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Founded and established by Ottawa real estate developer Bruce Firestone, the Ottawa Senators are the second National Hockey League (NHL) franchise to have the Ottawa Senators name. The original Ottawa Senators, founded in 1883, had a famed history, winning 11 Stanley Cups and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934. On December 6, 1990, after a two-year public campaign by Firestone to return the NHL to Ottawa, the NHL awarded a new franchise, which began play in the 1992–93 season. The club has seen its share of struggles, both on and off the ice. The team has had two changes of ownership, from Firestone to Rod Bryden in 1993 due to the arena development process and its financing, and subsequently to Eugene Melnyk after the team filed for bankruptcy in 2003. On the ice, the club finished last in the League in its first four seasons. Changes in hockey management have led to steady improvement of the team's play, resulting in the team qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs in 11 of the last 12 seasons, winning the Presidents' Trophy in 2002–03 and making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007. ==The "Bring back the Senators" campaign== At the weekly Terrace Investments Ltd. management meeting on December 4, 1987, Duncan MacDonald tabled the initial idea of the NHL coming to Ottawa after learning (Ottawa Citizen, Sports section) about the League's expansion plans for three new francises in the 1990s. The idea incubated with real estate developer Bruce Firestone for months and accepted that Ottawa was now ready to again support a franchise. He decided to launch a bid for the Ottawa franchise through his development firm Terrace Investments. Firestone first told his fellow Terrace executives, Cyril Leeder, and Randy Sexton, after a game of shinny hockey in March 1988.〔Finnigan, pg. 194〕 Both were surprised; Leeder thought the idea was "ridiculous".〔Robinson, pg. 33〕 Terrace did not have enough assets to finance the team, but Firestone believed that they could do so as part of a development project. Their plan was to build a mini-city (named West Terrace) of 9,000 around a $100 million arena and hotel development on approximately . Getting an NHL club for the arena would drive up the price of the surrounding lands and Terrace's net worth would jump from $100 million to $400 million by 1997.〔 The strategy was straightforward: "Buy the site, win the franchise, build the building."〔 In 1989, Terrace found a suitable site west of Ottawa, of farmland, located on both sides of the 417 Highway west of Terry Fox Drive in the then City of Kanata. On June 22, 1989, Terrace publicly announced their intentions to acquire an NHL franchise and revive the Senators name. The name choice provoked threats of legal action, though Firestone obtained permission from original-era / 1950s era Senators club owner Tommy Gorman's descendants to use the old Senators name and settled with the Ottawa Jr. Senators' owners. To kick off the "Bring Back the Senators" campaign, Terrace held a press conference with special guests Frank Finnigan, representing the old Senators' players, and Joe Gorman, representing the Gorman family. Finnigan, the last surviving member of the Senators' last Stanley Cup championship (in 1927), was presented with a new number 8 jersey and the promise to have him drop the first puck at the first game if they emerged victorious. Terrace unveiled drawings of the $55 million, 22,500 seat arena, now named the Palladium, designed by Rossetti Associates, architects of The Palace of Auburn Hills arena. Also unveiled was a logo for the team using a stylized Peace Tower and Canadian flag, designed by David O'Malley of Ottawa. The theme song for the franchise drive was Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."〔Finnigan, pp. 196-197〕 The Senators' bid was considered something of a longshot. Jim Durrell, the mayor of Ottawa at the time, but later part of the Senators' front office, said, "It's not that the area isn't a big enough market to support a professional hockey team, it's just that we're not going to get it."〔MacGregor(1996), pg. 14.〕 National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) head Alan Eagleson was quoted as saying, "Local fans are being led through the petunia patch if Bruce Firestone thinks he can land an NHL expansion franchise for Ottawa this century, well into the next or ever."〔Robinson, pg.31〕 Despite the naysayers, 11,000 fans sent in $25 non-refundable pledges toward season-tickets by November 1990.〔Finnigan, pg. 199〕 In December 1990, the NHL held a meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, to consider expansion applications. The NHL executives were reportedly impressed by the Ottawa presentation, including Finnigan's participation, the several hundred fans and the marching band who traveled to Palm Beach, but apparently were more impressed at the fact that the group was one of the few applicants willing to pay the $50 million franchise fee without reservations.〔Stein, pp. 78-90〕 On December 6, 1990, the Terrace group was approved to purchase one of the two franchises (along with the Tampa Bay Lightning) to start play in the 1992–93 season.〔Finnigan, pg. 201〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of the Ottawa Senators (1992–)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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