The date was May 25, 2017. The crowd in Pittsburgh watched their Penguins play the Ottawa Senators in Game 7 of what had been an intense and emotional playoff series.
Everything is at stake for both teams; the winner gets to advance to the Stanley Cup final. The game remains tied, even after an exciting three periods and an overtime period.
The outcome changes with a little less than 15 minutes remaining in the second overtime period. The Penguins’ Sidney Crosby sends the puck back to teammate Chris Kunitz, who shoots the puck high on the blocker side of Craig Anderson, ultimately sending the Penguins to the Stanley Cup final. The crowd cheers their hometown team as the Senators and their fans are crushed after an impressive playoff run.
While the Penguins finished off their playoff run with a Stanley Cup, this defeat affected the Senators beyond that season and propelled the franchise into a rebuild. For many seasons now, the Senators have been underperforming. In the midst of this rebuild, fresh faces have been coming as the team releases and trades their players.
The buyout of Bobby Ryan and the release of Craig Anderson by the Senators meant that no players were left from that 2017 run, apart from Colin White, who participated in a single game. The past years may have been painful for the fans and the franchise, but with the 2020-21 season underway, there are reasons to be optimistic.
All sports franchises have had to go through rebuilds and years of suffering before their successes, and fan bases must be patient. Even if the Senators have had bad years of late, they also had their fair share of good years, with the Alfredsson/Spezza/Heatley era. It’s a cycle that every team goes through.
This season may not be the most memorable, but is meant to show the younger players how to succeed, which helps them gain valuable experience for the upcoming years. Senators fans, the rebuild is almost complete, and this is an extremely promising team. General manager Pierre Dorion and his staff have made excellent moves recently to make the team more competitive and ensure success in the future.
This upcoming season won’t be as painful as the previous three, but it likely won’t be their breakout year, which is fine. Nonetheless, there are many things for Sens fans to watch in the upcoming season.
The most exciting latest Sens news is their third pick in the 2020 NHL draft. The team selected German forward Tim Stützle from the Mannheim Eagles in the DEL league.
Some fans may believe this move to be insignificant, but that must be because of their unfamiliarity with this young prospect. The world juniors tournament showcased Stützle’s skills, as he racked up 10 points in five games, leading an underdog German team to the quarter finals.
His best assets correlate with the image of the league in today’s game: pure speed, skill and an excellent hockey sense.
Stützle made his NHL debut Jan. 15, and scored his first goal the next day. It would not be surprising to see him win the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the best rookie. This would be a big step towards the much anticipated youth movement. In the next few years, he will potentially be followed by many other important young players, including Josh Norris, Jake Sanderson, Alex Formenton and Drake Batherson.
The other thing Sens fans should look forward to this season is the growth of their young core. This includes the future leaders of the team, such as Thomas Chabot and fan favourite Brady Tkachuk. These future key pieces for the team will be able to grow alongside the team’s new acquisitions this off-season, which are aimed to make the team more competitive.
This includes the likes of veteran forwards Evgenii Dadonov and Derek Stepan. They also added recent Stanley Cup winners Brayden Coburn and Cedric Paquette. Also, most importantly they addressed their goaltending issues by acquiring the young, two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray from Pittsburgh.
In the end, the upcoming young prospects will be surrounded by competitive players that will help them gain experience and guide them towards the playoffs. This season probably won’t be their big year, but it will be a necessary year for the player’s progress and to address any issues for the team. Rest assured Sens fans, your patience will soon be rewarded.
