The Dark Era ends - Senators no longer On Notice

It was perhaps the darkest era in the modern history of the Ottawa Senators: December of 2008. Martin Gerber was still, sadly, a member of the team and momentum was slowly building to finally relieve him of duty. Brian Elliot had only played a few games--a far cry from his late-season status as #1 goalie. Craig Hartsburg, seen as a breath of fresh air when he was hired as head coach at the beginning of the season, was less than two months from being fired.

We, the fans, were low on ourselves and the team. Plainly stated, there was no reason to cheer. Not even the predictable late-season 'believe' campaign had a shred of sincerity. There was nothing to believe in.

I did the only thing I could do: I put them On Notice. I did not take the decision lightly. I was beginning to loathe my own team, and I had to air my concerns.

The lowest scoring team in the league cannot blame its second-line wingers for not producing, nor can it blame its third line for not checking hard enough. The chemistry is wrong and the will to win is not bubbling to the surface. Defenders are not communicating amongst themselves or with forwards in order to decrease scoring chances, or even checking the opposition. Coaching has been inadequate, failing to find a solution to the scoring woes of a potentially talented team. Recently suggested changes to the lineup have already been tried in past weeks and failed conclusively.

No one was spared of blame--there certainly was plenty of it to go around at the time. From management to coaching, first line through fourth--everything was a failure.

I have been hesitant to remove the team from the On Notice list for the remainder of the 2008-09 season, and the entire summer. It's hard to remove a team that had broken 11 consecutive playoff appearances. There they lingered, a scar on the face of this blog to remind the team and its fans that mediocrity and complacency are not acceptable. We are not Leafers, and failure should be neither predictable nor celebrated.

As long as I can see the light...

But the Dark Era is now over. A change is goaltending is perhaps the best indicator of this. Gerber dragged the team into a sink hole of soft goals and unpredictability. Pascal Leclaire, when he was acquired was labeled "The Answer" by this blog, and the question was "When can we start cheering again?".

Another significant change was unpredictable. Dany Heatley's summer time request to be traded certainly shook up the team. The subsequent trade calmed the waters, but the uncertainty remains... but it's the good kind of uncertainly. What are we getting back? How good can Milan Michalek become? Does Jonathan Cheechoo have any gas left? We're all hopeful that the Sens can bring these pieces together and repay our recently renewed faith.

Bryan Murray did something he's rarely had the opportunity to do: he was proactive. In the face of losing one of his star players, he became aggressive and picked up a new one. Alex Kovalev has been dropping jaws at Scotiabank Place during this preseason with his stickhandling and controversial nature. I say, "Good on ya Alex. Spice up the team fergodssake." We need something to write about other than self-loathing. (I'll admit that I came down pretty hard on you for that last gaff).

At the Sens game last week, I was impressed. Cory Clouston has created a system is greater than the sum of its parts. There were points when the Sens were schooling the Habs and controlling the flow of the game. It felt good that the Sens were in charge of the game again. No longer competing against their own flaws, they could focus on beating the other team.

Ottawa Senators, you are forgiven. I will cheer again, and you can count me amongst your truest fans. Now a short prayer to the Golden God:

Alfie, all powerful and righteous in your Swedishness;
Forgive my dismissal of your former teammates;
Let us reconcile like a handshake after a playoff series;
Allow glory to flow upon the Senators, like your hair circa 1999;
And cross-check our indifference like Darcy Tucker in a playoff game.

Amen.

Let a new era begin.

Playing to your strengths

Biggest news in Senators land right now has got to be the entirely unexpected success that Cory Clouston has had since taking over the head coaching mantle. Throw into the fire that was the Ottawa Senators terrible season so far, Clouston came in with confidence and excitement, and that has visibly transferred to the players under him. You've got to wonder, though, why has he been so successful (so far, at least, by going 4-1-1) where three other coaches failed?

I think it has a lot to do with playing to the team's strengths. John Paddock failed last year because, according to GM Bryan Murray, he didn't do enough to get himself and the team ready to play every night. He overused the CASH Line to start the season, and lost the dressing room at some point. He wasn't able to regain the room, and the team couldn't gain any semblance of consistency. So Murray canned Paddock and went behind the bench himself, but to no avail; the team continued to plummet, and Murray's one big trade did nothing to help when they were swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

Craig Hartsburg came in this season with plenty of fanfare. He was absolutely convinced that this team, even without truly elite defencemen, just needed a defensively responsible system to play within to compensate. He forced square pegs into round holes, telling offensive players to play defence instead. And, to be honest, I did think that was what the team needed. We had weak defence and weaker goaltending (this was before Brian Elliott saved us), but good offensive firepower. The unintended effect of this, though, was that offensive players, particularly Daniel Alfredsson, tired themselves out in defensive work and others, such as Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, looked lost at times in a system that just didn't work for them. That's not to say Hartsburg was a bad coach, he was simply a coach who wasn't right for the team and wasn't able to change his approach to suit its players.

Clouston's has been tremendously different, though. He's reinstituted the run-and-gun style that these Senators have had their most success with, and the players look like they're having fun with it. Ottawa is still a team with good speed--especially on the second, third, and fourth lines--and a hard forecheck as has been practiced takes the pressure off Ottawa's defence and puts it on the opposition's. And, with a goaltender who by all appearances may be able to steal a game (or at least preserve a game) in Elliott, the inevitable defensive gaffes won't be as costly as they once were. This may not be a team that will win games with stifling defence, but they might be good enough to outscore their opponents--which is a lot more exciting than games were earlier in the year.

The new coach has also given a new life to a few of Ottawa's prospects, whom he was familiar with in Binghamton. Brian Lee (now playing with Filip Kuba after Clouston (rightfully) reunited Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips) continues his solid play, but that started before Clouston came around. But Clouston has placed Nick Foligno in a second-line role position with the opportunity to succeed, and Foligno has responded well. He's used Brendan Bell effectively, limiting his even-strength ice time to that against weaker opposition and maximizing his powerplay time. He brought up Ryan Shannon, who rejuvenated the Senators' second line and has also been seeing powerplay time on the point.

It's still very early in Clouston's career. The last six games have been impressive, but it remains to be seen whether the players are only relaxed because they now have no expectations, or whether they're still running on the wake-up call that a coaching change represents. As a few more games are played, though, we'll start to see the real team come about--hopefully it will look like the one that's played the last six games rather than the one that was around for the year prior to them.

Murray next to go: Paddock

According to TSN, John Paddock has suggested that Bryan Murray hasn't assembled a team good enough to compete in the NHL, and is the next in line to be fired. His words, according to the report:

"I think now he's next in line," Paddock told the Courier-Post. "We were 14 games over .500 when I was fired. They're seven under now. Somebody needs to take responsibility for that. Whether the coaches he hired and fired were good or not, they're his players and they're either not playing good or can't play, one or the other."

[...]

"The players are not very good, that's the problem," Paddock told the Courier-Post.

I have two questions: First off, after having moved on to a new AHL coaching job and likely trying to leave his Senators' experience in the past, why the hell is Paddock choosing this time to speak out on the issues of the team? It doesn't seem to make any sense.

And secondly, is there one person who doesn't think Murray is next on the firing list, if things don't get better? I think that's pretty much the only thing people agree on with regards the Ottawa Senators right now. Whether or not he'll get to take the team through the next draft is one thing, but owner Eugene Melnyk certainly has laid his expectations at the feet of Murray, and it's up to Murray to make it work.

And one final point, about his statement that the players aren't very good: It's still early, but Cory Clouston has gotten them to play pretty well. This group is, most would agree, even less skilled than the team that Paddock had to work with, and the same one Craig Hartsburg had to work with. So maybe it's not only that the players--as a 20-man group--aren't good enough, but maybe Paddock, and Hartsburg, hadn't motivated them properly to play within a system that works to their strengths.

We will see how things go, certainly, but the timing and content of these comments don't reflect well on Paddock.

Thoughts on the Hartsburg firing from the pundits

With the news that the Senators have fired Craig Hartsburg, making him their second first-year coach canned at the mid-way point of the season in as many seasons (following in John Paddock's footsteps), seems to have all the media and blogosphere pundits decrying the Senators' decision (be sure to check out Ben's thoughts on the issue here).

Here's a few excerpts from the bigger websites, starting with Stu Hackell's Slapshot blog:

What’s that popular definition of insanity attributed to Albert Einstein? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? For the second year in a row, Senators G.M. Bryan Murray has axed his first-year coach in February. Craig Hartsburg was dismissed Monday morning after the Caps and Alex Ovechkin dismantled the Sens 7-4 the day before.

[...]

Hartsburg, who signed a three-year deal in June, is replaced by Cory Clouston, coach of the Sens’ A.H.L. team, the Binghamton Senators.

[...]

This doesn’t look good for Murray and his long-term future as manager of the club. Jeez, that couldn’t mean that Eugene Melnyk is going to be, uh, blowing up the organization, could it?

... and James Mirtle, from his From the Rink blog:

I personally don't see any way you stick with Murray after all of the failures since that run to the finals in 2007. The team has essentially been dismantled, save for the big three, and has a long road of rebuilding ahead.

There are no free-agent solutions for what ails Ottawa.

Scapegoating is a good description of what's gone on, and it's something that's plagued both the coaches and goalies in the organization. Ray Emery and John Paddock were run out of town last season only to watch this current group of underachievers (including the GM) continue to underachieve to an even greater extent. Gerber wasn't good this season, but he was also the backup netminder, making only 14 starts and posting an .899 save percentage that is miles better than what netminders like Chris Osgood, Vesa Toskala, Mathieu Garon and Manny Legace have managed this season.

... and Greg Wyshynski from his Puck Daddy blog:

It's said every coach is hired to one day be fired; that was never more evident than when Craig Hartsburg was given the Ottawa Senators' bench last summer.

He was a completely pedestrian choice, hired because he was a disciplinarian for an egomaniacal roster; or because of his Canadian junior hockey fame; or because Florida Panthers Coach Peter DeBoer wanted too much job-security and money as the frontrunner.

So while DeBoer is being touted as a Jack Adams candidate while turning the Panthers into playoff contenders, Hartsburg was fired today by the Senators after going 17-27-7 for 41 points -- third-worst in the NHL. If his job was to light a fire under every player not named Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson or Jason Spezza, he failed; hell, according to one Columbus Blue Jackets player, Spezza basically quit, too. The team was an unmitigated disaster, and when Hartsburg wasn't exacerbating its problems he was also helpless to fix them.

... and Adam Proteau of The Hockey News on his aptly-titled Adam Proteau Blog:

The move was less than a shock, considering Ottawa has been languishing at the bottom of the NHL standings for months. But it doesn’t speak to the real problem with the Sens – namely, the holy trinity of salary cap killers that is Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson.

[...]

If owner Eugene Melnyk and Ottawa GM Bryan Murray need to see an example of cap management done right, they ought to look to the Calgary Flames, who, like the Sens, pay out big bucks to three of their players. The big difference is that in Calgary, one of those three (Jarome Iginla) plays forward, one (Dion Phaneuf) plays defense, and one (Miikka Kiprusoff) plays in net.

In other words, the Flames have a balance and symmetry to their on-ice and financial plans that serves the overall needs of the organization well.

The Sens have nothing of the sort – and that pronounced imbalance played a major role in costing Hartsburg his job.

... and Jeff Marek's blog on CBC.ca:

After 48 games the Ottawa Senators’ brass decided they had seen enough, lost enough and needed to do something to shake up the organization. The solution? Fire head coach Craig Hartsburg.

As Scott Morrison said on Hockey Night Online Monday … it’s Groundhog Day, indeed.

[...]

Prediction: Ottawa rides out the rest of the season, win lose or shootout and come July 1 completely overhauls this once-mighty squad. One of the best never to have won the Stanley Cup is about to get a complete makeover. Who coaches and who manages? There has been talk going back to the world junior tournament that Pat Quinn and Bob Nicholson could come in as a combo package. We’ll have to wait and see about that one.

... and Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber's Inside the NHL blog:

Instead of getting ahead of the market, Murray locked himself into talents who are not bedrock players despite their offensive numbers (Heatley and Spezza) and left the Senators with a defense that is not adept at moving the puck or joining the rush. He also has too many players, including Fisher (seven goals) and Antoine Vermette (six), who'd be more attractive if they were making at least $1 million less per year than they are now. Like Paddock, an admirable man and former Ottawa assistant coach who was favored by the players, and Hartsburg, previously a moderately successful NHL head coach, Murray simply backed the wrong people.

Maybe Clouston can provide the good housecleaning the Senators need in his first NHL job, but it's a long shot. A better bet last summer might have been the one man seemingly capable of shoveling these Augean Stables -- John Tortorella -- but, according to sources, the former coach of the 2004 Cup champion Lightning never received an interview. Now, the abrasive Tortorella can be a pebble in the shoe of his players, which might have made for a stylistic mismatch, but Murray should have at least heard some of his ideas before anointing Hartsburg.

Would Ottawa have taken to an American as a coach? If he won, guaranteed.

For a team that has been an annual playoff participant for more than a decade, the coaching switch probably comes too late. Unless Murray can change the culture of the team -- or Melnyk identifies a GM he thinks can do it -- the foundering Senators will continue to fade.

... and The Hockey News' Ken Campbell's Campbell's Cuts blog:

Pretty tough to argue with that logic when it comes to the Ottawa Senators firing Craig Hartsburg just 48 games into his tenure in Canada’s capital. If there were a coaches’ union, you can bet it would be processing the paperwork right now for a grievance against the Senators for firing their coach without just cause.

What the Senators did today is what drives coaches bonkers and it should. But what it will also do is drive any prime coaching candidates away from Ottawa if they have a choice between the Senators and almost any other organization in the league.

Is there anyone out there who believes that any of the stink from this mess in Ottawa should be sticking to Hartsburg at the moment? Hartsburg is a quality coach who has succeeded at every level of hockey and it’s amazing that over the course of 48 games, he somehow worked in a way that merited him being fired.

... and me, personally? Thank you for asking.

Bryan Murray, once again, made the wrong choice when deciding who should coach this team. That much is clear. And he's made some highly suspect personnel decisions, obviously, with the albatross-contracts to Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley, Mike Fisher, and even Chris Kelly. Can he fix it? Shit, I hope so, or else this rebuilding will be pretty damned long. Should he be given the chance to fix his own mistakes? I certainly think so, but many people have different opinions of that--and their opinions are certainly valid.

And, with regards to the Cory Clouston hiring: I say we give the guy at least one game, maybe a few, to prove just what he can do in the NHL. The Sens are pretty much a write-off this season, anyway, so let's give it some time.

Hartsburg canned, Clouston called up

As everyone (originally TSN, and also Ben right on this blog) is reporting, Craig Hartsburg has been fired by the Ottawa Senators. He compiled a 17-24-7 record, good for 41 points and 28th in the league.

According to the Ottawa Sun, Binghamton Senators head coach Cory Clouston is expected to be named interim head coach of the Ottawa Senators. No word yet on who will take over in Bingo.

It's fitting that the Senators just lost to a reborn Washington Capitals team, because this Clouston decision sounds a lot like people trying to find a way to replicate Bruce Boudreau's success with the Caps. Boudreau was recruited from the Hershey Bears and named interim head coach of the Caps in November 2007, and his success his bosses dropped the 'interim' tag and kept him on full time. With Clouston, if things work out (and there's a pretty loose definition of that right now), he sticks around. If not, he heads back to Bingo next year, and the Sens do the interview process for the third off-season in a row.

It's also interesting to note that some Binghamton fans have been calling for Clouston's head to roll after a few consecutive poor seasons for the B-Sens, this season notwithstanding. Bingo has missed the playoffs for the last three seasons, and lost in the first and preliminary rounds in the seasons previous. Time will tell how he does in the NHL.

Hartsburg fired; pattern emerges

Something had to give, but I think that Bryan Murray and Eugene Melynk made the wrong decision. Craig Hartsburg was hired at the beginning of this season and was meant to symbolize a fresh start for the club. The Sens knew they were taking a risk on Hartsburg, and he was not hired from within. Hartsburg was not haunted by the previous failings of the club, right? Think again.

This season, for which the team was reimagined and re-tooled, is beginning to look at lot like last season, with one notable exception--less wins. When John Paddock was fired mid-way through last season, we were led to believe that he was the problem: the big line was overworked and the goalie situation was mismanaged. Well, look at where the Sens are now and I think we can examine the variables and see that the players are the problem. Why does it take two coaches to establish this fact?

Another factor, I believe, is that Bryan Murray thinks he's a better coach than those he's hired. Apparently, the man is far from reluctant to take over the coaching duties. After all, the reason why Murray came to Ottawa was to be the coach, only after Melynk fired Muckler was Murray convinced to pick up the GM responsibilities.

Sigh. The team is going no where, and the coaching switches are only serving to reenforce the worst aspects of the organization: scapegoating and hesitation. Arrogant comments from Melnyk last week serve only to illustrate how Murray and Melnyk are missing the point with this firing. Martin Gerber had three years of failure in Ottawa before being sent away, why did Hartsburg only get 48 games to prove himself? (Kind of off-topic, but I can't help but make this connection.)

This is a desperate move from Murray, and the variables are continually being narrow from this point in the season onward. If it's not the coaching, and it's not the players, then who's left? Murray's painted himself into a corner, and it's only a matter of time before the firing squad turns to him.

Musical roster spots: McAmmond, Bell sit out

Reports from the Ottawa Citizen indicate that veteran forward Dean McAmmond and offensive defenceman Brendan Bell will take their turns sitting out of the Ottawa Senators lineup as the Sens play the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight.

In their place will be defenceman-cum-forward Christoph Schubert and Alex Picard, respectively.

Coach Craig Hartsburg said that neither Bell nor McAmmond played well against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, and so they were pulled out for tonight's game.

Anyone getting the feeling these are starting to get a bit arbitrary? Is this Hartsburg bringing about accountability, by scratching the team's lesser-lite players (Jason Smith, Schubert, Picard, Bell, McAmmond... who's next?)?

Maybe Hartsburg's decision will be astute. We'll see tonight.

Schubert and Smith scratched against New Jersey

According to the Ottawa Sun, both Jason Smith and Christoph Schubert are going to sit out tonight's game in favour of younger, more offensively-minded teammates. With tonight's game coming against the young and speedy New Jersey Devils, it looks like coach Craig Hartsburg is trying to fight fire with fire.

Although Schubert is probably used to the whole benching thing, Smith was visibly disappointed, the story said:

"Obviously surprised and disappointed," said Smith, who was clearly frustrated after today's morning skate. "You become a player in this game to play games and to help a team have success."

With Android Volchenkov returning to the lineup, Smith was benched in favour of (relative) youngsters Alex Picard, Brian Lee, and Brendan Bell, all of whom have significantly more offensive upside than the wily veteran. Hartsburg's mentality, the story said, was that the d-corps needed to balance the defensive defencemen (Chris Phillips, Volchenkov, and to an extent Filip Kuba) with the more offensive ones. (Can I take a moment to gloat about predicting there could be a reasonable chance Smith would sit out yesterday? Kthanx.)

Although Smith is justified in his frustration, at least he knows he won't be missing too much time. At $2.6M, he's making too much money to sit on the sidelines for an extended period, and the Senators will have to decide soon which of Bell or Lee will be sent back down to Binghamton. The B-Sens need as much defensive help as they can get to keep their playoff hopes in good standing. (In other news, Martin Gerber will be assigned to Binghamton to [hopefully] help out their goaltending situation. Good luck to him; honestly, I wish him the best.)

Schubert, on the other hand, has little reassurance. The Senators went out of their way to re-call Peter Regin from Binghamton today, which is why Schubert is sitting. He is, once again, left to wonder not only about his place on this team, but his place in the league in general. Schubert definitely has a lot to think about in this off-season, and a lot to discuss with GM Bryan Murray (if he's not talking to him already). (I'll also note that I correctly predicted Schubert would be the odd man out with Regin called up, thank you very much.)

Here's my next prediction: Regin won't be up here for too long unless the Sens make a trade (involving a forward) soon, and one of Lee or Bell (likely Bell, as unfair as it may be) will be assigned to Binghamton after tonight's game/test or within the week.

Surviving the second: Sens 3, Caps 2

On the post-game show, Dean Brown suggested that the Sens' biggest challenge over the last few games has been surviving their own play in the second period. Again tonight, they had dominant first and third periods, but bombed in the second. If not for Brian Elliott stopping 17 of 19 shots in that second period, including plenty of decent scoring chances, this game would have been all Capitals.

But Elliott was there. And Dany Heatley's two first-period powerplay goals were enough to give the Senators the lead they needed to stay in the game until Brendan Bell could score another powerplay goal to give the Sens the win over Washington, 3-2. Ottawa's powerplay was a very impressive 3-6 on the night.

On the night, Heatley played like the superstar he's paid to play like. His 'demotion' (although I shudder to call it that) to the second powerplay unit has given the Senators two powerful units, and as a matter of fact, Heatley's line--with Antoine Vermette and (tonight) Nick Foligno (it had been Chris Neil in previous games, but he was out with the flu)--was and has been more dangerous than the first unit of Mike Fisher, Jason Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson. Heatley's first goal was a pretty passing play, with Vermette dishing the puck through a few opposition players to Filip Kuba at the point, who set Heatley up perfectly. The second was a bit of luck, as it bounced off a Capitals defender, but they all count--and, don't look now, but with four goals in the last two games, Heatley has 23 on the year and is on pace for almost 42 on the season.

Vermette looked solid on the night, as well; he's one of the Senators who has gone back to what had worked for him in the past, and--surprise!--it's working for him again. He assisted on all three goals, and had a couple shots and a couple of takeaways, to boot. On the topic of streaks, Vermette has ten points (2G, 8A) in the last ten games, the same number of points he had in the first 35 games of the season. It's nice to see, as a fan of the team that's now finding ways to win and after watching him work so hard to start the year without much in the way of results.

Bell scored the winner on the powerplay with less than two minutes remaining, and it was a huge goal. Somehow, Bell's already got a goal song ("Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward), despite only having four goals on the season; I guess that's cool. He had four shots on the night, as well, but was often caught in the defensive zone with partner Jason Smith, unable to clear the puck cleanly. It didn't cost the Sens on the scoreboard, but it was still pretty unnerving to watch.

With Anton Volchenkov suffering a shoulder malfunction, Kuba was given the unenviable assignment of containing Alexander Ovechkin. It seemed like a pretty risky decision by coach Craig Hartsburg, but Kuba's mobility and reach were enough to contain AO as much as AO can be contained, as only two of Ovie's six shots were even-strength opportunities. Kuba, as mentioned, also had an assist, three shots on net, and three blocked shots, and was once again a very solid powerplay quarterback.

I'm pretty sure I've realized why Christoph Schubert doesn't like playing forward: Tonight, with Schubert starting as a forward, he only played 6:14; that includes 1:15 of penalty-killing time as a defenceman, which means Schubert played less than five minutes as a forward. In those five minutes, though, he played effectively as a forward; his line with Dean McAmmond and Jarkko Ruutu was a lot of fun to watch for those five minutes. He can take more than five minutes as a forward, but hopefully he'll deal with it, because he's always fun to watch out there bangin' bodies on forward.

I've also got to mention Peter Regin, who looked surprisingly comfortable in his first NHL game. Of all the Senators prospects who have played their first NHL games in the past couple of seasons (Foligno, Cody Bass, Jesse Winchester, Ilya Zubov, Alex Nikulin, Brian Lee, and probably others I'm forgetting), I'd say Regin was the most effective and the most comfortable in the first game--with the exception of Elliott in his first game last season (but goaltenders always seem the exception). He was a little light on is skates, but he played over 10 minutes, had one takeaway and one blocked shot, and just buzzed in the offensive zone. He warrants another opportunity, if not next game then in the near future.

With the All-Star Game in Montréal on Sunday, Jan. 25, the Sens have the week off, and don't play again until next Tuesday when they host the New Jersey Devils. It will be a break for every Senator except Heatley, who has looked like an All-Star in the recent half-dozen games. Although the timing of the break is not optimal, hopefully Ottawa can carry the momentum of seven of a possible eight points in the last four games into the post-All-Star season.

Now, to write a letter to Richard Peverley of the Atlanta Thrashers, newest hero of the No Habs No! Campaign...

Bizarro Senators: Sens 5, 'Canes 1

It's funny, almost a year ago to the day from today's 5-1 victory over Carolina, I described an uncannily unusual win by the Ottawa Senators as reminiscent of the Bizarro World in Superman. When I saw Chris Neil control the puck to make a play to Antoine Vermette, who actually scored a goal, while Dany Heatley was wreaking havoc in front of the Hurricanes net, I thought: Who are these people, what have they done with the Senators, and how can I get them to stick around for the second half of the season?

So we saw Heatley score his first goal in nine games (bizarre), we saw Dean McAmmond score his first goal in 22 games which was only his second of the season (bizarrer), we saw Vermette score his second goal and third and fourth points in the last three games (bizarrer-er, considering his season so far), we saw Mike Fisher score his first goal in 20 games and fourth of the season after not panicking with an empty net in front of him (bizarrer-er-er), and then we saw Chris Phillips score his fourth goal in the last ten games (bizarrest). But I'm not complaining.

We also saw some of the most promising reasoned, on-the-fly coaching from Craig Hartsburg going into and during the game. Upon noticing the unsuccessful perimeter play when the CASH Line is together on the powerplay, he bumped Heatley down to the second unit and shifted Fisher to forward on the first unit. For the first unit, it meant that Fisher trashed it up in front of the net while Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson set up plays with the defencemen. For the second unit, it meant Heatley was put in a position of leadership and trusted to be a powerplay quarterback, something he did very well. I'm thinking of one moment in particular, after Brian Lee rushed a shot from the point, Heatley went back and let him know that he can settle it down a bit before firing the puck on net. Although the Sens weren't credited with a powerplay goal, Vermette and Fisher's goals were both shortly after and a direct result of solid powerplay work. The Sens had 14 powerplay shots-on-goal in the end, and had control of the puck in the offensive zone for most of their powerplay time.

The other demonstration of good coaching came on the penalty kill. After Fisher lost his coverage of Joe Corvo--the 'Canes most lethal offensive weapon on the powerplay when left unchecked--on Carolina's second powerplay, they adapted: On the next Sens' penalty kill, McAmmond covered Corvo like RDS would cover Vincent Lecavalier buying a house in Montréal. For the rest of the game, Corvo was covered similarly, and that--combined with, no doubt, the boos raining down on him hurting his feelings--turned him into a non-threat for the rest of the game. (Although he did provide a great screen of 'Canes netminder Cam Ward on Phillips' goal.)

In nets, Brian Elliott sealed the fate of Martin Gerber. He only faced 24 shots, but he did have to make some terrific saves, and the one goal Ells allowed would have went in on just about any goaltender in the NHL. He outplayed one-time Conn Smythe winner Ward, and might just do well with another 41 games in the NHL this season (plus playoffs)--as long as the team in front of him keeps up their effort level.

The Senators, however, weren't perfect. Spezza had two giveaways, and Heatley had one, too, although he didn't get tabbed for it on the scoresheet, and as a team Ottawa had 10 giveaways to Carolina's four. The difference tonight, though, was that the team used hard work to make up for mistakes they made. Good players have always and will always make mistakes; they are acceptable when those same players use hard work and good backchecking to make sure that the opposition doesn't capitalize on their mistakes. Spezza's M.O. is blind passes, which work sometimes and don't work other times; as long as he gets back to help out, though, the successful ones will seem to outnumber the unsuccessful ones.

All in all, a really great game for the Senators; one of, if not the best game of the season so far. All four lines saw plenty of ice time (Shean Donovan had the least at 8:51, the only skater under 10 minutes, largely because he doesn't see special-teams time), all but two of Ottawa's skaters were on the plus side of the +/- ledger (Jason Smith and Nick Foligno were both even), the CASH Line had four points while secondary scorers combined for the other eight, and the big three also had 18 shots as the Sens heavily outshot their opponents 40-24 and outscored them by a much more impressive margin. With the second half of the season set to start on Saturday against the Montréal Canadiens Wednesday against the Atlanta Thrashers, we've been reminded of what this team can do when they're playing with the right attitude. Although it's not likely at all, it sure would be nice to see the Senators finish out the season with some great effort towards making a push for the playoffs, even if it means we miss out on the John Tavares/Victor Hedman sweepstakes.

Bizarro Superman

Another loss: Bruins 6, Sens 4

What a woeful road trip. Eight games, one win, three points, 34 goals against, 20 goals for, zero signs of improvement. It ended like it started, with a loss, this one a disappointing intra-divisional 6-4 loss to the Boston Bruins.

Although Ottawa went down 2-0 early in the first period, the game started to look better when Ottawa came back to tie the game 3-3 late in the second period. Then Boston cashed in on mistakes from both Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, and the Bruins were on their way to the 6-4 victory.

Head coach Craig Hartsburg laid blame for the loss squarely on the shoulders of Spezza and Alfredsson, according to the Ottawa Sun. Although Spezza wasn't quoted in the story, Alfredsson accepted the blame, and said he was just trying to do too much (what else is new?):

"It's my fault. I'm trying to do too much. It was awful because everybody worked really hard and battled."

I don't even have any comments to make on the game. It's not fun to watch anymore. I was playing Guitar Hero: World Tour through a lot of it. I'm just looking forward to another win.

What's next for Ottawa? What is Eugene Melnyk going to do with this team? Who knows?

The Rumour Mill: Front office shuffle

After the Journal de Montréal wrote a speculative story about Sens owner Eugene Melnyk replacing GM Bryan Murray with Hockey Canada President Bob Nicholson and axing coach Craig Hartsburg in favour of Pat Quinn, everyone in the mainstream media seems to have picked up on it despite the fact that it was, at the outset, speculation. It's been picked up in the blogosphere, too, but that's too be expected.

Melnyk responded today, and his response doesn't really put anything to rest:

"Contrary to what is being reported today by the media, I have made no decisions with respect to any personnel changes within the Senators organization," Melnyk said in a statement released by the team. "Winning remains our No. 1 priority, and there is a collective focus by our management, our coaching staff and our players to deliver this to our fans."

He's not even declared his commitment to Murray and Hartsburg in the statement. Not that it means much, but all he said is that he hasn't made any decisions. That doesn't necessarily mean reports are premature, or fabricated.

Although I'm not going to say I'm against changes, I'm not sure how positive either of these changes would be. Nicholson doesn't seem like GM material, although other reports have Steve Yzerman stepping in as GM, which is a mite more intriguing. As for Quinn as coach, it won't solve the problem for this season, so hiring a 66-year-old coach to embark upon a rebuilding project might not be the best idea. Especially since he may have another option in Pittsburgh, which would likely include more immediate success.

Whatever happens is going to happen. I do think a big change is in the cards, and it won't likely be a minor player-trade, of the Antoine Vermette or Christoph Schubert variety. Or at least it won't only be that.

Setting Spezza up to fail

Hey, I have an idea: Let's take one of our most skilled guys, put him on a line with two of our least skilled guys, and tell him that if he doesn't produce he's getting benched.

Apparently that's what Craig Hartsburg is doing with Jason Spezza. According to the Sun:

"I know you all want to know about Jason Spezza and 'When do we sit him on the bench, when do we sit him on the bench?' Well, he's playing with two guys now that are honest, hard-working guys," said Hartsburg. "To me, if I'm on that line as Jason Spezza, I want to play my heart out because of those two guys who are with me.

"If he doesn't do it there, you know what? We probably have no other choice now (other than) to say, 'Sit down.' This has got to be a group decision to work. Not 19 or 18 guys. It has to start to kick in here or else it's not going to work. It's not working the way it's going."

Does that sounds like a remotely good idea to anyone else? Doesn't sound very rational to me. In Bruce Garrioch's Cheapseats column on Saturday, he said that Spezza's "lack of production" could get him riding the pine. SPEZZA's lack of production? What about an entire team's lack of production? Spezza is not alone in this, it's an entire team that's having problems this season. So why is it Spezza who is receiving the lion's share of the blame?

The Sens' top-ten scorers, an analysis of futility:

1. Heatley: 14G, 15A, 29P
2. Alfredsson: 9G, 18A, 27P
3. Spezza: 13G, 10A, 23P
4. Kuba: 1G, 21A, 22P
5. Picard: 4G, 7A, 11P
6. Fisher: 3G, 8A, 11P
7. Foligno: 4G, 6A, 10P
8. Ruutu: 3G, 6A, 9P
9. Donovan: 4G, 3A, 7P
10. Kelly: 3G, 4A, 7P

Is it news that Antoine Vermette isn't performing? No. But his six points (3G, 3A) in 31 games is farther below relative expectations than Spezza's 23P in 31GP. Antoine Vermette's goal last night against Dallas was his first point in eleven games. Mike Fisher, making more than half as much as Spezza, has four assists (and no goals) in his last ten games. Dany Heatley, making $1M more than Spezza, has one goal and one assist in his last seven games. Spezza has two goals and no assists in those seven games.

Spezza is not scoring as we'd all like him to, granted. In my opinion, though, he's playing as hard as he ever has. The bottom line, though, is that Spezza is certainly not the only problem the Sens have right now, and he's not even the biggest one.

And the line juggling begins anew

According to TSN, Craig Hartsburg--in his desperate mission to get his team to wake the shit up--has resorted to the old tactic: Split up the CASH Line. I'm not trying to suggest it's a bad idea, because it's not like they were producing anyway, but it's just so cliché.

He did complement the move, however, with a 12-minute (that's it) bag-skate to try and get their attention. And his reasoning was sound:

"I think the fact for all three of them, and I don't like to talk about money and all that, but they are paid a lot of money," Hartsburg noted. "They should be able to make players around them better and in the past they have counted on the three of them playing together to carry the team. From what I have seen so far that's not going to happen."

He's got to do whatever he can to get things going. Although his complaint was that some players aren't working hard enough, I would argue that a lot of players are working incredibly hard--they just aren't working smart. Daniel Alfredsson is working his ass off, but he's using up so much energy in the defensive end that he's got next to nothing left when they get offensive. Jason Spezza is working as hard as I've ever seen him, but he's not taking shots for himself or taking advantage of the chances he generates. I haven't been impressed with Dany Heatley's play the last few games, so maybe the 'no-work-hard' comments were directed his way, but he's definitely frustrated.

The line combinations didn't include Alfredsson, Jesse Winchester, or Chris Neil, but were as follows in practice (according to TSN's Ice Chips):

Heatley - Kelly - Foligno
Zubov - Fisher - Donovan
Ruutu - Spezza/McAmmond - Vermette

You may notice that the pairing of Ilya Zubov and Mike Fisher stayed together, but were playing with Shean Donovan on the right wing. I think that, if the CASH Line is to be split, let's throw Alfie out there with Zubov so the youngster has someone to set up.

Still, no matter how hard a player is working, the offensive specialists need to score goals. If I could offer my two cents to the situation, I think a benching might be in order. But I'm not talking about a punitive benching, I'm talking constructive benching. Take a player like Antoine Vermette; he's working as hard as ever, but not getting results. It's not because he's somehow lost the skills that he scored 92 goals in the previous four seasons for, it's because he can't catch any breaks, and isn't playing smart. So scratch him for a night, ask him to sit in the press box and take notes on the way the plays are developing, and how/where his teammates would be better suited to be playing.

Explain to the media that it's not an attempt to punish Vermette or to wake him up, because he--along with most of the Senators--already realize that they have to play better and score more. Rather, it's an attempt to give Vermette an idea of the greater scope of the way the team is playing, and hopefully see some simple change that he has to make in his game in order to rediscover his ability to score goals (even if it is only 20 on the season).

The Game That Never Happened: Sens 1, Caps 5

This photo was constructed in Photoshop. There was no game in which it could have been taken.

Let's just pretend that there was no 5-1 loss last night. It will be easy for me because I didn't watch the game that didn't happen, so we'll just act like the Sens only play 81 games this regular season. Awesome.

We can still give statistical credit to the players who took part in The Game That Never Happened, though; Jesse Winchester scored his third goal of the season, because he needs it, and Nick Foligno and Alex Picard still notched assists.

There is, however, the unfortunate incident of trying to explain Anton Volchenkov's fluke injury. It's easy, really; he was using his snowblower on the outdoor rink, and when he ran over a puck it shot it out--but Volchenkov jumped in front of it, out of habit, and suffered an injury. For that reason, Brian Lee has been recalled from Binghamton. Even though Brendan Bell is already here, as is Christoph Schubert. But whatever.

Ilya Zubov was also called up from Bingo today, probably because Craig Hartsburg is going to scratch a forward in an effort to wake up his team. Will it work? Nothing's made them smarten up yet, but that doesn't mean it's not worth a try. I'm not sure, at this point, which player will be out of the lineup. Nor am I sure whether or not Dean McAmmond is ready to play, but I don't think he is.

And Martin Gerber will start tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning? That might be a can of worms you would rather leave closed, Hartsburg. Alex Auld is not the problem here. Hopefully it's just giving Auld another break.

To be honest, I can't believe a trade hasn't happened yet. I would say one is inevitable, but I've thought that trades were inevitable at many points this season and last season, and they just didn't happen.

Gerber gets game against Chicago

Craig Hartsburg announced today that, with the team playing four games in six nights this week, Martin Gerber will get his first start in over a month on Wednesday against Chicago. Gerber's 1-4-1 record isn't pretty, and his play so far this season hasn't been, either, but he was going to get an opportunity to get back on the horse at some point soon.

Anyone who interprets this move as a result of Alex Auld's play last night against Florida is wrong. Auld has earned the number one position, and although he didnt' have his best game Monday, he's still the far-and-away number one going forward--regardless of what happens in the game on Wednesday. However, the fatigue that would come with playing 11 consecutive games, as Auld has done, may be a reason why he didn't play so well last night, and therefore why he's getting a rest on Wednesday.

It was also announced that Dean McAmmond didn't make the mini road-trip with the team, as he hasn't been able to shake the throat infection that has kept him out of the lineup since Nov. 22. Which is too bad, because--as fun as it is to watch Cody Bass play--the fourth line could really D-Mac's speed.

For anyone who hasn't got TSN2, there are (somewhat illegitimate) ways you can watch the game, anyway: Live streaming online. It doesn't appear to be available on that old standby, myP2P.eu, but the folks at The Senate Committee are saying they're going to have the streamcast available on their blog, so check it out.

In other, more immediate news, Montréal is playing Calgary tonight. No Habs No!

Never break up the Pizza line... ever

In light of the Sens' 5-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers, it has become overwhelmingly obvious that the line of Spezza-Heatley-Alfredsson should never be broken up. They are the engine that propels the Senators offensively, and much pieces of an engine, they don't work well unless they're in the same place at the same time (don't ask about the time I forgot to put the brakes back on my '94 Honda Accord).

Has any experiment where those three players were dispursed to different lines led to success? Bochenski, Winchester, Ruutu, Foligno, Neil... has any player in recent memory filled in well in Alfredsson's absence?

Until Bryan Murray acquires another scorer, the Senators will live and die with their top line. Replacing any of Spezza, Heatley, or Alfredsson simply demonstrates this point. Craig Hartsburg, do not break them up again this season, don't even try it.

Sure, John Paddock demonstrated that playing the top line too much leads to failure -- so don't do that. But trying to create secondary scoring by splitting the only line that produces offence has only led to one result: losses. Let's not go down that route again. This season, those losses could result in the Sens missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.

Thrashed: Sens 5, Thrashers 1

I guess that's why everyone wanted to re-unite the CASH Line, right Craig Hartsburg? Now that they appear to be used to each other once again, they can score their normal six-points-per-game combined, or more.

Jason Spezza looked good. He had a goal, was strong on the puck, and made some good, smart plays with it. But Dany Heatley was better. He was consistently backchecking hard and forechecking hard, had a goal and two assists, two takeaways (versus only one giveaway), and a blocked shot. Best of all, though, was Daniel Alfredsson (what else is new?). Pierre MacGuire climaxed at Alfie's hockey smarts during his penalty killing, and his all-around play was first-star material (even if he only got second star).

Who needs Antoine Vermette to score when we've got Shean Donovan and Brendan Bell? Okay, you're right, the Senators do, but it's really nice when other depth players chip in, too. Donovan's goal was just speed and control, and a nice shot, and it really does look like he might be playing the best hockey of his career. He had seven shots on the night, more than any other Senator, and his 12:21 in ice time was probably a season-high. As for Bell, whos scored a goal and added an assist, this was definitely his best game offensively for the O-Sens, and he looks like he belongs. His puck control along the blue line is really impressive, and that shot he took to score his powerplay goal was a rocket.

Epic penalty killing in the second period. Six penalties for the Sens, including two five-on-three scenarios and more than four minutes straight in the latter half of the period, and no goals against. It was where Alex Auld looked his best on the night, Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov were behemoths defensively, and Alfie and Vermette ragged the puck and blocked shots. It was an impressive show of gritty desperation, and--most importantly--the system didn't fall apart as it was continually pressured. Powerplay was as good as it's been all year, too, and went 2-for-3 on the night.

And it's starting to look like Filip Kuba has got his groove back. After 14 points in 13 games to start the season, he had one point (a goal) in the following eight. He's now got three assists in his last two games, and Orlando Bean (Orlando Bloom mixed with Mr. Bean? Anyone?) has 20 points in 23 games this year.

Jesse Winchester more than doubled his penalty minutes on the year with his two fights during the game. Where did that come from? He's had an edge to his play for the last couple games, throwing some hits and now a couple of fights, and I like it. He's not scoring like a top-six forward, but he's definitely playing like an NHLer. Cody Bass had a fight, too, and fared a bit better than Winchester did. (Check out the blog Thursday morning for a Fight Card of the night.)

Ice-time disparity watch: Mike Fisher led the Sens' forwards in ice time with 20:19, but that's got a lot to do with his time on the point during the powerplay. Lowest ice time was Cody Bass with 7:11, and it really looks like Hartsburg is interested in rolling four lines to balance the attack and keep the top line from wearing out. It might have something to do with playing the Atlanta Thrashers, but it's still an interesting note.

Sens lose, despite moustaches: Habs 3, Sens 2 (SO)

Taken in isolation, this was a great game for the Senators, and an exciting game overall. As the most recent loss in a six-game losing streak it's disappointing, especially given Ottawa's continued impotence in the shootout, but there were a lot of positive things that will come out of the game. Ottawa played hard for sixty-five minutes, controlling a lot of the play and really deserving a better fate. Dem's da breaks, though; at least they're playing well defensively these days. And Alex Auld is likely playing the best hockey of his career.

The shootout; the bane of my existence (and that of most Sens fans). I don't know why the Sens can't win in the shootout, but they've apparently been working on it in practice and will need to continue doing so if they're going to get a few bonus points and improve the 7-20 all-time shootout record. A good start, though, would be benching Antoine Vermette in the shootout. I don't know if they keep track of whether or not a player gets a shot in the shootout, but I know that Vermette has a hard enough time getting a shot away, let alone scoring a goal, even if he is among the team's leaders. Jason Spezza made it look easy, and Jarkko Ruutu's shot would have gone in on most goaltenders not named Carey Price, but Vermette looked like he deked himself out. The puck may have been rolling, but it's just another piece of evidence filed under the shootout category. I don't know if Dany Heatley would be better, as Black Aces suggests, but anyone who gets a shot away has a better chance than Vermette at this point.

Anyway, back to the game; let's talk desperation. Let's talk Nick Foligno's goal tonight. The kid's been suffering through a terrible drought, and not just bad luck, but he hasn't even really been making the opportunities to score, and his ice time had diminished as a result. He was still getting an opportunity one the powerplay, though, and when he saw that free puck lying beside Price, he--literally--jumped at it. And I'm pretty sure I've seen Foligno dive for a loose puck stick-first earlier in the season.

Thanks, in part, to Foligno's intensity tonight, but in larger part to Cody Bass' intensity tonight, and in some part to Ilya Zubov's puck control, the Bingo line was likely Ottawa's most effective line on the night. Anyone watching knew when that line was on the ice, but for positive reasons, like a hard forecheck and an effective cycle. I was disappointed to see them get such little ice time in the third period after such a good first two, especially with Bass only playing 5:34 overall. It was a close race, however, as the third line of Dean McAmmond, Shean Donovan, and Ruutu generated plenty of energy for the team as well. D-Mac was, once again, very solid defensively, but I lost count of the number of times Donovan was breaking into the Montreal zone leading the rush. He may only have finished with two shots on net, but he certainly looked like he had more.

The defence, pretty much to a man, was very strong. They were usually able to keep the Habs to the perimeter, and cleared many dangerous pucks the odd time Auld didn't swallow the rebound. Of particular note was Alex Picard, who played what was probably his best game in a Sens uniform and earned two assists for his effort. The whole corps deserves credit, though, and Brendan Bell definitely looks like he fits on that second powerplay unit and that third d-pairing.

The least effective line was probably the CASH Line, but that's not to say they weren't working hard. Dany Heatley was backchecking (!) hard and laid a few solid hits, Daniel Alfredsson never seems to take a night off (and tonight was no exception), and Spezza seemed--at times--to have the puck on a string, their passes just weren't connecting. It looks like the line, and especially Spezza, are trying to make the perfect play, but often times the ones that go in aren't perfect, and tonight's two Sens goals are proof of that. Sometimes you've just got to get ugly, and they need only look to Jason Smith's fu manchu to see that fact.

Foligno's goal notwithstanding, the Senators powerplay was terrible on the whole. It might have had something to do with Price's ability to handle the puck and the Canadiens effective penalty kill, but it had a lot more to do with an inability to win faceoffs and poor--and poorly thought-out--passes.

What is wrong with Vermette? How many chances does this guy need? GAH! Sorry. I'm sure Vermette is even more frustrated than I or any other fans are, but it's so hard to watch. He failed on two glorious scoring chances, the first set up by Zubov on the powerplay after Vermette deked out Price but shot the puck behind Price across the front of the open net, and the second after Jesse Winchester passed to Chris Kelly, who passed to Vermette as he cut in front of Price--but Price stretched his legs out and Vermette couldn't get the puck up and over. The second one was an amazing save, but this guy's got to get it going.

From someone who can't finish to someone who's a bit premature: The refs need to get the rules straight. Or at least watch the play more closely, because Anton Volchenkov goal did not--absolutely not--see any possession by a Montreal player, and so the play should not have been whistled down on the delayed Alex Kovalev tripping penalty. It was a blown call by Don VanMassenhoven, and it cost the Senators the go-ahead goal at a pivotal point in the game. And even just for sentimental purposes, Frankenstein doesn't get that many goals in a given season; give him a break, will ya? And an interesting point was apparently made by the crew at RDS: Why didn't Craig Hartsburg absolutely lose it on the refs? It wouldn't have changed the call, granted, but it could have made the refs a little more sympathetic to the Sens later on, and it definitely would have charged up his players--all of whom are being asked to play with emotion. Lose it, Hartsburg. Just rip into the refs next time. Throw a bench or a stick or wave a towel or something.

Let's hope this is one of those games that sometimes happen when you're coming off a losing streak; you lose games that you should have won. Because then it means this losing streak might be over, and soon.

And holy shit, Smith's fu manchu looks amazing. In a ridiculously self-acknowledged ugliness sort of way.

Alfie's pissed

According to the Ottawa Sun, Daniel Alfredsson expressed his frustration in practice today by smashing a pane of glass with his stick. Apparently Dany Heatley also had a "heated discussion" with Chris Kelly, and then Heater had a long talk with Craig Hartsburg. You can watch a video on SUN Video here (but don't expect to see the glass actually get smashed).

This is all second-hand information from Bruce Garrioch, so I don't know how 'heated' the discussion was, or exactly what precipitated Alfie's outburst (apparently it was because the team couldn't complete a drill). But I'm not sure it's a bad thing; at least it's some emotion. The team is obviously searching for answers after a pretty thorough beating at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens. Given some criticisms about Alfredsson's leadership or hesitance to make his feelings known, I think everyone knows where he's at right now.

In his search for answers, Hartsburg scrambled the lines today in practice:

Heatley-Spezza-Foligno
Winchester-Fisher-Alfredsson
Donovan-Kelly-Vermette
Ruutu-McAmmond-Neil

Obviously Jarkko Ruutu is now suspended, and it's unclear where callup Ryan Shannon will fit into the lineup. Given his defensive lacking and offensive flair, I think Shannon might pull right up onto a line with Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out for sure.

It was also announced today that Alex Auld will be in nets again on Thursday against the Islanders. He's earned at least a few starts with how he's been playing.