As first reported by TSN's Brent Wallace, Eli Wilson has been fired as the goaltending coach of the Ottawa Senators.

Here is what head coach Cory Clouston had to say on the matter,

“I’m telling (you) right now: The responsibility doesn’t solely lie on Eli’s shoulders. I have to take some of that responsibility, I am part of the coaching staff obviously. I’m the head coach.It falls on my shoulders as well. We’re not solely blaming Eli. It appears that way, but to me we still have to find a way to make a change and this is part of the change.”

And here's GM Bryan Murray's take on the issue,

“Performance of the goaltenders in the organization had everything to do with it. I think Eli was a hard worker and paid a lot attention to it, but for some reason, both at the NHL level and American league level, we felt that the goaltenders weren’t where we thought they were going to be and where they have shown they can be.”

Alright, so I'm not going to pretend to be some goaltending guru or a guy who has any ability to contrast the impacts that the other various goaltending coaches have had for their respective NHL clubs, however, I may be one of the few who are asking, why now?

Why did the organization had to wait for a 5-game losing streak to fire the goaltending coach when the organization's goaltending situation has been in disrepair for years? Think about that for second. For all of the garbage that we've endured as Senators fans since the team's Cup Finals appearance in 2007, Wilson's credibility has never come into question until now? Why? Are we to believe that the Gerber / Auld duo could have been more underwhelming?

Like Bruce Garrioch mentioned on Off the Posts, it's easier to fire the goaltending coach than it is to fire the players. I never really want to revel in the fact that a guy lost his job but ultimately, the goaltending situation hasn't remedied itself during Eli Wilson's tenure and he deserves to shoulder the blame here. But, why now?

We survived the Martin Gerber era for God's sakes. Thanks to the timing of the move, I can't help but view Wilson as some sort of sacrificial lamb to appease the fans during this losing streak and absolve some of the blame from their goaltenders but he shouldn't be alone. After years of being able to duck behind John Muckler's incompetence, the time has come to hold Bryan Murray accountable for the job that he's done as a general manager.

As head coach of the Senators during that 06/07 season, Bryan was the one who had a first hand experience of Ray Emery and his reported antics that still took place when the team was winning. And when Murray assumed John Muckler's position as GM of the Senators, he didn't trade Ray Emery. Instead, he rewared him with a $9M+ 3-year contract and catered to him by hiring his personal goaltending coach. (For the record, I don't buy the argument that this recent losing streak was an easy opportunity to turf the guy who reportedly first got the job because he was Ray Emery's friend and mentor. If that were the case, Murray would have turfed the guy at the same time that he pulled the trigger on the Paddock and Hartsburg firings.)

And after Emery, fans were forced to endure years of Gerber and lest we forget Alex Auld - a cruel punchline to some joke discussing all of the inconsequential players who were at one point dealt for Roberto Luongo. Which brings us to Pascal Leclaire. A goalie who looked like he was finally starting to put things together before that ill-fated night when Mike Fisher ripped a clearing attempt upside Leclaire's visage. And since his return from the IR, Leclaire's been Gerber'esque at best. (Ed. note: I'm not writing Leclaire off here. I'm just saying he's played like shit.)

Although Eli could remain with the organization in some fashion consultant capacity for Cory Clouston, his tenure with the Senators likely ended when Bryan Murray pointed the finger of blame in his direction. And now that the blame game has started, don't be surprised to see more people start pointing their fingers in Bryan Murray's direction.

Here's the latest Bruce Garrioch article that details what Bryan Murray is looking for on the trade market. My comments will appear in bold.

ATLANTA — Senators GM Bryan Murray is looking to add a centre to help get the team out of its scoring doldrums.

Hhhhhwhat?

As the Senators continue their five-game road trip tonight against the Thrashers and struggle to hang onto a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, two league executives told the Sun yesterday that Murray is trying to deal for a centre.

Malkin to the Senators!

With top centre Jason Spezza sidelined the past three weeks, Mike Fisher struggling and Peter Regin miscast as the No. 1 pivot at the moment, the indications are Murray would like somebody who can play in a top-six role and possibly move to the wing once the team is healthy.

I said this yesterday, but I'll say it again. Mike Fisher is struggling because teams have shifted their focus on him and Kovalev. It's the reason why Clouston moved Regin between Shannon and Kovalev. Again, I mentioned this yesterday, should there be legitimate concern that Murray is reportedly interested in a quick fix center when that blueline is softer than the typical goal scored against an Ottawa netminder?

The most consistent centre for the Senators this season has been Chris Kelly, who has looked quite comfortable in his third-line role.

Up until the last ten games, I would have said it was Mike Fisher. I guess Kelly is the most consistent because of lowered expectations. Whatever. As an armchair GM, Kelly would be on my shortlist of guys who I'd be marketing at the deadline to capitalize on his strong play.

Making a deal is tough with the salary cap, but talk has started to heat up.

This is best thing I've read in this article. I can't even begin to explain why. For some reason, I keep re-reading this sentence and it makes me laugh.

“That’s easier said than done,” said one NHL executive. “There’s just not a lot out there right now. Not enough teams are eliminated.”

Murray is in Florida wrapping up meetings with his pro scouts before heading out to watch a few teams himself. The only teams actively selling — with the deadline set for March 3 — are the Oilers and Hurricanes.

Edmonton? Sweet. Get ready for Mike Comrie version 3.0 .

It’s not known if there are any hard feelings with the Oilers after the Dany Heatley fiasco last summer, but it seems doubtful there would be.

Why would there be hard feelings between these two organizations? Ottawa tried to strong arm Heatley into going there. Bryan Murray was doing Edmonton a favour.

The names being bandied about from Edmonton are centres Andrew Cogliano (4 goals and 6 assists in 44 games) and Robert Nilsson (6 goals and 8 assists in 29 games) and winger Ethan Moreau (4 goals and 4 assists in 43 games). All are affordable, but it would depend on what the Oilers want in return.

This is so weird. I just had a conversation with Tim the other night about how Robert Nilsson is the guy who could put the Senators over the top. Oh, and here's a true story to put things in perspective -- Jonathan Cheechoo has more points than Cogliano right now. Buy low!

As for the Hurricanes, the best option for Ottawa might be veteran centre Matt Cullen (8 goals, 19 assists in 44 games), who can become an unrestricted free agent this summer. A lot of teams are interested in veteran winger Ray Whitney (13 goals, 18 assists in 43 games), but he has a no-movement clause and he’s going to be able to pick his destination, likely to a contender.

Translation: Guys with no-movement clauses like Ray Whitney will not waive their right to come here. So I ask, if guys won't waive to come here and Ottawa has to overpay to bring guys in via free agency, why isn't this team focusing all their efforts on building a successful team through the draft?

1. My initial reaction: This team sucks.
   
2. Okay. They're not that bad. Injuries have had a negative impact on the product.
   
3. Even before the injuries, this team was characterized by an inefficient power play, bad goaltending and a mediocre blueline.
4. But the team was winning in spite of these things. A power play and the soft, deflating goals can be remedied.
5. Or the team's record is flattering because it is inflated by the team's strong play on home ice.
   
6. Going back to the injuries have highlighted a concern that the Ottawa's two dynamic offensive talents who make their linemates better are aged 36 and 37. And aside from Peter Regin, no young prospect or player who is ready to assume top six minutes and contribute.
   
7. Would this team be willing to trim the fat and retool?
   
8. No, there's this perpetuated Canadian stigma attached to organizations that fans will not pay to see a loser.
   
9. Aside from the Maple Leafs, do Canadian owners own a team to make money? I'd say no. It's about the social aspect that allows them to brag that they own an NHL team in Canada. Besides, fans aren't paying to watch a team that's meddling in the middle of the Eastern Conference. Today's Senators fans are smarter. It's not so much about wins and losses as it is about being entertained and building a contender.
   
10. But is there any reason to assume that Bryan Murray would retool since last season's precedence shows that he's comfortable sticking with the status quo?
11. With the way the next month of the schedule sets itself up, these next few weeks of the season will make or break this team's chance to get into the playoffs. So what happens now? Even I'm a bit conflicted here.

It wasn't until I read a recent Larry Brooks article that I found myself nodding my head in agreement with what he had to say.

This is about the big picture. Management cannot afford to be shortsighted here. Making the playoffs for a fifth straight season is a nice little accomplishment, but ultimately means next to nothing if the achievement isn't a stepping stone to contention. ~ Larry Brooks, NY Post

After the game against Washington, we judged Pascal Leclaire performance in the same way that pundits criticized Mariah Carey's acceptance speech at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Instead of focusing on the good -- Leclaire's big saves, Carey's performance in Precious -- everyone's dwelling on the negative things, like the soft goals and an off-her-ass drunk Mariah. To make matters worse, Pascal didn't do himself any favours when he unleashed this blast on the local media following last night's loss,

“There were 40 other shots (Thursday night). F---, I’m going to make mistakes ... now it seems that every time I give up a goal, it’s scrutinized, and its always the story of the game. If you guys want to keep doing that ... I know I make mistakes. I made a mistake on the third goal, but at the same time I thought I did some good stuff. As long as we don’t win, there’s nothing else that matters. It’s 5-2, we’ve got to play smarter defensively, especially against a team like that. We gave them too many scoring chances.” ~ The Ottawa Sun

As cathartic as it probably was for Pascal to shit on the media,  they were just doing their job covering the Senators on a day-to-day basis and Leclaire's consistent penchant for letting in deflating goals has become a bit of a story.  The goalie with the short term memory has now become the guy with the short fuse. Maybe it was a bit premature on our part start lauding Leclaire's Memento'esque short term amnesia. Regardless, when does common sense prevail? Did he not pay attention during training camp when the PR department briefed the players on how to deal with the media? After the way last season's events unfolded, this is Dany Heatley 101 -  Don't slight a media group that prides itself upon stringing the words goalie and graveyard together. To illustrate the point, here's just a quick glance at what the Ottawa media has said about the goaltending recently:

• Here's a headline over at the Ottawa Citizen, Deflating Goals Continue to Hurt Senators
• And here's another one Leclaire's problems continue in Washinton
• And another, Senators goalies struggle to find consistency
  
• Brian Elliott didn't even play the other night and Don Brennan found a way to get in a subtle dig on Off The Posts.

Between the sloppy goaltending and the fact that the body count is climbing faster than a season's worth of Dexter episodes, this team's pursuit of a playoff spot has been a war of attrition. Earlier in the season, this team coped with the absences of Anton Volchenkov, Filip Kuba, Chris Neil, and Nick Foligno. Lately, they have had to cope with injuries to more expensive pieces of their roster. First there was the MCL injury to Jason Spezza's knee, then there was the shoulder injury to Daniel Alfredsson and Bruce Garrioch is reporting that Milan Michalek is out for the next two home games with suspected concussion and that he will not accompany the Senators when they begin a 5-game road trip next week in Carolina. To add some more intrigue to the injury situation, management did call up two  future Sens stars, Zach Smith and Martin St. Pierre to fill out the roster and Cory Clouston did say that both will play tonight. Here are the lines that Garrioch has posted on the Ottawa Sun's website: Shannon-Fisher-Kovalev; Foligno-Regin-Neil; Ruutu-Kelly-Cheechoo; Smith-St.Pierre-Winchester.

And in an interesting twist, Brian Elliott will get the call to start tonight. I don't get it. Even though Ottawa's playing the 13th seeded Panthers tonight, the importance of tonight's game can't be understated. With a win tonight, the 13th seeded Panthers can move within 5 points of the 6th place Senators. Bryan Murray acquired Memento to be the number one goalie. After the loss to the Capitals, Leclaire was already hot under the collar. He's fired up so let him play. Why risk inviting controversy with a potential Elliott win?

Even though the Senators lost the game and Milan Michalek to injury, I have some good new for you -  The first podcast of 2010 is now up for your listening pleasure. (Wow. That rings a little hollow. Doesn't it?) On this week's episode, Tim puts on his inspector Clouseau hat and tries to figure out who the f--- Willie Desjardins is. The two of us also discuss: the rest of the World Juniors; the state of the Senators goaltending and blueline situations; and Chris Kelly's rising trade value. (Cut bait! Cut bait! Cut bait!) If that's not enough of a hook, then you will have you listen because Tim praise a Bruce Garrioch article in the Sun. (A Tim first.)

This week's featured guest is the Director of Game Entertainment at SBP, Glen Gower. The three of us relive some of our best live experiences where I wind up fellating the live experience at the Yost Arena in Ann Arbour at the University of Michigan. If you want a good live atmosphere at a hockey game, YouTube Michigan hockey and watch the videos with the chants and the marching band. (Or watch current LA Kings defenceman, Jack Johnson's dad dance.) And if you can't have audible music because you're at work, read this list of chants that the student section uses during games.

Will Glen be able to help answer the age old question of whether the crowd meter will actually explode if no one in the audience makes some noise? As always, the podcast can be downloaded, streamed or subscribed to at Itunes or you can just download it by right-clicking and saving this link to your computer. And while the podcast is downloading, kill some time by following Glen on Twitter.

Here's the tracklist for the podcast: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros 40 Day Dream; The Jam That's Entertainment; David Bowie Rebel Rebel; Otis Redding I Can't Turn You Loose; Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Home; The Gaslight Anthem Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts.

4-2 Capitals

I don't know what's more weird: The fact that former NHL coach Pat Burns is the source for the latest Tiger Woods gossip or the fact that Jared Cowen, Ottawa's top prospect who Bryan Murray thought would be a productive NHL'er by November, was never even entrusted with shift against the Swiss during the WJHC semis. What does it say about the state of Ottawa's blueline when I still think that Cowen could help? Now throw in the recent goaltending struggles and the fact the Capitals are the highest scoring team in the NHL and tonight's result could be an unmitigated disaster.

While there were some media concerns that neither Pascal Leclaire or Alexei Kovalev would play tonight since they missed practice yesterday, both will suit up for tonight's game. Here are Ottawa's lines: Michalek-Regin-Foligno; Shannon-Fisher-Kovalev; Ruutu-Kelly-Neil; Donovan-Winchester-Cheechoo. On defence, Chris Campoli will be healthy scratched.

Who is Willie Desjardins?

In the opening segment of the podcast, we spent the duration of time talking about the World Juniors and how the coaching staff used Jared Cowen. There was a great quote by Tim Murray in Don Brennan's article this morning that reinforced what Tim and I were saying last night. Here it is,

Sounds like the world junior championship was not a great experience for Senators first-round pick Jared Cowen. “In the New Year’s Eve game he was one of five Canadian defencemen that weren’t very good,” said Senators assistant GM Tim Murray, who was in Saskatchewan for the tournament. “(In the semi-final game) in his hometown, they didn’t give him a chance to redeem himself. It embarrassed him, it deflated him. I think players come back after that. Then, when they lose (Travis) Hamonic (to injury), their hands are tied. They went into the final with six defencemen, and two of them they’re not comfortable playing. They gave up six goals ... I’m not saying it was the direct result, but it was the result.” ~ The Ottawa Sun

I'll give Tim Murray some credit here. He said it more eloquently and in fewer words than we did while managing to do it all without dropping the word fuck or the name Willie Desjardins.

Donovan To Be Honoured

On Friday, January 8th, the Carleton Place Canadians will be honouring Shean Donovan in a pre-game ceremony before their game against the Cumberland Grads.  Whether they plan on retiring Donovan's number, I'm not entirely sure. I am after all getting this information from a Carleton Place newspaper. However, if they don't retire his jersey, doesn't it seem a bit shallow that they'd only honour Donovan by giving him some applause? Where's the hook? You'd think Donovan's ability to grow up and move on from Carleton Place should warrant more than some simple applause.

Panthers Game On CBC

According to the Ottawa Senators official blog by Rob Brodie, this Saturday's game against the Florida Panthers (7pm ET)  will now be televised on HNIC.

Senators 2, Bruins 3

With Tuuka Rask having played last night against the Rangers, Senators fans can look forward to seeing Tim Thomas' bulbous head protect that 6'x4' Boston cage. After stringing together 10 consecutive wins against the Senators, one would assume that by now, the Senators players and advance scouting staff would have figured out that the way to beat Thomas is to stop shooting high and keep the puck out of the vicinity of Thomas' giant dome.

Lines: Shannon-Fisher-Kovalev; Michalek-Regin-Foligno; Ruutu-Kelly-Neil; Donovan-Winchester-Cheechoo. The only changes will come on defence and in goal as Brian Elliott and Alexandre Picard will draw back in to replace Pascal Leclaire and Chris Campoli.

Patrice Bergeron's Injury

During last night's game, the Bruins forward was hit on the hand by a Dennis Wideman slapshot while setting a screen in front of the Rangers net. According to ESPN, Bergeron could be out for two to six weeks with a thumb injury thereby putting his Olympic participation in jeopardy. This is great news for the TSN hockey panel who will assuredly milk this story and discuss potential replacement players for the duration of Bergeron's absence.

The Mighty Quinn?

Remember last season during the World Jr. Championships when The Euge engaged in manly embrace with legendary coach Pat Quinn? At the time, old time Senators fans who didn't repress memories of Quinn and his Maple Leafs beating the Senators four consecutive times in the playoffs used the opportunity to laud Quinn and speculate that he would be the next head coach of the Ottawa Senators if Craig Hartsburg were to get the axe. Fortunately, the Melnyk-Quinn embrace turned out to have no-strings attached isolated incident. If you haven't noticed, Hartsburg's eventual replacement, Cory Clouston, has been nails for the Ottawa Senators. And Pat Quinn? Well, he eventually caught on with the Oilers who have lost 9 of their past 10 games. Things are so bad in Edmonton that Quinn will actually put his players through a brief mini-camp to reintegrate the basic skills and re-learn their system. No wonder his players are ringing up quite the tabs on booze these days. If it doesn't work out well in Edmonton for Quinn, maybe he can follow in the footsteps of Pat Burns and freelance with some TMZ style reporting.

Cowen Will Play Tonight

I just wanted to thank one of our Twitter followers japansescream who let us know that the NHL Network reported that Sens prospect, Jared Cowen, will be playing in tonight's gold medal game against the United States even though he was benched for the duration of Canada's semi-final game against the Swiss. If you want to follow us on Twitter, just follow us using this link.

Ottawa Citizen Live Coverage of Tonight's Game

For those readers who enjoy watching Senators hockey while engaging in a live blog format, the Ottawa Citizen will be running one for tonight's game so check it out.