With a difficult season grinding to a slow and painful end, Senators fans and Management are left to ask one lingering question…
What went wrong?
It’s certainly not a straightforward question and I suspect there a whole host of reasons why this team was not able to build on last year’s incredible finish. And beyond that, why this team has struggled to make significant progress in the last seven or eight years. What I wanted to do in the next few weeks, is give you, the readers, a chance to reflect. To have you opinion heard.
First up, SensChirp reader Dennis. So I ask you Dennis…what went wrong?
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While management and the owner will conduct their organizational review, we fans can only come up with what we see on the ice and in press conferences, which is only a part of the picture.
Before diving into what I believe went wrong, I would like to point out a couple of things. I am going to reference the fact that I coach Midget AAA hockey, and have been coaching Midget competitive hockey for 5 years. I fully realize that AAA hockey is not the N.H.L, there being a monumental difference, but still with some similarities. The concepts of team culture, player egos and hockey fundamentals are considerations at the AAA level, just as they are at the N.H.L level.
The second point I would like to bring up is that, while I may present some difference of opinion in terms of the actual style of hockey that the Sens are playing, I am not one of the opinion that Dave Cameron should be let go. There is a reason why he is an N.H.L coach, and I am just a high school coach. Let us not forget what he did last year with this team and the run they went on, that didn’t happen by accident.
So why did the season turn out like this? The answer is, for multiple reasons. Some reasons had a bigger impact than others, but it wasn’t just one thing. Below are just a few of the many reasons, to cover all of the reasons would have almost required writing a book to explain.
Let’s examine the first and arguably the biggest reason, slow starts. 49 times (and counting), this team has surrendered the first goal. There is the argument that, sometimes that is just the way it turns out. At 49 though, I am willing to say coincidence isn’t at fault. The fact is this team has come out sluggish to start the vast majority of games.
Why is that?
From my experience, it comes down to lack of preparation. The system of play the Senators are using is good enough to win hockey games, and doesn’t account for why they seem so slow and disjointed in the early going most nights. I would be willing to say that there are a good number of players who don’t put in the work, or enough work, before a game to get ready. Pre-game warmups are as much about getting mentally prepared (going through the systems in your head) as they are physically.
I had this problem with my hockey team from last season (14-15). To solve this problem, I instituted a strict pre-game schedule for all players to follow. Essentially, it went something like this (game time was at 9pm):
8:00pm – Arrive at rink
8:00-8:10pm – Equipment maintenance (Stick taping, etc.)
8:10pm – Seated in dressing room, awaiting the coach
8:10pm-8:15pm – Pre-game speech (Present game plan, nothing cliché, short and sweet)
8:15pm-8:40pm – Team warm-up (lead by Captain, coach supervises if required)
8:40pm-8:55pm – Gear up
8:55pm – 9:00pm – Reinforce pre-game speech points, allow Captain two minutes to talk to the team
The result was going from a team that lost its first 7 games of the season (by wide margins), to finishing a solid third in the playoffs (out of 7 teams).
My point is this; how you start a game is just as, if not more, important than how you finish it. Falling behind so often forces a team to take more risks in trying to tie the game up, which then leads to being more susceptible to goals against. In a league of adult professionals, showing up for a game 100% ready to go is the player’s responsibility, period. To come out like the Sens have for most of the season is simply amateur like, and all the blame goes on them for it.
A good example of this sub-par warm up regime is watching the Sens when they are taking the on-ice warm-up. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Erik Karlsson (the captain, and so the embodiment of what the team’s culture is supposed to be), chuckling with team mates during warm-up. How many times do you see Jonathan Toews chuckling with team mates during the on-ice warm up? From all the payoff games I have watched of the Blackhawks, my answer is zero. You can tell that guy is “in the zone”, 100% focused and ready to play (Editors note- To be fair, Jonathan Toews never smiles. It’s kinda weird actually. And the idea that Karlsson’s smiling is dragging this team down seems kinda silly. Once the game starts, the guy is all business) . Now, maybe for Karlsson, it is okay to chuckle during the warm-up, but you need to consider the example he is presenting to other players. As a coach, I want my players “in the zone”, and totally focused.
Now that the game starts are covered, what else caused this season’s result? Sub-par defensive zone coverage. If there any aspiring coaches reading this post, understand this. IT ALL STARTS IN YOUR OWN ZONE! If there is any aspect of a team system to have nailed down 100%, it is the defensive zone coverage system your team employs.
Too many times, we have seen all sorts of players go way out of position, or lose their man in their own end, which resulted in a goal against. The next time you watch a Sens game, count how many times you see at least four Sens players below the hash marks. At 5 on 5, if that number is any more than zero (Assuming the attacking team keeps both of their defenders at the point and attack with three skaters down low), the Sens are doing it wrong. I tell my players, when defending in your own zone, it is 3 on 3 below the hash marks, and 2 on 2 above. The only time this changes is if the opposition puts four players down low. The basic idea is to never be out manned in either half of your own zone.
Another bad habit that I have seen the Sens get caught for is puck watching. Puck watching is when a team becomes fixated on the puck and loses touch with their immediate surroundings. This results in opposing players being able to sneak in behind a defensive player and remain totally unmarked.
We all saw a prime example of this during the recent game against the Islanders, specifically their first goal of the game. The Islanders win the puck off the offensive zone draw to their point. Both Ottawa wingers move to close down both Islander points, with Lazar staying in behind the Ottawa wingers for defensive support. Meanwhile, Claesson and Karlsson move towards the net (as they should). What went wrong was that Karlsson got fixated on the puck, which allowed Tavares to sneak up in behind Karlsson and surprise him, getting to the rebound before Karlsson could. If Karlsson had been aware of Tavares, he would’ve been able to maintain proper body positioning (keep himself between Tavares and the Ottawa net), and maybe cleared the rebound. To put it another way, Karlsson should’ve been pivoted, with his back towards the Ottawa net. With his back out towards the play, Karlsson never clued into Tavares being where he was and that he was unmarked.
Puck watching leads to one thing, players standing still, which makes them essentially pylons. To reiterate, Ottawa’s two biggest problems in their defensive zone coverage are: 1.) a tendency to puck watch, 2.) improper defensive zone positioning (wingers collapsing too low). I will say that the second problem has looked to be resolved, but the puck watching still seems to continue a bit too frequently.
Although it is on the penalty kill, another example of puck watching happened against Washington a few nights ago. It was on Ovechkin’s pp goal (2nd Caps goal). Cody Ceci was manning the front of the Sens net, but totally missed on Ovechkin sneaking down the back door, in behind him. Chiasson realized what was gone and tried to cover for Ceci, but couldn’t. The truth is that, as soon as Ovechkin moved down to the far post, Ceci should have marked him, or at least make an effort to block up that passing lane (stick flat on the ice for example). The problem was that Ceci was totally fixated on the puck and didn’t realize what was going on behind him. (If you are the far side defenceman or winger in your own end, it is your responsibility to keep tabs on the “back door”, which is the outside of the far side of the box).
A third reason for the season going off the rails is one that just happens sometimes, and you can do nothing except get by as best as you can. That third reason is injuries. The truth is, Clarke MacArthur and Kyle Turris are HUGE parts of this team. These are two solid top six forwards, two quality professionals who are dedicated to the game, two clear team leaders, and two players who, along with Karlsson, are the heart, mind and soul of this team.
Offensively speaking, with those players out of the lineup, the Sens have missed out on at least 30 goals this season (maybe closer to 40). That would result in at least an additional 7 wins, moving the Sens point total to 90pts at this point in the season, putting them in first place in the division.
Defensively speaking, these are two top six forwards who are pretty solid defensively, but it’s hard to gauge how many goals against they could have prevented. To be on the safe side, they could’ve trimmed 10 goals off our current goals against stat, resulting in at least another 2 wins, which would firmly entrench the Sens in the first spot of the division with 94 pts (in addition to the added offensive output). Aside from their missed on-ice impact, these are two professionals that exude the very qualities that are expected from the whole team.
A fourth and final reason is the penalty kill. The Sens seem to be really aggressive, which explains their high amount of short-handed goals, but could also explain why they are dead last in P.K. percentage. As a coach, I tell my players two things two remember on the penalty kill. First, focus on taking away the middle of the ice, don’t chase the other team. That means proper body positioning and active sticks (to cut passing lanes through the middle). Second, if the puck is in the slot, it is every player’s responsibility to clear the puck. If the puck is out of the slot, the chances of scoring are dramatically reduced, because it allows the goaltender to cover all possible shooting angles better. In other words, a shot from the slot has more places to go in, than a shot from the outside.
To summarize, there are four main problems that really contributed to this year being a sour one for the Ottawa Senators. The first was the slow starts, likely a result of poor pre-game warmups. The second reason is poor defensive zone coverage. It seemed that players either simply got caught out of position or were puck watching. The third reason was injuries. Kyle Turris and Clarke Macarthur are solid top six forwards, whose on-ice and off-ice contributions were greatly missed on a young team in need of prime aged veterans to lead the way. The fourth reason is the penalty kill. The way I always approach penalty killing is to protect the middle the ice, not let anything through the middle and not to force anything, let them make the mistakes. All you can do on the PK is limit time and space.
I realize that this article is quite critical of the Ottawa Senators. I also realize that I am just a fan who happens to coach high school AAA hockey in Nova Scotia. As I said earlier, there is a reason why I am were I am and the players, coaching staff and management group of the Ottawa Senators are making the big bucks.
I do firmly believe that there is a good core of players that is capable of being the best professional hockey team on the planet. Are there changes to be made? I would say yes. But that change could come in any number of forms.
When it is all said and done, all I hope for is that the Sens soak in all the experiences they have gone through this year, and turn it into something positive. I personally believe that you learn much more from failure than success. Putting it bluntly, the Ottawa Senators failed to show up for the majority of game starts, almost rarely ready to play at that first puck drop. If the Sens clean up that part of their game (if my hockey team can do it, the Sens sure can), I firmly believe that this is a top 4 team in the eastern conference and a top 10 team in the league, that’s only going to get better.
The Ottawa Senators are my team, no matter what.
If you’d like to submit an entry to our “What Went Wrong?” series, you can send it to me at senschirp@hotmail.com and I will feature it on the site sometime in the next couple weeks. Thanks!
