October 8, 1992: The revived Ottawa Senators play their 1st regular-season game, over 58 years after the original Senators failed during the Great Depression. Frank Finnigan Jr., who with his father, Frank Sr., the last surviving player from their last Stanley Cup winners of 1927, had been part of the team's re-establishment effort, drops the ceremonial first puck between team Captains Laurie Boschman of the Senators and Guy Carbonneau of the Montreal Canadiens.
The effort to re-establish the team succeeded on December 12, 1990, with the NHL announcing expansion for Ottawa and Tampa Bay for the 1992-93 season. Finnigan Sr. was invited to drop the ceremonial first puck for the first game, but he died on December 25, 1991. His son was invited to take his place.
Neil Brady scored the Senators' 1st goal, and they went on to beat the Canadiens, 5-3 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now named the TD Place Arena). This game would be an outlier: The Sens had a typically bad season for a 1st-year expansion team, winning only 10 games, including just 1 on the road, losing an NHL record 70, with 4 ties; while the Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup.
It took the Senators until 1996 to reach the Playoffs for the 1st time. In 2003, they reached the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the New Jersey Devils in 7 games. In 2007, they won the Eastern Conference title, but lost the Stanley Cup Finals to the Anaheim Ducks.
UPDATE: The Senators have a Ring of Honour. Through the 2025-26 season, it includes 1996-2004 head coach Jacques Martin, 2005-08 head coach and 2007-16 general manager Bryan Murray, 1996-2008 defenseman Wade Redden, and Dr. Donald Chow, the team physician from Day One in 1992.
They've retired 4 uniform numbers. Oddly, Redden's 6 is not one of them. They've retired the 4 of 1997-2015 defenseman Chris Phillips, the 11 of 1995-2013 right wing Daniel Alfredsson, and the 25 of 2001-17 right wing Chris Neil.
And, as a tribute to the "Old Senators," they retired the 8 worn on that team from 1923 to 1934 -- except in the 1931-32 season, when he helped the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup -- by Frank Finnigan Sr.
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October 8, 1992 was a Thursday. There were 7 other games in the NHL that night:
* The New York Islanders lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Hartford Whalers, 3-2 at the Boston Garden. Joé Juneau scored the winning goal, with 2:44 left in overtime.
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in
the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The Calgary Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers, 7-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-3 at the Cow Palace outside San Francisco in Daly City, California. Kelly Kisio scored the winning goal with exactly 1 minute left in overtime.
Baseball's League Championship Series were underway. The National League was between Games 2 and 3. The Atlanta Braves would beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in 7 games. In the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays won Game 2, beating the Oakland Athletics, 3-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. The Jays would win the Pennant in 6 games.
The NBA was in the preseason. The NFL was in midweek. There was a major college football game that night: Number 9 Colorado beat Missouri, 6-0 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.
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