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Sens fans have spoken, fire head coach DJ Smith and GM Pierre Dorion now! |
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After last night's 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Sens fans lit up the postgame show on TSN 1200 while flying off the handle on Twitter! The fan base hasn't been this angry since the Mark Stone trade. In fact, many fans referenced the loss on home ice to Vancouver back on December 1st was very similar to last night. What really makes me wonder is how both of these meltdowns have taken place on home ice. If this team supposedly loves their coach and always plays hard for him, then why do these long stretches of awful hockey occur far too often? Last night, DJ Smith gave endless excuses about why they lost and for many Sens fans, you can now hear they have had enough! Some are saying this is as close to rock bottom as it gets for this team since the rebuild started. What angered fans, even more, was that defensemen Nick Holden was more accountable in his postgame interview than DJ.
During the Sens postgame show on TSN 1200, at one point one of the co-hosts said he already had over 40 text messages and endless emails all saying fire DJ and Sens GM Pierre Dorion. I can only imagine how many more came in as the show went on. My Twitter IM inbox and hockeybuzz IM inbox, were nonstop messages saying they used to be on the other side of the fanbase but that they aren't any longer. That they are now with the majority of the Sens fanbase saying they can't keep watching this garbage continue to happen with DJ and Dorion. But you can't blame them as even Josh Norris and Brady Tkachuk said after the Coyotes loss that they were defeated and tired of all the losing. There's no doubt that losing can wear on you and all this young group has experienced is losing, over and over!
Right now the only Sens player that has seen consistent time with this team that isn't in the lineup is Drake Batherson. Every team has injuries, so for DJ to suggest in his presser this morning that when they get Shane Pinto back and eventually Jake Sanderson that things will be better, truly doesn't add up. How does anyone know that Pinto is going to make a massive impact on this team when he has played 17 NHL games or Sanderson who has yet to suit up in the NHL? No coach should be putting that kind of pressure on two young players as you are setting them up for failure. This is where this coach is so in over his head and can't be given the start of next season to turn things around. His lineup decisions have affected this team all year long, so to say getting these two young players into the lineup is somehow going to change this team's fortunes is delusional. It has been almost 3 full seasons of watching this team get outcoached while NHL personnel, GM's, and scouts all see the Sens shortcomings each game and they exploit it. It's talked about in NHL circles and when other local media are saying this on the local sports radio shows about how you hear them yelling to get certain matchups all the way up in the press box, that's a serious problem that needs to be rectified!
A prime example of how a head coach can get the most out of his team was Brad Larsen on the other bench tonight. Take a look at the Jackets ice time tonight, it's so evenly distributed across the board. Methodical road game, well coached team, plays consistent hockey and they've surpassed expectations. The Jackets were a team picked to finish in the bottom 5, but solid coaching can help a young team, which is what is happening in Columbus. Marty St. Louis had 6 games under his belt as head coach in Montreal when the Habs came in here a few weeks ago and with DJ having last line change, Marty still managed to get every matchup he wanted and completely neutralized the Sens top two lines resulting in a nice road win.
Other comments I hear on the radio or had sent to me were that they were tired of hearing DJ justify why he keeps certain players in the lineup or how he doesn't hold every player accountable/double standards all over the place. They said they don't want to hear how certain players are good in the room as it doesn't produce results. Or how Dorion got angered in his presser this past Friday when a reporter asked him about Erik Brannstrom's progression, he said he wasn't having a presser to talk about those things. Again, total and utter ignorance! Both of these men are so disconnected from the fanbase that until Eugene Melnyk fires them both, he will see more games with 9,000 fans at a game if he's lucky. Who else would hire an assistant GM with zero AHL or NHL experience in Peter MacTavish? Only Dorion, so that he isn't threatened by someone possibly taking his job when he continuously screws up. Dorion never would've hired Pierre McGuire for that exact reason so it took the owner doing it behind the GM's back. What GM would give a two-year extension to a head coach that had proven nothing to date as a coach in the NHL? All these decisions only happen in Ottawa and not with any other team in the NHL and it needs to stop now!
This paragraph is from my last blog and I had a few fans message me saying how much it really resonates with them after last night's game. "In watching the Edmonton at Calgary game two nights ago, analyst Kelly Hrudey talked about the Oiler's new head coach, Jay Woodcroft. He pointed out three key points as to why he has been successful in taking over the Oilers mid-season. He went on to say that a few other of the NHL's bottom half teams in the league could take a note or two from him about his approach. Hrudey stated that he treats EACH player the same way, there are no double standards. Woodcroft puts his players in a position to succeed and he has a presence behind the bench. Three pretty simple coaching aspects that DJ Smith could surely use as it would be a welcomed change from what this fanbase has had to endure with Smith's stubborn ways of thinking you need a tough team to play with by justifying his lineup decisions. What a concept put players in a position to succeed, treat them all the same way from the start until the end of the season, and not stand silent for most of the game behind the bench with your hands in your pockets/chewing gum constantly/drinking water."
One instance during last night's game was posted on Twitter by morning host JR on TSN 1200 and he was thinking what many other fans were thinking when he posted this.
"Why did Zub serve the 2 minutes when Forsberg put the puck over glass? No clue. He, C.Brown, Formenton, and J.Brown all played a 30 second PK shift before that. Maybe it's just me, but why do you have a D. serve that penalty, let alone your best def. D-man? Instead of J. Brown?" That coaching decision was DJ in a nutshell this season and why he has no business being a head coach in the NHL. It's amateur night, at every home game at the Canadian Tire Center with DJ and Dorion leading the charge for the Sens.
Everyone was quick to say last game that they needed a save or two from Gus, well tonight they needed the same from Forsberg, but nobody says anything about Forsberg because management has controlled the narrative with the goaltending situation all season. Yesterday DJ said Forsberg has been their best goaltender all season, then says, I mean our most consistent. Nice tongue and cheek comment DJ. Just as Dorion said on TSN5 back in mid-December during intermission of the Florida game that Forsberg is the hardest working goalie he has ever had in the Sens organization. We all knew he was taking a shot at Matt Murray on National TV as he was down in the AHL. What UFA would ever want to sign here when players are made to feel like they are scapegoats. Can anyone explain why MDZ hasn't been called up yet, even though he's playing great hockey down there? He was promised top 4 minutes by DJ and Dorion before he signed here and when he was sent down after only getting 10 games and not even in the starting lineup to open the season when he thought he would serve an important role on a rebuilding team. I was told from two sources inside the organization that MDZ went off on both the coach and GM telling them that many present and former players were correct in how DJ and Dorion were labeled around the league. Dorion has been quite awful behind the scenes with both of these players and word is getting around the NHL about how this organization does business when things don't go their way by throwing players under the bus. It was DJ going off on Murray after the San Jose loss in late November, then DJ got his way, the next day Murray was put on waivers.
I thought the tweet by Steve Warne, former morning co-host on TSN 1200 summed it well. "Matt Murray finished his last game and got pumped for 8 goals. And with 23 games still to play, we're already hearing the term season-ender. Mix in losing, criticisms, trip to the minors, frequent absences. Murray's injuries may include a fractured relationship with the team."
After 56 games last season, due to the shortened covid season, Ottawa was 23-28-5 and that was with the Sens winning 10 of their last 12 games due to no pressure on Ottawa as the season was lost at that point with no expectations. Like McGuire said on Ottawa radio at the time, it's fools gold when you win games like that to end the season with no pressure. He went on to say, try and win some games when the pressure is on at the beginning of the season. Ottawa was 20-31-5 after the 56 game mark this season and is currently 21-34-5 good to be tied for 28th in the overall league standings. The road record is 10-15-3 while the Sens home record is 11-19-2.
DJ said he wanted his team to establish a home ice advantage on this 5 game homestand. The Sens are 1-3 on it with the only victory coming in OT against an expansion team that is one of the worst on the road. Everything that comes out of this coach's mouth never occurs. If Melnyk keeps either DJ or Dorion after the season comes to an end, all he's doing is delaying the inevitable next season but taking a huge chance on having another lost season with a slow start. Why would you allow this GM to try and put a roster together for next season when he has failed over and over? Let a new GM put his finger prints on a roster, allowing him a full off-season, NHL entry draft, and UFA signing period while hiring a new head coach. Having someone come in mid-season trying to put a bandaid on the existing issues will only push the rebuild back one more year. This current roster has a weird way of showing they love this coach so much by quitting on him far too often and on home-ice to boot.
Thoughts Sens fans? Comments on the current situation in Sens land and your faith in this coaching staff/management to get this team to the playoffs next year.
Thanks for reading.
Kevin
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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