2007–08 Ottawa Senators season


The 2007–08 Ottawa Senators season was the 16th season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. The Senators started strongly in the regular season, but the team slumped after Christmas, and just barely qualified for the playoffs. The slump caused the Senators to fire John Paddock, who was in his first season as head coach. The Senators lost in the first round, losing in a sweep by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Offseason

The 2007 NHL Entry Draft was held in Columbus, Ohio, on June 22–23, and the Senators used their first-round draft pick, 29th overall, to select James O'Brien.
Prior to the season, the Senators changed their staff, promoting Bryan Murray to general manager and John Paddock to head coach. Previous General Manager John Muckler did not accept another position with the Senators and resigned. Two players, Mike Comrie and Tom Preissing, left as free agents, and Peter Schaefer was traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Shean Donovan.

Pre-season

In the pre-season, a major incident occurred in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers on September 25. Early in the second period, forward Dean McAmmond was hit in the head by Steve Downie of the Flyers. Downie was given a match penalty with an automatic suspension. McAmmond was diagnosed with a concussion. Four Flyers players were eventually injured in the match, which was won by the Senators by two goals. Steve Downie was eventually suspended for 20 games for the hit, also adding a nine-game suspension from the NHL's affiliate, the American Hockey League. The Senators won all seven of their pre-season games, the only NHL team to do so that year.

Regular season

The Senators opened the regular season with two straight wins over their rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the Battle of Ontario. The season opener at Toronto ended in overtime with right winger Dany Heatley notching two goals and an assist to start the season off 1–0–0. That afternoon, Heatley also agreed to a new contract, a six-year, $45 million deal.
The Senators earned another win the following day in their home opener, with captain Daniel Alfredsson scoring two goals. Before the game, the 2007 Eastern Conference Champions banner was raised to the rafters of Scotiabank Place.
The Sens went undefeated to start the season until the streak was snapped in their sixth game with a 5–3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on October 11. In a later win against the Montreal Canadiens, rookie Nick Foligno scored his first NHL goal off a wrap-around attempt on goaltender Carey Price. He celebrated the goal by imitating his father Mike's signature goal celebration, a high jump.
After an 8–1 record to start the season, and with a one-week break, Head Coach John Paddock organized a team retreat to the Muskoka, Ontario, area starting on October 21. With their win over the Maple Leafs on November 6, the Senators set a team record by recording their eighth consecutive win. They also set an NHL record for the best start to a season after 14 games.
Also on November 6, six Senators were named to the All-Star Game ballot: Daniel Alfredsson, Ray Emery, Dany Heatley, Chris Phillips, Wade Redden and Jason Spezza, the most players from any one team in the NHL. As of December 5, Daniel Alfredsson trailed only Sidney Crosby in the Eastern Conference voting for forwards with 119,825 votes.
After a 4–2 win against Montreal, the Senators entered into a seven–game losing skid, recording three points and matching a record for straight losses set in the 1995–96 season. The Senators then rebounded with a six–game winning streak.
On January 2, 2008, Head Coach Paddock was named to coach the Eastern Conference All-Star team and Jason Spezza was named the NHL's First Star of the Month for December. On January 8, Daniel Alfredsson was named to the starting lineup for the All-Star Game, based on fan voting. He is the first Senator ever to be voted to the starting lineup. Alfredsson will be making his fifth appearance in the All-Star Game.
On January 11, Alfredsson's "CASH line" linemates, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza, were named to the All-Star Game roster. They are the first complete line named since 1981, when the "Triple Crown" line of the Los Angeles Kings was named. However, due to Heatley's shoulder injury suffered against the Detroit Red Wings earlier in January, he did not dress in the game.
On January 24, 2008, in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Daniel Alfredsson set a new team record for points in a single game, notching seven points on three goals and four assists. This topped the team record of six, done three times, the last time by Alfredsson himself against the Buffalo Sabres on November 2, 2005. A six-point game had also been done by Dan Quinn and Radek Bonk. The seven-point night put Alfredsson into the overall lead in the scoring race for the All-Star break. Moreover, Alfredsson was named the First Star of the Week on January 28. He was also named The Hockey News Player of the Week on that same day.
On January 28, Ray Emery arrived late for a practice in New York City on the first day back after the All-Star Game. Emery was subsequently fined $15,000 and the money was donated to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Foundation. Despite his team's disappointment with his behaviour, it did not stop Emery starting against the Maple Leafs in a nationally televised game, following Coach Paddock's "lose and you're out" policy of rotating his goaltenders depending on the team winning or losing, and not the goaltender's performance.
Dany Heatley returned from his separated shoulder injury after a month on injured reserve on February 7, 2008, scoring two goals in a win against the Florida Panthers.
On February 8, 2008, The Sports Network reported that Wade Redden refused to waive his no-trade clause for a possible deal with the San Jose Sharks. Redden's agent was quoted as saying that "Redden wants to stay in Ottawa and contribute to Ottawa winning the Stanley Cup."
On February 11, the Senators made a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes sending defenceman Joe Corvo and forward Patrick Eaves in exchange for forward Cory Stillman and defenceman Mike Commodore in a trade for "Stanley Cup experience", according to General Manager Bryan Murray. Also that day, the NHL announced that Jason Spezza was named First Star of the Week after recording 11 points in the previous week's three games.
On February 27, after a prolonged slump through January and February during which the Senators won only 7 of 21 games, Murray fired Head Coach Paddock and Assistant Coach Ron Low, taking over the coaching duties himself. Both Low and Paddock were offered other jobs within the organization. Murray said he told them to call him in a few weeks.
The Senators trailed the Buffalo Sabres 3–1 on March 25, 2008, with under eight minutes to play in the third period but scored five unanswered goals to win 6–3. It was only the third time in NHL history that a team scored six-or-more goals in a game despite scoring no more than one goal through the first 52:00.
The team remained upbeat after the poor play and coaching change. Alfredsson appeared on the cover of the April 1 issue of The Hockey News, proclaiming "Don't Count Us Out." This was his seventh appearance on the cover of the magazine. The article interviewed Alfredsson, Fisher and Murray, and discussed the up-and-down play of the team, and its defensive play which has allowed more goals than previous seasons. Wayne Gretzky was quoted about the team: "This might mature them as a team going through this tough patch."
Entering the final week of play, the Senators needed three points in three games to guarantee a playoff position ahead of the Washington Capitals, who held an edge in a tie-breaker between the teams. In the first game, Montreal would defeat the Senators 3–0. According to The Globe and Mail, before the next game on April 3 in Toronto, Ottawa employed the use of sports psychologist Dr. Max Offenberger. The Senators defeated the Maple Leafs 8–2 and Antoine Vermette scored a hat-trick. Three of the Senators' goals were scored short-handed; it was the third time in franchise history that the Senators had scored three short-handed goals in a single game, with the two previous games being a 5–2 home win against the Florida Panthers on November 18, 2000, and a 7–2 road win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 2, 2006. However, they lost Alfredsson and Fisher to injuries, adding to Chris Kelly, who was already sidelined. The Capitals continued to win, and it came down to the Senators final game, on April 4 at home against the Boston Bruins, needing one point to clinch a spot. Despite a 2–1 Senators' loss that night, the Carolina Hurricanes fell to the Florida Panthers and the Senators clinched a playoff berth for the 11th-straight season.
On April 6, the final day of the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins played the Philadelphia Flyers to decide the final seedings and lost 2–0, drawing the Senators as first round opponents. According to Phil Sheridan of The Philadelphia Inquirer, it appeared deliberate:
"Two days after Double Clinch Friday came Letdown Sunday. Fans who filled the Wachovia Center expecting a fresh installment of There Will Be Blood got stuck watching Farce of the Penguins instead.


No Sidney Crosby, not much effort. The Pittsburgh Penguins paid the Flyers a huge compliment yesterday. They made it embarrassingly clear that they preferred to face the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs. After skating through the motions of a 2–0 loss to Philadelphia, the Pens will indeed face the Sens."

Excluding three shootout-winning goals, the Senators scored 258 goals during the regular season, the most among all 30 teams. They also scored the most shorthanded goals, with 18.

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Schedule and results

November

Record: 7–5–2; Home: 5–3–1; Road: 2–2–1
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
11November 1Atlanta4 – 6OttawaEmery18,53810–1–020
12November 3Boston2 – 3OttawaGerber19,93911–1–022
13November 4Ottawa2 – 1BostonSOGerber10,08712–1–024
14November 6Toronto1 – 5OttawaGerber19,61313–1–026
15November 8Washington4 – 1OttawaEmery19,66613–2–026
16November 10Montreal1 – 3OttawaGerber20,06514–2–028
17November 15Buffalo2 – 3OttawaGerber19,27915–2–030
18November 17Ottawa0 – 3TorontoGerber19,59615–3–030
19November 19Ottawa4 – 2MontrealGerber21,27316–3–032
20November 21Ottawa2 – 4BuffaloEmery18,69016–4–032
21November 22Pittsburgh6 – 5OttawaSOGerber20,06116–4–133
22November 24Philadelphia4 – 3OttawaEmery20,12816–5–133
23November 28Ottawa2 – 3NY IslandersSOEmery9,21116–5–234
24November 29Nashville6 – 5OttawaGerber19,53816–6–234

December

Record: 9–3–2; Home: 2–2–1; Road: 7–1–1
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
25December 1NY Rangers5 – 2OttawaGerber20,00316–7–234
26December 4Ottawa3 – 4Tampa BaySOEmery17,54016–7–335
27December 5Ottawa5 – 4FloridaEmery11,28917–7–337
28December 7Ottawa4 – 2DallasEmery18,01618–7–339
29December 12Ottawa6 – 0CarolinaEmery15,26819–7–341
30December 13Ottawa4 – 1PittsburghGerber16,98220–7–343
31December 15Atlanta3 – 7OttawaGerber20,08221–7–345
32December 18Ottawa3 – 2BostonGerber14,87422–7–347
33December 20Ottawa2 – 3AtlantaGerber14,08522–8–347
34December 22Chicago4 – 3OttawaOTEmery20,17122–8–448
35December 23Ottawa3 – 1NY RangersGerber18,20023–8–450
36December 26Ottawa5 – 3BuffaloGerber18,69024–8–452
37December 27NY Islanders2 – 5OttawaGerber20,26825–8–454
38December 29Washington8 – 6OttawaGerber20,29625–9–454

Record: 7–7–0; Home: 4–3–0; Road: 3–4–0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
39January 1Ottawa3 – 6WashingtonEmery14,54725–10–454
40January 4Ottawa5 – 3BuffaloEmery18,69026–10–456
41January 5Tampa Bay3 – 4OttawaOTEmery20,10827–10–458
42January 10Buffalo2 – 3OttawaSOGerber19,84328–10–460
43January 12Detroit2 – 3OttawaEmery20,20829–10–462
44January 13NY Islanders3 – 1OttawaGerber19,80429–11–462
45January 15Ottawa2 – 4WashingtonEmery15,26129–12–462
46January 17Carolina1 – 5OttawaGerber19,72030–12–464
47January 19Tampa Bay2 – 0OttawaEmery20,09130–13–464
48January 20Ottawa1 – 6PhiladelphiaGerber19,74230–14–464
49January 22Ottawa3 – 5FloridaEmery12,79430–15–464
50January 24Ottawa8 – 4Tampa BayGerber16,34631–15–466
51January 29Ottawa5 – 2NY IslandersGerber9,54632–15–468
52January 31Boston4 – 1OttawaGerber19,95932–16–468

February

Record: 4–7–2; Home: 3–3–1; Road: 1–4–1
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
53February 2Ottawa2 – 4TorontoEmery19,54332–17–468
54February 5Ottawa3 – 4MontrealGerber21,27332–18–468
55February 7Florida4 – 5OttawaEmery19,43533–18–470
56February 9Montreal1 – 6OttawaEmery20,29734–18–472
57February 12Buffalo5 – 1OttawaEmery19,56434–19–472
58February 13Ottawa2 – 3New JerseyOTGerber12,33934–19–573
59February 16New Jersey3 – 2OttawaEmery20,20134–20–573
60February 19Philadelphia2 – 3OttawaSOEmery19,72935–20–575
61February 21Columbus3 – 2OttawaSOEmery19,61235–20–676
62February 23Ottawa4 – 3PittsburghOTEmery17,13236–20–678
63February 25Toronto5 – 0OttawaEmery19,86136–21–678
64February 26Ottawa0 – 4BostonGerber13,45136–22–678
65February 28Ottawa1 – 3PhiladelphiaEmery19,56736–23–678

March

Record: 6–6–2; Home: 3–1–1; Road: 3–5–1
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
66March 1Pittsburgh4 – 5OttawaGerber20,15337–23–680
67March 3Ottawa1 – 3AnaheimGerber17,17437–24–680
68March 5Ottawa2 – 3San JoseOTGerber17,49637–24–781
69March 6Ottawa0 – 2Los AngelesGerber17,58037–25–781
70March 8Ottawa4 – 2PhoenixGerber16,92238–25–783
71March 11Boston1 – 4OttawaGerber20,14339–25–785
72March 13Ottawa3 – 0MontrealGerber21,27340–25–787
73March 16Ottawa1 – 5CarolinaGerber18,68040–26–787
74March 20St. Louis2 – 3OttawaGerber20,02741–26–789
75March 22Toronto5 – 4OttawaGerber20,18341–27–789
76March 24Ottawa5 – 7MontrealEmery21,27341–28–789
77March 25Ottawa6 – 3BuffaloGerber18,69042–28–791
78March 27Buffalo4 – 3OttawaSOGerber19,88342–28–892
79March 29Ottawa0 – 4BostonGerber17,56542–29–892

April

Record: 1-2-0; Home: 0-2-0; Road: 1-0-0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
80April 1Montreal3 – 0OttawaGerber20,32642–30–892
81April 3Ottawa8 – 2TorontoGerber19,46643-30-894
82April 4Boston2 – 1OttawaGerber20,23243-31-894

The Ottawa Senators clinched a playoff spot for the eleventh consecutive time, finishing second in the Northeast Division, and seventh in the Eastern Conference. The Senators faced the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Quarter-final and lost the series 4–0. The result led to speculation in the media that Ray Emery's contract would be bought out and free agents Mike Commodore, Martin Lapointe, Wade Redden, Luke Richardson and Cory Stillman would not return for the 2008–09 season. GM Bryan Murray was given a public endorsement by Owner Eugene Melnyk and was expected to return for next season. On April 18, Murray confirmed to the media in an end-of-season press conference that Emery would not return: "My plan is not to have him back."

Player statistics

Regular season

;Scoring
PlayerPosGPGAPtsPIM+/-PPGSHGGWG
C7634589266261106
RW704049893415975
LW7141418276331308
C81242953513433
C7923244782-10624
D80632386011401
D8292736505611
C/LW75111930303011
C68101929184101
D51621271813101
D8281624647100
C6891322121031
RW6861420199-3001
LW243161910-8100
D81513185615101
D67114155514001
RW82571273-3003
RW26461060101
LW45639200000
D76279411000
RW1833623-2100
C2122419-1011
RW38033460000
D2602226-9000
G5702260000
D601141000
G100000000
G3100060000
C50000-1000
C20000-2000
D300001000
C100020000
C100000000

Stillman and Commodore totals only include time with Senators.
;Goaltending
PlayerMINGPWLT/OTGAGAASOSASVSV%
319757301841452.72216191474.910
16893112134883.130800712.890
60110011.0002928.966
Team:494682433182342.84224482214.904

Playoffs

;Scoring
PlayerPosGPGAPtsPIM+/-PPGSHGGWG
LW42022-4100
D40220-1000
C410160000
RW41012-1000
LW410120000
LW40116-5000
D40116-4000
RW4011220000
D401111-4000
C201101000
C40110-4000
D401120000
RW20000-2000
G400000000
RW40004-1000
D40002-1000
C400040000
D40004-2000
D400080000
C40004-4000

;Goaltending
PlayerMINGPWLGAGAASOSASVSV%
238404143.530159145.912
Team:238404143.530159145.912

Awards and records

The Senators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Trades

Free agents

Free agent acquisitions

PlayerFormer teamContract terms
Matt CarknerPittsburgh PenguinsOne year, $475,000
Niko DimitrakosPhiladelphia FlyersOne year, $575,000
Luke RichardsonTampa Bay LightningOne year, $500,000
Randy RobitailleNew York IslandersOne year, $625,000
Jesse WinchesterColgate UniversityOne year, terms not announced

Players lost to free agency

Roster

Sources:
Ottawa's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio.
Round#PlayerPositionNationalityCollege/junior/club team
129thJames O'BrienCentreUnited StatesUniversity of Minnesota
260thRuslan BashkirovLeft WingRussiaQuebec Remparts
390thLouie CaporussoLW/CCanadaSt. Michael's Buzzers
4120thBen BloodDefenceUnited StatesShattuck-Saint Mary's

Farm teams