GAME DAY #82: Senators @ Bruins - 12:30 pm - Saturday, April 9th 2016

Flo The Action wrote:Hey Julien you can catch the plane back to Ottawa with the team if you want.

Garrioch was asking where this was all season, I told him they're playing for their next coach.

So the rumor (from Simpson) is that Neely really wants Milbury to coach. So missing the playoffs would probably mean Julien is gone. Yes, Milbury. *That* Milbury.

So Milbury in Boston, Therrien in Montreal, Julien in Ottawa. Could happen.

Wow smith with his 25th. As much as I think it's the perfect time to trade him I think it's amazing to see this happening. What a major accomplishment for him!

What a great way to reward your team on their last game with boos. Wow. Boston is a mess.

I've always been leary of Julien, but we'll see what he can do with this roster. I like a less defensive approach usually, but after this train wreck of a season Julien might be quite welcome

SpezDispensed wrote:I've always been leary of Julien,  but we'll see what he can do with this roster.  I like a less defensive approach usually,  but after this train wreck of a season Julien might be quite welcome

I'd prefer Boudreau but I doubt he could get himself fired at this point.

I can't see who else could be brought in that has a cup ring or a winning pedigree. Please not Carlyle.

Flo The Action wrote:What a great way to reward your team on their last game with boos. Wow. Boston is a mess.

Boston is one-point up on Philly, who has two games in hand (one being played as I type this). They needed these two points more than ever, and they lost 6-1. That has to be unacceptable to any fanbase. I understand those boos. I'd be unhappy if I watched my team squander its last opportunity to make the post-season, especially when they lost by five markers to a non-playoff team.

spader wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:What a great way to reward your team on their last game with boos. Wow. Boston is a mess.

Boston is one-point up on Philly, who has two games in hand (one being played as I type this). They needed these two points more than ever, and they lost 6-1. That has to be unacceptable to any fanbase. I understand those boos. I'd be unhappy if I watched my team squander its last opportunity to make the post-season, especially when they lost by five markers to a non-playoff team.

if i was boston i'd take the opportunity to signal a rebuild. part ways with some of the aging vets and get good draft picks and young prospects. they already have some good young pieces and prospects, it's not like they would need 6 years to come back from it.

Flo The Action wrote:

spader wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:What a great way to reward your team on their last game with boos. Wow. Boston is a mess.

Boston is one-point up on Philly, who has two games in hand (one being played as I type this). They needed these two points more than ever, and they lost 6-1. That has to be unacceptable to any fanbase. I understand those boos. I'd be unhappy if I watched my team squander its last opportunity to make the post-season, especially when they lost by five markers to a non-playoff team.

if i was boston i'd take the opportunity to signal a rebuild. part ways with some of the aging vets and get good draft picks and young prospects. they already have some good young pieces and prospects, it's not like they would need 6 years to come back from it.

I hear that, but it's a very separate issue than the fans being upset with the effort level when the team is trying to make the playoffs. Rebuild or not, the fans should demand that the team make every effort to stay in the playoff spot they currently own. With Boston in a playoff spot right now and one chance to force Philly to win out, the fans deserve a better effort than a 6-1 loss and had every right to boo, in my opinion.

They missed their chance when they drafted off the board last draft imo. They might become good players, but they weren't the BPA.

I'd like to take the opportunity to welcome Boston to the draft lottery.

this is playing spoilers in a big way.

Almost a perfect way to go out. Too bad Hoffman didn't shoot on his breakaway. Guy's a shooter and he always tries to deke. Breakaways, shootouts, penalty shots. Always the same. Coulda had 30. Mind you, he did get 30 assists -- that was a nice one to Zibanejad (and he's been doing quite a bit more setting up last few games).

I was listening to the pre-game and getting really pissed off at Dean. He was basically saying that he didn't think Hoffman was unwilling to play defense, but that he simply didn't know what to do, whom to cover, and so on. His point was that you can teach lack of desire to do the right thing, but you can't teach hockey IQ, so he was afraid that Hoffman just was never going to play that way. What a load of horse manure! Defensive positioning and covering your man is *exactly* what you can teach. Off-the-charts hockey IQ is what will take you from, being very good to being great, and, yes, you cannot teach that, but you can certainly teach someone who he should be covering and how to improve that coverage. You can't teach the kind of speed and shot that Hoffman has but you can -- provided he is willing and you have a capable teacher -- teach him to play better defensively.

It's probably accurate. Nice offensive awareness, not so great neutral zone and defensive zone IQ I would wager.

I expect 3 new threads by Monday. Playoffs, off season trades, and FA. Could even add a "who are the next coaches of the Ottawa Senators. Walter, spezzD, Tim, Spader. I leave the initiatives to you...

SpezDispensed wrote:It's probably accurate.  Nice offensive awareness, not so great neutral zone and defensive zone IQ I would wager.

What's not accurate is that you can't teach defense. Every other hockey person I've ever heard says you can always teach someone to be better defensively (not great, but better) but you can't teach goal scoring.

Dean should stick to calling games and reporting on what he heard directly. His analysis is often dead wrong.

Flo The Action wrote:I expect 3 new threads by Monday. Playoffs, off season  trades, and FA. Could even add a "who are the next coaches of the Ottawa Senators. Walter, spezzD, Tim, Spader. I leave the initiatives to you...

Since you didn't specify *which* Monday ...

You also forgot a countdown to the lottery thread. 20 days to go now. Maybe even a lottery-day thread (LDT).

This was an enjoyable match of ice hockey.

tim1_2 wrote:This was an enjoyable match of ice hockey.

Said Pageau about the win: "I like dat when we do dat."

So do we, JG... so do we.