1995–96 Ottawa Senators season

The 1995–96 Ottawa Senators season was a season with plenty of change for the club. The club changed coaching staffs twice, changed the General Manager and moved into the new Palladium arena in Kanata. The team would again finish last in the league.
==Offseason==
Prior to the season, on August 2, 1995, Brian Smith, former NHL hockey player and sportscaster at Ottawa TV station CJOH-TV was killed. He had been the primary reporter on the Senators for the station. The Senators would honor him with a patch on their jerseys, with his nickname 'Smitty' and number 18, which they would wear on their jerseys for the whole season. The team would also raise a banner in his memory.
==Regular season==
There were some bright spots during the season, rookie Daniel Alfredsson would lead the team offensively with 61 points (26 goals-35 assists), while Alexei Yashin was out of the lineup for 36 games. Alfredsson would go on to win the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL's rookie of the year. 
After getting off to a good start with a 6–5–0 record, the Senators would then lose their next eight games, which ended up costing head coach Rick Bowness his job, as the club replaced him with Dave Allison, who was previously the head coach of the Senators AHL affiliate, the Prince Edward Island Senators. The Dave Allison era did not last long in Ottawa, as the club would only win two of 25 games (2–22–1) before he was replaced by Jacques Martin. Under Martin, the Senators would be more competitive, going 10–24–4 in his 38 games to finish the year with an 18–59–5, their fourth straight season at the bottom of the NHL standings.
===Highlights===
After taking over from the fired Randy Sexton as General Manager, on December 6, 1995, Pierre Gauthier made three moves to strengthen the club. He hired Jacques Martin as head coach, signed hold-out Alexei Yashin to a contract and engineered a blockbuster trade on January 23, 1996, dealing away Don Beaupre, Martin Straka and Bryan Berard, while acquiring Damian Rhodes and Wade Redden. It was a three-way trade between the Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the New York Islanders and was necessary because Berard, the Senators' first-round pick, was refusing to report to the Senators.
The Senators played their first game in The Palladium on January 17, 1996 in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, which turned out to be a 3–0 Senators loss. The pre-game ceremonies were ruined when the raising of the Senators' Stanley Cup banners failed, leaving the banners obscuring some fans' view of the scoreboard.
On April 13, 1996, the Senators played the defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils, who needed a win to clinch the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Senators would play the role of spoiler, defeating New Jersey 5–2, officially eliminating the Devils from post-season play and giving the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team that entered the league the same year as the Sens, their first playoff birth.
===Final standings===
===Game log===
Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	L	October 7, 1995 	1–3 	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 	0–1–0
2 	L	October 13, 1995 	2–6 	@ Florida Panthers (1995–96) 	0–2–0
3 	W	October 15, 1995 	7–4 	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 	1–2–0
4 	W	October 19, 1995 	4–2 	Calgary Flames (1995–96) 	2–2–0
5 	L	October 21, 1995 	1–4 	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 	2–3–0
6 	W	October 22, 1995 	4–2 	@ New York Rangers (1995–96) 	3–3–0
7 	W	October 24, 1995 	2–1 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 	4–3–0
8 	W	October 26, 1995 	5–4 	Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 	5–3–0
9 	L	October 28, 1995 	1–4 	Florida Panthers (1995–96) 	5–4–0
10 	L	October 29, 1995 	2–5 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 	5–5–0
11 	W	November 2, 1995 	5–0 	@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 	6–5–0
12 	L	November 4, 1995 	4–5 	Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 	6–6–0
13 	L	November 8, 1995 	1–7 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 	6–7–0
14 	L	November 9, 1995 	3–4 	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 	6–8–0
15 	L	November 11, 1995	2–3 	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96) 	6–9–0
16 	L	November 15, 1995	2–3 	@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 	6–10–0
17 	L	November 16, 1995	3–5 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 	6–11–0
18 	L	November 18, 1995	1–5 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 	6–12–0
19 	L	November 19, 1995	0–6 	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 	6–13–0
20 	L	November 22, 1995	1–3 	Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 	6–14–0
21 	T	November 25, 1995	3–3 OT	Boston Bruins (1995–96) 	6–14–1
22 	L	November 28, 1995	2–7 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 	6–15–1
23 	L	November 30, 1995	3–5 	New York Islanders (1995–96) 	6–16–1
24 	L	December 2, 1995 	2–4 	New York Rangers (1995–96) 	6–17–1
25 	L	December 5, 1995 	1–4 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 	6–18–1
26 	W	December 7, 1995 	5–2 	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 	7–18–1
27 	L	December 9, 1995 	3–7 	Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 	7–19–1
28 	L	December 12, 1995	1–2 	@ San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 	7–20–1
29 	L	December 13, 1995	2–6 	@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96) 	7–21–1
30 	L	December 15, 1995	2–4 	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	7–22–1
31 	L	December 17, 1995	1–4 	@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 	7–23–1
32 	L	December 18, 1995	1–3 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 	7–24–1
33 	L	December 23, 1995	2–4 	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 	7–25–1
34 	L	December 26, 1995	4–6 	@ New York Rangers (1995–96) 	7–26–1
35 	W	December 27, 1995	4–3 	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 	8–26–1
36 	L	December 30, 1995	1–4 	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 	8–27–1
37 	L	December 31, 1995	0–3 	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 	8–28–1
38 	L	January 3, 1996 	1–4 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 	8–29–1
39 	L	January 5, 1996 	2–4 	@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 	8–30–1
40 	L	January 6, 1996 	4–5 	@ New York Islanders (1995–96) 	8–31–1
41 	L	January 11, 1996 	1–6 	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96) 	8–32–1
42 	L	January 13, 1996 	1–4 	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 	8–33–1
43 	L	January 17, 1996 	0–3 	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 	8–34–1
44 	L	January 22, 1996 	3–7 	Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96) 	8–35–1
45 	L	January 24, 1996 	3–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 	8–36–1
46 	L	January 25, 1996 	2–4 	Detroit Red Wings (1995–96) 	8–37–1
47 	T	January 27, 1996 	2–2 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96) 	8–37–2
48 	W	January 29, 1996 	4–2 	St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 	9–37–2
49 	L	January 31, 1996 	1–3 	Boston Bruins (1995–96) 	9–38–2
50 	L	February 1, 1996 	2–4 	Washington Capitals (1995–96) 	9–39–2
51 	L	February 3, 1996 	2–3 OT	New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 	9–40–2
52 	L	February 6, 1996 	1–3 	@ Calgary Flames (1995–96) 	9–41–2
53 	L	February 8, 1996 	2–6 	@ Winnipeg Jets (1995–96) 	9–42–2
54 	W	February 10, 1996	5–3 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 	10–42–2
55 	W	February 12, 1996	4–1 	@ New York Islanders (1995–96) 	11–42–2
56 	T	February 15, 1996	2–2 OT	San Jose Sharks (1995–96) 	11–42–3
57 	L	February 17, 1996	1–2 OT	New York Rangers (1995–96) 	11–43–3
58 	W	February 20, 1996	7–1 	@ St. Louis Blues (1995–96) 	12–43–3
59 	L	February 22, 1996	2–3 	@ Dallas Stars (1995–96) 	12–44–3
60 	L	February 25, 1996	2–4 	@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96) 	12–45–3
61 	L	February 28, 1996	2–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 	12–46–3
62 	L	March 1, 1996 	2–3 	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 	12–47–3
63 	L	March 2, 1996 	1–4 	New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 	12–48–3
64 	L	March 7, 1996 	1–5 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 	12–49–3
65 	L	March 9, 1996 	2–3 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 	12–50–3
66 	W	March 13, 1996 	4–1 	Dallas Stars (1995–96) 	13–50–3
67 	W	March 15, 1996 	2–0 	Vancouver Canucks (1995–96) 	14–50–3
68 	W	March 17, 1996 	5–0 	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96) 	15–50–3
69 	L	March 19, 1996 	2–5 	@ Florida Panthers (1995–96) 	15–51–3
70 	L	March 21, 1996 	1–3 	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96) 	15–52–3
71 	T	March 22, 1996 	1–1 OT	Hartford Whalers (1995–96) 	15–52–4
72 	L	March 24, 1996 	2–3 	Edmonton Oilers (1995–96) 	15–53–4
73 	L	March 27, 1996 	2–4 	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96) 	15–54–4
74 	L	March 29, 1996 	0–5 	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96) 	15–55–4
75 	L	March 30, 1996 	1–3 	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96) 	15–56–4
76 	T	April 1, 1996 	1–1 OT	Boston Bruins (1995–96) 	15–56–5
77 	W	April 3, 1996 	3–2 	Florida Panthers (1995–96) 	16–56–5
78 	W	April 5, 1996 	4–2 	New York Islanders (1995–96) 	17–56–5
79 	L	April 6, 1996 	3–4 	Washington Capitals (1995–96) 	17–57–5
80 	L	April 10, 1996 	2–5 	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96) 	17–58–5
81 	L	April 11, 1996 	3–5 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96) 	17–59–5
82 	W	April 13, 1996 	5–2 	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96) 	18–59–5
==Player stats==
===Regular season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	82	26	35	61 	28 	-18	8 	2 	3
 	C 	46	15	24	39 	28 	-15	8 	0 	1
 	LW 	81	17	19	36 	130	-31	4 	0 	2
 	D 	62	12	24	36 	42 	-23	7 	0 	2
 	C 	76	16	19	35 	36 	-5 	5 	0 	1
 	LW 	72	15	14	29 	21 	-9 	0 	2 	1
 	C 	43	9 	16	25 	29 	-14	5 	0 	1
 	C 	28	6 	18	24 	24 	-8 	4 	0 	0
 	D 	80	7 	14	21 	94 	-26	2 	0 	2
 	D 	64	4 	14	18 	38 	-17	1 	0 	1
 	LW 	31	7 	10	17 	6 	-3 	2 	0 	1
 	C 	50	5 	12	17 	24 	-30	1 	0 	0
 	C 	42	9 	7 	16 	54 	-19	1 	0 	1
 	RW 	50	7 	8 	15 	28 	-15	0 	0 	0
 	D 	43	4 	11	15 	63 	-18	3 	0 	0
 	RW 	75	4 	10	14 	68 	-15	0 	1 	0
 	RW 	52	8 	5 	13 	15 	-19	1 	1 	0
 	D 	82	3 	9 	12 	54 	-16	1 	0 	0
 	C/LW	44	6 	4 	10 	18 	-14	0 	0 	1
 	LW 	17	2 	6 	8 	10 	-1 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	28	1 	6 	7 	20 	-8 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	64	2 	3 	5 	171	-7 	0 	0 	0
 	D/LW	64	1 	4 	5 	276	-13	0 	0 	0
 	D 	65	1 	3 	4 	85 	-10	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	29	1 	2 	3 	16 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	13	1 	1 	2 	14 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	24	1 	1 	2 	14 	-7 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	4 	1 	1 	2 	2 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	33	0 	2 	2 	17 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	20	0 	2 	2 	14 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C/RW	27	0 	2 	2 	80 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	36	0 	2 	2 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C/RW	1 	0 	1 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	20	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	0 	0 	0 	4 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	0 	0 	0 	4 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0 	0 	0 	2 	-1 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	2123	36	10	22	4	98 	2.77	2 	1041	943 	.906
 	1770	33	6 	23	0	110	3.73	1 	892 	782 	.877
 	1040	20	2 	14	1	72 	4.15	0 	560 	488 	.871
Team: 	4933	82	18	59	5	280	3.41	3 	2493	2213	.888
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage; 
==Awards and records==
* Calder Memorial Trophy, All-Rookie team - Daniel Alfredsson
* Molson Cup - Damian Rhodes
* NHL All-Star Game selection - Daniel Alfredsson
==Transactions==
===Trades===
April 7, 1995 	To Pittsburgh Penguins
----Norm MaciverTroy Murray	To Ottawa Senators
----Martin Straka
April 7, 1995 	To Boston Bruins
----Craig Billington	To Ottawa Senators
----future considerations (Bruins' eighth-round pick in 1995 Draft (Ray Schultz))
April 7, 1995 	To Quebec Nordiques
----Bill Huard	To Ottawa Senators
----Mika Stromberg(Nordiques' fourth-round pick in 1995 Draft (Kevin Boyd))
April 7, 1995 	To St. Louis Blues
----Ottawa's ninth-round pick 1995 Entry Draft (Libor Zabransky)	To Ottawa Senators
----Daniel LaperriereSt. Louis's ninth-round pick 1995 Entry Draft (Erik Kaminski)
July 8, 1995 	To New Jersey Devils
----Ottawa's fourth-round pick 1995 Entry Draft (Alyn McCauley)	To Ottawa Senators
----Jaroslav Modry
August 4, 1995 	To St. Louis Blues
----Ottawa's second-round pick 1995 Entry Draft (later traded by St. Louis)	To Ottawa Senators
----Steve Duchesne
September 20, 1995	To Colorado Avalanche
----Jean-Francois Labbe	To Ottawa Senators
----future considerations
October 5, 1995 	To New York Rangers
----Steve Larouche	To Ottawa Senators
----Jean-Yves Roy)
October 5, 1995 	To New Jersey Devils
----Ottawa's third-round pick 1997 Entry Draft (Alyn McCauley)	To Ottawa Senators
----Tom Chorske
October 7, 1995 	To Calgary Flames
----Ottawa's fourth-round pick 1997 Entry Draft (Chris St. Croix)	To Ottawa Senators
----Frank Musil
January 23, 1996 	To Philadelphia Flyers
----Dan Quinn	To Ottawa Senators
----future considerations
January 23, 1996 	To New York Islanders
----Don BeaupreMartin StrakaBryan Berard	To Ottawa Senators
----Damian RhodesWade Redden
January 26, 1996 	To Colorado Avalanche
----Brad Larsen	To Ottawa Senators
----Janne Laukkanen
March 1, 1996 	To Pittsburgh Penguins
----Dave McLlwain	To Ottawa Senators
----Pittsburgh's eighth-round pick 1996 Entry Draft (Erich Goldmann)
March 19, 1996 	To Philadelphia Flyers
----Kerry Huffman	To Ottawa Senators
----future considerations
March 20, 1996 	To Los Angeles Kings
----Jaroslav ModryOttawa's eighth-round pick 1996 Entry Draft (Stephen Valiquette)	To Ottawa Senators
----Kevin Brown
===Waivers===
October 2, 1995	From Carolina Hurricanes
----Ted Drury
October 2, 1995	From Los Angeles Kings
----Justin Hocking
Source: 
===Free agents===
{|class="wikitable"	
Player 	Former team
Dan Quinn 	Los Angeles Kings
Eric Lavigne	Los Angeles Kings
Joe Cirella 	Florida Panthers
==Roster==
						
Goaltenders
* 
* 
*		
Defensemen
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
*		
Wingers
* - C
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
*		
Centres
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
*GM: Pierre Gauthier
*Coach: Rick Bowness
*Coach: Dave Allison
*Coach: Jacques Martin
==Draft picks==
Ottawa's draft picks at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft in Edmonton, Alberta.
Round	# 	Player 	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	1 	Bryan Berard 	 	Detroit Jr. Red Wings (OHL)
2 	27 	Marc Moro 	 	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
3 	53 	Brad Larsen 	 	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
4 	89 	Kevin Bolibruck	 	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
4 	103	Kevin Boyd 	 	London Knights (OHL)
6 	131	David Hruska 	 	Banik Sokolov (Czech.)
8 	183	Kaj Linna 	 	Boston University (NCAA)
8 	184	Ray Schultz 	 	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
9 	231	Erik Kaminski 	 	Northeastern University (Boston) (NCAA)
==Farm teams==
* Prince Edward Island Senators (American Hockey League)
* Thunder Bay Senators (Colonial Hockey League)
==See also==
*1995–96 NHL season
==References==
* 
* 
* 
===Notes===
Category:Ottawa Senators
Category:Ottawa Senators seasons
Ottawa Senators season, 1995–96
Ottawa Senators season, 1995–96