No matter what happens...

[orkid]

...I'm so proud of this team. Even if we miss, this has been an epic run and makes me excited for the future.

I don't really get how anyone could be disappointed or call us chokers after the start to the season we had. Zibby, Stone, Hoff, Pageau, and Lazar have all made huge leaps this year, even from where they started at the beginning of the season. Turris, Ryan, Mac, etc. etc. is a great core and we should be excited for whats in store. We have three solid goaltenders (I can see a fire being lit under Lehner's ass and him having a bounce back year if he gets the chance). A couple of moves to clear the dead weight and get a top 4 defender and we have a great chance at the playoffs next season.

If by some miracle we make it this season, it will be epic. But if we don't, the season was still redeemed for me when you consider where we were two months ago.

The future is bright.

Click to read more...

 

[God Says No]

I second this. Incredible ride. Kind of lost in all of this is the experience all our rookies/young players are getting in this run.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Yea seeing the development of the kids has been a treat. The only downside I see IF we miss the playoffs is how long we will have to wait for next season to start. It will be a loooong summer.

 

[Xamar*]

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

It is quite a ride.

I think a bit of time will help heal the wounds. When we look back at this run in the summer, we'll all be happy it happened. This experience will do more to improve and grow the team than a whatever pick could. The kids need to be in a competitive, winning environment.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

It's hard to swallow, but yes, this is a year to remember regardless of how it ends.

Maybe just maybe the hockey gods will smile on us for anti tanking and hand us Mcdavid.

 

[Sens Rule]

I won't give up on the playoffs but I agree.

Winning is the best thing for any and every team. And this team will be 85-90% the same next year. Playing virtual playoff games for 15-20 games will pay huge dividends.

You win by winning and even the more lackluster first half put us in a position for a couple of months of do or die games. Resign Hammond. Go into training camp feeling good.

We will be very good next year. I believe.

 

[dingbatz]

[nhl]788098[/nhl]

 

[Six Assets]

Good run. Hopefully we can keep it up next year and break the trend of having a good year followed by a bad one.

Thankfully, the draft is very strong so 14th isn't too bad.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

It's hard to swallow, but yes, this is a year to remember regardless of how it ends.

Maybe just maybe the hockey gods will smile on us for anti tanking and hand us Mcdavid.

Seriously. Or we get lucky and a kid like Marner drops down to us

 

[Karlsson2Turris*]

Some people will still cry about not getting Strome/Marner.

I swear I read on here back when we were losing that 2 #1 overall picks are better than winning 2 cups because it leads to more sustained success....

 

[StefanW]

This Sens team has been fun to watch during this streak. Hopefully they will come back next Oct and keep playing entertaining hockey.

 

[Othello*]

Going to be a huge offseason.

 

[BonkTastic]

...I'm so proud of this team. Even if we miss, this has been an epic run and makes me excited for the future.

I don't really get how anyone could be disappointed or call us chokers after the start to the season we had. Zibby, Stone, Hoff, Pageau, and Lazar have all made huge leaps this year, even from where they started at the beginning of the season. Turris, Ryan, Mac, etc. etc. is a great core and we should be excited for whats in store. We have three solid goaltenders (I can see a fire being lit under Lehner's ass and him having a bounce back year if he gets the chance). A couple of moves to clear the dead weight and get a top 4 defender and we have a great chance at the playoffs next season.

If by some miracle we make it this season, it will be epic. But if we don't, the season was still redeemed for me when you consider where we were two months ago.

The future is bright.

Best thread is obviously this thread.

 

[HispanicAtTheDisco]

This is the most complete Sens team I have seen in a while.

We have four top 6 wingers in Stone, Hoffman, Ryan, and MacArthur. Who would have thought that MacArthur and Ryan would be the ones with the question marks instead of Hoffman and Stone?
We have two top 6 centers in Turris and Zibanejad. Zibby is looking like he can be a legitimate #1 guy.
We have what could be an elite third line in Condra, Pageau, and Lazar.
I love Michalek and Chiasson on the wings of the "4th line."
We also have the depth that allows us to deal with injuries, Prince and Puempel have shown they can be serviceable in the top 6 for a short time, and guys like Grant and possibly Robinson can fill out depth roles.

We have. IMO, one of the best top pairs in the league in Methot and Karlsson.
There's also a young #3 puck mover in Ceci.
Wiercioch is an inconsistent wildcard, he can be anything from a stable top 4 to a garbage #7.

I have no idea what to say about the goaltending though...

 

[QuietOnTheFront]

Great thread.

This run has been amazing and in some ways a lot of it comes down to player usage, something these boards argued about ad nauseam. Great to see rookies step up with increased ice time. Stone and Zibanejad are proving to be staple top 6 options and Turris has been incredible for us during this push.

If we can carry this momentum into next year we might be sitting a little more comfortably next April.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Incredible run and plenty of reasons to be happy

However we've seen many teams over the years end the season on "next year we're going next level" and fail to do so

Ottawa in 2013-2014 and Dallas this season being prime examples of teams that took a big step back after solid seasons

I'm hopeful but I'm going with a "I'll believe it when I see it"

 

[Ttracer*]

Winning the cup is the goal. All the hard work done by this organization is for nothing because management doesn't have a clue.

I'm sick of the bad trades, and bad contracts. Our teams >25 year highlight was getting wiped out by Anaheim in the finals.

Just one season can this team bear down and put it together?

 

[swiftwin]

Even if we don't make the playoffs, we've been experiencing playoff hockey for the past 3 weeks.

 

[Sens Rule]

Winning the cup is the goal. All the hard work done by this organization is for nothing because management doesn't have a clue.

I'm sick of the bad trades, and bad contracts. Our teams >25 year highlight was getting wiped out by Anaheim in the finals.

Just one season can this team bear down and put it together?

Yeah we suck! Crappy team crappy year. I wish I was a Leafs... Fan! 1967!

 

[DrEasy]

This run is amazing and might be hard to replicate, but it's not a mere fluke. The team has been playing well and deserving most of the wins (and deserved to win in some of the losses as well). We have the right players and a coach who knows how to use them. Add Da Costa and a top 4 Dman and we'll be very scary! I'm definitely counting on reaching the playoffs next year and many more years after next year too!

 

[Real Smart Sens Fan]

Some people will still cry about not getting Strome/Marner.

I swear I read on here back when we were losing that 2 #1 overall picks are better than winning 2 cups because it leads to more sustained success....

As evidenced by the Pens 2 cups...

This run has been incredible and as long as it motivates our guys to work even harder in preparation for next year, we could very well be in position for a late-season run for home ice in the playoffs rather than just chasing the final spot. There are a lot of very good and well-structure teams in this league, and Ottawa is one of them.

 

[General Zodd]

No matter what happens...


I've had time to digest all this ******** tonight but deep down we surprised a lot teams this year and I'm proud to be a fan of this team. There is so much to look forward next year. Win or lose, I am still behind the Sens!!

 

[Real Smart Sens Fan]

Winning the cup is the goal. All the hard work done by this organization is for nothing because management doesn't have a clue.

I'm sick of the bad trades, and bad contracts. Our teams >25 year highlight was getting wiped out by Anaheim in the finals.

Just one season can this team bear down and put it together?

How long did L.A, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, NYR have to go without winning the Cup?

How long have NYI, Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, San Jose, Philly, Montreal been waiting for either their first Cup or another one? The Habs won the Cup at least, what, every 9 years (?) before this current "skid"? The league has incredible parity. It's hard to win and there are plenty of teams who have been far less successful than we've been since entering the league.

We have yet to take the final step, but that doesn't mean management doesn't have a clue. It's pretty clear that we've acquired quite a good pieces and assembled a pretty good team.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

As evidenced by the Pens 2 cups...

This run has been incredible and as long as it motivates our guys to work even harder in preparation for next year, we could very well be in position for a late-season run for home ice in the playoffs rather than just chasing the final spot. There are a lot of very good and well-structure teams in this league, and Ottawa is one of them.

This summer is definitely going to be key for the team.

At least Zibby, Erik, Turris and Ceci healthy, so they should have a really good chance to building up and getting things set for next year.

If Ryan is healthy, hopefully the staff will have him on a strong program...maybe drop a few pounds (worked wonders for Nash this year) and build up the core/leg strength and fine tune that skating.

Weir...get some muscle on that kid and work on the skating. Some more overall work with all our rookies.....

Going to be a busy summer for a lot of them.