Bright, shining moment as NHL hockey returns

To mark our 175th anniversary year, we feature a different front page each week from past Ottawa Citizens.

Today: Oct. 9, 1992

The optimism felt by Ottawa hockey fans was reflected in the headline of the special four-page section that wrapped their paper on Oct. 9, 1992: “Maybe Rome was built in a day.”

The occasion was the return to the NHL, after an absence of 58 years, of the Ottawa Senators, who not only came back, but came back in high style, as the club improbably defeated the Montreal Canadiens, who went on to win the Stanley Cup that season, 5-3 at the sold-out Civic Centre.

The victory served as sweet icing on a cake already laden with pomp and ceremony that evening, as befitting the city's re-entry into Stanley Cup competition. Another hometown hero, Alanis Morissette, sang the national anthem, while 1988 Olympic figure-skating silver medallist Brian Orser wowed the crowd with a pregame backflip. The No. 8 worn by Frank (The Shawville Express) Finnigan, meanwhile, the last surviving member of the 1927 Stanley Cup-winning Senators, was hoisted to the rafters. Finnigan, a vocal supporter of the Senators' bid to return to the NHL, had died the previous December, and so the honour of the ceremonial opening puck drop went to his son Frank Jr.

And a few hours later, the team skated off the ice, undefeated.

As it turned out, though, Rome wasn't built in a day. The expansion Senators won just nine more games in their inaugural season, against 70 losses and four ties. Along the way, the team set records for futility, including an 11-game losing streak at home, and a 38game losing streak on the road.

But nearly 30 years later, fans still warmly recall that night of firsts: Neil Brady's second-period goal against Patrick Roy to take a 1-0 lead; Laurie Boschman, the first Sens captain in close to six decades; goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz's 25 saves backstopping the win; and coach Rick Bowness's season-opening victory. And on that one magical evening, the team showed its promise and carried the city's hopes on its shoulders without faltering.