Sens done for the Year

Alright, so, I don't think I'm pushing it by saying that the Sens season is absolutely over. As much as I love this team, they are just horrible and I do not see a light at the end of the tunnel for them this year, nor do I see one for next year either. Who would've thought that we would be this bad this year? Going into this season, I was proud of the new players we acquired, and thought that we would be one of the toughest teams in the league to play against. Boy, was I wrong there. We have all of this grit and toughness on this team, and they're all playing like a bunch of pansies, never have I seen a team this weak. These guys can't throw a decent hit anymore. Where has that gone? Why are they so soft when they should be angry and hitting everyone that stands in their way? Why aren't there more fights and teeth being shoved down throats? Why do we keep getting shut out? Why is our defense so horribly putrid and weak? Where is Jason Smith? Where is Daniel Alfredsson? Where is the Chris Phillips we once loved and cherished? Where are the Ottawa Senators? This team is a shell of what they once were, and really, not much of the team has changed. It's just been tweaked a bit. It really shouldn't be this bad, it shouldn't be this sad. We should still be scoring like we did. I know it's obvious that we are missing an elite puck mover. I wonder if it would really change the whole face of this team if we acquired just 1 puck mover. It doesn't have to be J-Bo, anyone along the lines of a Preissing or Corvo will do. I just wonder if it would change this team around completely. Or, is there something else that is very wrong within the organization? I don't even know what to think or feel about this team anymore, this is a sad, sad state of affairs, and I don't know how much more any of us can take.

I wouldn't be surprised if we lost the rest of the games from here on out, there is a great depression going on with these guys, and I don't know what will fix it.



Is it Hartsburg? Is it Murray? Did Murray not clean out the dressing room properly? Is there something else going on that we don't know about? Did Murray get rid of the heart and the one person keeping this team together? I don't understand....

There is absolutely ZERO chemistry on this team and that doesn't seem to be changing. Does Smith need the A in order to take over the leadership on this team? Where is Alfredsson fitting in all of this? I thought he was the captain and the heartbeat of this team. Why hasn't he attempted to do anything to change this horrible slide we've been having for over a year?

That's my rant, I'm very sad and thought I'd put it out there.

I really don't think the coach is the problem, Murray himself could not get anything out of this team at the end of last season.

I think your right though, we are in for a couple brutal season, its time to rebuild and think long term.

SensGirl11 wrote:That's my rant, I'm very sad and thought I'd put it out there.

I think we're all on the same page with ya. It's been so frustrating watching the Sens this year, and going back to last season. Whatever is going on in the Sens' locker room needs to be addressed before they can hope to go anywhere. None of us are in that room so we really don't know and getting 2nd and 3rd hand reports only paints part of the picture I'm sure. But, whatever it is, they need to identify it and fix it or else we'll be stuck in this rut for a while no matter what roster changes we make, short of blowing up the entire team.

Well, up until 24 months ago, people wanted Alfredsson either traded or stripped of his captaincy. I have always felt that this team is full of leaders, like Alfredsson, who work hard in practice and lead by example. This team has always need the Mark Messier/Guantanamo Bay type of locker room discipline. I know that everyone on the team tries hard, but this is a results based-basis.

I'm sure everyone reading this has been on a team, or had a job, where they go and try, but if you don't have the desire to succeed, you will never get the same level of success.

There is a complacency around this roster. Don't forget that of the 5 goals scored in the playoffs last year, NONE of them were scored by anyone on the 06-07 roster.

Hartsburg was not the right coach for this team. They have always needed a Pat Quinn/Bryan Murray type to make the players care.

dennycrane wrote:Well, up until 24 months ago, people wanted Alfredsson either traded or stripped of his captaincy. I have always felt that this team is full of leaders, like Alfredsson, who work hard in practice and lead by example. This team has always need the Mark Messier/Guantanamo Bay type of locker room discipline. I know that everyone on the team tries hard, but this is a results based-basis.



I'm sure everyone reading this has been on a team, or had a job, where they go and try, but if you don't have the desire to succeed, you will never get the same level of success.



There is a complacency around this roster. Don't forget that of the 5 goals scored in the playoffs last year, NONE of them were scored by anyone on the 06-07 roster.



Hartsburg was not the right coach for this team. They have always needed a Pat Quinn/Bryan Murray type to make the players care.

That is completely true. Hartsburg can definitely get through to the young guys, but who's there to get through to the veterans? It's obviously not happening with him. I feel bad, cause I like the guy and I think he can do some good with our young talent this year and for the next 2 years, but he's just not getting through to the Vermette's and Neil's of the team. I miss having Murray as coach. I know he couldn't do Dung after coming in about 3 months too late last year, but he gets through to the guys and makes them want to play and win. Hartsburg, isn't doing that. I'd love to know who our assistant coach is too, I haven't heard his name once and have no idea what his point is on this team.

shabbs wrote:

SensGirl11 wrote:That's my rant, I'm very sad and thought I'd put it out there.

I think we're all on the same page with ya. It's been so frustrating watching the Sens this year, and going back to last season. Whatever is going on in the Sens' locker room needs to be addressed before they can hope to go anywhere. None of us are in that room so we really don't know and getting 2nd and 3rd hand reports only paints part of the picture I'm sure. But, whatever it is, they need to identify it and fix it or else we'll be stuck in this rut for a while no matter what roster changes we make, short of blowing up the entire team.

I don't know if frustrating sums it up anymore. I feel like throwing the remote right at everyone's heads when I watch the games. I swear to god I could do a much better job out there if you strapped some skates on me.

I don't listen to the rumours of what's going on in the dressing room. I just don't like the negativity and Dung that is being said about our players most of the time. There is something deeper going on with this team. I don't think there are any bad apples anymore...maybe there are, but I doubt it. I think Murray would've known the problems in there more than anyone, and I'm pretty sure he's dealt with them. It's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo annoying, cause I have no freaking clue what the problem is. All I know is that this is a very depressed bunch of guys that have ZERO chemistry with one another. Alfie needs to look at the schedule and choose the next 4 day break we have, round up the troops and take them all ice fishing for a little team building. I recall something similar happening the year we went to the Cup when we were sucking, there was a getaway, and things definitely got better. I'm not saying they need to be best friends and go out together every night, but they need to get together and do something for a few days, just the boys, no coaches, no GMs, no wives, no girlfriends, just the boys. I really believe that it could help a lot in the togetherness department. They don't look like a team out there, not in the least.

dennycrane wrote:Well, up until 24 months ago, people wanted Alfredsson either traded or stripped of his captaincy. I have always felt that this team is full of leaders, like Alfredsson, who work hard in practice and lead by example. This team has always need the Mark Messier/Guantanamo Bay type of locker room discipline. I know that everyone on the team tries hard, but this is a results based-basis.

I thought Jason Smith was gonna be that guy. I still think he can be the one who starts grabbing some of these guys by the throat a la Messier.

As for Hartsburg...it was the dead wrong choice. Funnily, it's all working out now. With the new crop of draft picks and prospects we're sure to be acquiring, he might just end up being the perfect coach...by accident.

While it is true that this team is blazingly bad this year, and I have given up watching the games for the time being, I don't feel that a rebuild would take that long. Take a gander at Philly, who, if memory serves me correctly was in the dumper two years ago. Some wise free agent signings and hey! Bada bing here they are a true contender (albeit not like the Boston Bruins).

There will always be quality free agents available. Let's not dispair. Let us move some disposable parts, a la Chris Kelly, Vermette, let's take a really big chance and move J Spez (albeit at a probable loss).

I hate say it, and god help my soul, but look at the Toronto Maple Leafs. They really don't have any big names, with the exception of Kaberle on the back end, and they work their collective asses off and have a better record then the Sens.

I still say that a Hartley, Tortorella or a Quinn is needed to really grab these pansies by the scrote and show them discipline and desire

504Heater wrote:
I thought Jason Smith was gonna be that guy. I still think he can be the one who starts grabbing some of these guys by the throat a la Messier.

As for Hartsburg...it was the dead wrong choice. Funnily, it's all working out now. With the new crop of draft picks and prospects we're sure to be acquiring, he might just end up being the perfect coach...by accident.

Heater, man, you've been harping on Hartsburg for the last 2 weeks now, and, frankly, your criticism is really misplaced. He's not the problem, and I don't know what else he could possibly do. This is a team that has become lazy and indifferent, dating back to last December, long before he got here. He's tried a number of things with the limited talent he's got around him in order to shake them out of this lazy funk: breaking up the big 3, uniting the big 3, demoting Spezza for lazy play, promoting guys like Foligno and Donovan for hard work, making adjustments on the PP to try to get more offense (Fisher on the point), rotating goalies, and on and on and on. I don't know what else you're expecting. At some point, the blame has to fall on the players themselves.

Hartsburg preaches a solid two-way game: an aggressive forecheck and a tight 1-2-2 defensive trap, and a highly aggressive PK (one of our few strengths this year). To suggest that this team's not scoring because of his 'system' is laughable. Watch his world junior teams from the 2007 and 2008 tournaments and you'll see that his system, when adhered to by a competent, hungry group of guys, in now way inhibits offense.

The simple fact is that this team has been mailing it in for a year now. Yes, it's Hartsburg's job to motivate them, but 3 coaches and 1 year later, this group has proven itself dysfunctional, irrespective of who's behind the bench. It's not the coach. It's not the GM. It's the players, plain and simple. We are, and we have been, the laziest, most indifferent, passionless, fragile, head-case team in the NHL for the last 12 months. End of story. Pick a coach, any coach you want and put him behind the bench of this team, and I guarantee the results will be the same.

rooneypoo wrote:

504Heater wrote:
I thought Jason Smith was gonna be that guy. I still think he can be the one who starts grabbing some of these guys by the throat a la Messier.

As for Hartsburg...it was the dead wrong choice. Funnily, it's all working out now. With the new crop of draft picks and prospects we're sure to be acquiring, he might just end up being the perfect coach...by accident.

Heater, man, you've been harping on Hartsburg for the last 2 weeks now, and, frankly, your criticism is really misplaced. He's not the problem, and I don't know what else he could possibly do. This is a team that has become lazy and indifferent, dating back to last December, long before he got here. He's tried a number of things with the limited talent he's got around him in order to shake them out of this lazy funk: breaking up the big 3, uniting the big 3, demoting Spezza for lazy play, promoting guys like Foligno and Donovan for hard work, making adjustments on the PP to try to get more offense (Fisher on the point), rotating goalies, and on and on and on. I don't know what else you're expecting. At some point, the blame has to fall on the players themselves.

Hartsburg preaches a solid two-way game: an aggressive forecheck and a tight 1-2-2 defensive trap, and a highly aggressive PK (one of our few strengths this year). To suggest that this team's not scoring because of his 'system' is laughable. Watch his world junior teams from the 2007 and 2008 tournaments and you'll see that his system, when adhered to by a competent, hungry group of guys, in now way inhibits offense.

The simple fact is that this team has been mailing it in for a year now. Yes, it's Hartsburg's job to motivate them, but 3 coaches and 1 year later, this group has proven itself dysfunctional, irrespective of who's behind the bench. It's not the coach. It's not the GM. It's the players, plain and simple. We are, and we have been, the laziest, most indifferent, passionless, fragile, head-case team in the NHL for the last 12 months. End of story. Pick a coach, any coach you want and put him behind the bench of this team, and I guarantee the results will be the same.

I have to say that I too do not think Hartsburg is the problem. If anything, I feel sorry for the guy, because he inherited these lazy arseholes and now they are stuffing his lose column with HUGE numbers...

I think the Sens are WAY beyond panic mode. A new facelift is required, and while a bunch of fans may disagree on who SHOULD remain a sen and who should be shipped out, it seems painfully obvious that a change and almost complete overhaul is needed. PERIOD.

rooneypoo wrote:

504Heater wrote:
I thought Jason Smith was gonna be that guy. I still think he can be the one who starts grabbing some of these guys by the throat a la Messier.

As for Hartsburg...it was the dead wrong choice. Funnily, it's all working out now. With the new crop of draft picks and prospects we're sure to be acquiring, he might just end up being the perfect coach...by accident.

Heater, man, you've been harping on Hartsburg for the last 2 weeks now, and, frankly, your criticism is really misplaced. He's not the problem, and I don't know what else he could possibly do. This is a team that has become lazy and indifferent, dating back to last December, long before he got here. He's tried a number of things with the limited talent he's got around him in order to shake them out of this lazy funk: breaking up the big 3, uniting the big 3, demoting Spezza for lazy play, promoting guys like Foligno and Donovan for hard work, making adjustments on the PP to try to get more offense (Fisher on the point), rotating goalies, and on and on and on. I don't know what else you're expecting. At some point, the blame has to fall on the players themselves.

Hartsburg preaches a solid two-way game: an aggressive forecheck and a tight 1-2-2 defensive trap, and a highly aggressive PK (one of our few strengths this year). To suggest that this team's not scoring because of his 'system' is laughable. Watch his world junior teams from the 2007 and 2008 tournaments and you'll see that his system, when adhered to by a competent, hungry group of guys, in now way inhibits offense.

The simple fact is that this team has been mailing it in for a year now. Yes, it's Hartsburg's job to motivate them, but 3 coaches and 1 year later, this group has proven itself dysfunctional, irrespective of who's behind the bench. It's not the coach. It's not the GM. It's the players, plain and simple. We are, and we have been, the laziest, most indifferent, passionless, fragile, head-case team in the NHL for the last 12 months. End of story. Pick a coach, any coach you want and put him behind the bench of this team, and I guarantee the results will be the same.

Not gonna lie...probably one of the best posts I have ever read...

could not agree more...

rooneypoo wrote:

504Heater wrote:
I thought Jason Smith was gonna be that guy. I still think he can be the one who starts grabbing some of these guys by the throat a la Messier.

As for Hartsburg...it was the dead wrong choice. Funnily, it's all working out now. With the new crop of draft picks and prospects we're sure to be acquiring, he might just end up being the perfect coach...by accident.

Heater, man, you've been harping on Hartsburg for the last 2 weeks now, and, frankly, your criticism is really misplaced. He's not the problem, and I don't know what else he could possibly do. This is a team that has become lazy and indifferent, dating back to last December, long before he got here. He's tried a number of things with the limited talent he's got around him in order to shake them out of this lazy funk: breaking up the big 3, uniting the big 3, demoting Spezza for lazy play, promoting guys like Foligno and Donovan for hard work, making adjustments on the PP to try to get more offense (Fisher on the point), rotating goalies, and on and on and on. I don't know what else you're expecting. At some point, the blame has to fall on the players themselves.

Hartsburg preaches a solid two-way game: an aggressive forecheck and a tight 1-2-2 defensive trap, and a highly aggressive PK (one of our few strengths this year). To suggest that this team's not scoring because of his 'system' is laughable. Watch his world junior teams from the 2007 and 2008 tournaments and you'll see that his system, when adhered to by a competent, hungry group of guys, in now way inhibits offense.

The simple fact is that this team has been mailing it in for a year now. Yes, it's Hartsburg's job to motivate them, but 3 coaches and 1 year later, this group has proven itself dysfunctional, irrespective of who's behind the bench. It's not the coach. It's not the GM. It's the players, plain and simple. We are, and we have been, the laziest, most indifferent, passionless, fragile, head-case team in the NHL for the last 12 months. End of story. Pick a coach, any coach you want and put him behind the bench of this team, and I guarantee the results will be the same.

I agree sort of. Hartsberg and Alfie are top shelf talent. But they are the wrong personality for this lot. Draconian measures are needed at this point and those two are "too nice" to pull it off. H & A are the "lead by example" type of leader that expect others to mimic their drive and determination. This team is broken beyond that. We need leadership (for a short while) that's not afraid to "pull the wings off flies". These clowns need to be broken and brought back down to earth.

At this point, the season is awash, so might as well crack skulls to turn in around for Oct 2009.

Number Twenty Nine wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

504Heater wrote:
I thought Jason Smith was gonna be that guy. I still think he can be the one who starts grabbing some of these guys by the throat a la Messier.

As for Hartsburg...it was the dead wrong choice. Funnily, it's all working out now. With the new crop of draft picks and prospects we're sure to be acquiring, he might just end up being the perfect coach...by accident.

Heater, man, you've been harping on Hartsburg for the last 2 weeks now, and, frankly, your criticism is really misplaced. He's not the problem, and I don't know what else he could possibly do. This is a team that has become lazy and indifferent, dating back to last December, long before he got here. He's tried a number of things with the limited talent he's got around him in order to shake them out of this lazy funk: breaking up the big 3, uniting the big 3, demoting Spezza for lazy play, promoting guys like Foligno and Donovan for hard work, making adjustments on the PP to try to get more offense (Fisher on the point), rotating goalies, and on and on and on. I don't know what else you're expecting. At some point, the blame has to fall on the players themselves.

Hartsburg preaches a solid two-way game: an aggressive forecheck and a tight 1-2-2 defensive trap, and a highly aggressive PK (one of our few strengths this year). To suggest that this team's not scoring because of his 'system' is laughable. Watch his world junior teams from the 2007 and 2008 tournaments and you'll see that his system, when adhered to by a competent, hungry group of guys, in now way inhibits offense.

The simple fact is that this team has been mailing it in for a year now. Yes, it's Hartsburg's job to motivate them, but 3 coaches and 1 year later, this group has proven itself dysfunctional, irrespective of who's behind the bench. It's not the coach. It's not the GM. It's the players, plain and simple. We are, and we have been, the laziest, most indifferent, passionless, fragile, head-case team in the NHL for the last 12 months. End of story. Pick a coach, any coach you want and put him behind the bench of this team, and I guarantee the results will be the same.

I agree sort of. Hartsberg and Alfie are top shelf talent. But they are the wrong personality for this lot. Draconian measures are needed at this point and those two are "too nice" to pull it off. H & A are the "lead by example" type of leader that expect others to mimic their drive and determination. This team is broken beyond that. We need leadership (for a short while) that's not afraid to "pull the wings off flies". These clowns need to be broken and brought back down to earth.

At this point, the season is awash, so might as well crack skulls to turn in around for Oct 2009.

Really...you want these players to stick around...

Even with skull crashing...poop is poop...even when you hit it hard...stomp on it...put it on fire...it is still poop...

This team does not need a new coach...it needs new players...not poop!

rooneypoo wrote:Heater, man, you've been harping on Hartsburg for the last 2 weeks now, and, frankly, your criticism is really misplaced. He's not the problem, and I don't know what else he could possibly do. This is a team that has become lazy and indifferent, dating back to last December, long before he got here. He's tried a number of things with the limited talent he's got around him in order to shake them out of this lazy funk: breaking up the big 3, uniting the big 3, demoting Spezza for lazy play, promoting guys like Foligno and Donovan for hard work, making adjustments on the PP to try to get more offense (Fisher on the point), rotating goalies, and on and on and on. I don't know what else you're expecting. At some point, the blame has to fall on the players themselves.

Hartsburg preaches a solid two-way game: an aggressive forecheck and a tight 1-2-2 defensive trap, and a highly aggressive PK (one of our few strengths this year). To suggest that this team's not scoring because of his 'system' is laughable. Watch his world junior teams from the 2007 and 2008 tournaments and you'll see that his system, when adhered to by a competent, hungry group of guys, in now way inhibits offense.

The simple fact is that this team has been mailing it in for a year now. Yes, it's Hartsburg's job to motivate them, but 3 coaches and 1 year later, this group has proven itself dysfunctional, irrespective of who's behind the bench. It's not the coach. It's not the GM. It's the players, plain and simple. We are, and we have been, the laziest, most indifferent, passionless, fragile, head-case team in the NHL for the last 12 months. End of story. Pick a coach, any coach you want and put him behind the bench of this team, and I guarantee the results will be the same.

This is a great post Rooney.

The only thing I can say is that this team needs a good 'ol boy behind the bench. A Quinn, Torterella, Quinnvelle, Hartley. Someone who's been there and done it - and someone who can literally scare the Dung out of these guys. Someone absolutely and positively intimidating.

Hartsburg will work for the younger players, but apparently not for the older - or star - players. I just don't see how it's a coincidence that every single player on the Sens roster is having an abysmal year.

Look at Heatley. He gets away from Ottawa and all the experimenting and he lights it up against the same talent in the Worlds.

I like Hartsburg, but at this point, there's a problem with this system in my eyes. Maybe we don't have the players to use it properly, maybe the players are all bunghole, but I still firmly believe the team needs a Bryan Murray/Pat Quinn/Pat Burns good old white haired, angry, Dung spewing coach for a year or two.

504Heater wrote:

This is a great post Rooney.

The only thing I can say is that this team needs a good 'ol boy behind the bench. A Quinn, Torterella, Quinnvelle, Hartley. Someone who's been there and done it - and someone who can literally scare the Dung out of these guys. Someone absolutely and positively intimidating.

Hartsburg will work for the younger players, but apparently not for the older - or star - players. I just don't see how it's a coincidence that every single player on the Sens roster is having an abysmal year.

Look at Heatley. He gets away from Ottawa and all the experimenting and he lights it up against the same talent in the Worlds.

I like Hartsburg, but at this point, there's a problem with this system in my eyes. Maybe we don't have the players to use it properly, maybe the players are all bunghole, but I still firmly believe the team needs a Bryan Murray/Pat Quinn/Pat Burns good old white haired, angry, Dung spewing coach for a year or two.[/quote]

You're right, at first I was thinking that it had nothing to do with Hartsburg, but these guys obviously have no respect for the guy and aren't listening to him for some reason. Obviously that would mean that it is a problem with the players, which it is, but they need someone who will rip them a new bunghole when they don't play hard or work hard enough. Hartsburg isn't doing that, if he is, it's not getting through. I love Hartsburg, and I think that he's good for the young talent, but he needs to get through to the older guys on the team, if that means taking them all one by one in the back of SBP and beating the Dung out of them, so be it.