SENShobo
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Quick Ends Slow Battle
by SENShobo on 02/04/09 at 09:05 AM ET
Comments (6)
From the Ottawa Sun, Cory Clouston on his impressions following his NHL coaching debut in a 1-0 loss to the Kings,
“I’m disappointed in the outcome,” the new coach said. “(But) as the game progressed, we did a lot of good things and I thought we played as a team for the most part. That’s a tough goal to give up to lose the game.
“Obviously, our guys are still fighting the stick to create some offensive opportunities and then we weren’t able to bury our chances. I think there’s still a lot of positives.
“I’m happy we lost? Not a chance ... We still have to move forward and take some of the positives out of this game. Hopefully, we’ll have a little more puck luck.”
Does anyone else see the problem with that statement?
It’s factually true. The team did a lot of good things, forechecked much more than usual, and were able to hold the Kings to a single goal after having scored 19 goals in their past four games.
But it’s quite something to say “Hopefully, we’ll have a little more puck luck.” Nothing about needing to work harder, nothing yet about systems not being in place, just about luck. The sad part is just how true that was last night.
The Sens’ 29-26 shot lead doesn’t tell the whole story, and even the more detailed stats from NHL.com can’t fully do it justice. For every two shots Ottawa took, one more missed the net completely (16) and another was blocked (13). It played quite well into Quick and the Kings’ hands, that Kelly couldn’t make anything of his breakaway, that Spezza’s 7 shots on goal were anything but lethal, that Heatley rang it off the post when Quick was caught down and vulnerable.
You can fix an absence of hard work; the Sens managed to take away more pucks (13) than they gave away (8) and convinced the Kings to hold an opposing giveaway/takeaway lead (9/4), the result of much more aggressive drive for the puck. You can’t well fix luck, and when Heatley misses after having been one of two players to go 4/4 in the All-Star Weekend’s SuperSkills Accuracy Shooting competition, that’s a slap in the face.
If luck’s the problem, how do you change it? I’m sure we’re not talking about Clouston really believing that puck luck is what stands between these Senators and a playoff berth, but missed opportunities like these have been par for the course this season, the rule that offers seemingly no exceptions.
No exceptions at all; just look around (I’ll suggest the Ottawa Sun again) to find quotes or video from Hartsburg’s conference call yesterday. The man never pulled a Melrose, and truly sounded heartbroken that he couldn’t squeeze a winner out of this team. A bit hard when every single player on your roster is having the opposite of a career year.
But hey, look on the bright side: if beautiful chances are your adrenaline rush (no matter where the puck winds up), this team is still your team. It’s like Shakespeare; all his best stuff was tragedy, and right now, in that respect, the Sens are practically Greek.
I wonder what Murray’s phone bill will look like in the next month.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Comments
You assessment is so wrong. The work effort was there last night. To me it seemed like 100% effort for the first time this year. And what Clouston said was true, a little puck luck and that would have been a completely different game.
As for blocked shots and Missed shots, that happens to every team and is expected. The Kings had more of their shots blocked then the Sens did. Missed shots, the Sens had 16 which if we look on the positive side of that, it means they were actually shooting the puck instead of cycling it uselessly
I dont think Clouston is expecting a cup winner from this team. I dont think the management expect the playoffs. I think the rest of the season is for evaluation.
But if they play like they did last night the rest of the season, the will win more than they lose.
Posted by Dale on 02/04/09 at 10:18 AM ET
If you look again, you might see that indeed we are agreeing that the Sens worked hard.
My sadness comes from the fact that even with the Sens working hard, they still lose. We say that they’ll win more games and the luck will come, but all season we’ve seen the bad puck luck, constant in this season. Sometimes it has been the reason the Sens let up after two periods, when bad bounces kept them from leads and more bad bounces sink them into holes.
We know what these boys are capable of, but it just doesn’t come. You can blame it on mobile D losses, but how does that fully explain Atrain and Phillips going from great plus minus to terrible ones?
The luck needs to change, and if Cory can’t change it, and the players’ hard work can’t change it, Murray will be forced to.
On another note, still a little bit chuckles that I can pound out a couple big posts one day, and it’s the short one that gets the interest and discussion. Oh you lurkers, you.
Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 02/04/09 at 10:40 AM ET
LOL. I dont read big posts. I lose interest quickly :D
As a matter of a fact I would be ok if everyone posted their thoughts in point form..
i.e.
+Sens missed too many shots
+Effort was good
+No Puck Luck
etc :D
Posted by Dale on 02/04/09 at 11:10 AM ET
A shame, I suppose, since I mostly peddle in wordiness (see yesterday, nearly 5,000 words spread over a pair of posts about Clouston and the ASG).
Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 02/04/09 at 11:31 AM ET
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
Senshobo will be brief: Sens worked hard, still lost.
Posted by shanetx on 02/04/09 at 12:20 PM ET
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Too true. Had the scoreline been switched we would be discussing the very same reasons as keys in their success. The forecheck was a lot more aggressive and forced several turnovers and broke up even more attacks. The penalty kill was quite impressive as well. Elliott had a great game. Passing was fairly creative, even on Neil’s line, but Sens lost…
ice times were pretty interesting. I couldn’t follow the line combinations very well, but Heatly played the same amount as Kelly.
It was a fairly exciting game to watch, but the result is depressing.
Posted by His Dudeness on 02/04/09 at 10:11 AM ET