Poll: What Will the Sens do Before Their Next Game?

3 coaching changes in like 2 years.... Bryan Murray's decision.

Trading Heatley for a poor package..... Bryan Murray.

Signing players to lengthy, high priced deals.... Bryan Murray.

Trading draft picks from a team that lacks depth..... Bryan Murray.

Buying out 2 players..... Bryan Murray.

The only thing I will give credit for, is perhaps setting up the teams defence for years to come. I am excited to see what Rundblad, Cowen and Karlsson do for the franchise.

shabbs wrote:Maybe the team needs a retreat... with a festivus pole... so they can air their grievances... get it all out now...

Mighty Mikey wins the feats of strength. He's so big, strong and handsome.

Dash wrote:3 coaching changes in like 2 years.... Bryan Murray's decision.

Trading Heatley for a poor package..... Bryan Murray.

Signing players to lengthy, high priced deals.... Bryan Murray.

Trading draft picks from a team that lacks depth..... Bryan Murray.

Buying out 2 players..... Bryan Murray.

The only thing I will give credit for, is perhaps setting up the teams defence for years to come. I am excited to see what Rundblad, Cowen and Karlsson do for the franchise.

Spell it out man! We aren't mind readers. Why are you trying to say here?

Flo The Action wrote:
that's pretty harsh. i think michalek isn't back 100%. i don't think impossible that next year we see a different player.
IMO gonchar will be better next year. it's hard to believe when i see him play this year but he's not playing the way he can.

Really? You think it's harsh? He's making more than Fisher, with less experience and definitely brings less leadership and community "intangibles". He needs to outproduce him to warrant that paycheck.

If you are saying comparing him to Cheechoo was harsh then, yeah, a bit, but I was just making a point.

wprager wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:
that's pretty harsh. i think michalek isn't back 100%. i don't think impossible that next year we see a different player.
IMO gonchar will be better next year. it's hard to believe when i see him play this year but he's not playing the way he can.

Really? You think it's harsh? He's making more than Fisher, with less experience and definitely brings less leadership and community "intangibles". He needs to outproduce him to warrant that paycheck.

If you are saying comparing him to Cheechoo was harsh then, yeah, a bit, but I was just making a point.

Or extensive plastic surgery and colored contact lenses.

Dash wrote:3 coaching changes in like 2 years.... Bryan Murray's decision.

Trading Heatley for a poor package..... Bryan Murray.

Signing players to lengthy, high priced deals.... Bryan Murray.

Trading draft picks from a team that lacks depth..... Bryan Murray.

Buying out 2 players..... Bryan Murray.

The only thing I will give credit for, is perhaps setting up the teams defence for years to come. I am excited to see what Rundblad, Cowen and Karlsson do for the franchise.

it's not like heatley gave us much of a choice. he pretty much told BM make it work with the sharks or i'll crap the bed all year.
all i see is BM trying to keep the team going in a competitive market while doing a good job replenishing the system.
the kovalev contract was horrible but like it's been stated melnyk might be to blame more then BM. Gonchar IMO might still be a good pick-up. not now, but in the future. right now, nothing looks good.

the coaching changes i'll agree we're terrible. i don't think CC has shown much consistency with his lines and that may be part of the problem this season but i think the problem is deeper then CC. or BM.

Murray put us in this position where we have no cap flexibility. Clouston basically said that the injury to Spezza has allowed him to bench a couple of vets. Maybe if he had some more cap space Fisher and Alfredsson would have had maintenance game days and not just practices. Who knows.

As for Clouston, he is very inexperienced and stubborn to boot. Probably would have done better as an AC under Murray (kind of like Carbonneau under Gainey -- not that it worked out any better). Clouston plays favorites, doesn't stick with line combinations long enough to make a proper assessment, took way too long to do anything about the powerplay (and even now, he's still mostly playing Karlsson/Gonchar as right/left instead of switching them up for one-timers), and he did something to piss off the referees.

I like his work ethic and commitment, but just like the players, his coaching has regressed this year. Like, why did Elliott get the back-to-back starts when he clearly has struggled in the last few games? Was that playing favorites or being stubborn? Not sure which.

Big Ev wrote:I dunno, we have more games on hand then anyone below us in the overall standings and we look even more lost now that Spezza is out. I could see us finishing worse than our current position of 7th.

Much worse.

In one of my very few predictions, I guessed that in the 16 or so games Ottawa would be without Spezza, the Sens would finish with a 5-10-1 record. I also mentioned Carolina and Florida would most likely pass Ottawa in the standings. The Hurricanes have already jumped ahead, so have the Flames actually. The Panthers and Sabres are poised to do the same.

Everyone should prepare themselves to be in the lottery by the time Spezza comes back. That is just a meaningless guess, so take it as such. Pointless post actually on my part. Haha.

I wouldn't say it's a pointless post. In fact, I think you're bang on and we should probably prepare to see some young faces in and out of the lineup the rest of the way and some vets moved.

I still can't see Ottawa trading Fisher, but Phillips is a definite possibility.

The more I think about it the more I can see Michalek in Pitts with his brother. Crosby needs that winger and I can see Michalek being a great fit there alongside Crosby or Malkin. Pitts has tons of UFAs this summer and at the trade deadline I think Pitts can afford him if they move a contract back.

Kovalfie wrote:I wouldn't say it's a pointless post. In fact, I think you're bang on and we should probably prepare to see some young faces in and out of the lineup the rest of the way and some vets moved.

I still can't see Ottawa trading Fisher, but Phillips is a definite possibility.

The more I think about it the more I can see Michalek in Pitts with his brother. Crosby needs that winger and I can see Michalek being a great fit there alongside Crosby or Malkin. Pitts has tons of UFAs this summer and at the trade deadline I think Pitts can afford him if they move a contract back.

The Penguins don't need Michalek. He's injry prone, not the same player he once was, and he could break up a good thing that they have going. Crosby is fine with Kunitz.