FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-That one stings. As heartbreaking as a regular season loss to the Buffalo Sabres comes, really. The Senators threw everything they had at Robin Lehner in that third period and finally broke through. Only it was 0.2 of a second too late. As much as the Senators turned it on in the final frame, they weren’t good enough throw the first two periods and probably got what they deserved in this one. The loss is only magnified by the fact that the Senators now have a full six days to think about just how close they came to coming away with at least a point.
-After giving up that goal early in the third period, the Senators completely dominated the play the rest of the way. The Sabres had played the night before and you could tell during the final twenty minutes. They were clinging to that lead for dear life and thanks to some incredible goaltending by Robin Lehner, came away with the two points. The shots finished 22-2 in the third. Lehner was spectacular for the Sabres though and certainly earned that win. Considering the way his season has gone to date, I’d imagine this felt pretty damn good for Lehner. Going to be interesting to see how he does the rest of the year.
-There was a referendum of sorts on Shane Prince in yesterday’s comment section. It was the classic production vs. possession debate and really, not much was resolved. So it figures that Prince would go out and have one of his best games of the season, racking up a couple points and playing just a shade over 13 minutes on the night. By the end of the game Prince had actually found his way into the top six and with good reason. Interested to see if he gets a more prolonged look up there now or whether he ends up back on that fourth line. Cameron will have a full six days to think it over.
-After the game, Senators Captain Erik Karlsson had some interesting comments about the current make up of the team and their style of play. And not surprisingly, those comments set off a bit of a firestorm on social media and in the comment section. On the surface? I have no problem with them. It’s important that your leader and Coach are on the same page with this sort of stuff and based on Cameron’s regular comments about effort level and compete, clearly EK65 understands what type of team Cameron thinks they need to be. The more concerning thing is the sort of backhanded reference to the budget and a lack of skill in the line up. For an elite player like Karlsson, it has to be frustrating to play some of the best hockey of your life and be surrounded by a roster that lacks the talent of the high-skill teams. It’s mostly just an off the cuff remark by Karlsson but it really sums up a lot of fans’ frustration right now.
-As we hit the All Star break, there’s going to be a whole lot of talk about whether or not this team is a serious playoff contender and what their approach should be leading up to the trade deadline. A quick glance at the standings shows that they are still just three points back of the playoffs there are now three teams between them and the final wild card spot. It may not seem like much but if you look at what it took to make the playoffs last year (98 pts), they would need 46 points over the final 32 games. That’s like a 22-8-2 record, for example. It’s not impossible (as we learned last year) but it would certainly require winning two games in a row at some point. The approach should be pretty obvious- cut pay roll wherever possible and only add if it’s someone with term on his deal that fits in with the team’s core for the next few years.
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LeBreton Flats- Thoughts on Day One of Consultations
Had a chance to make it down to the War Museum for yesterday’s LeBreton Flats consultations and was legitimately blown away by both proposals. The amount of time, energy and thought that went into both the Devcore Canderel DLS and RendezVous LeBreton bids was just so evident.
The turnout for the consultations was impressive too. There was a serious buzz in the building, with both proposal rooms jammed with people and even more in attendance for the actual presentations.
A general takeaway? It’s a lot to take in. There are some big ideas being pitched on both sides of this process and basically everything included in both proposals would be a welcomed addition to the city. I felt like the DCDLS proposal (LeBreton Re-imagined) maybe had a little more flash while the RendezVous LeBreton sort of felt a little more “Ottawa”. And neither of those observations should necessarily be taken as a pro or a con.
DCDLS is swinging for the fences here. RendezVous LeBreton is playing it safe.
And quite frankly, the whole process feels a little bit awkward with the issue of the ownership of the hockey team looming. You sort of get the sense that there are so many twists and turns (from city, from the individuals involved and from politicians) still to play out here that to get overly worked up over either proposal would be a tad premature.
Regardless of which group wins, something spectacular will be built in LeBreton Flats in the next 5-10 years. And beyond.
I won’t break down the proposals in detail because that has been done well in a few different places. (Here, here and here).
If there’s a major development it’s that the NCC seems happy with the process. They feel like there are legitimate options being put forward, that the process is fair. Most importantly, they feel that between these two proposals, there is a suitable plan for the redevelopment of LeBreton Flats. And that’s a huge hurdle.
And what that means is that at some point, the Ottawa Senators are going to end up downtown. When and under who’s ownership is to be determined.
What I would stress with fans is as much as possible, try not to get swept up in the “spin” that’s going to happen throughout this process.
Don’t discount the DCDLS bid because they don’t own the Senators. No matter what Eugene Melnyk says, that’s an element that could be worked out. The team may not be for sale but they certainly can be bought. And really, the arena is only part of LeBreton Re-imagined proposal.
And at the same time, don’t rule out the RendezVous LeBreton bid because of an anti-Melnyk bias. If you’re worried about a budget team from now till the end of eternity under Melnyk, know that one of the motivating factors behind this development bid is to address that very issue. To give the team additional revenue streams.
The NCC has a difficult task ahead of them. These two bids have to now be evaluated objectively and without getting too caught up in a lot of the noise that is sure to surround this process. As much as possible, fans of the Senators and residents of the City of Ottawa should try to do the same thing.
