Which Sens players will have their jersey retired?

[slapKing]

Hello fellow Sens fans

With the most recent jersey retirement for Chris Phillips, this got me thinking, which other Sens players will have their jersey retired.

The biggest names that comes to mind are Chris Neil, Craig Anderson, Wade Redden, Erik Karlsson, and Jason Spezza.

These players are Sens greats, and have contributed to many accomplishments for the franchise.

With these 5 particular names, would you retire all of their jerseys numbers or not? Or just a specific player?

Would love to hear the responses.

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[Rhaegar Targaryen]

No way to Redden, Neil, Anderson or Spezza

Probably retire Karlsson. 9 years of elite play, amazing playoff run, two Norris’ and the best player to ever put on a Sens jersey.

 

[DaBossN]

I could see Neil

 

[BatherSeason]

Karlsson is the only player left who should have his number retired.

Cue the EK haters in 3...2..1..

 

[stempniaksen]

Could see it happening for Neil, even if I disagree.

I think the other four have a stronger argument, but I'm not 100% sure that will matter.

 

[DaveMatthew]

Hello fellow Sens fans

With the most recent jersey retirement for Chris Phillips, this got me thinking, which other Sens players will have their jersey retired.

The biggest names that comes to mind are Chris Neil, Craig Anderson, Wade Redden, Erik Karlsson, and Jason Spezza.

These players are Sens greats, and have contributed to many accomplishments for the franchise.

With these 5 particular names, would you retire all of their jerseys numbers or not? Or just a specific player?

Would love to hear the responses.

I 100% think Karlsson's #65 will go up in the rafters.

I know there is a lot of baggage and emotion on all sides (player, management, fans) right now, but with the passage of time, that tends to go away.

And Karlsson was without a doubt the best individual player we've ever had in 30 years as a franchise. We've never had another player win an individual "best-at-your-position" award. Karlsson did it twice. We've never had another player who at any point in time was considered a top 3 player in the world. During that playoff run, Karlsson was.

In 10-15 years, I expect a Paul Kariya to Anaheim like return and celebration for Karlsson and Ottawa. Melnyk will be gone, Karlsson will likely be back in this community, and the fans will want to celebrate what he did.

If you remember, the situation of Kariya had leaving the Ducks was just as bad, if not worse, as what happened here. He took a huge paycut to leave a team that he just captained to the Finals, and didn't tell them until he signed with the Avalanche.

No one cares anymore, because they remember the great times.

 

[Ouroboros]

Karlsson will absolutely never happen. Not under current ownership.

 

[JonnyMacSen]

Heatley

 

[stempniaksen]

Karlsson will absolutely never happen. Not under current ownership.

To be fair, we said the same thing about Alfie.

 

[DaveMatthew]

Karlsson will absolutely never happen. Not under current ownership.

I'd bet my house that in 10-15 years, when a Karlsson jersey retirement is a possibility, Melnyk will be nowhere near this franchise or city.

And all the bad blood will be forgotten, with Karlsson back in the community. The exact same thing happened in Anaheim with Kariya.

 

[Beville]

I don’t think Karlsson will, due to how it’s all ended and “only” being with us for 9 years.

Neil and Anderson due to Longevity and records for #41

 

[Stylizer1]

I don't think Karlsson should have his number retired. He was great but didn't lead us anywhere. Spezza, a ppg player in a Sens jersey deserves it more than he does and I don't think he should have it. Neither had the impact of Alfredsson. Karlsson wasn't a good leader.

 

[Spartachat]

Karlsson will probably be retired if we get a new owner. Melnyk and his minions don't seem to like the guy.

 

[DrEasy]

49

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I don't think Karlsson should have his number retired. He was great but didn't lead us anywhere. Spezza, a ppg player in a Sens jersey deserves it more than he does and I don't think he should have it. Neither had the impact of Alfredsson. Karlsson wasn't a good leader.

Karlsson lead us almost to exactly where Alfie did with a much lesser team. His two Norrises are greater than anything any other Sen has won too.

If Neely can have his number retired by Boston and Gilmour by Toronto, there is no reason why we can't retire Karlsson's.

 

[Answer]

If Phillips got his Jersey Retired, then why not Chris Neil? What is so OUTSTANDING about Phillip's accomplishments, that Neil can't match?

Both played over 1000+ games and have the same amount of points (250+)

Chris Neil was an instrumental part of this team's core for a decade, and I would even argue that he was somewhat more impact-full, overall.

 

[slapKing]

49

I think it's a bit too soon for Sabourin

 

[Gil Gunderson]

If Phillips got his Jersey Retired, then why not Chris Neil? What is so OUTSTANDING about Phillip's accomplishments, that Neil can't match?

Both played over 1000+ games and have the same amount of points (250+)

Chris Neil was an instrumental part of this team's core for a decade, and I would even argue that he was somewhat more impact-full, overall.

They probably will and I don't agree with either.

 

[TeamRenzo]

Could see it happening for Neil, even if I disagree.

I think the other four have a stronger argument, but I'm not 100% sure that will matter.

I would love to see Neil's jersey in the rafters. Although he is not the most skilled player the organization has seen he was a warrior for this team for years, he did his job better than most.

 

[JD1]

Karlsson will absolutely never happen. Not under current ownership.

Well you figure Karlsson plays say 7 more years.

What do you think the over under is on how many years melnyk has left given his health history?

 

[Shruggs Peterson]

They probably will and I don't agree with either.

Retiring numbers is the greatest honour a team can give a player. This should be reserved for the players that not only were the best players on their team, but at times were among the best players in the NHL.

Looking around the league at other franchises with more or less the same amount of years in the league as Ottawa, Carolina has retired 3 numbers (Francis, Brindamour, Wesley), TB retired 2 (Lecavalier, St. Louis) and the Panthers have retired one player (Luongo). The closest comparable I can find to Phillips is Glen Wesley, who had respectable, but not outstanding numbers when he was a Cane.

I really think there needs to be a "ring of honour" type award where the franchise can recognize the several "very good" players that have been Senators, but stop short of giving them a retired number. Vancouver does that with players like Alex Burrows, Kirk Mclean etc. and I'm sure other franchises have the same. Now that the standard is set, Chris Phillips should be the absolute lowest bar for retiring a number. The notion of having Chris Neil's name in the conversation is really hard to justify imo.

 

[Raze The Stray]

I really think there needs to be a "ring of honour" type award where the franchise can recognize the several "very good" players that have been Senators, but stop short of giving them a retired number. Vancouver does that with players like Alex Burrows, Kirk Mclean etc. and I'm sure other franchises have the same. Now that the standard is set, Chris Phillips should be the absolute lowest bar for retiring a number. The notion of having Chris Neil's name in the conversation is really hard to justify imo.

I could swear we did the ring of honour thing with Bryan Murray. I can't remember ever hearing anything else about it though.

 

[Spartachat]

I could swear we did the ring of honour thing with Bryan Murray. I can't remember ever hearing anything else about it though.

Attendance didn’t increase for the ceremony, so they just gave up on it probably.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

I could swear we did the ring of honour thing with Bryan Murray. I can't remember ever hearing anything else about it though.

They did the ring of honor for Bryan. It was televised.

 

[Matsens15]

Heatley

#50in07