So, October has drawn to a close, and with it, the National Hockey League season is slowly (Seriously, does the league have an intentional mandate to draw the season out until late June every year for the rest of time?) getting into gear. Most of the league's 30 teams have now played at least ten games, and despite the fact that it's still early, several expected (and some unexpected) themes have emerged from the fledgling season already. I resisted the strong urge to post my pre-season prognostications, but I can't seem to withstand the urge to comment on a couple of things that have risen to prominence so far in this young season.
First things first, to all the people surprised by the Leafs' strong start, I can't help but ask why it's at all shocking. Ron Wilson is an excellent NHL coach, and his team will outwork many teams on any given night. Given that it's still early in the schedule, many teams haven't hit their stride yet, and will fall prey to the hardworking tenacity Wilson's troops employ. However, honestly, to those of the Don Cherry bent that feel this Leafs team can somehow overcome their complete lack of talent and offence (when Mikael Grabovski, who couldn't crack Montreal's top 12 forwards is your #1 centre, you have a problem) you're setting yourselves up for disappointment in line with the past several years. This team simply does not have enough NHL-level talent to come out from the rigours of an 82 game schedule in playoff position. The league's best teams will grow stronger throughout the season, and can beat the Leafs on talent alone on most nights. The Rangers for example are not too likely to pull a collapse akin to last night against the Leafs in January. I think Leafs fans should be more concerned with playing themselves into good draft position than some 8th place fantasy. Simply put, the Leafs need a young offensive star to build their team around... the kind you usually find in the early picks of the NHL draft.
I have laughed numerous times this season already at the pundits surprised by Ottawa's slow start. I keep hearing them referred to as the "retooled" Senators. My buddy and I laugh at that term all the time. Losing your best defenceman to free agency (Wade Redden), not replacing him, and then only adding a grizzled, slow-footed defenceman (Jason Smith), and couple of grinders to your lineup doesn't exactly seem much like retooling to this guy. Yes, Bryan Murray did add some much-needed muscle over the summer in Jarkko Ruutu and Smith, but after losing out in the sweepstakes for prized UFA defenceman Brian Campbell, and striking out in attempts to trade for Dan Boyle, Murray failed to land a puck-moving defenceman to replace Redden. Furthermore, Murray did nothing to address the Sens' lack of consistent secondary scoring. The Big Three are once again the only steady offensive line the Senators have, and every time Craig Hartsburg breaks them up, they become ineffective. This problem has plagued Ottawa for several seasons now, yet Murray has yet to come up with any viable solutions to it. As for the other big problem in Ottawa, the goaltending picture remains clouded, with neither Martin Gerber nor Alex Auld showing enough consistency to establish himself as the unquestionable number one starter. Thus, considering the Senators still suffer from all of the problems they had last year, except for the addition of a bit of grit, this team is the same as the one that barely made the post-season in '07-08. I am hardly surprised by their slow start. This is a mediocre hockey team, that happens to have three of the league's better offensive players on it. I think the only way Murray can address his team's needs is to trade one of the Big Three (personally, I think Jason Spezza is highly dispensable) for a puck-moving defenceman, and some second-line offence. Otherwise, the Senators will remain a team with some flashy top-end talent, but lacking the overall depth, defence, and goaltending to contend.
I'm not trying to pick on either the Leafs or the Senators here, but living in this part of the country, hockey fans get inundated with coverage of both teams, and it's usually of a biased slant. I'm not shocked at their respective starts. The Senators have major problems and may struggle to make the playoffs, while the Leafs will continue to gain points in the early part of the season, when other teams haven't found their legs yet. It's a long season. I'll check back in a month or two, and we'll see where they both sit then.
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Alright I know this was posted awhile ago but I didn't really notice this entry until now. And since it's Sens related and I'm the only Sens fan in the class (that I know of) I feel obligated to comment.
I agree with a lot of what you've said... Ottawa's slow start shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who pays even a little attention to the team. Their lack of a top six forward has been a gaping hole in the lineup for several seasons now, and the team isn't substantially different from the one that struggled so much last year.
Goaltending has turned out to be a bit of a bright spot, surprisingly. Auld has looked good in most of his starts that I've seen, he's just getting no help from his teammates. Perfect example of that tonight as the Sens pulled him at the end of the game to get a 6-on-4 (and then 6-on-3!) advantage and still got beaten to every loose puck. BY THE ISLANDERS!!! Ugh...
I have to disagree with you about Redden though. To say that he is (or was) the Senators best defenceman is a complete joke. I mean, maybe it was true a few years ago, but it certainly wasn't true in his last couple of seasons. Yeah, he put up a decent amount of points, but that's easy to do when you're passing to Heatley, Alfredsson, or Spezza and they're on a roll. Plus, people like to say Redden is a "puck-moving defenceman", but the only problem is that the puck is usually moving onto an opposing player's stick. And he's not exactly tearing things up in New York either. I would take Anton Volchenkov any day of the week over Redden, and the same goes for Chris Phillips.
The thing that frustrates me so much about Ottawa is that they juggle their lines way too much. Breaking up the big three just never works, so I don't know why they even bother. And then the Donovan-McAmmond-Ruutu line that played so well for a game or two awhile ago got shelved for no particular reason. Apparently the Sens haven't heard of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
And I still rue the day that Corvo and Eaves left town and Stillman and Commodore came aboard. Corvo eats the Sens alive every time they play now and Ottawa has nothing to show for that deal that was supposed to get them the playoff experience necessary for another Cup run.
Honestly I could go on about Ottawa's deficiencies until I passed out from lack of sleep but I'd rather not. What they really need to do is pull a Toronto and completely suck for a few years, then rebuild through the draft. Or hope Mike Keenan becomes Vancouver's GM and we can work out a deal for Auld and Luongo again.
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