Ottawa Jr. Senators | |
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City | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
League | Central Canada Hockey League |
Division | Yzerman |
Founded | 1979 |
Home arena |
Jim Durrell Recreation Centre Jim Peplinski Arena |
Colours | Blue, red, white, |
Owner(s) | Martin Dagenais |
General manager | Martin Dagenais (2014-present) |
Head coach | Martin Dagenais (2014-present) |
Franchise history | |
1979–1992 | Ottawa Senators |
1992–present | Ottawa Jr. Senators |
The Ottawa Jr. Senators are a junior-age men's ice hockey team from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Their home arena is the Jim Durrell Recreation Centre in south Ottawa. The club is in the Robinson Division of the Central Canada Hockey League, a Junior "A" league. The team is not affiliated with the NHL Ottawa Senators.
The Senators joined the Central Junior A Hockey League in 1979. In 1992, the Ottawa Senators changed their name to the Ottawa Jr. Senators because of the NHL team Ottawa Senators. Ottawa won their first Art Bogart Cup in 1983 over Pembroke. Ten years later, they won their second championship. In 1995, Ottawa came close against the Cornwall Colts for their third championship. The 2000-01 season was memorable for the Ottawa Jr. Senators as they achieved the lowest goals allowed in the league (173) and finished 2nd, despite being 10 points behind the Cornwall Colts, as both teams met in the championship finals. The series went to 7 games, but the Jr. Senators lost in a humiliating 7-0 loss.
The following year, the Jr. Senators were determined to repeat their previous season, and settled for 3rd overall behind Cornwall and Nepean. Ottawa managed to defeat Nepean in 6 games and return to the final. This time, Ottawa won the series in 5 games and qualified for the Fred Page Cup in Truro. The semi-final game against the Valleyfield Braves and Ottawa Jr. Senators meant the winner would go to the Royal Bank Cup in Halifax, as the hosts Halifax Oland Exports already earned a bye to the final. Ottawa punched their ticket to the Royal Bank Cup winning 7-2 over the Braves. Ottawa lost the Fred Page Cup championship game 4-2 to Halifax.
At the Royal Bank Cup, the Jr. Senators ended up finishing 4th with a 1-3 record. Ottawa faced Halifax for the fourth time, and the semi-final was a back and forth scoring game, but Halifax ended up taking the game 9-7 and eventually capturing the Royal Bank Cup.
The championship team was lost in a blockbuster trade with the Gloucester Rangers, who were rebuilding their team and overcoming a dead-last finish in the 2001-02 standings. Despite only carrying three returnees, the Jr. Senators still managed to upset the top 2 teams in the league en route to the Art Bogart Cup against Nepean. Ottawa couldn't handle the Nepean Raiders and lost the series in 5 games.