The Sens are a Mess

[leftylucas]

I agree, but the past is the past, Murray or his replacement will have one hell of a mess to clean up but he will have the money to do it. I just hope that he does not sign people or trade prospects to do a band aid solution. Last night's game was difficult to watch, a lot of shots from long range, not much attack to the net and very few hits.

[mberube]

Murray is the issue I think. Since he is the GM the team has been going downhill. They need a major clean up starting upstairs. The team on the ice yesterday has no soul.

[leftylucas]

I heard Melnik on HNIC before the Leaf game and he thought the Sens were going all the way this year and gave his coaching and front office staff glowing praise. I really hope he does not resign Murray as this opens the door for a new GM to hire his own coach and to make it his team.

[mberube]

Totally agree. In fact I would do it right now before it’s too late. The Sens are only two spots away from making the playoffs and if things don’t change soon they will be too far to recover.

[leftylucas]

This year is a write-off, Melnik will not fire them now since the new GM will have the ability to play with the cap with all of those free agents. This is not Clouston's problem, its the players and GM but not many GMs come in without having their own coach.

[jeffc]

Totally agree. In fact I would do it right now before it’s too late. The Sens are only two spots away from making the playoffs and if things don’t change soon they will be too far to recover.

I heard today that based on some statistical formula, they actually have just a 7% chance of making the playoffs.

Come Feb, start unloading some players for draft picks and start anew.

[mberube]

Who is leaving next year other then Kovy and Leclerc?

[jeffc]

Who is leaving next year other then Kovy and Leclerc?

the following are UFA's at the end of the season. Other than Ruutu I don't see any of them sticking around.

Kovalev: 5mil
Leclaire: 3.8mil
Phillips: 3.5mil
Ruutu: 1.3mil
Campoli: 1.4mil
15million

[mberube]

It would be a shame to lose Phillips. He will surely be the most popular UFA in that group.

[jeffc]

It would be a shame to lose Phillips. He will surely be the most popular UFA in that group.

he's been awful this year. Popular maybe but awful.

[Colby]

I agree, he looked a little lost last night, just swiping at the puck on several occasions.

[3Jack]

Somebody shoot me if Pierre McGuire gets the GM job come springtime.

[brucestats]

Maybe its just a coincidence, but the Habs of this yr look more like the Sens of better years, and the common element is Monsieurs Martin et Pearn. When I hear a perennial trooper like Alfredsson air an opinion counter to his coach.. you know the coach has lost this team..for good.

[Weazl]

I really don't think the coach is the issue, however losing breeds losing. If they can turn the tap on and score some goalsd and win a few they will be ok and Coach C will egt them back. I think Murray's time is up as is many of the core roster. Time to rebuild like the Leafs.

[mberube]

The Leafs have been rebuilding for the past 40 years....

[HoganWoods]

If we could get anything in return for spezza i'd be all for it, but we won't get any value. I was pondering Lecavalier vs Spezza, straight up trade, but I'm not even sure that's worth it due to injury and Lecavalier's age. Is a 1st round pick and a utility player enough for spezza? Maybe if its a top 10 pick, I don't know. This team is not creating any offence right now and its getting sad.

[Hacker]

Maybe its just a coincidence, but the Habs of this yr look more like the Sens of better years, and the common element is Monsieurs Martin et Pearn. When I hear a perennial trooper like Alfredsson air an opinion counter to his coach.. you know the coach has lost this team..for good.

This is the most insightful comment in this whole thread IMO.

Granted that Clouston has to work with what Murray gives him, but it is clear that his "old skool" approach isn't working with the current bunch of players.

I'm for a total blow-up starting at the top with Murray. I can't think of a trade that he tied, let alone won. I happen to believe that he had no choice in the Kovalev signing (that one is on Eugene IMO) but he has continually signed and traded for 30-somethings that were on the decline.

This team has no heart, this team has no soul and more importantly, this team has no PRIDE.

I can accept losing, but I can't accept not trying and I will NOT accept not caring - Come on Eugene, you need to do something here or you team is going to be losing in front of a lot of empty seats.

[leftylucas]

Last night's game and the one on Friday showed me that the Sens are exactly at the right place in the standings. They are a weak team defensively and offensively they are really struggling. It is difficult to score when your forwards and defencemen are constantly being pressured in their own end.

Campoli left that forward behind him on the first goal and every Sen looks at the puck and does not keep an eye on their man. Campoli sucks, Kuba sucks, Phillips is definitely looking older and slower. Karlsson has great potential, Gonchar is highly overated and Carkner is doing well if he gets 5th or 6th defensemen minutes.

The forwards really are middle of the road at best and the best forward Spezza is showing that he is not a leader out there but a true liability. He scored last night but cost them the game. He is making a habit out of crucial turnovers. He is not the worst player for turnovers but certainly he has cost them at least 3 games this year. BRUTAL.

Murray will not be able to swing any kind of deal or he would have done it already. Its not just him, the cap has made trades a difficult solution to ailing teams. He has little to offer and what he has that other teams want (Fisher, Neal, Ruutu) are what we should really keep. Murray really screwed up signing Campoli and Lee IMHO, I think we will see how much he destroys this team before he gets canned. If Melnyk were smart he would fire Murray now and let a new GM do the rebuilding. Murray had his chance and this team has deteriorated under his leadership. RE-signing him would be a terrible mistake.

[orangeTANG]

I'm a Sens fan so don't get me wrong but...

It amazes me when talking to people in Ottawa how good they think the players on the team are. How often do you hear "we have Foligno, or we have Shannon, or we have (insert 2nd-3rd or 4th line forward here)". Face it people, the only reason any of us even know these names are because they play for our team. You go outside the Ottawa area and nobody has ever heard of them. Numbers speak and quite sadly, this team is mediocre at best. The reason Murray can't make any trades is because there are none to be had.

[Break68]

Sens are not mediocre, they just suck. They are horrible.
I watched the first 2 periods of last nights game and had to turn it off at the end of the 2nd period. The Sens are just plain awful.

[mberube]

I was at the game yesterday and I have to say Spezza is an idiot. I would sit him out for two games every time he tries that stupid stupid blind back pass at the blue line. He did it at least 3 times yesterday and it cost them the game.

[leftylucas]

The Sens 3rd and 4th line seem to match up well against other teams and often dominate them. The 6 D-men and top 6 forwards are really the problem, oh and the goalies. Other than that they are great. The only forward I would keep is Alfie and that for sentimental reasons, the rest can be traded, dropped etc... Time to rebuild, the Murray band aid has not worked. He got away with a lot by bringing the team to a Stanley Cup final but that was more Muckler's team than his. SInce then he has steadily lost it.

The hockey experts had the Sens near the bottom of the division at the start of the year, I guess they knew more than most of us did.

[leftylucas]

Somebody shoot me if Pierre McGuire gets the GM job come springtime.

He might not be a bad GM but would be a terrible coach, I think he is too critical.

[spackler]

Time to rebuild, the Murray band aid has not worked. He got away with a lot by bringing the team to a Stanley Cup final but that was more Muckler's team than his. SInce then he has steadily lost it.

Luc, you've lost it man. Muckler's team? That was Marshall Johnston and Pierre Gauthier's team. Go look at the Muckler drafts, 2002-2006/7 (not sure when he got fired, before or after draft). Go look at the trades he made during his time as GM. Look at his free agent signings. He was a DISASTER and the main reason the current team is so awful. Murray hasn't been great (especially with handing out contracts to Sens players and free agents), but he hasn't had a lot to work with either. At least his drafts have been pretty good so far.

[leftylucas]

Would not be the first time I lost it. Pretty sure Murray had little to do with the players on the team when they went to the final since he was the coach. I am not saying Muckler was better than Murray just the team he had then was better.

[leftylucas]

Let's not get crazy, Murray did not help himself. His trades have been terrible, bringing in players that never worked, a 1st rounder for Crapoli and then re-signing him, yikes. He has had the time to put his blueprint on the team and it sucks, just like Mucklers.

[Colby]

Luc,

I agree with you, however he was also stuck with the Dany Heatly incident where Heatly basically screwed this team by publically demanding a trade and then refusing the Edmonton deal. Ottawa got nowhere near his skill (or chemistry with Spezza) and it's hard to backfill that with what has been on the market.

[leftylucas]

No problem, I still would give another GM a chance

[Hacker]

No problem, I still would give another GM a chance

At this point Luc, I'd give YOU a shot at GM

[leftylucas]

I would only draft left handed players! Worked for the Russians, or was that RH'd???