Confidence is a fragile factor. Players did not handle being booed. Something has changed over the past couple of weeks. How long has it been since they played a decent shift on home ice? Fans are giving up on this team. And, the team appears to be tying their best to shut out the noise coming from the fans.

This could get a lot worse. I thought they should be contenders. But, without confidence, we will see a huge step backwards. Not sure I am up to signing on for another rebuild.

Confidence is a fragile factor. Players did not handle being booed. Something has changed over the past couple of weeks. How long has it been since they played a decent shift on home ice? Fans are giving up on this team. And, the team appears to be tying their best to shut out the noise coming from the fans.

This could get a lot worse. I thought they should be contenders. But, without confidence, we will see a huge step backwards. Not sure I am up to signing on for another rebuild.
- spatso

You are correct that it could get a lot worse. I think fans are still in support of this team but if that is a product (last night’s game) you are bringing to the fans, then this might be a breaking point for many fans. I, like many fans, was excited for last night’s game seeing as we have had such little Sens hockey to watch over the past 2-3 weeks. Watching the game, it felt like the team gave a middle finger to the fans.

I honestly don’t know what they expect. They were supposed to be playoff contenders and they are now in lottery pick territory, yet again. It would be insane to expect fans to be satisfied. Especially, when they are losing in embarrassing ways. This is a maxed-out cap team of young guys with massive contracts who didn’t have to prove much to get them.

Maybe this core was all wrong. Maybe Timmy needs another superstar in front of him on the depth chart like Malkin in Pittsburgh or Draisaitl in Edmonton. Maybe Brady is just a top 6 power forward rather than a top line guy and captain. Maybe Chychrun is just a top 4 d-man rather than a top-2 guy. Maybe Batherson is a 3rd line guy rather than a top 6 forward. Maybe Norris is a 3rd line centre rather than a 2nd line centre. It’s possible that the team that was put together is just not that good and evaluations of players and development was grossly inaccurate.

Who knows. Maybe this was the absolute low that they needed to hit to finally “get it”.

You are correct that it could get a lot worse. I think fans are still in support of this team but if that is a product (last night’s game) you are bringing to the fans, then this might be a breaking point for many fans. I, like many fans, was excited for last night’s game seeing as we have had such little Sens hockey to watch over the past 2-3 weeks. Watching the game, it felt like the team gave a middle finger to the fans.

I honestly don’t know what they expect. They were supposed to be playoff contenders and they are now in lottery pick territory, yet again. It would be insane to expect fans to be satisfied. Especially, when they are losing in embarrassing ways. This is a maxed-out cap team of young guys with massive contracts who didn’t have to prove much to get them.

Maybe this core was all wrong. Maybe Timmy needs another superstar in front of him on the depth chart like Malkin in Pittsburgh or Draisaitl in Edmonton. Maybe Brady is just a top 6 power forward rather than a top line guy and captain. Maybe Chychrun is just a top 4 d-man rather than a top-2 guy. Maybe Batherson is a 3rd line guy rather than a top 6 forward. Maybe Norris is a 3rd line centre rather than a 2nd line centre. It’s possible that the team that was put together is just not that good and evaluations of players and development was grossly inaccurate.

Who knows. Maybe this was the absolute low that they needed to hit to finally “get it”.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Confidence could be a big part of it. One quick goal against and then they're playing scared the whole game.

It was some of thr most disjointed hockey I've ever seen. I've seen bad teams, I've seen teams that didn't care, this was something different.

There was also little to know coaching adjustment. They should have been pressing much more with a bigger force heck when they went down. But, nada.

On the booing, fans do still care. I was at the game, Brady was cheered a lot, and got some big chants for his name at points.

Some of the most fun was booing the guy dressed as a ref who they kept putting on the big screen.

I have long felt that this team has greatly underachieved considering the overall talent level. There are definite roster construction issues which need to be addressed but this team should be a playoff team with the current personnel.

A coaching change needs to be made very soon. This group needs structure, accountability and a new voice. The organization needs to see how the group performs with a more capable coach to better assess player performance. A coaching change would also spare the fans from feeling the need to make it toxic for DJ Smith. The team has not performed well when given a light schedule against poor to mediocre teams. This situation is going to get ugly fast.

IL also add the entire league knows how to score on this team. Pass low, center the puck, goal. Maybe something to work on in practice.

Connor Bedard's mother has not interviewed as a replacement forTJ.

Confidence is a thing with the team, due to the lack of overall success, and experience, entitlement. But...

The team / players have been overvalued in everyway.....literally.
There was never any guarantees this type of rebuild would work, in fact likely a higher probability it would not.
Ottawa is a text book blueprint of what not to do ever in a rebuild.
Never burn it to the ground
Never overpay young players long term.
In a different scenario, keeping mark stone, jp pageau, borweski,... would have had much quicker , better results.
Hindsight is easy, but the decision makers at the time were incompetant.
i would do is buy out the melnyk women. Exorcise the past. Then start working on dorions mistakes. Go from there

I think they are going to wait to see how Dec plays out before firing DJ. And by that time, it will be too late, and the season will be lost. Yet another year of not making the playoffs.

IF they were to fire DJ this week, they should also put a Sens player on waivers. Send the message that it isn't just about the coaching and the players are accountable. Either Hamonic or Branny - someone good in the room that they can afford to lose that will send a message. And, more than likely neither will get picked up. Which will also send a message.

Confidence is a thing with the team, due to the lack of overall success, and experience, entitlement. But...

The team / players have been overvalued in everyway.....literally.
There was never any guarantees this type of rebuild would work, in fact likely a higher probability it would not.
Ottawa is a text book blueprint of what not to do ever in a rebuild.
Never burn it to the ground
Never overpay young players long term.
In a different scenario, keeping mark stone, jp pageau, borweski,... would have had much quicker , better results.
Hindsight is easy, but the decision makers at the time were incompetant.
i would do is buy out the melnyk women. Exorcise the past. Then start working on dorions mistakes. Go from there
- spazzbot

This could get very ugly. When teams loose hope they quickly spiral downwards. Losing is the primary ingredient of a downward spiral. When you start losing it becomes uncomfortable for the players and the better players begin seeking a way out of town.

I thought the fans booing the players was a huge problem for this young and fragile team. It can get a lot worse very quickly.

What should the Sens do moving forward if they cannot right the ship? There likely is not an easy and correct answer but I would love to see something along the lines of the following:

- Fire DJ Smith. Replace him with an interim coach. Not everyone will want the interim title, but you can bet there are some that would. Make sure that guy is a teacher and authority figure rather than a buddy.

- Update fans on the GM search. Have a guy in place by January 2024 so they can utilize the trade deadline. If it is Steve Staios, fine. Just get a guy in there.

- Hire a quality coach once GM situation is settled. Who knows, the interim guy might be the right guy.

- Sign Pinto once suspension is complete for the rest of the season.

- Make a significant core move. Trading Chabot/Norris/Batherson/etc would be similar to the Avs trading Matt Duchene and/or Ryan O’Reilly. Quality talents but time to part ways. Could be a wakeup call for guys like Brady and Timmy.

- Trade Tarasenko, Hamonic, Brannstrom, Forsberg, and Kubalik at the deadline to contenders for young pieces (not picks). Trade value will vary.

- In the summer, Andlauer have some meetings with the NHL to figure out how the league and the Sens can get on the same page as it seems like the league is punishing the team repeatedly or just too harshly. Pinto suspension, Dadanov trade, Europe trips, inconsistent schedules. Rid the stigma about whatever happened with ownership prior.

- Be honest with the fans in the summer of 2024. If this team is not actually going to turn the corner, state such. Managing expectations goes a long way.