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Sens worse than last year! Can it get any worse?Calling out Pierre McGuire! |
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Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for the Ottawa Senators, tonight proved all of us wrong! The Vancouver Canucks were playing their 5th game in 8 nights on the road and it looked like Ottawa was the team ending a long road trip, in a horrible team effort by Ottawa resulting in a 6-2 loss. The Sens have now lost 6 straight games and 12 of their 13 games. To put the first quarter of the season into perspective, let's take a look at last season compared to what Sens fans were told, would be a step forward this season by Sens GM Pierre Dorion at the beginning of the season after he signed his contract extension.
2020-21 record after 20 games - 5-14-1
2021-22 record after 20 games - 4-15-1
Not only is Ottawa dead last in the NHL standings but only the inaugural season of the Sens skated to a worse record in the history of this franchise at the quarter mark of the season, which is pretty telling!
Ottawa had ZERO energy on home ice tonight! I really thought with the 4-day break that Ottawa would come out of the gate fast, dictate and initiate against a very tired road-weary Vancouver team. Instead, this team couldn't break out of their defensive zone all night. They made the Canucks look like the Stanley Cup Champs, the way they dominated Ottawa. The Sens have NO structure and this falls on the coaching staff.
The Canucks had the worst PK in the league coming into tonight, but Ottawa couldn't do a single thing on a one-minute 5 on 3 PP. Vancouver had 2PP goals and Ottawa went 1 for 5 against the vaunted Canucks PK. Ottawa was outhit, outshot, and outworked in every facet of the game. It doesn't matter who is in goal for the Sens when the defense continues to allow the opposition forwards to skate into the offensive zone untouched. As Matt Murray said, he felt like the team was making him the scapegoat. Well, Ottawa better put Victor Mete on waivers tomorrow as he should never suit up in a Sens uniform again after his soft play all night. Maybe Dorion can add another 4th line player thinking it's going to help fix the many problems that this coaching staff continues to ignore!
Sadly, there really isn't much more to say on a night when this Sens team showed the paying fans no desire or passion! There's an old saying that players should remember every time they pull on a jersey to play in front of paying fans. You never know when someone is attending their first game live! Tonight left a lasting impression for the wrong reasons, enough said!
Ottawa at Carolina tomorrow night! Canes have lost 4 of their last 5 games so you know they will be in a miserable mood for this one!
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I wanted to follow up in regards to what I wrote about on Monday and how Sens management needs to be accountable. The Flyers had a quarterly presser on Monday to talk about the team, direction, prospects, etc...as they had lost 6 games in a row and were struggling lately so GM Chuck Fletcher got out in front of everything with the media and fanbase, to outline a few things that are taking place within the organization. What a concept! It took a grand total of 25 minutes out of Fletcher's day! You can find the link below to see how a simple presser can calm the narrative within the media and fanbase. Be sure to read the key quotes that were tweeted out in the article.
https://www.broadstreethockey.com/2021/11/30/22810131/nhl-philadelphia-flyers-chuck-fletcher-press-conference-quotes-analysis
When Pierre McGuire was hired back in the summer on July 12, he outlined a few aspects of his job. Ken Warren of Postmedia wrote a great piece about what Sens fans should expect from him. You can find the link below. The headline of the article was, "The incoming Pierre McGuire will have a big voice in talking to Senators fans", but yet it has been utter silence from McGuire.
https://ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/ottawa-senators/the-incoming-pierre-mcguire-will-have-a-big-voice-in-talking-to-senators-fans
In fact, the last time he talked to the Ottawa media was on Saturday, September 18th during the Sens Intrasquad game for fans when he was on TSN1200. So, here we are almost two and a half months later on the first day of December(73 days to be exact), and not a single word from McGuire to the Sens fanbase! For someone that told Sens fans back in the summer, he would be selling the message to fans about the team, being silent since training camp began is the exact opposite of what was promised this fanbase. I quote from the article that Ken Warren wrote,
"The media savvy McGuire will be tasked with talking publicly for an organization that often struggles with positive messaging. “There’s no question, it is part of the role, and it’s something Mr. Melnyk talked about when we met, maybe the first two or three times in phone conversations,” McGuire said during his Zoom availability Monday. “Yes, it’s definitely part of it and I appreciate that and it’s something that I am comfortable with. I’ve made my living doing that for the last 20 years.”
The precise details of McGuire’s responsibilities haven’t been spelled out, but Dorion says he’s quite comfortable if the new guy ends up taking on some of the media responsibilities that used to fall on his lap. “Roles need to be defined, he’s in his first day,” Dorion said. “Pierre will be able to do a lot of things here and obviously, he’s a great speaker, so having him … sometimes, hearing from me is not always a thing (the media) want all the time, so having him speak will probably be something he will also do.”
Well, Pierre Dorion, it would be nice if someone finally sold the message to Sens fans. Is it going to be Dorion or McGuire? Just get it done! There was a TV shot of both of you tonight at the game, so you are both alive and well. Ottawa is at the 20 game mark and pretty much every media outlet in Ottawa is asking for someone in management to address all the problems/issues that are unfolding with the Sens. Someone better step up ASAP, otherwise, it looks like this fanbase was lied to again! This time it's McGuire's credibility that's on the line after his remarks back in the summer.
Thanks for reading.
Kevin
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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