Injuries cut his season short, but Wilson was the team’s first nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Award for his extensive work in the community.
Doug Wilson
Neil Wilkinson
A second-round pick by Minnesota in 1986, Wilkinson made his NHL debut in 1989–90 and saw semi-regular duty with the club, where he was praised for his defensive promise and mean streak. The Sharks must have coveted these skills when trying to get their initial roster going and took him away from the North Stars in the dispersal draft.
Following a steady start, Wilkinson took his play up a few notches in November and had nine points, which included a goal against the Los Angeles Kings and a three-assist effort while taking on the Edmonton Oilers. After missing a good chunk of action in February, he came back from injury in March and scored a power-play goal against the New York Islanders on March 26, 1992. Although his -11 rating looks bad to some, it was the best among Sharks blueliners who appeared in 40 or more games during the team’s expansion year.
Link Gaetz
Some players take a special place in the pantheon of hockey heroes regardless of their offensive accomplishments, since so many things they do on and off the ice generate incredible controversy and live on in the memories of fans everywhere. Gaetz is certainly one of those memorable skaters. There was little doubt that he was on the ice to protect his teammates at any cost.
Drafted by the Minnesota North Stars to serve as the eventual guardian of Mike Modano, Gaetz spent three seasons terrorizing the IHL before becoming an original member of the Sharks through the dispersal draft. He was an instant hit with fans and in his time at the NHL level that year, he got into 14 fights, which included a pair of battles on October 26, 1991, against Randy McKay and David Maley of the New Jersey Devils. A few weeks later, he took on the legendary Bob Probert and he eventually tussled with heavyweights like Gino Odjick and Kelly Buchberger. In fact, he was on pace to shatter the league record for penalty minutes in a single season, but he was forced to sit out his fair share of games as well.
On April 2, 1992, tragedy struck when Gaetz was tossed from the passenger seat of a car while driving with a friend who was under the influence of alcohol. He was semi-comatose for eight days and it was feared that he was near death. He sustained major injuries: his brain stem was damaged and he was partially paralyzed and had no memory of the accident. Many were shocked to see him return to action that fall, but he never appeared in another NHL game. His minor league odyssey was filled with crazy moments, and teams eventually grew tired of his antics. Many of those crazy moments are the subject of debate, but there is little doubt that hockey fans will ever forget “The Missing Link.”
Link Gaetz
Ray Whitney
After a phenomenal 1990–91 season where he led the WHL with 185 points and helped take the Spokane Chiefs to a Memorial Cup championship, Whitney became the second junior player ever drafted by the Sharks. Because of his success playing with Falloon, he was a smart pick by the first-year club, but nobody could have predicted the amazing path his NHL career was going to take.
In 1991–92, Whitney was ready to make the jump to the pro level. He spent time playing for Canada’s national team and had a brief stint with Kolner EC in Germany before trying his hand at playing in the IHL with the San Diego Gulls. His transition was very smooth, as he scored 90 points over 63 games, and he was ready to make his NHL debut toward the end of the season. On April 15, 1992, he took to the ice and recorded an assist against the Calgary Flames. The following night, he topped that performance with two more helpers in a loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
Arturs Irbe
In the years that led to the fall of the Iron Curtain, the NHL held a couple of Super Series events where Soviet teams came over to play against their clubs. Irbe was one of the most intriguing young Soviet players showcasing his talents. A 10th-round pick of the Minnesota North Stars in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, he starred for Dynamo Riga for several years before the Sharks took him during the dispersal draft.
Irbe started the 1991–92 season with San Jose’s IHL affiliate in Kansas City but was called up to make his NHL debut against the Edmonton Oilers on November 8, 1991. He earned a victory that night and followed it with another the next day while hosting the New York Islanders. Those were only the second and third triumphs in franchise history, but also the only ones he earned over 13 games that year.
Sent back to the minors in mid-December, Irbe was recalled again briefly in the middle of February and end of March. His record with the Blades was rather impressive, though, as he went 24–7–1 over 32 regular-season games and then went 12–3 in the playoffs on the way to the Turner Cup.
Brian Hayward
In the late 1980s, Hayward was one of the strongest and most respected backup goaltenders in the game and he shared the Jennings Trophy with Patrick Roy on three occasions while playing for the Montreal Canadiens. In 1990–91, he was a part of the Minnesota North Stars club that made it to the Stanley Cup Final, but he knew ahead of time that he was destined to play in San Jose the following year.
The dispersal draft made the transaction official. Hayward was responsible for the first victory in franchise history when he made his Sharks debut on October 8, 1991, and turned back 36 shots in a 4–3 triumph. The rest of his season wasn’t smooth sailing, however, as he was credited with a loss over his next two starts and then suffered a back injury. He attempted a brief comeback in December but had enough difficulties to end up back on the disabled list.
What most fans will recall about Hayward’s short stint with the Sharks was the intimidating mask that he wore. While it didn’t do much to faze opposing skaters, it does have a legacy all of its own.
Brian Hayward
EXPANSION YEAR RECORD: 10–70–4
(24 points — sixth in Adams Division)
COACH: Rick Bowness
GENERAL MANAGER: Mel Bridgman
FIRST GAME: October 8, 1992 —
5–3 win vs. Montreal Canadiens
FIRST GOAL: October 8, 1992 by Neil Brady
OTTAWA
SENATORS
The deep roots of the original Ottawa Senators can be traced back to the days before hockey went professional, when the club won several Stanley Cup championships and featured some of the greatest early players, and before harsh economic realities forced them to shut down at the end of the 1933–34 season.
The death of that Senators club did not mean, however, that the sport was dead in Canada’s capital, as several senior and junior clubs stepped in and filled the void for many years after. Ottawa was still loyal to the game and there were many fans who believed that it was only a matter of time and effort to bring the Sens back to the NHL. In the late 1980s, when it was rumoured that the league planned to expand by several teams during the next decade, an Ottawa-area real estate developer named Bruce Firestone decided to launch a local bid through a firm called Terrace Investments.
In order to make this vision a reality, the underfunded group planned to launch a mini-city project called West Terrace that included an NHL-ready arena. A promising site was found west of the city in Kanata and Terrace announced their intentions on June 22, 1989. They received permission from Tommy Gorman’s descendants to use the old Senators name and kicked off a campaign that saw former team member Frank Finnigan presented with a new jersey with his old number, 8, on the back. It was expected that, as the only living member of the 1926–27 team that won the Stanley Cup, he was going to drop the puck when they began play. Plans for a new arena called the Palladium were also announced, and they also had a logo that incorporated the Peace Tower into the city’s name.
While the bid had tremendous support from fans, the reality was that it was considered a long shot by many hockey people, including then-NHLPA head Alan Eagleson. Undaunted, the Terrace executives made a presentation to the league, and in December 1990, it was announced that the NHL was coming back to town once again. The primary reason they got the okay
was it was one of only two bids willing to put up the $50 million expansion fee the league was asking for without any debate.
At that point, the hunt was on to find someone to run the Senators. Respected hockey men Scotty Bowman and John Muckler turned down the opportunity to become general manager, and the team made a very unconventional move and hired former NHL player Mel Bridgman. He had no hockey management experience, but he had a decent academic background and was willing to take on the daunting task of putting together a serviceable roster. The coaching staff was to be headed by Rick Bowness, and he received support from prime talents in Alain Vigneault, E.J. Maguire and Chico Resch.
If there ever was a bad omen to start a team off, it was at the 1992 NHL Expansion Draft. The Senators were woefully unprepared when their laptop failed and they called out several ineligible names since they had no paper copies of their plan to refer to. As a result, the Ottawa club took a lot of journeymen and strong minor league players who were not regarded as prospects at that point. The roster was bolstered slightly through trades and, at the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, they chose Alexei Yashin second overall. Unfortunately, the young Russian was not coming over to North America for the 1992–93 season and they really did not have anyone who could be regarded as a franchise player.
On October 8, 1992, NHL hockey was officially back in Ottawa, and the crowd at the Civic Centre witnessed a pre-game spectacle that involved the retirement of Finnigan’s sweater. Unfortunately, he had passed away less than a year earlier and did not get to witness the event. Alanis Morissette sang the national anthem that night and then-NHL president Gil Stein gave Firestone what was called a “certificate of reinstatement.” The visiting Montreal Canadiens lost that night and hopes were high for Senators fans that the team might be competitive. Even the press joked that “maybe Rome was built in a day,” but it was not to be.
Ottawa did not win another game until November 25, and after that it was bleak at even the best of times. The team’s reliance on young talent was deadly, but Peter Sidorkiewicz deserved a purple heart for his play since he kept the scores much lower than they really deserved to be. He represented the team at the 1993 NHL All-Star Game, along with Brad Marsh, who was easily the team’s most popular performer.
After winning three of five games between January 28 and February 8, 1993, the Sens went 3–24 over the rest of the schedule. They won their only road game of the year against the New York Islanders on April 10, but by that point, it was almost certain that they were going to finish last overall and earn the right to pick highly touted Alexandre Daigle in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. They were in fact in a race to place at the bottom of the standings with the second-year San Jose Sharks and ended up with one less victory to claim what the press was calling the “Daigle Cup.”
It was a horrible year all around for the Senators, but there was a ton of fallout coming. Bridgman was canned at the end of the season, and Firestone faced a lot of heat for making off-the-record comments to the press about the team deliberately losing games. The team was fined for his comments and the league later instituted a draft lottery to help avoid the problem in the future.
In time, the Senators built themselves into a competitor, but not without first experiencing some serious problems. The planned West Terrace development did not pan out, and financial strains forced Firestone to resign after missing payments. It was tough even to get proper financing for the Palladium, but it finally opened during the 1995–96 season. Shortly after, it was renamed the Corel Centre when naming rights were sold. Paying off the club’s various debts became a big problem and they were forced to declare bankruptcy at one point before Eugene Melnyk bought the club in 2003.
On the ice, the Senators had three more difficult seasons before they finally became a playoff contender. With talent like Daniel Alfredsson and Wade Redden, they made the postseason for 11 straight years and even captured four division crowns. In 2006–07, they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final but lost out to the Anaheim Ducks. Their fortunes have declined somewhat since that time, but they are in the process of building themselves into contenders once again.
Norm Maciver
Maciver had finally arrived as a regular with the Edmonton Oilers in 1991–92, after spending several years bouncing back and forth between the minors and the NHL. His 40 points over 57 games were fairly impressive since he missed a lot of action because of injury, and he led the club with a +20 rating. He was likely ready for another big year with the team, but the Senators claimed him in the waiver draft in the hope that adding him to the lineup would at least mitigate a few glaring weaknesses.
What fans in Ottawa were probably not expecting, though, was to see Maciver lead the first-year club in scoring. He started the season with back-to-back games in which he got two assists, and he had a five-game point streak between October 16 and 27, 1992. From an offensive perspective, he was certainly the club’s most consistent contributor since he notched at least one point in 48 of the 80 games he appeared in. On February 8, 1993, he scored the game-winner against the Buffalo Sabres, and that gave the Sens their first back-to-back victories in franchise history. He also scored the difference-maker in a surprise win over the Pittsburgh Penguins 17 days later.
Brad Shaw
After years in the minors, Shaw became a full-time blueliner for the Hartford Whalers in 1989–90 and was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team. Over the next two seasons, he was a regular for the team, but his production dipped slightly and he was sold to the New Jersey Devils, so they did not end up losing him for nothing in the expansion draft. Instead, the Devils declined to protect him and were out of pocket when the Senators claimed him.
With Ottawa, Shaw got a lot more playing time and put up the best numbers of his career. He had his first multi-point game of the year against the Calgary Flames on November 5, 1992, and in a victory over the San Jose Sharks on January 10, 1993, he had a pair of assists on goals by Bob Kudelski. From March 22 to 30, he put up seven points over five games and then had a three-game assist streak in April before the season drew to its merciful close.
“I still have visions of watching Brad Shaw do drills,” said Chris Luongo. “As I gained experience, it helped me understand the nature of hockey and other sports. He would do the same thing 20 or 30 times, and it had a lot to do later in my career in preparing to play and in coaching. It was interesting to watch him go about and do his business.”
Bob Kudelski
Kudelski had his third straight 20-goal season with the Los Angeles Kings in 1991–92, but he struggled in the early part of the following season when he was traded to Ottawa as part of a deal for Marc Fortier and Jim Thomson. He had just three goals over his first 15 games, so his per-game average was a little below where it had been in previous years, but the Senators were certainly willing to give him a shot at a prime offensive role.
Kudelski’s first goal with Ottawa did not come until they took on the Quebec Nordiques in his fourth game with the team on December 27, 1992. He was also responsible for one of the most exciting moments of the first season for the Sens when he scored all three goals, the franchise’s first-ever hat trick, in a 3–2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on January 10, 1993. The March 4 matchup against his old club was a nice homecoming of sorts when he scored once and assisted on two other goals.
Mike Peluso
Peluso led the NHL with an incredible 408 penalty minutes in 1991–92, but his physical play was toned down greatly in the playoffs when the Chicago Blackhawks went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. Chicago had plenty of tough players on the roster, so he became expendable in the expansion draft. The Senators picked him to ensure they had some toughness during their first year in the league.
Peluso surprised many when he took his offensive game to a new level with Ottawa, establishing career standards for goals and points. The majority of his points came before the All-Star break and he scored twice as many goals on the road than at home. He scored a goal against the Quebec
Nordiques on October 10, 1992, and two days later scored a pair in a loss to the Boston Bruins. His lone game-winning goal was scored against the New Jersey Devils on November 25. Peluso had more than twice as many penalty minutes as any other player on the Senators at the end of the year.
Mike Peluso
Laurie Boschman
Boschman had some of his best NHL seasons in a Winnipeg Jets uniform, but he was traded to the New Jersey Devils before the 1990–91 campaign. A veteran performer, he had 20 points in his first year in the Meadowlands, but he was even better in 1991–92, and it looked like he might stick around a little while longer — until he was unexpectedly left unprotected in the expansion draft.
“How it happened was I was with the Devils and I talked to Lou Lamoriello a couple of days before the expansion draft and he said that he thought I was going to be safe,” he recalled. “My wife, my three kids and I were heading from New Jersey back to Winnipeg and we had to fly through the Minneapolis airport, and this is before cell phones, and I went on a pay phone to call one of my friends and I asked if he had heard about the expansion draft and he said ‘I haven’t heard your name, so I think you’re fine.’ When we got into Winnipeg, we got all our stuff and the security person said ‘I see you’re back for the summer. How do you feel about getting picked by the Ottawa Senators?’ I said, ‘What?’ and that’s how we found out! Needless to say, we were quite disappointed because we were really happy in New Jersey.”
Named the first captain of the Senators before the start of the season, Boschman recalled coming into training camp and being surprised by the lack of big-league talent in the dressing room.
“My first thought was ‘How come there are so many players on this roster whose names I don’t recognize?’ because so many of them had been with other teams and with the American Hockey League. So there really wasn’t any current NHLers that I was aware of. I figured this was going to be a long year.”
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