FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-You see, the thing about the Ottawa Senators is they’re not very good. We’re all going to be looking for someone to blame this morning and I’m sure we’ll find a few worthy candidates but it’s important to just sort of acknowledge that this collection of hockey players isn’t good enough to win more often than they lose. Even the most optimistic among us (aka the author of the blog) could see the issues earlier in the year but hoped that elite goaltending and timely goal scoring could prop them up long enough to make the playoffs. Right now, that just isn’t happening.
-Dave Cameron spoke to the media after the game and had a sort of eerie calmness to his remarks. With the team crumbling around him and the season slipping away with 30 games to go, Cameron was up there answering tough questions and keeping a level head about it. Internally, you know he’s melting down worse than 2011 in Buffalo but on the outside he was able to remain calm. And that’s pretty impressive. I have no idea what buttons Cameron can push the rest of the way here but I suspect it will involve a whole lot of hard work and effort.
-And we mock Cameron a little bit when he says things like “need more hard work” or “need to compete” but those are legitimate observations about this hockey team. Especially in the last two games against the Penguins and Oilers. Obviously their biggest issue is a lack of skill but the top end of the lineup should also get some of the blame when things go as poorly as they have lately. We love to blame third and fourth liners and bottom pairing defenceman around here but all 20 guys wear this one.
-Tanking is stupid. It’s not a thing that pro hockey teams (the players, anyway) do but the idea of getting a high pick at the end of a tough season is something worthy of discussion. And I know we’ll hear lots about the top five picks in the 2016 draft today. Management would never use the “T” word but there are things they can do to shift the focus during the stretch run and start looking ahead to next year’s team. I’m sure they’ll be having that conversation internally if they haven’t already. The Oilers currently sit in 29th, five points back of Ottawa but with two games in hand. The Senators are six points out of a playoff spot and just seven points out of dead last. I said the Senators weren’t a playoff team at the 50 game mark last year. This season, I was able to hold off till game 52. The Ottawa Senators are not gonna make the playoffs.
-I suspect this is going to be a pretty heated day around here. I think at this point we’re all on or at least close to the same page about where the team stands this season but we obviously won’t all have the same ideas about who’s responsible or how to fix it. And we’ll also disagree about how fans should respond in times like this. But that’s fine. What I ask is that we all try to be respectful of one another as much as possible.
