Senators Update
The Ottawa Senators have played a very inconsistent season so far. They have had many winning streaks, but also many losing streaks. Most fans in Ottawa are used to the team being in the top three in Conference at this point in the season, but right now, they are in 7th place. This has caused many Sens fans to panick and point fingers at players. They are blaming players such as Wade Redden, Patrick Lalime, and Radek Bonk. Maybe it is time to make some more serious changes in Ottawa. At a press conference after the Leafs ousted the Sens in the playoffs, Roy Mlakar promised the fans some serious changes in Ottawa. So far, there has been one. The Yashin deal is the only big change that the Sens have made. They have made some small changes, but none of them have had a serious impact. The Senators promised to have a tougher, a grittier and a more competitive playoff team this year. Well, they are tougher and grittier, but they are less skilled and they may have a tough time even making the playoffs. The big surprise is that scoring has not been the problem, it’s been the defence. With the departure of Alexei Yashin, many people predicted the Ottawa Senators to have a tough time scoring, but that hasn’t been the case. The Sens are the third highest scoring team in the NHL. The problem they’ve been having is preventing goals.
After coming off a marvelous season last year, Patrick Lalime has struggled and Jani Hurme is challenging him for the job. Their best defencemen all year have been Zdeno Chara, Curtis Leschychyn and Chris Phillips. Wade Redden has been inconsistent, Karel Rachunek is struggling, and Sami Salo is having an O.K year.
The Senators are still looking to get a proven 1st line center. Todd White has had a marvelous year, however Radek Bonk has been inconsistent and Mike Fisher is just starting to score. Some names that have been tossed around in Ottawa have been Adam Oates, Patrick Marleau and Vincent Lecavalier.
The Senators will need to start playing better in the next two weeks, or else I can guarantee you that Marshall Johnston will make some changes.
Rafal Deren