GAME DAY: Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators -- Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 -- 7pm ET (CBC)

And man, we have the worst chemistry of the entire league, no kidding.

marakh wrote:And man, we have the worst chemistry of the entire league, no kidding.

Which is reason for some hope... in that you'd think that once they find it, this team will get it going... question is, will they find it?

we were outshot 19-34 in our own building. i like clouston but at some point you got to say guys, if you don't take at least 30 shots in a game, its a bag skate at the next practice. stop making loafing an option.

111519 wrote:we were outshot 19-34 in our own building. i like clouston but at some point you got to say guys, if you don't take at least 30 shots in a game, its a bag skate at the next practice. stop making loafing an option.

oh, and whoever is coaching the power play should be fired.

marakh wrote:And man, we have the worst chemistry of the entire league, no kidding.

I think it's more like the worst work ethic in the league.

The team isn't that much different from last year. It'd be different if there was a lot of roster turnover but the fact is that there really hasn't been. To me they just look like they don't want to compete on game to game basis and they are losing because they are being outworked every single game.

And I don't think it's going to change until this team gets it in their head that they can't outskill teams.

marakh wrote:And man, we have the worst chemistry of the entire league, no kidding.

Want to know my take on this? Does anyone think they went straight to bed Friday night? Or do you think a few glasses were raised and a few toasts spoken? It's not every night that your Captain scores a hat-trick to hit 1,000 points.

111519 wrote:we were outshot 19-34 in our own building. i like clouston but at some point you got to say guys, if you don't take at least 30 shots in a game, its a bag skate at the next practice. stop making loafing an option.

They outplayed the Habs in pretty much every other aspect -- more blocked shots, more hits, better at faceoffs. They stirred it up, pushed people around (unfortunately, sometimes the wrong people). And, yes, they hit some posts and messed up badly on that 2-on-1. Tired team but, I think, moving in the right direction.

Look, I hate losing to the Habs in our own house -- that cheer that went up when Foligno's goal was disallowed sickened me -- but apart from that score, there were lots of things I liked about how they played.

Urkie wrote:

marakh wrote:And man, we have the worst chemistry of the entire league, no kidding.

I think it's more like the worst work ethic in the league.

The team isn't that much different from last year. It'd be different if there was a lot of roster turnover but the fact is that there really hasn't been. To me they just look like they don't want to compete on game to game basis and they are losing because they are being outworked every single game.

And I don't think it's going to change until this team gets it in their head that they can't outskill teams.

I take it you didn't actually watch the game? Lack of trying was not the reason they lost last night.

It was Alfie's fault -- he should have missed the empty netter in Buffalo and left the 1,000th point (and the celebration that followed) to Saturday night.

marakh wrote:

asq2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:I'm not sure where we go from here. I'm really not...

I want to see what the entire healthy roster can do before considering giving up on the season.

EDIT: But if Murray trades our first round pick I will freak out, man.

I keep reading this all the time, most often on HFBoards. But when exactly did Murray ever trade his team's 1st rounder?

At this past draft, for Rundblad. I am with asq2 though, he cannot trade our upcoming first. I have a sinking feeling that it's going to be higher than we'd all like.

And FFS Murray, take a MFing forward please. I fear for the future of this team without a quality sniper(s) on the wings....

They outplayed the Habs in pretty much every other aspect -- more blocked shots, more hits, better at faceoffs. They stirred it up, pushed people around (unfortunately, sometimes the wrong people). And, yes, they hit some posts and messed up badly on that 2-on-1. Tired team but, I think, moving in the right direction.

Look, I hate losing to the Habs in our own house -- that cheer that went up when Foligno's goal was disallowed sickened me -- but apart from that score, there were lots of things I liked about how they played.

I only caught the first half or so, Sens were down 1-0, looking a little slow but definitely working hard and playing like a team with something to lose. Was it just more of the same after that? If it was, I can see how we lost 3-0, and I see room for improvement, but I wouldn't call it a terrible effort.

beerandsens wrote:

They outplayed the Habs in pretty much every other aspect -- more blocked shots, more hits, better at faceoffs. They stirred it up, pushed people around (unfortunately, sometimes the wrong people). And, yes, they hit some posts and messed up badly on that 2-on-1. Tired team but, I think, moving in the right direction.

Look, I hate losing to the Habs in our own house -- that cheer that went up when Foligno's goal was disallowed sickened me -- but apart from that score, there were lots of things I liked about how they played.

I only caught the first half or so, Sens were down 1-0, looking a little slow but definitely working hard and playing like a team with something to lose. Was it just more of the same after that? If it was, I can see how we lost 3-0, and I see room for improvement, but I wouldn't call it a terrible effort.

The fact that effort is being debated (rightly or wrongly) this early in the season, is a very bad sign imo. I could understand later in the year when guys have some more miles on them, but not now. Clouston really should be pointing to two years ago, when all the lost points during the coaching debacle cost the team in April. This is not a team that can afford to piss away points in October.

no way iwant us to go the way of a rebuild. i agree there's maybe too many average players on this team but there's also quite a few good ones.
we might be heading for a bad year so let's take it for that. with guys like kovalev(i never liked that guy ad knew this is what we were getting when we signed him) gonenext year, pascale leclaire gone. i suggest by the trade deadlin we trade a few other players then invest our money on guys with good work ethics. first we have quite a few young guys coming up that will want the spots we can open-up for them.
so players i suggest we try and part with at the deadline or at the end of the year if things stay the same: Lee, Foligno, Winchester(not a bad guy but i think Z smith can take his job), Kuba, campoli and shannon.

some of these guys could turn it around during the year but at best they are average.
with kovalev and leclaire gone(frankly i like leclaire and if he stays healthy from now on wouldn't mind offering him a smaller contract) that totals 8 open spots on our line-up.
(and yes i'd opt to offer ruutu a 1 mill contract)
8 spots we could fill thru our youth and FA. that might mean we suck even more the following year or not. but at least we give our youth a shot.

that would opem up roughly around 15 mill of cap space to us and we'd have the possibility to be a very young (and hungry?) team again.

Fair enough. I thought the Sens would struggle for a while after watching the pre season, and while I would say they are looking a little better, it's not very inspiring that said improvement has only earned them two victories.

EDIT. This was a reply to hemlock above.

hemlock wrote:

marakh wrote:

asq2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:I'm not sure where we go from here. I'm really not...

I want to see what the entire healthy roster can do before considering giving up on the season.

EDIT: But if Murray trades our first round pick I will freak out, man.

I keep reading this all the time, most often on HFBoards. But when exactly did Murray ever trade his team's 1st rounder?

At this past draft, for Rundblad. I am with asq2 though, he cannot trade our upcoming first. I have a sinking feeling that it's going to be higher than we'd all like.

And FFS Murray, take a MFing forward please. I fear for the future of this team without a quality sniper(s) on the wings....

He traded a first round pick for a first round pick.

You guys are blowing this way out of proportion. If the Sens' start merits a rebuild then fans in NJ, SJ, PHX, BUF and every other team off to a slow start should be saying the same thing.

first we have quite a few young guys coming up that will want the spots we can open-up for them.
so players i suggest we try and part with at the deadline or at the end of the year if things stay the same: Lee, Foligno, Winchester(not a bad guy but i think Z smith can take his job), Kuba, campoli and shannon.

some of these guys could turn it around during the year but at best they are average.
with kovalev and leclaire gone(frankly i like leclaire and if he stays healthy from now on wouldn't mind offering him a smaller contract) that totals 8 open spots on our line-up.
(and yes i'd opt to offer ruutu a 1 mill contract)
8 spots we could fill thru our youth and FA. that might mean we suck even more the following year or not. but at least we give our youth a shot.

Winchester, Campoli, Lee, Foligno... These guys are young, why get rid of the best young talent we have in order to figure out just how good the less developed youth we have are? Sure, any one of those guys could be a piece in a deal or two, but unloading any and all seems excessive.

wprager wrote:I take it you didn't actually watch the game? Lack of trying was not the reason they lost last night.

It was Alfie's fault -- he should have missed the empty netter in Buffalo and left the 1,000th point (and the celebration that followed) to Saturday night.

I did watch the game. I've watched all of the games so far this year and they've been outshot in all but one game I believe.

They're just being outworked on a regular basis. Teams must love playing us because we're so easy to play against. You get the first goal on the Sens and they fold up like a tent.

Urkie wrote:

I did watch the game. I've watched all of the games so far this year and they've been outshot in all but one game I believe.

They're just being outworked on a regular basis. Teams must love playing us because we're so easy to play against. You get the first goal on the Sens and they fold up like a tent.

Out-worked, out-talented, out-hustled, out-hit, out-everything. It's been embarrassing and it won't be allowed to go on much longer IMO. Let the Murray death watch begin.