From The Archive: The Year The Senators Entered The Playoffs As The

Coming out of the lockout for the 2005-2006 season, the Senators seemed to have it all.

They had an excellent young team whose playoff kryptonite for four of the previous five seasons had been the Toronto Maple Leafs. But with Toronto missing the playoffs that year, as they would for 10 of the next 11 years, they were no longer a concern.

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Meanwhile, the Sens had the league’s best offence, the second-best defence, and entered the playoffs as the top seed in the East and the Stanley Cup favourite.

They had acquired Dany Heatley and Dominik Hasek for that season, and Zdeno Chara and Martin Havlat were both still here. For my money, it was the greatest team in Senators history.

Back in February, my colleague, Graeme Nichols, produced the best story ever written about the 2005-06 Senators. It’s an incredible, long-form piece, filled with interviews and anecdotes with just about everyone from that team, and I highly encourage you to check it out here.

20 Years Later: The Rise And Fall Of One Of The Greatest Teams In Senators History 20 years after Dominik Hasek’s Olympic injury, THN’s Graeme Nichols caught up with Hasek, Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and many of the stars of the 2005-06 Ottawa Senators for a deeper look at arguably the greatest team in franchise history.

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But as we hit The Hockey News Archive, it’s time for a little time-travel, a chance to dip back into the moment to see what people were saying about the 2006 Senators. Mike Brophy wrote in our Apr 25, 2006, issue about the Senators’ chances as they entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

A New Sensation

From The Hockey News
Apr 25, 2006
Vol. 59, Issue 31

It’s Stanley Cup or bust for the Ottawa Senators as they try to reverse their failed playoff history and win Canada’s first NHL title since 1993.

BY MIKE BROPHY

A few years ago, Daniel Alfredsson boldly announced his Ottawa Senators would win the Stanley…