OTTAWA (CP) -- Dominik Hasek probably didn't imagine he'd wind up in the minors when he signed with the Ottawa Senators this off-season.

Likewise, rising star Jason Spezza probably thought he had seen the last of the American Hockey League's Binghamton Senators after cracking the NHL lineup on a full-time basis last year.

However, that's where both players will begin the hockey season after they were assigned to the AHL team Thursday in the wake of Wednesday's NHL lockout. They'll report for medicals Sept. 25 and Binghamton's training camp officially starts a day later.

Hasek, the veteran goaltender, and Spezza, a centre, will be joined by left-winger Antoine Vermette and defenceman Anton Volchenkov. Spezza, Vermette and Volchenkov have entry-level contracts and don't have to clear waivers.

Hasek, who's making a comeback from season-ending groin surgery last year, will complete a two-week conditioning stint there. He, like any of the locked-out NHLers, could sign a separate deal to play in the AHL, Senators general manager John Muckler said Thursday morning.

"(Hasek) will be there for two weeks and at the end of those two weeks, we'll review the situation again and sit down and talk to Dominik about where he'd like to go to play," Muckler said.

While the thought of the 39-year-old Hasek, a future Hall of Famer, playing in the minors would normally seem ludicrous, it's an obvious choice for teams looking to get players ice time during the lockout.

Forwards Chris Kelly and Josh Langfeld and defenceman Brian Pothier may also sign contracts with Binghamton, Muckler added.

"The American league is going to be an outstanding league," he said -- a remark that broke up a room full of reporters gathered at the Corel Centre for an otherwise glum news conference.

"Our organization is not the only one that's going to be assigning their players to their American league farm club. I believe all 30 teams will be doing the same thing so the American league becomes quite attractive for a while. Hopefully, not for too long."

While Muckler focused on the hockey side of the lockout for the Senators, team president Roy Mlakar discussed the business side.

He offered his full support of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's decision to announce the lockout and, without giving actual figures, stated that team owner Eugene Melnyk would indeed lose less money by shutting down for a year than playing under the old collective bargaining agreement as other owners have previously stated.

"I don't feel as though the league had any choice than to announce what they did yesterday," he said. "The system is clearly broke."

The team met with its employees Thursday morning -- about 80 full-time workers -- and they've been given a mandatory two-week holiday from Sept. 20 to Oct. 1. Staff, including management, will return to a four-day work week at 80 per cent of their salaries until Nov. 30 without having to worry about layoffs. After that, it's expected they would start cutting jobs.

About 250 part-time and event staff will lose hours and/or positions since there are at least 14 less dates scheduled into the building until the end of November, many of which don't attract anywhere near the crowds an NHL game would.

Mlakar said the Senators will try to open the Corel Centre up to more community usage and other events now that there are more free nights without NHL hockey, including the possibility of bringing in some games featuring Binghamton or the Melnyk-owned Toronto-based Ontario Hockey League team, the St. Michael's Majors.

The Senators will refund Ottawa season-ticket holders as NHL games are cancelled, including interest, in addition to pro-rating the leases of suiteholders for those games.

It's a disappointing time for a franchise that had brought in a new coaching staff and one of the game's best-known goaltenders in an effort to take them over the hump from previous years.

"I can remember the day that Dominik came into the press conference (to announce his signing) and everybody was excited," Muckler said. "I don't think I've seen as much excitement in Ottawa since I've been here.

"We've been working all summer long, we've made several changes to the organization and we were hoping that we were going to be able to put those changes to work. Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait to see if they're going to be successful or not."