Global series origins
This week the NHL Global series kicks off in Sweden. The first ever professional NHL action took place on April 11, 1938 when the, then eliminated, Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings boarded the RMS Ausonia in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for a nine-day voyage to England. From there, a 9 exhibition game series would commence taking place over 6 weeks.
The series began on April 21, in the London district of Earl’s Court. More than 8,000 fans attended to see the Canadiens defeat the Red Wings 5-4 in overtime. The series would go back and forth until the teams completed their mission of bringing professional hockey to Europe.
It would be 28 years before NHL teams returned to Europe. The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins, with a few Chicago Blackhawks, played 23 games from April 29-May 24, 1959, in England, Switzerland, France, Belgium, West Germany and Austria.
Ottawa and Detroit kick off the 2023 version of the Global Series on November 16th, 2023.
GAME DAY REPORT
Senators Last Time vs. Red Wings: Sens lose 5-2 at home
Last Meeting: Alex DeBrincat returned to Ottawa amid a chorus of boos however ended up with the last laugh as the Detroit Red Wings crushed Ottawa 5-2 in their first home loss.
Today’s Meeting: So much has changed since that game on Oct 21st vs. Red Wings, which began a three game losing streak for the Sens.
- Shane Pinto was suspended 41 games.
- Thomas Chabot fractured his hand and is out 4-6 weeks.
- Artem Zub and Erik Brannstrom suffered concussions in separate games.
- Ridly Greig and Mark Kastelic were both injured in the same game.
- Ottawa Senators lost a 1st round pick as punishment in the Dadonov trade to Vegas.
- GM Pierre Dorion resigned and Steve Staios took over as interim GM.
All of the above events happened in less than a month since Ottawa faced Detroit at home. Although this game “counts” as a home game for Ottawa, it will actually be played in the Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden as part of the 2023 NHL Global Series.
The 2023 NHL Global Series takes place from November 16 to November 19 and involves the Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maples Leafs and Ottawa Senators. The Senators will face the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, November 18th at 11am before returning to Ottawa.
Both teams have comparable statistics heading into their clash on Thursday with Red Wings holding a slight edge as well as having more wins than the Sens and placing 3rd in the divsion.
Red Wings
8-5-2
3rd Atlantic
W1
J. Reimer
(2-2-1)
22.2 (10th)
78.9 (16th)
3.67 (T4th)
3.27 (T18th)
Matchup
Team Record
Division Standing
Streak
Goalie
(Expected)
PP (%)
PK (%)
Avg. Goals Scored
Avg. Goals Allowed
Senators
6-7-0
8th Atlantic
W1
J. Korpisalo
(4-4-0)
21.8 (12th)
75 (T23rd)
3.85 (3rd)
3.38 (21st)
Projected Lineup
Tkachuk – Norris – Tarasenko
Joseph – Stutzle – Giroux
Kubalik – Jarventie – Batherson
Highmore – Chartier – Kelly
MacEwen (Scratch)
Sanderson – Zub
Chychrun – JBD
Brannstrom – Hamonic
Larsson(Scratch) – Kleven (Scratch)
Injury Report
Matt Luff – Upper Body
Austin Czarnik – Lower Body
Ville Husson – Personal
Ridly Greig – Lower Body
Mark Kastelic – Ankle
Thomas Chabot – IRLT – Hand
Shane Pinto – Suspension
Game recap – nov 11 – sens vs. flames
Sens snap 5-game home losing streak, defeats Flames 4-1
The Senators needed a big win before heading off to the Global Series in Sweden and they pulled together to defeat the Calgary Flames 4-1 in front of their fans at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Quick Sens Highlights:
- Mathieu Joseph opened up the scoring, redirecting Jake Sanderson‘s point shot in the 1st period.
- Drake Batherson scored on the power-play for a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period before Calgary scored a goal, reducing the lead in half.
- Rourke Chartier scored off a tic-tac-toe play to record his first goal since 2018 and Travis Hamonic added the cherry on top by scoring less than 2 minutes later.
- Busy night with assists with Drake Batherson, Tim Stutzle (2), Claude Giroux, Jake Sanderson, Dominik Kubalik, Brady Tkachuk and Jakob Chychrun all adding apples to their totals.
- Joonas Korpisalo took the win making 24 saves with a 1.00 GAA and .960 SV%.
Flames
25 (42.4)
0-3
23
25
Team Stats
Faceoff (%)
Power Plays
Hits
Shots
Senators
34 (57.6)
1-5
21
38
NHL Three Stars
⭐ D. Batherson (1G 1A)
⭐⭐ T. Stutzle (2A)
⭐⭐⭐ J. Korpisalo (25 SA 1GA)
THROUGH THE YEARS – 1994-95 SEASON
The Ottawa Senators record for the 1994-95 season was 9-34-5, which resulted in 23 points for 7th place in the Northeast division and 26th overall in the NHL.
General Manager: Randy Sexton
Coach: Rick Bowness
Captain: Randy Cunneyworth
Alternate Captains: Chris Dahlquist & Troy Murray
Lockout shorten season
The 1994-95 season was cut short due to the NHL lockout, which postponed the start of the season until late January, and teams only played 48 games that season.
1994-95 Senators Highlights
- Most games played: Randy Cunneyworth and Stan Neckar played 48 games
- Top Scorer: Alexei Yashin scored 21 goals
- Top Helper: Alexei Yashin registered 23 assists
- Top Producer: Alexei Yashin recorded 44 points in 47 games
- Top PIM: Randy Cunneyworth had 68 penalty minutes in 48 games
- Top Goalie: Don Beaupre played 38 games for 2,161 mins with a result of 8-25-3
Click Here For The 1994-95 Season Recap
PLAYER profile – erik brännström
Drafted in 2017 in the 1st round – 15th overall by Vegas Golden Knights, the Eksjo, Sweden native, is enjoying his 6th year in the NHL and with the Senators. Brännström was acquired by Ottawa on February 25, 2019 in a blockbuster trade along with Oscar Lindberg and a 2nd-round pick for Mark Stone and prospect Tobias Lindberg.
Erik Brännström played a career high 74 games with the Ottawa Senators last season recording 2 goals and 16 assists for 18 points.
AROUND THE RINK
- Cut-resistant equipment discussed at GM Meetings
- Draisaitle fined $5,000 for actions in Oilers game
- Oilers’ Holloway (knee) expected out long-term
- Vegas Cotter ejected for illegal check to the head of Caps’ Kuznetsov
- Kings to play two pre-season games in Quebec City in 2024
