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One last look back at 2016-17 before looking ahead |
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As the team reports for training camp today, the 2017-18 season commences with a number of question marks that will be answered in the coming weeks and months.
More on those in the coming days, but I want to take an opportunity to look back at last season and give my top 12 moments from 2016-17, in no particular order...
1. Craig Anderson returns in Edmonton - having taken a leave of absence to deal with his wife's cancer, following the injury to Andrew Hammond in Calgary, Nichole Anderson urged her husband to rejoin the team, because they needed him more than she did at that moment.
2. Turris scores OT winner, joins Ottawa Condors at their banquet - between scoring one of the biggest goals of his career and hopping on a flight bound for New York and game 6 of the second round, Kyle Turris and his wife Julie stopped in to visit the Ottawa Condors banquet and spend some time with the special needs players that make up that organization.
3. The Pass - one of the highlights of the playoffs was the play that basically moved Erik Karlsson into a new straosphere. Sure, the whole playoff was a bit of a coming out party, (if you consider the fact that a 2-time Norris winner needed such a case), but the aerial pass from his own goal line to the Boston blue line right on the stick of Mike Hoffman in full flight was perhaps the play of the season for the Senators. If that pass wasn't, it might be the "Forsberg" move that Hoffman proceeded to put on Tuukka Rask done at full speed, which is impressive enough in itself but overshadowed by the accuracy and timing of Karlsson's pass.
4. Chabot's WJC dominance - He wasn't able to lead his Canadian teammates to the Gold Medal, but Senators prospect Thomas Chabot announced to the world that he was going to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years. He was far and away the most dominant player in the tournament, and parlayed that success into a ton of other personal hardware in junior as the season wound down.
5. Pageau, Pageau, Pageau, Pageau - Jean-Gabriel Pageau has shown a knack for coming through in big games, witness the hat trick against the Montreal Canadiens in the spring of 2013 that made him a folk hero. He did one better in game two of the second round against the Rangers. It was a game that neither team really showed the desire to win, but Pageau scored his hat trick goal late in the third to tie it up, and then put the Senators up 2-0 in the series with the game winner in double OT.
6. Karlsson surprise appearance in Motwon - After leaving the team to get treatement on his injured ankle. He had missed a couple of losses in Winnipeg and Minnesota, but flew into Detroit late in the afternoon to take the ice with his teammates to start an important April home and home with the Red Wings. Karlsson was key in helping his team earn a point in Detroit, and then scored the winner on a bad angle in the return matchup against the Wings in Ottawa.
7. Mac's comeback - Much respected winger Clarke MacArthur was thought to be out for the season, and maybe longer, but it was perhaps the biggest shock of the season that he made his return to the lineup on April 4th, which happened to be the second game of that home and home set with the Wings noted above. MacArthur was a couple of days short of his 32nd birthday, and he unexpectedly played 4 regular season games and 19 in the postseason including...
8. Beating the Bruins - April 23rd in Boston MacArthur scored his second goal of the series, and it was the biggest as his marker was the OT series winner, on a power play six and a half minutes into the extra frame. Ottawa beat Boston 4 games to 2 and was the first step in the run to the third round.
9. Sens visit Pitre in Minnesota - The Butterfly Child has been an inspiration to players and fans alike since the story of Jonathan Pitre's debilitating skin disorder became public a couple of years ago. As he was awaiting treatment at the Mayo clinic in Minnesota, the Senators took a field trip to visit Pitre and his mother at their apartment. Pitre also attended the game and participated in the opening ceremony, but the Senators couldn't come away with the win for him.
10. Chris Neil's 1000 game - He played hard and while some opposing fans didn't always agree, he played on the line but never crossed it enough to get supplemental discipline from the league. Players like Neil don't get to 1,000 games very often, especially with the same team, and he became the 3rd player in franchise history to reach the Milestone all with the Senators. Neil and the Senators parted ways in the off-season, and while he stated he still thought he could play, there isn't much talk of him finding a landing spot for the upcoming season.
11. 11 goes to the rafters - December 29th saw the first jersey retirement in the modern era, and appropriately enough it was long-time captain Daniel Alfredsson who was given the honour. Given his tumultuous exit from the team via free agency, it was a moment some were uncertain would happen, at least for a while. Cooler heads prevailed, Alfredsson came back to the Senators fold and he was given the respect he deserved. Unfortunately, Alfredsson didn't see a fit and left the club's front office in July, with the real reason still unknown.
12. Murray inducted to ROH - the Senators established a new Ring of Honour, and inducted Bryan Murray to it on January 23rd. It was a great ceremony, and an emotional night, not knowing how much time he had left. It turns out that it happened just in time, as we all know Murray passed away on August 12th following his lengthy and courageous battle with colon cancer.
So those are my favorite memories and takeaways from the last season. Did I miss any? What stands out in your mind?
And finally, what is in store for the coming season? Only time will tell.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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