One of my favourite things to bounce around my mouth is this word: Bailiwick. Definition – “one’s sphere of operations or particular area of interest.”
Contextually this week, we’re using it to address the netminding graveyard known as the Ottawa Senators. A ‘particular area of interest?’
You betcha.
Tuesday night’s display by supposed crease saviour Linus Ulmark was particularly interesting but for all the wrong reasons. Positionally out of tune and remarkably easy to beat would sum up Ottawa’s newest member of the tribe brought in to solve all the problems in the blue paint. Recent history has been steadily unkind to the Senators between the pipes.
Since the team moved on from an aging, but particularly good, Craig Anderson some four-and-a-half years ago, the organization has floundered in an area that will absolutely kill you if not effectively manned.
After the departure of Anderson (he signed with the Washington Capitals), Ottawa management made a trade with Pittsburgh to bring in ‘another’ of the saviour types in Stanley Cup winner Matt Murray. Injuries and inconsistencies followed . . . and poor numbers to boot. Murray went 10-13-1 that season of 2021 with a goals-against average of 3.38 and low-level save percentage of .893.
Murray’s next season was again marred with injury and the bulk of the workload was handed to Anton Forsberg (and to his credit, Forsberg was decent).
Murray was eventually dealt to Toronto where his bad fortune followed. Meantime in Ottawa, the club signed former NHL all-star Cam Talbot (he’d made the all-star team the season previous while with Minnesota) and the results were – again – poor in 2022-23. Adding insult and more fuel to the we-are-cursed fire was the very next season, as a member of the LA Kings, Talbot again was named as a league all star.
Yikes.
But wait.
It gets better.
General Manager Pierre Dorion threw more chum in the water that summer to lure in a great white in the name of Joonas Korpisalo. On July 1st, the first day of free agency, Dorion signed Korpisalo to a lucrative and lengthy contract – five years and a cool $20 million US.
Anyone need a reminder of last season?
Well, it was less than stellar. The big signee was at the very least healthy, suiting up for 55 games. The figures were not good as Korpisalo finished with a 21-26-4 record, 3.27 goals against and .890 save percentage.
That’s some near the bottom of the league stuff right there.
And so, the new regime steps in and makes a whopper of a deal to bring in Ullmark (a Vezina Trophy winner), and although only 12 games in, there have to be concerns in goal. Ullmark’s been injured and when he hasn’t, quite frankly, he hasn’t been great.
In Buffalo in a 5-1 wipeout Tuesday night, he was simply bad.
A 2-4 record, 3.02 goals-against average and .892 save percentage isn’t what Ottawa fans and management expected.
Maybe he turns it around and we can dust this column and toss it into the knee-jerk pile in short order (see: last week’s column for more on this).
It’s just that recent history makes the devoted followers of this hockey team a little bit jumpy and a little bit skeptical. And really, you can’t blame them.
THOUGHT, SEEN AND HEARD:
Fans gonna be fans, I guess: An often-read opinion is that the Senators ‘should’ be beating perennial bottom-feeders like Buffalo because their club is somehow ‘better’ than the Sabres. Fact check – Buffalo finished ahead of Ottawa by six points last season . . . Buffalo was also ahead the previous two years . . . Again, it is early, yet Toronto must be doing cartwheels after quietly signing free agent Anthony Stolarz this past summer. Stolarz put in another worldly show against Boston Tuesday night (shoutout) and now sits at 5-2-2 with a 2.12 GAA and .928 save percentage . . . Did I mention it’s early? . . . For all the ups and downs Ottawa’s been through, one consistent is the positive play of Tim Stutzle . . . Brady being Brady is essential, but jumping in to fight every time his buddy and linemate Stutzle gets touched is getting old and costly . . . This is supposed to be a big breakout season for LA’s Quinton Byfield. It took him until Game 14 to score his first goal of the season . . . Byfield is considered on the bubble for Team Canada at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. His slow start might cost him a serious look. . . As frustrating as the rebuild in Ottawa has been, Montreal’s not far behind. This is Year 4 and the Habs have not improved, in fact, they’re seemingly worse . . . Still with the 4 Nations, Montreal’s Nick Suzuki is getting loads of attention as a potential fourth-line centre for Canada . . . Heard Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas (32 Thoughts: The Podcast) chatting up Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov as being the league’s most under-appreciated superstar. Give him a look, they’re not wrong . . . Ottawa has Toronto for the first time, in Toronto, this coming Tuesday.
OTTAWA SENATORS WEEK AHEAD:
Thursday, Nov. 7: NY Islanders at Ottawa (7 pm)
Saturday, Nov. 9: Ottawa at Boston (7 pm)
Tuesday, Nov. 12: Ottawa at Toronto (7 pm)
thegrossgame@yahoo.com