Las Vegas has link to NHL postseason

Tim Graham

Thursday, April 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

In the early days of each franchise, the Ottawa Senators and Las Vegas Thunder did a lot of exchanging.

They stopped short of building a monorail to shuttle players to and fro, and the general managers went back and forth over the telephone and in the press.

"In their infant stages, we'd have played them," Las Vegas GM Bob Strumm said of Ottawa, the NHL's throw rug for years. "I think we challenged Ottawa to play us any time, anywhere, but they didn't take us serious."

Strumm and former Senators GM Randy Sexton uttered insults at one another. The main sources of contention were a pair of Ottawa's first-round draft picks -- Radek Bonk and Alexei Yashin -- who played for Las Vegas during contract disputes.

"Randy Sexton called one time and said something about us, but the retort was 'Ottawa's our farm team,'" Strumm said. "I used to say I would invite Randy to stay at my house, but he wouldn't be comfortable because I don't have a basement.

"But," Strumm points out, "that was in their infant stages."

Ottawa is on the verge of its most triumphant time in franchise history. Now under the direction of Pierre Gauthier, Ottawa makes its Stanley Cup playoff debut tonight against the Buffalo Sabres in the best-of-seven first round.

In addition to Bonk and Yashin, former Thunder Sergei Zholtok will skate for the Senators.

"I was really pulling for them" to make the playoffs, Strumm said. "They're an underdog team, and it's fun for sports when an underdog experiences success."

Yashin was the Senators' leading scorer this season with 35 goals and 40 assists. Bonk, who missed 29 games due to injuries, recorded five goals and 13 assists.

But one of the most pleasant surprises for Ottawa was Zholtok.

After scoring 27 points (on 13 goals and 14 assists) in 19 games for Las Vegas this season, Zholtok was called up in December. In 57 games, he registered 12 goals and 16 assists.

The Las Vegas-to-Ottawa Express moves both ways. While many Thunder alums, including Brad Lauer, have gone up to the Senators, many have gone in reverse, too.

"They like what we like in a player," Strumm said of the connection.

Currently on the Thunder payroll are former Senators Darcy Loewen, Kerry Huffman and Chris Dahlquist. Others to have played for both teams include Jim Kyte and Andrew McBain.

"It's pretty exciting," said Huffman, who played in Ottawa the past three seasons. "It's a good feeling for me, knowing what some of those guys went through and knowing how much it was out of their control."

Prior to this season, the Senators were a combined 51-224-23 since inception in 1992-93. They were a relatively remarkable 31-36-15 this year.

"A lot of nights they dressed suspect lineups," Huffman said. "They dressed young guys they counted on to be big players. It's good to see those guys grow up.

"There are still a lot of guys there I played with. It was tough losing, so we stuck together. I feel close to those guys."

So does Dahlquist. The Thunder defenseman relegated to coaching duties because of a severe shoulder injury early in the season remembers playing for a cellar dweller.

"They had some problems, some bugs to work out," said Dahlquist, who was with Ottawa the last two seasons. "But there is a fine line between a contending team and a noncontending team.

"I think it's a great success story."