For the past few weeks, the NHL has been unveiling each team’s best players from the first 25 years of this millennium. On Saturday morning, it was finally the Ottawa Senators’ turn to name their All-Quarter Century Team. And to steal a line from Field of Dreams, it brought back memories so thick you have to brush them away from your face.
As with all NHL clubs, the media was charged with choosing two all-star teams – each with three forwards, two defensemen and a goalie – from the pool of players who toiled for the franchise from Jan. 1, 2000 – Dec. 31, 2004.
First Team
Forwards
Daniel Alfredsson (2000-2013)
Alfie holds the Senator team records for career goals (426), assists (682) and points (1,108) with 1,178 games played. Except for that last year in Detroit that fans in Ottawa hate to even acknowledge, Alfie went wire-to-wire with the Senators, and was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022.
Dany Heatley (2005-2009)
He was here for a good time, not a long time. Trade demands and diminished roles aside, one simply cannot ignore two 50-goal seasons, still the only ones in Senator history.
Jason Spezza (2002-2014)
Spezza holds Senator records for career goals, assists, and points by players not named Daniel Alfredsson. Another easy choice.
Defensemen
Erik Karlsson (2009-2018)
Karlsson certainly isn’t the greatest defender in Sens history, but he is the most skilled by far. Karlsson nailed down two Norris Trophies in his time here, and probably should have had a third here.
Wade Redden (2000-2008)
Redden and Chris Phillips were never defencemen who would attract Norris Trophy love. But they were reliable, minute-munching, do-the-right-thing defencemen who excelled for the Senators for a long time. With very similar personalities, Redden had a little more offence and skill to his game. Phillips had a little more defence and physicality. More on Phillips in a moment.
Goalie
Craig Anderson (2010-2020)
Anderson is tops in nearly every category so there really is no debate.
Second Team
Forwards
Marian Hossa (2000-2004)
Marian Hossa was the complete package. High skill, blazing fast, good at both ends, and deceptively tough to knock off the puck. He went on to become a crucial member of a Chicago Blackhawks dynasty that won three Stanley Cups.
Mark Stone (2013-2019)
Had the Senators managed things better with Stone, the rebuild might not have gone on this long. For a few seasons at the end, he was the emotional leader of the club and scored a ton…