Relax. Matt Savoie heading back to Bakersfield is not what it looks like.
The news broke Tuesday that the 22-year-old Edmonton Oilers forward was being sent down to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors during the Olympic break, and if you spent any time on social media in the aftermath, you’d think the sky was falling. It isn’t. Not even close. What this actually is — and bear with me here, because it’s surprisingly simple — is the Oilers giving a young player some meaningful game time while NHL action is on pause. That’s it. That’s the whole story.
There's some context people seem to be skipping over; the NHL is in the middle of its Olympic break. Games don’t resume until February 25th. Established veterans? They get most of February off — they’ve earned it. But rookies don’t get the same extended vacation. They get a couple of weeks, maybe, and then they’re expected to say “thank you, coach” and get to work. Sending Savoie to Bakersfield isn’t a punishment or a message, but a maintenance plan. The Oilers want him sharp, in game shape, and playing real hockey when the lights come back on — not rusty and stiff from sitting idle for three weeks.
Savoie was loaned to the AHL Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday. With NHL action at a standstill for the Olympic break, the Oilers will give the young Savoie some extra game reps. That’s straight from the team’s logic, and it makes complete sense. He has held his own in the NHL this season with nine goals, nine assists, 79 shots on net and 28 blocked shots across 58 games. That’s the stat line of a player who has legitimately stuck at the NHL level in his first real crack at it, not one who's being burried.
Let’s not forget where this kid came from, either. He had 19 goals, 35 assists and 54 points across 66 games a season ago in the AHL — numbers that made him one of the better young players in the entire league. He was the Condors’ leading scorer. He earned his callup. And then he went out and made the Oilers’ opening night roster. Savoie was ninth overall in the 2022 draft. He wasn’t supposed to be an afterthought — and he isn’t one.
The geography of all this makes the “demotion” narrative even sillier. When the Oilers kick off their post-Olympic schedule with a California road trip, Savoie will likely return to the Oilers before the team resumes regular-season play Feb. 25 in Anaheim. Against the Ducks. Bakersfield is about two hours north of Anaheim on the I-5. The man could practically drive himself to the rink, lace up his skates, and be good to go. This isn’t a long-term separation from the big club.
And if you need a reminder of how the Oilers actually view Savoie, think back to earlier this season. When the coaches wanted to experiment with a trio of dynamic young forwards, it was Savoie they put in the middle, centering a line alongside Isaac Howard and Quinn Hutson. That kid line buzzed with potential. Savoie spent time in the top six earlier in the year alongside Leon Draisaitl, and by one underlying metric — five-on-five expected goals for per 60 minutes — he ranked first on the entire team during that stretch. Not just among rookies. On the whole team.
Is he getting the ice time that maybe his underlying numbers suggest he deserves? Probably not. Kris Knoblauch has historically been conservative with young players, and Savoie has bounced between lineup spots more than some fans would like. That’s a fair criticism of how he’s been deployed. But being deployed inconsistently by a veteran-heavy coaching staff is a very different problem than being written off entirely. One is a usage issue. The other is a death sentence. Savoie has the former, not the latter.
He’s 22 years old. He’s on a team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. He’s on an entry-level contract through next season, with plenty of time left in his window to grow into a bigger role. The Oilers didn’t trade Ryan McLeod and Tyler Tullio to Buffalo to watch Savoie disappear into the minor leagues. They traded for him because they believe in him.
So let him go get a few games in Bakersfield, stay sharp, and come back ready to roll when Anaheim rolls around on the 25th. The future is still bright. It just needed a brief pit stop.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a position to add to their roster ahead of the 2026 NHL trade deadline. They are currently in second place in the Metropolitan Division standings and should be open to upgrading their group because of it.
One area that the Penguins could aim to improve is the right side of their blueline. When looking at trade candidates around the NHL, New York Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider stands out as an intriguing potential target for the Penguins.
With Schneider being just 24 years old, he would be a strong fit on a team that is focused on the future, like the Penguins. Furthermore, he is still young enough that the possibility of him improving should not be ruled out. Perhaps getting a fresh start with the Penguins could help him do just that.
If the Penguins acquired Schneider, he could work on either their second pairing or third pairing. Furthermore, due to his shutdown ability, the 6-foot-4 blueliner would also give Pittsburgh another clear option for their penalty kill to consider.
Schneider is in the final season of his two-year, $4.4 million contract, but is a pending restricted free agent (RFA). Thus, he would have the potential to be more than a rental for the Penguins if acquired, which adds to his appeal.
In 57 games this season with the Rangers, Schneider has recorded two goals, nine assists, 11 points, and 123 hits.
With multiple New York Rangers players competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, including J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck, and Mika Zibanejad, the week of practice leading up to the Rangers’ first game back to action on Feb. 26 presents an opportunity for some prospects.
Ahead of Tuesday’s practice, the Rangers called up forward Brendan Brisson, who hasn't suited up for the Blueshirts since being traded from the Golden Knights on March 6, 2025, in a deal that was headlined by Reilly Smith.
“I mean, you never really know what's gonna happen until it happens. I found out I was traded and I didn't really know where until like a couple minutes after, so when I found out it was New York, I was pretty excited,” Brisson said of being traded to the Rangers. “Obviously great organization, the history here and the fans and MSG and everything, so definitely I was excited.”
Since being traded to New York, Brisson has exclusively played for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League.
In 46 games in the AHL this season, the 24-year-old forward has recorded 13 goals, 10 assists, and 23 points.
“I feel good all around, not just offensively,” Brisson said. “Down in Hartford, I’ve been relied on in close games, on the defensive side too. I feel like I've gotten my offensive touch back… I have a little bit more confidence than I did in the past. It’s been a good season for me so far.”
Being called up for these handful of practices, Brisson is not guaranteed to play in any games for the Rangers.
However, any set call-up from the AHL presents the chance for a player to showcase his skills with the goal of eventually earning an NHL spot, which is the mindset Brisson is trying to carry.
“It's a chance to come up here and practice and see what happens,” said Brisson. “It's exciting. It's cool to be back. It was fun day today on the ice, so just kind of taking it day-by-day. I don't really know what to expect. Just kind of (trying to) work hard in practice and see what happens.”
Brisson was selected by the Golden Knights in the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft, and the Rangers are clinging to hope that his first-round potential translates to the NHL.
During the 2025 offseason, the Rangers signed Brisson to a one-year, two-way contract extension.
That opportunity to play in the NHL in a Rangers uniform hasn’t come for Brisson. He does have NHL experience though, playing in 24 games over a two-season span with the Golden Knights, where he tallied eight points.
With the one-year anniversary of his arrival to the Rangers organization quickly approaching, Brisson feels prepared to take the leap from the AHL to the NHL.
“The ultimate goal is to come up, leave an impression and stay,” Brisson said. “Whenever I get my next opportunity, I'm definitely looking forward to it, and I’m ready for an opportunity.”
The Vancouver Canucks have made a couple of organizational moves today, re-assigning goaltenders Aku Koskenvuo to the NHL and Ty Young from the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL to the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL. This comes on the same day that Vancouver is set to resume practicing as the 2026 Winter Olympics progress.
Vancouver’s goaltending moves come due to the fact that Thatcher Demko will remain unavailable for the remainder of the season while Kevin Lankinen represents Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics. This has resulted in both Koskenvuo and Jiří Patera practicing with Vancouver until Lankinen returns. In the meantime, Young and Nikita Tolopilo will oversee Abbotsford’s crease.
Koskenvuo started the 2025–26 season with Kalamazoo, but found himself with Abbotsford by mid-November due to Vancouver’s injury issues. The goaltender won his first career AHL start and has since played in nine games for Abbotsford. At the AHL-level, Koskenvuo has put together a record of 2–5–0–1 as well as a 3.20 GAA and .895 SV%.
Young’s time in Abbotsford this season did not go the way many may have expected it to. The goaltender, playing behind a depleted lineup due to injuries and NHL call-ups, did not win any of the seven games he played in, finishing this stint with a 4.75 GAA and .840 SV%. Since arriving in Kalamazoo, Young has registered a 7–5–1 record, a 3.26 GAA, and a .896 SV%.
Vancouver resumes play on February 25 with a 7:00 pm PT home matchup against the Winnipeg Jets.
Photo Credit: Kaja Antic-THN
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The Pittsburgh Penguins were back at practice on Tuesday after almost two full weeks off.
They last played on Feb. 5 against the Buffalo Sabres and have been off since Feb. 6 due to the NHL's Olympic break rules. Tuesday's practice saw the return of two players, defenseman Kris Letang and forward Filip Hallander. Both players were in full-contact jerseys.
Letang missed the last four games before the Olympic break with a fractured foot. He last played on Jan. 29 against the Chicago Blackhawks and has three goals and 25 points in 50 games.
He was a full participant during practice and looked very comfortable in each drill. He was also skating really well and was paired with his usual defense partner, Brett Kulak. Letang told reporters after practice that he expects to play next Thursday against the New Jersey Devils. It's the Penguins' first game after the Olympic break.
Hallander was also a full participant in practice. He has been out since November due to a blood clot, but has been skating on his own before practices for the last few weeks. He's now back at practice and is getting closer to a return.
Hallander was paired with Bryan Rust and Kevin Hayes on the top line during drills. Hayes is filling in for Sidney Crosby, who is playing for Team Canada at the Olympics, while Hallander is filling in for Rickard Rakell, who is representing Team Sweden.
Hallander last played on Nov. 3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a 4-3 loss for the Penguins. The Penguins had a 3-0 lead through two periods against the Leafs and needed to finish them off in the third, but collapsed. Hallander has one goal and four points in 13 games this season.
He might get a conditioning assignment to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton once the team deems him ready to play.
Tuesday's practice lasted over an hour, and, as always, it was high-spirited and competitive. The vibes were also through the roof, which shouldn't surprise anyone considering where the Penguins are in the standings.
They'll enter next Thursday's game in second place in the Metropolitan Division and will have two games to close out February before their brutal March schedule starts.
Here's a look at the full lines for Tuesday's practice:
Forwards
Hayes-Hallander-Rust
Chinakhov-Novak-Malkin
Mantha-Kindel-Brazeau
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Defensive pairs
Kulak-Letang
Wotherspoon-Shea
Solovyov-Clifton
Ryan Graves was skating on an extra pair. Erik Karlsson is usually with Parker Wotherspoon, but like Rakell, is representing Sweden at the Olympics.
Sweden faces Latvia on Tuesday, and the winner will play the United States in the quarterfinals at 3:10 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Stuart Skinner was the primary goaltender for practice since Arturs Silovs is with Latvia.
The Penguins will return to practice on Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET. They'll also practice on Thursday and Friday before taking an off day on Saturday.
The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that they have recalled goaltender Carson Bjarnason from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
With Dan Vladar currently representing Team Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Bjarnason will fill in for him at the Flyers' practices until he returns to the club.
Still, this is a good opportunity for Bjarnason to get some practice time with the Flyers and show them what he can do. The 20-year-old goaltender is viewed as having good upside and has the potential to emerge as a nice part of the Flyers' roster in the future.
Bjarnason is currently in his first AHL season with the Phantoms. In 22 games with the AHL club so far, he has recorded an 11-7-3 record, a .889 save percentage, and a 3.08 goals-against average. This is after the 2023 second-round pick had a 22-15-3 record and a .913 save percentage in 40 games this past season with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL).
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 29: Kris Letang #58 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in action during the game against the Chicago Blackhawks at PPG PAINTS Arena on January 29, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Today was the first day back for the non-Olympian Pittsburgh Penguins who will take part in some practices to knock the rust off and get ready for the NHL’s return on February 26th. The Pens had two faces back on the ice with Kris Letang and Filip Hallander out with their teammates.
Kris Letang is also skating with his teammates. He missed the last four games before the Olympic break with a lower-body injury. https://t.co/vMBZkh9Zmz
Letang suffered a fractured foot at the end of January and was said to be out for four weeks. Seeing him back on the ice now is a good sign that he’ll be ready to go when the games resume.
Hallander’s situation has been more fluid, suffering a blood clot from a puck strike in the leg back in early November. He has been able to do some workouts on his own but has been unable before today to participate in a team practice due to the three-month period while on blood thinners to treat the clot. There hasn’t been any official update on his status yet, though it sounds like good news that he was able to take the next step in his recovery.
The Pens still have four Olympians away from the team, Arturs Silovs won’t start today for Latvia in their upcoming quarterfinal game against Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell and Sweden. Sidney Crosby plays tomorrow for Canada.
The Penguins have another practice scheduled tomorrow at 11am and will put in some rink time almost daily over the next week as the players shake off the sand from their vacations and get ready to get back into the swing of the NHL schedule all over again later next week.
The Chicago Blackhawks and the rest of the National Hockey League don't return to game action until next week, but they are going to start ramping up practices this week. On Tuesday, it was an optional skate, as it will be on Wednesday.
Teuvo Teravainen is still over in Milan, as his Finnish team is set to take on Switzerland on Wednesday in the quarterfinal.
There is some news to report on the North American side of things as well. For one, goalie prospect Stanislav Berezhnoy has been suspended for 20 games for violating the AHL/PHPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program's terms.
“We were informed last week that Stanislav tested positive for a prohibited substance under the AHL/PHPA’s Performance Enhancing Substance Program." Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said. "While Stanislav did not knowingly take a prohibited substance, we believe his positive test is a result of a supplement he was consuming at the time. Stanislav has taken full responsibility for the situation, and the organization praises him for the maturity and accountability he has shown. The Blackhawks organization fully supports Stanislav and knows he will use this as an opportunity to grow as he continues his development.”
When something like this happens, there is a chance that it was not known by the player as it was happening. Still, responsibility will be taken by Berezhnoy for this mistake.
In other news, the Blackhawks sent out season ticket renewals on Tuesday. There is going to be a roughly two percent increase in the prices.
The NHL schedule is expanding to 84 regular-season games in 2025-26, but the Blackhawks will still only play 41 home games because they are scheduled to host what they are calling a "special event".
With the Winter Classic already scheduled for St. Lake City between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche, and one Stadium Series game set between the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights in Dallas, it is unlikely to be an outdoor game.
It could be a trip to Europe, which would be Chicago's first since 2019, when they went to Berlin and Prague. With this team coming from a big market with the hype of being an "up and coming team", this isn't the last time the league will put them on a big stage.
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Say what you may about Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki’s 2025–26 season, but you can’t deny that the forward has stepped things up offensively at the AHL level. The forward has bounced up and down from the NHL to AHL, but currently remains with the Abbotsford Canucks as Vancouver remains on break during the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Lekkerimäki continued flexing his offensive talents with a two-goal performance during Abbotsford’s 5–3 win against the Ontario Reign on Monday afternoon, keeping his overall stats on the season to a point-per-game at the AHL level. Through 20 games with Abbotsford this season, Lekkerimäki has scored a grand total of 13 goals.
Lekkerimäki’s two goals from Monday afternoon’s performance have propelled him up to 10th all-time in Abbotsford Canucks history in goals-scored, tying him with Sheldon Rempal with 33 total. Aside from Rempal, no other member of this list has played less than 100 games when logging this stat.
With two more goals, Lekkerimäki can leapfrog his way to ninth in franchise history, passing Max Sasson’s 34 total goals-scored. The current franchise leader in goals scored is Linus Karlsson, who has scored 70 in 164 games. If he is able to score five more goals in the AHL this season — which will depend on whether he rejoins the Canucks after the Olympic break or not — Lekkerimäki could finish the season with the eighth-most, surpassing Aatu Räty’s 38.
Abbotsford embarks on a five-game road trip beginning on February 18 with a rematch against the Reign in Ontario. From there, they will face the Henderson Silver Knights on February 20 and 21, before taking on the Calgary Wranglers on February 27 and March 1.
Jan 27, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki (23) handles the puck against the San Jose Sharks in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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With the 61st overall pick at the 1991 NHL draft, the Montreal Canadiens drafted left wing Yves Sarault. The Valleyfield, Quebec native wouldn’t make his NHL debut until the 1994-95 season, and he would have very limited success. He played 22 games with the Canadiens across two seasons, and he only managed to pick up one point before he was traded to the Calgary Flames alongside Craig Ferguson for a 1997 eight-round pick who would become Petr Kubos, a right-shot defenseman who played junior hockey in the WHL before returning to Czechia and never coming back.
Meanwhile, Sarault played only 106 NHL games, spent time in the AHL and IHL, and played several seasons overseas in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria before wrapping it up in the LNAH. When he played for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the IHL in 1999, his better half gave birth to a little girl, whom they named Courtney. In 2022, she competed in her first Olympic Games in Beijing but finished 11th in both individual races and lost two ranks while skating for the relay team, which led to Canada failing to make the podium—a heartbreaking experience.
Four years later, while most hockey fans have forgotten Sarault’s name, his daughter has put the family name in the headlines in Milano-Cortina, winning three medals in speed skating. She was part of the mixed team relay, which claimed silver. She then won a bronze medal in the women’s 500m and added a silver medal in the women’s 1000m on Monday.
With three medals, the Moncton, New Brunswick resident may have done enough to be on the country’s shortlist of flagbearers for the closing ceremonies as the Olympics will come to a close on Sunday, February 22.
The Bruins were reportedly in on now Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson, but the deal fell through. The Bruins were uninterested in making a deal without an extension, and although they believed Andersson would sign an extension after completing a trade, things changed within a 24-hour span.
Without Andersson, the Bruins have to pivot, and now their sights seem to be set on Faulk.
Similar to the situation with the Red Wings, Faulk would join the Bruins and serve as a top-four defenseman, playing behind Charlie McAvoy as the second-best right-handed defenseman.
Faulk could also quarterback either the first or second power play unit and provide two-way versatility. With 11 goals and 30 points in 57 games, the 33-year-old defenseman would rank second in points and first in goals among Bruins defenseman.
“They have been talking for a while now,” an NHL source close to the situation told RG Media. “Sweeney and Armstrong have been together a lot, and I’m told they’ve talked a lot on Faulk. He fits that void Sweeney’s been trying to fill, and you saw that with the way he went after Andersson before he was traded to Vegas.”
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The two-time NHL All-Star is set to become an unrestricted free agent, which gives him the opportunity to sign with any team.
The Sharks signed Skinner to a one-year, $3 million contract in July, but ultimately, things did not work out for the 16-year NHL veteran in San Jose.
The 33-year-old Skinner played in 32 games this season with the Sharks, tallying six total goals and 13 points with a career-low ice time average of 12:21 per game.
San Jose will look to push for a playoff spot for the remaining 27 games of the 2025-26 NHL season, with the younger forwards such as Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith leading the charge.
The Montreal Canadiens are in a good spot right now. At the time of this writing, they sport a 32-17-8 record and are second in the Atlantic Division with 72 points. With this, they are setting themselves up to be buyers ahead of the 2026 NHL trade deadline.
One of the Canadiens' top needs is another highly skilled center, and they are being connected to one of the NHL's most notable trade candidates because of it.
In part four of The Athletic's NHL trade matchmaker series, NHL insider Chris Johnston predicted that the Canadiens will be the team that acquires Calgary Flames star forward Nazem Kadri.
"Kadri is a competitor who would immediately raise the ceiling in Montreal. While there’s legitimate concern around how well his contract will age, with another three seasons remaining after this one, the fact he would be in favor of a move to the Habs, according to league sources, should bring a measure of comfort. Kadri has a 13-team no-trade list, and Montreal isn’t on it," Johnston wrote.
This is not the first time that the Canadiens have been viewed as a potential landing spot for Kadri, and it is easy to understand why. The Canadiens could use another top-six center, and acquiring Kadri would undoubtedly provide them with just that.
Kadri would also give a rising Canadiens club another good veteran to help mentor their younger players. This could come in handy for the Canadiens, and this is especially so when noting that he has won the Stanley Cup before.
With Kadri having multiple years on his contract, there is no question that he has good trade value. Thus, the Canadiens would need to offer a significant trade package to land him, but it would be worth it if he helps them take that next step as true contenders.
In 56 games this season with the Flames, Kadri has recorded 10 goals, 29 assists, and 39 points.
“That was probably the best team I played on in my time in the NHL.”
As the words flowed from Chris Kelly’s mouth, a measured perspective was offered with a smile, then a pause. It lasted only a brief moment, but to anyone watching, it was easy to see a flood of memories wash over the Boston Bruins’ assistant coach.
It was high praise from a well-respected veteran who went to three finals and won a Stanley Cup.
The Ottawa Senators of the late 1990s and early 2000s were characterized by strong two-way play. Strong two-way play and heartbreak. The kind of unmistakable, soul-sucking anguish that left fans questioning whether their faith in sport will ever be rewarded.
THN's Steve Warne and Gregg Kennedy discuss how the Olympic hockey tournament format could use some work.
The 2005-06 iteration was no different.
Twenty years later, with the Olympic Winter Games ironically being held in Italy again, this is the story of the 2005-06 Ottawa Senators, one of the deepest and most talented teams in franchise history that ultimately fell short of winning hockey’s ultimate prize.
The groundwork for the Senators’ emergence as an Eastern Conference power was laid over the better part of the previous decade. Strong amateur scouting and player development were the hallmarks of a small-market team that had to allocate its limited resources efficiently.
The Senators could not spend at the level of a Detroit, a Toronto, or the New York Rangers to bring in established, expensive, high-end talent, so they relied exclusively on mechanisms to acquire young, cheap talent who also offered the organization years of team control.
Under the tutelage of Jacques Martin, an excellent ‘X’s and O’s’ coach, the Senators' head coach ushered in an era of structure and defensive accountability, preaching a message of taking care of your own end first before creating offence off of it.
Between clinching their first playoff spot in the 82nd game of the 1996-97 season and winning the Presidents' Trophy with 113 points in 2002-03, it always felt like the organization was naturally building towards a championship.
Unfortunately, three agonizing defeats to the provincial rival Maple Leafs were interspersed in between those seven seasons, so that when the heavily favoured Senators bowed out to Toronto in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, changes had to be made.
The sale of the Senators out of bankruptcy to Eugene Melnyk was finalized in August 2023, and with it brought about a confidence and swagger the organization had never known.
With promises to spend and a penchant for taking public shots at the Toronto market, no owner in Senators history conducted themselves the way that Eugene Melnyk did. Thanks to the sensitivities that naturally form when a city is wedged between two major Canadian markets like Ottawa is, the owner’s bravado and brashness were a welcome change.
A fourth consecutive postseason defeat, though, was unacceptable to Ottawa’s new Toronto-based owner.
The first order of business was to fire Jacques Martin in April. Two months later, they replaced him with Shawville’s Bryan Murray, who resigned from his general manager’s role in Anaheim to come home.
"I wanted very badly to come back to coach," Murray told reporters at the press conference to announce his hiring. "I wanted to come back to a hockey country where hockey meant something. I'm very, very excited.
"Today, there are 10 or 12 teams that think they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. We have to be one of them. The core is here.”
The core was there, but the hockey was not.
Following the expiration of the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement on September 14, 2004, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced two days later that the start of the season would not proceed, pointing to a stalemate in negotiations with the NHLPA.
On February 16, 2005, he announced that the season was formally cancelled.
At the heart of the issue was a dispute between the owners and players regarding how much money the owners were losing and how a large share of the league’s gross revenues was tied to paying player salaries. To address those problems, the owners adamantly demanded the introduction of a hard salary cap, which aligned with their goal of employing a mechanism linking league revenues to player salaries.
Five months later, a new CBA was ratified in late July, announcing the return of NHL hockey. As part of the new agreement, a hard cap was established, with lower and upper limits that teams had to abide by.
Heading into the labour stoppage, fewer teams in the league needed a salary cap more than the Ottawa Senators. The irony is that the introduction of the $39-million cap ceiling may have inadvertently cost the organization its first Stanley Cup.
Few teams in the league boasted as much talent as the Ottawa Senators had, and at least in the first few formative years of Eugene Melnyk’s stewardship of the franchise, there was a willingness and ability to spend on the roster.
The first casualty of the new cap system was Marian Hossa.
The Senators were put into a difficult spot with the talented forward.
“We realized you can only keep so many people with a hard cap,” stated Roy Mlakar, former president and CEO of the Ottawa Senators. “We had so many good young players that were coming to the point where we're going to have to plan for the future, and John Muckler was no rookie, as far as being the general manager was concerned, and having the ability to work alongside Peter Chiarelli, who had tremendous knowledge of the CBA and of the way it was going to work, we knew we had to make some hard decisions.”
During the 2003-04 season, the Senators had a payroll of $39.5 million. Even with the NHL and NHLPA agreeing to a 24 percent salary rollback, which was applied to all existing player contracts for the 2005-06 season, it would still be challenging to fit in more expensive contracts.
As a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, the winger tallied 36 goals and a career-high 82 points during his 2003-04 season while providing strong two-way play.
Marian Hossa was going to get paid.
Hours before Hossa’s arbitration hearing was scheduled to begin, general manager John Muckler signed the winger to a three-year, $18 million contract. A few short hours later, Muckler traded Hossa with defenceman Greg de Vries to the Atlanta Thrashers for Dany Heatley. As part of the trade, the Senators announced that Heatley had inked a three-year, $13.5 million contract of his own.
It was a back-pocket deal that devastated an unsuspecting Hossa.
“The fact of the matter is, Don (Waddell), the general manager of Atlanta was in that hotel (where Hossa’s arbitration hearing was taking place),” explained Mlakar. “He had talked about a (Hossa contract) with John under the terms and conditions that Donnie could deliver Dany Heatley. He agreed to pay the money that John negotiated. We knew the term and Don Waddell accepted it, and when the contract was signed by Hossa, we had a deal. In (Hossa’s) defence, he thought he was coming back to Ottawa on a new deal. But, John Muckler had him traded for Heatley if he could agree to the contract.”
Jan 26, 2008; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Thrashers forward Marian Hossa (18) takes a shot during the accuracy shooting event of the NHL all star skills competition at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
For Heatley, Ottawa represented a blank slate.
“It was just a fresh start for me, personally,” admitted Heatley. “I had a lot to prove coming off my situation.”
Weeks earlier, the 24-year-old requested a trade through his agent, Stacey McAlpine. Two years earlier, he was sentenced to three years probation for his involvement in a car accident in September 2003, which claimed the life of teammate Dan Snyder. Heatley suffered an ACL, MCL and meniscus tear to his knee from that accident.
During the lockout, the winger was struck in the face with a puck while playing for HC Bern in the Swiss League. The impact broke an orbital bone in his face, necessitating surgery and ultimately leaving Heatley with a permanently dilated eye.
“There was pressure coming off some injuries that people were questioning,” said Heatley, explaining how he felt pressure to perform upon arriving in Ottawa. “Of course, you're in a Canadian hockey market. You're traded for a pretty good player who did a really good job in Ottawa before he left. There were huge expectations. I had a lot to prove.”
It was the kind of trade that could send shockwaves through a dressing room, but if the lockout had an unanticipated positive impact, it might have mitigated any possible feelings felt by Hossa’s teammates.
“I think the trade was made a little bit easier by the fact that we were coming out of a lockout,” Chris Phillips stated while describing the impacts the trade had on the team. “Some of us were not in the city, and the league wasn't going on. We hadn't played in months, and we weren’t going to play for another few months. So it was not the normal course of business when it happens in-season or during the offseason, when you are connected and know everything that's going on.”
Jan. 1, 2008; Washington, DC, USA; Ottawa Senators left wing Dany Heatley (15) and Washington Capitals left wing Alexander Ovechkin (8) share a moment during the Capitals 6-3 win at Verizon Center in Washington, DC. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Heatley was not the only significant change to the roster. The other was in goal.
During the 2004 offseason, the Senators signed Dominik Hasek to a one-year, $2-million deal that included an option. Ottawa’s underlying talent allured the goaltender.
“I was motivated, above all, by how good that team was in Ottawa,” Hasek explained. “I also felt that with my performances, I could help them win the Stanley Cup.”
The then 39-year-old had already amassed a Hall of Fame resume, winning a Stanley Cup, the Hart Trophy and six Vezina Trophies.
Ottawa also represented an opportunity to reunite with John Muckler, the former general manager of the Buffalo Sabres, with whom Hasek enjoyed success during his tenure there.
“Of course, he played a big role,” stated Hasek. “(Muckler) knew me very well, not only as a goalie, but also as a person. We had a very good relationship from our time in Buffalo.”
Although the lockout meant that Hasek would return to play as a 40-year-old, together with Dany Heatley, the pair of newcomers brought something observers believed the Senators lacked.
Swagger.
“It was pretty awesome when (Hasek) came to town,” said Wade Redden, recalling the excitement he had at the time. “Everyone was so excited and pumped. Obviously, we'd seen lots of him from his days in Buffalo and been on the wrong side of his games. But it was exciting. We had a really good team, and then to add a guy like that. It was like, ‘Okay, let's do this. Let's go!’”
“If you actually think about it, who are you going to get for Marian Hossa?” asked veteran centre Bryan Smolinski. “You get Dany Heatley, an unbelievable personality who came into the room and walked with swagger coming from Atlanta, because he was a goal scorer. He walked in and made his presence known just by how he worked, how he practiced, and his love of being with the guys.”
“(Heatley) had a confidence to him that I think was good for our group,” stated Redden. “He just had a swagger, and he was a perfect fit to play with Spez, too, who loved passing, and Heater loved shooting everything. I can’t remember if it was early in the year or at the end of training camp, but a Toronto fan came up to him at the bar and bought him a drink. He mentioned something about the Leafs, and Heatley took it and threw it in the corner, and said, ‘We’re going to go 8 and 0 against them.’ That was a funny story, but he just had that confidence and swagger that fit in great with our group. He was a big piece for us.”
“Yeah, I won't deny that,” Heatley responded. “But, I'm not going to comment further.”
The Senators would only win seven of their eight games against the Leafs that season, but that confidence bled into the group.
“I think we had more of a group swagger or confidence than any individual,” stated Heatley, while downplaying the confidence he brought to the group. “We fed off each other. We fed off each other's confidence more than we did our own. That's how I felt. I felt confident being on the ice with anybody. You felt confident that those guys were going to do their job, and they were confident players as well.
“It was more of a group confidence in swagger. We were a tight group. When we were on the road, we'd all go to dinner together a lot. It was fun to be a part of. There were times when you'd be driving to the rink, and as a scorer, you know you're going to get, like, four or five good looks. That doesn't happen very often with teams.”
When the 2005-06 Senators arrived at the rink, it was never a question of whether they could win; it was a matter of asking by how much.
But, to get to that point, the Senators needed the right person pulling the strings, and that individual was Bryan Murray.
The 63-year-old Shawville native was overseas at the World Championships in Prague when he learned from the Disney Company, owners of the Ducks, that the Ottawa Senators had called wanting permission to talk to Murray about their vacant head coaching position.
When he debated the merits of the job, he obviously understood how talented the assembled group in Ottawa was.
The core of the 2002-03 Presidents' Trophy team was still in place, and strong amateur scouting had put the team in a great position. The draft produced 15 players who appeared in 30 or more games for the Senators in 2005-06, including seven first-round picks.
Several other first-round selections like Alexei Yashin, Marian Hossa, and Jakub Klepis were used as trade capital to land Jason Spezza and Zdeno Chara, Dany Heatley, and Vaclav Varada, respectively. Coupled with the fact that the lockout allowed the Senators to play and develop many prospects during the work stoppage, who they had designs on being NHL regulars at the resumption of NHL play, it put the organization in a really advantageous spot.
Talent notwithstanding, the Senators’ head coaching position offered an unmistakable element that could not be addressed elsewhere.
“There’s a sense of pride,” Murray told Chris Stevenson, author of 100 Things Senators Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. “I’m the coach of the local NHL team. I know there will be days when you don’t win a hockey game, when you will be analyzed and criticized. That’s part of our game. There’s a chance here for a real sense of pride for the whole area if this team could ever be a champion.”
It certainly helped that Murray had a strong resume to call on.
Before arriving in Ottawa, Murray was the seventh-winningest head coach in NHL history.
“He was just a great human being,” described Heatley. “Bryan was an old school guy, and obviously a local Ottawa guy. He knew a lot of things about the league and the game, but he was definitely a player's coach, an old school players' coach. He would jump, and he'd make fun, but he was serious about winning and hockey, and I really enjoyed it.
"He treated you like a man. He treated the team like men and just let us do our thing. If something needed to be said, he would say it, but for the most part, he knew how to manage our group. We had some guys that obviously accomplished things, some veterans and some young guys, but he managed us really well.”
The contrast between Jacques Martin and Murray was readily apparent.
“Bryan was different, definitely compared to Jacques,” emphasized Martin Havlat. “He would give his offensive players more freedom. When he got to the team (after the lockout), we had so many great players. It was so much fun for him.”
“It was two different styles,” echoed Chris Neil. “Bryan inherited a team that was well-structured and well-coached on the defensive side of the puck, and Bryan gave us a little more leeway to be more offensive, with a harder forecheck, which paid dividends for me and my game. I love being physical, getting in on the forecheck. Bryan loved it. They'd flush guys out behind the net, and I could catch them in the trolley tracks. He opened up for the offensive horses, but we still had that defensive mindset in our own end, which Bryan inherited from Jacques.
One of the best decisions Murray made occurred in the preseason.
After scoring six goals in seven preseason games, the unheralded Brandon Bochenski was making a name for himself. Born in Blaine, Minnesota, Bochenski was Ottawa’s seventh-round pick (223rd overall) from the 2001 NHL Draft. He followed up an impressive three-year collegiate career at the University of North Dakota by recording 34 goals and 70 points in his first professional season during the lockout in Binghamton.
Bochenski was one of eight Binghamton products who were looking to make the jump from the AHL to Ottawa’s lineup as regulars. During the preseason, he looked comfortable riding shotgun on a line with Heatley and Spezza. Bochenski benefited directly from the organization's effort to build chemistry between Spezza and Heatley by playing them together as much as possible.
Spezza (3 goals, 16 points) and Heatley (six goals, 15 points) finished the preseason as the first and second-highest scorers. Bochenski would open the season on the Senators' roster, but it was Murray’s decision to use Alfredsson in certain situations during the preseason that would pay dividends.
In the season opener and his team trailing in the third period, Alfredsson replaced Bochenski on the team’s top line and scored twice in the final frame, with Heatley assisting on Alfredsson's second goal, to send the game to overtime. Overtime failed to produce a goal, so the game proceeded to the first shootout in NHL history, where Alfredsson recorded the first goal, and Heatley got the shootout winner.
That initial success carried over to the next few games, leading to the infamous ‘Pizza Line’ moniker.
At the time, the Senators had a sponsorship deal with Pizza Pizza wherein if the Senators scored five or more goals in a home game during the regular season, ticket holders would be entitled to a free slice of pizza. After the Senators surpassed that threshold in each of the team’s first three home games, the pizza chain moved quickly to alter the conditions of the giveaway, raising the required goal total from five to six.
From the preseason to the regular season, the goals and points kept coming for Heatley.
Heatley would put up 17 goals and 38 points in the Senators’ first 22 games. It represented the second-longest point streak to begin a career with a new team in NHL history, trailing only Wayne Gretzky’s 23-game mark with the Los Angeles Kings.
It was a stretch of greatness that we may never witness again.
The Senators’ record during Heatley’s 22-game point streak was a resounding 19-3-0. It still stands as the greatest start to a season in franchise history.
During this span, Jason Spezza led the NHL in scoring with 11 goals and 41 points, while Daniel Alfredsson was second with 20 goals and 40 points. As a team, the Senators scored 102 goals while allowing 45, averaging 4.64 goals and 2.05 goals against per game.
They were a wagon.
Nov 8, 2006; Atlanta, GA, USA; Ottawa Senators forward (19) Jason Spezza forward (15) Dany Heatley and forward (11) Daniel Alfredsson have a discussion prior to a face off against the Atlanta Thrashers in the first period at Philips Arena. The Thrashers defeated the Senators 5 to 4. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Dale Zanine Imagn Images Copyright (c) 2006 Dale Zanine
“We never talked about how well we were playing,” Spezza recalled. “One of the things that I liked, that Bryan Murray always talked to me about, was that as long as the three of us were going to play together, we could never complain about secondary scoring or worry about getting help from the lineup. If we were going to play together, we had to produce. And if we were going to be a line, then we had to drive the offence.
"I thought it was a great coaching job by him, because often you hear when teams go through struggles, they lean on secondary scoring. He right away, kind of squashed that and said, ‘All right, if we're going to play you guys together, you have to carry the load of it.’ It put a good pressure on us and also an expectation that we were fortunate to get a chance to play together. We never talked about it, but we knew our roles and responsibilities. If we didn't win our matchups every night, we probably wouldn't win games. And we went into every game thinking we had to win our matchup with whoever we were playing against.”
The ‘Pizza Line’ never had to worry about secondary scoring because it showed up in droves.
The Senators' offence was bolstered by the combination of Peter Schaefer, Bryan Smolinski and Martin Havlat. Mike Fisher and Chris Neil provided a mix of physicality and secondary scoring, while Antoine Vermette immediately brought speed and two-way aptitude to the group. The fourth line of Vaclav Varada, Chris Kelly and Brian McGrattan played reliably while offering a layer of physicality and pugilism that head coach Bryan Murray believed in.
It is not often that a rookie centre tallies 10 goals and 30 points while playing exclusively in a fourth line capacity, but that was exactly what happened to Chris Kelly.
“I think a lot of times, because we got up so much, that I probably got more ice time than most fourth line guys normally do,” said Kelly as he described reasons for his unlikely production. “We played Toronto eight times that year, and my first NHL goal was in Toronto. I think it was our seventh goal, and I couldn't even celebrate it. But it was fun being on that team. I got more ice time than most fourth line guys would have because of our offence.”
Ten players on the Senators scored 15-plus goals that season and likely would have had more had Martin Havlat not been suspended for kicking Hal Gill during the October 15th game against Boston. In the second period with Havlat below the goal line, the Bruins defenceman pinned the Senators forward’s back to the Boston goal.
“Kicking was the only option I had left,” Havlat explained. “I was trying to defend myself. The only part of me that was free was my foot that was hanging there. I wasn’t penalized on the play, but I got suspended, and nobody was really happy about that. I got a five-game suspension, actually, because it wasn't the first time.”
In his return game, Havlat popped off, recording a four-goal performance against the Buffalo Sabres. The only thing more impressive than ‘Mach-9’s’ offence was captain Daniel Alfredsson’s third period hat trick that allowed him to finish with four goals and six points in the Senators’ 10-4 win.
“Alfie had to catch up in the last period,” recalled Havlat while laughing about his team’s performance. “He stole the show at the end, but we scored 10 goals. It was a special night for me, after the suspension, and I was so serious that game. Everything I touched went in, but then I got hurt against Montreal, and everything changed.”
In that November 29th game against the Canadiens, Havlat suffered a separated shoulder. It was an injury that would require surgery, putting the rest of his season in doubt.
After scoring 31 goals and 68 points, Havlat was expected to shoulder that secondary scoring burden, but his injury afforded the organization the opportunity to elevate another rookie, Patrick Eaves, to absorb some of Havlat’s minutes. The winger would go on to become the fourth player in franchise history to record 20-plus goals as a rookie.
“It was at the point as a franchise that is hard to get to,” said Spezza, the team’s number one centre. “We had a young fourth line. And our third and fourth line guys had the capability to be more, and they all became more. Antoine Vermette became more. (Kelly) became more.
"Our depth was just incredible. It was a four-line team playing in an era where not as many teams were that deep. We definitely felt going into every game that we were going to win. To get that kind of swagger, you have to earn it, but by being a young team, we were probably a little bit naive about things, and it worked in our favour.”
“We had very high swagger,” Bryan Smolinksi acknowledged. “We knew in our locker room; I don't think many others realized that we had four lines. We had a very good (blue line), and we played a heavy game, like we weren't going to get pushed around. We had a legit heavyweight in Brian McGrattan, but we had team toughness. And I think everyone realized that, you know, throughout the year. And that was one thing that we really took to heart. The knock was that Ottawa was easy to push around. If you just beat us up a little bit, we were going to cave. We took that perception and tried to be really tough throughout the year with physicality and speed. There were not a lot of teams that could play with us.”
The Senators strived towards team toughness, but it was a game in late October that helped set the tone.
Senators rookie Brian McGrattan was nine games into his NHL career when he faced the Maple Leafs on October 29th. It was the third meeting of the season between the Senators and Maple Leafs, with the first two decided by shootout. The scores in those games were too close for there to be much on-ice acrimony, but with Ottawa staked to a 4-0 lead in the early stages of the second period, an aging Tie Domi challenged the young McGrattan to fight.
One right hand and Gene Simmons-like tongue protrusion later, McGrattan single-handedly let everyone know there was a changing of the guard in the Battle of Ontario. After those years of bullying, it was like a weight had been lifted. All of Ottawa channelled years of frustration through McGrattan’s one haymaker into a moment of pure cathartic bliss.
“It was another defining moment,” said Wade Redden, while recalling the fight. “It was a key moment, organically, that you look back on that kind of gives everyone a sense of belief of, ‘Here we are.’”
“At the time, I was still living at the hotel,” McGrattan told the hosts of the Coming in Hot Podcast. “That fight was somewhere within my first 10 games, and that's the moment that maybe cemented my role. With the rivalry that the teams had leading up to that, the team they had in Toronto, and how soft those Sens teams were. The Sens teams were better, but they were way softer. Just beating Tie there, and it was a pretty decisive win on the scoresheet, too. We beat them either seven or eight to nothing, and then I beat Tie.
"I grew up a die hard Leaf fan, and Tie Domi was one of my favourite Leafs. Being able to fight him and Toronto being my childhood team, and it was a pretty decisive win, which made it better. Fighting is not all about winning or losing, but when you beat a guy of Tie’s stature and the history he's had, it's a pretty big moment for our team and the Ottawa organization, knowing that they were not going to get pushed around.”
The Senators were not pushed around through their first 56 games, cruising to a 37-14-5 record. Not only were they the league's highest-scoring team with 221 goals, but they also allowed the fewest with 133.
A microcosm of the Senators’ dominance was a game in late January against the Montreal Canadiens. Ottawa dictated the play for the entire night, but their puck possession in the second period led to five consecutive penalties to the Canadiens. The Senators’ power play made them pay, with Daniel Alfredsson scoring two goals on the man advantage. By the time the final horn sounded, the Senators held a massive advantage in shots on goal, directing 40 shots at Cristobal Huet, to the Canadiens’ 12.
That mark still stands as a Canadiens' record for fewest shots in a game.
“What can I say about tonight’s shutout?” Dominik Hasek quipped after the game. “It was the easiest shutout I’ve ever had in the NHL. I think I’m embarrassed to get a shutout like that.”
It was the kind of moxie and swagger that the Senators were looking to cultivate, but one month later, that positivity hit a speed bump when Hasek got injured at the Olympics in Turin, Italy...
Coming soon: Part two of The Rise And Fall Of One Of The Greatest Teams In Senators History
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