Speculation: Ottawa all but eliminated from playoffs?

[robsenz]

It's not over until the fat lady sings but they are still giving up too many penalties, too many turnovers, some of these fancy boys don't compete hard enough & they spend too much time in their own end. They need to change quite a few things regarding how they play & I'm not sure this team can change that much in their game as quickly as they need to as a group to win as many games as they need to in order to make it to the playoffs.

agreed, those drop passes to the opposing team at our hash marks need to stop asap. Penalties have been bad too.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

Well i think its safe to say were eliminated from playoff contention now. Partly due to the refs screwing us over all year partly due to a terrible pk

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Yup. That lack of killer instinct hurts us again.

 

[Spez]

Not eliminated but we BADLY need the rangers to fall off a cliff. We'll see if the team is capable on going on a 12-4 run while making sure no pts are given up to teams we're chasing.

 

[John Holmes*]

Not happening.

It's game 66 and they still can't put a 60 minute effort together.

They don't deserve to be in the playoffs.

 

[QuietOnTheFront]

It's all because of that stupid playoff thread made a while back..

That why we're going to make the playoffs one..

It's all because of that. Bad karma.

 

[Beranek]

Would be awesome if this is what sparks them and they get pissed and go on a 6 or 7 game winning streak.

 

[Senscore]

If you realize it was over a while ago, you will be less mad.

 

[EssendonBombers]

If you realize it was over a while ago, you will be less mad.

Yep. Was over when they lost to the Oilers and the Flames.

Still mad though.

 

[Qward]

yeah. I am done. I am not investing anymore emotions in the team until July 1st.

 

[Senscore]

Yep. Was over when they lost to the Oilers and the Flames.

Still mad though.

Detroit for me, personally.


And we should definitely be mad. This is certainly something to be mad about.

But it didn't cost us a playoff spot.

 

[SilverSeven]

The loss in Boston before the Olympic break. The butt whooping to Detroit at home the first game back and the loss to Edmonton pretty much put the nail in the coffin.

Very hard to catch teams that are desperate just like us. I want Murry fired or some MAJOR changes to our back end. From Game 1 of the season, our D was mediocre and nothing was done to address it. It will be the same next year if nothing is done.

Rebuild.

 

[pepty]

Detroit for me, personally.


And we should definitely be mad. This is certainly something to be mad about.

But it didn't cost us a playoff spot.

Agree-this was infuriating but our slow start is what put them in this spot.

Detroit for me too and/or Columbus.

 

[StefanW]

Falling flat against Detroit after the break was the point I figured it was probably over. If you fall that flat in a game that is that important the odds of turning things around are slim or none.

 

[Xspyrit]

6-13 in OT/SO, can't expect to make the playoffs in this high parity league unless you're the Chicago Blackhawks (they're 5-14)

http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fetchKey=20142ALLSAAAll&sort=otWins&viewName=overtimeRecords

With a good record in those situations, Sens would be in a Playoffs spot. Pissed away too many points this year.

 

[Hale The Villain]

If this team were to make the playoffs, what does that say about the current state of the NHL?

A team with bottom 3 goaltending and defense all year long, that has been inconsistent and lazy for almost the entire season, with a number of underachieving, mediocre forwards, should not be anywhere near the playoffs.

 

[EssendonBombers]

Detroit for me, personally.

That's the point where I thought this team isn't good enough to make the playoffs. But the game when the playoffs truly became out of reach were the Alberta games. If they had taken 4 points vs the Oilers and the Flames we'd be tied with Detroit and 2 points back of Philly for the final wildcard spot.

 

[Slow Hands]

As angry as I am about the habs game tonight, accepting that this isn't a playoff team makes it less infuriating. The only thing that angers me now is the way the team pissed away points in the first part of the season.

 

[Step]

6-13 in OT/SO, can't expect to make the playoffs in this high parity league unless you're the Chicago Blackhawks (they're 5-14)

http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fetchKey=20142ALLSAAAll&sort=otWins&viewName=overtimeRecords

With a good record in those situations, Sens would be in a Playoffs spot. Pissed away too many points this year.

Yeap, well said.

 

[Ouroboros]

6-13 in OT/SO, can't expect to make the playoffs in this high parity league unless you're the Chicago Blackhawks (they're 5-14)

http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fetchKey=20142ALLSAAAll&sort=otWins&viewName=overtimeRecords

With a good record in those situations, Sens would be in a Playoffs spot. Pissed away too many points this year.

That's part of it for sure.

Another part of it is that they've lost 6 times in games which they held a 2 or more goal lead.

That's what makes a bubble team.

 

[elicw10]

We just looked a little young and inexperienced this year.

Ryan and Spezza never clicked, Milan skated like someone coming off a lower body injury, and Karlsson's lengthy break from playing showed in some questionable decision making (particularly early in the season).

On the flip side, I do like the future of this team, basically in every position except a for three or four holes on the top two lines.

We were 26th in payroll. These are the teams with 5 million in cap space or less (with me rounding up Nashville's 4.96) with their league position as of right now underneath in bold.
(FLA-30 | NYI-29 | COL-28 | CAL-27 | OTT-26 | EDM-25 | BUF-24 | NSH-23 ).
(FLA-28 | NYI-27 | COL-6 | CAL-26 | OTT-22 | EDM-29 | BUF-30 | NSH-24)

The fact that we even have the chance to make the playoffs with a good push at the end here, and we have a talented enough team to do so, is impressive. I'm not giving up yet, we do have a goaltender tandem that has the potential to steal the games we need here down the stretch, but I also think this team is worth watching.

Also, if we take anything away from this season, where would we be with three additional 2-million dollar a year NHLers? A strong push here is incentive for Melynk to at least spend to the cap in one year deals for the future. Last season made him think you can just make the playoffs without spending cash, but hopefully he glances at my makeshift chart above and learns from it.

However, the smart money is on him asking "well what about Colorado?"

 

[StefanW]

We just looked a little young and inexperienced this year.

Ryan and Spezza never clicked, Milan skated like someone coming off a lower body injury, and Karlsson's lengthy break from playing showed in some questionable decision making (particularly early in the season).

On the flip side, I do like the future of this team, basically in every position except a for three or four holes on the top two lines.

We were 26th in payroll. These are the teams with 5 million in cap space or less (with me rounding up Nashville's 4.96) with their league position as of right now underneath in bold.
(FLA-30 | NYI-29 | COL-28 | CAL-27 | OTT-26 | EDM-25 | BUF-24 | NSH-23 ).
(FLA-28 | NYI-27 | COL-6 | CAL-26 | OTT-22 | EDM-29 | BUF-30 | NSH-24)

The fact that we even have the chance to make the playoffs with a good push at the end here, and we have a talented enough team to do so, is impressive. I'm not giving up yet, we do have a goaltender tandem that has the potential to steal the games we need here down the stretch, but I also think this team is worth watching.

Also, if we take anything away from this season, where would we be with three additional 2-million dollar a year NHLers? A strong push here is incentive for Melynk to at least spend to the cap in one year deals for the future. Last season made him think you can just make the playoffs without spending cash, but hopefully he glances at my makeshift chart above and learns from it.

However, the smart money is on him asking "well what about Colorado?"

Yup, and I sincerely hope he does. Colorado owners apparently have deep pockets and they are going to open up their wallets this summer with their UFA and RFA crowd. They are definitely going to set a standard for how spending has to increase to maintain a solid core.

 

[John Holmes*]

The Olympic break is where some of you started losing faith?

Wow. I was out in November. The team has been absolute ass all season long.

 

[duul]

Big day today. San Jose up on NYR, and Detroit plays later tonight against Chicago. A win today is more than crucial, because Colorado is one of the 3 teams that they SHOULD lose to from now until the end of the season.

 

[jasonjim]

Not happening.

It's game 66 and they still can't put a 60 minute effort together.

They don't deserve to be in the playoffs.

Sadly what you say is true. This team needs a rebuild, but the right people have to exit not the consistently hard workers scarce as they are.