As fans, I think we are pessimistic by nature.
Not only do we have the ability to see the flaws in our own team but we have this unique capacity to actively seek them out. Because you see, nobody criticizes the Sens quite like a Sens fan. It’s a gift really.
And that’s why, with the new NHL season now just a month away; expectations for this team are best described as cautiously optimistic among fans and entirely skeptical among so called experts.
Even after a season where they came within a goal of the Stanley Cup Final, the experts don’t seem to like Ottawa’s chances of success and that skepticism is reflected in the views of a segment of the fan base. And I get it. The Senators have hurt us in so many different ways over the years that we tend to guard ourselves against lofty expectations.
Because you see, if you expect the worst, then anything better than that is a pleasant surprise. But there’s something you all should know.
The Ottawa Senators are Stanley Cup contenders.
I can see you all squirming a little bit even as I type the words. The Senators? Contenders? There goes crazy ol’ SensChirp again, off in a dream land. Isn’t it a little early to be drinking? Well maybe. And maybe I haven’t really stopped drinking since Game 7. But that’s besides the point.
The fact is the last time we saw our Senators, they were absolutely contenders. And while there have been some minor changes to the roster over the summer, they’ll mostly be icing the same line up again this Fall. So there’s every reason to believe they are capable of taking another run at it this year.
One thing I heard a lot of during Ottawa’s 11 playoff wins (5 less than you need to win a Stanley Cup, by the way) was the word luck. The Senators were lucky to draw the playoff opponents they did and then lucky to beat them. I mean sure, all the experts said the Bruins would roll through Ottawa and when they didn’t, it was the Rangers that would walk all over the Sens and the Penguins that would sweep their way to the final…but still.
The Senators got lucky apparently.
Not only were they lucky to face apparently inferior opponents but they were lucky to win in games where they were out-shot. It wasn’t The System. It was just good fortune, you see. Heck, they were lucky to even be in the playoffs in the first place with a negative goal differential.
But when you consistently win playoff hockey games the same way for a period of more than two months, can it really be written off as luck? Even if you spent the whole season learning to win that way? Or is it possible that the line up Ottawa iced during the post-season was not only significantly deeper than the one that stumbled through the regular season but also a group that had finally embraced their identity.
An identity they’ll bring into this coming season.
Plus a healthy Clarke MacArthur. A rejuvenated Bobby Ryan. Mark Stone back at 100%. Craig Anderson for a full season. A supporting cast that includes a now playoff-tested core of Mike Hoffman, Kyle Turris, Jean Gabriel Pageau, Derick Brassard, Freddy Claesson, Cody Ceci, Ryan Dzingel and Zack Smith. Their organizational “depth” will now include two of the organization’s seemingly NHL-ready prospects in Thomas Chabot and Colin White. Sprinkle in a handful of veterans hungry for another chance at playoff success and one of the best players on the planet in Erik Karlsson (now on TWO legs) and you have the makings of a roster that should be in the mix again this Spring.
This is a team that has learned how to win. A group that had a taste of playoff success and that will now be more motivated than ever to get back to that level. To get back to that deciding game. And to find that one goal they couldn’t in late May.
Now I’m not saying they’re favourites. And I’m certainly not saying they are concern-free heading into the 2017/2018 campaign. And if the wrong players got hurt, they could easily be closer to the bottom of the standings than the top. But looking at the rest of the Eastern Conference, the Senators have as good a chance as anyone. The Penguins again stand out as the best in the Conference but we know we can go toe to toe against them.
Hope makes people a little uncomfortable. I get that.
As Training Camp opens next week, you’ll hear players, coaches and management all trying to manage expectations for the season. And fans will likely do the same. But in that locker room, the goal will be clear. And to a man, they now know what it takes.
This is a team that should make it back to the post-season. And this is a team capable of winning it all next June.
