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sandysensfan wrote:wprager wrote:SpezDispenser wrote:La Femme wrote:Get Rundblad back, Karlsson is not enough.
Yes please.
Do you really think it would have made a difference last night? They were lacking finish around the net. How did Daugavins *not* put that rebound off the boards in? Or Greening on a beautiful setup from behind by Spezza? I hate doing this, but looking at the Event Summary, the Sabres had 7 missed shots, while the Sens had 18. So far we have one win and one loser point in 5 division match-ups. Ugh-ly. One point up on 9th place Tampa, who have 2 games in hand. And the Devils are 2 points back with 3 games in hand.
Tampa plays Florida tonight. Best-case scenario Florida wins in regulation and we slip to 8th, but if Tampa gets even a loser point we are out of that playoff spot. If Tampa loses in regulation, then one of New Jersey or Carolina will get 2 points on Tuesday. Best we can hope for in that game is that the Devils win in a shootout (we would still be ahead with 4 ROW to their 3).
I don't see how we can hang on to that playoff position before our next game. And three games ago we were in 4th.
I guess it's true what they say -- it's still early.
But this team is re-building. Why are you so upset that they may fall out of a playoff position.
If someone told me at the start of the season that his young team -- (with 6 or 7 rookies in the lineup most nights, new coaching staff, new playing system) would be at .500 and in a playoff position after 15 games I would not have believed them.
Let's get realistic. This team is not making the playoffs... and it is best for the re-build that they don't.
I've been saying all along that this team *can* make the playoffs. So allow me to be disappointed. If Anderson had been playing the way we all expected him to play in the off-season we would be leading the Division. If you don't believe me, consider this: if Anderson played better we don't lose that 6-5 game against the Leafs -- just that one game, and we're tied with the Leafs at 17. Then even getting to an OT in one of the remaining losses puts us one point ahead.
Everyone was saying we would not score, and I was one of the few challenging this "fact". Remember, last year, up until Spezza got injured, we were a 2-3 game winning streak out of a playoff spot. And I fully expected a better year from Kuba (no broken leg and a full training camp) and Gonchar (who traditionally is slow to adjust to a new team). I *didn't* expect either Regin or Butler to light it up, although I was hoping for 15-20 goals between the two of them. I must admit I was expecting Filatov to make the team, but I also expected DaCosta and Rundblad to play in Bingo. So I was overly optimistic in some expectation and overly pessimistic in others -- overall, though, I thought (and still think) my expectations were not outrageous. I fully expected Boston to struggle because of the Cup "hangover", and one of Montreal and Buffalo to sputter if Price or Miller were not having a Vezina-candidate season. I expected Toronto to falter when Reimer struggled because of all the expectation and playing load. He has, but they've been scoring a ton of goals (most of the time) to overcome it. I still fully expect them to come back down to Earth. So in that kind of NE Division I don't think it would have been outrageous to expect the Sens to contend for a spot.
Now, on to your comment regarding rookies -- we had 6 in the lineup once, when Lehner started. Zibanejad, Da Costa, Greening, Cowen, Rundblad and, now, Daugavins. Two of those are only in because Regin and Alfredsson are injured. Greening played 24 games last year so he is *barely* a rookie (he's also 25 years old, in fact most of our "rookies" are in their mid-20s. Inexperienced? Somewhat, but not really raw rookies, for the most part.
Without the injuries we'd have 3 rookies in the lineup, a far cry from 6-7.
but there it is. I also see you're missing Butler (who is still under contract). Winchester and Konopka are UFAs so I think they'll be moving along. Carkner, as well, and I think he will be gone, also. They'll never pay him what he could get on the open market. He'd be a great depth guy for a playoff bound team to pick up. 
