The Belleville Senators are a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
team in the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
(AHL) that began play in the
2017–18 season as the top minor league affiliate of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
team, the
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...
. Based in
Belleville, Ontario
Belleville is a city in Ontario, Canada situated on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, located at the mouth of the Moira River and on the Bay of Quinte. Belleville is between Ottawa and Toronto, along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. Its population ...
, Canada, the Senators play their home games at
CAA Arena. The franchise was previously based out of
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
, as the
Binghamton Senators.
History
In July 2016,
Broome County officials stated that the
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...
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. On September 26, 2016, Ottawa Senators owner
Eugene Melnyk
Eugene Melnyk (May 27, 1959 – March 28, 2022) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and owner, governor, and chairman of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ottawa Senators and the AHL's Belleville Senators. He was the founder, chairman ...
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
The Binghamton Devils were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2017 to 2021 as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s New Jersey Devils. Based in Binghamton, New Y ...
eventually announced to be taking over their lease. In order to accommodate an AHL team, the City of Belleville approved more than $20 million in upgrades to
Yardmen Arena
CAA Arena is a 4,365-seat multi-purpose arena in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL). Built in 1978, it was then known as the Quinte Sports Centre and eventually Yardmen Are ...
once the Senators agreed to an eight-year lease.
The Senators kept
Kurt Kleinendorst
Kurt Kleinendorst (born December 31, 1960) is an American professional ice hockey coach. Since January 2022, he is head coach of the Iserlohn Roosters from the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Kleinendorst played four seasons at Providence Colleg ...
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. He was replaced by
Troy Mann
Troy Mann (born September 3, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who most recently served as head coach of the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Born in Campbellton, New Brunswick, Mann began his prof ...
, the recently released coach of the
Hershey Bears
The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...
. The team improved in the
2018–19 season, finishing fifth-place in the North Division behind the play of younger players
Drake Batherson
Drake Batherson (born April 27, 1998) is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round, 121st overa ...
,
Logan Brown
Logan Mathers Brown (born March 5, 1998) is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey player currently playing for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the first round, 11th overall, by the Ottawa Senator ...
,
Rudolfs Balcers, and
Erik Brannstrom.
Led by
Josh Norris
Joshua Norris (born May 5, 1999) is an American professional ice hockey center currently playing for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks a ...
,
Alex Formenton
Alex Formenton (born September 13, 1999) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger currently playing for HC Ambrì-Piotta of the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL) with his NHL rights being held by th ...
, and
Drake Batherson
Drake Batherson (born April 27, 1998) is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round, 121st overa ...
, 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 COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. 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. 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. 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.
Broadcasting
The official broadcasting partner of the Belleville Senators is radio station 800
CJBQ
CJBQ is a Canadian radio station licensed at Belleville, Ontario. It is owned by Quinte Broadcasting along with CIGL-FM and CJTN-FM. CJBQ broadcasts at 800 kHz at a power of 10 kW. The transmitter is located in Prince Edward County. The ...
. 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
Players
Current roster
Updated December 23, 2022.
Team captains
*
Mike Blunden
Michael Charles Blunden (born December 15, 1986) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. Over his professional career, Blunden has appeared in over 100 National Hockey League (NHL) games with the Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightnin ...
, 2017–18
*
Erik Burgdoerfer, 2018–19
*
Jordan Szwarz
Jordan Szwarz (born May 14, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing with Adler Mannheim in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Szwarz was selected by the Phoenix Coyotes in the fourth round (97th overall) of ...
, 2019–20
*
Logan Shaw, 2021–22
*
Dillon Heatherington, 2022–present
Team scoring leaders
''Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game average;
References
External links
*
{{Ontario Sports
American Hockey League teams
Ottawa Senators minor league affiliates
Ice hockey teams in Ontario
Ice hockey clubs established in 2016
Sport in Belleville, Ontario
2016 establishments in Ontario