Trouble In The Nation's Capital

Following a listless 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers on Dec. 16, a chorus of boos could be heard throughout Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

It seems the fans of the Senators have finally come to the realization that their beloved team are in a world of hurt and they let their voices do the talking.

It should not surprise them.

Following a five game loss to the Anaheim Ducks in the 2007 Stanley Cup finals, the Sens opened the following season like a bullet from a gun.

Riding the anger of their Cup loss they opened the season 15-2, an NHL record.

From that point on something went horribly wrong.

Following a 3-0 loss to Toronto on Nov. 17 the Senators’ engine coughed and sputtered to the finish line. With the various ways to gather points in a hockey game, they still were an abysmal nine games below .500 when the season ended in mid-April.

They limped into the play-offs with four wins in their last ten and finished tied with Boston for eighth, two points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes.

The play-offs are supposed to be a new season where the slate is washed clean and wins and losses don’t mean anything.

Prior to their opening round match-up against Pittsburgh, the talk emanating from the Senators dressing room was a study in the persuasive art of the cliché.

You know the kind of thought provoking stuff hockey players come up with.

“It’s a new season. Everybody is tied and we’ve just got to come together.”

So on and so forth.

Apparently they were not listening. A four-game sweep at the hands of the Stanley Cup finalists sent the Senators to the driving range before the snow left the ground.

This season things aren’t any better. The Sens are 12th in the East with a 12-14-5 record and they are the sports focal point in a town where government and politics rule the landscape.

Phone lines are jammed on the local sports radio station.

Irate callers play Gil Grissom by examining the cadaver that is the Ottawa Senators.

Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza have scored exactly 50 per cent of the Sens 72 goals.

They have no secondary scoring whatsoever.

Support players paid to score haven’t fulfilled that role. Chris Kelly (three goals), Antoine Vermette (three goals), Nick Foligno (four goals), Chris Neil (two goals) and Mike Fisher (three goals) are simply not doing their jobs.

Head coach Craig Hartsburg has tried many times to split the big three up and spread the offensive wealth around. More often than not Hartsburg ends up re-uniting them.

Last week Hartsburg said he was going to split them up permanently. This time for sure.

There seems to be a “why us?” type of resignation and a general malaise hanging around this team, like flies on a hot day.

Question: what needs to be done to shake this up?

Answer: there are more questions than answers.

There have been four head coaches since 2007 so firing the coach is not that easy. Murray fired John Paddock last Feb. and went behind the bench for the rest of the year. During the summer he signed Hartsburg to a three-year deal. With only seven months spent on his deal, Harstburg isn’t going any where.

To get something you must give something up. So, that leaves the big three as the only movable assets.

Rumour has Spezza on the trade block. Spezza is a dynamic offensive player but an $8 million (all figures U.S.) ticket and a no-trade clause that kicks in next season, the Toronto native is tough to move.

On the flipside, do the Senators take the chance he may blossom on another team?

Heatley is the highest paid player in the league at $10 million a year. He is on a sub par 30 plus goal pace but trading him gives the impression that the Senators are packing it in for the year.

Alfredsson has spent his entire career in Ottawa and just signed a four-year contract extension. He is on the wrong side of thirty and no team would take on that deal.

The most likely scenario would be to exercise a little patience.

Senators’ owner Eugene Melnyk thinks it takes time for the players to adjust to a new situation.

“I truly believe we will wind up in the top four in the conference,” Melnyk told Chris Stevenson of Sun Media. “Watch this team. You are going to be very, very surprised. We have nine new players. We have a new coach. We have a new system.”

Melnyk is an upbeat kind of guy but this reeks of owners speak. After all, you can’t give the impression that you have thrown up the white flag before the calendar turns. That would be suicide on and off the ice.

Maybe the Sens need some time to get away.

They will get that chance starting Dec.23.

With the World Junior Hockey Championship invading Scotiabank Place over the Christmas season, the Senators begin an eight-game, 17 day road trip through the North East division and western Canada.

The Sens are 3-8-2 on the road and this road trip through eight cities may test the resolve of a patient owner.