SENShobo
Sens Folding Like Stat Sheet Paper Cranes
by SENShobo on 11/16/08 at 10:18 AM ET
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From the Ottawa Sun, Alfredsson on the team’s troubling play,
“It’s pro sports. If you don’t perform you’re going to get evaluated pretty much every night,” said Alfredsson. “That goes for coaches, managers and it trickles down in order. We can’t worry about what could happen. We just have to worry about what’s next. We did a lot of good things, but it’s still not good enough. I believe in this team, there’s no question.
“We talked. We’ve got to be better in certain areas. We had our chances and didn’t score. We’re working so hard at times and we just aren’t able to score. We just have to put the puck in the net to give the whole team a little bit of a boost here.”
If the Senators want to pinpoint their problems, they need look no further than their inability to score. The Senators have scored just four goals during their four-game losing streak, rank last in the NHL in even-strength goals with 20 and even the power play has gone south.
Somebody should call Scooby Doo and the Mystery Machine van over, because the internal reflection that has gone on for 17 games seems to be a tad ineffective.
From the Ottawa Citizen, Phillips’ thoughts on a solution,
“If we just keep working hard, we’re going to earn some of our own bounces,” said Chris Phillips.
“We did a lot of good out there. It would have been nice to get something out of the first to show for our efforts, but that’s another thing to test us. We have to stay with it and believe in ourselves.”
Last night I posted my thoughts on the game, which once again left you with a sour taste in your mouth. Phillips is right that the bounces just have not been going in Ottawa’s favour. Penalties that should or should not have been called seemed to be the common gripe, but running into Joey MacDonald’s hot hand, having pucks slip under sticks, having sticks break, and hearing the most annoying of sounds in the off-the-post ‘ding’, the stars just won’t seem to align for the Sens.
So make them. Treat every game like a best-of-three playoff series. If you get outplayed two periods out of three, even if you win the game, it should still be considered a loss. If the bounces are not going in your favour, make them. The Sens worked hard for the first and last 10 minutes, but let up for a long stretch in the middle. If 10 shots don’t go in, make it 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. Set a new franchise record. There is no point in saving effort for later games if your head is on the chopping block.
From the Ottawa Sun, more Murray thoughts,
“We’ve got lots of talent here, we’ve just had a hard time scoring goals,” said Murray.
“If everybody just plays the way we’re capable of playing, we’ve got the right people here.”
See? Sticking your head out to play harder and contribute more is going to save the team, not get it chopped off, so just do it already. Otherwise, there will be changes. Murray has always mentioned his desire for a puck-moving defenseman, and that will likely mean losing a good forward, having to call someone up to replace them, and having to trade a defenseman away from our already crowded corps. That’s a lot of work, a lot of lives changed, just because players weren’t willing to skate a little faster, take the hit to make the play, suffer the bumps from going to the blue paint, and generally work like an NHL player should.
A funny thought did occur to me just now. The Sens are often linked in trade rumours to Florida’s Jay Bouwmeester, and the team’s non-success of late has linked Burke to the team as well. If Bouwmeester were to come here, you’d have a defense of Phillips, Volchenkov, Smith, Kuba, and Bouwmeester, and the size, defensive prowess (it’s there, even if we don’t feel we’re seeing it), and varied skill almost makes one think of the Ducks’ solid defense corps, both physical and able to move the puck. At that point, Burke might see the kind of team he likes in Ottawa, compared to the team in Toronto described in a recent article posted by Paul. But no, J-Bo is not coming here, nor is Burke. I just have to amuse myself with musings every now and then, now feeling like the perfect time in the middle of the perfect storm.
From the Ottawa Citizen, one player is enjoying himself through all this turmoil,
“He’s been a good offensive player. That’s what he’s been his whole life, during juniors and the world juniors, he’s an offensive player, and to me, it’s just like with (Ryan) Shannon—you’ve got to put him in a spot where he can show what his strengths are.”
Zubov, 21, could hardly believe his good luck. When you’re trying to create an impression, you couldn’t ask for better linemates.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “I can’t wait to go play. I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’ll be nice.”
What Zubov also has going for him, in addition to his skill, is that he wants to play in the NHL and knows he has to work hard if he’s going to make it. That led him to his decision to stay in Ottawa last summer to train. He watched players such as Chris Neil and Mike Fisher come in every morning to train and quickly realized it was an example he had to follow. He’s getting results for it, too.
“I’m working hard every day, good things are happening for me, I’m getting a few points, and getting lucky sometimes,” he said. “I think I wasn’t ready last year.”
Staying in Canada to train with Fisher and Neil, rather than going to Russia to suit up with Gonchar and Malkin, admitting that he felt he wasn’t ready for the NHL last year; does anything sound as sweet to your ears as this negative-stereotype-breaking Russian? He didn’t look bad last night on the scoresheet — two shots, two hits, a takeaway and an attempted block in just over 15 minutes of ice time, and the -1 rating isn’t all that unexpected — or on the ice, being quick on his feet to get into the action. I was endeared to Nikulin once for his reaching out to (albeit Russian) fans through his blog, but Zubov’s plain words and hard efforts are quickly giving him shine.
In a tragic irony, he will likely be in Ottawa longer than expected. Ruutu will return tomorrow against the Rangers, but last night Neil injured his foot and left the game, Neil who trained with Zubov during the summer, helping to acclimatize him to the North American game and lifestyle. Maybe that will put some extra fire in his game.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Ilya+Zubov,
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