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Sens Get Arm-Stronged Into Submission
by SENShobo on 12/17/08 at 08:00 AM ET
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From the Ottawa Sun, on the Sens’ collapse in a 4-1 loss to Atlanta
“It was a step back. It was an awful step back,” said Hartsburg. “We didn’t play with the desperation right from the start and we didn’t have it all night.
“It’s frustrating, disappointing. You can’t hide it or try to disguise it, it was poor. There were some guys like (Chris) Neil and (Jarkko) Ruutu that tried to do something about the game. We didn’t have enough.
“We didn’t pass the puck. You’ve got to be able to pass the puck to play in the NHL. Tonight, we never made one good pass.”
There were a few signs that rigor mortis has yet to fully set in, but the Senators have resembled a goldfish flopping around on the carpet: no matter how much they flap, how high they bounce, nothing they do appears able to save them from themselves.
There were some signs of that flapping, described pretty well by the Ottawa Sun,
If Chris Neil’s mammoth hit on Bryan Little and Jarkko Ruutu’s jackhammer right in a tuneup of Jim Slater can’t energize the Senators, they truly are hopeless.
Mammoths being extinct, I’d call it ripping open a can of beans, more punch than you thought a hit could deliver, unless you remember the brawl that ensued Neil’s open ice hit on Drury almost two years ago. Little went down the way you spill your beer; so fast you didn’t think the laws of physics were being obeyed, and in today’s NHL, clean checks are the ones to get upset about.
Some clever comment about how quickly Little went down might have let Neil draw a penalty on Boulton; after jawing from the bench and getting on the ice, drawing a penalty was Neil’s reason for being lined up against him. Ruutu proved that he’s more than just a clever, frustrating player, with a fury of punches that made it look as though he was working a speed ball (the boxing kind). But no life.
A shutout against the Conference-worst Bolts doesn’t mean much; getting picked apart by the no-longer-tied-for-last Thrashers does.
The crisp passes were missing, not solely from the defense as fans are quick to blame, but from players. Kelly had a great line to Pavelec at one point, and opted to try passing to Vermette streaking in on the other side, a pass easily picked off and cleared by Atlanta.
Atlanta opened the scoring off yet another powerplay deflection, and Colby Armstrong added a wraparound on the powerplay (do you blame Gerber for not streaking on the ice from post to post fast enough, or the Sens for not being all over Armstrong, only getting their stick to the puck at the far post to risk committing a McCabe). The final tally by Armstrong 31 seconds later had Heatley giving him a jab while coming out from behind the net, Armstrong pausing by the post, and the puck hitting Colby after passing Gerber, giving him the chance to take the otherwise in the boards puck and chuck it in.
With 1:20 to go, Kelly finally got a shot past Pavelec — though he’d done it before, the crossbar stopping him — but an empty-netter would ruin any thoughts that the Sens could net another two in 80 seconds after failing to net one in almost 59 minutes against the worst defensive team in the League, and tallying only once against Tampa on Saturday (yes, I don’t really count empty netters for the Sens either).
Reminds me why the Sens stopped playing Gerber: he’s got plenty of talent, but they don’t play in front of him, leave him to make a great save that gets spoiled because it’s nothing but him and opposition skaters, nobody wanting to risk physical contact to clear way for him.
According to NHL.com, the Sens managed some 26 hits, 6 from Neil, though the Thrashers pounded out 35, seven players banging thrice or more, compared to just two for Ottawa.
The fish keeps flopping, showing signs of life but no indication of any progress. Without advancing, without signs of hope or life, the flapping will give way to a calm acceptance, a last few laboured breaths, before death sets in.
Harsh, but what else have I to work with? Give me signs of life, and I’ll break out the paddles. All the Sens showed were signs of how to die faster, leaving Colby unchased and untouched, twice, and being unwilling to go behind the Thrashers net to pick up dump-ins, knowing that at least half their roster would make you pay. A three week road trip might be the last chance this team gets to break free, but with the Canadian media never giving up the chase, and three stops in western Canada, it’s unlikely that stories of the Sens’ slow death will ever die down.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
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AAARRRGGGHHH! I miss my team, when does this nightmare end? The ironic part of it is, is that at the end of last year when they squeaked into the play-offs, there was almost a sigh of relief when they got creamed by the penguins. I was glad that terrible season was over and was so looking forward to an Emery-less (scapegoat) season, and here we sit, how far we have fallen.
Posted by souwester on 12/17/08 at 09:47 AM ET