NHL Founding Member 1917
The second NHL franchise to bear the Ottawa Senators name, revived by Bruce Firestone in 1990.
The Ottawa Senators, officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Canadian Tire Centre, which opened in 1996.
Quick Facts
- Role
- Founding Member (one of six original franchises)
- League
- National Hockey League (NHL)
- Year of founding
- 1917
- Original franchise span
- 1917 – 1934 (relocated to St. Louis as the Eagles for 1934-35)
- Stanley cups won
- 2 (1918, 1920; 1919 finals cancelled, no champion)
- Home arena (early years)
- Ottawa Arena
Lore & Background
Founded and established by Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone, the team is the second NHL franchise to use the Ottawa Senators name. The original Ottawa Senators, founded in 1883, won the Stanley Cup 11 times, playing in the NHL from 1917 until 1934. On December 6, 1990, after a two-year public campaign by Firestone, the NHL awarded a new franchise, which began play in the 1992–93 season. The Senators have made 18 playoff appearances, won four division titles, and won the 2003 Presidents' Trophy. They made an appearance in the 2007 Stanley Cup Final but lost to the Anaheim Ducks in five games.
Reader's Guide
The original Senators were a founding NHL franchise and 11-time Stanley Cup champions. Financial losses forced the franchise to move to St. Louis in 1934 operating as the Eagles. The NHL team was unsuccessful in St. Louis and planned to return to Ottawa, but the NHL decided instead to suspend the franchise and transfer the players. Fifty-four years later, after the NHL announced plans to expand, Bruce Firestone, along with colleagues Cyril Leeder and Randy Sexton, put a bid together. In 1989, after finding a suitable site on farmland just west of Ottawa in Kanata, Terrace announced its intention to win a franchise and launched a successful 'Bring Back the Senators' campaign. On December 12, 1990, the NHL approved a new franchise for Firestone's group to start play in the 1992–93 season.
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