Official End of Season Positivity Thread

Sir Karlsson

Registered User
Apr 9, 2017
120
0
Positives

Karlsson finally gets recognized for being a top 3 player in the league.

Anderson gave me confidence in net for the first time as a sens fan.

Mac continued to exceed expectations and looks as good as ever despite it looking like the end for him just months ago.

Claesson clearly a monster back there. Good stick, high IQ. I don't think we will have to play scrubs like Boro and Wideman for long, young talent is promising on the back end.

I'll be honest i am not a positive person. This one hurts pretty bad and i dont want to wait another 25 years for a cup or even a game 7 win. See you all next year.
 

DrEasy

Out rumptackling
Oct 3, 2010
10,908
6,568
Stützville
Yeah I'm not usually all that positive either, and maybe it's because of my low expectations that I'm not too disappointed right now, and mostly proud of our team.
 

Nac Mac Feegle

wee & free
Jun 10, 2011
34,828
9,251
Sometimes its better to be the "loser." This team has more heart, determination, more of everything than any team Ottawa has put on the ice....and more than any of our opponents could ever muster.

As far as I'm concerned, we did win the Cup. The NHL and their golden child be damned.
 

Sarcasticus

Registered User
Mar 25, 2010
442
0
Ottawa
This team exceeded my expectations in every way. I love the Sens and I love what they accomplished this year. For now and forever, GO SENS GO!
 

MarkZackKarl

Registered User
Jun 29, 2002
2,978
12
Ottawa
Visit site
I have been a fan of this team since 1997 and I can say without a doubt that this edition of the Sens had more heart and determination than weve ever had as a franchise. We are in good shape!
 

aragorn

Do The Right Thing
Aug 8, 2004
28,464
8,992
Very disappointing loss but they always are when they end the season especially given that this playoff run was very unexpected by almost everybody, fans & media alike. Hats off to the management team & coaches that helped get them this far & to all of the players involved all yr in their efforts to get the team this far. It didn't always look pretty & it sometimes looked bleak but in the end it took a fluke goal in double overtime in game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to finally end the Sens great season.

If Pageau would have gotten out of the way & not got hit by the puck Anderson would have had that shot. If Anderson was 2 inches taller on his knees the puck would have hit him on the shoulder & it would have dropped in front of him but it is what it is & the season is over. Now the fun starts with all the talk surrounding off season moves, the expansion draft, the entry draft & free agency. Should be a fun off season but this one is going to take a little bit of time to get over especially given that Ottawa had a great opportunity to win a Stanley Cup this yr as unreal as that may sound. Why the hell not us? Enjoy your summer everyone & let's hope they put together an even better team for next season. Go Sens Go.
 

Sens Rule

Registered User
Sep 22, 2005
21,251
73
Sometimes its better to be the "loser." This team has more heart, determination, more of everything than any team Ottawa has put on the ice....and more than any of our opponents could ever muster.

As far as I'm concerned, we did win the Cup. The NHL and their golden child be damned.

Well we didn't win. But they literally left it all on the ice. Regular season and playoffs. They were as good as they possibly could have been. If you lose to the defending champs in double OT of game 7 and you literally played as well as you possibly could... then losing is not even disappointing beyond the intial sting of it.

After stacked Sens teams from 03-08 continually beat themselves or showed mental fragility... this team just got clutcher the bigger the situation.... virtually every single game.

This team has huge balls. And did not ever doubt themselves. They played for each other, for the coach, for the fans. What more can you ask for as a fan? They played 101 games that way and came up just barely short of making the Cup final.

Chabot and White will be here next year, likely in significant roles improving the talent level. MacArthur and Andy should hopefully play full seasons. I think the anchor is off Ryan's back and he should have a good year. No one should really be expected to be at a point of decline.

I think we have a very strong club going into next year. Even if the media might not be hot for projecting the Sens as one of the better teams next year... every other player and coach in the NHL knows the Sens in the playoffs were not winning due to luck. They all will know the Sens are very difficult to beat. They won't let you have a lot if chances and if you get ahead they always fight back.
 

Benjamin

Differently Financed
Jun 14, 2010
31,118
438
yes
From a business POV this run had to be HUGE. The money generated and fans created will only strengthen this team going forward.
 

swiftwin

★SUMMER.OF.PIERRE★
Jul 26, 2005
23,559
12,935
Well we didn't win. But they literally left it all on the ice. Regular season and playoffs. They were as good as they possibly could have been. If you lose to the defending champs in double OT of game 7 and you literally played as well as you possibly could... then losing is not even disappointing beyond the intial sting of it.

After stacked Sens teams from 03-08 continually beat themselves or showed mental fragility... this team just got clutcher the bigger the situation.... virtually every single game.

This team has huge balls. And did not ever doubt themselves. They played for each other, for the coach, for the fans. What more can you ask for as a fan? They played 101 games that way and came up just barely short of making the Cup final.

Chabot and White will be here next year, likely in significant roles improving the talent level. MacArthur and Andy should hopefully play full seasons. I think the anchor is off Ryan's back and he should have a good year. No one should really be expected to be at a point of decline.

I think we have a very strong club going into next year. Even if the media might not be hot for projecting the Sens as one of the better teams next year... every other player and coach in the NHL knows the Sens in the playoffs were not winning due to luck. They all will know the Sens are very difficult to beat. They won't let you have a lot if chances and if you get ahead they always fight back.

So much this. Even last night, getting the first tying goal 20 seconds after the Pens goal was just insane. Just gutsy on so many levels.

This core of players has shown to be the "Pesky Sens" in the past, especially with the record breaking 2015 run to the playoffs. But this year, Boucher turned us into more than just "Pesky", he channeled that pesky energy into a confident, well prepared, mentally bullet-proof machine of a team. With this year's experience, I genuinely believe we're one big piece, or one big breakout away from being a perennial contender.
 

YouGotAStuGoing

Registered User
Mar 26, 2010
19,339
4,913
Ottawa, Ontario
The biggest positive: Matt Murray was wrong. Pittsburgh was not objectively the better team. We showed we can hang in with the best of the league and that can only mean good things to come.
 

saskriders

Can't Hold Leads
Sep 11, 2010
25,064
1,599
Calgary
The biggest positive: Matt Murray was wrong. Pittsburgh was not objectively the better team. We showed we can hang in with the best of the league and that can only mean good things to come.

Yep. We are able to play as a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. And who knows maybe improving the power play can make that whole better, and some additions can make the parts better too. I have high hopes for next year.
 

Senotaur

Registered User
Jan 9, 2007
290
4
Los Angeles
www.youtube.com
I've been in LA for most of the playoffs on business. It's the longest I've been away from my family and I miss my wife and kids so much. The one silver lining was that I've been able to watch more playoff hockey than I've seen since my oldest was born.

It was such a pleasure to watch the Sens find a way again and again. So many heroics. So much drama. So much emotion from watching the ups and downs and twists. The OTs, the awful power plays. I haven't enjoyed hockey this much in a long time. It renewed my love for the game and for our team.

I've also rarely posted here. I'm on the site a lot to read up on our prospects and some great opinions/analysis/rumours on the team. It was piles of fun to post more, pour over the GDTs and other playoff related threads. To laugh at the haters and chat with the non-troll fans from other teams. Roll my eyes at the whiners and feel smug as fans slowly learned to respect or hate our club. No one else I know in LA really cares about hockey and certainly not the Sens so it was great to come on HFboards and soak up the hockey atmosphere from my screen with fellow Sens fans.

Loved these playoffs and our team. Really appreciate this board even though I don't post that much. Thanks everyone!
 

SensHulk

Registered User
May 31, 2016
1,816
1,637
San Jose, CA
I've been in LA for most of the playoffs on business. It's the longest I've been away from my family and I miss my wife and kids so much. The one silver lining was that I've been able to watch more playoff hockey than I've seen since my oldest was born.

No one else I know in LA really cares about hockey and certainly not the Sens so it was great to come on HFboards and soak up the hockey atmosphere from my screen with fellow Sens fans.

...I care :cry:
 

Sun God Nika

Palestine <3.
Apr 22, 2013
19,860
8,246
28th overall to vegas to take Wideman in expansion.

Hoffman - Turris - Stone
MacArthur - Brassard - Ryan
Stalberg - Pageau - White
Dzingel - Smith - Pyatt
Burrows

Methot - Karlsson
Chabot - Phaneuf
Claesson - Ceci
Boro - Harpur

How can you not be positive about that deadly dcorps. If this team lands second or third in atlantic again we are gonna get another run.
 
Mar 20, 2006
4,422
449
Ottawa
I like the way Boucher put it about the team "The lemon was squeezed to its max..†I would say even beyond. Everybody pushing, buying in, doing whatever they were still capable to do and more.

You just can't ask anything more from a team and I can't think a team in the past where you could say that about pretty well the whole team. Very proud to be a fan of the team, and all Senator fans should hold their heads up.
 

coladin

Registered User
Sep 18, 2009
11,781
4,475
The playoffs are a good time to see what you have at times. And it was a coming out party at one level, for the likes of Karlsson, Anderson, and Ryan...and internally for players like Claesson and Harpur. Players performing when the stakes are highest is always a bonus for executives who have to ensure the pipeline is strong.

Claesson was just amazing and went from looking very nervous in the Boston series to playing with confidence right to the end.

Harpur was even more surprising, displaying to me a lot of the tributes that a young Wade Redden had, poise and vision and that good first pass, plus realizing that his size is an advantage. Huge building blocks in light of expansion draft.

I thought Turris played with maturity and made big plays at big times.

There is going to be the inevitable turnover and I will always have kind words for Chris Kelly and Chris Neil. I refuse to remember them as the shells they are today, but will remember all the plays, the memories and the pride they instilled in Senators fans.

I am very excited for next year, will be a long offseason for a change!
 

Tuna99

Registered User
Sep 26, 2009
14,712
6,797
For me it's all positive, to pick one I would go with Andy going deep and the team having some unfinished business coming into 2018. They will be motivated all summer, know they can win, but they know they'll have to be better and it wasn't a lucky bounce here or there.

I think as a group they know they can hang with anyone and Andy needed to prove that to the team before that belief set in. It's there now, and that's reason for excitement in 2018.
 

Larionov

Registered User
Feb 9, 2005
4,392
2,082
Ottawa, ON
Notwithstanding the fact that we will get no love (again) from the alleged experts heading into next season, I am extremely positive. Look at our roster overall, and then look at the fact that we have zero in the way of significant cap/contract problems heading into next year. The only core player who needs a new deal is Pageau - that's it. We also have two blue chip prospects ready to step right into our lineup in October and contribute right away.

Bottom line - there might be a few organizations out there with whom I might trade rosters, but not many. Conversely, there are a lot of clubs who would like to be in our shoes right now...
 

PeterSidorkiewicz

HFWF Tourney Undisputed Champion
Apr 30, 2004
32,442
9,701
Lansing, MI
From what people are saying Chabot might be ready next year? If he actually pans out like he's supposed to I love the thought of Karlsson and Chabot eating up over half the game in the future for us.

Once again it's on the assumption he's the real deal as you never really know until they play at this level, but I am looking forward to it.
 

NyQuil

Big F$&*in Q
Jan 5, 2005
95,345
59,235
Ottawa, ON
This team may well live up to the "veteran team plays better in the playoffs" reputation if they can make the playoffs again next year and make another dent.

I don't think it's an automatic qualification though. This was a long and tough season for this team. The Atlantic is actually becoming very competitive very quickly.

On the one hand, the physical battering and challenging season could make them start off slowly. On the other, if the roster remains relatively unchanged, we have a comfort level with system and personnel that we didn't have at the beginning of last year. Tough to say.

While I agree that circumstances regarding our opposition were in our favour this year, not everything was.

We had Karlsson on one leg. Stone's "most obvious injury in the universe because he is our best forward and he couldn't do anything" performance was as bad as I've seen him ever play as a Senator. Our defensive corps was injured right up until the end of the season and never really recovered - allowing us some decent looks as Harpur and Claesson. Who knows how well Anderson was focused.

Ultimately, I think the team did very well under the circumstances. Ryan's rejuvenation was terrific, and MacArthur's flashes of true top six performance remind everyone that our skill isn't restricted to just 2 or 3 players. Karlsson finally delivered that playoff performance that we'd been wishing for, and then some.

Going forward, I'm not expecting miracles from White, but I think Chabot could be a game breaker very quickly and could completely transform this team in 2-3 years. Two transition defenceman of that calibre makes us very difficult to play against. Hopefully Anderson can stay good that long. Brown will be in the AHL I think. He's much more of a project.

Like others have said, dumping Neil and Kelly solves a lot of issues for this team, particularly if we can keep Pyatt and Stalberg on the 4th line. I think we have a pretty serviceable line-up that is pretty underrated at times.

Bottom line, while the division is going to get better, I think this team can play better over the course of a season.
 
Mar 20, 2006
4,422
449
Ottawa
How quickly we forget that Mac didn't play in the NHL for almost two years.

I can also see a slow start to the season but the system has shown its worth and should at least keep them from dropping out of playoff contention.
 

swiftwin

★SUMMER.OF.PIERRE★
Jul 26, 2005
23,559
12,935
This team may well live up to the "veteran team plays better in the playoffs" reputation if they can make the playoffs again next year and make another dent.

I don't think it's an automatic qualification though. This was a long and tough season for this team. The Atlantic is actually becoming very competitive very quickly.

On the one hand, the physical battering and challenging season could make them start off slowly. On the other, if the roster remains relatively unchanged, we have a comfort level with system and personnel that we didn't have at the beginning of last year. Tough to say.

While I agree that circumstances regarding our opposition were in our favour this year, not everything was.

We had Karlsson on one leg. Stone's "most obvious injury in the universe because he is our best forward and he couldn't do anything" performance was as bad as I've seen him ever play as a Senator. Our defensive corps was injured right up until the end of the season and never really recovered - allowing us some decent looks as Harpur and Claesson. Who knows how well Anderson was focused.

Ultimately, I think the team did very well under the circumstances. Ryan's rejuvenation was terrific, and MacArthur's flashes of true top six performance remind everyone that our skill isn't restricted to just 2 or 3 players. Karlsson finally delivered that playoff performance that we'd been wishing for, and then some.

Going forward, I'm not expecting miracles from White, but I think Chabot could be a game breaker very quickly and could completely transform this team in 2-3 years. Two transition defenceman of that calibre makes us very difficult to play against. Hopefully Anderson can stay good that long. Brown will be in the AHL I think. He's much more of a project.

Like others have said, dumping Neil and Kelly solves a lot of issues for this team, particularly if we can keep Pyatt and Stalberg on the 4th line. I think we have a pretty serviceable line-up that is pretty underrated at times.

Bottom line, while the division is going to get better, I think this team can play better over the course of a season.

This team is the anti-early 2000's Sens teams. Back then we were always the favorites, and always failed.

We did a halfsie rebuild in 2010 that still left us with Alfie, Gonchar and Spezza as core players, which meant we made the playoffs in 2012 and 2013 under their leadership. 2013-14 was a rough transition year (with Spezza as captain).

But I'd say 2014-15 was the year our current core truly came into being. Spezza was gone. Karlsson was made captain. Stone, Hoffman and Ceci became regulars. Turris stepped up to the 1C role. We went on a historic phenomenal run at the end of the season to make the playoffs despite turbulent coaching (Maclean getting fired & Cameron not being much better). 2015-16 was an aberration due to bad coaching and an insane amount of injuries. Then, of course, this year, with the new coaching staff we made the playoffs despite injuries and leaves of absences. Then put a crazy run on the playoffs and pushed a dynasty-like team to a 2OT Game 7.

That's 2 of 3 years of this core group's existence that they've shown unbelievable veteran-like resilience and clutchiness. Something we've never experienced as Sens fans. The best part? Much of this core is young and just entering their prime. For comparison's sake, to put things in perspective, our only players that are older than Crosby (and Malkin) are:
-Bobby Ryan (only by a few months)
-Marc Methot
-Tom Pyatt
-Viktor Stalberg
-Clarke MacArthur
-Dion Phaneuf
-Craig Anderson
-Alex Burrows

Everybody also talks about us being lucky or fortunate. What's fortunate about us beating the Rangers? They were basically fully healthy. In the last 5 years, the Rangers made the SCF once, ECF twice, 2nd round once and 1st round once. They have more playoffs wins than the Penguins in the last 5 years. And we beat them fair and square.

We're a good team with a solid veteran-like young core entering their prime, and have a truly generational player. This was year 1 of our window opening. **** the non-believers.
 

BonkTastic

ಠ_ಠ
Nov 9, 2010
30,901
10,092
Parts Unknown
Complaining about how this season played out is like expecting to get a used 12 year old Toyota Corolla for your 18th birthday, getting surprised with a sweet brand new BMW, and then complaining that you didn't get a Maserati.

It was a great run.
 

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