Senators getting votes for their all-around play

Sporting News, The, March 8, 1999 by Larry Wigge

They are fast, fun, big and have become surprisingly successful after being the doormat of the NHL in their first four seasons. It's clear the Senators are still learning how good they can be--and they are enjoying every minute of it.

"It's a lot easier fighting for first place," winger Daniel Alfredsson says, "than fighting not to be last."

Expansion teams are expected to pay their millions, dutifully take the scraps they are given along with their beatings, make their high draft picks and hope all of the losing will not completely destroy the morale of the team.

The Senators went through all of that--and more. Their 70 losses in 1992-93, their first season, are one short of the NHL record. Their 40 road losses--in 41 games--is a record for futility that will not soon be forgotten. In all, they won only 33 of 216 games in their first three seasons.

But after easily beating the first-seeded Devils in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last spring, this franchise officially turned the corner.

Since going through four general managers and three coaches in the early years, the Senators have made their turnaround the hard way, with patience and few mistakes in the draft.

Other teams spend upward of $40 million to win a championship, but the Senators are attempting to succeed with a $20 million payroll, the second-lowest in the league. Although some still argue the Flyers and Devils are the beasts in the East, the Senators have the better record since the beginning of 1999, going 17-5-4 through last Saturday.

"They beat us in the first round of the playoffs last year and they've not only beaten us, but taken us to school--beating us 10-2 the last two times we've played them this season," Devils goalie Martin Brodeur says. "They play a trap defense that is very effective and flash great speed at you in transition."

The Senators recently put the same kind of whipping on the Flyers.

"They aren't boring, but rather tenacious at checking, forcing a turnover in the neutral zone, and then capitalizing on the giveaway for a scoring chance," Flyers captain Eric Lindros says.

Opponents say the Senators have two glaring weaknesses: They could use a stronger second-line center than Vinny Prospal, and they are not tough enough. Maybe Senators coach Jacques Martin was scouting the Blues' Tony Twist when he was in St. Louis recently.

Although Ottawa is the least-penalized team in the league, this club is big, strong and fast. It beats you with its other strengths, including mental toughness.

Alexei Yashin, one of the high draft choices the Senators received for being so bad in their first four seasons, has blossomed into a star. At 6-3, Yashin doesn't have Lindro's size, but he has more speed and is a better puckhandler. He doesn't have the mean streak of the Avalanche's Peter Forsberg, but he's still big and strong enough to take care of himself.

"He's a large man with magic hands," says Bruins coach Pat Burns of Yashin. "His development as a player and leader last year has obviously been contagious on that team. You can see everything revolving around him."

Says Martin, "He's quiet, but he definitely has the attention of his teammates, sort of like Mario Lemieux did in Pittsburgh and Steve Yzerman does in Detroit. He's the type of player who loves challenges."

Says Yashin, "Being an expansion team is very tough. Five years ago it was bad ... the worst team I've been on. Now, we've gotten to a point where we feel we can win every game."

Winning locker rooms take on intangibles you don't always see on the ice. Players don't hide from the media, they are confident, not cocky, and you see the eye of the tiger in each face.

"It's such a difference from the early year," defenseman Lance Pitlick says. "Back then, this organization was in such disarray. Guys just completely goofed up. We were playing in a makeshift arena. It felt like you were still in the minors.

"But we've gone from whipping boys of the league to one of the top teams."

The Senators have a balanced attack up front, with Yashin and Shawn McEachern each closing on 30 goals. Andreas Johansson is nearing 20, and Magnus Arvedson, Radek Bonk and Andreas Dackell are well into double figures.

"We don't have all the best players in the NHL," G.M. Rick Dudley says. "If somebody wants to give us a player that is going to make us a better team, then we'll listen. But we're not going to do something at the expense of the future. And if anyone wants one of our young defenseman, they can forget it."

Pitlick, Jason York, Wade Redden and Chris Phillips follow the lead of veteran Igor Kravchuk on defense; goalies Ron Tugnutt and Damian Rhodes are an unheralded but solid 1-2 punch. Tugnutt's 1.65 goals-against average, in fact, is the best in the NHL since Toronto's Al Rollins had 1.77 in 1950-51 and Chicago's Tony Esposito matched that in '71-72.

You walk before you can run--and Ottawa's first-round playoff victory last spring is a good start toward advancing much further in this year's post-season.