GAME DAY #68: Senators @ Hurricanes - 7:00 pm - Tuesday, March 8 2016

tim1_2 wrote:It's funny that coaches keep getting blamed here when the actual problem is that we have a mediocre roster.  Guess what you get with a mediocre roster?  Mediocrity.

Murray made two lethal mistakes last off-season.

1.He didn't upgrade the D. He went with Cowen and Wiercioch instead of getting a real 2nd pairing D-man.

2.He had faith in Zibanejad as the 2C. No real fault on Murray there, although he should have "Legwanded" someone as a stopgap (hopefully not someone useless like Legwand was, but a vet).

Those two mistakes cost us the season, especially the D.

SpezDispensed wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:It's funny that coaches keep getting blamed here when the actual problem is that we have a mediocre roster.  Guess what you get with a mediocre roster?  Mediocrity.

Murray made two lethal mistakes last off-season.

1.He didn't upgrade the D.  He went with Cowen and Wiercioch instead of getting a real 2nd pairing D-man.

2.He had faith in Zibanejad as the 2C.  No real fault on Murray there, although he should have "Legwanded" someone as a stopgap (hopefully not someone useless like Legwand was, but a vet).

Those two mistakes cost us the season, especially the D.

Again he has performed admirably as the 2C

wprager wrote:

Smith-pageau-stone
Paul-zibanejad-chiasson
Dzingel-gomez-ryan
Hoffman-lazar-neil

So, has Smith earned top-line minutes or has he simply benefited from it?
How are Paul and Chiasson on the second line?
Why are we giving a 36-year-old has-been 3rd line minutes instead of evaluating prospects?

This is not a lineup built to win, it's an Ikea entertainment unit assembled without instructions.

We've been evaluating prospects all year long and the results have been underwhelming. ScoGo is an upgrade so far on our beloved "Young Guns." The goal is still to win games at this point so The ScoGer will keep ScoGing until he gets an extension. Which, I hope, is sooner rather than later.

Smith took advantage of an opportunity and the coaching staff deserves credit for seeing that potential. It's one thing to get a shot, it's quite another to actually do what Smith has done with that opportunity.

We would of been OK with ZBad as a 2LC if Turris had stayed healthy. I think when Turris' health took a turn for the worse, the whole team started a downward plunge. He's incredible important to this team. As I stated elsewhere, I think him and Stone are our only two forwards that really make their linemates better.

Ev wrote:

SpezDispensed wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:It's funny that coaches keep getting blamed here when the actual problem is that we have a mediocre roster.  Guess what you get with a mediocre roster?  Mediocrity.

Murray made two lethal mistakes last off-season.

1.He didn't upgrade the D.  He went with Cowen and Wiercioch instead of getting a real 2nd pairing D-man.

2.He had faith in Zibanejad as the 2C.  No real fault on Murray there, although he should have "Legwanded" someone as a stopgap (hopefully not someone useless like Legwand was, but a vet).

Those two mistakes cost us the season, especially the D.

Again he has performed admirably as the 2C

Maybe if Turris had had a full season, maybe I should rephrase. We needed a veteran C, a guy who could come in and calm things down when Zbad went on his annual 20 game slump and Turris was injured. Doesn't matter if Murray can't foresee these things, he should plan on it.

Zibanejad's #'s are decent. He is 42nd amongst centres in points with 6 GWG.

Statistically, he is a 2C. So is Turris. Problem with Zibanejad is he that he is so inconsistent. In the 4 games since his hat trick, he has 1 assist.

Zibanejad is at .61 PPG this year. Turris, at the same age, was at .59 though Zibanejad has benefitted from more NHL experience to this point.

There are not 30 #1 centers in this league. Turris and Zibanejad may get into the top 30 centres as far as points go but when you look at the 1C's on teams that win the cup, they do not compare.

tim1_2 wrote:It's funny that coaches keep getting blamed here when the actual problem is that we have a mediocre roster.  Guess what you get with a mediocre roster?  Mediocrity.

This.  Immortan Joe approves.

tim1_2 wrote:We would of been OK with ZBad as a 2LC if Turris had stayed healthy.  I think when Turris' health took a turn for the worse, the whole team started a downward plunge.  He's incredible important to this team.  As I stated elsewhere, I think him and Stone are our only two forwards that really make their linemates better.

In general, unless you have two 1LCs, the health of the 1LC is incredibly important to any team.

Pageau makes his linemates better. It really depends on the starting point.

Smith has had opportunities before and failed. He's tried at wing before (mind you, not with Stone, because he was still playing at the WJC at the time) and he's moved up the lineup in the past. He is 4 goals above his best season with another 18 games to go -- that's pretty unusual for a veteran player.

What has ScoGo done for anyone to say anything about him? Has he looked out of place on a mediocre team? No, he has not. That's about all I can say. Oh, and that one PP they had in his first game, it was really good until the two minutes were over and the only thing they had to show for it was 3 shots on goal, I think.

Ev wrote:#TradeHoffman

Starting to believe this will happen. Though it's not even about the money anymore, him and Cameron are clearly over each other.

They should at least try to sign him to 2 years.  Would make it much easier to trade him for good value.

But Murray coming out publicly and saying "Show me what you can do in the last 20 games" and Cameron saying "Oh, and do it playing 14 shifts a night with Lazar and Neil" somehow makes me think he's not likely to do us any favors.

Michallica wrote:

Ev wrote:#TradeHoffman

Starting to believe this will happen.  Though it's not even about the money anymore, him and Cameron are clearly over each other.  

See I would rather sign Hoffman and get a new coach. Not that I think all of Hoffman's trouble are related to Cameron. No Hoff needs to take responsibility for his game and start doing the little things that make Teams better defensively when forwards contribute but let's face it... Cameron has made a number of questionable coaching moves and I don't think he's the righ fit for this team. I agree with prags ( i sais It, ) he Teacher this team like he's teaching Kids and that doesn't work at The NHL level. I want to see an experienced winning coach get a chance to turn this team into a contender. There's a few teams that if they get bounced in the first round might see changes behind the bench.
Murray is likely moving on, it would be adequate to see coaching go the same way.
At the very least you will see the coach on a very short leash if a new GM comes in. Even with Dorion. Problem with Dorion is he seems like a very loyal guy like Murray.

The more you agree with me the more agreeable you will be to the truth.

I've been a Dave Cameron supporter, but even I don't understand placing boro on the 1st line....I wouldn't be surprised if Bobby Ryan is unhappy with not being on the first power play unit (a la Heatley)

But I don't know if what we're complaining about is on par with what fans of every team complain about in their coaches. It sounds to me like it is.

The message seems to get stale way too quickly in the ottawa locker room.

Game #68 and player #68.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-making-the-nhls-development-model-better/

Are we looking at the final 15 games of Mike Hoffman’s tenure in Ottawa? Sure looks like it. The winger was benched Saturday in Toronto, then played 13:46 the next night against Dallas. I talked about it with one agent (not Hoffman’s), who points out the contract power pendulum will switch from the club, which did very well in his arbitration case last summer, to the player. He is one year from unrestricted free agency, and can go to arbitration once again. This time, his resume is deeper, as he’s become one of the best even-strength scorers in the league. Unless the Senators believe in him enough to offer a lengthy extension, and their usage certainly indicates doubt, you can’t let him walk for nothing.

Bobby has been on the first pp all year

Michallica wrote:I've been a Dave Cameron supporter,  

And Dave Cameron has been a Michallica supporter, old friend.