My All-Time Favourite Ottawa Senators, 2025 Edition (Oops on Marc Methot’s Name)

My All-Time Favourite Ottawa Senators, 2025 Edition (Oops on Marc Methot’s Name)

Welcome back. All right. Uh, I started this playlist talking about my favorite Vancouver Conucks. Now, let’s move on to my favorite Ottawa Senators. And I like the Senators. This is the weird part. I do. Although, right now, there are some Sense fans that are mad at me. So, we’ll see if my 20 favorite Ottawa Senators could lead to that as well. Uh, honorable mention to Clark MacArthur. Just barely misses the top 20 list for this year. Um, this is updated from the 2020 list I did 5 years back. Uh, at number 20 on the list, a defenseman who played forever with the, uh, Ottawa Senators, uh, Chris Phillips. Um, gave an honest effort every night. He was a number one draft pick that you wouldn’t think of him as a number one draft pick by his game, but he played there for a very long time. Rightfully, kind of a legend in Ottawa circles. And so, yeah, Chris Phillips number 20. Uh, number 19, dropping quite a bit. And you know what? It’s funny. Uh, Ryan Dingle is an example of a player that I will just say, you know what, I like this player a lot. He’s third liner, fourth liner, doesn’t matter. I I really like the player. And Ryan Dingle, I still it’s it’s the effort. The effort level was always there with Ryan Dingle. And I think he played his best games as a member of the Ottawa Senators. Number 18 on the list. Believe he was an original Ottawa Senator this one. Uh let me make sure I spell this one right. Nor McCyver. Uh Nor Macccyver had a good run with a Ottawa Senators team that wasn’t very good. And so Macyver definitely gets consideration from me. Uh early on those Ottawa Senators I was rooting them on. There was very little in the way of winning. Uh, winning was I guess it was an option, but it was an option they didn’t choose very often. So, there’s that. Uh, number 17 on the list, recentish in terms of the lit names on this board. Uh, Kyle Turus. Uh, Kyle Turus played his best hockey as a member of the Ottawa Senators. He got traded out of Ottawa. In hindsight, I think it was a mistake both by the player and by the team because he never really seemed to get his game back after that initial uh trade out of Ottawa. And I like Turus. I still think he was a very good second line center at his peak. So, uh Kyle Turus for me gets number 17 on the board this year. Uh number 16, a current member of the team. So, this is always the issue when I’m doing favorite players. I don’t like to put the same players on more than one list. I kind of feel like it’s a cheat. For example, if Mike Cinger, if I wanted to, I could put him on 12 lists. Feels like it’s a bit of a cheat, doesn’t it? Um, but Claude Giru has been such a prominent part of the Ottawa Senators. And I think the addition of Claude Giru signaled that this team was ready to come out of the rebuild. And they made the playoffs. and Giru’s role with the team definitely helped and he’s really clearly enjoyed playing in Ottawa. Uh he has signed a new contract there. So I I don’t see any reason to think Jiru is going anywhere any anytime soon. And I think that says a lot to the locker room when you’re willing to stick around. Uh when you could go somewhere else uh and and maybe you could sign for less and and go somewhere else. And I don’t mean sign for less, like I don’t think his contract’s that high, but I just mean like you could take one of those Cory Perry type or um the contract guys take down in Florida towards the end of their career. Like, yeah, I’ll just take the league minimum cuz I want a shot at a Stanley Cup. Uh number 15 on the board, Marian Hosa. Uh unfortunately, Marian Hosa’s career in in Ottawa was far shorter than it should have been. Um, I liked Hosa quite a bit. Uh, he was one of their draft picks that really took off. Of course, he would win Stanley Cups in Chicago, which is of little solace to Ottawa Senators fans. And Marian Hosa probably ends up on the board when I get to Chicago as well. It’s just there isn’t really a way for me to do this without picking some of the same players twice. So, Marian Hosa gets on the board at number 15 for his time with the Ottawa Senators. Number 14, Radic Bonk. Now, Radic Bonk has an all-time name in the National Hockey League, and it’s a reason why I want Oliver Bonk to make it to the NHL. So, I can say there was a Bonk, and now there’s a Bonk. Now, if they’d played together in the National Hockey League, it could have been Bonk Bonk. But either way, I digress. uh Radic Bonk outside of having an all-time name was a pretty good player too and he he gradually made that improvement at the NHL level. Initially it looked like he might be a bust and then yeah, his game came together. He is one of those reasons that I learned as a younger fan, you know, you can’t can’t write somebody off as a bus too early. Uh because they can turn it around, especially if they’re in their early 20s and you hear people talking about them as a bust like they’re, oh, they’re terrible guy’s like 21, 22, right? Uh so number 13 on the board. There’s a perception right now that I hate Jake Sanderson. I don’t get it because I rooted for Jeff Sanderson when he was a Vancouver Canuck. I think Jake Sanderson is worth every penny that the Ottawa Senators are paying him. And if you look back at the video where they signed Jake Sanderson, I said in that video that I like the cap hit for Sanderson. Well, there were a lot of people in the comments saying he’s not worth it. He’s overrated. He’s a bum. And so, here we are. Jake Sanderson for me in terms of my favorite members of the team all time. I have Jake Sanderson number 13 and I think the sky’s is the limit. I did not have him in the top 20 defenseman. You’re right. Does not mean I don’t like the player and it does not mean I overlook the player. I just did not have him in my top 20 this year. Next summer that could change. I’m not going to make any guarantees cuz who knows? Maybe he gets hurt this year. Maybe he has a an off year. You just never know. Uh but either way, Sanderson as a favorite is a number 13. Uh, number 12, another player you’re going to see on a second list. Yeah, when Mark Stone, when I get to Vegas, Mark Stone’s on the list. Mark Stone, honest effort every night, great two-way forward. Um, I I still think, while I understand Ottawa did this full tearown, I think trading Mark Stone was a mistake. I think they should have kept Mark Stone through that rebuild. I would go as far as to say they probably should have kept a few veterans through that rebuild and maybe it wouldn’t taken 28 years to get back to the playoffs. Um, I think Stone was willing to stick around and then they trade him to Vegas and all of a sudden everybody in Vegas and around the National Hockey League realizes how good he is. I I had a good good idea of how good he was when he was in Ottawa. Uh, number 11. So Wade Redden wasn’t originally drafted by Ottawa. They drafted Brian Bard and then there’s a trade. Uh Redden ends up in Ottawa. Wade Redden was fantastic in Ottawa. Now eventually there’s a point where they’re choosing between Charara or Redden and they kept Redden and they let Charara go to Boston. Bit of an error. I don’t have Char on the board for Ottawa. I I don’t I feel like Charara’s best game was in Boston. He will be on the list when I do the Boston one. spoilers and all that, but Wade Reen definitely gets into the number 11 spot for me this time around. Number 10, one of the all-timers for the Ottawa Senators, Jason Spettza. Uh, Spetsza, honest effort. Yes. Uh, supremely talented forward. He benefited from the lockout season of 0506 or 0405, I should say. uh spent that year in the minors and was clearly more ready for the National Hockey League when that was done. Uh and towards the end of his career, Spatza didn’t do anything to dissuade me from the idea that he was one of my favorite players. Uh in that he was willing to take less money. He took on a leadership role. He was willing to play bottom six minutes. Spatza was not a selfish player. And that’s one thing that when I do these favorites, there are players that I might exclude because the perception at the time may have been that the player was selfish. So there’s that. Um, number nine, character matters when I’m doing my favorites. Uh, number nine, Thomas Shabbat. So, it says a lot right now about Ottawa’s blue line that I have both Sanderson and Shabbat in my favorites. And I honestly I considered Shabbat for that list of defenseman as well. I like Thomas Shabbat’s game a lot. I think that uh he is a really good defenseman on this team. I think he has been a good foot soldier during some rough times and now things are better and hopefully things continue to get better in Ottawa. I’d love to see them in a top three spot this year and hopefully guys like Shabbat and Sanderson and is there any other current sand on the board? No, just those two so far. Let’s go ahead and fix that. Number eight does not fix that. JG Pacio. Uh JG Pio is another example of a player that I think if Ottawa had kept him through the rebuild. Um he could have played further up in the lineup. He gave a he gave a good effort. He was very popular with the crowd. He’s still playing. That’s the thing. JG Pacio and Mark Stone are both still playing. They’d be very useful still to this point with the Ottawa Senators if they’d been kept. So Paso is a player that I like a lot. And uh even though he’s not as good right now as he was say when he was with Ottawa, I I still think JJ Pio is a very serviceable forward. Uh number seven on the list, man. Okay, I’m going to try to write this without looking. It’s tricky. Curtis Lision. Uh the first time I saw that name, I I um how how was I to pronounce it? I I like I was just what is this name? Uh so Curtis Lascision much easier to say it that way. It’s not spelled the way that it it looks. But at any rate, uh one of my favorite defenseman, defensive defenseman, never like a number one guy, but I thought he was a good shutdown defenseman and I really enjoyed his play. That’s that’s really that’s basically it. Curtis Lision, I’ve got it number seven. Number six, goalender. Not a lot of goalenders on this list. No. And Lena Solar is not on the list. Uh but Craig Anderson is Craig Anderson became kind of a folk hero in Ottawa, rightfully so. Not on the same level as Andrew Hammond, uh the Hamburglar that one year, of course, who is not on the list either, but Craig Anderson gave them some of the best years of his career. And he never complained either when things were going rough for the team that I can remember. Um inspirational story for the team as well. Um, but Anderson, I I don’t remember him being a a goalender that ever was like, “Oh, the grass is greener. I’m I’m going to go in that direction.” And and it would have been understandable at times for Anderson to have that attitude. It would have been understandable. Uh, number five, here’s a current Ottawa senator. Finally. Finally. And it’s Tim Stitsla. I I love Stitzler’s game. I I think that uh from that draft, Stutzla an absolute steal for the Ottawa Senators, proof you don’t have to draft first to get a really good player. Um just have good scouts and pick the right guy. Stutzler was the right guy. And if this team takes that next step in the playoffs, it’s going to be guys like Stutzler that’ll get him there. So Tim Stutzler, a player that I like quite a bit. And there he is, number five on the list. Number four. So, my reputation is as somebody whose favorites are are odd and Mark Mthought being number four might be seen as odd. Mark Methott’s defensive game covered for Eric Carlson perfectly. And um Mthot was just fantastic during his time in Ottawa. I I loved his defensive game and so full respect for Mthot. Those defensive defenseman for me sometimes can be the best my my favorite players. Not the best, but my favorites. And that’s where people get tripped up with my list sometimes. That it’s my favorites doesn’t necessarily mean best. Uh number three, that being said, sometimes it helps to be the best. and Daniel Alfredson. You know, one thing that’s that’s helped in in terms of my fandom of him is now that he’s back with the organization and he’s been willing to be part of the organization again. I think that’s huge. I I think that’s something that definitely helped in their journey back to the playoffs. Just the fact that, you know, you have a veteran player who retired but comes back to the organization after kind of an ugly divorce when he went to Detroit. So, it’s nice to see Alfredson as a part of the organization again. And there we go. Uh, number two. So, the runner up. This This won’t surprise anybody. Absolutely no one will be surprised that Ron Tugnut’s name on the board is on the board. I I think it’d be more alarming if he wasn’t. I I Ron Tugnut, one of my favorite goalenders ever. Uh, played for some bad teams over his career. another one that I never heard complain during all the losing, especially in Quebec. But in Ottawa, he had a good run in Ottawa. And I I liked him. So yeah, I guess for an honorable mention amongst goalenders, Patrick Lee can get an honorable mention. And his his mask would probably be the best of the Marvin the Martian mask was fantastic for Lee. But uh Tugnut was pretty darn good, too. So who’s number one? Same player who’s number one the last time I did this. So, I understand that Eric Carlson’s exit from from from Ottawa when he went to San Jose wasn’t uh wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences for a lot of Sans fans, but Eric Carlson to me is still that 2017 run when he was basically on one leg. Absolutely insane how many minutes he played, how fearless he was. I I don’t think he’s been the same since then. I don’t think Eric Carlson’s been the same. and he he has had that one fantastic season in San Jose, I would still put the 2017 Eric Carlson above that Eric Carlson in terms of overall play. Uh while I understand the complaints about his defensive game at this stage and I I I won’t disagree at points with some of the defensive play, I did think back in the mid 2015 or mid2010s around 2015 and whatnot, I thought his defensive miscues, while they were there, I thought they were overblown a little bit. I thought he was a a pretty good defensive defenseman. Not great, not great, not great, not perfect, not not Jacob Slavven level or Mark Methott level, but having Mthot as his partner definitely helped. So if Carlson made a mistake, Methot was there to cover for it. And so Carlson played with confidence and that’s one of my favorite pairings ever in hockey as well. So to me, Eric Carlson would still be number one in terms of my favorite Ottawa Senators. So there you go. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. As always, hit like and subscribe in the event you may not have done so already. Thank you guys so much for all your support. As always, I will talk to you again soon.

Okay, moving on to talk about Ottawa in this one.

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