Goalies in Ottawa: A history of mediocrity

James Duthie wrote an interesting piece for the Ottawa Citizen last week about the Sens' historical problems with goaltenders, notably finding someone who can steal games for the team in the playoffs.

In it, Duthie goes over a list of goaltenders that the Sens could have drafted, which is an excercise in futility. If you look at the list of 'could-have-beens', you'll be left with 29 teams that missed a diamond in the rough, and you'll spend days, weeks, or months examining it. The fact of the matter is that judging goaltending talent is not an easy task, especially when the players are at the young age of only 17 or 18.

Examining a list of recent goaltending prospects the Sens have drafted, you can see that the team has not properly assessed, or at least addressed, its most glaring weakness:

1. 2006 (5): Ryan Daniels
2. 2004 (3): Jeff Glass
3. 2003 (9): Brian Elliott
4. 2001 (4): Ray Emery
5. 1999 (2): Simon Lajeunesse
6. 1999 (6): Martin Prusek
7. 1998 (1): Mathieu Chouinard
8. 1997 (2): Jani Hurme
9. 1994 (4): Bryan Masotta
10. 1994 (9): Frederic Cassivi
11. 1993 (3): Patrick Charbonneau
12. 1993 (9): Tony Kvalevog
13. 1992 (11): Petter Ronnquist
    

Maybe Glass or Elliott are going to be great NHL goaltenders. But they certainly aren't there yet. There is a glaring need in the Senators front office, and that is a department to focus on addressing the biggest need for the Senators: goaltending.

Any Goaltending Department the Senators set up should include one or more scouts for the sole purpose of assessing the talent of goaltending prospects, and making judgements on them. Not only undrafted prospects, but also individuals playing on other teams who haven't been given the opportunity to develop properly.

Secondly, there is a need for goaltending coaches. Not only for the NHL squad, but also--and maybe more importantly--for the Binghamton team. Ron Low may have been a good goaltending coach, but he failed to show his abilities. As for Eli Wilson, the gong show surrounding how he was brought in--seemingly on the whim of Emery--really makes me wonder how effective or appropriate it was to have him in the organization. Well-respected former goaltenders who've made a successful transition into coaching are certainly rare, but the Senators need to find a way to have their goaltending prospects developed into true NHL players, and to keep them at the top of their game.

In his search for a head coach, maybe Bryan Murray should look for someone who's friendly with a good goalie coach. And maybe Eugene Melnyk or Roy Mlakar should recruit for the formation of a Goaltending Department.

Duthie hits the puck on the head... unlike Ovechkin

As much as I love James Duthie, I like being right more. In his blog he comes up with some very good suggestions for the Trick-shot shootout next year.

1. GET THE RIGHT PLAYERS
2. GET RID OF THE ALL-STAR GOALIES
3. GIVE THE PLAYERS MORE TIME/ATTEMPTS
4. HAND OUT NUMBERED PLACARDS TO THE FANS
5. CHANGE THE NAME

I've got another rule to add to this list...

6. IN ORDER TO WIN, YOU MUST SCORE

Ovechkin won the shootout without putting the puck in the net. Basically, he threw the puck in the air, spun around, and watched it hit the ice. *clap, clap, clap* If you got paid for effort rather than results, Chris Neil would be the league's highest paid player.

Instead, give the guy 60 seconds to work with. He gets rated on his best shot/move that goes in the net. And Duthie's right in his article, if that put went in, it would have been talked about for days. Instead, it's now a faded memory of what could and should have been.

James Duthie: Icon

I want to give my unequivocal endorsement to James Duthie's weekly blog, The Good, the bad, and the Duthie. This man is hilarious and his blogs match, if not exceed, the laugh quotient of a good Ian Mendes blog (check out Mendes does McGuire).

Other goings-on in the Senators blogosphere: Everyone is working hard and catching a cold.

Regular readers will note that my posts have become erratic and tardy of late. This is both due to work requirements and illness. I hope that both will resolved soon. So pelase bear with me and I’ll get back into my groove and get some better quality posts happening.
-- Sens Fan in Toronto

I'm having the week from heck so I apologize that posting will be light this week. Please bear with me as my work-load is rather overwhelming right now and I'm lucky enough to have that coupled with the fact I haven't been feeling too great recently. The rest of the blog-o-sphere should keep you company though so check out the sidebar for all your bloggy needs.
--Scarlett Ice

Let's hope this isn't some kind of Heroes-like virus that specifically targets Sens bloggers.

Let me also assure you that Peter and I have neither jobs, nor reasons to go outside and get viruses. We'll be with you forever.