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Senators Now In A Playoff Race
by Paul on 03/20/10 at 09:34 AM ET
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from Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun,
Just two months after referring to his Senators as one of the top five teams in the league and predicting they’d go “deep” into the playoffs, owner Eugene Melnyk was somewhat more reserved with his comments Friday.
In fact, Melnyk had to address the possibility that the Senators might yet be guilty of one of the greatest collapses of all-time and miss the post-season tournament altogether.
“I have absolute confidence that with the players we have and the coaching staff we have, we will obviously make the playoffs,” Melnyk said in an interview on Toronto’s FAN 590, before adding in his usual brash fashion: “There’s no question in my mind and once the playoffs start, it’s a whole new ballgame and our guys are going to rise to the top.”
That’s not the easy sell it once was, to be sure.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
They’d have to go 2-10 for sombody like the Rangers or Atlanta to catch them although I think Ottawa is capable of that
Posted by kevin from boston on 03/20/10 at 12:39 PM ET
A (rather, another) first round playoff sweep at the hands of the Pens or Caps would be just as bad as missing the playoffs for most fans. Before the break, most would have said we could compete against any team. But lately…
Melnyk apparently also called players personally at some point before today’s game in Dallas. Which will likely attract criticisms that he has gone from a seemingly blind faith in his team, coaches, and GM to being overly interventionist and disruptive.
Anyways, thanks to Paul for covering Sens news.
Posted by Da lil Guy from Ottawa on 03/20/10 at 01:57 PM ET
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Melnyk, (Call him ‘Huge’) recently left a lot of people around here scratching his heads when he commented that the Sens were an ‘elite team’ and he wasn’t worried about the post Olympic slide the team has been on. Many felt he had replaced his Barbados shades with a set of blinders borrowed from one of his race horses.
Those who watch the team regularly can’t help but raise alarm bells. The team that was so good before the break seems to have reversed completely - the strong down low play, great forecheck, and defensive stinginess has been replaced by timid play in the corners, lackadaisical skating, and constant giveaways and miscommunication. It’s like the team put everything in the push towards the big olympic break, and forgot there was still 20 games left in the season (plus playoffs, maybe) when they got back. It’s left a lot of us wondering how we could possibly be watching the same team - and whether the owner was still watching the other one.
The real telling comments come from Jason Spezza, further down the article:
“I think there’s obviously some desperation now,” centre Jason Spezza said after Friday’s practice in Dallas. “We realize we’ve kind of given away our cushion a little bit, but we earned our cushion, so it was there for us to have”
...so let me get this straight here, Spezz-dispenser: Because you worked hard to win some games before the break, it’s the team’s collective prerogative to take nights off? At least until that hard earned cushion is used up?
Real winning attitude, there. Like ‘Loverboy’ says - Everybody’s working for the weekend.
Posted by Da lil Guy from Ottawa on 03/20/10 at 12:00 PM ET