There are fourteen games left in the season for the Ottawa Senators, and it's a virtual certainty that none of them will mean anything with respect to a playoff berth.
Ottawa's going home after game eighty-two. That's the reality of this season, one that's been a massive disappointment for Paul MacLean's club.
Still, the games have to mean something to the players. For some guys, you know they do. I thought Clarke MacArthur's quotes in yesterday's piece at SenatorsExtra on the team's woeful year was quite candid -- not surprising, coming from one of the few guys who has been fantastic all season long.
A couple notables:
“There’s something called pride,… winger Clarke MacArthur said. “And for the people buying tickets to watch these games, and just for yourself to go home and sleep at night, you’ve got to a do a better job of emptying the tank. If you empty the tank every night, at least you can go home and have some respect."
“If we don’t want to compete, then this is what’s going to happen,… he said. “For all of us in here, the compete level has to go way up. It’s about how you compete and about how you get to the right spots quickest. If we’re not going to skate, if we’re not going to backcheck and take pride in the defensive zone, how are you supposed to win a hockey game? We give up eight goals … you know, I feel bad for the goalies.…
There's another reality away from the one that is the Ottawa Senators not reaching the playoffs. One that almost ensures, after this year's disappointing finish, that there will be some sort of roster turnover in the off-season.
It's going to be a big couple of summers for Ottawa's front office, where many tough decisions will have to be made about the future of key players in the Senators system. Young and old alike.
So, these games do matter to the players.But, as always, actions speak a hell of a lot louder than words. And we've heard this stuff trumpeted before, only to see the team just absolutely blitzed by a number of teams in the last few weeks.
There seems to be implicit questioning of effort put forth by certain players and the coaching staff. I'm not sure if it's an issue, though I'll defer to them on that. There's also the troubling issue that this year's team just isn't very good -- at least with respect to last year's product, which was definitively playoff caliber.
I'm interested to see who shows up when the games don't matter. That says a lot about character.
I bet the coaching staff is watching, too.
Robin Lehner gets the cage. Patrick Wiercioch remains a healthy scratch. Chris Phillips remains in, with Paul MacLean citing "physicality" needed against Tampa Bay.
Thanks for reading!