Ottawa Finally Getting it Together

It is hardly time to crown them Eastern Conference Champions but the Ottawa Senators are finally starting to put things together a bit. After a very rough start to the season including a four game losing streak in November they have all-of-a-sudden won four of the last six and have at least a point in seven of the last eight games. While seems like a very long time ago not much time has passed since the core group of this Senators team breezed through the east playoffs and were playing for the Stanley Cup. There have been a number of issues since then (can you say Ray Emry?) including a collapse after a great start last year capped by an early playoff exit at the hands of Pittsburgh. Despite all that goaltender Alex Auld has played very well giving up 2.06 goals per game accompanied by a solid .924 save percentage, he simply has not enjoyed the goal support needed to be successful. The top line of Heatley, Alfredsson, and Spezza have been playing pretty well posting 75 points between the three of them but they cannot do it alone. If the rest of the team can step up their game just a little bit, the Ottawa Senators could be a scary team come January and beyond. Right now Ottawa sits last in their division and twelfth in the conference with 25 points. However, they are only four points out of a playoff spot and have two games in hand on Buffalo who currently holds that final spot. Should Ottawa put things together with all their talent they can give teams a lot of trouble going down the stretch and into the playoffs; don’t sleep on the Senators.

Short Blurbs From Around The League

I want to talk about a number of things in short order so a few blurbs on league wide news:

- Do not let Tuesday’s 7-2 loss fool you, these are not the same Columbus Blue Jackets from years past. People make pre-judgments about the team based on reputation only but they will make you bite your tongue when they beat your team.

- Yes, the Boston Bruins are that good. They may not dazzle you night in and night out but they play very good defense in front of Tim Thomas who is having an incredible start to the season. The Bruins will absolutely be a force throughout the season and I would NOT want to face-off against them in a best 4 of 7 series come playoff time.

- Brian Burke resigned as Anaheim Ducks GM (shocker…). Despite his denials he will most likely end up in Toronto and help their already ahead of schedule rebuilding process. Burke and Ron Wilson may knock heads but it will probably result in victories.

- The Chicago Blackhawks are once again relevant, THANK GOD. Not only is this great for the U.S. since Chicago can be a great hockey town if they have a winner to support but it also serves the league well since the Winter Classic will more than likely be a competitive and intriguing game.

- The Minnesota Wild have played the fewest number of games of all teams in their division and yet they are in first place. Minnesota plays very slow-paced methodical defense that puts teams to sleep, reminds me a lot of the Devils of the mid to late 90s and early part of this decade. All New Jersey did was win 2 cups in a 4 year period and 3 in 8 years; that’s good news for Wild fans.

Lightning Scapegoat Melrose

On Friday (11/14) the Tampa Bay Lightning fired head coach Barry Melrose after only 16 games with the team. Granted, the Lightning posted a less than stellar 5-7-4 record leaving them with 14 points and in 4^th place in the Southeast Division. Although the record is not great it is still very early in the season and the newly hired Melrose was not given much of a chance to make any great strides with the team. Tampa Bay is not out of the playoff hunt by any stretch of the imagination after only 16 games and I am not sure that any problems the team may have had are solved by firing the coach. I wrote before about NHL GMs having too quick a trigger and the trend continues. Not every team can win every game and be in first place all at the same time. It is a long season that consists of many good times and bad but the key is to be persistent and to have patience. Tampa Bay spent a lot of money in the off-season putting essentially an entirely new roster together that needs some time to gel as guys get used to playing with one another. No offense to Rick Tocchet but I do not think there is anything he can do that will put the Lightning in a position that is any better than where they already were. Anything short of Tampa Bay winning every game the remainder of the year makes this a boneheaded, not to mention unfair, move on the part of the Lightning management. And this is why Tampa Bay has had little playoff success since winning the Stanley Cup in 2004.