Is this the lowest point in Senators history?

[Quo]

Mel Bridgeman.....now there was an epic 'stache.

"Ottawa apologizes..."

So bad.

Pretty much getting caught purposely tanking for Daigle. Why I don't believe in such sorcery.

Continually hapless on the ice, an amateur scouting staff that might as well have been random selections out of a salvation army shelter until Gauthier swooped in. Zero cash, bankruptcy and near bankruptcy. This freakin team man.

Had those early years happened when Twitter was around, I don't know if the franchise recovers from the mockery.

The team has been on the verge of relocation, and you think being a bubble playoff team (or slightly worse) is the lowpoint for the org?

The team is one of the youngest and least exerienced in the league. We have a franchise Dman, and solid young prospects. We have a good outlook in nets for now and the future. If we do poorly this year, we get a great pick, if Cameron rights the ship, we'll then we're back on track.

We were one of the best run orgs because we drafted and developed players so well, and the pre-cap UFA rules allowed us to keep our talent, then Muckler came and crippled the farm system in an attempt to push us over the top and the new cap/UFA rules forced us to shed talent. Now we are getting back to drafting and developing but without the high picks of the early years or the high payroll of the Muckler years.

Economics are to blame for the Bryden days, but not for Melnyk? Double standard much?

Gotta agree here as well.

 

[Micklebot]

Dear me yes, yes we have. Mel Bridgeman to Randy Sexton was absolutely epic mismanagement even for expansion standards. And I know that you feel that the team is supremely mismanaged now but I don't believe that's entirely true. Some things I really like, some things I'm curious about, some things I'd wish we could do better but 'lowest point in Sens history'? I just can't say that given the history of this team.

Yep.

Daigle was pretty epically mis-managed from the moment they signed him to that contract he was drafted. We legit tanked to get him resulting in the implimentation of the lottery, didn't trade the pick for Hextall, Owen, and Forsberg and mre picks, (lets ignore that we could have had Pronger or Kariya with that pick, since we were far too eager to draft a french canadian for marketing purposes). We signd him to the largest first contract in league history at the time (12.5 mil for 5 year) for litterally no reason (think about how Edmonton managed it's group of 1 OA picks and multiply that by 10). Management lobbied for Daigle over Yashin for the calder despite him being outplayed by the russian bear.

So ya, things could be worse.

 

[Alfie#11]

As others have pointed out, this isn't the lowest point. Not by a long shot.

When your team is in danger of moving and your star players defer money to allow for some deadline acquisitions, that's low.

The issue now is that there is no sense of direction or improvement. The team decided to trade players like Fisher and Kelly to go in a new direction and acquire young talent. After the Pesky Sens year, things really looked up. Since then it's been a massive fail losing the captain, not replacing veteran UFAs, dealing star players for peanuts, and fights with city hall.

The team hasn't been building toward anything. It's just competing on the cheap. The immediate boost we saw after dealing some of the vets was a sham. Melnyk and co. just got lucky. They didn't build on that uptick with good players to help along the young stars, instead they replace high level players with middling vets at half the salary and re-sign past their prime vets to get above the cap floor.

It's just depressing being a fan right now. We need a sense of direction and some real progress.

 

[Quo]

No one was expecting those immediate results and no one should be expecting them now. The real work started then is very much in progress. Granted, those early results after clearing house a bit probably play a significant role in the entire organization seemingly overvaluing some of our older players and overrating where we stand at present. If anything, we should have cleared house some more in 2011. Would this market embrace a young losing team to put enough butt's in the seats? History says no. Everywhere you go on social media says no because that's what we have right now. You get the two pronged approach and silly proclamations from management until that real work nears completion.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

If you have lost interest you are not a true fan. Perhaps follow the Sens and another team to help your "i have to win every year motto".

Losing stars? Who did we lose, Spezza and Hemsky? Both were expendable and aren't making Dallas a wow team either.

Not spending to the cap? Yeah so we can afford to pay our kids if they pan out and not have to trade away our FUTURE.

I remember when Boston was total garbage with a 30-30 record goalie named Tim Thomas. How did that all pan out in the end? Stop giving our fanbase such a bad rap.

We've already traded futures...Silfverberg, Noesen, countless second and first round picks for plumbers.

Spezza doesn't look so expendable these days with the team having trouble scoring more than two goals each night.

Yes, this is a dark period. A very dark period. We have a GM that thinks pond hockey is going to win a Cup ("No need for structure or planning, just play!" ) an owner that meddles in everything, a new coach every year and a half and very mediocre talent outside of a few players.

I miss the pre-Melnyk era, where our biggest concern was selling 1,500 season tickets so the team could stay afloat and we had exciting, fast hockey every night and the team had swagger as well.

It's harder and harder to watch this team and stay involved with the mediocrity it has embraced so fully.

 

[bacon25]

Yep, I'll echo others. Lowest point in recent memory, yes. Very hard to get excited about the rest of this season, and unfortunately I think things will get darker before they get brighter. But in the franchise's history? Not even close.

love your avatar, much lols

 

[Baby Ryan]

We've already traded futures...Silfverberg, Noesen, countless second and first round picks for plumbers.

Spezza doesn't look so expendable these days with the team having trouble scoring more than two goals each night.

Yes, this is a dark period. A very dark period. We have a GM that thinks pond hockey is going to win a Cup ("No need for structure or planning, just play!" ) an owner that meddles in everything, a new coach every year and a half and very mediocre talent outside of a few players.

I miss the pre-Melnyk era, where our biggest concern was selling 1,500 season tickets so the team could stay afloat and we had exciting, fast hockey every night and the team had swagger as well.

It's harder and harder to watch this team and stay involved with the mediocrity it has embraced so fully.

And what would Silfverberg and Noeson be able to do that Ryan can't?
Please elaborate. Ryan a plumber? Lol

Seriously, this emo stuff is getting out of hand.

We have a bright future, like Mickle said. I don't see the reason for gunning down the ship like this without giving the young guys a chance.

We have plenty in Binghamton and here in the NHL.

Lazar, Ceci, Cowen, Lehner, Chiasson, Hoffman, Stone, Pageau, Prince, Puempel, Zib, etc

Then the guys with decent experience in Methot, Karlsson, Ryan, MacArthur, Turris and Anderson.
A goalie that is carrying this team as much as he can on his back
A franchise elite offensive D
A proven goal scorer in Ryan who's also turning into a strong two way forward and showing some play making abilities

Seriously guys, the future is not as dark as some of you see it

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

No one was expecting those immediate results and no one should be expecting them now. The real work started then is very much in progress. Granted, those early results after clearing house a bit probably play a significant role in the entire organization seemingly overvaluing some of our older players and overrating where we stand at present. If anything, we should have cleared house some more in 2011. Would this market embrace a young losing team to put enough butt's in the seats? History says no. Everywhere you go on social media says no because that's what we have right now. You get the two pronged approach and silly proclamations from management until that real work nears completion.

I think the main problem is the lack of transparency with management to the fans.

Management kept pushing this absurd concept of "make the playoffs and anything can happen!". So they essentially tailored a partial rebuild focused on being a bubble team and raising expectations among the fanbase way too high.

I truly think, if they had torn down the team properly to the foundation, been honest in saying we will not be in the playoffs for a few years, and it will be a couple years after that where hopefully (if all goes according to plan) we'll be a contender....then I think the majority of fans would have gone with it.

And most importantly, stuck with the plan. Not to trade away futures and picks after one season of over-achieving.

 

[Micklebot]

We've already traded futures...Silfverberg, Noesen, countless second and first round picks for plumbers.

Spezza doesn't look so expendable these days with the team having trouble scoring more than two goals each night.

Yes, this is a dark period. A very dark period. We have a GM that thinks pond hockey is going to win a Cup ("No need for structure or planning, just play!" ) an owner that meddles in everything, a new coach every year and a half and very mediocre talent outside of a few players.

I miss the pre-Melnyk era, where our biggest concern was selling 1,500 season tickets so the team could stay afloat and we had exciting, fast hockey every night and the team had swagger as well.

It's harder and harder to watch this team and stay involved with the mediocrity it has embraced so fully.

I think people are misunderstanding Murray's comments here. He was a coach himself (and a pretty succesful one at that) so it's kind of absurd to think he doesn't want a system or structure at all. What he was getting at was that you can't be thinking about the system and be succesful, you need it to come naturally. I beleive he wanted the team to simplify, and build from there. As it was, forwards were trying to stretch out the opposition D by leaving the zone early and it resulted in no outlet pass. It's fine when you have Karlsson making the pass, but it simply doesn't work for Phillips, Gryba, Boro, or Cowen.

As far as Spezza not looking expendable, sure we're scoring a bit less (.27 less goals per game) but we're also allowing far less. The team needs a system that better suits it's personelle, MacLean was good when we had more depth on the backend and high end talent, but we need to simplify the breakout and come out as a unit. The problem was exacerbated with Methot out.

 

[Lenny the Lynx]

This thread might be a low points in Sens HF History
Only way from here is up

We've already traded futures...Silfverberg, Noesen, countless second and first round picks for plumbers.

Does countless mean 'several'
One first rd pick for Ryan, another for Rundblad but that was for Turris in the end which I think was a win.

 

[Micklebot]

I think the main problem is the lack of transparency with management to the fans.

Management kept pushing this absurd concept of "make the playoffs and anything can happen!". So they essentially tailored a partial rebuild focused on being a bubble team and raising expectations among the fanbase way too high.

I truly think, if they had torn down the team properly to the foundation, been honest in saying we will not be in the playoffs for a few years, and it will be a couple years after that where hopefully (if all goes according to plan) we'll be a contender....then I think the majority of fans would have gone with it.

And most importantly, stuck with the plan. Not to trade away futures and picks after one season of over-achieving.

This is a lot to ask. Might work for the season ticket holders (or at least a good chunk of them) but I suspect we'd see a lot less bums in the seats without at least the prospect of playoffs. Imo, current attendance is probably a best case scenario for a rebuilding team here.

As for trading away futures and picks I can only assume you are referring to the acquisiton of Ryan. To me, that one is a trade any team can and should make. He is the best player in the deal, and stil young. Futures are unpredictable, and high risk. Silf could turn out to be nothing more than a 3rd liner, Noesen may never make the NHL because of injuries and a first round pick that wasn't expected to even be as high as it was is far from a sure thing. Most 10th OA picks are closer to Valabik than Selanne.

 

[Quo]

I think the main problem is the lack of transparency with management to the fans.

Management kept pushing this absurd concept of "make the playoffs and anything can happen!". So they essentially tailored a partial rebuild focused on being a bubble team and raising expectations among the fanbase way too high.

I truly think, if they had torn down the team properly to the foundation, been honest in saying we will not be in the playoffs for a few years, and it will be a couple years after that where hopefully (if all goes according to plan) we'll be a contender....then I think the majority of fans would have gone with it.

And most importantly, stuck with the plan. Not to trade away futures and picks after one season of over-achieving.

They've been entirely transparent though! They have never hid their intention for the two pronged approach. It's not that I believe that they're dishonest. I think they genuinely believe they should have been a contending team earlier based on unreliable and, in some cases, unrepeatable phenomena. I disagree with that. Basically, it just wasn't ideal from a pure hockey perspective to go the route they did and to press it to this point.

We're still left with some very solid building blocks but facing an accelerated decline through the unexpected loss of key players like Alfie and Spezza, whatever their reasons were for leaving. To me at least, that goes well beyond just a magic dollar figure, given the myriad accounts of both situations and the retroactive after-effect the events of yesterday have on those past low points.

They seem to have scaled back expectations somewhat based on Murray's comments yesterday. Some of that does fall on the coach now since we're hearing darn near unanimity that he's alienated at least a segment of the room and has been doing so since Alf's departure despite his best intentions.

 

[Stylizer1]

Everytime we move forward we find out it wasn't the right move and then we take step back.

 

[starling]

LOL. What a dumb thread.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

This is a lot to ask. Might work for the season ticket holders (or at least a good chunk of them) but I suspect we'd see a lot less bums in the seats without at least the prospect of playoffs. Imo, current attendance is probably a best case scenario for a rebuilding team here.

As for trading away futures and picks I can only assume you are referring to the acquisiton of Ryan. To me, that one is a trade any team can and should make. He is the best player in the deal, and stil young. Futures are unpredictable, and high risk. Silf could turn out to be nothing more than a 3rd liner, Noesen may never make the NHL because of injuries and a first round pick that wasn't expected to even be as high as it was is far from a sure thing. Most 10th OA picks are closer to Valabik than Selanne.

True, kids and picks aren't a sure thing, but we also have to take optics into effect. Trading away a highly touted kid in Silf (whether he was actually any good or not isn't really relevant here) and a highly sought after first round pick basically told all the fans, loud and clear, the rebuild is over. It's pretty hard to continue to sell a rebuild or patience after a move like that, and honestly, in hindsight, I wouldn't have made the move.

I really like Bobby and am glad he's here with the team, but making a trade like that basically put our rebuild into neutral. You never switch into neutral when driving uphill.....especially when you're only a third of the way up a really big, steep hill.

 

[Quo]

Bobby was also young enough that he fit right in with the future of the club while also helping immediately. He was a perfect acquisition for this franchise's outlook.

 

[Xspyrit]

That being said I have no much time for the HF circus these days, but I'd need the laughs!

And what would Silfverberg and Noeson be able to do that Ryan can't?
Please elaborate. Ryan a plumber? Lol

Seriously, this emo stuff is getting out of hand.

We have a bright future, like Mickle said. I don't see the reason for gunning down the ship like this without giving the young guys a chance.

We have plenty in Binghamton and here in the NHL.

Lazar, Ceci, Cowen, Lehner, Chiasson, Hoffman, Stone, Pageau, Prince, Puempel, Zib, etc

Then the guys with decent experience in Methot, Karlsson, Ryan, MacArthur, Turris and Anderson.
A goalie that is carrying this team as much as he can on his back
A franchise elite offensive D
A proven goal scorer in Ryan who's also turning into a strong two way forward and showing some play making abilities

Seriously guys, the future is not as dark as some of you see it

Seriously, this board is like softer than the Spice Girls or 'N Sync

If I'd threw some eggs at it, they wouldn't even break. Grow a ****ing spin

 

[SAK11]

Lowest point in Sens history? Some of you are just being ridiculous.

Not that much has changed, they fired a coach who many believed had done a poor job for over a year now, too stubborn to help fix some of the glaring problems this team has. The players and management need to be held accountable too, but I have no problem with MacLean being fired, hopefully this lights a fire under this team.

This was a very young team from the get go. Ceci, Boro, Lazar, Hoffman and Stone are all in their first full years in the NHL, and all have significant roles.
Chiasson, Lehner, Zibanejad, and Cowen are also all very young, still yet to hit their potential, and relied on greatly by this team.
Everyone has been hoping that they add a veteran top 4 defenseman, or top 6 forward, or both, but the team seems to want to see what they have with their young players first, and that's not the end of the world.

 

[tony d]

Not even close. This team struggled when we first entered the league, we came close to bankruptcy and relocation. Yeah things aren't good right now but it's far from the worst time in the team's history.

 

[Super Cake]

This over dramatic ******** is really getting put of hand.

Lowest point in sens history?

 

[BonkTastic]

So are we in a consensus agreement that OP is the only one who thinks this way? Can we put this to bed? Yes?

OK, great. Good talk, everyone.

 

[Lenny the Lynx]

Everytime we move forward we find out it wasn't the right move and then we take step back.

Replace "we" with "every team that doesn't win the cup" in both cases and this statement becomes accurate.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

So are we in a consensus agreement that OP is the only one who thinks this way? Can we put this to bed? Yes?

OK, great. Good talk, everyone.

Seems to be the consensus. Let's shut 'er down.