Senators Artcles: B-Sens withstood challenge of lockout and losing streaks
April 17, 2005

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Scott Lauber of Press Connects.com

B-Sens withstood challenge of lockout and losing streaks

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON -- They wake up today as champions of the AHL's East Division, but there's a considerable difference of opinion -- even within the dressing room -- over exactly when the Binghamton Senators began playing that way.

Brian Pothier, the all-star defenseman, contends the march to the division crown started in March with two victories in 11 nights over the Philadelphia Phantoms. Co-coach John Paddock marks a mid-December weekend for when he saw marked improvement, but points to the end of a prolonged February losing streak as the real turning point.

Then, there are coach Dave Cameron and captain Chris Kelly, who insist the Senators haven't played their best hockey yet.

Regardless, they had a regular season for the ages, earning more points than any Binghamton team since the 1992-93 Rangers and more than all but two of the city's previous AHL entries. Following a mediocre start, they had a sizzling finish, and with the Calder Cup playoffs starting Friday night, good luck finding a hotter team entering the postseason tournament.

"We've had a pretty solid stretch of games lately," Pothier said, "and I think everyone is starting to understand what it takes to win in the playoffs."

It took considerable time for the Senators to grasp that concept, and even now, there are games when, for at least one period, they lose sight of it. But that can happen to a team built around a half-dozen locked-out NHL players and with perhaps more talent than any other AHL club.

League MVP Jason Spezza, All-Rookie Team winger Brandon Bochenski, veteran Denis Hamel and Ottawa winger Josh Langfeld made the Senators the first AHL team with four 30-goal scorers since 1998-99, but so much firepower also sparked a propensity to run-and-gun, often leaving goalies Ray Emery and Billy Thompson exposed to too many odd-man rushes.

"A lot of times, when you have a talented team, guys try to do too much on their own," Pothier said. "In this game, it's just the opposite. The more simple you play, the better you do."

And at the beginning, the Senators didn't do very well. From the season-opening 6-2 embarrassment in Albany through a 3-2 setback in Providence on Dec. 12, they were 12-11-3-2 and frequently paying more attention to the NHL labor talks than to their minor league responsibilities.

Over the next few days, Cameron and Paddock conducted a slew of grueling practices that just might've jolted the Senators into the 6-3-0-0 stretch that took them into the New Year and the club-record nine-game winning streak from Jan. 7-26.

Emery and Thompson, who had been spotty for three months, toughened, and as the Southern Tier was being socked by a blizzard Jan. 22, the Senators traveled to Ottawa and climbed into first place with a 4-3 victory over St. John's.

But even then, they were hardly perfect, and their flaws were exposed by a seven-game losing skid from Jan. 28 through Feb. 11.

Then came that Feb. 16 press conference in a New York hotel and the season's defining moment.

"To some extent, our playing well coincided with the NHL (season) falling apart," Paddock said. "With that out of the way, there became a little more acceptance of how we had to play. There have been games that we didn't play as well and won, but for the most part, everybody focused in on their role."

From the time NHL commissioner Gary Bettman pronounced the season dead until Saturday night's season finale against the Hershey Bears, the Senators went 18-3-1-3. They outscored their opponents 98-65, rallied from two- and three-goal deficits for a handful of come-from-behind victories, and most astounding, picked up points in 22 of 25 games.

The biggest in-season pick-up, undoubtedly, was Ottawa Senators tough guy Chris Neil. Tired of idling on his couch during the lockout, Neil signed an AHL tryout contract March 1 and gave Binghamton an additional dose of grit and a "Grind Line" with center Pat Kavanagh and winger Charlie Stephens.

But Pothier was still unsure of how good the Senators were until they crept out of a 2-0 hole to earn a 4-3 overtime victory March 19 over second-place Philadelphia, then routed the Phantoms 7-4 on March 30.

"It's good to go through different situations, when you have to grind back and win a game," Pothier said. "If you handle it well during the regular season, chances are you'll handle it well in the playoffs. After those games against Philadelphia, we started to really believe in ourselves."

And many of the Senators believe they will do even better than this.

That, they say, is what the playoffs are about.

"This team still hasn't played as well as it can," Cameron said the other day before the East Division title was secured. "We should be fighting for first with the talent we have, but we've battled inconsistency all year. If we played the way we should all year, we'd have wrapped up first place a while ago."

Said Kelly, "We've always known we had the talent. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think we've played our best hockey. I still think we have more to give."

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Buildup to a title

En route to winning the AHL's East Division championship, the Senators showed gradual improvement during each quarter of the season. Here's a look at their progress.

Games 1-20: 10-7-1-2, 23 points, 58 goals scored, 61 goals allowed.

Games 21-40: 11-7-2-0, 24 points, 74 goals scored, 52 goals allowed.

Games 41-60: 11-5-2-2, 26 points, 59 goals scored, 50 goals allowed.

Games 61-80: 14-2-0-3, 32 points, 80 goals scored, 54 goals allowed.

-- SCOTT LAUBER