Over the course of the summer, how many times have you heard someone say, "Ottawa lost too much size and scoring, they blew their chance last season"? Are you as sick of it as I am? Well, take a deep breath and relax knowing that the team is just fine and poised to take the Conference once again. Here's why:
1. Parity Hot, Dynasty Cold
Simply put, the league is becoming more and more evenly talented throughout its 30 teams. Ottawa loses Chara to a team that missed the playoffs in the East and Havlat to a team that missed the playoffs West. Buffalo lost Jay McKee to a team that missed the playoffs in the West and JP Dumont to a young team that is becoming closer to making a splash. Carolina lost Weight and Recchi again, and their regular season goalie that led them to a division title is, well, ours now. My point is that every time our elite roster loses a star, so do the next few teams down. We may lose some talent on paper, but so does Buffalo, Carolina, and New Jersey. The fact that John Muckler managed to keep what he did is simply amazing - two 100-point players, a third that is poised to hit that mark this year, the best puck moving defenceman in the league, an elite starting goalie, one of the top checking lines in the Conference, and so on. Long story short, this team didn't lose enough cogs to disappear to the depths of of the middle of the Conference like Colorado or Philadelphia
2. Where are we weak?
Riddle me that. Are we weak in between the pipes? I think you can make an argument that we've never been better in nets. Is our defensive corps small and slow? No, it actually become far more mobile while maintaining size (Phillips, Volchenkov, Schubert, Corvo), speed (Meszaros, Priessing), and skill (Redden and company). I'll take our top 6 against yours eight days a week. What about forwards, are we going to drop in goals scored? Martin Havlat played in 18 games - his point production didn't do much to lead us to being the most offensive team in the NHL. Now you give Alfie a centre in Kaigorodov and we have three legitimate scoring lines. Aren't you excited to see an opponent put out its third line and we counter with Fisher and Schaefer? I'm okay with that. Penalty killers are in place, powerplay is in tact, so it looks to me like we're pretty good from top to bottom.
3. Zdeno Chara is big
Make no mistake - the big Z will be missed. Don't jump off his bandwagon and say that he was exposed for his lack of speed by Buffalo in Round 2. What we have forgotten about the big guy is that between stops at Baton Rouge, he was our key matchup man. He was on the ice against Lecavalier, Kovalev, Foppa, Gomez, Kovalchuk, all the best opposing forwards. Without Z, we don't have anyone that can provide that dominating matchup anymore. We'll have to counter with Redden and Meszaros, which is a far different scenario than putting a monster out there that can throw Yashin off of Long Island with one hand. But hear me now and believe me later, Bryan Murray is a very smart coach and he will have a plan in place. Meszaros is a year older and a year smarter. Phillips is becoming a strong leader back there. Spezza and Heatley will be forced to learn once again the importance of the backcheck. Some of our best games last year were when the big guy was hurt after making Cairns look like a pillow because our forwards took on extra responsibility. We will miss Chara, but we will recover and become smarter. Remember, we made the right decision on which one to keep.
4. We'll win the Conference because we're the best.
Am I gloating? Yeah, a little bit. I do not see Carolina and Buffalo matching last year's output where they both overachieved, I don't see New Jersey recovering from Lou's cap errors of last year, I don't see Bobby Clarke swallowing his pride and getting a proper goalie in Philadelphia, I don't see Jagr finding his soulmate in Manhattan, I don't see Boston and Toronto quite ready to make the postseason, I don't see enough improvement in Montreal from a team that backed into the playoffs, I don't see enough defensive improvement in Atlanta...I can stop there. Did our team get a little worse on paper? Yep. But where did being great on paper get us anyway? 10 playoff games? I love the lineup we have and the summer additions and will have to sit through these 82 games and wait patiently to see what the Swiss Miss can do between the pipes, and how Kaigorodov will handle the playoff pressure, and how our d-men will move the puck out of the zone.
I don't make guarantees anymore because frankly I'm terrible at it. I missed every single one last year! If anything, it was impressive that I got them all wrong. But this you can count on - the Sens will repeat and finish 1st in the Eastern Conference again. The difference now will be to hold on to that title into June.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
New Season Upon Us
Stay tuned to North by Northeast, your absolute favourite website for Senators and Northeast Division news, rumours, predictions, and analysis. With Ottawa's first pre-season game coming up quickly on September 19th, we'll have plenty to talk about in the next month. Upcoming features include:
- John Muckler's Summer Report Card
- Northeast Division Predictions
- New Player Profiles
- Fan Forums
- more
and as always, Geoff will deliver Sens Game Reports and Matt will bring you his eerily accurate RIP series. It's going to be a great season for Sens hockey and North by Northeast.
- John Muckler's Summer Report Card
- Northeast Division Predictions
- New Player Profiles
- Fan Forums
- more
and as always, Geoff will deliver Sens Game Reports and Matt will bring you his eerily accurate RIP series. It's going to be a great season for Sens hockey and North by Northeast.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Cheek's Dream Come True?
Once again, John Muckler has an opportunity to make a fan's dream come true. Jeremy Roenick, one of the NHL's best marketing tools of the past 15 years, is a free agent and is hoping to play for a Canadian team. Before you laugh this off, read the article below taken from the Canoe news services about what he's been up to recently. Then I dare you to say out loud that you wouldn't take this guy for $1M to be your third line centre for a year. Keep in mind that our current third line centre is Bryan Smolinski at $1.33M.
Adding to the case is that whether you realize it or not, our Sens are about to go through our first unwanted subtraction to the team in a little more than 48 hours (as of 6/28/2006, 5:00pm, Redden and Chara are not signed...). What better time to give your lineup a minor facelift and add a veteran player that speaks up and leads the way he does. Do you think there is anyone in the NHL that wants to win as badly as JR does?
As I said, read below about how JR has had a revelation about his hockey career and perhaps you'll join me in hoping that we sport a #97 in our lineup next year.
JR coming to Canada?
By PIERRE LEBRUN -- Canadian Press
Jeremy Roenick. (AP File/Terry Gilliam)
(CP) - Jeremy Roenick took a look in the mirror after the season and didn't like what he saw. So he's doing something about it.
"It was a nightmare season from hell last year," Roenick said Wednesday from Los Angeles. "The embarrassment of the season I had last year is enormous. So I've totally re-arranged my summer and re-dedicated myself to the game of hockey. "I'm working out and getting into the best shape possible that my body can get to. I want to make amends for a season lost. It was totally embarrassing."
The re-energized and re-focused Roenick will be an unrestricted free agent as of Saturday. And he knows where he wants to sign.
"I've always said I would like to play in Canada before my career is over," said the 36-year-old Boston native. "And it's one thing that I'm really anxious in doing. Don't be surprised if I end up on a Canadian team next week.
"That's something that's high on my list."
Whichever team signs him won't have to pay the $4.94-million US salary the Los Angeles Kings spent on him last season.
He's coming with a rebate this summer after putting up only 22 points (9-13) in 58 games during an injury-plagued season.
"It's not going to take much to sign me," said Roenick. "I'm not looking for the $2.5-million to $3-million deals, I'd like to go for a deal for less money and get some bonuses, which I can do at my age. I'd like my play to do the talking, get paid as to how I'm going to perform.
"I'm definitely going to be motivated by my performance," added Roenick. "And after what I'm doing this summer and the regimen that I'm on, as focused as I am back on the game of hockey, I feel very confident I'm going to have a big year next year - without question."
He points to Teemu Selanne as the best example.
The Anaheim Ducks winger was awarded the Bill Masterton Trophy this past season after a remarkable comeback year, the 35-year-old winger scoring 40 goals and adding 50 assists after posting only 16 goals and 16 assists in his season with the Colorado Avalanche.
"I hope I can be exactly like Teemu Selanne was last year," said Roenick. "He had an atrocious year in Colorado, signed a contract with Anaheim and had one of his best years in a long time. And that's what I intend to do."
It all started with a meeting Roenick had with new Kings GM Dean Lombardi.
"He opened my eyes," said Roenick. "He kind of put me in a place where I haven't been in a long time. He made me aware of a lot of stuff that I've been neglecting for the last five years. There's a reason why I haven't been a dominant player for the last five years.
"And that's just not acceptable to me anymore."
The new Roenick needed a new lifestyle.
No more hanging out with his Hollywood buddies at clubs and living the life of a playboy athlete. He even changed his cellphone number to cut down on the temptations.
"Too many people are trying to get a hold of me and trying to get me to do things," he said. "It's time for me to take a step back."
When Roenick was traded to Los Angeles from Philadelphia last summer, it seemed like a match made in heaven. He's a natural in front of the camera and a great pitch man for the game.
With the NHL coming off a year-long lockout, Roenick did his best to sell the game. From appearances on Fox Sports TV's Best Damn Sports Show Period, to Carson Daly on NBC, to Party at the Palms with former Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy on the E! network, Roenick was everywhere.
It was too much.
"I've been worried about too much other stuff, too much entertaining, too much TV, instead of getting myself in proper condition," said Roenick. "It's not fair to me and it's not fair to the people that I work for.
"So I'm changing. I want to try and finish off this sucker the right way."
Over a month ago Roenick started working out six days a week with renowned trainer T.R. Goodman, who also works with Chris Chelios and Rob Blake among others.
"I've been in the gym at 6 every morning, and I do double sessions three to four days a week," said Roenick. "I've been going at it for over a month here in L.A. I'm on a diet and just really committed to get in the best shape I can. I owe it to myself.
"No hanging out at clubs anymore, I drink only one day a week and when I say drink, I have one or two glasses of wine with dinner. So I haven't been boozing."
He hopes it's worth it.
"I'm 100 per cent committed to what I'm doing right now," said Roenick. "I'm praying to God that this works for me because I know I can play this game, I know I can play with anybody in the world.
"I know I can still play at a high level and still dominate this game."
Adding to the case is that whether you realize it or not, our Sens are about to go through our first unwanted subtraction to the team in a little more than 48 hours (as of 6/28/2006, 5:00pm, Redden and Chara are not signed...). What better time to give your lineup a minor facelift and add a veteran player that speaks up and leads the way he does. Do you think there is anyone in the NHL that wants to win as badly as JR does?
As I said, read below about how JR has had a revelation about his hockey career and perhaps you'll join me in hoping that we sport a #97 in our lineup next year.
JR coming to Canada?
By PIERRE LEBRUN -- Canadian Press
Jeremy Roenick. (AP File/Terry Gilliam)
(CP) - Jeremy Roenick took a look in the mirror after the season and didn't like what he saw. So he's doing something about it.
"It was a nightmare season from hell last year," Roenick said Wednesday from Los Angeles. "The embarrassment of the season I had last year is enormous. So I've totally re-arranged my summer and re-dedicated myself to the game of hockey. "I'm working out and getting into the best shape possible that my body can get to. I want to make amends for a season lost. It was totally embarrassing."
The re-energized and re-focused Roenick will be an unrestricted free agent as of Saturday. And he knows where he wants to sign.
"I've always said I would like to play in Canada before my career is over," said the 36-year-old Boston native. "And it's one thing that I'm really anxious in doing. Don't be surprised if I end up on a Canadian team next week.
"That's something that's high on my list."
Whichever team signs him won't have to pay the $4.94-million US salary the Los Angeles Kings spent on him last season.
He's coming with a rebate this summer after putting up only 22 points (9-13) in 58 games during an injury-plagued season.
"It's not going to take much to sign me," said Roenick. "I'm not looking for the $2.5-million to $3-million deals, I'd like to go for a deal for less money and get some bonuses, which I can do at my age. I'd like my play to do the talking, get paid as to how I'm going to perform.
"I'm definitely going to be motivated by my performance," added Roenick. "And after what I'm doing this summer and the regimen that I'm on, as focused as I am back on the game of hockey, I feel very confident I'm going to have a big year next year - without question."
He points to Teemu Selanne as the best example.
The Anaheim Ducks winger was awarded the Bill Masterton Trophy this past season after a remarkable comeback year, the 35-year-old winger scoring 40 goals and adding 50 assists after posting only 16 goals and 16 assists in his season with the Colorado Avalanche.
"I hope I can be exactly like Teemu Selanne was last year," said Roenick. "He had an atrocious year in Colorado, signed a contract with Anaheim and had one of his best years in a long time. And that's what I intend to do."
It all started with a meeting Roenick had with new Kings GM Dean Lombardi.
"He opened my eyes," said Roenick. "He kind of put me in a place where I haven't been in a long time. He made me aware of a lot of stuff that I've been neglecting for the last five years. There's a reason why I haven't been a dominant player for the last five years.
"And that's just not acceptable to me anymore."
The new Roenick needed a new lifestyle.
No more hanging out with his Hollywood buddies at clubs and living the life of a playboy athlete. He even changed his cellphone number to cut down on the temptations.
"Too many people are trying to get a hold of me and trying to get me to do things," he said. "It's time for me to take a step back."
When Roenick was traded to Los Angeles from Philadelphia last summer, it seemed like a match made in heaven. He's a natural in front of the camera and a great pitch man for the game.
With the NHL coming off a year-long lockout, Roenick did his best to sell the game. From appearances on Fox Sports TV's Best Damn Sports Show Period, to Carson Daly on NBC, to Party at the Palms with former Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy on the E! network, Roenick was everywhere.
It was too much.
"I've been worried about too much other stuff, too much entertaining, too much TV, instead of getting myself in proper condition," said Roenick. "It's not fair to me and it's not fair to the people that I work for.
"So I'm changing. I want to try and finish off this sucker the right way."
Over a month ago Roenick started working out six days a week with renowned trainer T.R. Goodman, who also works with Chris Chelios and Rob Blake among others.
"I've been in the gym at 6 every morning, and I do double sessions three to four days a week," said Roenick. "I've been going at it for over a month here in L.A. I'm on a diet and just really committed to get in the best shape I can. I owe it to myself.
"No hanging out at clubs anymore, I drink only one day a week and when I say drink, I have one or two glasses of wine with dinner. So I haven't been boozing."
He hopes it's worth it.
"I'm 100 per cent committed to what I'm doing right now," said Roenick. "I'm praying to God that this works for me because I know I can play this game, I know I can play with anybody in the world.
"I know I can still play at a high level and still dominate this game."
Monday, May 15, 2006
Your Cultural Lesson of the Day
by: Geoff Cheek
5/15/06
I woke up last Thursday morning with a bitter taste in my mouth. I went forward with my day in a terribly foul mood. And why not – another season of promise was just a game away from being added to the ever-growing list of franchise shortcomings. Sure, it might not happen in tonight’s Game Four or possibly Saturday’s Game Five, but I could rest knowing that the Sens wouldn’t be playing by the same time next week.
When I arrive at work, I usually like to take a look through the Sun and Citizen online to see if there are any cool stories that me, an ordinary fan, might not have known about. But this past Thursday, I didn’t click onto the Internet at all. At 3pm, I typically tune into the afternoon show on the Team1200 to check the pulse of the city about their team and any new lineup notes. But this past Thursday, my media ban continued.
Instead of over-analyzing ways that my beloved brothers could stage their miraculous comeback, I instead chose to begin on my recovery process. This process is meticulously thought out after all these years and has had quite a bit of practice. In the immediate moments after the defining game, I begin throwing furniture around the room and swearing at the top of my lungs. Once I’ve taken a look around the room to gauge the damage and press an ear to the door to listen for oncoming sirens, I take an ice-cold shower to recharge the batteries. After drying off, I then begin trying to determine which players in the NHL would have been useful to have on our team and what players on our team would have been more useful to have somewhere else in the NHL.
In years past, the final leg of my process was easy: our most recent roadkill have included Arvedson, Hnidy, Rachunek, Bonk, Bondra, Lalime, some guy named Yashin – all noticeably poor playoff performers that hardly even made their living during the regular season. It was easy to throw Lalime under the bus after those softies to Nieuwendyk, right? But this season was different for me. For the first time in franchise history (we’ve said that phrase a lot this year, eh?), I was 100% satisfied with our roster. Over the past four years, John Muckler had built me a dream team. So I will leave the “rebuild/retool/restock/re-sign” decisions to the thousands of bizzaro-Mucklers around Hockey Country, a task that they will no doubt take to the airwaves and barstools and water coolers for the next few months until our next version hits the pre-season ice.
Instead of following my well-planned recovery process and joining the throngs of irate fans calling for the head of (insert player/coach/GM/mascot here), I wanted to consider what it really meant to be a fan of the best regular season team of the past 10 years. I also wanted to consider what my summer hobbies would be this time around (I just purchased an acoustic guitar on eBay) and consider when I’d take summer holidays since my original plan of coming to Ottawa in June had abruptly lost its original purpose. So as these new items opened up for consideration, I pulled up one of those great sports tunes that I had heard as a kid and thought about how it related to our situation. Has anyone ever heard Steve Goodman’s ‘A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request’. If you’ve never heard the song, google it and see if a wry grin comes across your face while you think of how many more years have to pass by before a similar song can be written for one of us.
The life of an Ottawa Senators fan in the 21st Century has been bittersweet. Our expectations have soared along with our regular season point totals. Our demands are reaching the level of reason of a Martin Havlat contract demand. And our list of disappointments of hit the length of a Zdeno Chara missing flip flop. So is this year’s playoff exit another gross injustice from the Hockey Gods, or are we just spoiled hockey fans that don’t know a good thing when it scores 50 goals in front of our face? Are we whining winners? Are we lovable losers? What, not who, is the face of this franchise?
Ten years ago, we removed Rick Bowness from coaching duties and turned it over to some bloke named Dave Allison. Those 30-odd games were just awful, weren’t they? But then all of a sudden, something changed in the nation’s capital. All of a sudden, our history of basement boomers was drawing to a close and we started to climb the proverbial staircase up towards the upper echelon of the NHL. We started to win Division titles and then we won the Conference title and a President’s Trophy and people were mentioning our franchise in the same sentence as the Stanley Cup. We tried tweaks in personnel and tweaks in players, but we continued to hang up our skates in late April or early May. Our latest sweep of moves involved a new coaching staff, a new on-ice philosophy, a new scorer, a new goalie, a new crop of rookies, and a new lingo around the media. Then why was this “new” group of attitudes sitting around on Sunday and Monday muttering the “old” clichés?
There are two ways to look at this question and the answer will no doubt direct you in how you think Muckler (or his replacement, if that is your belief) should handle the next 3-4 months until we try it again.
Take a closer look at the Buffalo series and you’ll see that we lost four one-goal games. The first one was in the bag on at least a half a dozen occasions before Buffalo took us to OT. The second game could have been ours had two simply defensive blunders just not happened, an expectation that was somewhat reasonable considering the skill level of our defencemen. The third game could have been ours when Alfie drilled it off the inside post with two seconds remaining. And the fourth loss (Game Five) could have been ours if we had just been more adept on our OT powerplay before Buffalo’s favourite son, Jason Pominville put us out of our misery. I’m not making excuses for our heroes here, we definitely didn’t deserve to win this series. But those that want to argue that we are oh so close to getting this done can definitely score some points in a debate. A couple of bounces and a few smarter players here and there, and it would be us setting up our lines with the Huricanes.
On the other hand, there are those that have grown frustrated with the constant disappointment and ridicule of being hockey’s Indianapolis Colts. They say that 113 regular season points holds very little weight on the tee boxes at the Kanata Lakes Golf and Country Club in mid-May. Each time we hang up the skates while a handful of teams play on, these people want to take the time to perform a spring cleaning. If someone didn’t score enough goals, they need to be traded. If someone let in a couple of softies, they need to be taken out back and shot. It doesn’t matter that this team may have had some close playoff games, the fact that they didn’t come back to Ottawa in the back of a convertible hoisting the Holy Grail means it is time to try again with a different group.
Believe me when I say that I’ve spent time and felt at home on both buses. On one night, I want to fire the roster and return back to the expansion days of Norm McIver and Laurie Boschman. But on the very next night, I’m convinced that all we need is one more 3rd liner and we’ll be ready to finish what Jacques started. As I write this, I really have no idea who I’m going to ride with this summer. But there is something that needs to be considered here before we start making contract offers to our restricted and unrestricted free agents, and before we start putting our duds on the trading block, and before we try and make a splash in the UFA pool. We need to really consider what kind of culture has been laid as a foundation in the depths of Scotiabank Place. What kind of culture will be engrained in the heart and soul of our leaders, both on and off the ice, as we head into this summer and beyond? I am trying not to overreact after this latest playoff loss, but the only change I want made to my Senators this summer is to completely eliminate the ever-growing Culture of Losing in Ottawa.
For the first time since our streak of making the playoffs for a few weeks, our players and management have finally admitted that the pressure may be getting to them. They have been tagged as favourites and then they have been tagged as underachievers and failures. Each time we finish with some form of home-ice advantage, the media hones in on our captain and our goalie and our coach and our GM and drills them with questions right through until their packed bags are carried out to their cars for the last time. My sincere hope is that this feeling is enough on its own to drive our players to a more successful campaign in the following year. I don’t want any of our players to become accustomed to answering these questions. If Alfie and Redden and Muckler and Murray and Fisher and Chara get used to handling the reporters jabs, then we will have already begun down the path towards this losing culture. In all honesty, I don’t think we have reached that point. I believe there is a fire that burns inside our Swedish captain that will one day take his team to an NHL championship. I believe that John Muckler still has some of his winning ways that have filled up all the fingers of his hand with Stanley Cup rings (and one thumb, if you are trying to be a smartass). I believe that Bryan Murray fits in well with this new NHL and has the passion to push a group of talented players to the top of their league. But I’m merely a fan. At some point, a leather-clad billionaire will take a closer look and will hopefully have a similar criteria as I do. I want him to say, “If you want to help us build a winning culture in this city, then I want you to stay.” Obviously, it will get a little more in-depth than that, but you get my point, right?
But what of the fans? Are we fair to ask our team to win approximately one Stanley Cup per season? Absolutely. I’m sure that fans in Minnesota and fans in Florida and fans in Chicago and fans in Phoenix would say to us, “You greedy bastards; isn’t a consistent 100-point regular season team enough? At least you get exciting hockey for 82 games and beyond.” But do you know what? That isn’t enough for us. We have a lot to do with brewing the culture that defines our franchise. If we were satisfied with a fun season and maybe a couple of close playoff games before bowing out, then we would be Leafs fans. That isn’t a knock on the blue aresholes down the 401, it’s a fact. Back in Hockey Country, we continue to have sky high expectations of our boys and should keep on our path until we’re rewarded. Our players know that the job isn’t complete until we dedicate a national holiday in recognition of their championship. Sure, this adds pressure to our rookies and our leaders alike, but I’m sure if they had to choose between having pressure to win a Cup and pressure to merely making the playoffs, well, they’d sign in Ottawa. So my message to Hockey Country is to remain passionate about your team and remain focused on our goal of winning the Cup and let’s continue to remind ourselves and each other of the pressure of accomplishing this task.
Let’s talk for a minute about pressure. It has been said by most that Daniel Alfredsson and his colleagues simply cannot handle the pressure of playing under the microscope of a Cup-hopeful city. Now I’m not here to rub Alfie’s hair and talk about how great he is. I agree that our top players have consistently become our worst players in many postseason games. So what is a boy to do? As Dean Brown said one day last week, all we ask of these guys is to play to their level of skill. If the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club is an orchestra, we are not asking people to show up and play a different instrument. A similar perspective was that we don’t need these guys to raise their game to another level, we just need them to not succumb to the pressure that we place on them. All of these thoughts seem simple enough on their own, yet our talented professionals can’t seem to follow their simple fundamentals. So if we are going to continue to pour on the pressure – and you can be sure that we will – then someone needs to step up in the dressing room and, well, bring them all back down. Look throughout the NHL – there isn’t a single team in the NHL that is more talented than the Senators. Teams like Edmonton and Carolina have to overachieve in the playoffs. Teams like us just need to play our game and we’d trump their lack of talent. It just hasn’t happened yet.
It is time to spend this summer putting together a lineup and front office that has a solid and committed culture of WINNING that can block out any kinds of pressure. When the dust settles, I can’t tell you which players should appear in our locker room and which ones should be finding a new winter home. What I can tell you is that this coming summer in Ottawa will be like one that we have never seen before. It will be a summer of tough decisions. We may be trading away players that we don’t want to trade. We may lose players to free agency that we don’t want to lose. We may be firing people that we don’t want to fire. These are all new steps for our organization, but they are steps that are occasionally necessary in building a winner. So while some of you think that all we need is a miniature Mike Fisher and some of you are counting the number of first round draft picks we can acquire by trading away anyone over 25, let’s just hope that Mr. Melnyk and his chosen management staff begin on building the one missing ingredient that has eluded some of hockey’s most talented and brilliant personalities – A WINNING CULTURE.
5/15/06
I woke up last Thursday morning with a bitter taste in my mouth. I went forward with my day in a terribly foul mood. And why not – another season of promise was just a game away from being added to the ever-growing list of franchise shortcomings. Sure, it might not happen in tonight’s Game Four or possibly Saturday’s Game Five, but I could rest knowing that the Sens wouldn’t be playing by the same time next week.
When I arrive at work, I usually like to take a look through the Sun and Citizen online to see if there are any cool stories that me, an ordinary fan, might not have known about. But this past Thursday, I didn’t click onto the Internet at all. At 3pm, I typically tune into the afternoon show on the Team1200 to check the pulse of the city about their team and any new lineup notes. But this past Thursday, my media ban continued.
Instead of over-analyzing ways that my beloved brothers could stage their miraculous comeback, I instead chose to begin on my recovery process. This process is meticulously thought out after all these years and has had quite a bit of practice. In the immediate moments after the defining game, I begin throwing furniture around the room and swearing at the top of my lungs. Once I’ve taken a look around the room to gauge the damage and press an ear to the door to listen for oncoming sirens, I take an ice-cold shower to recharge the batteries. After drying off, I then begin trying to determine which players in the NHL would have been useful to have on our team and what players on our team would have been more useful to have somewhere else in the NHL.
In years past, the final leg of my process was easy: our most recent roadkill have included Arvedson, Hnidy, Rachunek, Bonk, Bondra, Lalime, some guy named Yashin – all noticeably poor playoff performers that hardly even made their living during the regular season. It was easy to throw Lalime under the bus after those softies to Nieuwendyk, right? But this season was different for me. For the first time in franchise history (we’ve said that phrase a lot this year, eh?), I was 100% satisfied with our roster. Over the past four years, John Muckler had built me a dream team. So I will leave the “rebuild/retool/restock/re-sign” decisions to the thousands of bizzaro-Mucklers around Hockey Country, a task that they will no doubt take to the airwaves and barstools and water coolers for the next few months until our next version hits the pre-season ice.
Instead of following my well-planned recovery process and joining the throngs of irate fans calling for the head of (insert player/coach/GM/mascot here), I wanted to consider what it really meant to be a fan of the best regular season team of the past 10 years. I also wanted to consider what my summer hobbies would be this time around (I just purchased an acoustic guitar on eBay) and consider when I’d take summer holidays since my original plan of coming to Ottawa in June had abruptly lost its original purpose. So as these new items opened up for consideration, I pulled up one of those great sports tunes that I had heard as a kid and thought about how it related to our situation. Has anyone ever heard Steve Goodman’s ‘A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request’. If you’ve never heard the song, google it and see if a wry grin comes across your face while you think of how many more years have to pass by before a similar song can be written for one of us.
The life of an Ottawa Senators fan in the 21st Century has been bittersweet. Our expectations have soared along with our regular season point totals. Our demands are reaching the level of reason of a Martin Havlat contract demand. And our list of disappointments of hit the length of a Zdeno Chara missing flip flop. So is this year’s playoff exit another gross injustice from the Hockey Gods, or are we just spoiled hockey fans that don’t know a good thing when it scores 50 goals in front of our face? Are we whining winners? Are we lovable losers? What, not who, is the face of this franchise?
Ten years ago, we removed Rick Bowness from coaching duties and turned it over to some bloke named Dave Allison. Those 30-odd games were just awful, weren’t they? But then all of a sudden, something changed in the nation’s capital. All of a sudden, our history of basement boomers was drawing to a close and we started to climb the proverbial staircase up towards the upper echelon of the NHL. We started to win Division titles and then we won the Conference title and a President’s Trophy and people were mentioning our franchise in the same sentence as the Stanley Cup. We tried tweaks in personnel and tweaks in players, but we continued to hang up our skates in late April or early May. Our latest sweep of moves involved a new coaching staff, a new on-ice philosophy, a new scorer, a new goalie, a new crop of rookies, and a new lingo around the media. Then why was this “new” group of attitudes sitting around on Sunday and Monday muttering the “old” clichés?
There are two ways to look at this question and the answer will no doubt direct you in how you think Muckler (or his replacement, if that is your belief) should handle the next 3-4 months until we try it again.
Take a closer look at the Buffalo series and you’ll see that we lost four one-goal games. The first one was in the bag on at least a half a dozen occasions before Buffalo took us to OT. The second game could have been ours had two simply defensive blunders just not happened, an expectation that was somewhat reasonable considering the skill level of our defencemen. The third game could have been ours when Alfie drilled it off the inside post with two seconds remaining. And the fourth loss (Game Five) could have been ours if we had just been more adept on our OT powerplay before Buffalo’s favourite son, Jason Pominville put us out of our misery. I’m not making excuses for our heroes here, we definitely didn’t deserve to win this series. But those that want to argue that we are oh so close to getting this done can definitely score some points in a debate. A couple of bounces and a few smarter players here and there, and it would be us setting up our lines with the Huricanes.
On the other hand, there are those that have grown frustrated with the constant disappointment and ridicule of being hockey’s Indianapolis Colts. They say that 113 regular season points holds very little weight on the tee boxes at the Kanata Lakes Golf and Country Club in mid-May. Each time we hang up the skates while a handful of teams play on, these people want to take the time to perform a spring cleaning. If someone didn’t score enough goals, they need to be traded. If someone let in a couple of softies, they need to be taken out back and shot. It doesn’t matter that this team may have had some close playoff games, the fact that they didn’t come back to Ottawa in the back of a convertible hoisting the Holy Grail means it is time to try again with a different group.
Believe me when I say that I’ve spent time and felt at home on both buses. On one night, I want to fire the roster and return back to the expansion days of Norm McIver and Laurie Boschman. But on the very next night, I’m convinced that all we need is one more 3rd liner and we’ll be ready to finish what Jacques started. As I write this, I really have no idea who I’m going to ride with this summer. But there is something that needs to be considered here before we start making contract offers to our restricted and unrestricted free agents, and before we start putting our duds on the trading block, and before we try and make a splash in the UFA pool. We need to really consider what kind of culture has been laid as a foundation in the depths of Scotiabank Place. What kind of culture will be engrained in the heart and soul of our leaders, both on and off the ice, as we head into this summer and beyond? I am trying not to overreact after this latest playoff loss, but the only change I want made to my Senators this summer is to completely eliminate the ever-growing Culture of Losing in Ottawa.
For the first time since our streak of making the playoffs for a few weeks, our players and management have finally admitted that the pressure may be getting to them. They have been tagged as favourites and then they have been tagged as underachievers and failures. Each time we finish with some form of home-ice advantage, the media hones in on our captain and our goalie and our coach and our GM and drills them with questions right through until their packed bags are carried out to their cars for the last time. My sincere hope is that this feeling is enough on its own to drive our players to a more successful campaign in the following year. I don’t want any of our players to become accustomed to answering these questions. If Alfie and Redden and Muckler and Murray and Fisher and Chara get used to handling the reporters jabs, then we will have already begun down the path towards this losing culture. In all honesty, I don’t think we have reached that point. I believe there is a fire that burns inside our Swedish captain that will one day take his team to an NHL championship. I believe that John Muckler still has some of his winning ways that have filled up all the fingers of his hand with Stanley Cup rings (and one thumb, if you are trying to be a smartass). I believe that Bryan Murray fits in well with this new NHL and has the passion to push a group of talented players to the top of their league. But I’m merely a fan. At some point, a leather-clad billionaire will take a closer look and will hopefully have a similar criteria as I do. I want him to say, “If you want to help us build a winning culture in this city, then I want you to stay.” Obviously, it will get a little more in-depth than that, but you get my point, right?
But what of the fans? Are we fair to ask our team to win approximately one Stanley Cup per season? Absolutely. I’m sure that fans in Minnesota and fans in Florida and fans in Chicago and fans in Phoenix would say to us, “You greedy bastards; isn’t a consistent 100-point regular season team enough? At least you get exciting hockey for 82 games and beyond.” But do you know what? That isn’t enough for us. We have a lot to do with brewing the culture that defines our franchise. If we were satisfied with a fun season and maybe a couple of close playoff games before bowing out, then we would be Leafs fans. That isn’t a knock on the blue aresholes down the 401, it’s a fact. Back in Hockey Country, we continue to have sky high expectations of our boys and should keep on our path until we’re rewarded. Our players know that the job isn’t complete until we dedicate a national holiday in recognition of their championship. Sure, this adds pressure to our rookies and our leaders alike, but I’m sure if they had to choose between having pressure to win a Cup and pressure to merely making the playoffs, well, they’d sign in Ottawa. So my message to Hockey Country is to remain passionate about your team and remain focused on our goal of winning the Cup and let’s continue to remind ourselves and each other of the pressure of accomplishing this task.
Let’s talk for a minute about pressure. It has been said by most that Daniel Alfredsson and his colleagues simply cannot handle the pressure of playing under the microscope of a Cup-hopeful city. Now I’m not here to rub Alfie’s hair and talk about how great he is. I agree that our top players have consistently become our worst players in many postseason games. So what is a boy to do? As Dean Brown said one day last week, all we ask of these guys is to play to their level of skill. If the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club is an orchestra, we are not asking people to show up and play a different instrument. A similar perspective was that we don’t need these guys to raise their game to another level, we just need them to not succumb to the pressure that we place on them. All of these thoughts seem simple enough on their own, yet our talented professionals can’t seem to follow their simple fundamentals. So if we are going to continue to pour on the pressure – and you can be sure that we will – then someone needs to step up in the dressing room and, well, bring them all back down. Look throughout the NHL – there isn’t a single team in the NHL that is more talented than the Senators. Teams like Edmonton and Carolina have to overachieve in the playoffs. Teams like us just need to play our game and we’d trump their lack of talent. It just hasn’t happened yet.
It is time to spend this summer putting together a lineup and front office that has a solid and committed culture of WINNING that can block out any kinds of pressure. When the dust settles, I can’t tell you which players should appear in our locker room and which ones should be finding a new winter home. What I can tell you is that this coming summer in Ottawa will be like one that we have never seen before. It will be a summer of tough decisions. We may be trading away players that we don’t want to trade. We may lose players to free agency that we don’t want to lose. We may be firing people that we don’t want to fire. These are all new steps for our organization, but they are steps that are occasionally necessary in building a winner. So while some of you think that all we need is a miniature Mike Fisher and some of you are counting the number of first round draft picks we can acquire by trading away anyone over 25, let’s just hope that Mr. Melnyk and his chosen management staff begin on building the one missing ingredient that has eluded some of hockey’s most talented and brilliant personalities – A WINNING CULTURE.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Ottawa Senators - D.O.A
It is with a frustration that I have not felt in 2.1 years that I write this post. Frustrated actually doesnt begin to describe the way I felt last night. Perhaps betrayed is a better word. But, like all things in life, there is always next time.
Next time however, wont be with the same goup most of us have grown up with. We have been with Alfy since 94. He has been the face of this franchise for over a decade and last night his run as our leader came to a fitting end - with him and Redden looking at each other wondering why Pomminville (who?) just skated though them.
Alfy wont be with us next year and I feel sad saying that. He was a part of the group that took the Senators from being the laughing stock of the NHL to perrenial cup contenders and back again. Alfy will be mised, but not in the playoff's when it counts.
Alfy cannot take all the blame though. We had spotty goaltending thoughout the playoff's and you had to expect that from a 23 year old back up. We had a laughing stock of a defence who seemed completely bewilderd at the speed of Buffalo's D. And we had a forward core who froze up completly after game 1. All of this adds up to a sure loss to the Sabres.
Next year we wont have Muckler back either. Muckler dropped the ball twice when it came to getting goalies for the post season. And you can expect him to step down from his role as early as this week.
Chara is almost certain to be gone. Chara simply couldent keep up with Buffalo's speed. Redden may be gone too if he tired of losing and seeks a break from what has been a tumultuous year for him.
Next year is certain to be a different one with lots of new challenges and a much younger roster. Unfortunantly Ottawa will not have a team as good as this one for a long time. You just have to hope that the future Ottawa Senators team plays its best hockey when it maters. Not in November.
Thanks to everyone who tuned in to read the blog. That's it for me this year.
Til September.
Matt
Friday, May 12, 2006
ROUND 2 GAME 4 - Ottawa @ Buffalo - 5.11.2006
Die Another Day, starring your Ottawa SenatorsPhoto: espn.com (AP Photo/Dean Duprey)
The Balance in the Bank:
Final Score: Ottawa wins 2-1
Ottawa goals: Pothier (1) with a seeing-eye puck from the point that fluttered in, Redden (2, pp) walking in from the point with a pinball shot that eventually went in five-hole.
Making Sens(e): Emery, Havlat,
Not much Sens(e): Volchenkov, Heatley
It was over when: Redden opened the third with a powerplay goal, giving his teammates another chance to protect a third period lead.
It was definitely over when: Emery absolutely robbed Dumont in the dying minutes by getting his paw on a puck he had no business finding. Huge save. That’s the one we’ve been missing all series.
Message in a Molson bottle: Don’t get your hopes up, Hockey Country. We didn’t play that well tonight. Our defence had major trouble getting the puck out of the zone and our best forwards were pathetic. Alfie skated hard, but we need much more from him at this point. Heatley played like Arnason. So we’ve got another two days to continue talking about the Sens and Hasek and have to wait until next week until we get into the off-season rumours.
1st Courtesy Boxscore: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/boxscore?gid=2006051102
2nd Courtesy Boxscore: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=260511002
Grab a Timmy’s double-double and listen to what really happened:
A random tribute to Led Zeppelin songs:
I can’t quit you baby
As frustrated and upset I was with this team, and as much as I wanted to protest their performance by watching repeats of Everybody Loves Raymond, my TV clicker naturally found its way to OLN and my rear end found its way to the couch. Shockingly, my Daniel Alfredsson jersey found its way over my back. I can rant and rave about how poorly this team is playing, but it is still our team and I’m going to watch this season through until the last minute. Ray Emery can’t quit either – he was stellar in this game, including his highlight reel save on JP Dumont in the last two minutes of the game with a glove save out of nowhere. The kid is alright and at only 23 years old will hopefully have all of his confidence in tact to backstop this team for years to come. All we ask of our goalies is to give us a chance to win the game (and occasionally stand on their head while our defencemen take the night off…). Good on you, Rayzor.
The Song Remains the Same
But was it all peachy for our beleaguered heroes? Absolutely not. Call me unreasonable, but I still thought Volchenkov, apart from one diving stop to break up a 2-on-1, was just horrendous and directly caused the Briere goal that proved to be the only glitch in Emery’s night. Heatley was invisible except for the few times you’d see him skating away from the puck on a forecheck. Chara was no genius either, and for the first time in his career in Ottawa has been exposed as just a tad immobile when someone takes him on the outside. But we did a lot of little things better this time. Alfresson showed a bit of energy, even if I cringed when he found a way to MISS the net on a shorthanded 2-on-1 break. Our defencemen were a lot smarter when they jumped onto offensive rushes and a lot better at clearing rebounds and bodies from in front of Emery. You’ll recall with displeasure that it was an idle rebound in front of Emery that sent this series spiraling out of control in the first place. Bottom line is this: we had just enough energy and skill to make this series go another game, but the way Buffalo has played so far in this series, don’t think that this same performance from some of our key players will lead to a Game 6.
Bring it on Home
At one time during the regular season, we were good at home. After losing the first two games of this series, Buffalo has certainly negated, or at least minimized that advantage. I’m sure the place will be booming on Saturday night and rightfully so because wouldn’t it be great to once be noted around the league as the building that visitors are scared to play in? Instead, we’re known as the building that doesn’t allow horns and cowbells and has easy access for those that want to leave the game five minutes early to beat the bizzaro rush hour back onto the Queensway. If for no other reason, I think people should come out in droves for this game because it is realistically the last time we’ll see this talented of a lineup in Senators uniforms for a while. As we try to not bow out like the playoff lambs we’ve become known as, John Muckler has some very difficult decisions on his hands this summer. First things first, let’s just hope these guys muster enough courage to give their fans something to hold on to this summer.
Loblaws Express Lane – 10 items or less
1. Only 15 turnovers. Only? That’s gotta keep coming down. Chara led the way with four of them, all failed attempts to clear the puck out of the zone. The dude still cranked out 30 minutes of ice time, though.
2. How about the Spezz Dispenser at 73% in the faceoff circle. I hope people realize how important it is in a series with two possession teams like this to win the faceoffs. Letting Buffalo win the draw and crank it up from their blue line isn’t our best option, in my opinion.
3. Blocked shots title goes to Buffalo, 18-11. We’re getting better, but McKee is standing in there and blocking 6 on his own. Did you know he’s a free agent this summer?
4. Outshot 16-3 in the second period – yes, that was very fun to watch, wasn’t it?
5. Hey Alfie, some underground B-movie director called, he loves your new moustache and wants you to star in the bedroom scene of his latest movie.
6. Hey Volchy, Bill Buckner called and ruled your failed puck-grab an error.
7. Don’t even bother to check this site daily – http://www.northeasthockey.blogspot.com/.
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