Ottawa Senators 2007-2008 Season Thread

[Indio]

Nothing interesting in Sens city. Might as well talk about a winning team. OK OK.... I’m shutting up.

Over and out.

Mike

LOTS of interesting things, just nothing good!

[jonf]

Only five teams have more goals against than the Sens.

Even with the most potent offense in the league (well, now tied with the Habs), the team's overall +/- is only +14.

That pretty much sums up this team.

[3Jack]

As a very successful pro athlete friend of mine used to say, "stats are for losers". Win come playoff time, and they become irrelevant. Lose come playoff time (first, make the playoffs!), and then stories can be told from stats.

[jonf]

I do agree, but you can't ignore the fact that this does not bode well for the playoffs. After their first nineteen games, their record is in the bottom five teams in the league. They need to start turning things around now, as they won't magically fix themselves when the playoffs hit.

[ghaakman]

If they make the playoffs, I will not be surprised to see them go out quickly and quietly.

BTW, I am a Sens fan !!

[Big Johnny69]

If they make the playoffs, I will not be surprised to see them go out quickly and quietly.

BTW, I am a Sens fan !!

I'm with the gman on this one. If they even make the playoffs, I don't see them hanging around for more than 5 games tops. That is unless they right the sinking ship and go on a tear for the rest of the season.

[Weazl]

I see them turning it on come playoff time actually and going deep. If they can get solid goaltending from gerber don't be surprised to see them come out of the east again or at least make it to the Conference finals.

[Baxter]

O my God...I hope all your ankles are better so you guys can jump back on the wagon.......PS...I am not a huge Sens fan but I am a Huge Hockey Fan and this is what I see....

I'll take the Sens to beat any one in the East......Of course they could lose..We have all seen a Goalie play GREAT and beat any team in the Playoffs.

Montreal - A Goalie could win this Series - Ottawa in 6 ???
NJ - A Goalie could win this Series - Ottawa in 6 ???
Pitt - A Goalie will lose this series - Ottawa in 4
NYR - A Goalie could win this series - Ottawa in 5??
Bos - Ottawa in 4
Phil - Ottawa in 5
Car - Ottawa in 5

The tough ones that could go either way are against the Teams with Better than average Goalies

I do not see the Sens beating the Ducks or the Flames maybe the Sharks but if any other Team wins the West they have a good shot....
Laugh at me if you wish but take your personal feelings out and look at the Playoffs with open eyes and not your Team color......Montreal, Rangers have a shot because they have on paper better goalies. The Devils have a better goalie and he is Great enough to win another CUP but the odds are he won't be able to do it all.

Hope you all heal fast....LOL

[rezadue]

Personally, I am pretty sure they will make the playoffs. As far as how far they go, I think the next few games will give us a good indication.

Although the points have not been there yet since Murray has taken over, one could see signs that the team is turning around its abysmal play of the last 50 games. At least the optimist in me thinks so!

[Shivas Irons]

I'm with Dave on this one, I can see the Sens getting things turned around and making a run deep in to the playoffs. I think they can still beat any team in the east. However it's likely moot, since the Stanley Cup Champion will almost certainly be a team from the west.

[Indio]

I agree, Murry will get them playing their system like it is supposed to be and they will make a run just like last year..... hopefully one more round won

[mberube]

It all depends on what western team makes it to the cup. If it’s a hard-hitting team then the West will win. The Sens and the Habs got to see real physical play during there west cost trip.

[jonf]

O my God...I hope all your ankles are better so you guys can jump back on the wagon.......PS...I am not a huge Sens fan but I am a Huge Hockey Fan and this is what I see....

I'll take the Sens to beat any one in the East......Of course they could lose..We have all seen a Goalie play GREAT and beat any team in the Playoffs.

Montreal - A Goalie could win this Series - Ottawa in 6 ???
NJ - A Goalie could win this Series - Ottawa in 6 ???
Pitt - A Goalie will lose this series - Ottawa in 4
NYR - A Goalie could win this series - Ottawa in 5??
Bos - Ottawa in 4
Phil - Ottawa in 5
Car - Ottawa in 5

The tough ones that could go either way are against the Teams with Better than average Goalies

I do not see the Sens beating the Ducks or the Flames maybe the Sharks but if any other Team wins the West they have a good shot....
Laugh at me if you wish but take your personal feelings out and look at the Playoffs with open eyes and not your Team color......Montreal, Rangers have a shot because they have on paper better goalies. The Devils have a better goalie and he is Great enough to win another CUP but the odds are he won't be able to do it all.

Hope you all heal fast....LOL

I think anyone here would agree that Ottawa could win the East if they play to their potential. The trouble is they haven't shown even a glimmer of that for months, other than one game anomalies.

As things stand now (rather than if the Sens make a huge turnaround):
Montreal - Carey Price is stellar, best offence in the league, Montreal in 5
NJ - Brodeur, Madden. NJ in 6
Pittsburgh - Crosby, Malking, Hossa...Pitts in 6
Rangers, Boston, Carolina, Philly - not much chance of Ottawa playing them in the first round at this rate.

[leftylucas]

The Sens have 0 chance of getting out of the first round. I am not trying to be pessimistic but facts prove my point. They have one of the worst records since November, their team defence is among the lousiest in the league, goaltending is spotty at best, scoring outside of the 1st line is totally inconsistent (they scored all 4 goals last night), they take so many penalties because they cannot play defensively that in the playoffs they will get ousted quickly. To have any chance they need to finish very strong and get some confidence. This is not a confident team and the little they get in the next 3 weeks will erode as quickly as it showed up if they get thumped in a game or two in the playoffs.

[Hacker]

The Sens have 0 chance of getting out of the first round. I am not trying to be pessimistic but facts prove my point.

You are presenting facts to support your opinion but they certainly don't prove your asertation that the Sens have ZERO chance of getting past the first round of the play-offs.

The LA Kings have ZERO chance of getting out of the first round of the play-offs because they won't be in the play-offs - short of not making the play-offs all together EVERY team has some chance of winning in the first round

[mberube]

You are presenting facts to support your opinion but they certainly don't prove your asertation that the Sens have ZERO chance of getting past the first round of the play-offs.

The LA Kings have ZERO chance of getting out of the first round of the play-offs because they won't be in the play-offs - short of not making the play-offs all together EVERY team has some chance of winning in the first round

Let’s just say that they have lots of work to do in the next three weeks.

[leftylucas]

You are presenting facts to support your opinion but they certainly don't prove your asertation that the Sens have ZERO chance of getting past the first round of the play-offs.

The LA Kings have ZERO chance of getting out of the first round of the play-offs because they won't be in the play-offs - short of not making the play-offs all together EVERY team has some chance of winning in the first round

OK, my point stands, picky, picky, how about a 1% chance then.

[golfisforfun]

A question for Sens fans...

The Sens have not played really well since November. They had an awesome start to the year. Realisitcally, how good do you think they are? Did they overachieve for the first 18 games? When you expect them to get better, do you think winning 4 out of 7 is good for the Sens based on their players? Are they a 100 pt team?

[3Jack]

A question for Sens fans...

The Sens have not played really well since November. They had an awesome start to the year. Realisitcally, how good do you think they are? Did they overachieve for the first 18 games? When you expect them to get better, do you think winning 4 out of 7 is good for the Sens based on their players? Are they a 100 pt team?

The only thing that matters in the modern NHL is making it to the playoffs, especially this year as there is very little to choose between the top 10 teams contending for playoff positions.

Once you're in, it's time to perform. Perform well at the right time of year and you're in for a decent run. Start 15-2 or end 15-2. Point compilation over that 17 game span is the same if it's at the start or if it's at the end of the year. Certainly, ending 15-2 is preferable, but if you're team that has been fighting for it's life just to get into the dance, you may have expended your emotional quotient in your glorious finish and may have nothing left for the time that really matters. On the other hand, they may ride their confident finish to playoff dominance. Limping home with a 2-15 finish and barely scraping into the playoffs may create an underdog atmosphere that may serve a team well, or it may foreshadow a quick exit.

All these are speculative platitudes at best because the bottom line is, there's no real way to know.

Come mid-April, we'll all know what sort of team this is, be they a contender, or a non-contender.

I find hockey fan ruminations humorous, my own included, as we see our chosen team's success or failure as a direct reflection of the character of the individuals that make up the team. Win and they are gods, lose and they are bums - the essence that today's sports talk radio, blogs, and posts such as this are essentially based.

Hockey has always been a game where great plays are usually born of grevious errors - and that's what makes it exciting. If a team can minimize its grevious errors while maximizing the opportunities the opponents provide, success is the result. And at the end of it all, there's always another team on the ice competing who deserve a modicum of credit if victorious.

[Mattchew]

big game tonight...I think the team that wins tonight wins the east!

[Shivas Irons]

The Sens have 0 chance of getting out of the first round.

Would you be willing to back that statement up with a wager?

[foxman]

Ottawa fans who would you want to play in the first round and who would you not want to face in the first round ?

[3Jack]

Ottawa fans who would you want to play in the first round and who would you not want to face in the first round ?

Washington.

[rezadue]

Leafs.
Or whatever team "golfisforfun" roots for.

Ottawa fans who would you want to play in the first round and who would you not want to face in the first round ?

[jonf]

Washington.

I hope you are saying that we DON"T want to face them in the first round. They've got Ottawa's number this year.

[3Jack]

I hope you are saying that we DON"T want to face them in the first round. They've got Ottawa's number this year.

Doh! Thought the question said who you don't want to face.

As for who I'd want Ottawa to face. Doesn't matter.

[3Jack]

The Sens have 0 chance of getting out of the first round. I am not trying to be pessimistic but facts prove my point. They have one of the worst records since November, their team defence is among the lousiest in the league, goaltending is spotty at best, scoring outside of the 1st line is totally inconsistent (they scored all 4 goals last night), they take so many penalties because they cannot play defensively that in the playoffs they will get ousted quickly. To have any chance they need to finish very strong and get some confidence. This is not a confident team and the little they get in the next 3 weeks will erode as quickly as it showed up if they get thumped in a game or two in the playoffs.

Not a bad win tonight for a team that has zero chance of getting out of the first round.

At least now there are some positive signs.

[Baxter]

The wagon will start to refill after tonight....LOL... Lots a room

[pheenster]

The wagon will start to refill after tonight....LOL... Lots a room

No kidding.

Here's a quote from Murray in the Sun today:

Murray went on to commend Ray Emery for "trying as hard as he could" at yesterday's practice, adding that if his backup continues on that path for a "few more days he'll get a couple of games here."

Ouch. It's starting to become clear just how much interference Paddock was running for Emery.

[jonf]

Doh! Thought the question said who you don't want to face.

As for who I'd want Ottawa to face. Doesn't matter.

The question actually asked for both, so you didn't answer the wrong question...just needed some clarification