Sens Reality Check: YOU are the GM!

Ruutu has been good this year, def not a problem. Kills penalties, plays his role effectivly, pops the odds goal, good int he shootout, very valuable player.

HowieMorenz wrote:Yeah pretty much, don't get me wrong, i love ottawa, i just really think they would be a better team without him and someone else ... ottawa always suffers so fukin long from a bad decisioin ... why murray why?

I agree the biggest mistake was chara he was our fanchise player after alfie and we let him walk i never forgive muckler for that

Neely4Life wrote:Elliott IMO has shown he has enough tallent for him to be given a shot. I dont know what people were expecting from him as a rookie, coming into a mess like Ottawa. Auld has played well when he has been given a chance for the most part dispite a huge stretch where he didnt win a game.

Split time with those 2 next year, Sens are fine. Goaltending is not the problem in Ottawa, not even a real concern at this point.

N4L...sorry my friend...but I couldn't disagree with you more.

I watch all the teams--and their goalies--objectively. IMHO Ottawa has a number two in Auld, and a rookie in Elliott who MIGHT be a number one...someday...but not now.

Steve Mason? Pekka Rinne? Josh Harding? Those are future number ones.

And if the comments of those who know much more than I do can be relied upon...goaltending has been always been a problem in Ottawa.

Harding has looked awful this season, and he plays in front of a good D, same with Rinne, same with Mason.

Fact of the matter is Elliott has been thrown to the Wolves in Ottawa, with absolutly no help from his D or team. Aside from Mason he has been the most impressive of the other 2 from the games he has played.

Elliott still has a winning record on an absolute sh it team. Right now, if this team doesnt get its D straightend out, if this team starts games like it has for the majority of the season, it doesnt matter who is in nets in Ottawa, put Luongo in there, he couldnt help this team.

No goal support, no defense, no chance.

Elliott since he has been up here has been the teams best player the majority of nights he has started.

Auld also looked great at the begining of the season and got zero help as well. If the Sens go after a number 1 net minder and waste the resources there, we will have another Gerber on our hands, garenteed.

Defense is still the number 1 concern, and then its scoring. Having 24 million tied up in 4 forwards and are almost deadlast in scoring, thats a bigger issue than a rookie inbetween the pipes, relying on no one but himself to win games for the Senators.

As soon as Spezza puts up a PPG again, Heatley scores 40 goals, Phillips isnt a liability, and there is some consistancy in our back end, then we can talk about goaltending in Ottawa again.

Ottawa has always tried to find that diamond in the rough. Take backup or rookie goalies and give them their shot at the number one slot

Ron Tugnutt and Damian Rhodes, both career backups
Patrick Lalime, backup
Gerber , backup
Auld backup
Elliot rookie
Emery rookie

The only exceptions in here were Hasek (and I maintain that if he had stayed healthy, the cup was ours) and Tommy Barasso who was a trade deadline acquisitiion, never intended to stay long and old

I would love to see Ottawa invest in a proven clutch goaltender, on a long term deal. To finally eliminate the goalie question once and for all.

I look at Anaheim, San Jose, Calgary, Vancouver, New Jersey,Dallas, and I whisper a faint plea. ......please.....

I wouldnt touch Turco with a 10 foot pole, Nabakov has done what since beeing a starter for the last 7, 8 years? There are still questions about Kippersoff too. Giguere without Alliare as his goalie coach is a HUGE question mark as well.

Luongo and Brodure are the only 2, sure fire money goalies right now. You can probably group Lundqvist in there too, but there are not a lot of guys out there I would committ years and cap space too.

Elliott and Auld will be the guys next year, as well they should be. There is no reason not to have those guys between the pipes next year short of Luongo or Bodure coming our way.

Neely4Life wrote:Harding has looked awful this season, and he plays in front of a good D, same with Rinne, same with Mason.

Fact of the matter is Elliott has been thrown to the Wolves in Ottawa, with absolutly no help from his D or team. Aside from Mason he has been the most impressive of the other 2 from the games he has played.

Elliott still has a winning record on an absolute sh it team. Right now, if this team doesnt get its D straightend out, if this team starts games like it has for the majority of the season, it doesnt matter who is in nets in Ottawa, put Luongo in there, he couldnt help this team.

No goal support, no defense, no chance.

Elliott since he has been up here has been the teams best player the majority of nights he has started.

Auld also looked great at the begining of the season and got zero help as well. If the Sens go after a number 1 net minder and waste the resources there, we will have another Gerber on our hands, garenteed.

Defense is still the number 1 concern, and then its scoring. Having 24 million tied up in 4 forwards and are almost deadlast in scoring, thats a bigger issue than a rookie inbetween the pipes, relying on no one but himself to win games for the Senators.

As soon as Spezza puts up a PPG again, Heatley scores 40 goals, Phillips isnt a liability, and there is some consistancy in our back end, then we can talk about goaltending in Ottawa again.

Sounds like we need to fix everything about this team before we tinker with goaltending. I am of the mind if you work on the d, change to a clutch goalie, your offence will fix itself/

A clutch goalie wins despite the team in front of him. Makes that save, or flurry of saves that sucks the life out of the opposing team and allows your anemic offence to score.

Do you not remember Buffalo, when Hasek was in his prime. For Christ sake, they could have iced a team of Junior B players and won games, becuase Dominic was absolutely ridiculous.

Our D is 100% the biggest concern, and Elliott is def ready to be in the NHL, would it help having a TRUE number 1 to learn from and be the backup a year or two, for sure, but Ottawa doesnt have the luxury.

If Elliott or Auld got any help at all this year, things would be a lot different and we would be fighting for a playoff spot right now, perhaps in one.

Neely4Life wrote:Harding has looked awful this season, and he plays in front of a good D, same with Rinne, same with Mason.

Fact of the matter is Elliott has been thrown to the Wolves in Ottawa, with absolutly no help from his D or team. Aside from Mason he has been the most impressive of the other 2 from the games he has played.

Elliott still has a winning record on an absolute sh it team. Right now, if this team doesnt get its D straightend out, if this team starts games like it has for the majority of the season, it doesnt matter who is in nets in Ottawa, put Luongo in there, he couldnt help this team.

No goal support, no defense, no chance.

Elliott since he has been up here has been the teams best player the majority of nights he has started.

Auld also looked great at the begining of the season and got zero help as well. If the Sens go after a number 1 net minder and waste the resources there, we will have another Gerber on our hands, garenteed.

Defense is still the number 1 concern, and then its scoring. Having 24 million tied up in 4 forwards and are almost deadlast in scoring, thats a bigger issue than a rookie inbetween the pipes, relying on no one but himself to win games for the Senators.

As soon as Spezza puts up a PPG again, Heatley scores 40 goals, Phillips isnt a liability, and there is some consistancy in our back end, then we can talk about goaltending in Ottawa again.

N4L, I understand your arguments. I agree with you that even Luongo couldn't make these Sens a contender.

But IMHO you do these young goalies a disservice.

But did you watch Harding against the Hawks last night? Have you watched Mason against the Wings? Rinne?

These kids are brilliant.

The accepted wisdom is that you build a winning team from the goal out.

I just watched the Sharks and Stars battle to a 1-0 decision for San Jose, with superb goaltending by Nabokov and Turco.

Yes, these teams are strong defensively. But Nabokov and Turco can, and do, steal games in spectacular fashion when the pressure is huge. So even if their teams don't play well, they can hold the fort.

Ottawa doesn't have that kind of goaltending, and until they do, they won't have any hope of winning a Cup.

Unless they become the Detroit Red Wings--and we know that won't happen.

I may be out on a limb here, but I would give up big assets for a Nabokov, for a Miller, for a Turco.

Neely you won't touch Turco with a long pole, but he's single handedly resurrected Dallas's season. They had an Ottawa territory record. When we needed to start winning, we didn't, but they did. Rather he did. Now, he's money. Don't bet against Turco. Getting rid of Avery did not slow the other teams down, Turco did.

Hell I even count Khabibulin in the wish list, along with Backstrom, Nik is playing really well this year, despite having to share top billing with Huet.

You say that some of these guys play well because they ice good d. Well I would go out on a limb and say that this the first year where Ottawa's D really SUCKED, and I am sure they will be back to their normal excellence next year, so that incoming goalie will have the D he needs

Elliott has 100% stolen games for Ottawa this year and has shown the ability to do it fairly regualrly.

Do people actually believe the Sens were the best team in Philly the night we won 5-2? They were out shot and out chanced.

How many times has Elliott been on the other end of a shutout by the opposing team? LA and NYR, both at home, played great, no help at all. Steal all the games you want, if there is 1 thing I'm 100% certain of, you wont win the game if you dont score.

Elliott needs a shot, he's getting it, but to think he is an elite goaltender is whats needed in Ottawa right now, its not true.

Elliott has shown he has the abilty to make the big saves, at big times, even in loses, he has played well.

looks like Dallas lost a squeaker 1-0 to San Jose, only the top team in the league. So I will continue my Turco rant

beedub wrote:I may be out on a limb here, but I would give up big assets for a Nabokov, for a Miller, for a Turco.

Neely you won't touch Turco with a long pole, but he's single handedly resurrected Dallas's season. They had an Ottawa territory record. When we needed to start winning, we didn't, but they did. Rather he did. Now, he's money. Don't bet against Turco. Getting rid of Avery did not slow the other teams down, Turco did.

Hell I even count Khabibulin in the wish list, along with Backstrom, Nik is playing really well this year, despite having to share top billing with Huet.

You say that some of these guys play well because they ice good d. Well I would go out on a limb and say that this the first year where Ottawa's D really SUCKED, and I am sure they will be back to their normal excellence next year, so that incoming goalie will have the D he needs

If you are looking for an elite, money goaltender, there are two in the league, Brodure and Luongo, thats it. Everyone else still has question marks attached to them.

The cap being where it is, the way our blue line is (worst in the NHL), there are other things that have to be fixed before goaltending, way before.

beedub wrote:looks like Dallas lost a squeaker 1-0 to San Jose, only the top team in the league. So I will continue my Turco rant

Elliott lost 1-0 to LA and people seemed to blame him for the goal he let in. Funny how that works.

Give the kid a break, is he even 24 years old yet.It's pretty rare for a goalie to get a sniff at being elite before they are 28 to 30.

Let him mature a little, either playing big minutes in the minors or backup minutes here.

Ottawa's goaltending gamble this year (this entire year, so this is not a slight against Elliot) has failed.

Bring in an elite goaltender, the entire team will develop a confidence they had no idea they had ( or at least they lost it since the Hasek/Emery year)

N4L also misses the point about an elite netminder by making the comment "What's he done?" as if a goalie wins Cups all by himself.

IMHO Glenn Hall was one of the greatest goalies ever, the fact that Chicago won one Stanley Cup being immaterial. Scotty Bowman knew that, which is why he made Hall his franchise goalie when he coached the St Louis Blues.

And Beedub is totally on target about Turco. The proof that he's an elite goalie (as if he needed to prove anything more at this point) is that he picked up his game and has carried the Stars on his back this year after a horrible start.

Elliott has talent--nobody disputes that. But he's not an elite goalie, and that's the point being made.

Unless just making the playoffs is enough, one expects Sens fans would like to have an elite goalie leading their team into a Cup Final.

Agreed?

I'd give Backstrom or Khabibulin the identical 2 year 3.5 to 4.0 per year deal. I would sign Elliot to the 4 or 5 year @ around the mil (or are they limited in what they offer Elliot as a rookie?)

beedub wrote:I'd give Backstrom or Khabibulin the identical 2 year 3.5 to 4.0 per year deal. I would sign Elliot to the 4 or 5 year 1.5 is deal (or are they limited in what they offer Elliot as a rookie?)

If Elliott has what it takes, he would only benefit from playing next to a true #1.