Ottawa Senators Appreciation Thread

Really...what can anyone say. So proud of our team to make all the 'experts' so wrong this season and make Ottawa fans get back to the playoffs so quick.

Congrats to the vets of the team and the young guys as well. MacLean, Cameron and Reeds were wonderful hirings.

Congrats guys! Good luck in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs!!!!

Serious question:

Did the Senators purposely lose the remaining 3 games of the season to avoid finishing in 7th place and playing the 2nd seed Boston Bruins?

Riprock wrote:Serious question:

Did the Senators purposely lose the remaining 3 games of the season to avoid finishing in 7th place and playing the 2nd seed Boston Bruins?

Perhaps...

I hope this truly is the start of a good thing. I thought the same after '10 playoffs Against the penguins but then we all know how that season ended.

Pmac seems like the real deal, and melnyk and Murray Are still on course for a rebuild. It would be ridiculous to expect karlsson to match the same numbers though...Alfie will regress a bit. We got extremely lucky that spezza and karlsson and Alfie weren't lost for a significant time. Need to be healthy again next season

It's going to rely on depth.

Sens scorers need to consistently score, and the checkers need to wear down the opponents. And we know that if the top producers are shut down, without secondary and tertiary scoring, you can't win.

Can't afford the same defensive meltdowns like we have seen the past few games. No more 5-on-1s.

Riprock wrote:Serious question:

Did the Senators purposely lose the remaining 3 games of the season to avoid finishing in 7th place and playing the 2nd seed Boston Bruins?

No. Stupid question. Professional athlete's don't lose on purpose. They are not fans.

NEELY wrote:

Riprock wrote:Serious question:

Did the Senators purposely lose the remaining 3 games of the season to avoid finishing in 7th place and playing the 2nd seed Boston Bruins?

No. Stupid question. Professional athlete's don't lose on purpose. They are not fans.

There are no stupid questions ... but that one comes close

Seriously, though, the stars had to align for the Sens to get to 8th. Sure, by losing out they maximized their chances of slipping to 9th, but it was a long shot. I could see the management not caring enough to win and resting their vets (something I still think they should have done in the Boston game) but no way the players pack it in. The fact that they didn't sit out the Boston game (MacLean said he would leave it up to the players to decide) shows me that they wanted to win. MacLean getting tossed out for arguing an icing call shows me that he wanted to win.

At the beginning of the season, if we had been offered 8th place, all of us would've taken it happily. They have drastically exceeded expectations, AND the future is bright. Truly, a great time to be a Sens fan!

Much love to the Sens for their awesome regular season, it far exceeded our expectations and silenced many critics. Making the playoffs was a dream of many, and the dream is here now. Let's hope they can make some noise and do something special in the playoffs. We've got a good mix of experienced veterans and youth... and of course, we have... The Alfie!!!!!

GO SENS GO!!!

NEELY wrote:

Riprock wrote:Serious question:

Did the Senators purposely lose the remaining 3 games of the season to avoid finishing in 7th place and playing the 2nd seed Boston Bruins?

No. Stupid question. Professional athlete's don't lose on purpose. They are not fans.

Do you have any other comments other than belittling ones? Like maybe some reasons other than "they don't lose on purpose" and "they aren't fans".

Because, as "Stupid" as you think it is - there seems to be more reasons than not for the Sens to finish 8 over 7th, like a playoff match against a team they went 3-1 against in the regular season instead of the reigning champs and a team that beat them 3-1 in the regular season.

Also, as Evan insightfully put forth, the games were "meaningless" thus there was no motivation to win. No motivation = no effort, no effort = losing.

As stupid as you think it is to ask, I just gave a more intelligent answer than you did. You are welcome to try again though.

I'm saying that I think they played really, really soft in those last games. Didn't give the effort required to win to say the least - so what does that mean?

1.The diplomatic answer: they had clinched and they had a let down

2.The controversial answer: they wanted to avoid Boston and the 4 game sweep like the BLACK PLAGUE

3.The probable answer: they are the damn streakiest team in the world and lost to teams that outplayed them

EDIT: It's no coincidence that MacLean said that the Sens that lost the last three games were a team he "didn't like."

See, that is an answer I can respect.

Truth is, nobody can say with certainty what really happened. The Sens aren't going to admit they lost on purpose.

This is also the same franchise that caused the NHL to institute a lottery system when they "tanked" to get the #1 pick in 1993.

Riprock wrote:No motivation = no effort, no effort = losing.

While that's very true, it certainly does not equate to doing it on purpose.

shabbs wrote:

Riprock wrote:No motivation = no effort, no effort = losing.

While that's very true, it certainly does not equate to doing it on purpose.

Agreed....but it was as close to doing it on purpose as you're ever gonna see I think. That version of the Sens is out in 4 against any team, is that the team we expect? No. Are they gonna turn it 'on'? Yes. Could they have turned it on for those last 3 games? Yes, IMO.

Let me put it another ay.

1) If a game is meaningless, then the team likely doesn't care if they win or not.

2) If they don't care if they win or not, they likely aren't going to put as much or any effort into it as they would if they wanted or needed to win.

3) If they do not put any or little effort into the game, they likely aren't going to win.