Scathing...And Not Without Reason

Peace from Russia.

What every Sens fan (and Leafs fan) knows, but hates to admit, is what this guy leads of his article with: the Sens choke in the playoffs. My only quibble with his assessment is that Emery should have stopped Boyle's third period goal which tied Game 2.

Still, he's right, this franchise has has a ton of talent over the years with no Cups to show for it. Whenever they lose a playoff game the entire capital cringes...in so far as anyone in Ottawa ever does much of anything that displays a heart beneath our frosty, tax-dollar wasting, badly dressed, veneer. (Did I get everyone's prejudices into one sentence there?) Yet in the past there was usually reason to argue that there was a better team out there, whether or not Ottawa was knocked out by that team was often debatable. I'm not so sure this year. This is the best Sens team yet, they played in, if not, the best division, then close to it. And they continued to win through significant injuries. This is year is supposed to be the year.

The hallmark of the Jacques Martin coached Sens teams was nearly flawless defensive play, but an inability to be bold enough to use the offensive talent at hand to score, especially in big games. They tried not to lose a lot more than they tried to win. But watching the last two weeks, any moderately keen observer will have noticed that pucks keep going in their opponent's net, but they're giving up too many to win. Most of this, in my estimation, is a result of complete break downs in their own end on a regular basis.

In Game 2, this happened at least twice, on both Richards goal and the game winner scored by St. Louis. Richards goal you might quibble with, but still Chara is a pro, tripping on your own feet when you're last man back and other guy will be on a breakaway if you don't stop him, isn't supposed to happen.

But after the St. Louis goal, Anton Volchenkov should've been taken out into the parking lot at "Kanata Corporate Arena" and had the words "take the man, not the puck" branded into his behind, for letting a former Hart Trophy swoop in and grab the rebound that won the game. The knobs commenting on the game blamed Emery for a "big rebound," but failed to notice that he practically put it on Volchenkov's stick. Had V-Train bothered to say...look over his shoulder...or block out the rebound (basketball concept, I know), there's a halfway decent chance that puck gets kicked away, iced, or that one of his teammates grabs it. Who knows what happens beyond that point?

For years observers from afar blamed the Sens lack of playoff success on a lack of grit and an over abundance of "soft skill players." Well this year's version has more Canadians than in the past. They've stayed relatively healthy. And the young core they kept together in the pre-cap era is moving into their prime.

I still have faith as Ottawa is unarguably the team who SHOULD win the conference, but if they fail this year, heart will be the only thing lacking.

(That, and also Brian Murray, who has never won a Stanley Cup, despite once coaching the best regular season team of all time. Got to have an excuse ready.)

Reset for Game 3.