Ottawa Senators 1/4 Season Report Card

by Capital Gains

The Ottawa Senators have reached the 20-game plateau this year, posting an 8-6-6 record. As a result, (and because I haven't made a post in over a year) I decided it was a good time to look back on the first quarter of the season and evaluate the players, coach and GM. If you are related to any of the above - Don't read this.

The Forwards

Gabriel Dumont: A++

No-brainer here. The Sens have never lost a game when Dumont is in the lineup.

Mark Stone: A++

An A+ results from Stone's team lead in goals, points and celebrations. The extra '+' with Stone is because his play can be used to aggravate Leafs' fans.

Derick Brassard: A-

To his credit, he has picked up where he left off in the playoffs last year. With 22 points in 22 games, Zibanejad is on fire to start this season.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau: B-

Pageau has been head and shoulders above the rest of the team this year in the hair department. He's been decent on the ice as well.

Chris DiDomenico: B-

Unfortunately for Chris Di-Demoted-o, Boucher loves his eldest and youngest sons more. Good luck in Tampa.

Kyle Turris Matt Duchene: B-

Seeing as Duchene has yet to register a point with the Sens, I am being generous with my grade. Almost as generous as Dorion was with the trade.

Ryan Dzingel: C+

This was a tough one. Dzingel came close to getting a B, but it appears that the bell rang before he completed the last few questions on the test. Poor guy couldn’t finish.

Tom Pyatt: C+

Like 280 character tweets, more of something isn't always better. As long as Pyatt stays out of the top 6, I have no real complaints with him or his play.

Nate Thompson: C+

All things considered, Thompson has actually been okay* for the Sens.
*better than Kelly
Editor's Note - Expect Thompson's mid and final season grades to be the same as this one, since his no movement clause prevents a change.

Bobby Ryan: C

A low approval rating shouldn't be a surprise for Bobby. For the 5th straight year, he has started the season off with more broken hands than goals.

Nick Paul: C

I've got nothing for this.

Alex Burrows: C-

Even if Dahlen never makes it to the NHL, the Sens still lost this trade. Hugs and high-fives for everyone.

Mike Hoffman: Ungraded

Unlike his shots, Hoffman’s grade will not be posted.

Zack Smith: Ungraded

Apparently Smith has played in 12 games this year, but I haven’t seen him out there. Hopefully he shows up before the mid-season grades.

The Defense

Thomas Chabot: A

This was an easy choice with Chabot having 3 assists in 4 games this year. Additionally, I have to go with the coach on this one since Boucher has been associating him with the A all season.

Erik Karlsson: A-

Since he is still recovering from ankle-removal surgery, Karlsson has looked sluggish to start the season. This makes him the best defenseman in the league by only a medium-margin.

Editor's Note - Karlsson would have received an A+ if he was from Ontario.

Freddy Claesson: B

With the team losing Marc Methot to the expansion draft, someone needed to step up both as a player and a personality. I think it's safe to say that Freddy has been that guy. Two thumbs arms up.

Dion Phaneuf: B

This grade was solely based on his Halloween costume.

Mark Borowiecki: B-

I didn’t think this was possible. Keep up the good work, Mark.

Ben Harpur: C+

I initially gave Harpur a C, however, that was before I realized he's 6'6. Clearly I was wrong with my initial evaluation.

Ceci: D-

Like a few GMs around the league, I was going to deal out an F for Ceci, but Dorion refused it.

Johnny Oduya: F

To be honest, as bad as he's been, I don't think Oduya's season has been a complete failure. With that being said, I didn't want to grade Johnny a D, since he isn't very good at it.

Chris Wideman: F

Personally, I think Wideman deserves a B, but the team sees him as an F for some reason, so I guess I have to live with their decision.

The Goalies

Craig Anderson: C

Unfortunately for Anderson, this is the only time when an 89.6% doesn’t result in an A+.

Mike Condon: D

Like any University during O-Week, there have been plenty of Condon giveaways that resulted in someone scoring.

The Coach

Guy Boucher: D

Although a bit low, I don't think Boucher will be upset with my decision. With another D, there are more ways for him to go 11-7.

The GM

Pierre Dorion: F

Realistically, until he trades Ceci, one for one, I can't go higher than this.

An Updated History of Ottawa Senators Jerseys

When walking around the concourse of Canadian Tire Centre, it is immediately apparent that the Ottawa Senators have a diverse jersey history. From the simplistic Karlsson Heritage #65 to the time bending Zack Smith on a red Senagoth #15 because it was a Heatley jersey, and even to the hilarious white 2D with Leafs Suck #69 on it, it can be almost impossible to pick a favourite. Let's check out some of these things.

(most of the images from nhljerseys.com)

Not Real Jersey

When the Bring Back the Senators campaign was going on, this inverted New Jersey Devils 2017 looking jersey was introduced. Management clearly wanted the “Washington Capitals logo except what if Ottawa?” look here. The NHL decided that this logo was too boring of a logo for a professional sports team so it was never actually worn in a game. Shoutout to the early Senators for selling Giant Tiger looking jerseys to unsuspecting fans before making an abrupt switch to an ancient Roman gladiator theme.

Gladiator 1.0 (1992-1995)

The Senators unveiled a theme that didn’t really make a whole lot of sense but produced some really nice unilingual jerseys. Turns out people who bought the Bring Back The Senators jersey realized their jerseys were not actual Sens jerseys and got angry. ’’It was a scam,'' said Dean Vasilas, 25, who has Senators season tickets. ''We're being used. We're proud we got the team, and every time we turn around they always get more money out of our pockets.’’ Ottawa Citizen, May 18, 1991) Dean’s powerful message against mass consumerism resonates with working people to this day. Many thought that the logo looked like a US college football while others thought it looked like the Trojan condoms logo (nice). The jersey was slightly altered after one season by changing the numbers from red with white trim to white with red trim. 

Gladiator 2.0 (1995-1997)

The first kinda significant jersey change happened in 1995 when the striping on the road jerseys got some white infusion. Notable players who have used this jersey are melon Jofa Alfredsson, playoff Duchesne (1.0), and NAC Yashin.

Senagoth Phase 1 (1997-2000)

After Rod Bryden’s kid played around on Microsoft Paint for Windows 95, the Sens introduced this weird abstract jersey. This should’ve been filed with the Islanders’ fish sticks jerseys, the Pittsburgh “Rangers” jersey, and the Canucks’ gradient jersey as some of the worst 90s/2000s designs. The team also subtly changed the unilingual “Ottawa Senators” on the 2D logo to the multilingual laurel leaves. In 1999/00, the team got rid of the black 2D jersey in favour of the jersey that features graphable curves.

Senagoth Phase 2 (2000-2007)

Things get even wilder for the Sens as they introduce Ottawa’s first bike sharrows encouraging cyclists to take the full lane on both the arms and waist of these jerseys. This set was used all the way up until the Reebok Edge program took over. While this jersey set really strays far from God’s plan for all of us, it is associated with some of the most successful times for the organization. Despite this success, my favourite moment involving the black arrow jersey is Denis Hamel getting absolutely tossed by Phaneuf.

Reebok Edge (2007-2008)

The early 2000s jersey set was updated in 2007 after the Reebok Edge jersey program was implemented. Like the current Adidas situation in 2017, third jerseys were deemed illegal prior to the 2007 season. I remember these being unveiled right after the Cup final run and something like 14,000 people went to CTC to check these out. The centurion head got updated to look more like Chris Neil and then was slapped on a template that was shared with the Pittsburgh Penguins. This logo looks like he could toss hands while the old logo looked like he could only toss feelings. The highlight of the 2007/08 season is probably the infamous Sens Gladiator. The off ice issues were also cool.

SENS (2008-2011)

Every joke about this jersey has already been made but did you know that Binghamton used this template for both of their jerseys up until last year? Matt Duchene scored against Pascal Leclaire in this jersey (check out those empty seats @ attendance Twitter). 

Heritage 1.0 (2011-2017)

Jersey unveil attendance numbers way down from 2007

To celebrate their 20th anniversary, the Sens gave us what is possibly their best jersey of all time. These jerseys made their debut in a 7-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche (also featuring a Duchene goal, see video above). I generally think about this jersey as being a very recent design but this jersey came out before Kyle Turris was on the team. Filip Kuba was on the team when these were unveiled.

Heritage 2.0 (2014)

The Sens made a white version of their Heritage jersey prompting frequently explanations of the difference between “Heritage jersey” and “Heritage Classic jersey”. I remember absolutely nothing notable about the actual Heritage Classic but I remember blowing 3 goal leads to the Habs twice in the span of weeks in these jerseys. 

Heritage 3.0/ Post-Heritage (2017)

We’ve now arrived at the post-Heritage era of Senators jerseys. This jersey rejects the traditional elements of what was once a heritage jersey. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it represents a significant societal shift in what we consider to be heritage. At the height of the gold and laurel leaves, who would have thought that the Senators would one day incorporate silver into their jersey?

Anyways, thanks for reading.