As I sit here in a Northern New Jersey hotel lobby at 4am, I am looking at the comments regarding yesterday's post on Eugene Melnyk, and look at the opposition for tonight, the team that stopped Ottawa's best chance to win the in the 23 odd seasons of existence of the franchise. Well, maybe not their best chance but at least the one where they advanced the farthest.
And I am feeling old. Was it really almost 9 years ago where a spry Alfie was showing frustration by trying to ice the puck through Scott Niedermayer's chest? Time sure flies, even if it hasn't always been fun. That was really Bryan Murray's best moment, one where the team he had essentially built as Ducks GM before coming to Ottawa to take the coaching reigns beat the team he took over.
That Ducks team was led by a couple of 21 year old fresh faces and a trio of grizzled veterans. The veterans are gone now, but the kids have all grown up and they are still with the franchise. While Selanne, Pronger and Niedermayer have all ridden off into the sunset on their Hall-of-Fame careers, Corey Perry and Ryan Gezlaf are going to turn 31 this May and it doesn't look like they are going anywhere any time soon as the faces and anchors of the franchise.
They are the only two players remaining from that Stanley Cup roster, albeit one that hasn't made the finals since, but are enjoying a resurgent year after an incredibly slow start.
Now, to get really depressed, look at the holdovers from the Senators roster of the same year. Or rather than holdovers, I should have said holdover. Chris Neil is the only member of the Senators current roster (along with the permanently IR'd Chris Phillips) who has been around that long. Gone are the Spezza's and Heatley's, even the Corvo's and Presissing's, as well as some guy they called Alfie.
Also come and gone are Paddock, Hartsburg, Clouston, and MacLean possibly soon to be joined by Cameron. That is the list of coaches hired and fired by Bryan Murray, GM. All coming in with little or no NHL head coaching experience and most flaming out badly without much success and none who have managed to snag another head coaching gig after being fired in Ottawa. Murray's best coaching hire was, well Bryan Murray after he went down to the bench on an interim basis to take over for Paddock.
Anahiem has made 1 coaching change since winning that 2007 Cup, replacing Randy Carlyle with Bruce Boudreau in November 2011.
Maybe it is time for the Senators to open up the wallet and bring in a coach with some pedigree at the NHL level to lead what is a very young and impressionable team. A couple of years ago I would have considered Luke Richardson to be a no-brainer, but with some terrible results in Bingo for the past couple of seasons I think he has been passed on the ladder when it comes to discussing head coaching vacancies around the league, when now is the time he was supposed to move on to the next level after his daughter graduates from college. You haven't really heard his name mentioned in regards to the sexy picks to make the jump like he was a couple of years back and that decision might have been the right one (and only one given the tough circumstances) at the time for his family, but might also serve as a lesson that when the opportunity knocks you best answer the door because it might not always be there.
Anyhow, as of right now Dave Cameron is still the coach of the Senators, will be tonight and for the next 6 games remaining in this write-off of a season.
The Ducks are coming in off a disappointing 6-5 loss in Toronto and are still looking at tracking down the LA Kings for first in the division or at least getting home ice advantage in their probable first round series against the Sharks. Anaheim won the first encounter of the season, 4-1 at Honda Center.
The Ducks have also been hit by the injury bug, as Kevin Bieksa is questionable after leaving Thursday's game, Simon Despres went home to be evaluated and Ryan Kesler (personal) left the team earlier this week joining David Perron and Sami Vatanen on the sidelines. Chris Stewart has also been out for some time with a broken jaw but could return against Ottawa.
This preview kind of went sideways looking at the recent history of the two franchises, but with little for Ottawa to play for what else am I going to talk about, other than the contrast and the fact that the Ducks have more points from Murray-drafted players (1484 from Perry, Getzlaf and Silfverberg) than the Senators do on their roster tonight (1049). I am not sure what that means exactly but it can't be good.
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