#rd Sens Thread... Honest Fans Only...

[justsomeguy]

The team is not going to be blown up. First of all, this is the same core group of guys that went to the finals last year. Secondly, in today's salary-cap NHL you can't just unload players with big contracts because they're not performing.

People talk about using Redden's money to bring in some new top-level players, but when you actually look at the financial numbers you'll see that they have already spent that money on Heatley, Spezza and Fisher:

http://www.nhlnumbers.com/overview.php?team=OTT

I agree that Emery will be bought out to free up cap space. Of all the UFA's they have, I think they'll seriously try to re-sign Stillman, Donovan and Dimitrakos. They might see if Lapointe will stay for a lot less money, but I doubt that Commodore, Robitaille or Richardson will be given offers. I also believe that Kelly will be gone - he signed a 1-year deal last year just prior to arbitration so he could be a UFA this year. Someone else will offer him more, and he'll take it.

As for the RFA's, they definately want to keep Vermette and Meszaros but will have to spend more money to do so. They'll probably drop McGratton to make room for some of the younger guys from Bingo like Zubov or Nikulin.

I think everyone else is staying - at least until after Christmas. A few new guys will be brought in, and you might see Schubert being moved back to defence full-time next year - but I don't expect any blockbuster moves. The biggest change is going to be the new coach anyway.

[jeffc]

i see them keeping Kelly before Mezaros. I concur with the others though.

[jonf]

One player they need to seriously think about unloading is Neil. I love a hard-nosed player and a pest, but if you're going to be a pest, you have to be smart. Neil takes a tonne of stupid penalties. He doesn't know when to time his antics, which is the key for a pest. He was a liability all playoffs because he racks disciprine

[golfinteg]

One player they need to seriously think about unloading is Neil. I love a hard-nosed player and a pest, but if you're going to be a pest, you have to be smart. Neil takes a tonne of stupid penalties. He doesn't know when to time his antics, which is the key for a pest. He was a liability all playoffs because he racks disciprine

Didn't he admit that he was to be blamed for losing a game or two during the tail end of the regular season. Yes, he did take stupid killer penalties in this playoffs especially the 3rd. game, yet Murray
cognizant of that ( per Ottawa newspaper interview) still allowed him to play in the 4th. playoff game. Go figure why ?

[golfinteg]

This season is not Emery's fault. The same people who didn't care about off ice issues at the start of the year, now are blaming them entirely for the Sens'; failure. I think their impact was underestimated then, and overestimated now. Injuries played a far bigger role than anything else this year.

Goaltending (Gerber is not that good, he let in some killer goals in the post season that you just can't let in), coaching (IMO Paddock screwed the Sens over with his handling of the goalie rotation, and by not holding players accountable to the system), and depth are the issues that need to be rectified in the offseason. It won't be easy, and Murray could do enormous damage if he reacts to the season as emotionally as the fans have. Spezza, Heatly and especially Alfie form a solid core.

Spackler I totally concurred with your assessment.
"Emery will be initially be blamed" - Chris Cobb (Ottawa Citizen)
"Fall nearly complete for Emery" - headlined by Sean Fitz-Gerald (National Post). . In defence of Emery, Sean stated that Emery played in each of his team's 30 playoff games in the previous two seasons and capped it with a 20-game run to the championship round last spring. Although Senators lost in 5 games to Ducks it appeared Senators have found the goaltender (18 postseason wins, 3 shutouts) who could lead them to the final for years to come.. Compared to Gerber ( 10 postseason games - 1 win only per NHL stats) .
Methink this is a classical Mis -Management-personnel issue. As Don Cherry stated if you are not going to play Emery you should have shipped him out. Preseason we were trying to trade Gerber (Murray's pet?). nobody wants him or did management try hard enough? Then turn around make Emery the fall guy. Of course, if Gerber had stole a game I would not have written this piece. The 3rd game he let in the killer goals which completely deflated and led to the team giving up their ghosts!!! Am I correct? Thats an inspiring vote of confidence..
My contention here is that to build a Stanley cup team you have to build it around a goalie (definitely not Gerber) ala Brodeur, Fuhr, Roy etc. Emery is a damged good because of all the negative spin.
The guy who knows him well think that "the city's been pretty hard on him" . IMHO I don't think he got a fair shake. Did he get a fair chance to play in the 4th game.
Bottom line is management screwed up pretty bad and us fans, the shareholders, are getting shafted. Don't blamed the players .

Just to share with you guys, I had coached, managed and owned a soccer team with the same kind of turmoil and experience though on a different level. I certainly understand the ramifications and dynamics involved. In hindsight, I would not stick with my pet mediocre player all the way especially in a team sport.

[jonf]

Didn't he admit that he was to be blamed for losing a game or two during the tail end of the regular season. Yes, he did take stupid killer penalties in this playoffs especially the 3rd. game, yet Murray
cognizant of that ( per Ottawa newspaper interview) still allowed him to play in the 4th. playoff game. Go figure why ?

Well, because they didn't have anyone to put in in his place. They didn't have the depth and already had injury problems.

[LobWedge]

Agree injuries played a huge factor, and neither Emery or Gerber proved to be a Class A NHL goalie.

Perhaps the Sens front office should have dealt with the issues of Emery prior to the season.

Remember Old PEI Golfing's post from beginning of September...........
http://forum.ottawagolf.com/showpost...7&postcount=33

I think that teams are discovering that the 1/1A goalie system is not really working (or 2/2A in Ottawa's case). Teams that continue to have success are running the proven starter/backup system. The problem is, there are fewer and fewer top class goaltenders to go around.

[Driverdave]

I agree with Pat Burns as a good coach,due to health reasons he was out of the limelight for a while. However another hard driller with perfection in matching lines is Pat Quinn. Remember team canada in 2002 ,yes Quinn, Jac.Martin ,Hitchcock. However my hats off to Murray as I think he handled his goalie mess. He has increased
Martin Gerbers value, and at the same time put Emery's value as a responsible team player in his place! You were bad,! you can sit and think about it. Ray has sunk his own ship by means of being a high priced goalie. Give Murray credit,maybe a good wake -up call for Ray to "clean up his act and get with the program!"

[foxman]

Murray on Emery
According to Ottawa Senators General Manager and head coach, Bryan Murray, Ray Emery's tenure in the Nation's capital is likely over.

The Senators' top brass met with the media Friday to wrap up what turned out to be a disappointing season. When the subject of Emery was raised, Murray made his position clear.

"My plan is not to have him back," Murray told reporters.


http://www.tsn.ca/other_sports/story...=topStory_main

[Kilroy]

Certainly a waste of money to be paying him large to sit on the bench.

[jonf]

Good move for Ottawa and Emery. The guy has great potential, but needs discipline and the guidance of a veteran goalie. I think he would be an awesome fit in Jersey. Ride the pine as Marty's backup and learn from the best (Brodeur's style is somewhat similar to emery's). Then when Marty retires, the Devils have a bona fide starter on their hands. I think a no nonsense coach like Sutter makes it an even better fit.

[PEI Golfing]

Maybe someday "someone" perhaps one of the players from the Sens will write a "Jose Canseco" type tell all book which will expose some of the "crap" that has been going on.............. These "certain" Sens players had been protected so long in this City its disgusting.......................

Then you hear those same guys give all the standard BS answers to the Press over the past couple of days.............
Good riddance to a couple of them...........
Hopefully what happened this year will finally straighten out some of the problems.
A new VERY TOUGH coach will be a good start..............

The entire NHL needs to get tough with both Drug and gambling issues ASAP........

Why is it other Major Sports have adopted Drug testing and the NHL is dragging its heals..............????

[jonf]

Why don't you finally just come out and say what you're thinking instead of constantly bringing up this issue without actually being specific about it. Everything comes down to these off ice problems about which you know so much, and yet you will not say what you are talking about. I'm pretty sure I know exactly what you're talking about, but it really pisses me off that you constantly bring up this issue and yet tip toe around without actually saying anything. If you're going to constantly accuse these people of doing something, then come out and be honest and state it plainly. Don't just ..................... and pass your moral judgment. It gets extremely tiresome.

[dbleber]

I'm pretty sure he is refering to the drug rumours of Emery, McGratton and a bunch of them. Supposed to be quite friendly with Mr. Cocaine. You don't have to have an inside man to get those rumours, pretty small city and these guys like pretty women.

[jonf]

I'm pretty sure he is refering to the drug rumours of Emery, McGratton and a bunch of them. Supposed to be quite friendly with Mr. Cocaine. You don't have to have an inside man to get those rumours, pretty small city and these guys like pretty women.

Ya, I know exactly what he's talking about. It just bothers me that it's constantly being brought up in a very condescending manner, and yet the actual issue is never addressed explicitly.