Star-less because of Alexei Yashin's holdout and seemingly within hours of being put up for sale and moved on numerous occasions, the Senators went on to post 95 points -- the second-best total in the brief modern history of their franchise.

Admirable, until the sour note -- Ottawa suffered its second straight first-round playoff loss. With Yashin back on the ice and the team safe in Ottawa for the time being, the question for 2001-2001 becomes: Will stability help the Senators attain a higher level in the playoffs?

What must happen

First and foremost, the Senators have to get something out of Yashin, who scored a career-high 94 points in 1998-99 before walking away from the club because it wouldn't renegotiate the last year of his contract. The courts turned him down in his bid to be declared a free agent, and the Senators have so far resisted the temptation to trade him.

While he admits he's only playing for Ottawa because it's the only place he's allowed to play, it would serve Yashin well to give it his all in the coming season. He will be a restricted free agent by then, and as there's no way the Sens can meet his $7-8 million asking price, so they'll have to trade him. The better he plays in Ottawa, the better off the Sens are, and the better chance Yashin has of getting big-market teams to bid for him.

The other issue major issue in Ottawa is goaltending: After years of a Damian Rhodes-Ron Tugnutt platoon, Tugnutt's first crack at sole possession of the No. 1 job resulted in a deadline trade to Pittsburgh for Tom Barrasso, now an unrestricted free agent in whom the Sens haven't shown much interest in re-signing. Whether Patrick Lalime is likely to be No. 1, or work in tandem with rookie Jani Hurme, Ottawa needs dependable goaltending to back its defense-based style of play.

What can't happen

The Sens were disappointed when Yashin proclaimed that he felt no obligation to explain his side of last year's never-ending story to them, and some were clearly bitter that he was coming back. He averaged 22:05 per game in '98-99, so he's going to take away a lot of prime ice time from some of the teammates he left behind -- particularly Ottawa's centers. As distasteful as that thought may be, the Sens have to put it all aside, especially when they're on the ice. Nobody has to like Yashin, but Ottawa should become more of a threat with him in the lineup, and can attract a strong package of assets when Ottawa gets around to trading him. The Senators also can't let the Western Conference kick them around as they did last year. Ottawa's top-notch record against opponents from the Northeast Division (11-5-4-0, best in the division) and Eastern Conference (33-17-10-1, No. 1 in the conference) should have resulted in better than a sixth-place finish in the East, but it didn't because the Sens struggled against the West (8-13-1-1). Tampa Bay was the only Eastern Conference team that lost more to the West.

The mental approach

As difficult as it may be to stomach, the fact remains that if the Senators could compile 95 points without Yashin, they ought to be somewhat better with him in the lineup. (Ottawa rang up 103 points with Yashin as their captain in 1998-99, good for a first-place finish in the Northeast. The players have to learn to live with that for one more year, or maybe even less.

Noteworthy

Andreas Dackell, who fell from 15-35-50 in '98-99 to 10-25-35 last season, was the Senators' only holdout entering the last week of September. ... Mathieu Chouinard, the Senators' first-round draft pick in 1998 (No. 15 overall), lost in his bid to unseat Hurme as the second goalie in Ottawa. Lalime, 19-14-3 and 2.33 last season after spending two years in the minors, has said he fully expects to get the bulk of the work this season. He played 38 games last season, 39 for Pittsburgh in his only other NHL season (1996-97) ... Owner Rod Bryden still intends to proceed with a lawsuit against Yashin, charging he owes the club $933,000 for services he didn't perform last year. The prevailing theory is that Bryden, who'll pay Yashin $3.6 million this season, believes Yashin's absence cost the club a shot at a first-round playoff series win. By failing to reach the second round, the Sens lost at least two more Corel Centre dates ... Yashin scored two goals in a Sept. 19 exhibition at the Corel Centre, his first appearance there since April of 1999. Booed consistently, Yashin said he "didn't hear it and didn't pay attention because to I tried to concentrate on the game." Surprisingly, coach Jacques Martin allowed Yashin to wear an 'A' as an alternate captain. Daniel Alfredsson is expected to retain the captaincy he assumed when Yashin failed to show up last year.