2005–06 Ottawa Senators season

The 2005–06 Ottawa Senators season was the 14th season of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). After one of their franchise-best regular seasons, finishing with 113 points, the Senators made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, in which the Buffalo Sabres eliminated Ottawa in five games.

2005–06 Ottawa Senators
Northeast Division champions
Division	1st Northeast
Conference	1st Eastern
2005–06 record	52–21–9
Home record	29–9–3
Road record	23–12–6
Goals for	314
Goals against	211
Team information
General manager	John Muckler
Coach	Bryan Murray
Captain	Daniel Alfredsson
Alternate captains	Zdeno Chara Wade Redden
Arena	Corel Centre[lower-alpha 1]
Average attendance	19,474 (101.7%)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Binghamton Senators Charlotte Checkers
Team leaders
Goals	Dany Heatley (50)
Assists	Jason Spezza (71)
Points	Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley (103)
Penalty minutes	Chris Neil (204)
Plus/minus	Wade Redden (+35)
Wins	Dominik Hasek (28)
Goals against average	Dominik Hasek (2.09)
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

Off-season

Changes occurred to the Senators roster before the season. First, Ottawa acquired the playoff-experienced goaltender Dominik Hasek for his Stanley Cup experience. Second, a blockbuster trade on August 23, 2005, involved Marian Hossa and Greg de Vries being sent to the Atlanta Thrashers for Dany Heatley. The trade occurred on the day that Hossa had signed a new contract. The value of Hossa's contract was beyond what General Manager John Muckler felt that Hossa was worth and so he was dealt away. Marian had led the Senators in scoring.

The Senators' arena, Scotiabank Place, its name since January 2006 since signing with Scotiabank for a 25-year, $25 million contract.

Regular season

Dany Heatley, together with Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, formed one of the NHL's top offensive lines,^[1] dubbed the "CASH line" by fans in a contest held by the Ottawa Citizen. The name is made from the initials of Captain Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley.^[2] Cash Line won out over finalists 'Dash Line' and 'Dazzle Line,' which Spezza reputedly despised and wanted to veto.^[3] Another nickname the line picked up was the "Pizza Line", used by the Ottawa Sun, a rival to the Citizen.^{[4][lower-alpha 2]} However, during the press conference to introduce the teams for the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals, Heatley went on record to say he likes the "CASH line" name.^[5]

The Senators team sent nine players to the 2006 Winter Olympics as part of the NHL's commitment. Daniel Alfredsson, Zdeno Chara, Martin Havlat, Dany Heatley, Andrej Meszaros, Wade Redden, Christoph Schubert and Anton Volchenkov all played for their respective country's national teams, while Jason Spezza was named a substitute for Canada. The experience, however, was poor for the Senators: Dominik Hasek was having an impressive season prior to Olympic play, but the team lost him to a hamstring injury he suffered while playing for the Czech Republic. He would not play again for the Senators.

In addition to leading the NHL with most goals for (312, excluding shootout-winning goals), the Senators also led the NHL in shorthanded goals (25), scoring points (840) and shots on goal (2,811).^[6][7]

Highlights

The "CASH line" made a dramatic and historic debut, playing in the first game of the 2005–06 season on October 5, 2005, against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. In the pre-season, right winger Brandon Bochenski had been playing on the line as he had played with Spezza in the American Hockey League (AHL) during the 2004–05 NHL lockout. But with five minutes to go, with the Senators trailing, then Senators' Head Coach Bryan Murray replaced Bochenski with Daniel Alfredsson, who scored a game-tying goal with 62 seconds left. Heatley and Alfredsson would then go on to score the first shootout goals in NHL history to win the game that night.^[8]

Other highlights of the Senators' season included an 8–0 road win over their Ontario rivals, the Maple Leafs, on October 29, 2005. Dany Heatley scored four consecutive goals in that game. Just four nights later, the Senators defeated the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo, 10–4. Martin Havlat and Daniel Alfredsson each scored four goals and Jason Spezza provided four assists. It was the first time that an NHL team had scored ten goals in a regular-season game since January 11, 2003, when the Washington Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers at home by a score of 12–2.^[9] It was also the first time that the Senators had scored ten goals in a regular-season game since November 13, 2001, when they defeated the Capitals 11–5 away in Washington, D.C.^[10] On November 29, 2005, the Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4–0 and, in doing so, improved to a 19–3–0 record through their first 22 games of the regular season. Over that span, Ottawa outscored its opponents 102–45. Spezza had reached 41 points (11 goals and 30 assists) and Alfredsson had reached 40 points (20 goals and 20 assists) by this point. Heatley recorded a point in every one of these games and had 17 goals and 21 assists for 38 points.

In an 8–2 win over Toronto on December 17, 2005, the Senators set a franchise record for most power play goals scored in one game, with six.^[11] On February 2, 2006, the Senators scored three short-handed goals in a 7–2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.^[12] It was the second time in franchise history that the Senators scored three shorthanded goals in a single game, as the Senators had scored three shorthanded goals in a 5–2 home win over the Florida Panthers on November 18, 2000.^[13]

Dany Heatley became the first Senator in franchise history to reach 100 points on April 13, 2006, recording two assists during a 5–4 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers and five days later became the first Senator to score 50 goals in a season. Meanwhile, defenceman Wade Redden became the first Senator to win the NHL Plus/Minus Award, tied with New York Ranger Michal Rozsival, with a +35 rating. Despite missing 14 games, Jason Spezza finished second in the NHL in assists, with 71.

Season standings

Northeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Ottawa Senators	82	52	21	9	314	211	113
2	4	Buffalo Sabres	82	52	24	6	281	239	110
3	7	Montreal Canadiens	82	42	31	9	243	247	93
4	9	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	41	33	8	257	270	90
5	13	Boston Bruins	82	29	37	16	230	266	74

^[14] Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime/Shootout loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference^[15]

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	52	21	9	314	211	113
2	Y- Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	52	22	8	294	260	112
3	Y- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	46	27	9	242	229	101
4	X- Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	52	24	6	242	239	110
5	X- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	45	26	11	267	259	101
6	X- New York Rangers	AT	82	44	26	12	257	215	100
7	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	42	31	9	243	247	93
8	X- Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	43	33	6	252	260	92
8.5
9	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	41	33	8	257	270	90
10	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	41	33	8	281	275	90
11	Florida Panthers	SE	82	37	34	11	240	257	85
12	New York Islanders	AT	82	36	40	6	230	278	78
13	Boston Bruins	NE	82	29	37	16	230	266	74
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	29	41	12	237	306	70
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	22	46	14	244	316	58

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Playoffs

The Ottawa Senators ended the 2005–06 regular season as the Eastern Conference's first seed, qualifying for the playoffs for the ninth time in the franchise's 13 seasons of play.

Ray Emery took over the starting goaltender duties; he became the first rookie netminder since Philadelphia's Brian Boucher in 2000 to win a playoff series when the Senators defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, four games to one. The Senators were then defeated by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round, four games to one.

After the playoff loss, Senators owner Eugene Melnyk comforted fans in an open letter by saying that their team would not only win the Stanley Cup in the future but, once they had it, they would, he boasted, "hoard" it year after year.^[16]

Schedule and results

Regular season

2005–06 regular season[17]
October: 8–2–0 (home: 4–1–0; road: 4–1–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 1 October 5 Ottawa 3–2 Toronto Maple Leafs SO Hasek 19,452 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 8 Buffalo Sabres 0–5 Ottawa Hasek 19,661 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 October 10 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–6 Ottawa SO Hasek 18,680 3–0–0 6 Recap 4 October 11 Ottawa 4–2 Montreal Canadiens Emery 21,273 4–0–0 8 Recap 5 October 15 Boston Bruins 1–5 Ottawa Hasek 19,379 5–0–0 10 Recap 6 October 21 Ottawa 4–1 Tampa Bay Lightning Hasek 20,494 6–0–0 12 Recap 7 October 24 Ottawa 2–3 Carolina Hurricanes Hasek 12,116 6–1–0 12 Recap 8 October 27 Montreal Canadiens 3–4 Ottawa OT Emery 18,840 7–1–0 14 Recap 9 October 29 Ottawa 8–0 Toronto Maple Leafs Hasek 19,480 8–1–0 16 Recap 10 October 30 Philadelphia Flyers 5–3 Ottawa Hasek 19,335 8–2–0 16 Recap
November: 11–1–0 (home: 7–1–0; road: 4–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 11 November 2 Ottawa 10–4 Buffalo Sabres Emery 13,905 9–2–0 18 Recap 12 November 3 Tampa Bay Lightning 4–2 Ottawa Hasek 18,604 10–2–0 20 Recap 13 November 5 New York Islanders 0-6 Ottawa Hasek 19,776 11–2–0 22 Recap 14 November 10 Ottawa 5–2 Boston Bruins Hasek 17,159 12–2–0 24 Recap 15 November 12 Buffalo Sabres 1–6 Ottawa Emery 19,414 13–2–0 26 Recap 16 November 15 Carolina Hurricanes 2–1 Ottawa Hasek 19,544 13–3–0 26 Recap 17 November 17 Florida Panthers 1–4 Ottawa Hasek 18,650 14–3–0 28 Recap 18 November 19 New Jersey Devils 4–5 Ottawa Emery 19,534 15–3–0 30 Recap 19 November 22 Ottawa 5–3 Carolina Hurricanes Hasek 13,427 16–3–0 32 Recap 20 November 25 Ottawa 6–2 New York Islanders Hasek 15,564 17–3–0 35 Recap 21 November 26 Boston Bruins 2–4 Ottawa Hasek 19,691 18–3–0 36 Recap 22 November 29 Montreal Canadiens 0–4 Ottawa Emery 19,858 19–3–0 38 Recap
December: 8–3–3 (home: 5–1–0; road: 3–2–3) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 23 December 1 Ottawa 0–3 Boston Bruins Hasek 15,639 19–4–0 38 Recap 24 December 2 Los Angeles Kings 1–5 Ottawa Hasek 19,671 20–4–0 40 Recap 25 December 5 Ottawa 6–3 Florida Panthers Hasek 10,883 21–4–0 42 Recap 26 December 9 Ottawa 2–3 Vancouver Canucks SO Hasek 18,630 21–4–1 44 Recap 27 December 10 Ottawa 1–2 Calgary Flames OT Emery 19,289 21–4–2 44 Recap 28 December 12 Ottawa 6–2 Colorado Avalanche Hasek 18,007 22–4–2 46 Recap 29 December 15 Dallas Stars 2–0 Ottawa Emery 19,598 22–5–2 46 Recap 30 December 17 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–8 Ottawa Hasek 19,935 23–5–2 48 Recap 31 December 20 Ottawa 3–4 Montreal Canadiens SO Hasek 21,273 23–5–3 49 Recap 32 December 22 Ottawa 3–4 Philadelphia Flyers Hasek 19,817 23–6–3 49 Recap 33 December 23 Ottawa 4–2 New York Islanders Emery 11,425 24–6–3 51 Recap 34 December 26 New York Rangers 2–6 Ottawa Hasek 19,806 25–6–3 53 Recap 35 December 28 Carolina Hurricanes 2–6 Ottawa Hasek 20,050 26–6–3 55 Recap 36 December 30 New York Islanders 3–4 Ottawa Emery 20,055 27–6–3 57 Recap
January: 7–5–1 (home: 4–2–1; road: 3–3–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 37 January 2 Ottawa 3–8 Atlanta Thrashers Emery 12,536 27–7–3 57 Recap 38 January 4 Ottawa 3–1 Washington Capitals Hasek 10,047 28–7–3 59 Recap 39 January 5 Ottawa 2–4 Boston Bruins Hasek 15,481 28–8–3 59 Recap 40 January 7 Ottawa 1–4 Montreal Canadiens Hasek 21,273 28–9–3 59 Recap 41 January 10 Phoenix Coyotes 2–7 Ottawa Hasek 19,773 29–9–3 61 Recap 42 January 12 San Jose Sharks 2–0 Ottawa Hasek 19,538 29–10–3 61 Recap 43 January 14 Ottawa 5–3 Edmonton Oilers Hasek 16,839 30–10–3 63 Recap 44 January 16 Ottawa 6–1 Minnesota Wild Hasek 18,568 31–10–3 65 Recap 45 January 19 Anaheim Ducks 4–3 Ottawa SO Hasek 19,387 31–10–4 66 Recap 46 January 21 Toronto Maple Leafs 0–7 Ottawa Hasek 20,093 32–10–4 68 Recap 47 January 23 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–4 Ottawa Hasek 19,865 33–10–4 70 Recap 48 January 26 Montreal Canadiens 0–3 Ottawa Hasek 19,908 34–10–4 72 Recap 49 January 30 Boston Bruins 5–0 Ottawa Emery 19,551 34–11–4 72 Recap
February: 3–3–1 (home: 2–1–0; road: 1–2–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 50 February 1 Ottawa 3–5 New Jersey Devils Hasek 10,142 34–12–4 72 Recap 51 February 2 Ottawa 7–2 Pittsburgh Penguins Hasek 14,714 35–12–4 74 Recap 52 February 4 Ottawa 1–2 Buffalo Sabres SO Hasek 17,451 35–12–5 75 Recap 53 February 6 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–5 Ottawa Emery 19,877 36–12–5 77 Recap 54 February 8 Ottawa 1–5 New York Rangers Hasek 18,200 36–13–5 77 Recap 55 February 9 Atlanta Thrashers 2–1 Ottawa Hasek 19,604 36–14–5 77 Recap 56 February 11 Philadelphia Flyers 2–3 Ottawa Hasek 19,834 37–14–5 79 Recap
March: 12–2–2 (home: 5–0–1; road: 7–2–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 57 March 1 Ottawa 4–3 Pittsburgh Penguins Emery 14,026 38–14–5 81 Recap 58 March 2 Washington Capitals 1–7 Ottawa Emery 19,346 39–14–5 83 Recap 59 March 4 Ottawa 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs Emery 19,486 40–14–5 85 Recap 60 March 6 Ottawa 4–0 Tampa Bay Lightning Emery 19,855 41–14–5 87 Recap 61 March 8 Ottawa 2–6 Florida Panthers Emery 15,196 41–15–5 87 Recap 62 March 10 Ottawa 3–1 Atlanta Thrashers Emery 15,057 42–15–5 89 Recap 63 March 12 Ottawa 5–2 Washington Capitals Emery 15,740 43–15–5 91 Recap 64 March 14 Tampa Bay Lightning 3–4 Ottawa Emery 19,810 44–15–5 93 Recap 65 March 16 Ottawa 2–3 Boston Bruins SO Emery 15,066 44–15–6 94 Recap 66 March 18 Buffalo Sabres 2–4 Ottawa Emery 19,947 45–15–6 96 Recap 67 March 19 Ottawa 4–0 New Jersey Devils Emery 14,681 46–15–6 98 Recap 68 March 21 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–5 Ottawa Emery 19,360 47–15–6 100 Recap 69 March 24 Ottawa 3–1 Buffalo Sabres Emery 18,690 48–15–6 102 Recap 70 March 25 Ottawa 3–6 Philadelphia Flyers Emery 19,869 48–16–6 103 Recap 71 March 28 New Jersey Devils 3–2 Ottawa SO Emery 18,668 48–16–7 103 Recap 72 March 30 New York Rangers 1–4 Ottawa Emery 18,710 49–16–7 105 Recap
April: 3–5–2 (home: 2–3–1; road: 1–2–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Points Recap 73 April 1 Washington Capitals 1–0 Ottawa Emery 19,403 49–17–7 105 Recap 74 April 3 Atlanta Thrashers 4–6 Ottawa Emery 18,742 50–17–7 107 Recap 75 April 5 Ottawa 4–5 Buffalo Sabres OT Emery 17,622 50–17–8 108 Recap 76 April 6 Montreal Canadiens 5–3 Ottawa Emery 19,929 50–18–8 108 Recap 77 April 8 Buffalo Sabres 6–2 Ottawa Emery 19,575 50–19–8 108 Recap 78 April 10 Ottawa 2–3 Montreal Canadiens Emery 21,273 50–20–8 108 Recap 79 April 11 Boston Bruins 3–4 Ottawa OT Morrison 18,279 51–20–8 110 Recap 80 April 13 Florida Panthers 5–4 Ottawa OT Morrison 19,173 51–20–9 111 Recap 81 April 15 Ottawa 1–5 Toronto Maple Leafs Emery 19,410 51–21–9 111 Recap 82 April 18 Ottawa 5–1 New York Rangers Emery 18,200 52–21–9 113 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

2006 Stanley Cup playoffs[17]
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (8) Tampa Bay Lightning – Senators win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 21 Tampa Bay 1–4 Ottawa Emery 19,660 Senators lead 1–0 Recap 2 April 23 Tampa Bay 4–3 Ottawa Emery 19,745 Series tied 1–1 Recap 3 April 25 Ottawa 8–4 Tampa Bay Emery 20,815 Senators lead 2–1 Recap 4 April 27 Ottawa 5–2 Tampa Bay Emery 20,682 Senators lead 3–1 Recap 5 April 29 Tampa Bay 2–3 Ottawa Emery 20,004 Senators win 4–1 Recap
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (4) Buffalo Sabres – Sabres win 4–1 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 5 Buffalo 7–6 Ottawa OT Emery 19,544 Sabres lead 1–0 Recap 2 May 8 Buffalo 2–1 Ottawa Emery 19,816 Sabres lead 2–0 Recap 3 May 10 Ottawa 2–3 Buffalo OT Emery 18,690 Sabres lead 3–0 Recap 4 May 11 Ottawa 2–1 Buffalo Emery 18,690 Sabres lead 3–1 Recap 5 May 13 Buffalo 3–2 Ottawa OT Emery 20,024 Sabres win 4–1 Recap
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Senators only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Senators only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
15	Dany Heatley	LW	82	50	53	103	29	86	10	3	9	12	1	11
11	Daniel Alfredsson	RW	77	43	60	103	29	50	10	2	8	10	2	4
19	Jason Spezza	C	68	19	71	90	23	33	10	5	9	14	−1	2
27	Peter Schaefer	LW	82	20	30	50	16	40	10	2	5	7	2	14
6	Wade Redden	D	65	10	40	50	35	63	9	2	8	10	−2	10
21	Bryan Smolinski	C	81	17	31	48	8	46	10	3	3	6	3	2
12	Mike Fisher	C	68	22	22	44	23	64	10	2	2	4	1	12
3	Zdeno Chara	D	71	16	27	43	17	135	10	1	3	4	0	23
14	Andrej Meszaros	D	82	10	29	39	34	61	10	1	0	1	0	18
2	Brian Pothier	D	77	5	30	35	29	59	8	2	1	3	1	2
20	Antoine Vermette	C	82	21	12	33	17	44	10	2	0	2	−1	4
25	Chris Neil	RW	79	16	17	33	9	204	10	1	0	1	−1	14
22	Chris Kelly	C	82	10	20	30	21	76	10	0	0	0	−4	2
44	Patrick Eaves	RW	58	20	9	29	7	22	10	1	0	1	−3	10
26	Vaclav Varada	RW	76	5	16	21	2	50	8	0	2	2	−2	12
4	Chris Phillips	D	69	1	18	19	19	90	9	2	0	2	−2	6
24	Anton Volchenkov	D	75	4	13	17	21	53	9	0	4	4	1	8
9	Martin Havlat	RW	18	9	7	16	6	4	10	7	6	13	0	4
10	Brandon Bochenski‡	RW	20	6	7	13	7	14	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Christoph Schubert	D	56	4	6	10	4	48	7	0	1	1	3	4
16	Brian McGrattan	RW	60	2	3	5	0	141	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Tyler Arnason†	C	19	0	4	4	−4	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
36	Steve Martins	C	4	1	1	2	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
45	Denis Hamel	LW	4	1	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Ray Emery	G	39	0	1	1		2	10	0	1	1		0
30	Mike Morrison†	G	4	0	1	1		0	—	—	—	—	—	—
39	Dominik Hasek	G	43	0	0	0		16	—	—	—	—	—	—
42	Tomas Malec	D	2	0	0	0	4	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
33	Brad Norton†	D	7	0	0	0	1	31	—	—	—	—	—	—
17	Filip Novak	D	11	0	0	0	−2	4	—	—	—	—	—	—

Goaltending

• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Senators only.

No.	Player	Regular season										Playoffs
		GP	W	L	OT	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
39	Dominik Hasek	43	28	10	4	1202	90	2.09	.925	5	2584	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Ray Emery	39	23	11	4	1045	102	2.82	.902	3	2168	10	5	5	289	29	2.88	.900	0	604
30	Mike Morrison†	4	1	0	1	96	12	3.48	.875	0	207	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honour	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL All-Rookie Team	Andrej Meszaros (Defence)	[18]
	NHL Second All-Star Team	Daniel Alfredsson (Right wing)	[18]
		Zdeno Chara (Defence)
		Dany Heatley (Left wing)
	NHL Plus-Minus Award	Wade Redden[lower-alpha 3]	[19]
League (in-season)	NHL Defensive Player of the Month	Ray Emery (March)	[20]
	NHL Offensive Player of the Month	Daniel Alfredsson (November)	[21]
	NHL Offensive Player of the Week	Daniel Alfredsson (November 7)	[22]
		Jason Spezza (November 28)	[22]
	NHL Rookie of the Month	Ray Emery (March)	[23]
Team	Molson Cup	Daniel Alfredsson	[24]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Brandon Bochenski	October 5, 2005	[25]
	Brian McGrattan
	Andrej Meszaros
	Patrick Eaves	October 11, 2005
	Christoph Schubert	October 29, 2005
	Filip Novak	March 24, 2006

Transactions

The Senators were involved in the following transactions from February 17, 2005, the day after the 2004–05 NHL season was officially cancelled, through June 19, 2006, the day of the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.^[26]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
July 30, 2005 (2005-07-30)	To Minnesota Wild Todd White	To Ottawa Senators 4th-round pick in 2005	[27]
August 23, 2005 (2005-08-23)	To Atlanta Thrashers Greg de Vries Marian Hossa	To Ottawa Senators Dany Heatley	[28]
October 5, 2005 (2005-10-05)	To Florida Panthers Conditional 6th-round pick in 2007	To Ottawa Senators Filip Novak	[29]
March 9, 2006 (2006-03-09)	To Chicago Blackhawks Brandon Bochenski 2nd-round pick in 2006	To Ottawa Senators Tyler Arnason	[30]
May 26, 2006 (2006-05-26)[lower-alpha 4]	To Boston Bruins Peter Chiarelli	To Ottawa Senators 3rd-round pick in 2006	[26]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
August 19, 2005 (2005-08-19)	Brett Clouthier	New Jersey Devils	1-year	Free agency	[31]
	Tomas Malec	Anaheim Mighty Ducks	1-year	Free agency	[31]
	Steve Martins	JYP (Liiga)	1-year	Free agency	[31]
August 26, 2005 (2005-08-26)	Jeff Heerema	Vancouver Canucks	1-year	Free agency	[32]
	Lance Ward	Anaheim Mighty Ducks	1-year	Free agency	[32]
September 17, 2005 (2005-09-17)	Joe Cullen	Edmonton Oilers	1-year	Free agency	[33]
September 30, 2005 (2005-09-30)	Brennan Evans	Calgary Flames	1-year	Free agency	[34]
March 8, 2006 (2006-03-08)	Brad Norton	Binghamton Senators (AHL)	1-year	Free agency	[35]
March 9, 2006 (2006-03-09)	Mike Morrison	Edmonton Oilers		Waivers	[36]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[lower-alpha 5]	Ref
July 22, 2005 (2005-07-22)	Jesse Fibiger	Grizzlys Wolfsburg (ESBG)	Free agency (VI)	[38]
August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04)	Martin Prusek	Columbus Blue Jackets	Free agency (UFA)	[39]
August 12, 2005 (2005-08-12)	Andy Hedlund	Krefeld Pinguine (DEL)	Free agency (II)[lower-alpha 6]	[41]
August 22, 2005 (2005-08-22)	Pat Kavanagh	Philadelphia Flyers	Free agency (VI)	[42]
September 12, 2005 (2005-09-12)	Josh Langfeld	San Jose Sharks	Free agency (UFA)	[43]
May 12, 2006 (2006-05-12)	Jan Platil	Lukko (Liiga)	Free agency	[44]
June 5, 2006 (2006-06-05)	Lance Ward	HV71 (SHL)	Free agency	[45]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
July 27, 2005 (2005-07-27)	Dominik Hasek	1-year	Option exercised	[46]
August 2, 2005 (2005-08-02)	Denis Hamel	2-year	Re-signing	[47]
August 10, 2005 (2005-08-10)	Mike Fisher	3-year	Re-signing	[48]
	Martin Havlat	1-year	Re-signing	[48]
August 11, 2005 (2005-08-11)	Ray Emery	1-year	Re-signing	[49]
August 12, 2005 (2005-08-12)	Chris Neil	1-year	Re-signing	[50]
	Christoph Schubert	1-year	Re-signing	[50]
	Jason Spezza	1-year	Re-signing	[50]
	Antoine Vermette	1-year	Re-signing	[50]
	Anton Volchenkov	2-year	Re-signing	[50]
August 16, 2005 (2005-08-16)	Chris Kelly	1-year	Re-signing	[51]
	Brian McGrattan	1-year	Re-signing	[51]
August 22, 2005 (2005-08-22)	Patrick Eaves	3-year	Entry-level	[52]
August 23, 2005 (2005-08-23)	Dany Heatley	3-year	Re-signing	[28]
	Marian Hossa	3-year	Re-signing	[28]
August 25, 2005 (2005-08-25)	Andrej Meszaros	3-year	Entry-level	[53]
September 16, 2005 (2005-09-16)	Jeff Glass	3-year	Entry-level	[54]
September 17, 2005 (2005-09-17)	Charlie Stephens	1-year	Re-signing	[33]
June 5, 2006 (2006-06-05)	Cody Bass	multi-year	Entry-level	[55]
	Arttu Luttinen	multi-year	Entry-level	[55]
June 19, 2006 (2006-06-19)	Andy Hedlund	1-year	Re-signing	[40]
	Brian McGrattan	2-year	Re-signing	[40]

Draft picks

Ottawa's picks at the 2005 NHL entry draft in Ottawa, Ontario.^[56]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	NHL team	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	9	Brian Lee (D)	United States	Ottawa Senators	Moorhead High School (USHS-MN)
3	70	Vitali Anikienko (D)	Russia	Ottawa Senators	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (RSL)
4	95	Cody Bass (C)	Canada	Ottawa Senators (from Colorado Avalanche)	Mississauga IceDogs (OHL)
4	98	Ilya Zubov (C)	Russia	Ottawa Senators (from St. Louis)	Chelyabinsk (Russia)
4	115	Janne Kolehmainen (LW)	Finland	Ottawa Senators	SaiPa (SM-liiga)
5	136	Tomas Kudelka (D)	Czech Republic	Ottawa Senators	HC Zlín Jr. (Czech Jr.)
6	186	Dmitri Megalinsky	Russia	Ottawa Senators	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (RSL)
7	204	Colin Greening	Canada	Ottawa Senators	Upper Canada College (CCL)

Farm teams

• Binghamton Senators (American Hockey League)
• Charlotte Checkers (ECHL)

See also

• 2005–06 NHL season

Notes

1. Renamed to Scotiabank Place on January 19, 2006.
2. The name refers to a promotion instituted by a pizza company chain to provide a free slice of pizza to all attending when the Senators scored five goals in a game. The line increased the number of times the Senators scored five per game, and the pizza company had to change its promotion to six goals.
3. Shared with Michal Rozsival of the New York Rangers
4. Compensation due to Boston hiring Chiarelli as their general manager.
5. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on August 1 if applicable.^[37]
6. Ottawa retained Hedlund’s NHL rights and re-signed him on June 19, 2006.^[40]

References

• "Ottawa Senators 2005-06 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
• "2005-06 Ottawa Senators Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2022.

1. Garrioch, Bruce (October 30, 2007). "Team Reports". The Hockey News.
2. "The Cash Line easily wins the vote". Ottawa Citizen. November 17, 2005. p. C1.
3. Brennan, Don (November 13, 2005). "Saturday night's all right". Ottawa Sun/Slam Sports.
4. Garrioch, Bruce (October 2, 2007). "Pizza Line Ordered Up". Ottawa Sun.
5. Panzeri, Allen (May 28, 2007). "Sens carry a nation's hopes; Ducks hope playing with less pressure is to their advantage". Calgary Herald. p. D1.
6. "2005-06 Ottawa Senators Roster and Statistics".
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8. "Sens Edge Leafs in First Shootout". TSN.ca. Canadian Press. October 6, 2005. Archived from the original on February 20, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
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11. "Toronto Maple Leafs at Ottawa Senators Box Score — December 17, 2005".
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14. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2009). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2010. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 162.
15. "2005–2006 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
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21. Samuelson, Karl (February 14, 2006). "Alfredsson will let his play do the talking". NHL.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2023. that same month Alfredsson was named the NHL Offensive Player of the month after recording 25 points and a plus-14 rating in 12 games to help the Senators post a League-best 11-1-0 record.
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29. "Jets vs. Panthers - Game Recap - October 5, 2005". ESPN. October 5, 2005. Retrieved July 5, 2022. The Panthers traded D Filip Novak to Ottawa on Wednesday for a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2007.
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38. "Grizzly Adams Online: Home". Grizzlys Wolfsburg (in German). Archived from the original on August 2, 2005. Retrieved July 10, 2022. Jesse Fibiger wird ein Grizzly
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41. "ANDY HEDLUND". TSN.ca. Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2022. 12-Aug-05: Signed with the Krefeld Penguins of the Deutsche Liga (Germany).
42. "Monday roundup: Coyotes keep Mara in pack". ESPN.com. August 22, 2005. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
43. "Langfeld Signed; 6 Sent Back". San Jose Sharks. September 12, 2005. Archived from the original on November 2, 2005. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
44. "Jan Platil Lukon takalinjoille, Porkka lopettaa". Jatkoaika.com - Kaikki jääkiekosta (in Finnish). May 12, 2006. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
45. "HV71.se - officiell hemsida for HV71". HV71 (in Swedish). Archived from the original on June 14, 2006. Retrieved July 10, 2022. Det är den kanadensiska backen Lance Ward, 28 år, som har skrivit på för HV71. [It is the Canadian hill Lance Ward, 28 years old, who has signed for HV71.]
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50. "Friday roundup: Flames re-sign Kiprusoff, Warrener". ESPN.com. August 12, 2005. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
51. "Ottawa re-signs Kelly, McGrattan". theahl.com. August 16, 2005. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
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54. "Bulletin: Senators sign goaltender Jeff Glass". NHL.com. September 16, 2005. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
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56. "2005 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved October 10, 2024.