Line Combos: Panic Thread. Projected Line up?

[topshelf15]

I'm kinda peeved because earlier this season I was barking about replacing Wideman because an injury to either Karlsson or Ceci meant he'd be in the top four. And now the worst case scenario has come true. Not enough depth on that right side!

It's not good when the armchair GM's are right

But but.... Ceci is garbage remember.He was our best defender last night until he got hurt ,yet some seem to think he is worthless because he cant do the things EK does

 

[BatherSeason]

Our D on Monday is going to be priceless. Likely the worst 6 we will have iced in 20+ years

We need to get healthy fast, can't see us winning any games if we ice a D consisting of Phaneuf/Boro/Jokipakka/Wideman/Claesson/Englund.

Injuries hit hard.

It will be Harpur and not Englund so its even gonna be uglier.

 

[Holdurbreathe]

It's interesting how people of your ilk can never criticize the guy without bringing up his salary as a way to shame him.

He is underperforming yes, we are all well aware of this fact. Repeatedly crying about it won't so anything. Taking solace in that he is playing well and just played a big role in a very big win does matter.

A lot.

Doesn't this hold true about anyone complaining about any of the players. coaching staff or management?

Fact is Ryan's salary is a huge problem simply because it makes him untradeable based on his level of production.

The biggest problem with this team is the he top six just isn't good enough and if the speculation about Zibanejad being traded was due to cost concerns, the impact of an underperforming Ryan's contract is even worse.

The reality is the top six has little room for improvement through player growth, with the possible exceptions of Dzingel and Stone.

I have excluded Hoffman from the top six since Boucher has him on the third line, but am amazed the coach has stuck with a top six that just hasn't been close to getting the job done for weeks.

The worst part of all of it is the fact this isn't going to get better for a few years at the earliest and losing a young developing Zibanejad due to affordability is going to make the scrutiny on Ryan's play even worse.

The really sad thing is Ryan played better and was more effective with Zibanejad than he has been with Brassard.

While the loss of EK is significant, the team wasn't overwhelmed by Winnipeg, but once again the "top six" was shut out and the PP produced nothing.

If Boucher had even found a reasonable solution for the PP the Sens would have clinched before all these injuries could be a factor/ excuse.

 

[Holdurbreathe]

It will be Harpur and not Englund so its even gonna be uglier.

Based on what??

Harpur is a much better D than Boro who Boucher and company thought should play 19 minutes vs the Jets!!!!

 

[Tuna99]

Exciting times. I think this is all good, adversity is what creates great teams.

EK getting rest, Smith, Stone had some time off. Andy is well rested. Lots of forward depth. It would of been nice to give Turris, Brassard, Pageau a game off before the playoffs, but we need those guys now, but the stars are well rested going into the playoffs - lots of positives right now.

It's hero time. Steve Duchesne's goal is still the 2nd biggest goal in Sens history - a Bobby Ryan hat trick, a Pageau last second game winner, Anderson with a 40 shot shutout, all good in Ottawa land. It's not time to panic, it's time for the history books.

 

[Blotto71]

Exciting times. I think this is all good, adversity is what creates great teams.

EK getting rest, Smith, Stone had some time off. Andy is well rested. Lots of forward depth. It would of been nice to give Turris, Brassard, Pageau a game off before the playoffs, but we need those guys now, but the stars are well rested going into the playoffs - lots of positives right now.

It's hero time. Steve Duchesne's goal is still the 2nd biggest goal in Sens history - a Bobby Ryan hat trick, a Pageau last second game winner, Anderson with a 40 shot shutout, all good in Ottawa land. It's not time to panic, it's time for the history books.

I applaud your optimism...I don't share it, but good on you!

 

[Sens]

Bolts win today and Sens lose tomorrow... it might be time to panic

 

[Tuna99]

I applaud your optimism...I don't share it, but good on you!

Try more Cow Bell

 

[Blotto71]

Try more Cow Bell

That's a good idea. There's always room for more cow bell!

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

If players dont care, and management dont care and coaching stuff dont care, why should we care ?

Where do you get the notion that the players don't care?

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

**** Pierre Dorion. Every single person on this forum could see the Sens needed a dman. The entire season I wanted Dorion to add a dman. At the trade deadline, I wanted the Sens to add a dman. Dorion decides to just role with what he's got. Everyone could tell that the Sens were an injury away from having bad defense, except Pierre Dorion. What a moron.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Doesn't this hold true about anyone complaining about any of the players. coaching staff or management?

Fact is Ryan's salary is a huge problem simply because it makes him untradeable based on his level of production.

The biggest problem with this team is the he top six just isn't good enough and if the speculation about Zibanejad being traded was due to cost concerns, the impact of an underperforming Ryan's contract is even worse.

The reality is the top six has little room for improvement through player growth, with the possible exceptions of Dzingel and Stone.

I have excluded Hoffman from the top six since Boucher has him on the third line, but am amazed the coach has stuck with a top six that just hasn't been close to getting the job done for weeks.

The worst part of all of it is the fact this isn't going to get better for a few years at the earliest and losing a young developing Zibanejad due to affordability is going to make the scrutiny on Ryan's play even worse.

The really sad thing is Ryan played better and was more effective with Zibanejad than he has been with Brassard.

While the loss of EK is significant, the team wasn't overwhelmed by Winnipeg, but once again the "top six" was shut out and the PP produced nothing.

If Boucher had even found a reasonable solution for the PP the Sens would have clinched before all these injuries could be a factor/ excuse.

Definitely agree that the PP being this bad could be the deciding factor if we miss the playoffs.

Crappy spot to be in considering how good Boucher has been.

 

[Tuna99]

**** Pierre Dorion. Every single person on this forum could see the Sens needed a dman. The entire season I wanted Dorion to add a dman. At the trade deadline, I wanted the Sens to add a dman. Dorion decides to just role with what he's got. Everyone could tell that the Sens were an injury away from having bad defense, except Pierre Dorion. What a moron.

Problem with giving up assets to get a top 4 D is you'll most definetly lose him in expansion. It would be a high price to pay for 20 games.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Problem with giving up assets to get a top 4 D is you'll most definetly lose him in expansion. It would be a high price to pay for 20 games.

Doesn't even have to be a proper top 4 dman. Michael Stone was available, and for cheap, they should've got him. If a proper top 4 dman isn't added this offseason, then Dorion will be without a doubt, the worst GM in the league.

 

[Tuna99]

Doesn't even have to be a proper top 4 dman. Michael Stone was available, and for cheap, they should've got him. If a proper top 4 dman isn't added this offseason, then Dorion will be without a doubt, the worst GM in the league.

I don't think Garth Snow is willing to give up the title that easily.

 

[BatherSeason]

Doesn't even have to be a proper top 4 dman. Michael Stone was available, and for cheap, they should've got him. If a proper top 4 dman isn't added this offseason, then Dorion will be without a doubt, the worst GM in the league.

Murray never addressed this issue either and defensive depth has been lacking for years. Problem is this management team actually likes what they have in Ceci/Boro. Until they realize that those two are problems nothing will change

 

[pm88]

Doesn't even have to be a proper top 4 dman. Michael Stone was available, and for cheap, they should've got him. If a proper top 4 dman isn't added this offseason, then Dorion will be without a doubt, the worst GM in the league.

I don't think Dorion is that awful but I do wish Ottawa had decided to bring in someone from outside the organization to lead this team after Murray decided to step down. Look at Toronto. That whole organization was a gongshow for years until they were able to lure guys like Babcock, Shanahan and Lamiorello to their team. Now, they're only a few years away from being a serious threat in this league.


Does this team have a single executive that has been a part of a championship winning team?

 

[Korpse]

Doesn't even have to be a proper top 4 dman. Michael Stone was available, and for cheap, they should've got him. If a proper top 4 dman isn't added this offseason, then Dorion will be without a doubt, the worst GM in the league.

Just don't complain about what it costs to add a top 4D. They aren't readily available at the best of times.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Murray never addressed this issue either and defensive depth has been lacking for years. Problem is this management team actually likes what they have in Ceci/Boro. Until they realize that those two are problems nothing will change

This has nothing to do with Ceci or even Boro. It has to do that outside of the 6 guys we were rolling, there is absolutely no depth in case of injury to the top 4. Even if Ottawa thought that the 6 guys they had were fine, they should've added another Wideman level of dman, in case there is injury.

 

[Sensfanatic]

The problem with this team dates back to the Murray era. He made a colossal error in judgement when he decided to build the team around big defencemen and didn't realize the trend was towards agile, slick, high IQ puck moving defence. Apart from Karlsson, there was Cowan, Gryba, Boro, Ceci, Methot, Pheneuf etc. All of these guys are relatively slow and mechanical in their movements and very inefficient in getting out of their own end. It has forced Boucher to play a "system" to compensate for the team's lack of puck moving ability and has relied too heavily on Karlsson.

When I watch the games, the most obvious difference with the top teams is the speed and effortlessness in exiting their zone. We are very predictable when trying to come out of our zone and other teams are exploiting it. Our offence is seriously hindered by this as they rarely have any speed through the neutral zone and are exhausted with the demanding back check system.

I think it will take years to correct this and I'm not sure Chabot will be enough. I have absolutely no faith in Dorion and his additions at the deadline suggest he doesn't have a clue what the team needs. The Burrows deal was enormously stupid.

You only have to watch a team like Chicago to see how little time they spend in their own zone and how lightning fast their d move the puck out to see what out team's major deficiency is.

 

[BatherSeason]

This has nothing to do with Ceci or even Boro. It has to do that outside of the 6 guys we were rolling, there is absolutely no depth in case of injury to the top 4. Even if Ottawa thought that the 6 guys they had were fine, they should've added another Wideman level of dman, in case there is injury.

Do you really trust this management group to do anything that makes sense? Even if they did, the players they would have added a Boro type

 

[Senscore]

Time to bring Alfie out of retirement.

 

[jason2020]

I don't think Dorion is that awful but I do wish Ottawa had decided to bring in someone from outside the organization to lead this team after Murray decided to step down. Look at Toronto. That whole organization was a gongshow for years until they were able to lure guys like Babcock, Shanahan and Lamiorello to their team. Now, they're only a few years away from being a serious threat in this league.


Does this team have a single executive that has been a part of a championship winning team?

The Leafs are still a long ways away from being a serious contender as for Lou I think he will be fired this summer and maybe even Shannahan.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

I don't think Dorion is that awful but I do wish Ottawa had decided to bring in someone from outside the organization to lead this team after Murray decided to step down. Look at Toronto. That whole organization was a gongshow for years until they were able to lure guys like Babcock, Shanahan and Lamiorello to their team. Now, they're only a few years away from being a serious threat in this league.


Does this team have a single executive that has been a part of a championship winning team?

They signed a head coach to the most lucrative coaching contract in league history. The Leafs have obviously done a very good job with their rebuild, but you can't really look at a team like Toronto that gets to do things on easy mode with what seems like an unlimited budget both on and off the ice, as well as enough corporate support that they can sell tickets regardless of the on ice product and apply those same standards to budget teams like Ottawa.

 

[Cynick]

What are the latest rumours about the returns of Ceci and Methot? Are they considered likely/unlikely for the playoffs (should they hang on)? Or, is there no information available currently to make a guess.

Also, I got the impression that Smith would be ready to go for the playoffs based on his missing "a few more games," is this the sense that others have as well?