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Sens Sinking
by Paul on 12/29/08 at 12:17 PM ET
Comments (3)
from Scott Burnside of ESPN,
So, when does meltdown occur in Ottawa?
Not sure about the exact timing, but the clock is surely ticking. Not only are the Ottawa Senators looking less and less like a playoff team, they’re looking more and more like a draft lottery team….
The challenge for Murray is that he is practically bereft of attractive assets to move beyond rock-solid defenseman Anton Volchenkov, who must stand as one of the team’s very few untouchables (along with captain Daniel Alfredsson). No one is going to be interested in Jason Smith at $2.6 million this year and next. Dany Heatley? With a $35 million price tag, plus what’s left of a $10 million tab this year, he’s hardly going to fit into most teams’ budgets. In other words: Yikes.
read on plus more questions and answers from Burnside…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
I think the first change that needs to be made is the replacement of Bryan Murray. The guy inherited a Stanley Cup Finalist and they’re now at the bottom of the league. What has he done that has brought any success? This season shows that last year was not simply the fault of Ray Emery, as Murray would have us believe. He has to go. It’s as simple as that in my opinion.
Posted by Garth on 12/29/08 at 07:16 PM ET
Scott Burnside is one of the best hockey writers. This article says it all, short and sweet.
The Ottawa media is still trying to figure out how they hornswoggled themselves (and the fans) into believing the Senators were going to contend this year.
Now the hometown media types can’t apologize enough for Bryan Murray. They make excuses for why he can’t fix the mess he made by signing virtually ironclad megadeals with underachieving stars (Heatley, Spezza, Fisher, Vermette) who will be henceforth be known as The Kanata Four.
Murray has always been an average coach and an average GM. His record in Washington, Detroit, Florida and Anaheim shows it, and his shortcomings in Ottawa confirm it.
Posted by davetherave from Ottawa, Canada on 12/30/08 at 12:12 AM ET
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This isn’t really a response to Burnside’s main point in the article, but I wish more people understood how the draft lottery actually works.
Posted by Ryan from Toronto on 12/29/08 at 01:23 PM ET