the dance could have been the one to get Ottawa a championship.

After ranking the top five ‘what-ifs’ in Senators’ history, now it is time to firmly bury them in the past and look forward to the next generation of Ottawa Senators as the exciting rebuild progresses towards “Unparalleled Success”.

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