The Ottawa Senators have struggled through the current NHL regular season. But in this feature story from The Hockey News’ April 8, 1994 edition (Volume 47, Issue 29) senior writer Mike Brophy chronicled veteran goaltender Craig Billington and his Senators teammates as they worked through a rough season of hockey.
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Billington had carved out an NHL career for himself with the New Jersey Devils before joining Ottawa for the 1993-94 campaign. He went 11-41-4 that season, and he told Brophy he regularly had to reassure himself of his capabilities as a dependable goalie in hockey’s top league.
“I tell myself every day I’m a great goalie,” Billington said. “I know that sounds corny, but I have to do it. And I have to believe it, too. If I don’t and I looked at my numbers, I’d go crazy.”
Billington played only one season and nine games in a second season for Ottawa before he was traded to Boston in April of 1995 for an eighth-round draft pick. But before he was dealt, he came to have an appreciation of journeyman netminder Peter Sidorkiewicz, who was traded to New Jersey in the deal that brought Billington to the Sens. It wasn’t easy to be the main target in an expansion team shooting gallery, and Billington learned quickly to have empathy for people in his situation.
“I used to look at (Sidorkiewicz) whenever we played Ottawa and think I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes…or skates,” Billington told Brophy. “I don’t think other goalies feel sorry for me, but they empathize with my situation.”
BILLINGTON KNOWS EXPANSION HELL
April 8, 1994, Vol, 47, No. 29
By Mike Brophy
If Florida is expansion heaven, then Ottawa is expansion hell.
Nobody knows that better than Craig Billington, goaltender and human sacrifice for the Senators.
Life isn’t much fun for the goalie with the most losses and worst save percentage in the NHL. This is the same guy who played in the 1992 All-Star Game, representing the New Jersey Devils.
Only Bill Ranford of the Edmonton Oilers has allowed more goals, but at least Ranford can take comfort in knowing his team just might be headed in the right direction. There’s no telling when the Senators, who have burned as much rubber spinning their wheels as Billington has faced, might approach respectability.
“I tell myself every day I’m a great goalie,” Billington said. “I know that sounds corny, but I have to do it. And I have to believe it, too. If I don’t and I looked at my numbers, I’d go crazy. If there’s a book on positive thinking out there I haven’t read, I’d love to get my hands on it.”
The 26-year-old London, Ont., native is in the ninth year of a checkered career. Billington might have suspected it would not be a conventional one when, as a 19-year-old, he played 18 games with the Devils and was sent to finish the season with the Ontario League’s Belleville Bulls.
Billington split the following season between New Jersey and the Maine Mariners of the American League. He was predominantly a minor leaguer until two seasons ago when he cracked the Devils’ lineup as Chris Terreri’s backup. Last season he and Terreri split the games, but Billington was traded to the Senators in June along with Troy Mallette and a draft choice for goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz and Mike Peluso.
The two goalies involved in the swap shared a dressing room a few months earlier playing for the Wales Conference in the All-Star Game. Billington remembers feeling sorry for Sidorkiewicz who led the league with 46 losses last season.
“I used to look at him whenever we played Ottawa and think I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes…or skates,” Billington said. “I don’t think other goalies feel sorry for me, but they empathize with my situation.”
Billington could best be described as the perfect tabletop hockey goalie: the kind who stands firm and moves from side-to-side. He plays the classic stand-up style, like his heroes Jacques Plante and Bernie Parent, remaining on his feet as much as possible.
“Craig has been great this season,” said Senators’ assistant coach E. J. McGuire. “I remark at his ability to refocus and reload after losses.”
It hasn’t been all torture this season. There was the memorable night, Dec. 13 in Ottawa, when Billington made 39 saves beating the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 in a game carried nationally on Canadian television.
Billington earns $300,000 (U.S.) this season and will make the same in his option year next season. After that, he stands to become a free agent without compensation because he would be a 10-year pro earning less than the NHL average salary. And he’ll only be 28. Are NHL general managers paying close enough attention to his performance so his bad numbers won’t cloud their interest?
“I’m banking on it.” Billington said.
Billington avoids looking too far ahead, preferring to remain focused on his next game which, when we talked, happened to be the night before he faced league’s highest-scoring team-the Detroit Red Wings.
“They tell me I have to look out for No. 19,” Billington said. “Or is that 91?”
Billington held both Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov goal-less as the Senators upset the Wings 5-4. despite being outshot 41-15.
And Billington finally had a peaceful night’s sleep.
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- Archive: In 1994, Veteran Craig Billington Dealt With Woes of Playing on Expansion Senators
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