In the history of the Ottawa Senators, 346 skaters have played for them. Of those skaters, 10 played just one game. I’d like to introduce you to the Ottawa One and Done Senators’ Skaters:
1992-93: Martin St. Amour
A former 2nd round pick of the Montreal Canadiens, St. Amour played his one game towards the end of the Senators’ inaugural season. On April 4, in a 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, he recorded two shots and two penalties in minutes (PIM).
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The most notable moment was when Pavel Bure scored his 57th goal of the season (he scored three more that season to reach 60). Despite a great final season in the QMJHL, where he scored 136 points in 60 games, St. Amour only played one NHL game as a pro.
1993-94: Kevin MacDonald
A physical, journeyman defenseman who played for several AHL/IHL teams, MacDonald played his one and only NHL game down the stretch of the Senators’ second season. On March 5, in a 6-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, he recorded two PIM. The Bruins were led by Ray Bourque, Adam Oates and Cam Neely who combined for eight points in the beat-down.
1999-2000: David Van Drunen, Erich Goldman & Bobby Dollas
Early in the 1999-2000 season, the Senators were having some issues with their defensive group as each one of these defensemen played their one and only game between November and December. For Dollas, it was a 4-3 win against the New York Rangers on Nov. 10. Goldman played the very next day in a 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators. Van Drunen played on Dec. 13 in a 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dollas played over 600 NHL games, mainly with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Van Drunen and Goldman played just one game each.
The Senators dressed 13 different defensemen that season. Their big fix to help keep the puck out of their net came in March when they traded for Tom Barrasso. He struggled down the stretch and into the playoffs as Ottawa was knocked out in the first round by the Maple Leafs.
2003-04: Julien Vauclair & Brooks Laich
With an early-season injury to Anton Volchenkov, Vauclair played his one and only NHL game on Oct. 25 in a 6-2 win against the Canadiens. He returned to the AHL for the rest of the season, and then went back home to play in the Swiss League, where he’s played for HC Lugano for the last 16 seasons. Vauclair and his two brothers are a legendary family in the Swiss League.
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As for Laich, he was the Senators’ 6th-round pick in 2001 who progressed nicely during his last season in the WHL. He scored 94 points that season with the Seattle Thunderbirds and helped Canada to a silver medal at the World Junior Championships.
After a good start to his pro career in the AHL, he was called up to the NHL in February 2004 for his one game as a Senator, a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Laich played just under 10 minutes and recorded two PIM. Looking to improve for a deep playoff run, Ottawa traded Laich for veteran sniper Peter Bondra. Bondra recorded no points in the Senators’ seven-game, first-round series loss to the Maple Leafs. Laich played over 700 games for the Washington Capitals.
2006-07: Danny Bois
Bois recorded 911 PIM in four seasons with the London Knights. With the Binghamton Senators, he recorded 968 PIM in five seasons. It should come as no surprise, then, that in his one and only NHL game on Dec. 6, Bois picked up seven PIM: two for hooking, and five for fighting. Ottawa lost the game 6-2 to the Capitals. The Sens then lost their next two, for a .500 record through their first 31 games. However, they figured things out and ended up in the Stanley Cup Final for the first and only time in franchise history.
2011-12: Andre Petersson
The hype around Petersson took off when he scored eight goals in six games at the 2009-10 World Junior Championships. The undersized Swede’s first season in the AHL was also promising; he led Binghamton in goals with 23 and was second in points with 44 in 60 games. His strong play led to a January call-up to the Senators in 2012, where he played just five minutes in a 2-1 loss to the Ducks.
Unfortunately, a hip injury limited his play to just 17 games in the AHL the next season. The year after that, he was traded to the Ducks for Alex Grant. Petersson ended up in Russia the following year, where he’s had several good seasons.
2017-18: Patrick Sieloff
Sieloff joined the Senators in the summer of 2016 in a trade that sent the disappointing Alex Chiasson to the Calgary Flames. He is mostly remembered in Ottawa for this hit on Clarke MacArthur during a training camp scrimmage. MacArthur had already been battling concussion issues and this hit played a part in MacArthur’s career ending after the 2016-17 season.
Sieloff’s one game with the Senators came the next season. He made the most of it, scoring a goal in a 7-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on March 20. Interestingly, he also scored a goal in his only other NHL game two years earlier with the Flames. That leaves the defensive-defenseman with a remarkable goal per game average in his NHL career.
Laich the Biggest Loss
This is an interesting group of skaters, ranging from players who played their one and only NHL game with the Senators to those who played several seasons in the NHL. Brooks Laich hurts the most as he could have helped the Senators for many seasons. He is also linked to Peter Bondra who was part of a Senators team that failed to take down the Maple Leafs. While it seems unlikely at this point, it would be nice to see Sieloff play one more NHL game to try to go for three goals in three games.