Good because they are not. My response was to gramps asserting they are. Ottawa has a bright future, but we have to face the fact that, the better "team" just doesn't lose 4 out of 4 games.



Demko is a great goalie, but he's not winning a Vezina any time soon. His numbers against Ottawa are better than against anyone else. Coincidence? Doubt it. Holtby also stopped 35 shot in his 4-1 win and he's been terrible for 2 seasons. Ottawa's lack of quality shots or ability to finish on quality shots is really the difference.



How specifically? Low danger outside shots? Shots without traffic? Unsuccessfully odd man chances?

You can't judge a team based on one aspect. So, I won't.



By hanging all of your loses on your goaltending, you are ignoring the weaknesses of your "team defense" and your offence's ability to create/finish quality chances. Hockey is a team game, goalies need a team with structure to succeed.
- Nelson19777

Vancouver is barely better than the worst team in the division...... congratulations!!!!

So, with last nights big win, is UND's hockey season officially done? What does this mean for Sanderson, Pinto, JBD?
- david22

My understanding is that they've won the NCHC conference title, but it's not the end of their season yet.
http://collegehockeyinc.c...nces/nchc/standings21.php
https://www.uscho.com/rankings/

They should be heading to the Frozen Four tournament as one of the top seeds, given that they're now ranked as the #2 team in the NCAA. Boston College goes into the tournament as the #1 ranked team, but the last 4 NCAA champions have come from the NCHC conference (including North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth). If nothing else, a deep tournament run is expected, which should mean they're likely still playing into April.

As for the Senators' prospects, I can't see there being a lot more for Bernard-Docker to prove in North Dakota, especially with the promise of a more semi-normal NHL season in the post-vaccine timeframe. Pinto is already getting Hobey Baker consideration as a sophomore, and seems like he's ready to make the jump to the professional game. Sanderson's draft pedigree and rate of development means he could very well be signed as well... but he's also still just 18, and it may be felt that another NCAA season as a top-D pairing, and a leadership role at the WJC may be valuable experience.

My understanding is that they've won the NCHC conference title, but it's not the end of their season yet.
http://collegehockeyinc.c...nces/nchc/standings21.php
https://www.uscho.com/rankings/

They should be heading to the Frozen Four tournament as one of the top seeds, given that they're now ranked as the #2 team in the NCAA. Boston College goes into the tournament as the #1 ranked team, but the last 4 NCAA champions have come from the NCHC conference (including North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth). If nothing else, a deep tournament run is expected, which should mean they're likely still playing into April.

As for the Senators' prospects, I can't see there being a lot more for Bernard-Docker to prove in North Dakota, especially with the promise of a more semi-normal NHL season in the post-vaccine timeframe. Pinto is already getting Hobey Baker consideration as a sophomore, and seems like he's ready to make the jump to the professional game. Sanderson's draft pedigree and rate of development means he could very well be signed as well... but he's also still just 18, and it may be felt that another NCAA season as a top-D pairing, and a leadership role at the WJC may be valuable experience.
- khawk

The challenge for Dorion is to get these kids to sign. They might chose to stay at UND and finish their studies then go the free agency route. Let's face it, if you sign in Ottawa you're locked in for 7 years and right now it's not the most attractive place to be.

The challenge for Dorion is to get these kids to sign. They might chose to stay at UND and finish their studies then go the free agency route. Let's face it, if you sign in Ottawa you're locked in for 7 years and right now it's not the most attractive place to be.
- granpa

1) Cheer up, for God's sake - there's no reason for that kind of negative speculation. Dorion has never failed to sign a major prospect, and I don't expect it to start with anyone from UND.
2) Dorion drafts for character as much as talent, and by various accounts I've read over the years tends to look for evidence of the kids with players/egos where playing in a smaller market would be an issue.
3) Young players tend to look for opportunities to play, and for guys like Bernard-Docker and Sanderson, there are basically top-4D spots with reservation signs on them just waiting.
4) Sanderson is the highest profile of the 3, and his own father played the majority of his career in Hartford, Buffalo, and Columbus... so it's not exactly a family known for playing just in original-6 markets.
5) Melnyk's ramblings aside, does anyone really think the Senators won't be among the best young teams in the NHL in maybe 2-3 years? I think most players would be quite excited to join a team like that, as opposed to one locked in perpetual mediocrity, or with limited future prospects.

More NCAA news...

Bernard-Docker was named the NCHC Top Defensive D-Man, while Pinto was named the NCHC Top Forward, NCHC Top Defensive Forward, and NCHC Player of the Year (the latter being a unanimous selection, which apparently had never happened before).
https://www.nhl.com/senat...t-more-awards/c-322351854

Also, Crookshank signed an ELC after a very solid Junior year at the University of New Hampshire...
https://www.eliteprospect...r/201687/angus-crookshank

There'll be no shortage of opportunity waiting for him in Belleville... where they're off to just a dreadful start. His offensive profile is more of a shooter/goal scorer, which they really don't seem to have nearly enough of right now.

1) Cheer up, for God's sake - there's no reason for that kind of negative speculation.
2) Dorion drafts for character as much as talent, and by various accounts I've read over the years tends to look for evidence of the kids with players/egos where playing in a smaller market would be an issue.
3) Young players tend to look for opportunities to play, and for guys like Bernard-Docker and Sanderson, there are basically top-4D spots with reservation signs on them just waiting.
4) Sanderson is the highest profile of the 3, and his own father played the majority of his career in Hartford, Buffalo, and Columbus... so it's not exactly a family known for playing just in original-6 markets.
5) Melnyk's ramblings aside, does anyone really think the Senators won't be among the best young teams in the NHL in maybe 2-3 years? I think most players would be quite excited to join a team like that, as opposed to one locked in perpetual mediocrity, or with limited future prospects.
- khawk

Unfortunately I don't share your enthusiasm. I have absolutely have zero confidence in Dorion as an NHL GM all the way down to the development program. I'm one of these fans that is still upset at what happened 2 years ago because I'm not on board with a full rebuild although I don't mind a reset. But what totally pissed me off was the trades he made last year (Demelo, Pageau, let Duclair and Boro walk, bought out Ryan, then later lost Balcers waiver) then he goes out and signs or trades good draft choices for garbage. That left very few roster spots for some of our good prospects so they ended up on the scratch list or Bville. Dorion is an excellent amateur scout but not a GM.

Unfortunately I don't share your enthusiasm. I have absolutely have zero confidence in Dorion as an NHL GM all the way down to the development program. I'm one of these fans that is still upset at what happened 2 years ago because I'm not on board with a full rebuild although I don't mind a reset. But what totally pissed me off was the trades he made last year (Demelo, Pageau, let Duclair and Boro walk, bought out Ryan, then later lost Balcers waiver) then he goes out and signs or trades good draft choices for garbage. That left very few roster spots for some of our good prospects so they ended up on the scratch list or Bville. Dorion is an excellent amateur scout but not a GM.
- granpa

I love all the players, BUT:
Demelo is overpaid (great stay at home D, but I wouldn't pay 3 million for a guy to get 4 assists in 25 games and no goals since the 2018-19 season)
Pageau is overpaid (LOVE Pageau, but he is not worth 6 million)
Duclair didn't want to sign for 4(ish?) million and had to settle for 1.7 in Florida. Don't know what that was all about. I think he was still an RFA, so I don't know why they didn't qualify him if that was the case.
Boro - Agree, don't understand why they didn't resign him - especially at how bad our D is this year. Maybe he wanted more full-time minutes and here he'd be the 7th D-man. I'd rather have Boro than J. Brown or Coburn.
Ryan - I would have just let him run out his contract here. He had a great comeback story. Felt really lame. He would be a fan favourite here if there were crowds, lol.
Balcers - this sucked. He's one of the very few nice surprises on the Sharks this year, haha.

I find Dorion to be a "Jekyll and Hyde" type of GM. Some great ones, and some real head scratchers.

I don't understand the "reset" comment. There's nothing to reset to. This is basically the first real year of a rebuild. Sens have their future right now. The kids playing in the NHL (Batherson, Stutzle, Norris, Zub, Wolanin, Brannstrom), the potential of the kids coming up (Brown(?), Formenton, Thomson, Sanderson, Greig, Pinto, Kleven, Sokolov, Bernard-Docker) and the 50 million potential goalies we have... Sens are on their way to stop sucking.

But I guess we're kinda resetting next year. 7 UFAs, a few RFAs, and Sens lose one person to Seattle next season. This should be the "bottoming out" season and only go up from here.