“Perhaps the Ottawa Senators, like their fans, believe that getting into the playoffs will cure everything.” - Mar 7, 2008
The axe is at the ready and getting ready to cut off each of the heads of Cerberus that guards the path to hell which I like to call reality. Last year I posted that the Senators had a far cry to reach the playoffs and though I was wrong about making it, I was right that they will not fare well. Swept in four games, the Ottawa Senators went to an early summer break to retool the team.
RETURN OF THE HOUND OF HELL
Last year we heard the team, the fans and even ownership talking about how things will change in the playoffs. Sadly, it did not. This year the fans and ownership are both touting the same line with the players less optimistic. However, the reality is that as each game passes the hound gets closer to being destroyed.
The Ottawa Senators only need to lose nine games to be out of playoff contention. Considering the history of the past calendar year it is highly unlikely that they will muster what it takes in order to hit the eighth spot. Even if they did hit the eighth spot they then have to face the number one seed ... a team that will have a scoring touch and we all know how likely it is the Sens would be facing a deficit early on and how less likely it is they will bounce back.
TANK OR NOT TO TANK
Any club that purposely tanks is poorly run. I do not care who the first overall pick is you simply do not do it. That said, the Senators will need to draft well if they plan on being a contender in five to seven years. Personally I would rather that we draft a high pick goalie and a D man. The Senators need a franchise goalie and Elliot needs to prove that he can be that guy. However, we need to replenish our pool of goalies in Bingo and continue to develop young, strong and talented netminders. Consider how many we have traded for, traded away or bought out in the club’s history.
- W
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Seven of Eight into the Break
Unlike my fellow bloggers, I decided not to go on the Bell tag line. Not to say it is a bad line, but rather that is overplayed. Yes, Bell’s goal was great, but it was also lucky and comes off of him being scratched for a few games prior to last night.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND PIERRE
I did not want to lead off my first little blurb about Bell, but the goal was lucky and decent. However, I wanted to avoid the topic of Pierre McGuire from TSN and Alexander Ovechkin like the plague. Sadly with all the talk about it I simply cannot.
McGuire is, by all accounts and somewhat rightfully so, enamoured with #8; I can’t blame him. He is the most exciting and electrifying player to lace them up since Gretzky ... at least to Pierre. He is star struck by him and it showed last night as he kept riding the wagon around his reporting on the game even to the point of asking him if he was OK after a high stick clipped his visor.
That said ... people need to understand that McGuire is being paid to say the favourable talk. He works for TSN because he does his job well and right now the Senators are not in favour with the sports world regardless of getting seven of possible eight points in the past four games. The Senators may not have started a comeback by most, but they certainly enter the All-Star break on a great starting point. A huge part of that is team play and secondary scoring.
GROUPTHINK
For once it is nice to sit here on my laptop and write about the positives of the team play. Sure, it was not as fantastic as it could be and there were some things to keep working on, but again it was a great step toward the strong play Hartsburg’s system preaches. The more the media hounds the Senators for stalling and falling flat the more the players appear to come back with a bit of a vengeance to play better. This begins with the coaching staff ... and Hartsburg commented on the lag in the standings well before beating Washington with just one word: consistency.
VERMETTE VS HEATLEY
Last night Heatley put on a shooting clinic to get two goals and Bell put the nail in the coffin, but for me it was all about Antoine Vermette. An assist on all three goals when just a few weeks ago we wanted to see him traded away for a bag of pucks. If you ask me, Vermette was more key to last night’s game than Heatley because he was hounding down the puck and making the plays to get the puck to the right spots for a second pass or a shot on goal.
PAT BURNS
TSN is reporting that Pat Burns, former New Jersey Devils Stanley cup winning coach, has now going through his third bout with cancer. My heartfelt thoughts go to Burns and his family and I wish him a speedy recovery.
W.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND PIERRE
I did not want to lead off my first little blurb about Bell, but the goal was lucky and decent. However, I wanted to avoid the topic of Pierre McGuire from TSN and Alexander Ovechkin like the plague. Sadly with all the talk about it I simply cannot.
McGuire is, by all accounts and somewhat rightfully so, enamoured with #8; I can’t blame him. He is the most exciting and electrifying player to lace them up since Gretzky ... at least to Pierre. He is star struck by him and it showed last night as he kept riding the wagon around his reporting on the game even to the point of asking him if he was OK after a high stick clipped his visor.
That said ... people need to understand that McGuire is being paid to say the favourable talk. He works for TSN because he does his job well and right now the Senators are not in favour with the sports world regardless of getting seven of possible eight points in the past four games. The Senators may not have started a comeback by most, but they certainly enter the All-Star break on a great starting point. A huge part of that is team play and secondary scoring.
GROUPTHINK
For once it is nice to sit here on my laptop and write about the positives of the team play. Sure, it was not as fantastic as it could be and there were some things to keep working on, but again it was a great step toward the strong play Hartsburg’s system preaches. The more the media hounds the Senators for stalling and falling flat the more the players appear to come back with a bit of a vengeance to play better. This begins with the coaching staff ... and Hartsburg commented on the lag in the standings well before beating Washington with just one word: consistency.
VERMETTE VS HEATLEY
Last night Heatley put on a shooting clinic to get two goals and Bell put the nail in the coffin, but for me it was all about Antoine Vermette. An assist on all three goals when just a few weeks ago we wanted to see him traded away for a bag of pucks. If you ask me, Vermette was more key to last night’s game than Heatley because he was hounding down the puck and making the plays to get the puck to the right spots for a second pass or a shot on goal.
PAT BURNS
TSN is reporting that Pat Burns, former New Jersey Devils Stanley cup winning coach, has now going through his third bout with cancer. My heartfelt thoughts go to Burns and his family and I wish him a speedy recovery.
W.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Down and out?
A lot of buzz today about a possible shake up from management on down to coaching.
As SensChirp.ca reported, Melnyk may be entertaining bringing in a couple of big names in the hockey world to revitalize the franchise. Chief among these names was Steve Yzerman and Pat Quinn. Although Quinn is hot off of the heels of winning gold as the World Junior coach -- a position Craig Hartsburg held twice previous to Quinn -- I don't believe he would be an ideal fit in Ottawa. Like I have said before ... he is just another moderately successful coach that the Senators players would look down on instead of up to. Would he better here with a more youthful team? More than likely, but we have enough long term contracts to prove that youthfulness is in short supply.
As for Yzerman there is a certain giddiness I feel when I read something like that. I live a few kilometres away from the Nepean Raider's home ice in the Yzerman rink. He is a walking legend in the Ottawa area, but he also spent his entire career with Detroit and has a winning formula there. There is no doubt in my mind that Yzerman would be a great fit here in Ottawa, but not until the 2010 Olympics have concluded and that is contingent on Detroit.
Are there any trades coming? Rumours are abound about Vermette and Schubert as the Spezza bashing dies off. I still don't think Spezza is playing a full 60 minutes, but it only took less than one minute to pull the Sens within one of the Sabres yesterday. If #20 and #5 were to be dealt it would have to be for a pucking moving defenceman, but Murray is not in a prime buyer's position. He will end up getting less than what he is willing to give ... Then again, if we go back to last year and look at Corvo -- who did not want to be in Ottawa anyway -- and Eaves for Commodore and Stillman we can see that Murray is not afraid of risks and failures.
- W
As SensChirp.ca reported, Melnyk may be entertaining bringing in a couple of big names in the hockey world to revitalize the franchise. Chief among these names was Steve Yzerman and Pat Quinn. Although Quinn is hot off of the heels of winning gold as the World Junior coach -- a position Craig Hartsburg held twice previous to Quinn -- I don't believe he would be an ideal fit in Ottawa. Like I have said before ... he is just another moderately successful coach that the Senators players would look down on instead of up to. Would he better here with a more youthful team? More than likely, but we have enough long term contracts to prove that youthfulness is in short supply.
As for Yzerman there is a certain giddiness I feel when I read something like that. I live a few kilometres away from the Nepean Raider's home ice in the Yzerman rink. He is a walking legend in the Ottawa area, but he also spent his entire career with Detroit and has a winning formula there. There is no doubt in my mind that Yzerman would be a great fit here in Ottawa, but not until the 2010 Olympics have concluded and that is contingent on Detroit.
Are there any trades coming? Rumours are abound about Vermette and Schubert as the Spezza bashing dies off. I still don't think Spezza is playing a full 60 minutes, but it only took less than one minute to pull the Sens within one of the Sabres yesterday. If #20 and #5 were to be dealt it would have to be for a pucking moving defenceman, but Murray is not in a prime buyer's position. He will end up getting less than what he is willing to give ... Then again, if we go back to last year and look at Corvo -- who did not want to be in Ottawa anyway -- and Eaves for Commodore and Stillman we can see that Murray is not afraid of risks and failures.
- W
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