Ottawa’s Off-Season Won’t be Dull

 “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” • Moms around the globe   Well, if we followed up on the quote, there wouldn’t be a whole heck of a lot to this column then would there? Picking apart the Ottawa Senators’ season is akin to putting the

Under .500 Again? It’s not all on the Coach

 It’s the justification I just don’t get. Ottawa management, yeah the new group, keeps bringing up the suggestion that sending Senators’ head coach D.J. Smith and his crew packing would just simply be . . . a bad idea. The reason? ‘The players have told us there’s already been far

It’s here, it’s finally here

 Never let a good idea get untold . . . again? Well, it’s a damn good idea. With that in mind, after discovering Sportsnet’s National Hockey League regular season primer sitting on my laptop earlier this morning, my interest and ability to pilfer were fully engaged. In essence, the crew

Time to make hay, Ottawa

 The year 2017 seems like, well, a very long time ago. And in hockey speak, it really was. Five ‘very long’ seasons. To not be even competing for a playoff spot post-Christmas for that amount of time, year after year, is inexcusable, right? But there you are Ottawa Fan. And

Senators season coming to abrupt stop

 Less than two weeks until closing time. Seems like kind of a ‘hard stop’ here in Ottawa as interest seems to be gaining on a hockey team that is poised to do . . . well what, exactly? The Ottawa Senators are at a significant, meaningful stage in recovery (I

Norris takes that next big step

 Need a little sunshine? Here you go. One of the biggest obstacles potentially facing the Ottawa Senators and ‘taking that next big step’ is the lack of elite star power. Sure they have Thomas Chabot, but until now, not much else in the realm of A-quality offensive talent. It’s becoming

Senators vying for better grades in second half

 Give or take a few days or games or COVID breaks, the National Hockey League hits the halfway point during a very intriguing season. In Ottawa, this season was hailed as the end of the rebuild. While the phrase wasn’t exactly plastered on the facing of the Canadian Tire Centre,

Leafs’ lesson a tough pill to swallow

 I hope you were watching, Ottawa Fan. I hope you were listening, Ottawa Fan. ‘Cause Saturday night you were schooled, and even though you despise your teacher, best you’d been paying attention. In the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 6-0 dummying of the Ottawa Senators a number of things stood out. And

Young trio making waves where waves are needed

 For right now the Ottawa Senators are awfully thin. Thinner than Twiggy, thinner than Victoria Beckham. But you know what . . . the meat that IS on the bone, is getting the job done currently. Ottawa has won four of its last five games and the locals can lay

Rebuild over, next steps please?

 Photo: Courtest OttawaSenators.com Back-to-back against the Ontario rival. Great way to get started, eh? For the Ottawa Senators ‘getting started’ has been the tale of the tape since the spring of 2017. Making it all the way to the Eastern Conference finale – against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh

Grades improving; this student has potential

 I remember those dreaded days: Getting the sealed envelope with my school’s emblem adorning the front. “Please bring this home for your parents to look at (‘pick apart,’ you mean) and have them sign it and bring it promptly back to your home-room teacher.” The cringe-worthy report card. Twice a

Future looking rosy in Senator land

 The heat was on last week after what appeared in this corner of the page. Maybe a little too harsh? Unsympathetic? Sure. Perhaps. But after another solid week on the ice, the Ottawa Senators surely appear that they’re about to take another step forward. There’s just too much going well

Senators: Mission accomplished (for the most part)

 ABOVE: Dzingel gets one past Hellebuyck in the Sens 4-3 loss to the Jets on April 5, 2021. (PHOTO: NHL.COM/SENATORS/VIDEO) Thanks Trooper: “We're here for a good time, Not a long time So have a good time, The sun can't shine every day.” In just more than a month’s time, the

Goalie woes continue, prospects shine, and Karlsson makes news

 ABOVE:  Joey Daccord injured himself in the third period of Wednesday's game against the Canucks. (PHOTO: SPORTSNET.CA) The Ottawa Senators played two games last week, and both were spirited efforts against the Vancouver Canucks. Ottawa played well enough to win each game, but, unfortunately for them, both ended in an overtime loss. Canucks

The underdog Sens come to life against the juggernaut Leafs, once again

 Joey Daccord dreamt of earning his first NHL win for a long time, it didn’t come in a way he could’ve imagined. Starting goaltender Matt Murray was supposed to start Sunday night’s game. It wasn’t until minutes before hitting the ice that Murray warned the backup Daccord that he didn’t

The Sens have found an identity

 The Ottawa Senators keep sending teams into tailspins. When they made a comeback down 5-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs two weeks ago, columnist James Mirtle wrote that the Leafs needed a trade to fix the “complacency that kills them.” Last week, two consecutive wins over the Montreal Canadiens ended

After a tough week, Ottawa Senators need to give young players a chance

 Last week was a tough one for the Ottawa Senators, losing all three games versus Winnipeg. They led 3-2 until the last minutes of the game on Tuesday, before allowing an equalizer with 1:17 left, and then losing in overtime. The Senators outshot the Jets 41-28, they deserved to win.

The NHL is back! And what a start to the season it was for the Sens

 Ottawa launched their 2020-21 NHL season with a gift to fans who waited 310 long days to see them play, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 on Friday night. The convincing win was no small feat, as the majority of NHL analysts had pegged the Maple Leafs as the top

Camps open league-wide, prompting questions and answers

 Above: Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk This past Sunday hockey returned across the board in the National Hockey League with the opening of training camps. The Ottawa Senators, one of seven teams to not qualify for the playoffs last season, opened up a few days earlier on Dec. 30th. And so it

Report cards come a little – too – early

 We are supposed to be gunning for a playoff season just around the corner. We’re supposed to be talking about who’s going to win the goal-scoring race, Auston Matthews, Alex Ovechkin or David Pastrnak. We’re supposed to be talking about MVP and whether the unexpected Leon Draisaitl can accomplish the

Work just underway for Dorion after trade deadline day

 If you thought NHL trade deadline day was ripe with activity for the Ottawa Senators, wait ‘til June 26th in Montreal. June 27th too. That’s when general manager Pierre Dorion will strap on his thinking cap for what promises to be an extremely frantic NHL entry draft. Dorion – already

Batherson’s the real deal . . . and other stuff

 It’s been a hectic past couple of weeks across the NHL with coach firings, player movement, injuries, some player growth (hint: here in Ottawa) and of course – the lead-up to the trade deadline. Here’s some relevant stuff to pass along. That Drake Batherson kid? He can play: Took a

Figuring out Senators’ near future is going to be a puzzle

 The possibilities are endless. This is the reality of the world where Ottawa Senators’ general manager Pierre Dorion exists. The next few weeks – and months – are rich with ifs, ands, buts, maybes and maybe nots. In Ottawa the only sure thing is there’s no sure thing. Here’s what

All-star break gives Senators’ brass time to reflect and ponder plans

 The Ottawa Senators’ bye week is upon us. They won’t hit the ice again until Jan. 27th when they host the New Jersey Devils. That’s a break the size of the one in our foundation wall (. . . but that’s another story). Nine-days-plus. A long, long time between games.

Senators latest skid nothing to gloss over

 Well, it could be more problematic, you could be Detroit. Actually we take that back, you WERE Detroit this past weekend. The Ottawa Senators took a plunge in to the pool that tells themselves they are the worst team in the NHL during their last collection of games. During this