(Belleville Senators interim head coach David Bell. Photo Belleville Senators)
The Belleville Senators’ sixth season in the American Hockey League ended with a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Marlies and another early summer.
Belleville finished with 72 points in 72 games leaving them last in the North Division, four points out of a Calder Cup playoff berth.
It will be an interesting off-season for the B-Sens as they will be tied to the sale of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.
That process is ongoing and expected to be resolved in the next few months if not weeks. The team was put up for sale following the death of longtime owner Eugene Melnyk last year. As many as nine interested parties are in the mix with a selling price expected to be in the $900 – $950 million (U.S.) range. One of the groups includes actor Ryan Reynolds. Another has Hamilton billionaire businessman Michaal Andlauer who holds a minority stake in the Montreal Canadiens.
Andlauer already has a local hockey connection but not one fondly remembered among fans in Quinte. It was Andlauer who bought the OHL Belleville Bulls and moved them to Hamilton in 2015.
The future of interim head coach David Bell also hangs in the balance.
Bell took over from Troy Mann who was surprisingly fired on February 2. Bell did an admirable job as the team responded with a 14-9-3-2 record.
Belleville has only appeared in the playoffs once since they moved from Binghamton New York to the CAA Arena (then Yardmen Arena) in 2017. That was last year when they were swept in straight overtime losses to the Rochester Americans in the opening round.
The B-Sens’ best season was in 2019-2020 when they were in first place in the North Division on March 11. However, their hope of an expected long post season run was cut short by the onset of COVID which forced the rest of the AHL season to be cancelled.
