What the HELL is wrong with the Ottawa Senators!?

[Jorge Garcia]

I would argue that healthy team like Tampa is on a different planet to Ottawa, Atlantic was all kinds of mess last year which allowed a "surprise" to happen.
It's been the weakest division but it's getting stronger and teams like Ottawa will have a difficult time with competing, they aren't as bad as they are playing right now.



Elite teams have their answers+ to those guys.

Ottawa destroyed the "superior" Met division last year, played average vs Atlantic teams. and absolutely sucked against really bad teams. No argument about healthy Tampa, they're scary good. But they were pretty lousy last year when they weren't so healthy. Having Karlsson limping around like an old man is kind of comparable to losing him completely. He hurts them more than he helps in this condition.

 

[InAllOurLeafsCommand]

I'll give you that. only ottawa senators fans thought they are a team that could go deep.

compared to the top teams in the conference, they're literally weaker at just about every roster spot.

their roster is easily bottom 10 in the league. may e bottom 5.

Bottom 3 team, currently.

 

[57special]

Distracted by thoughts about Christmas shopping?

 

[DFC]

What says that? His firing over many teams or that he has been fired a total of once in his career

He was fired when his team was showing almost identical signs to what Ottawa fans are reporting right now.

 

[shaner8989]

Beyond brutal team

That trade solidified a non playoff team

 

[pepty]

He was fired when his team was showing almost identical signs to what Ottawa fans are reporting right now.

He was fired in Tampa and in Switzerland after a stellar first year and then falling off a cliff in the second year.

Maybe other teams just figure out how to circumvent the system and he doesn't have a plan B.

Also Ottawa has had very poor goal tending this year and Karlsson, who drives most of the offence under Bouchers system, is not up to speed yet after serious off season surgery and no training camp. He is still not comfortable with his foot and may not really adjust until the end of
the season or more likely, next season.

 

[DFC]

He was fired in Tampa and in Switzerland after a stellar first year and then falling off a cliff in the second year.

Maybe other teams just figure out how to circumvent the system and he doesn't have a plan B.

Also Ottawa has had very poor goal tending this year and Karlsson, who drives most of the offence under Bouchers system, is not up to speed yet after serious off season surgery and no training camp. He is still not comfortable with his foot and may not really adjust until the end of
the season or more likely, next season.

TB also got, however unlikely, solid-to-stellar goaltending the year they overachieved with Boucher. It went into the sewer the next season, and, to be fair, Boucher never got good goaltending again during his TB stint, which undoubtedly shortened his tenure.

But still, reading posts from anti-Boucher Ottawa fans brings back a lot of memories.

 

[LeafFever]

But enough about the Leafs...

Yeah the Leafs look like they will miss the playoffs, don't they?...

 

[Ralph Malfredsson]

Worst team in the NHL.

NHL>>Sens

 

[Skobel24]

Their goaltending has been terrible. Karlsson looks like an empty shell compared to last year. The Turris trade has likely set them back quite a ways. Lack of scoring outside of the top line has been pathetic as well. When Ryan, Duchene, Smith, and Karlsson have a combined 5 goals, you're in trouble.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I haven't watched the Sens enough lately to know why they're failing but I hope it's because of their style of play.

I don't want Bouchers style to lead to success cause it's brutal to watch by neutrals and the league doesn't need neutral zone clogging and 6 keepers on the ice to be promoted.

I feel like dead hockey is becoming more popular than it should be.

Teams and fans should be aspiring to play like and support the tampas and pens and not the Wild and Sens.

Nothing against the Sens, but agreed.

It's similar to why I always sort of hope 6'6" goaltenders don't do well.

 

[Korpse]

I'll give you that. only ottawa senators fans thought they are a team that could go deep.

compared to the top teams in the conference, they're literally weaker at just about every roster spot.

their roster is easily bottom 10 in the league. may e bottom 5.

Sure that’s your opinion but that’s the beauty of hockey, it’s played on the ice. Last season they were a team that was top 10 in point percentage for 60+ games before they lost some key guys to injury and once they had everyone back they managed to make game 7 of th ECF.

 

[joe dirte]

Sure that’s your opinion but that’s the beauty of hockey, it’s played on the ice. Last season they were a team that was top 10 in point percentage for 60+ games before they lost some key guys to injury and once they had everyone back they managed to make game 7 of th ECF.

yes lots of shootout wins. lowest number of ROWs of all playoff teams. two opponents missing key components of their roster.

and now they're garbage. you can bring up ECF all you like, it means nothing anymore.

they simply aren't a good team. their roster is brutal.

 

[Korpse]

yes lots of shootout wins. lowest number of ROWs of all playoff teams. two opponents missing key components of their roster.

and now they're garbage. you can bring up ECF all you like, it means nothing anymore.

they simply aren't a good team. their roster is brutal.

If they continue to play like they have sure, I’d back you on calling them a brutal team. But we both know that eventually they will come out of it. The question is has too much damage been done to recover from it.

 

[winnipegger]

He was fired in Tampa and in Switzerland after a stellar first year and then falling off a cliff in the second year.

Maybe other teams just figure out how to circumvent the system and he doesn't have a plan B.

Also Ottawa has had very poor goal tending this year and Karlsson, who drives most of the offence under Bouchers system, is not up to speed yet after serious off season surgery and no training camp. He is still not comfortable with his foot and may not really adjust until the end of
the season or more likely, next season.

That's an optimistic way to look at it. A pessimist (or realist depending on your usage of language) might say his skating will never be the same. He doesn't look like the same player. Losing a step is a big deal in professional sports.

 

[Bruin4Life]

He was fired when his team was showing almost identical signs to what Ottawa fans are reporting right now.

You can't throw the "all the time" if all the time is once.

 

[Leafs87]

That Turris trade always looked bad because of how much they gave up for Duchene but now it’s looking really bad. Hard to blame Karlsson for likely wanting out

 

[Korpse]

That's an optimistic way to look at it. A pessimist (or realist depending on your usage of language) might say his skating will never be the same. He doesn't look like the same player. Losing a step is a big deal in professional sports.

It may affect his skating moving forward, but right now its really too soon to say. I think the issues right now go beyond losing a step, its not being able to push it at times because of discomfort. Theres also the fact that his off season training would have been severely limited, so he was a little behind to start off in terms of conditioning. One thing i'll say though is that there has been some improvement since he returned, obviously he still has a ways to go but it's encouraging to see. It should have been expected that he wouldn't come out of the gate being the Erik Karlsson we were use to seeing, so this start shouldn't be discouraging in regards to his future.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Do people who say Ottawa overpaid for Duchene realize that Turris was a UFA who had no chance at re-signing? Unless you consider Bowers, a protected 1st and a 3rd overpayment

 

[Volodya Krutov]

That's an optimistic way to look at it. A pessimist (or realist depending on your usage of language) might say his skating will never be the same. He doesn't look like the same player. Losing a step is a big deal in professional sports.

Warning : this post must be read only with its musical accompaniment.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

It may affect his skating moving forward, but right now its really too soon to say. I think the issues right now go beyond losing a step, its not being able to push it at times because of discomfort. Theres also the fact that his off season training would have been severely limited, so he was a little behind to start off in terms of conditioning. One thing i'll say though is that there has been some improvement since he returned, obviously he still has a ways to go but it's encouraging to see. It should have been expected that he wouldn't come out of the gate being the Erik Karlsson we were use to seeing, so this start shouldn't be discouraging in regards to his future.

Stralman looked mediocre for most of the past year after spending his off-season healing from a broken fibula, and people started to wonder whether he was finished. And he's probably playing the best hockey of his career right now.

 

[Korpse]

Stralman looked mediocre for most of the past year after spending his off-season healing from a broken fibula, and people started to wonder whether he was finished. And he's probably playing the best hockey of his career right now.

And Stralman is just one of many who have found themselves in a similar situation only to rebound. Some surgeries take time to recover from, Karlsson himself has been through this with his achilles tendon, many people were questioning if he would ever be the same.

 

[These Are The Days]

I would say only a little more than half the problem is coaching. Karlsson is clearly uncomfortable and he was always the engine that made the team go. However the forwards have all simultaneously hit a wall and they're frustrated. It's almost like the team needing an exorcism but can't get it. At this point the answers have to come from within the locker room. They don't look like a team that's given up as all. It's a stark contrast to the Lightning days. But the same component is that Boucher is categorically refusing to adjust. Rather than play 1-3-1 he's just playing a different trap and the offensive paralysis is quickly becoming exacerbated

He needs to let go of the noose. Players play and coaches coach. Right now Boucher is not letting them do that and they're going to shut down on him soon if this continues. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting different results. You can only listen to so much preaching about structure, limiting chances, control the neutral zone and yadda yadda yadda before the players abandon it. Like for example a fantastic adjustment would be to stop that stupid drop pass on every zone entry that everyone knows is coming. But will Boucher change it? Fat chance.