Belleville Senators

The Belleville Senators are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2017–18 season as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League team, the Ottawa Senators. Based in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, the Senators play their home games at CAA Arena. The franchise was previously based out of Binghamton, New York, as the Binghamton Senators.

Belleville Senators
2021–22 AHL season
CityBelleville, Ontario
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
ConferenceEastern
DivisionNorth
Founded1972
Home arenaCAA Arena
ColoursRed, black, white
     
Owner(s)Estate of the late Eugene Melnyk
General managerPierre Dorion
Head coachTroy Mann
MediaAHL.TV (Internet)
CJBQ
AffiliatesOttawa Senators (NHL)
Atlanta Gladiators (ECHL)
WebsiteOfficial website
Franchise history
1972–1992New Haven Nighthawks
1992–1993New Haven Senators
1993–1996Prince Edward Island Senators
2002–2017Binghamton Senators
2017–presentBelleville Senators
Championships
Division Championships1 (2019–20)

History

In July 2016, Broome County officials stated that the Ottawa Senators intended to relocate their franchise, then known as the Binghamton Senators, closer to the parent club for the 2017–18 season despite still having three more years on their lease.[1] On September 26, 2016, Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk confirmed that he had purchased the Binghamton team and would be relocating it to become the Belleville Senators for the 2017–18 season with the Binghamton Devils eventually announced to be taking over their lease.[2] In order to accommodate an AHL team, the City of Belleville approved more than $20 million in upgrades to Yardmen Arena once the Senators agreed to an eight-year lease.[3]

The Senators kept Kurt Kleinendorst as head coach for the franchise's inaugural season in Belleville, but after a 29–42–2–3 record and missing the playoffs, his contract was not renewed.[4] He was replaced by Troy Mann, the recently released coach of the Hershey Bears.[5] The team improved in the 2018–19 season, finishing fifth-place in the North Division behind the play of younger players Drake Batherson, Logan Brown, Rudolfs Balcers, and Erik Brannstrom.

Led by Josh Norris, Alex Formenton, and Drake Batherson, the B-Sens were leading the North Division when the 2019–20 AHL season was cancelled on May 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team had amassed a 38–20–4–1 record and were the best road team in the league having won 23 games and a .790 road win percentage. The B-Sens' 234 goals were the most in the AHL.

The start for the following 2020–21 AHL season was delayed due to the ongoing pandemic. In December 2020, the Senators agreed to a seven-year lease extension with the city of Belleville through the 2026–27 AHL season.[6] In January 2021, the league announced a temporary realignment due to the pandemic border restrictions and the B-Sens were placed in an all-Canada division, but had no set start date due to venue usage and restrictions in the province of Ontario. The league eventually announced a start for the teams in Canada for one week after the rest of the league, but without any games initially scheduled in Ontario.[7] The Belleville Senators started on the road before announcing their home games would be played in Ottawa at the Canadian Tire Centre for the entire season.[8]

Broadcasting

The official broadcasting partner of the Belleville Senators is radio station 800 CJBQ. Commentators David Foot and Jack Miller cover all games. David Foot also has a weekly podcast featuring news on the Belleville Senators and the AHL.

Season-by-season results
Calder Cup champions Conference champions Division champions League leader
Regular season Playoffs
Season Games Won Lost OTL SOL Points PCT Goals
for		 Goals
against		 Standing Year 1st
round		 2nd
round		 3rd
round		 Finals
2017–187629422363.4141942666th, North2018Did not qualify
2018–197637313582.5392282285th, North2019Did not qualify
2019–206338204181.6432341971st, North2020Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–213518161037.5291021113rd, Canadian2021No playoffs were held
Totals250119109109263.526758802No playoff appearances

Players

Current roster

Updated April 29, 2022.[9]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
26 Andrew Agozzino LW L 31 2021 Kleinburg, Ontario Ottawa
48 Jonathan Aspirot D L 22 2019 Mascouche, Quebec Ottawa
24 Jacob Bernard-Docker D R 21 2021 Canmore, Alberta Ottawa
15 Clark Bishop C L 26 2021 St. John's, Newfoundland Ottawa
14 Rourke Chartier C L 26 2021 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Belleville
– Angus Crookshank  LW L 22 2021 North Vancouver, British Columbia Ottawa
5 Jack Dougherty D R 25 2021 St. Paul, Minnesota Belleville
41 Mitch Gillam G L 29 2022 Peterborough, Ontario Belleville
21 Max Guenette D R 21 2021 Sainte-Foy, Quebec Ottawa
3 Dillon Heatherington D L 26 2021 Calgary, Alberta Ottawa
34 Roby Jarventie LW L 19 2021 Tampere, Finland Ottawa
8 Zac Leslie D L 28 2021 Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa
9 Jake Lucchini C L 26 2021 Trail, British Columbia Belleville
31 Kevin Mandolese G L 21 2020 Montreal, Quebec Ottawa
43 Michael McNiven G L 24 2022 Winnipeg, Manitoba Ottawa
19 Cedric Pare C L 23 2021 Levis, Quebec Belleville
23 Cole Reinhardt LW L 22 2021 Irricana, Alberta Ottawa
49 Scott Sabourin RW R 29 2021 Orleans, Ontario Ottawa
17 Zachary Senyshyn RW R 25 2022 Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa
22 Logan Shaw (C) RW R 29 2020 Glace Bay, Nova Scotia Ottawa
40 Mads Sogaard G L 21 2021 Aalborg, Denmark Ottawa
13 Egor Sokolov LW R 21 2020 Yekaterinburg, Russia Ottawa
33 Lassi Thomson D R 21 2020 Tampere, Finland Ottawa
20 Matthew Wedman C L 22 2021 Edmonton, Alberta Belleville
18 Christopher Wilkie RW R 25 2021 Omaha, Nebraska Belleville
25 Colby Williams D R 27 2021 Regina, Saskatchewan Belleville

Team captains

Team scoring leaders

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game average;

PlayerPosGPGAPtsP/G
Drake BathersonRW10338781161.13
Filip ChlapikC1463751880.60
Jordan MurrayD1692360830.49
Jack RodewaldRW1273735720.57
Nick PaulLW1003139700.70
Logan BrownC812149700.86
Rudolfs BalcersLW763334670.88
Josh NorrisC563130611.09
Alex FormentonLW632726530.84
Vitalii AbramovRW692226480.70

Totals contain only games played for Belleville.

References
    1. Miller, Jason (July 8, 2016). "Binghamton Sens moving north to Belleville say Broome County officials". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
    2. "Sens Owner Purchases AHL Team Partners W/ Belleville". Ottawa Senators. September 26, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-09-27. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
    3. "Ottawa Senators finalize deal to move AHL team to Belleville from Binghamton". Ottawa Sun. September 26, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
    4. "REPORT: Coach K out as Belleville Senators bench boss". Belleville Intelligencer. May 1, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-05-02. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
    5. "Troy Mann named second head coach in franchise history". Belleville Senators. June 25, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-06-26. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
    6. Tidcombe, Matt (December 9, 2020). "Belleville Senators extend lease with city" (Press release). Ottawa Senators – via NHL.com.
    7. "February schedule set for Canadian Division clubs". American Hockey League. February 9, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-02-09. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
    8. "Belleville Senators Announce Temporary Relocation For Home Games for 2020-21 Season". Belleville Senators. February 23, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-02-23. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
    9. "Belleville Senators current roster". American Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2021-03-09. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
    10. "Logan Shaw Named 4th Captain in Franchise History". OurSports Central. March 1, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.