In the first three months of this season the Ottawa Senators were the powerhouse of the Eastern Conference.
Unlike the Anaheim Ducks, who defeated them in the 2007 Stanley Cup finals, the Senators bolted from the gate this season playing like a team on a mission to avenge their woeful performance last spring and earn another shot at the Cup.
While the Ducks struggled through the usual “Stanley Cup hangover” that plagues finalists in recent years, the Senators were one of the best teams in the league, dominating the Eastern Conference and challenging the Detroit Red Wings for best team overall.
Goaltender Ray Emery was slow to recover from off-season wrist surgery but Martin Gerber stepped up and played well, at one point leading all Eastern Conference goalies in wins.
The Senators vaunted defense corps exhibited its usual skill, while the offense was again powered by Ottawa’s “big three” of Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and team captain Daniel Alfredsson.
Throughout the fall new Senators GM Bryan Murray sought to bring in another scoring forward, and it seemed likely the Sens might deal from their blueline depth by the trade deadline to do so.
Otherwise, life was peachy in Canada’s capital city. The Senators were dominant, no one was even close to them in the Conference standings and they appeared destined to be this season’s “Beasts of the East”.
But since beating the Red Wings 3-2 in a nationally televised match-up on Hockey Night in Canada on January 12th, things have gone horribly wrong for the Senators, losing seven of their last ten games heading into the first full week of February, most of those losses to lesser teams.
It’s more than just a slump or a “Stanley Cup finals hangover” as some has suggested.
Gerber, who had played so well earlier in the season, has struggled between the pipes, as has Emery, whose clashes with teammates, coaches and management overshadow his poor play.
The defense, once the Senators strength, has been anything but over the past month, with uncharacteristic breakdowns and careless turnovers in their own zone.
In the aforementioned seven losses in their last ten games the Senators offense managed to score only 10 goals, a shocking decline in offensive production.
Much of that is attributable to injuries to Heatley and Alfredsson, but it's also demonstrated the Senators lack scoring depth beyond their first line.
It was a weakness exploited by the Ducks in last year’s finals, one that the injuries to Heatley and Alfredsson clearly show remains a significant problem.
Because of these problems, the seemingly insurmountable lead the Senators had over the rest of the Conference a month ago has been whittled away.
The Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils and NY Rangers are all now within striking distance of the Senators, with only 8 points separating first overall from seventh in the Conference as of this writing.
Sub-par goaltending, shoddy defensive play and the injuries to Heatley and Alfredsson are wearing down the Senators.
Heatley and Alfredsson should eventually return soon and there’s more than enough defensive talent on the Senators to overcome their uncharacteristically poor play. Still, rivals have taken note that shutting down the Sens first line and pressuring their defense with a swift offensive attack can be keys to success.
But it's the goaltending that's the most difficult problem to address. For all the talk of Gerber and Emery having to step up their respective performances, thus far they’ve failed to rise to the challenge, and in the case of Emery, he’s seemingly becoming more of a distraction with each passing week.
Disgruntled Senators fans can call for Emery's trade or demotion but the reality is neither is really an option. As more than one pundit has observed, there's really no suitable replacement for Emery either on the farm or via trade.
If Gerber and Emery fail to measure up, it really won't matter if the offense and defense improves, because the Achilles heel in goal will not only prevent the Senators from returning to the Cup finals but could put their dominance of the Conference at risk.
For the first time in a long time, the Senators are facing a potentially serious mid-season crisis, which if not soon addressed has the potential to put their season in jeopardy.
Say what you will about the goaltending situation, but judging by last night's game, the entire team is to blame. They seem to have completely fallen apart without Heatly and Alfie.
Redden, who only a couple years ago the Sens chose over Chara, looked like a friggin lost child on the ice for most of the game. The defence was almost non-existent. It was a pitiful performance as a whole, and it would be a shame if this gets heaped on the goalies.
1) Many of us were cautioning Sens backers even before the season that their goaltending was going to be their weakness!
2) We have never been Emery fans (his run to the Finals not withstanding) This year he is proving us right. He is Untradeable with that bloated contract for a goalie who is essentially a back-up! Gerber is another good solid 'backup' goalie.
3) Unless/until the Sens can acquire a legit starting goalie, they will be vulnerable. They are certainly good enough to make the post season, but NOT a favourite to win the Cup, let alone the East!
It's too bad that short-sighted people are using the Emery situation as some sort of crutch that allows them to look past everything else the team is doing wrong and just blame Mr Problem Goalie.
I love it "not withstanding" his single season as a starter in which he took the team to the Stanley Cup finals? How can you judge him other than his only season as a starter? Maybe you go back and say "Oh, that year he was AHL goalie of the year, or the year he was CHL goalie of the year, THOSE are the reasons we aren't Emery fans. Or maybe it was his rookie year, when he lead the Sens to a playoff victory in the first round before the lost to the Sabres in 5 1-goal games? Of course, this was after he started his by breaking the record for most consecutive wins by a rookie.
This guy has been getting grief from so-called pundits all his career because of ridiculousness like dying his hair and who he puts on his mask and getting in a car accident, and this season, because he lost his starting job as a result of being injured (an injury he played with when he almost won the Stanley Cup) everyone is singing his demise?
This is moronic. Obviously, a Ottawa's defence played really well last year, that can't be discounted, but how come nobody is selling the defence down the river this year? In the recent past it has been their defence that has be letting them down, not their goaltending. Put ANY goalie in the position Gerber and Emery are in, in which the defence is non-existent, and see how they do.
1) Danig: We could care less about Emery's Puice suits and hair do's. What we see is an average/backup goalie.
2) Yes, like Gerber this year, he had a good regular season and decent playoffs(until the finals) However, he was far from the reason his team made it out of the weak East last year.
3) In fact we'd hazard to guess that if you exchanged goalies in last year's Finals the Senators would have won the big silver trophy not Anaheim!
That's great. STILL, what is the "decent backup" theory based on? He was slow to recover from the injury that he PLAYED THROUGH during the entire playoffs.
And did you actually watch the finals? Please, tell me that, if not for the goaltending, the Sens would have won. Come on, don't be ridiculous. He was GREAT for three rounds and solid for the fourth. Ottawa was completely outclassed in the finals, you can not blame that on Emery.
And really? You're comparing Gerber this year to Emery last year?
He may not have been THE reason, but he was in the top two reasons they made it out of the East.
1) Dan: IF Emery "is all that" then Ottawa should have very little trouble moving him in a trade. After all, his salary of 3.5 mil is very reasonable for a top flight, starting NHL goalie. Its a down right steal. Opposing GM's should be lining up to grab this guy.
2) Now back to reality. He has attracted LITTLE interest from opposing teams. Not because of his flakiness (What goalie isn't!?), but because he's just not that good.
3) No he wasn't the difference in the 2007 Finals, but that's exactly the point we're making he was NOT a difference maker, which is what you need your goalie to be. In the previous 3 rounds he was good enough to have the team proceed through the weak East. Again, he was NOT the difference/reason they won.
Bryan Murray might ease some of that by shipping Emery down to the bus league for a while. Waivers may bite them in the behind, but at this point it's almost worth it just to get him out of Ottawa. He was a slick player last season, but that was last season and it doesn't matter now. This guy's a distraction and it's pretty obvious he's hurting more than just Ray Emery with his antics. Combined with the injuries, it's no wonder Ottawa's struggled recently.
If he IS such a liability, why have they stated that they aren't trying to move him? Why have they decided to keep him around?
Is it because, at LEAST he has proven that he can do something in the playoffs? He took the starting job from Gerber and Gerber has done nothing to steal it back. Murray is not an ####, he knows that once (if, admittedly) Emery gets out of his slump that he is a SOLID goalie.
OBVIOUSLY the reason people are saying he should be moved is because his attitude, not because he's a bad goalie. And teams are smart enough to know that adding a quality player who is not having a troubled year can throw off a team, so of course they aren't going to want to add an Emery right now. Let's not be jackasses who think that it's only because of his play.
Again, he's such an easy target that nobody wants to try using half a brain to look past it.
He's a distraction? There are 20-some odd adults on the team. If they can't look past a goalie missing a practice, then they should hang up their skates right now.
1) They aren't trying to move him because they CAN'T!
2) What team will trade for a guy who is playing at a mediocre level, has 2 MORE years left on a 3+ mil contract AND has had recent rumblings/media generated rumours of substance issues?
Fauxrumours: I am always amazed at your ability to post comments which are utterly devoid of any insight. If you watched the playoffs last year, you'd have seen that Emery was solid through three rounds and was GREAT in the finals. In game two he would have stolen the game had the Sens been able to score. He stood on his head all night! In Game 4, the game was tied going into the third until Redden got caught flat footed and Emery allowed a goal on a two on one. Emery gave the boys a chance right through to the third period of game 4, which, BTW, would have tied the series at two games a piece. By game 5, the entire team gave up.
The only reason the trade market for Emery is low his off-ice antics. His numbers this year aren't good, but then he has not been given any type of opportunity to "get into a groove". He has started consecutive games only a handful of times, and played very well when he did.
1) Dit: Interesting that someone who's been dead for 30 years could have such a strong opinion on anything.
2) Your inane personal swipe aside, if you don't believe our take on Emery's Finals performance, go back and read some of the reports/columnists at the time. Perhaps you were recalling the 1912 Finals? LOL
3) Our position with reference to Emery has NOTHING to do with his puice suits and tardiness, but is poor/average play. Period.
Last edited by fauxrumors5 on February 5th at 11:55 AM.
danig, remember when the Ducks had to put their backup on waivers to move him? Tough market, right? Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Los Angeles would love to have a goalie, but do you think anyone wants the kind of baggage Emery brings to the locker room? He shouldn't be a distraction, but he is. Your claim that his antics shouldn't affect his team is way out there. When you have a downer on your team, it brings the entire team down. A six- or seven-figure income doesn't change that.
Ray Emery is upset because he's not getting the ice time he wants. As a result, he's throwing a tantrum that could rival my three year old neice.
Chaas, dude, I'm not disagreeing with you, if anything you're agreeing with me. Obviously the reason teams don't want him is his attitude.
And you know what? When players are being paid millions of dollars a year, that is money you're being paid to NOT be distracted by little things like another player being late for a practice.
I think they're lucky to be playing in the East, because I can't see them beating the Ducks, Sens, Sharks, Flames or Wings on a regular basis... let alone in a playoff series.
1. After Alfi grit is non exististant.
2. Team obviously lacks heart when Alfi isn't around.
3. 2nd-4th line forwards are big time underacheivers.
I would agree with some of the comments from Thadd, in that the real issue maybe a lack of leadership rather than the fact the goaltending has not been as good as last season.
I do not follow the Sens that closely, and I really don't know as much about their team and makeup as others, but listening to the hockey talk on XM, and reading some of the blogs, and even seeing the exciting Versus game last night (I'm kidding of course) it seems that many are pointing thr finger that the team is not responding well without Alfredsson and Heatley, and no one is going up to Emery and getting his head back in the game.
Maybe Phillips tried to do that in practice on Saturday, but still, I see the Sens facing many issues that other teams have already dealt with (injuries, sub par play) and they don't seem to be responding well. Maybe its time for the Sens team to ask themselves how bad do they want to win the cup.
Glen Sather used to have the Oilers go into a controlled slide each spring around March. He reasoned there was no way you could play at the top of your game all season long, and the mental break helped prepare the team for the playoffs. That was then, and this is now.
In today's NHL, with 24 hour media attention and tight playoff races, you don't have the luxury to take a handful of games off, even if you are 12 points up on the 9th place team. The Senators are in a funk, pure and simple.
The Emery business is a distraction at the worst time of year. They are giving that kid a lot of rope and he's making his own noose. That's fine if he wants to hang himself, but the team's neck is in the knot too. Personally, I would ship him out of conference to Los Angeles for futures and either sign Ed Belfour for the playoff run (hoping we could get him through waivers) or do my best to pick up a back-up tender on the cheap.
I'm not sure how you get a team to go into a controlled slide (And I don't mean that as an insult or to disagreement, just an observation), but the Sens have been underperforming since before the Emery business, and the injuries they have now show how shallow they are as a team right now.
They aren't getting the goaltending they need (and the goaltending their boys are capable of) but the entire team is faltering. Spezza is like a lost child without Alfi and Heatley, and the defense is invisible. I don't get to watch a lot of Sens games, but the game against Toronto was just pathetic, from an all-round team perspective.
I have tried calling the Versus network several times to complain about the problems with their NHL broadcast. Most notibly, the volume continues to fade in and out, and it makes watching and LISTENING to the game unbearable.
I have contacted the person in charge of broadcasting @ Versus, Sandra Doerr, and left her several messages, but I receive no response. I just got off the phone with a receptionist there, and she told me that no one is available to speak with me right now regarding this issue, but that it will be forwarded to the director of operations. If ya ask me, it bull, and they're just trying to get me off the phone.
I implore hockey fans to please contact Versus, and Sandra Doerr, the director of broadcasting there to correct this problem ASAP. Sandra can be reached at 203-276-8115.
I read that the NHL signed a 3 yr extension with Versus, and I sure as hell hope this doesnt continue for the next 3 years.
The Sens need a second limne, more recently, it looks like they need first line too. All tha said Spector is right! when you can't stop the puck, you can't contend in the playoffs.....
Anyone who thinks that great goaltending is not important to a Stanley Cup winning team, is either living in a dream world or does not understand hockey. Where would New Jersey be without goal tending. I think the flow of the team stems from the goaltender. A good goalie allows the players to play looser and a more wide open game. Ottawa has lost faith in both goal tenders. They are more timid to take chances.
I say bench Emery and pass the reigns to Gerber. Emery has had 20 + games to prove himself.He has alot of growing up to do. At least with Gerber,he will try to give his best. Last year when everyone wanted his head and expresssed openly that Ottawa wanted to trade him. Gerber remained a team player. Gerber could have acted like Emery is now.
I think for A Stanley Cup this year is a wash. In the off season, Ottawa needs a Number 1 goaltender. As fans we could be alot worse. Maybe a leafs fan ? Haha
Ottawa is having their problems, but good heavens, you'd think they were doomed to the netherworld for this prolonged slump. I am by no means an Ottawa fan but give them a break. Nobody should get a pass for poor play, and you can question their makeup, but they've rivaled Detroit as the best team in the game for the past few years. The fact that this hasn't delivered any Cups is a concern, but it doesn't all go out the window simply because of some issues. They are still statistically the best team in the East and have a long way to go before their demise becomes anything other than a great exaggeration.
As to this goalie debate, I agreed with faux before the season started that I questioned the capability of Emery despite his performance. This is not the same is saying that he's a horrible loon, but rather that nobody should be shocked that he's dealing with some problems. Goalies aren't held to the same "sane standard" as anyone else, really, but at some point you've gotta back it up with stopping the puck and he hasn't gotten it done. You can also count me out of the Gerber camp, as he's gotten numerous opportunities to shine and has pretty much failed miserably after playing well long enough to land that expensive (and unmoveable) contract. It's not a great situation, but your only option is to go with what brought you and play the best D you can, capitalize on mistakes, and hope your goalie can keep you in the game. Neither is playing with confidence enough to steal one for them right now.
The point is, they deserve the benefit of the doubt to some degree for what they've done. They've built a heck of a solid franchise and have plenty of weapons and resources at the ready to make things happen, and they are in a good conference to make up a lot of ground when they do get on a roll, which they invariably will. I certainly can see the desire to press the panic button, and I don't see them getting the ultimate job done with this tandem, but this is a far cry from a Toronto situation in my view.
No insult or disagreement received; happy to share the background on that one. It was a comment Sather himself made when reflecting on those great 1980s teams and how they prepared for the haul of the playoffs. I can't recall if I read it in The Glory Barons or Of Ice And Man or a similar book, but Sather talked about how he always took his foot off the gas for a couple of weeks late in the season to give the players a mental rest. Putting the car into a "controlled slide" were his words and they've always sat with me since reading them. The general idea is that you've still got your foot on the gas pedal and your hands on the wheel and you can correct when necessary. (As opposed to an uncontrolled slide, one not of your doing, where you frantically oversteer in an attempt to correct.)
Essentially, to shift gears on the metaphor, you've got to give the horsewhip a rest before applying it hard down the last stretch.
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on February 7th at 12:44 PM.
That actually makes complete sense. I like the "horsewhip" metaphor better, but it makes sense.
As for them being in trouble, it's an interesting situation. They looked to absolutely godawful last week against the Leafs, but tonight against the Canadiens they looked much, much better. It's still obviously problematic that Alfredsson, Heatley and Spezza accounted for 15 of 17 points, but I don't think anyone will disagree that their defense looked much much better and that Emery was solid between the pipes.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of production they'll get from "everyone else" down the line, and if this is a sign of the goaltending stabilizing a bit.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
