For Sens, a bitter end to sweet postseason of vindication
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- At some point in the future, maybe in a few days, a few weeks or a few months, the Ottawa Senators will look back at their season and realize just how far they actually came.
Of course, emotions are too raw to do that in the aftermath of losing the Stanley Cup Finals in five games. But for the Senators, the loss to a superior Anaheim team shouldn't take away from the important transformation they went through during these playoffs.
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| Daniel Alfredsson led all scorers in the playoffs with 14 goals. (AP) |
They have good reason. The Senators have been one of the league's elite teams for a decade, with four division titles and a Presidents' Trophy in that span, but they have never been able to get this close to winning the NHL's ultimate prize despite their always-high expectations. The failures earned them the reputation of being chokers, a rap that they've likely managed to shed for good thanks to a brilliant, character-driven postseason run.
"We should be proud of what we achieved," said captain Daniel Alfredsson, who had an outstanding playoff run and led all scorers with 14 goals. "But right now, it's kind of hard to take."
No doubt, but for Ottawa, the trip to the Finals was a lot more than anyone could have expected, even as recently as Christmas. The Senators underwent some major changes during the last offseason, losing key players Zdeno Chara and Martin Havlat because of payroll limitations, and had enough of a poor start for people in their city to start calling for a major shakeup around the midseason holiday break.
Ottawa went into the short recess having lost six of its previous nine games and the 18-18-1 record it sported at the time was good for only 10th place in the Eastern Conference. The problems were exacerbated when No. 1 center Jason Spezza suffered a knee injury and was soon joined on the sideline by Fisher. And if that weren't enough, the Senators' top defenseman and highest-paid player, Wade Redden, had his own trouble with inconsistent play and a variety of injuries that cost him 17 games in the first half.
Ironically, the challenges served as a catalyst for Ottawa. For one thing, it forced them to abandon their traditional style of high-octane offense for a more conservative defensive approach to things and, perhaps more important, it lowered expectations around the team.
"That was the turning point," Redden said earlier during the playoffs. "Everyone just bought in and decided to what the coaches were telling us and decided to pull together."
Ottawa went on to close the season with a 30-7-8 run, finishing with the third-best win and point totals in the East and getting into the playoffs riding a heavy wave of momentum. The team went on to overwhelm Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Presidents' Trophy-winning Buffalo in just 15 games, but was unable to take the next step against the Ducks.
"That's what makes it really disappointing," said defenseman Chris Phillips. "To come this far and to be that close and see the Stanley Cup on the ice and them celebrating makes it even hard. But congratulations to them."
