FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Guy Boucher demanded more from his team against the Ducks and relative to that debacle against the Winnipeg Jets, he probably got it. But considering they were playing a banged-up team on a back to back, this was again nowhere near good enough. It was the kind of effort that would have been fine at most times during the season but for a team in a free-fall like the Senators are right now, I think we all expected way more push-back. If that’s the best they have in a desperate situation after a challenge from their Coach, well then this team and Guy Boucher are in serious trouble.
-The good news (I’m trying here folks) is that this was probably the best Erik Karlsson has looked this season. He was finally starting to drive the offence from the back-end and seemed to have more of that explosive first-step that has become a trademark of his game. The Captain was doing his best to lead his team out of this funk but unfortunately, not many others came along for the ride. Ryan Dzingel was the only other player that stood out for Ottawa in this one.
-During the second period, Ray Ferraro, who is one of he best colour guys anywhere in the National Hockey League, broke down a rough sequence for Cody Ceci. There were a few of them to choose from in this game but on this particular shift, Ceci had a couple opportunities to move the puck and just didn’t do it quickly enough. As Ferraro put it, he looks frozen out there. Confidence is obviously an issue for Ceci at times and hearing that he was a candidate to be a healthy scratch for this game probably didn’t help. If the Coach was considering giving Ceci the night off last night, you would think he’s a likely candidate to be scratched in Los Angeles tonight.
-Early yesterday, Bob McKenzie wrote an article on TSN.ca providing quick overviews on a handful of franchises dealing with potential Ownership or arena issues in the short-term. Not surprisingly, he mentioned the Ottawa Senators in there. With the LeBreton project in a critical negotiation phase, this is something that is obviously on the radar of the league. Perhaps what was a little more interesting was the fact that he specifically said “If Melnyk chooses to or is forced to sell” in his comments. The term “forced to sell” is a new one in the public domain and is an interesting pivot from “the Senators are not for sale” that we heard from TSN last week.
-While the context of the comments McKenzie is making are a little bit different than the denials we heard from Darren Dreger and Senators President Tom Anselmi, it does seem to suggest that TSN is hinting that there may be a little more smoke regarding the future of Melnyk’s ownership than they were originally letting on. The NHL obviously has a couple other situations to deal with in Carolina and Seattle and in the past, have had a tendency to deal with these issues one franchise at a time. But it really does feel like things are going to come to a head in Ottawa in the very near future.
Boucher’s Post-Game Comments
Player Interviews
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