| 16 March 2009
Now I’m generally not a vengeful guy, I believe in free press and all that constitutional jazz. I’m not out to smear or discredit others but sometimes articles like these find your way onto your web browser and you have to try with all your might to not smash your face through the screen. This is a recent blog from SportsTalkBuzz written by Kevin Lee about the Senators performance versus Boston and some musings about the play of the team as of late, and moving forward. I look to challenge the title of sensibility in this article.
In what has become a common theme for the Ottawa Senators this season, once again the Sens got off to a very slow start and fell behind 3-0 to the Boston Bruins very early in the game en route to a 5-3 loss.
Common theme? You go on to say it’s happened only four times since Clouston took over. If four times is common, Chris Neil is a regular goal scorer.
These slow starts have occurred four times since head coach Cory Clouston took over a little over a month ago and one has to wonder why this is such a problem?
20 games into Clouston’s tenure and 1/5 games they get off to a slow start? Sounds like Clouston should be carrying that stat with him when negotiating a new salary. Maybe it’s not that big of a problem though. In today’s Don Brennan piece, he writes
“In the past week, they've improved their record to 6-21-4 when the opponent draws first blood.”That's been a trend," Elliott said. "We haven't come out as fast as we've wanted to, but we've been able to hold the fort a little bit."
Bottom line is it has to come from within and too many of these players don’t play with any sort of an edge. I can count on one hand the amount of Sens players that bring a physical dimension to the game night in and out.
Last I checked putting pucks into the net was our biggest problem for losing games. A simple look at NHL team hits stats through the season will show you the Senators are in the top eight in the NHL in hits this year. I love the oversimplification and sensationalist perspective of what’s wrong with the Senators. It wasn’t the combined factors of Craig Hartsburg’s passive style, Martin Gerber’s goaltending, or the inability of the defencemen to transition the puck to the forwards smoothly. Ottawa stunk because the majority of the team doesn’t play with any kind of edge.
Too many soft forwards has Sens GM Bryan Murray wondering how he is going to tinker with this line-up once the season ends. The most frustrating part for the coaching staff and management is that some of the forwards have the necessary size to play with an edge or at least finish a few checks a game, are you listening Dany Heatley (sic).
100% bang-on. Heatley, with his size should not only be laying the body more, but also fighting more. Without Heatley fighting and finishing hits he has no value to the Senators organization. Instead of a training regime that consists of resistance bands tied to his hockey stick while he practices one-timers, Heatley should hit the weights. Not to be a grammar nazi (refuse to capitalize it), but Dany Heatley can’t answer a question if there’s no question mark.
But time and again, they refuse to play that style of hockey when it’s needed. The Sens were outhit 24 to 13 last night and if Ottawa had of played with a little more passion, the result could have been different but it was clear Boston wanted this game far more than Ottawa.
They were playing the top team in the conference! There’s a reason we’re more interested in draft day positioning than blocking Rideau St. for a parade. Boston is just hands down a more talented and physical team. It also doesn’t help matters that Ottawa was forced to dress a small blueline in the absence of Filip Kuba and Jason Smith. Given the circumstances, the fact the Senators even mustered two late goals to make a game of it in the third is good enough for this writer.
It seems that the Sens perform better when their is no pressure, hence the terrible season. Just when the Sens show a small glimar (sic) of hope that they might be turning the corner, the (sic) revert back to their old ways.
Glimmer. I believe Glimar was a synth-pop band from Brooklyn in the mid 80’s. They might have even done a split with “The Revert”. Their old ways? There’s nothing old about these ways. Since last season’s mid-season collapse the Senators have yet to be able to right the ship.
Christoph Schubert was terrible on the blueline and it is very clear that he has no idea where to be when defending the opposition.
Agreed. It’s a different game than the press box shuffle. Let’s use this opportunity to scapegoat and forward an agenda by blaming the loss on the participation of the sixth defenceman.
Brian Lee didn’t fare much better as he looked more lost than he has recently. Lee is a long way from becoming a top four defensemen on this team. His offensive instincts are average at best and one has to wonder why management made so much hype about him after his 8 game stint to end last season.
Hype? I dunno. Maybe his play warranted the hype? Wasn’t just management praising his efforts, the media and fans alike were calling him the Sens best defenceman in last year’s playoffs. You can’t retrospectively shit on a player’s past because he doesn’t look good now? It’d be the equivalent of shitting on Dany Heatley’s back-to-back 50 goal seasons because he’s underproducing and not playing a complete game now.
Murray told everyone that Lee would be a fulltime NHL defensemen this season, yet he has been sent down to the AHL three times this season. Murray has alot of work to do with the Sens defense this summer. He has far too many defensemen that are either soft or slow. Something has to give and Sens fans are really hoping Murray finds a solution.
Things change. People change. The NHL landscape is a lot different these days. The economy sinking probably wasn’t in the NYSE plans either but they’re doing what they can with what they got. You said it man. “Lets start by saying, don’t believe everything Murray says to the media.”
Quick note - Former Senator Antoine Vermette scored his first goal in Columbus last night. It’s weird watching him wear No. 50 but good on Vermette for grabbing two points against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He always was one of the most enjoyable players to deal with. By the way, the Jackets had their largest crowd in franchise history with over 19,000 in attendance for the Pens and Jackets.
Were they giving away free Indians tickets with the purchase of a Blue Jackets ticket?
Sorry for the short blog, but at some point today you will see our new look for the site. I will be back posting detailed blogs on the Sens this weekend starting postgame Saturday night after the Sens visit the Pens for an afternoon tilt in Pittsburgh.
What a tilt it was. Too bad Heatley and Alfredsson didn’t scrap though. Wish they'd earn their contracts.
In the “Comments” section…
As for Bell, he was by far and away their best defensemen offensively…..Campoli is so damn soft and seems to get lost at times on the ice. So I would rather a guy like Bell who is complete in one aspect of his game and thrives on it rather than a guy like Lee who is average at best in his own end and lacks confidence and the mental make-up to rush the puck up ice.
Like totally right. Campoli soft? Maybe. He was never advertised as a bruiser though. He didn’t make it to the NHL putting dudes through the glass and leaving their teeth on the ice. Ragging on him for being soft is like ragging on, hate to use it again, Heatley for not fighting. Can’t fault players for sticking to what got them to the NHL in the first place. When you’re slumping one of the worst things you can do is to try and change too much, just keep it simple and play YOUR game. Last I checked, Bell was average at best at the offensive side of things. 13 points in 39 games makes him ’complete’ in that aspect of the game? Chuckle amongst yourselves. Maybe the same accolades should be given to Campoli, despite not being the second coming of Cam Neely’s tenacious style, who has eight points in 11 games and being a plus one (compared to Bell’s -6). Look at it this way. Good NHL defensemen who are ‘complete’ in one aspect of their game don’t get to prove themselves in the AHL playoffs.
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