As the B-Sens skated off Arena ice for the final time last Friday, reality became all too clear.

The team, once viewed as a shoe-in for the playoffs, was going home early after a tough-to-swallow late-season collapse.

"It seems hard to believe," says center Josh Hennessy. "All year we felt like we were good enough to compete with the best teams and you look at the playoffs as the opportunity to do that. That was our goal and we fell short."

Adds team MVP Greg Mauldin, ""Being 12 points up with that many games left maybe we had it in control and obviously we didn't."

The season wasn't without its high points.

Brian Elliott earned AHL goaltender of the month honors in December before his call-up to Ottawa.

Rookie defenseman Mattias Karlsson was an all-star while earning all-rookie team honors.

Even head coach Cory Clouston earned a promotion, taking over as Ottawa boss midseason.

And hardworking veteran Greg Mauldin was the only Sen to play in all 80 games, scoring a career-high 24 goals while earning team MVP honors.
"My biggest goal all last summer and this year was just to stay healthy and make sure I could play in every game possible and I think that's what I attribute to all of my success this year," says Mauldin.

The Sens also faced some trying road trips early in the season including a seven-games in 10-night stretch that included a trip to Newfoundland made even longer by some roadblocks.

"One of the bridges was closed on the way back so we had to, it was one of the busses couldn't get over the bridge, so we had to unload all of our stuff off the bus and drive vans over so we had to switch it. We almost missed our flight," says forward Shawn Weller.

But in the end, the '08-'09 season will be remembered for coming up three points short in the standings.

If the Sens were in any other division, they would've made the playoffs.

"We played fun hockey," says rookie Peter Regin. "We played offensive. We had a good year. We didn't make the playoffs but at the end I think we did our best and we can be proud of what we did."