2005–06 Ottawa Senators season



2005–06 Ottawa Senators season was the 13th season of the Ottawa Senators. After one of their franchise-best regular seasons, finishing with 113 points, the Senators made it to the Eastern Conference Semi-final, in which the Buffalo Sabres eliminated Ottawa in five games.

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 involved Marian Hossa and Greg DeVries 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 GM Muckler felt that Hossa was worth and so he was dealt away. Marian had lead the Sens in scoring.



Regular season
Heatley, together with Alfredsson and Spezza, formed one of the league's top offensive lines, 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. Cash Line won out over finalists 'Dash Line' and 'Dazzle Line,' which Spezza reputedly despised and wanted to veto. Another nickname the line has picked up is the 'Pizza Line', and is the nickname used by the Citizen's rival paper, the Ottawa Sun. However, during the press conference to introduce the teams for the 2007 Stanley Cup Final, Dany Heatley went on record to say he likes the 'Cash line' name.

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 country's national teams, while Jason Spezza was a substitute for Canada. The experience was not good for the Senators: Dominik Hasek was having a good season but the team lost him to a hamstring injury he suffered while playing for the Czech national ice hockey team. He would not play again for the Senators.

In addition to leading the NHL with most goals for (312), the Senators also led the NHL in shorthanded goals (25), scoring points (840), and shots on goal (2,811).

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 AHL during the lock-out. But with five minutes to go, with the Senators trailing, then Senators' coach Bryan Murray replaced Bochenski with Alfredsson and Alfredsson 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.

Heatley became the first Ottawa 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.

April

 * Green background indicates win.
 * Red background indicates regulation loss.
 * White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.

Playoffs
The Ottawa Senators ended the 2005–06 regular season as the Eastern Conference's first seed.

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 Tampa Bay 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, Eugene Melnyk (the team's owner) 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.

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (8) Tampa Bay Lightning
Ottawa wins series 4–1.

Eastern Conference Semi-finals: vs. (4) Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo wins series 4–1.

Regular season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T/OT = Ties/overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

 * Molson Cup - Daniel Alfredsson
 * NHL Plus/Minus Award - Wade Redden
 * Second NHL All-Star Team - Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, Zdeno Chara

Roster
Sources:

Draft picks
Ottawa's picks at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario.

Farm teams

 * Binghamton Senators (American Hockey League)
 * Charlotte Checkers (East Coast Hockey League)