The Ottawa Senators 2010-2011 Season: One Fan's Lament

Hello,
Anyone who knows me knows I'm obsessed with the Ottawa Senators. I became a fan of the team during the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs and haven't looked back since.

At the start of this current hockey season, I like many other fans were excited about the team. We had some forwards who could put the puck in the net, we had a healthy Pascal Leclaire in goal and we acquired Sergi Gonchar; arguably one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL. I was looking forward to watching the team score a lot of goals.

Now; after 50 regular season games; the Senators have a record of 17-25-8; they are at or near the bottom of every statistical category in the league; and are on pace for their worst finish since well before the lockout of 2005. So what went wrong? Here's my take.........

INJURIES! This train wreck of a season started twenty minutes into their first practice when Filip Kuba; one of our projected top four defensemen hit a rut in the ice; fell into the boards and broke an ankle; twenty minutes! Must have been an omen. Then Pascale Leclaire has been injured so many times these past two seasons that I can't keep track of them all. His most recent injury happened in mid December when he got hurt during a pre-game skate! He's still not on the mend. Milan Michalek and Alexei Kovalev are still recovering from off season knee surgeries last year, but Milan is starting to look like his old self lately. Mike Fisher and Daniel Alfredsson have been playing hurt all season. Then on boxing day, the daddy of them all happened. Jason Spezza; our number one centre was checked from behind by Kris Letang of the Penguins into the boards and suffered a separated shoulder. No penalty and no discipline by the league. They've played fourteen games since; and only have one win.

Luke Richardson's daughter commits suicide.Not really sure if this is a reason for the team's struggles but it deserves mentioning. In mid November assistant coach Luke Richardson's 14 year old daughter Daron took her own life. The team may have gotten a brief emotional uplift the next night as they shut out the Boston Bruins in Boston; probably the team's best game of the year; but it didn't last. The day of Daron's funeral, the team attended the service in Ottawa, then flew to Raleigh the same day for a game against the Hurricanes. They lost 7-1.

Players not stepping up. Peter Regin was a point getting machine in last year's playoff series with the Penguins; this year he has one goal. Nick Foligno lit up the opposition in pre season; but only has about 12 points so far. Lately he's been playing better. Sergi Gonchar is among the league's worst in plus minus. Chris Phillips and Erik Karlsson are turnover machines, and our goalies have been, I hate to say it because I'm not a goalie but, brutal. Sure Brian Elliott has the team record for most consecutive victories which he earned last year, but the team played super good in front of him. He's a guy who goes as the team goes, not the other way around. I had high hopes for Mike Brodeur after the couple of games he played last year, but this year he too has been hurt and not playing well. Prospect Robin Lehner won his only start in an Ottawa uniform, and he played well in the World Junior tournament, but he's only nineteen so they are taking their time with him.

Are the coach and the GM to blame?Personally I don't think so. Let's start with GM Bryan Murray. Is it his fault Pascale Leclaire can't go two days without getting hurt? Is it his fault Sergi Gonchar is having trouble getting points and is a defensive liability? (ok, we knew about the defensive liability part when they signed him) Is it his fault Peter Regin and Nick Foligno aren't progressing like people thought; based on their past performances? Is it his fault Jason Spezza was injured? Is it his fault Alexei Kovalev has no heart? Is it his fault Dany Heatley sabotaged this franchise last summer by demanding a trade? I rest my case, I think he's doing the best that he can and he should stay in the organization after this season is over.

On to coach Clou. He does mix up his lines a lot so there is no chance for forwards to find any chemistry with each other and I think that's an issue. However, with the injuries he's had to deal with, what else can he do? He doesn't seem to have Erik Karlsson and Sergi Gonchar playing their opposite sides on the power play and I don't agree with that. Playing the opposite side gives you more chances for one timers from the point; a play that I'm a big fan of. And he often pulls his goaltenders, which is bad for their confidence. But other than that, I like the guy as a coach and hope he stays next season too.

So why aren't they scoring? I'll tell you exactly why. Since the beginning of the season, Bryan Murray said he "likes to have the puck." and wants this team to play a puck possession game. Now I understand the philosophy, the more you have the puck, the more the opposition can't score on you. Well here's the dealio; these guys are just not skilled enough to play a puck possession game. They are so brainwashed into puck possession that it makes them nervous and unconfident when they get the puck, resulting in poor decisions, turnovers, and goals against, a lot of goals against. Now here's what I think, instead of puck possession, chip the puck in, forecheck like mad, make one or two passes, get guys in front and SHOOT!I think it was Wayne Gretzky who said you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. They need to shoot more, they need to screen goalies more, and they need to get more of those "dirty goals." Now would this help them score more often? I don't know, but shooting more doesn't sound like a bad idea to me.

So where do we go from here? Hopefully when Jason and Pascal get back they can play well and help the team be more competitive and win some games. I hope management goes after some goal scorers and goal scoring prospects because you can't score one or two a game and expect to win. Personally, I'd like to see a sniper (Semin, Parise (I know he's an RFA), Gagne) and a goalie (Vokoun) somewhere down the line. We need more first line talent! A poor finish would mean a high draft pick and there are some kids who look pretty good. Landeskog, Coutourier, and Nugent-Hopkins look like players who could step up right away. As the trade deadline nears, I would be listening to offers about Phillips, Gonchar, ( I guess any defenseman other than Karlsson), Kovalev, Fisher, (yes Fisher), Ruutu, and any of our goalies except Lehner. What I would REALLY like to see is Murry swing a deal with Boston for Toronto's first round pick!

It hasn't all been bad. Erik Karlsson is only nineteen and will play in his first all star game. Chris Kelly stepped his game up when Jason got hurt, and we have a good core of players left from the cup run in 2007 to build around. Am I disappointed in this season? Yes. I am excited for the future? Definitely, but the right decisions have to be made, so we'll see.