The Defensive Blame Game

I had an interesting exchange with Twitter's @Easy_Chowder after last night's game. It's a point I planned on expanding upon anyway this Sunday.

The reality of the 2013-2014 Ottawa Senators, despite how anyone tries to spin it, is that they failed to accomplish what should've been fairly easy in a dilapidated Eastern Conference -- reach the playoffs for the third consecutive year under Paul MacLean.

The blame game has been played for most of the season. I think, at each level, there's some burden of blame to be carried, whether it's crying poor, or spending the little money available on a bad player or two, or player deployment/line combination issues, or just the obvious problem that the players themselves weren't good enough this year.

If you reduce the blame game question to just the defensive issues that really sank this team from start to finish this year, it becomes sort of an interesting discussion. Where, exactly, do you place the blame for this club's just woeful performance in the defensive third this year -- perhaps the singular reason why they won't be playing a game eighty-three?

I think there's arguments to be made, of course, for basically every group. The players were, obviously, dreadful back there. I've long suspected that the blue-line is dragging down a superior forward group, but either way, the five-man units just couldn't get the job done this year. And, most of the time, it was just painful to watch.

The coaching staff did themselves no favors here. Opting to play the likes of Jared Cowen or Chris Phillips or, even the marginally-improved Eric Gryba over a quality puck-mover like Patrick Wiercioch borders on coaching suicide. Wiercioch, since he's become a regular in the lineup, has been the team's best defenseman through various spurts. His ability to exit the zone with one quick pass is something that was sorely missed all year long.

But, you can't foist all of the blame on coaching here, can you? It's hard to know just why Paul MacLean stuck by a guy like Jared Cowen (or Chris Phillips, for that matter) all season long, despite their obvious failings. But, it was management -- not the head coach, or his assistants for that matter -- who decided to bet on both with multi-year deals..

And, sort of amusingly, if you blame management here, you have to consider that perhaps they weren't given the finances to fix what was an obvious problem from the jump. Ottawa's played all year on a super-tight budget, and their approach last season on the open market was a conservative one. Other than the smart grab of Clarke MacArthur, the team decided to bite the bullet with internal options, and sign ... Joe Corvo.

So, whose at fault for the team's nightmarish defensive zone play? Here's a poll. Check all that apply.