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
CityBelleville, Ontario
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
ConferenceEastern
DivisionNorth
Founded1972
Home arenaCAA Arena
ColoursRed, black, white
     
Owner(s)Estate of Eugene Melnyk
General managerRyan Bowness
Head coachDavid Bell
CaptainDillon Heatherington
MediaAHL.TV (Internet)
CJBQ
AffiliatesOttawa Senators (NHL)
Allen Americans (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 titles1 (2019–20)
Current season

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 Prelims 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
2021–227240284084.5832192184th, North2022L, 0–2, ROC————
2022–237231316472.5002332587th, North2023Did not qualify
Totals3941931682013419.5321,2101,2781 playoff appearance

Players

Current roster

Updated May 6, 2023.[9]

Team roster
No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
48 Canada Jonathan Aspirot D L 23 2019 Mascouche, Quebec Ottawa
24 Canada Jacob Bernard-Docker D R 22 2021 Canmore, Alberta Ottawa
35 Canada Antoine Bibeau G L 29 2022 Victoriaville, Quebec Ottawa
8 United States Dylan Blujus D R 29 2023 Buffalo, New York Belleville
16 Canada Matthew Boucher LW L 25 2022 Los Angeles, California Belleville
12 United States Cole Cassels C R 28 2022 Hartford, Connecticut Belleville
14 Canada Rourke Chartier (A) C L 27 2021 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Ottawa
36 Canada Angus Crookshank LW L 23 2021 North Vancouver, British Columbia Ottawa
10 Canada Philippe Daoust LW L 21 2021 Barrie, Ontario Ottawa
22 Canada Jorian Donovan D L 19 2023 Calgary, Alberta Ottawa
50 Canada Dylan Ferguson G L 24 2023 Vancouver, British Columbia Ottawa
17 Canada Ridly Greig LW L 20 2021 Lethbridge, Alberta Ottawa
21 Canada Max Guenette D R 22 2021 Sainte-Foy, Quebec Ottawa
3 Canada Dillon Heatherington (C) D L 28 2021 Calgary, Alberta Ottawa
34 Finland Roby Jarventie LW L 20 2021 Tampere, Finland Ottawa
4 Sweden Jacob Larsson D L 26 2022 Ljungby, Sweden Ottawa
9 Canada Jake Lucchini (A) C L 28 2021 Trail, British Columbia Ottawa
1 Finland Leevi Merilainen G L 20 2023 Oulu, Finland Ottawa
27 United States Graham McPhee LW L 24 2023 Bethesda, Maryland Belleville
19 Canada John Quenneville RW L 27 2023 Edmonton, Alberta Belleville
23 Canada Cole Reinhardt LW L 23 2021 Irricana, Alberta Ottawa
6 Canada Ben Roger (ATO) D R 20 2023 Markham, Ontario Belleville
49 Canada Scott Sabourin (A) RW R 30 2021 Orleans, Ontario Ottawa
26 Canada Brennan Saulnier F L 29 2022 Halifax, Nova Scotia Belleville
40 Denmark Mads Sogaard G L 22 2021 Aalborg, Denmark Ottawa
13 Russia Egor Sokolov LW R 22 2020 Yekaterinburg, Russia Ottawa
33 Finland Lassi Thomson D R 22 2020 Tampere, Finland Ottawa
20 Canada Matthew Wedman C L 23 2021 Edmonton, Alberta Belleville

Team captains

Team scoring leaders

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

Points
PlayerPosGPGAPtsP/G
Egor SokolovLW16955791340.79
Drake BathersonRW10338781161.13
Jake LucchiniLW13339651040.78
Filip ChlapikC1463751880.60
Jordan MurrayD1692360830.49
Logan BrownC942356790.84
Cole ReinhardtLW1693244760.43
Cole CasselsC1192056760.64
Jack RodewaldRW1273735720.57
Lassi ThomsonD1351854720.53

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 2023-03-31. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
    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.
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