Aren’t you tired of being blackmailed for nothing, dear Ottawa Senators fans?
Yes, the Senators often bludgeon the Canadian when they face each other. But I hope Ottawa wins, dammit! The Senators are so much better. Despite everything, Ottawa is one of the rare teams that CH fans can make fun of, things are so bad in the Canadian capital.
• Read also: Senators: Giroux is a frustrated man
If I were a big fan of the Senators, firstly, I would start looking at another sport and, secondly, I would try to never, ever again, believe the organization when they say it’s going to get better .
Since reaching the Eastern Final in 2017, the Senators have earned 456 points in 514 games. Only the Blackhawks have done worse.
Okay, the Canadian is not left out with only 476 points. But since then, CH has not acquired any great players, is the most injured team in the league and has plenty of defenders still in adolescent crisis.
Ottawa, for its part, went for impact players and was one of the least injured teams in the NHL.
And all this for what, after seven years of reconstruction? The poor Canadian is ahead of the Senators by three points.
The parade on the Rideau Canal
On paper, when we don’t focus on the rankings, we look at the Senators’ roster and we find that it’s strong. We say to ourselves, “Wow, I should have reserved my spot on the banks of the Rideau Canal for the fantastic Stanley Cup parade that the Senators are going to do this year on boats.”
Getty Images via AFP
We say to ourselves that the reconstruction has been splendid and that the team must dominate. Stützle, Giroux, Tkachuk, Batherson, Tarasenko, Norris, Pinto and even their young first round pick, Ridly Greig.
It’s a punch!
On defense, Chabot, Sanderson, Chychrun and the very underrated Artem Zub are four machines. But no, the Senators still managed to be lousy. All this shows in particular that when you embark on a reconstruction, you never know how things might turn out.
After 27 matches, a change of coach could serve as an electric shock, but the arrival of Jacques Martin changed nothing. The team has won 12 of 30 games since. Meanwhile, Patrick Roy is leading the Islanders and Ottawa is still looking on its page to see if Roy has responded to him.
To illustrate the extent to which the Senators are playing on the nerves of their fans, but also to what extent the reconstruction is not going at all as planned, I dug into the web archives to bring out what was said when the Senators posed significant gestures in recent years.
Claude Giroux signed (July 2022)
Pierre Dorion: “He will help us reach the next level.”
Joonas Korpisalo signed (July 2023)
NHL.com: “Korpisalo is the one who will help the Senators not miss the playoffs again.”
8-year/$64.4M contract extension for Jake Sanderson (September 2023)
Jake Sanderson: “I believe we will win in the next few years, we know that […] I want to be here for that. That’s the main goal, that’s why you play hockey, to win the Stanley Cup. Our group, we are ready.”
Acquisition of Alex DeBrincat (July 2022)
Pierre Dorion: “We are one step closer to playing meaningful matches until the end of the year.”
Acquisition of Vladimir Tarasenko (July 2023)
Vladimir Tarasenko: “I like that this is a young team hungry to want to win. They seem ready to take the next step.”
Acquisition of Jacob Chychrun (March 2023)
The Hockey News: “Chychrun is exactly what the Senators needed to take a big step forward this season.”
8-year/$62.6M contract extension for Josh Norris (July 2022)
Pierre Dorion: “This will help us reach the next level.”
8-year/$66.8M contract extension for Tim Stützle (September 2023)
Tim Stützle: “We are taking good steps in the right direction and you can tell that the playoffs are coming for us.”
Acquisition of Cam Talbot (July 2022)
Cam Talbot: “I want to help this team get back to the playoffs.”
8-year/$64M contract extension for Thomas Chabot (September 2019)
Pierre Dorion: “There have been difficult days, but the good days are coming and having Thomas under contract is part of this long-term plan.”
The team can bounce back very strongly next year. It would be so nice for hockey in Canada.
Personally, I find the reconstruction of the Senators rather formidable: excellent draft picks, the arrival of a solid veteran like Claude Giroux, young star defenders, etc.
Yes, Pierre Dorion escaped by going to get Alex DeBrincat too quickly. But the team had been rebuilding for six years. It didn’t seem so illogical at the time of acquisition. Imagine that in four years, the Canadian is still average. Management will be tempted to look for a star player. The pressure will be high.
It’s a sad rebuild in terms of results, but I don’t think so many of the decisions were horrible. Above all, it shows that there are no guarantees with a reconstruction.
Is the CH’s strategy better because that of the Senators is not working? No not at all. We do not know. You don’t know it, neither do the greatest experts and neither do Kent Hughes.
Let’s just hope Hughes figured out some deals the Senators didn’t.