20 Years Later: The Rise And Fall Of One Of The Greatest Teams In Senators History (Part Two)

Read Part One of The Rise And Fall Of One Of The Greatest Teams In Senators History here, a look back at the 2005-06 Ottawa Senators.

“In the East, we believed we were the best.”

It was hard to disagree with Dominik Hasek's insight. When the Olympic break hit in February of 2006, the Ottawa Senators’ confidence was at an all-time high.

The organization held a two-point lead on the Buffalo Sabres, sitting atop the Northeast Division standings with a 37-14-5 record (.705). Their plus-86 goal differential was not only the best in the league; they also held a 20-goal advantage over the next-best mark.

The Senators were not only a legitimate Stanley Cup threat. They believed they were one.

Dean Brown and Gord Wilson have been calling Senators games on the radio since day one, when CFRA first owned the rights. The broadcasting stations have changed and gone through rebrands, but the duo have been there for every step of the journey.

“Looking back, I remember at that time thinking, I'm not sure the organization had ever had a more complete roster, in the sense that every role you need to win was filled,” detailed Brown, the play-by-play voice. “They had a legitimate tough guy in (Brian) McGrattan, and they had three legitimate big, physical shutdown defenseman in (Zdeno) Chara, (Chris) Phillips and (Anton) Volchenkov. They obviously had scorers in (Jason) Spezza and (Dany) Heatley. But you also had those penalty killing guys, the Chris Kellys.

"I just remember thinking at that time that this organization had never had a more complete roster, where you looked at every role you would need on a team that can win, and every role was filled by somebody who wasn't just holding a place, but was outstanding at it.”

The difference was the addition of Hasek.

“He had a swagger. An aura," Wilson recalled. "He was ‘The Dominator’. He had won so much. This was the goaltender who was going to win you the Stanley Cup. That was the general feeling. And if he doesn't invoke swagger and confidence, I don't know what would. This guy just came in with a pedigree, with a Cup under his belt. The team was so successful under Jacques, going to the playoffs eight years in a row and just unable to get through the rounds for whatever reason.

"When John Muckler came in as the GM, he said, ‘You know what we're going to talk about? We're going to talk about winning the Stanley Cup. We're not going to talk about getting into the playoffs. We're a playoff team. We're going to talk about winning the Cup, because we have a capable team here.’ And Dominik Hasek might be the missing part, or the part that we've been missing all these years. That's how confident they were. It was the first time we really started talking about a Cup win rather than just getting to the playoffs.”

Hasek was a difference maker, and the numbers backed it up.

In 43 appearances, the 41-year-old compiled a 28-10-4 record, a 2.09 goals against average, a .925 save percentage and five shutouts. At the time of his last game, only Mikka Kiprusoff and Marty Turco had more wins (29), with Kiprusoff having one more shutout. Of the goaltenders who appeared in 20-plus games, only Henrik Lundqvist had a higher save percentage (.927), and of those goaltenders who faced more than 1,200 shots, Hasek was the only one to have allowed fewer than 100 goals.

“We were a great team. Both up front and back. I was performing very well, and the numbers matched that,” said Hasek, while reflecting on his metrics. “I was very happy with how the season was going. Unfortunately, my injury happened at the Olympics, and it changed everything.”

Hasek suffered an adductor injury in the first period of the first game against Germany.

“It happened on a completely routine save,” recalled the goaltender. “I felt pain, and quite a lot of it. I knew right away that the Olympics were over for me. However, it never occurred to me that at that moment, the (NHL) season was also over for me.”

Groin-related injuries were nothing new for the goaltender. After missing significant time during the 2003-04 season in Detroit, Hasek had groin surgery in April 2004 before signing with the Senators as an unrestricted free agent.

“I felt a little pressure in those places about a week before leaving for the Olympics, but I never thought it could be serious.”

The Senators immediately flew Hasek back, so he could begin treatment and rehab.

With only 26 games left in the regular season, the organization had no choice but to hand the net over to their 23-year-old rookie, Ray Emery.

On the surface, the idea of handing the reins over to an inexperienced goaltender is not ideal, but Emery’s numbers through his first 15 appearances that season were underwhelming.

Although he had a 9-4-1 record and one shutout, Emery had a pedestrian .888 save percentage and 3.13 goals against average. Despite those metrics, the organization had complete confidence in him.

“Honestly, Ray Emery was the most gifted athlete I've ever played with,” Chris Neil proclaimed. “He was good at everything, like tennis or any racket sport, running, you name it. In the gym, he was a beast. You knew he had something special. You talk about a guy with swagger like (Hasek), well, having Dom with him that year gave him an extra bit of swagger.”

The Senators’ goaltending coach, Ron Low, praised the dynamic between his pupils.

“Their relationship was pretty damn good,” Low stated. “Actually, Dom often helped him, but Razor was pretty much a sponge. He wanted to get better, and he actually had a really good mindset for a goaltender. If something went in, it was gone and forgotten about. Dom really helped them with that. Like Hasek said, “It isn’t going to be the first one, and it’s not going to be the last, but the next one's the most important.”

Although his numbers to start the year left something to be desired, Emery’s confidence was omnipresent. He had put together three strong campaigns in Binghamton and was part of a loaded group of young talent that the Senators integrated onto the parent roster following the lockout.

“We were a cocky group in general, and he was right there with that and brought that swagger,” Jason Spezza said, reflecting on his good friend’s most defining quality. “That's what made Razor who he was, too, just a belief he had in himself. He made you believe that he was going to be fine. That's a trait many great players have. There's no panic. To him, it was no big deal. He was thrown right into the fire, and he was fine with it.”

Senators fans probably forget that Emery started the first 13 games coming out of the Olympic break, compiling an 11-1- 1 record while winning seven of his first eight starts.

It was the performance the Senators needed because not only did it reward their faith in the young goaltender, it vaulted them to the top of the NHL standings, where they were tied with the Detroit Red Wings with 102 points on March 24th.

Emery’s emergence as a viable goaltender should have helped shelve some of the concerns about when Hasek would return, but everyone recognized that the Senators were a much more significant threat with Hasek between the pipes.

“Ray went in and did a fantastic job, a young goaltender having to step up,” said veteran second line centre Bryan Smolinski. “Watching Dom practice, watching how he goes about his business, the hardest-working guy on our team was Dominik Hasek. Razor probably saw that, and he worked just as hard. He wanted to help the team in any way he could. When you get closer to the end of the year, you're thinking, ‘Oh, shit, maybe this isn't ideal.’ You have it in the back of your mind, but we were not trying to change our identity based on that. If you go into the playoffs, and Razor does have to fill that role, so be it. But, he just wasn't Dominik Hasek.”

Had Emery struggled during this stretch, it certainly would have heightened concern regarding Hasek’s timeline for a return.

Unfortunately, the sad reality was that Hasek was not a 25-year-old athlete in the prime of his career. He was 41 years old with a surgically repaired groin.

“From the start, the improvement was incredibly slow, and the playoffs were approaching very quickly,” Hasek remembered, emphasizing his own growing unease that his injury could impact his ability to participate in the postseason.

That slow recovery led to mounting frustrations over his uncertain future. Whenever the media would ask Hasek when he expected to play, his recurring response of “Maybe Friday?” became a soundbite of Senators lore.

Sadly, Hasek was not the only Senator going through his injury troubles.

Martin Havlat was still recovering from surgery that repaired his separated shoulder. The team’s first line centre, Jason Spezza, was dealing with a herniated disc.

“I was really banged up that year, too, and probably played at like 70% (health) in the second half of the year before going for my first back surgery,” stated Spezza. “ So, the stars really didn't align for us perfectly in terms of everybody being healthy.”

Martin Havlat was making progress and working his way back.

“I would not say that there was pressure, but I wanted to be (ready for the postseason) myself,” said Havlat. “We had such a great team, and I knew we should have a chance with a team like that, especially if Hasek was in the net in the back, too. While I was rehabbing, I was working as hard as I could to be in the best shape of my life for the playoffs.”

Part of Havlat’s recovery process involved him eventually getting on the ice with Hasek.

“I took quite a long time before I was allowed to be on the ice,” the speedy winger acknowledged. “I was starting to skate a little bit and able to pass, not doing much. One day, Dom decided he was ready to skate, too, and told the trainers. He asked them to get his gear ready. But then he showed up at the rink, all mad at the trainers because he didn't want the goalie gear. He wanted players' gear. He just wanted me to pass pucks to him, so he could shoot one-timers. That was Dom, he was a special one.”

It would not be the last time Hasek wore full player gear in practice.

“I still remember to this day,” Chris Neil recalled while chuckling. “(John Muckler) comes into the dressing room one day, and he tells Dom to put the gear on and get out there. The next day at practice, I get out on the ice, and there's a new guy on the ice with full player gear. Dom put on full player gear, and he's going around shooting on the goalies. Mucks was fuming. He was beet red. He comes down and says, ‘When I say, put your gear, I mean put your goalie gear on!’ I still remember that to this day. And, Dom was like that.”

Veteran defenceman Chris Phillips was one player who voiced some frustration.

“Quite honestly, it's out of your control, so you’ve got to go play the games,” Phillips said. “It was certainly frustrating to not really know what was going on. To be honest with you, we didn't know what the injury was pinpointed to, other than it wasn't 100 percent. Then there was a bit of that circus of, ‘Alright, you’re going to go skate.’ And then he put on regular equipment and did a few laps, and practice as a regular player. As I said, it was a bit of a circus with everything going on around that.”

As Hasek tried to work his way back, the Senators were faced with another issue. They were at risk of overworking Ray Emery.

General manager John Muckler claimed Mike Morrison off waivers to provide some measure of insulation to Emery, but they obviously never trusted him as a capable alternative. Emery was called upon to start 24 of the Senators’ final 26 games, and his performance suffered in the month of April.

In eight April starts, Emery allowed four or more goals in five of them. Not surprisingly, the Senators lost six games and sputtered into the postseason.

These struggles down the stretch only fuelled the interest and frustration in Hasek’s situation.

“I was over there (in Turin), and I remember running into Dom, and he did not believe that it was going to be a long-term thing,” said Spezza. “He was upset that he got hurt, because it was the Olympics. I was pretty close with Dom. It just didn't seem like it was going to be a massive deal at the time. And I think that was what led to some of the frustration around him coming back: he could never get it back healthy. So at the time, it wasn't a panic moment, because there was still a lot of runway left.”

Until the doomsday scenario happened, the Ottawa Senators had run out of runway.

“We all assumed he'd be back, and then he never came back,” Heatley stated while describing the group’s mindset. “You're waiting, and you're waiting. And then, at some point, you begin to believe that he's not coming back. Razor’s our guy now, and you move on. I mean, every team loses big players, and you don’t have any choice but to move on.”

The problem was that an overworked Emery had struggled down the stretch, and now the Senators were hoping he could flick the switch and resemble the goaltender he was coming out of the Olympic break.

It was not all doom and gloom entering the postseason, however. Dany Heatley recorded the first 50-goal season in franchise history, while he and Daniel Alfredsson also broke the 100-point mark for the first time in franchise history.

The Tampa Bay Lightning represented the first obstacle in Ottawa’s path, but they had no answer for a returning Martin Havlat.

Having worked as hard as he could to put himself in a position to return in time for the postseason, the Czech winger exploded for six goals and 10 points in the five quarterfinal games. Coupled with 10-point efforts from Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, the Lightning had no answer for Ottawa’s firepower, getting outscored 23 to 13 in the series. Most importantly, Ray Emery held his own, stopping 92.4 percent of the Lightning shots.

Unfortunately, the Senators’ semifinal series against the Buffalo Sabres would not follow the same script.

“Game one was just an all-out shootout,” described Bryan Smolinski. “We had a few of those throughout the year. So it wasn't like we were afraid of that style. It was like, ‘All right, we have the firepower.’ It wasn't like we were lacking in scoring. It was just a matter of all right, we just had to stop the last shot.”

With approximately two and a half minutes to go in the third period and staked to a 5-4 lead, Brian Campbell took a tripping penalty. The circumstances should have led to the Senators trying to control the puck and run the clock down, but an Andrej Meszaros pinch on the right wall sprung the Sabres on a two-on-one that Derek Roy buried.

Twenty-four seconds later, the unthinkable happened.

“We were still on power play, and Alfie made this spinning play with his back to me. He doesn't even know I'm there, and I had an empty net. I was surprised, and during my celebration, I just thought, ‘Oh my god, I can't believe this. We have to lock this down.’”

People in Buffalo have told Smolinski that they still hate him for that goal, but fortunately for them, the Senators were unable to hold the lead. Tim Connolly scored an ugly goal with 10.9 seconds left in the game, and then, 18 seconds into overtime, Chris Drury scored off an egregious Anton Volchenkov turnover to win it.

The Sabres never looked back.

Despite outshooting the Sabres 105 to 64, the Senators quickly found themselves staring up at a three games to none deficit. That April version of Emery had reared its ugly head. And, it wasn’t like Emery was giving up a ton of soft goals. He simply was not making enough big saves to give his team a chance to win.

While all this was going on, Dominik Hasek continued to practice with the team, where his workouts were documented by the local media.

“The media would watch him at practice, and because he was back on the ice for practice, he would do everything that we saw him do in the months prior to the Olympics, and I mean, everything,” Gord Wilson clarified. “All his stretching, he could contort his body like nobody I've ever seen before. Hasek was the human Gumby, and to see him go through all the motions and work, and then at the end of practice say, ‘I'm not ready, I'm not good for a game.’ It was just flooring.”

“I remember so many times you would watch him in practice after coming back from Turin, and in particular during that Buffalo series, you would watch him and swear on your life, this guy's ready to play,” said Ian Mendes. “Unequivocally, you would watch him in practice, and you'd say, ‘That guy's ready to play.’ Every day you'd wake up and think, 'This is the day Dominik Hasek comes back.'”

For a good three to five seconds, it sounded like Hasek was back.

“It was either before game three or four,” said Ian Mendes, now the vice president of communications for the Ottawa Senators. “I'm gonna say game three, because Ottawa had home ice advantage in that series, and so we're at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo. Hasek goes through the morning skate, and when I say he looked good, I mean, he looked great, flexible, doing everything you would think without many restrictions on him.

"So we get into the press conference room in Buffalo, and Bryan Murray is at the little podium, and the first question is asked, ‘Who's your starting goaltender tonight?’

"And he says without hesitation, ‘Dominik Hasek.’"

"There's a ‘One — Mississippi; Two — Mississippi; Three — Mississippi.’ The Ottawa media collectively said, ‘Oh my God.’ And I'll say this, this is in an innocent era. There was no Twitter. Facebook was in its infancy. There was no immediate vehicle to deliver news to the masses. If that happened today, 10 or 15 reporters would have been duped into tweeting Dominik Hasek is starting.

"And then a few seconds later, Murray says, ‘Just kidding. It's Ray Emery.’

But when he said Dominik Hasek, every person in that room believed it, because of what they had just seen with their eyes. It looked like he was ready to go, and they had to go back to Ray.”

Murray may have had some fun at the media’s expense, but after the Senators fell into a three-nothing hole, the players took it upon themselves to convince Hasek to play.

During a team lunch at the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Buffalo, several of the team’s leaders approached Hasek in hopes of persuading the veteran goaltender to play.

“When we were down three-zero, Alfie, Redden, and I tried to talk to Dom and push him a little bit to go to the net,” Havlat reflected. “I can’t remember whose idea it was, but the thought was that with Dom in the net being down three-zero, there’s nothing to lose, right? At least you can say you tried, and everybody looks at the team differently with Dom back in the net. Unfortunately, he told us he's not ready, and when your body isn't, you're not going to play. Only he knows if he would have been able to play, but we respected his decision.”

The Hockey News put in a formal request to Daniel Alfredsson to discuss the subject matter of this article. As the captain, the hope was to discuss this interaction with Hasek and get some insights from Alfredsson on the conversation with Hasek and whether the relationship between the goaltender and the organization was salvageable for the following season.

Alfredsson declined to speak on the subject. (Note: he was one of only two players who declined. Zdeno Chara was the other, citing the busy nature of his schedule with his HHOF induction, jersey retirement, etc.)

“We talked about it, and I knew they wanted me to try it,” Hasek confirmed. “But, I just knew I couldn’t help them at that moment.”

As much as he may have wished it, Hasek felt he never got close enough physically to have a chance of playing.

“The muscle was slowly improving, but I wasn’t close enough to start training fully. In fact, even if we advanced past the semifinals, I wouldn’t have been able to help the team. And to try for a possible final without practically any training? That would be stupid and, above all, irresponsible towards the team. The injury was simply much worse than everyone, including me, originally believed.”

With their backs against the wall, the Senators pulled out an impressive 2-1 win in game four, before ultimately dropping game five in overtime. The loss bookended what had been a relatively impressive season for the Senators. And, it was a tight series. All five games were decided by one goal, and every second game was decided in overtime.

Unfortunately, goaltending was a topic of discussion for the Senators. It would eventually get eclipsed by Brian Elliott during the Senators’ Conference Quarterfinal series versus the Penguins in 2010, but at the time, Ray Emery’s .864 save percentage during this Buffalo series was the lowest-recorded save percentage by a Senators goaltender in a single playoff series.

If there were any frustrations from Hasek’s decision not to play, they weren’t being relayed 20 years later.

“Everyone knows players play with injuries, whether it's, you know, broken wrist, broken hand, or a sore back,” Bryan Smolinski explained. “We all do that, and for Dom not to do that, I'm sure he was definitely hurt.”

“We would have loved to have Dom back,” Chris Kelly affirmed. “Only Dom would truly know the extent of the injury. He obviously did not feel comfortable playing. So ultimately, we have to respect the player's choice and how he feels about his body. On the outside, we don't know exactly what's going on, but I would have loved to have him in there.”

“Obviously, it was frustrating because we knew how good we were with Dom in the net,” Spezza echoed. “We knew that he was injured, and we wanted him back because when he played, we didn't feel like we were going to lose very many nights. So it was definitely frustrating.”

The one thing I do love about goaltenders and goaltending,” said Senators goaltending coach Ron Low. “If you feel something's not right, then it probably isn't. We could look at all the stuff, practices and everything that went on. You never realize from a goaltender standpoint that what's going on in practice does not replicate the pressure-filled situations in a game. Now, would we have liked him to go out and try it in a game? Yeah, we definitely would have. Yeah, but the guy knows his body, and that's the end of it.”

Again, it was Chris Phillips who voiced some frustration.

“Not knowing (the extent of the injury), and you're not in that body, and you have no idea what somebody else is going through,” the shutdown defenceman stated. “For myself, to get into moments like that, if I didn't play when I wasn't 100%, I would have never played a game. You get to that time of year, it's like, ‘Okay, what can I take here? I'm gonna suck it up and get out there and do the best I can.’ Right? Because the guys are all playing for a Cup. So, if there's any frustration, it would be, ‘Alright, Dom, if you're 95 percent, a 95 percent Dominik Hasek is still pretty f***ing good.’”

It is important to note that Hasek stood to gain financially if the Senators advanced. His one-year contract carried a base salary of $2 million, but if the organization won the Cup, he would trigger bonuses totalling upwards of $4 million.

The only opinion that mattered, however, belonged to the head coach, Bryan Murray.

In 100 Things Senators Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, Bryan Murray told Chris Stevenson, “When (Hasek) got hurt in the Olympics, we couldn’t understand why he didn’t come back and play, because he seemed to be able to do everything, stretch, until it came to game time. I watched him in the weight room, in the dressing room, do everything that a goaltender had to do and more and not play. That was really, really frustrating.”

It was a sentiment that helped shape the Senators’ offseason.

When he was asked at the end of the year about Hasek, Murray notably quipped, “We’ve had enough of Dominik.”

Hasek’s contract contained a team clause that the Senators could have exercised, which would have tacked on an additional year at a cost of $3 million. The organization declined that option, making Hasek an unrestricted free agent.

The Senators would need another goaltender, but that decision would have to wait. In the interim, all of the organization’s time and energy would be devoted to contract negotiations with its two pivotal defencemen, Wade Redden and Zdeno Chara, before they were slated to hit unrestricted free agency on July 1st.

In a perfect world, the Senators would have found a way to keep both of their preeminent defenders.

“We wanted Zdeno Chara in the biggest way,” affirmed then team president and CEO Roy Mlakar. “We knew that he still hadn’t reached his peak, and we had done so much in his (development). Jacques (Martin) had brought him along so much, and Perry Pearn and his skating, and how far he had improved in his overall game.

"When he came to Ottawa, he was a physical specimen, but most people thought he was going to be a defensive defenseman who was impossible to get around when you came down the ice. The fact is, he owned a huge shot. He was a great passer. He improved his skating immensely every year. So he became a more well-rounded player. So it was a matter of asking his camp, ‘What did you want?’”

Well, what did Zdeno Chara want?

Over the years, many theories and rumours have swirled about the factors that ultimately led to Chara’s decision to leave.

One of the more popular ones was that the organization’s ruthless handling of the Marian Hossa trade a year earlier had irked Hossa’s close friend, Chara.

“No, it’s business,” said Matt Keator, Chara’s long-time representation. “It's always been business.”

Another rumour that gained traction over the years was that the organization was dead set on signing both players to matching contracts.

But there were never discussions with the players about taking matching deals.

“It was never a matter of matching or giving Chara the same or Redden the same amount of money as Chara,” Mlakar clarified. “Redden would even consider relenting on his number if we could keep both players, because the team had so much potential.”

Leadership was another point of emphasis that often gets brought up.

“That was a sales point for Boston,” Keator admitted. “There was a bigger opportunity in that department, because basically, he was going to be the captain, and he was going to have to, you know, he was the captain, and he's able to really put his stamp on the entire culture.”

Keator, who is based in Boston, admitted that Chara’s preexisting relationship with Peter Chiarelli, Ottawa’s assistant general manager who was hired to become Boston’s general manager, helped provide a degree of comfort.

“We knew Peter was going there, but Peter wasn't allowed to start being the general manager until mid-July,” Keator reiterated. "We didn't talk to him. There was no communication with him, because we weren't allowed to, but we actually dealt with Jeff Gorton (when talking with Boston).”

So, what fuelled Chara’s decision to go to Boston?

Money.

“Based on what we were doing, based on what we felt like he could get in the open market. We weren't (close). We weren't able to find common ground. And to be honest with you, when we went to July 1, we went way beyond what we thought. There was so much interest. We had done a lot of pre-work, he and I, just talking through different options and what could be available. So we had three or four teams we thought would come calling, and it wasn't. It was a pretty easy, quick decision.”

Five teams would make major contractual offers to Chara on July 1, and the Ottawa Senators were not one of them.

“In the end, Ottawa wasn't really involved in the final teams because we were far apart on the money.”

It was only on June 30th that Chara realized that he would not be returning to the Senators. Unfortunately, it was a bitter pill for the organization because they felt Chara should have given them a number.

“I can remember because John (Muckler) wasn't an author of foul language in his negotiations or business calls,” stated Mlakar. “I remember him saying, ‘So you're not going to give me a goddamn number, is that what this is? So you're going to make a decision on where Zdeno is going to go, and I'm not even going to get the number? And Chiarelli was in the room. (Muckler) waved me in so I could hear this on the speakerphone.”

It is understandable why the Senators would want Chara to float the first number. It would allow his camp to set the bargaining range and give the organization something to work off of. Similarly, by making formal offers before July 1st, while they still held Chara’s rights, they would have been negotiating against themselves and would have set the bar for other suitors once free agency opened.

The biggest problem was that the Senators were dealing with the complexities and complications of a new cap system. The hard cap gave the organization pause about how to efficiently maximize its money, and when it became clear that Chara wanted to be paid market value, the Senators pivoted and reallocated their money accordingly.

“If there was no salary cap in place, he probably would have signed in Ottawa,” Keator conceded. “He would have stayed there. The salary cap changed everything, and that's why there was a lot of player movement over the years.”

The first order of business was to sign Wade Redden to a two-year, $13 million contract on June 29th.

On July 1st, Hasek and Chara became unrestricted free agents. The defenceman quickly signed a five-year, $37.5 million contract with Boston, carrying an average annual value of $7.5 million.

To replace these players, the Senators inked goaltender Martin Gerber to a three-year, $11.1 million contract and defenceman Joe Corvo to a four-year, $10.25 million deal.

When reflecting on that day’s transactions, Muckler held court with the local media.

''Chara will be a good hockey player for them,'' said Muckler. ''7.5 (million dollars per season) was certainly more than we could carry."

The Senators may not have been comfortable with the idea of spending that much cap space on one player, but they were more than comfortable spending almost 85 percent of Chara’s salary on two lesser players.

Gerber would go on to make 100 appearances across three seasons with the Senators. Corvo would play a season and a half’s worth of games before being traded at the 2008 deadline with Patrick Eaves for Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman.

''We thought (Gerber) was the best goalie available,'' said Muckler. ''I think he's gonna do a very good job for us. I know he played very well against us. He was the go-to guy all season long. We're happy to have him.''

Dominik Hasek was not happy that he did not return to Ottawa.

“The Senators simply didn’t exercise my contract option. I was very sad and disappointed at the time. Especially with the way they (addressed the goaltending position). It was incomprehensible to me.”

Hasek would eventually sign a one-year, $750,000 deal with the Detroit Red Wings.

The infancy and the trepidations of working in this new cap system can be blamed for Chara’s departure, but ultimately, it comes down to an inefficient allocation of limited resources.

The Chara decision still remains a bitter topic for Mlakar because the two had a distinctive relationship early on.

“First of all, Chara and I used to work out together at night. We had a very unique relationship. We used to like the same salad at Baton Rouge, and he became friends with the owners there, and I brought them in as a major sponsor of the team.

“I remember having lunch with him once again. I remember this so well. Again, it was at Baton Rouge, and I'm saying, ‘Z, you really want to leave here? You can be the mayor of Ottawa. I mean, look at your fiancé and the life you have here. You have a key to the gym in the building, and you can walk in anytime you want to work. This town loves you.’

“I was personally bitter because this relationship was different. So, I was a little bit personally bitter taking off my president hat. I told Z afterwards, ‘You didn't even give us a number at the end of the day. Z, this was your decision.’”

Suffice it to say, Chara’s decision worked out pretty well for him as he led the Bruins to three finals and one Cup victory. From his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame this past fall to his recent number retirement earlier this year, Chara’s impact and ability to shape hockey culture in Boston were impressive.

Unfortunately, the events of 2006 will always leave some wondering what might have been if the Senators had just handed Chara a blank cheque. Instead, it was another event like the 2005 NHL Draft, when the Sens were gift-wrapped a top-10 selection out of the lockout and used it on a skinny Minnesota high school defenceman instead of drafting the consensus-ranked prospect.

Maybe the organization’s fate would have been different if it had Anze Kopitar in its pipeline instead of Brian Lee, but these types of ‘What if?’ moments are a chain of events that leave Senators fans wondering how different things might have been had the organization done things differently.

Eight days later, on July 9th, the Senators continued their retool by trading two-thirds of their second line, sending Bryan Smolinski, Martin Havlat as part of a three-way deal with San Jose and Chicago that returned a package of defenceman Tom Preissing, and prospects Michal Barinka, and Josh Hennessy. The Senators also received a 2008 second-round pick that eventually became Patrick Wiercioch.

The trade did not catch Havlat by surprise.

“I was a restricted agent that time, and I was getting some information that that (Muckler) might be wanting me to move me,” Havlat said. “I don't know why they didn’t want to sign me for a longer term, but I wanted to stay. I loved Ottawa, and I knew what kind of team it was. We had a great team.

He was another cap casualty, and it represented another instance of the Senators moving out a lot of talent without getting anything of consequence in return.

The Senators would go on to reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2007 for the first time in this franchise’s existence, but many would argue that more talented Senators teams fell short. Moreover, critical decisions during the 2006 offseason removed the keystone, eventually leading to the organization’s era of Cup contention to draw to a close.

For Senators fans, that era was a series of missed opportunities. From Ricard Persson’s boarding penalty to Jeff Friesen’s game seven goal in 2003 to Joe Nieuwendyk’s goals in 2004 to Hasek’s injury in Turin in 2006, there were many instances when it felt like the Senators were on the verge of something special, only to have it be snuffed out.

For the players and members of the organization, it was no different.

“I was so close with that group of guys that played in Binghamton, and then we came together through development camps,” Jason Spezza explained. “We all got drafted around the same time, and we really felt like we had a chance to flip the script on what the Ottawa Senators were. We took it personally, and we just really wanted to win.

"I will have lifelong disappointment over not winning, because I feel like those teams were good enough to win. It's really disappointing looking back at how close our group was and not being able to win, because it would be nice to relive all the memories together and celebrate it with a championship, but we never got there.”

“For me, it's that's one regret you have in your career that you didn't win the Stanley Cup,” Wade Redden echoed. “As a kid, you dream of that. For me, it's something you put on your bucket list, and having the opportunity to play for it and get that close is hard. We had such a good group back here. We thought we'd get back there next year and the year after and the year after, that was our mindset. But reality is, it's frustrating with the group of players we've had that we haven't brought it to Ottawa.”

“Not winning the Cup sucks, but I’m so proud of the group that we had,” Chris Neil stated while reminiscing about his old teammates. “I look at all the guys, and we get to come back and share each other's company like we were there yesterday. That (camaraderie) is what means a lot at this point in time.”

“We all live with those missed opportunities,” explained Dany Heatley. “There's no question. I live with that. I mean, I live with probably three or four of those seasons, maybe even five. It's especially so when you're done, and you get to this age. It's a missed opportunity, and it is what it is. But, that's the game.”

“I loved our locker room,” professed Bryan Smolinski. “You know everyone. It's not always the wins and losses and the heartbreak. I thought that locker room, the way our personalities, where we had a lot of Europeans, some Russian guys, French guys, Americans and Canadians, you know, good heart and soul. We just joked around. We were businesslike, and we had fun. All the guys were young. When we stepped on the ice, it was all business. When you walk through those doors, and you're jumping on the ice, it's all business. I loved that. You don't always get that with many teams. A lot of teams are like, ‘Oh, they have fun off the ice, but they don't work hard on the ice.’ But this team had it all. We had the players, the speed, the creativity, and the coaching. We just fell short.”

Chris Phillips still talks to colleagues from that era about the missed opportunities. It's like an itch that won’t go away.

“That's what is so wild,” said the veteran defenceman, describing those missed opportunities. “The 2002-03 team was arguably the best we ever had. We get to game seven against Jersey that year, and they face Anaheim in the next round. It’s not the same Anaheim team that we faced in 2007. Jersey walked all over them. So to be one goal away that year hurt.

"The next year, we're up three games to two against Toronto, (Ricard Persson) gets the five-minute boarding penalty when we’re up two goals and have the game in hand. Then it goes downhill. We were that close.

"In 2005-06, Dom gets hurt. If he doesn't get hurt and we have a healthy Hasek that year and in the playoffs, maybe even for the year after, when we go to the Cup Final. A couple of breaks, and we could have been mentioned like the 1980s Oilers or Islanders as a dynasty. Instead, we have nothing to show for it. It hurts.”

It hurts because, as Dominik Hasek admitted, “If we were all healthy, like before Christmas, I would say yes, (we would have won the Cup).”

Graeme Nichols
The Hockey News

This article was first published by The Hockey News. Read part one of this feature on the 2005-06 Senators here

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