We have all listened as fans and the media talk about and debate the Senators recent turn around. Since Corey Clouston became head coach the team has played better and won more. The net result is that Ottawa has now moved up in the standings to the point where they will still not make the playoffs but also it appears will not have a shot at the #1 pick in the draft. The way the draft lottery works is that should a team get the #1 ball in the bingo draw, that team can not move up more than 4 places in the draft. It means that even if you get that #1 ball, you can only get the #1 pick if you finish in the bottom 5 of the league. Ottawa is now out of that bottom 5. If they were to get that #1 bingo ball they could move up and pick 2nd or 3rd but not first.
There are those who contend that teams like Ottawa and Toronto should stop trying so hard to win games when it won’t change their playoff chances, but will damage their draft position. My first question to those people is always the same. How do you get players to not play hard and get coaches to coach to lose? If they are competitive people playing at the highest level, they simply don’t have that chip in their hockey brain. There are also integrity issues. How could you ever look a coach or a player in the eye knowing they didn’t try to win? It goes against everything we’ve been taught in areas of competition and goes against what we all try to teach our children. How would you like to be that fan who paid good money for his ticket, sitting there watching a team not try to win so that next year or the year after things will be better? That fan would feel cheated and rightly so.
While Ottawa may not have a shot at the top pick maybe the way to find a silver lining in a disappointing season is to consider the things you thought were lost but now have been found. Maybe the Senators have finally found a coach who can push the right buttons while still holding a stern hand. Maybe the Senators have discovered that some of the players, who were thought to have lost something, might still have it. Maybe this dose of humility after an 11 straight playoff seasons is something we all needed to calm the arrogance which comes from never considering your team might not make the playoffs.
The idea of being lousy enough to miss the playoffs but not being lousy enough to get a shot at the #1 pick is fair comment. But it’s a loaded comment. The integrity of your manager, coaches and players is at stake when people believe you are no longer trying to win. That is worth far more than a lost season or a chance at the #1 pick. That can lose you a generation of ticket buyers who would always wonder.
See you at the rink.
Dean Brown
About Me
- Dean Brown
- Dean was born in Manitoba and hoped one day to be a welder. After repeatedly starting his clothes on fire, that dream died so he turned to sports. Covering the NHL and the Ottawa Senators is thee dream job. Hockey is the greatest game ever invented and he gets to watch it every day, and so far his clothes have never caught fire at a rink.
9 comments:
Three words for you Dean:
Toronto Maple Leafs.
It isn't just one season that's at risk. If an organization which has it's act together and has the resources of MLSE can't drag a team out of the just-missing-playoffs territory, what hope do other, less well run teams have?
Well OK, if they are not as well run, they'll be bad enough to get a good pick. But really, who do we want to think we compare to -- the Maple Leafs, or the New York Islanders?
Mats Sundin threwq games last year so that the Leafs could draft Schenn.
what is david saying?
does he think mlse is smart or dumb.
does he think the ottawa management is smart or dumb.
I cant figure out if david is smart or dumb.
My cousin once saw Mats Sundin kick a dog.
Mats Sundin once dated Karla Homolka
David is dumb. The Toronto Maple Leafs have just missed the playoffs many time now, that's true, but they have more 5 times as many gritty, heart inspired playoff battles over the past ten years even though Ottawa has made it more times. That is the undeniable fact. When the Leafs make the playoffs, they are gritty, exciting and full of heart. When the Sens make they playoffs, they are pathetic, perenial listless bowouters, lovable losers.
"bowouters"? Is that even a word?
Dean's post has nothing to do with compairing Toronto and Ottawa and the manner in which they played when each made the playoffs. It was a simple compairison to other teams which also won't make the playoffs this year. Yes David is dumb and whomever left this last comment is with him at the bottom of what ever elementary school english class he is currently failing.
Mats Sundin kicked a dog yesterday.
Wow, all the posters here are English butchers. "compairing"? Really? "bowouters"? Wow. Dean seems to be pretty good with the ol' pen and pencil - his posts are well thought out. Also, "Mr. bowouter" made a solid point if you can get by the Leaf trolling.
Go Alfie Go!
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