SENShobo
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Sens End Brutal Road Trip With Boston Loss
by SENShobo on 01/09/09 at 08:59 AM ET
Comments (2)
From the Ottawa Citizen, after Ottawa’s 6-4 loss in Boston,
Senators coach Craig Hartsburg pointed the finger directly at Alfredsson and Spezza.
“Those guys cost us the game,” Hartsburg said. “You try to trust your best players, and they cost us the game.”
Alfredsson didn’t disagree. When told that Hartsburg said his turnover had the reason the Senators lost, the veteran forward nodded his head.
“That’s an understatement,” Alfredsson said. “It’s an awful feeling for everybody. We felt this was a game that could get us going. I make one move, and I try to make another. It’s my fault. I tried to do too much. I can’t explain it any other way than I’m trying to make something out of nothing.”
No denial, no deflection, just taking the criticism head on. Not that there was much of a dodging option available.
While NHL.com’s boxscore shows that Heatley was a team-worst -4, right behind him were Alfie and Spezza, tied with -3 ratings. Only Jason Smith was a -2, and five others a -1, leaving more than half the team even or +1. Even as they failed, more tragic failures abound.
Lee was injured after just a minute of ice time, never returning, and late in the game Foligno would fall, wind up with a Boston player on top of him, and slid into the boards in a most painful fashion, along with other wincing moments suggesting a shoulder injury. Carkner made sense to come up in place of Ruutu, though he would only see four minutes of ice time, notching a pair of hits. Losing Foligno could mean a return for Zubov or Shannon, though Foligno’s more physical style might suggest Zack Smith as the logical choice.
The time vehicle is blazing full speed ahead, past the windmill point of no return. All that’s left this season is to see who can hang on, get into the DeLorean to wind up on the roster in the future, and to see who won’t make it off the train before it plunges into Shonash/Clayton/Eastwood ravine.
Like the classic Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Sens have gone 3:16 on their eight-game road trip, getting only three of a possible 16 points while being outscored 33-20. If you are brave enough to look, the Sens now sit tied for second last in the League with Tampa Bay, with one game in hand, and three games in hand on the lottery-leading Islanders, four points behind.
Last season, John Paddock was dismissed with just over a month left in the season. Could this be the start of a six-week countdown to some other departure? It was just this week that the Ottawa Senators’ website featured a story on Curtis Hunt, close associate of Hartsburg’s during his World Junior successes.
From the Ottawa Citizen,
“I think the thing for us, as a coaching staff and as players, is to focus on the game, what’s going on on the ice,” Hartsburg said before last night’s game against the Boston Bruins. “That’s the only thing we should be focusing on. Everything else that is going on around us, we have to be, we all have to be, tough mentally, and come to the rink and do our jobs. That’s what we’re here for.
“I’ve got 20-some players to worry about and I think that’s more important to me: worrying about my players and trying to get them ready to play (last night). That’s the most important thing.”
On the player side, with goals from Bell, Kelly, Phillips, and Vermette, the case was strongly being made that a big trade should happen, with the lesser stars working hard and tenaciously to keep the game as close as they did. This might be the kind of game one hopes to get for the rest of the season: a good, strong effort from the Sens, keeping it close, but ultimately moving closer and closer to the first overall draft pick, saving the few wins left in the bank for emotionally-charged nights at Scotiabank Place.
If you want to put stock in rumours, the Ottawa Sun apparently has it that Columbus scouts were in attendance at last night’s game. Considering how little the Bruins will want to tinker with their League-leading roster, that Columbus rarely sees either of these teams, and that they have only picks to trade (the last thing on Boston’s wish list this season), you can start to speculate, if you like. Or maybe they were just there to get the skinny on Heatley, Ottawa’s lone All-Star Game representative, to ensure that Columbus’ Rick Nash can outshine him at the event. Yes, that must be it.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Comments
Exactly Dave,
They are employees, and for businesses to attract future employees, they have to create a positive working environment, otherwise salaries will have to be high to compensate them.
What coach would want to take on this job? There is zero security. I am almost completely convinced that the players need to be given the room to find a way to compete. I thought last night a lot of the “lesser stars” showed some character in their unwillingness to roll over. If the “greater stars” had shown brighter, then Ottawa would have won.
Neil, McAmmond, Foligno, Bell, even Schubert, who played well in excess of 20 minutes showed a lot of fight. Reward them with more ice time, and let the so-called lunch bucket crew lead by example.
There are no miracle trades to be made. Play like they played last night and I will continue to watch and hope that next season, after some smart drafting and shrewed moves Ottawa will have the missing pieces to accompany a newfound work ethic.
Forget the trades, and get this team playing consitently hard hockey.
By the way, is there any injury news on Foligno, Lee, etc.?
Posted by His Dudeness on 01/09/09 at 11:48 AM ET
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The soap opera gets more and more bizarre.
The public believes the general manager and coach are on the verge of being fired.
The owner says he’s made no decision.
The coach says he’s focused on his players, not his job status.
The players wonder which one of them is going to be traded.
No wonder the team is fragile.
Another side effect to consider is the possible impact of Ottawa’s instability on the perception of UFAs the club may want to attract.
Would any pro at this point want to sign with an organization that can’t seem to get its act together?
Posted by davetherave from Ottawa, Canada on 01/09/09 at 11:35 AM ET