NHL hockey returned to Ottawa officially on December 6, 1990 when representative Bruce Firestone was handed a piece of paper simply marked, "Tampa Bay and Ottawa." Hockey however was not new to Ottawa by any stretch of the imagination. The Ottawa Silver Seven of the early 1900's was one of the most powerful teams in professional hockey, winning 9 Stanley Cup Championships. And the Ottawa Senators had iced a team from 1917-1933 that had also won 4 Stanley Cup Championships.

When Firestone and several of his business associates talked about bringing back an NHL franchise to Ottawa after a game one Saturday afternoon, they had dreams of a complete entertainment centre, an arena, hotel and shopping centre, and they even figured it should be located in the west end of the city. The group had 18,000 fans ante up a $50 non refundable deposit for seasons tickets and had brought a hardcover book to the NHL Governors meeting as well as the Ottawa Fire Fighters Marching Band to try and convince the NHL that they were serious and that they could get the local support.

Once the franchise was approved, the seasons tickets were snapped up by fans almost immediately and the steering committee went to work on getting funding in place and the organization in motion. Local businessman Rod Bryden stepped in to find investors and once that was accomplished the task of putting the team together became the next order of business.

Mel Bridgeman who had played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks, and John Ferguson of the Montreal Canadiens were assigned the task of putting the team together. Rick Bowness had just been let go from Boston, so he was hired as the Senators first coach. At the Expansion Draft the organization was embarrassed as the list of eligible players was misplaced and the Senators were twice asked to pick again. Once they did pick, they chose Ken Hammond and Brad Shaw for their defense core and Laurie Boschman made it as the first Ottawa captain.

Days later at the Entry Draft the Senators let top draft pick Roman Hamrlik go to the Tampa Bay while Ottawa selected Alexei Yashin of the Moscow Dynamo as their first pick. Ferguson was confident that Yashin had the potential to be a long term contributor to the team.

The new Ottawa Senators played their first game on October 8, 1992 against the Montreal Canadiens at the packed Civic Centre in front of 10,500 fans. The Senators did the amazing and defeated the Habs 5-3. That was about the most Ottawa fans could cheer about that year. Touted super star Yashin elected to stay in Russia for another year, Laurie Boschman couldn't cut it as team captain, and Ottawa set a new record for the most losses in a single year with a 10-70-4 record, which luckily was broken the same year by the San Jose Sharks. With their 24 points they also hold the distinction of having the second lowest point total in NHL history(min 70 game schedule).

Bridgeman was sacrificed and Randy Sexton became the new general manager. Sexton's first order of business was to pick Alexandre Daigle in the Entry Draft. Daigle was just what the Ottawa market needed to get their new arena built. Daigle was a star for the Victoriaville Tigers, French and had what it took to become a future superstar. There was rumours that the Senators had thrown their last few games in order to secure pick in the entry draft. Although the league could not prove it, the team was fined $100,000 anyway. At the same time Firestone sold the team to Rod Bryden.

The Senators second season started with a flair. Yashin was back from Russia and Daigle was flying. Despite Yashin's 77 points and Daigle's 51 points the on ice team results weren't much different than the year before. The 14-61-9 record gave the Senators 37 points and a 7th spot in the Northeast Division. There seemed to be problems with Sexton's management. Yashin had contract difficulties and Bryan Berard the 1995 first draft pick walked out of camp because he was not offered a contract. Just prior to the lock out shortened season of 1994-95, the problems were sorted and all seemed well.

The changes were not over yet. Just before the 1995-96 season began Yashin was again pulling his childish stunts and packed his bags and went back to Moscow. He played a couple of games before he was suspended by the IIHF, and an attempt to have his contract declared null and void failed. Bowness was fired as coach nad Dave Allison was hired as a replacement. Weeks later, Sexton was fired by Bryden and Pierre Gauthier was brought in as the new GM.

Gauthier's first order of business was to get Yashin back, and then fire Dave Allison. Allison was replaced by Jacques Martin, Colorado Avalanche assistant. Almost simultaneously Gauthier had completed a three way trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders which brought Wade Redden and Damian Rhodes to the Senators. Gauthier's goal was to get enough good talent that the team could work with. By the end of the season the Senators had a 18-59-5 record, and Martin himself had a respectable, given the state of the club, 10-24-4 record. Daniel Alfredsson was selected as the rookie of the year and Bryden was now confident he could step back and let Gauthier handle things.

Changes were still occurring and during the summer of 1996 Bryden pretty much gave the entire club a face lift, keeping Rhodes, Yashin, Alfresson, Daigle, Redden, Radek Bonk and Randy Cunnyworth. Ron Tugnutt was signed as back up goalie to Damian Rhodes and when Rhodes went down with a serious ankle injury in February of 1997, Tugnutt stepped in. On the final night of the season the Senators managed a 1-0 victory which took them into their first post season. The Senators took on the Buffalo Sabres and took them right to the 7th game, losing 3-2.

The following year Daigle was traded to Philadelphia in exchange for Pat Falloon and Vaclav Prospal. The Senators finished the 1997-98 season with 83 points and wound up in 5th place in the Northeast Division. The Senators faced the New Jersey Devils and in an upset defeated the Devils 4-2 and went on to face the Washington Capitals who eliminated the Senators in 5 games.

n 1998 Marian Hossa was added to the roster and has steadily improved his level of play, and was runner up for the Calder Cup as rookie of the year. Pierre Gauthier also resigned as GM wanting to spend more time with his family and he was succeeded by Rick Dudley. In more recent times Alexei Yashin has proven that he is out for himself and is not a team player. In the early stages of the 1999-2000 season he refused to report to the team, electing to stay home, and was therefore suspended. Through long discussions with him, his agent and the Senators, Yashin returned to play in the 2000-2001 season. The Senators can only hope that his level of play will be elevated to where it needs to be and his "me first" attitude shifts, or John Ferguson's prediction of years ago will not come true.