I still remember the team like it was yesterday. Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley, Zdeno Chara and of course—Wade Redden.
The 2005-06 Ottawa Senators were a very special team that was one adductor injury away from potentially winning the first and only Stanley Cup in modern franchise history.
Growing up, my bedroom walls were lined with posters of players from that squad. However, two of the biggest ones stand out: Alfredsson and Redden.
Redden was a huge part of that team that made it so easy to start following hockey, a passion that I still have to this day.
Despite being drafted by the New York Islanders second overall in 1995, Redden started and played the majority of his career with the Ottawa Senators, after being sent to the nation’s capital in a 1996 trade.
He spent 11 seasons in Ottawa, which included the most successful years of the franchise. From the first playoff run in 1997, to a Presidents’ Trophy in 2003 and finally making it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007, the smooth skating offensive defenseman was there the whole way.
In 1023 National Hockey League (NHL) games with the Senators, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins, Redden put up 109 goals, and 457 points. He contributed in the playoffs too, with 13 goals and 49 points in 106 postseason tilts.
I had an opportunity to sit down with Wade at the Rogers Hometown Hockey event, to discuss Ottawa, his career, his hometown and more.
Akshay Ghosh (AG): What makes Ottawa unique compared the other NHL cities, and how has it changed since you first arrived here?
Wade Redden (WR): I think just the fact that it has a bit of a smaller town feel to it, so you get a little more intimate with the fans compared to some of the bigger cities. When I went to New York, obviously it’s a complete opposite, and so is Boston. St. Louis was a little similar, but in Ottawa we were a young franchise and had a good young nucleus of players that kind of grew together so it was a special time to be in a city like this with a team like that. Ottawa has changed a lot. Being at the rink out in Kanata, I remember it was basically just a Holiday Inn and Boston Pizza when I first arrived, so it’s really developed a lot. And I mean the team has grown and there’s been some really good years. When I first got here we were a team that had never been in the playoffs, and then we were making the playoffs every year. We got ourselves to be one of the top contenders and we were a really good franchise.
AG: Other than the Stanley Cup Final, what’s one of your favourite memories from your time with the Senators?
WR: Well, in my first year, 1996-97, the team had never made the playoffs the first four or five years since coming back in 1992 so we had a really awesome run and got into the playoffs and it was a really special time, you could just feel the excitement around and then every year after that when the playoffs rolled around it was just an exciting time to be playing that time of year and the atmosphere was just unreal at the Corel Centre [now the Canadian Tire Centre].
AG: What was your “welcome to the NHL” moment?
WR: It’s funny actually, because my first game was in Montreal and on my first shift I got out and was killing a penalty and I ended up standing beside Mark Recchi who got the puck and scored while I was out there. That whole first game was kind of a surreal feeling, coming into the league and playing my first game. I ended up getting my first goal that night too, which was a good start to my career, being able to score and tying up the game. There was a bunch of other plays that just stand out so vividly but that was a pretty cool experience.
AG: What do you think so far about working in player development with the Nashville Predators? What’s it like seeing the game from the other side and do you see yourself wanting to someday become an NHL head coach?
WR: Player development is fun, it’s kind of being a part of a process but not like coaches where they are at the rink all day every day. It’s fun to watch these prospects as they develop at the start of their careers. I don’t think I’d ever want to be an NHL head coach, at this point especially being a player I kind of had the schedule and it was a grind that I did for a lot of years. Coaches I think put even more time and effort in a lot of ways. At this point my family is young and I’m not really looking to be involved that way.
AG: If it wasn’t for professional sports, what career do you think you would’ve pursued?
WR: I don’t know, that’s a good question. I mean I grew up on a farm back in Saskatchewan and I haven’t been there since I moved at 16 but that’s something that I look back at now. My dad is still farming and he loves doing it and I loved being around it and doing it too back in the day so I might’ve helped around the farm. My brother is an engineer and I kind of see myself having similar interests as him growing up. A lot of oil field work back in Saskatchewan and Alberta so maybe I would’ve found a way to get into that.
AG: What was your first thought when you got traded to the Senators so soon after being drafted? Do you still have any Islanders gear lying around?
WR: I still have my [Islanders] jersey, from 1995. They tried this new emblem that looked like Fishermans Friend, which ended up lasting only a few years so it’s kind of a unique jersey that I have from my draft. Then to come to Ottawa I was fortunate. Like I said, my first year Ottawa made the playoffs was kind of a turning around. New coaches and management, Jaques Martin and Pierre Gauthier came in. So I was fortunate to come in at that time and we were a good young team and kept building from day one.
AG: Who were some of your closest friends while playing for the Senators, and do you still keep in touch?
WR: Some of my good buddies from when I played were Alfie, Philly [Chris Phillips], Chris Neil, [Mike] Fisher. They were all kind of staggered coming into the league one after another after the first four or five years. I played a lot of hockey and had a lot of great times with those guys. Yeah I still keep in touch today.
