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 (NHL)'s Ottawa Senators. Based in Belleville, Ontario, 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 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Belleville, Ontario |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | North |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Home arena | CAA Arena |
| Colours | Red, black, white |
| Owner(s) | Michael Andlauer |
| General manager | Ryan Bowness |
| Head coach | David Bell |
| Captain | Garrett Pilon |
| Media | AHL.TV (Internet) CJBQ |
| Affiliate | Ottawa Senators (NHL) |
| Website | Official website |
| Franchise history | |
| 1972–1992 | New Haven Nighthawks |
| 1992–1993 | New Haven Senators |
| 1993–1996 | Prince Edward Island Senators |
| 2002–2017 | Binghamton Senators |
| 2017–present | Belleville Senators |
| Championships | |
| Division titles | 1 (2019–20) |
 Current season | |
History
editIn 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 in 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 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 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]
During the 2022–23 season, Belleville fired Troy Mann as coach on February 2, 2023, while sitting sixth in the AHL's North Division. Assistant coach David Bell was named new head coach.[9]
After the departure of captain Dillon Heatherington in the offseason, on October 8, 2024, Belleville named Garrett Pilon the sixth captain in franchise history.[10]
Broadcasting
editThe official broadcasting partner of the Belleville Senators is radio station 800 CJBQ. Commentators David Foot and Tim Durkin cover all games. David Foot also has a weekly podcast featuring news on the Belleville Senators and the AHL.
Season-by-season results
edit| 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 |
| 2017–18 | 76 | 29 | 42 | 2 | 3 | 63 | .414 | 194 | 266 | 6th, North | 2018 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2018–19 | 76 | 37 | 31 | 3 | 5 | 82 | .539 | 228 | 228 | 5th, North | 2019 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2019–20 | 63 | 38 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 81 | .643 | 234 | 197 | 1st, North | 2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
| 2020–21 | 35 | 18 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 37 | .529 | 102 | 111 | 3rd, Canadian | 2021 | No playoffs were held | ||||
| 2021–22 | 72 | 40 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 84 | .583 | 219 | 218 | 4th, North | 2022 | L, 0–2, ROC | — | — | — | — |
| 2022–23 | 72 | 31 | 31 | 6 | 4 | 72 | .500 | 233 | 258 | 7th, North | 2023 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2023–24 | 72 | 38 | 28 | 3 | 3 | 82 | .569 | 209 | 211 | 4th, North | 2024 | W, 2–1, TOR | L, 1–3, CLE | — | — | — |
| Totals | 466 | 231 | 196 | 23 | 16 | 501 | .538 | 1,419 | 1,489 | 2 playoff appearances | ||||||
Players
editCurrent roster
editUpdated December 3, 2024.[11]
Team captains
edit- Mike Blunden, 2017–18
- Erik Burgdoerfer, 2018–19
- Jordan Szwarz, 2019–20
- Logan Shaw, 2021–22[12]
- Dillon Heatherington, 2022–2024
- Garrett Pilon, 2024–present
Team scoring leaders
editNote: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game average;
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | P/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egor Sokolov | LW | 240 | 76 | 104 | 180 | 0.75 |
| Drake Batherson | RW | 103 | 38 | 78 | 116 | 1.13 |
| Angus Crookshank | LW | 140 | 55 | 54 | 109 | 0.78 |
| Jake Lucchini | LW | 133 | 39 | 65 | 104 | 0.78 |
| Cole Reinhardt | LW | 225 | 40 | 59 | 99 | 0.44 |
| Lassi Thomson | D | 202 | 24 | 69 | 93 | 0.46 |
| Maxence Guenette | D | 170 | 18 | 75 | 93 | 0.55 |
| Filip Chlapik | C | 146 | 37 | 51 | 88 | 0.60 |
| Roby Jarventie | LW | 136 | 38 | 48 | 86 | 0.63 |
| Jordan Murray | D | 169 | 23 | 60 | 83 | 0.49 |
Notable alumni
editThe following players have played both 100 games for the Belleville Senators and 100 games in the National Hockey League:
References
edit- ^ Miller, Jason (July 8, 2016). "Binghamton Sens moving north to Belleville say Broome County officials". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "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 – via NHL.com.
- ^ "Ottawa Senators finalize deal to move AHL team to Belleville from Binghamton". Ottawa Sun. September 26, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Tidcombe, Matt (December 9, 2020). "Belleville Senators extend lease with city" (Press release). Ottawa Senators – via NHL.com.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Senators fire longtime AHL Belleville coach Troy Mann". Sportsnet. February 2, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
- ^ Durkin, Tim (October 8, 2024). "Pilon is the leadership pillar for Belleville". Quinte News. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ "Belleville Senators current roster". American Hockey League. December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
- ^ "Logan Shaw Named 4th Captain in Franchise History". Belleville Senators. March 1, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved March 1, 2021 – via OurSports Central.