Are you saying that you guys are purposely losing and trying to not make the playoffs?
- LeafsFan64

i definitely don't think the players are purposely losing..............a lot of them just aren't good right now.

we're just trying to figure out maclean's logic in letting guys like neil and greening play almost 20 minutes, while guys like turris and ryan get around 10.

if you don't believe that he's just turned from great coach to bad coach......what other options are there? it's certainly not that those players deserve it, or are playing better.........there is just no logical reason for the way he's handled the roster this year.

it's happened lots of times that players have quit on coaches to get them fired.....is it SOOOO far-fetched to think that maybe a coach and gm, who are sick of an owner who ties their hands because of his inability to manage money, would maybe want him gone, and do something about it.......like maybe put the team in a position where he'd have no choice but to sell?

for the record, i don't think that's what's happening.....i think maclean is just doing a bad job this season, mixed with some players regressing a bit. maybe it's just some wishful thinking on the part of fans who are sick and (frank)ing tired of their bumhole owner, who cares more about saving quarters then icing a winning hockey team..and are secretely hoping that their coach and gm are trying to do something to get rid of him.

Just wait for Yost's blog, he will make it really clear how bad the coaching has been.

He tweeted the TOI chart for the team in last night's loss, Greening-Smith-Neil almost led the team in ice time. Methot was benched, and Phillips and Gryba saw a bunch of important minutes and got crushed at evens.

Turris only got 4 minutes at even strength, and still managed to score.

I can only assume two things - MacLean and Murray are in on a scheme to miss the playoffs to convince uncle Euge he needs to spend money, or else MacLean has totally lost it and needs to be let go.

The only issue is that this sends the wrong message to players. Look around the league, all the most consistently successful teams have long-tenured coaches.

You need to send the message that players can't simply quit on a coach to get them fired, they need to be responsible for what happens on the ice. We let them do it to Paddock, Hartsburg, and Clouston - having it happed to 4 coaches in 6 years is unacceptable. At some point it is the leadership of this team who must be questioned.

MacLean might need a talk about deployment, and letting his ego/pride/statement-making get in the way of wins for this team, but Spezza/Phillips/Ryan/Methot obviously need to learn to play nice with coaches.
- TommyDeVito

Think you might be stretching it to suggest that Murray and McLean are trying to dump games to make a point with Eugene.

How about the fact is that an FULL season exposes what teams really are. Some of the posts here try to suggest that it is everything else but that the team is not good enough yet. The Sens have had almost a full season to prove guys like me wrong. Without the knock out goaltending the Sens got last year, the weaknesses that Pittsburgh exposed in the 2nd round has surfaced.

I am certainly not trying to speak from a high horse here, my Leafs without the great goaltending from Bernier/Reimer (especially Bernier) would be where Ottawa is. Certainly having one of the best lines in hockey helps too.
Goaltending is almost everything. It makes bad teams competitive, average teams good and good teams great. Great teams need only timely goaltending at least

Is "Captain Highliner" to blame? Doubt it, but it sure looks like they have quit on him.

Think you might be stretching it to suggest that Murray and McLean are trying to dump games to make a point with Eugene.

How about the fact is that an FULL season exposes what teams really are. Some of the posts here try to suggest that it is everything else but that the team is not good enough yet. The Sens have had almost a full season to prove guys like me wrong. Without the knock out goaltending the Sens got last year, the weaknesses that Pittsburgh exposed in the 2nd round has surfaced.

I am certainly not trying to speak from a high horse here, my Leafs without the great goaltending from Bernier/Reimer (especially Bernier) would be where Ottawa is. Certainly having one of the best lines in hockey helps too.
Goaltending is almost everything. It makes bad teams competitive, average teams good and good teams great. Great teams need only timely goaltending at least

Is "Captain Highliner" to blame? Doubt it, but it sure looks like they have quit on him.
- JACMAN

i don't think they've quit on him....rather, i think he has NO IDEA how to use his players.

when guys like turris and ryan are among the forwards getting the least ice, and neil and greening are among the forwards getting the most......that's bad coaching

if it was one game, fine.....but this has turned into a pattern.

i do agree with your point about goaltending though. it saved us a lot last year, and hasn't been doing it this year.

i think mac is either on the sauce, or (as previously mentioned), he and murray have concocted some plan to get this team some nhl players (without having to get the other team to pay the half the salary). i'm honestly not sure which one it is. I really think we should just let our top 9 forwards PLAY. this means stop the disporportionate ice time (if greening ever has more icetime than turris and mac im going to puke in a bag and send it to macs house) , stop rolling the dice and changing the lines every 5 minutes, and keep cowen, phillips, gryba away from the top 4 on defence.

is anyone really that surprised that we sucked a$$ last night even with the addition to hemsky? nothing against hemsky, i think he was a good pick up given the circumstances (and wiser than going after someone like moulson), but what we needed was a dman who can play in our top 4 / top 2.

as far as our captain---- i think we need to make a captain change in the off season. i know he is young, but this team is built around ek. ek gives 100% almost every night, and can singlehandedly take over games. he should be our cap (on a sens team without alfie). if ek leads, the rest of the team will follow.

i think mac is either on the sauce, or (as previously mentioned), he and murray have concocted some plan to get this team some nhl players (without having to get the other team to pay the half the salary). i'm honestly not sure which one it is. I really think we should just let our top 9 forwards PLAY. this means stop the disporportionate ice time (if greening ever has more icetime than turris and mac im going to puke in a bag and send it to macs house) , stop rolling the dice and changing the lines every 5 minutes, and keep cowen, phillips, gryba away from the top 4 on defence.

is anyone really that surprised that we sucked a$$ last night even with the addition to hemsky? nothing against hemsky, i think he was a good pick up given the circumstances (and wiser than going after someone like moulson), but what we needed was a dman who can play in our top 4 / top 2.

as far as our captain---- i think we need to make a captain change in the off season. i know he is young, but this team is built around ek. ek gives 100% almost every night, and can singlehandedly take over games. he should be our cap (on a sens team without alfie). if ek leads, the rest of the team will follow.
- sen_smile

It's crazy to think they are purposely losing.

It's crazy to think they are purposely losing.
- LeafsFan64

like i said in my previous post......nobody actually thinks that, at least nobody rational..........it's just wishful thinking that our owner would (frank) off, mixed with complete shock and lack of understanding on how our coach who was GREAT last year, can be so horsepoop this year.

that's exactly what i was thinking too. i mean how does a guy go from brilliant, jack adam's winning coach one year, to completely clueless and dumb the next? it's mind boggling.

honest question....where do you think the biggest regression is: cowen's hockey ability, or macleans coaching ability?
- sensarmy_11

Cowen.

He's just so BAD, after looking like a competent defender last time he played an extended stretch in an Ottawa uni.

It's crazy to think they are purposely losing.
- LeafsFan64

it's kind of more of a jab at ownership than an actuality. if anything, i think there is a disconnect btw players, mac, murray, ownership-, that is somehow contributing to the madness of mac's decisions and the product on the ice. what and exactly "how", i do not know.

Are you saying that you guys are purposely losing and trying to not make the playoffs?
- LeafsFan64

No idea, but how else do you explain Chris Neil and colin Greening seeing more ice than Turris, Spezza, Ryan, MacArthur, Methot....It doesn't make any damn sense.

Cowen.

He's just so BAD, after looking like a competent defender last time he played an extended stretch in an Ottawa uni.
- TommyDeVito

really?

i would have chosen Maclean's coaching. how can a person look at greening/neil/smith and turris/ryan/macarthur and honestly thing it's a good idea to consistently play the former much more than the latter.

It's crazy to think they are purposely losing.
- LeafsFan64

True.

It's just difficult to find a rational reason for irrational coaching decisions.

True.

It's just difficult to find a rational reason for irrational coaching decisions.
- TommyDeVito

Our coach is an idiot also. McClement used to play 20 minutes a game at one point..

Our coach is an idiot also. McClement used to play 20 minutes a game at one point..
- LeafsFan64

mcclement is 10 times the player that the asshats getting that TOI on our team are.

greening and neil

it's kind of more of a jab at ownership than an actuality. if anything, i think there is a disconnect btw players, mac, murray, ownership-, that is somehow contributing to the madness of mac's decisions and the product on the ice. what and exactly "how", i do not know.
- sen_smile

This all stems from the Alfie saga. That was such a poop stain on this organization. Think of the tailspin from all of that-

All of a sudden Spezza is put in a situation he wasn't prepared for, and clearly isn't capable of handling.

All of a sudden MacLean doesn't have his guy to smooth over the team and take control of the room due to respect.

All of a sudden the entire organization looks to Melnyk and wonders how the hell he could treat such a legend in that way, and wonder what is in store for them.....


I don't remember ever seeing a Senators team play with such disinterest, passion, or focus. Not even in the Paddock, Clouston days. Watching that team these past two nights was a throwback to 92/93 when the team lacked any discernible talent whatsoever.

We have talent, we have lots of talent- there's just no focus or desire..

Fire Maclean and bring up Richardson

Guy knows how to coach a young team

mcclement is 10 times the player that the asshats getting that TOI on our team are.

greening and neil
- sensarmy_11

Kinda but we've had some questionable coaching aswell. Maybe Maclean isn't that good of a coach

This all stems from the Alfie saga. That was such a poop stain on this organization. Think of the tailspin from all of that-

All of a sudden Spezza is put in a situation he wasn't prepared for, and clearly isn't capable of handling.

All of a sudden MacLean doesn't have his guy to smooth over the team and take control of the room due to respect.

All of a sudden the entire organization looks to Melnyk and wonders how the hell he could treat such a legend in that way, and wonder what is in store for them.....


I don't remember ever seeing a Senators team play with such disinterest, passion, or focus. Not even in the Paddock, Clouston days. Watching that team these past two nights was a throwback to 92/93 when the team lacked any discernible talent whatsoever.

We have talent, we have lots of talent- there's just no focus or desire..
- Jordo

i think that has a part of it. i also don't think melynk's "godly" statements re: how winning teams dont spend to the cap, isnt helping either.

this team is very, very, frustrating to watch. the last two games haev been unbearable to watch. just no effort, no heart, all out boring hockey. i wish this was this was the shortened season

Kinda but we've had some questionable coaching aswell. Maybe Maclean isn't that good of a coach
- LeafsFan64

he certainly isn't this year.........and nobody can figure out why

Fire Maclean and bring up Richardson

Guy knows how to coach a young team
- gosensgo18

i thoght about this scenario (not suggesting it, but wondering if it could happen). i don't think mgnt goes that far... also cause the problem of bingy losing richardson which in some ways is disastrous for our nhl team (since we rely on internal solutions so heavily). i know richardson is likely to make the jump some time, but i dont know if mgnt would be the catalyst on this. but who knows. i also don't think we will toss mac yet. he did win the jack adams, and this is his first bad year with the team, really. i don't know what the problem is or what the hell his rationale is for player deployment. i think it must relate to something behind the scenes, be it dressing room stuff or again, back to mgnt. whatever it is, i fail to be able to make sense of it. its basically ripping this team apart.

Problem with getting rid of MacLean is that Melnyk will have to continue to pay him AND the new coach..

Never happening... If he is going to get millions of dollars in new TV revenue and then complain that the team still loses money despite being incredible close to the cap floor, he needs to sell the team.

Fire Maclean and bring up Richardson

Guy knows how to coach a young team
- gosensgo18

Lets not go making any knee jerk reactions

Fire Maclean and bring up Richardson

Guy knows how to coach a young team
- gosensgo18

I'd get rid of the assistant coaches and bring Richardson up. He has a great relationship with the young guys so let's see what his motivational tactics are up here.

I'm really starting to think that this team just refuses to put in the proper effort because they know, at the end of the day they have an owner who doesn't believe in them.

If you are working for a boss and he keeps talking about all of the money he's losing with this company, he goes out and talks about how he can't afford to buy the best equipment, (players) and even after making very large public deals he refuses to reinvest money into the things you are working on, chances are you are going to get sick of it fast and stop giving it your all because you know that the owner doesn't believe in your capabilities. Melnyk either needs to show he's commited to winning and spend money to make money, or sell the team to someone who will.

I don't know what MacLean is doing, and if he keeps it up we are going to have a lot of unhappy players in the lineup by next season. And that is not. A good enviorment to bring the young kids into, also won't help us sign any free agents.

I have a feeling its all going to get worse before it gets better, so buckle up, we're in for a rough little while.

I still think Maclean is the best guy to coach this squad going forward. I am on board that he has made some seriously questionable moves this season, but he is only one year removed from winning coach of the year honours. This is a young team so we have to be patient, same goes with the coach. This is a huge transition year for the team and it's been bumpy thus far. I expected it to smooth out by this point, but maybe the transition was an 82 game thing. This team has great pieces. We just need to add a few more here and there to fill some holes and better deployment of our best players and we should have a successful campaign next season. I'm not writing this season off just yet, but let's not kid ourselves, at this rate, we are not making much noise.

BUCKLE UP .........for the freefall.FU EM