The_Phoenix

Okay, so I was encouraged to start one of these here. So anyways, how do you Sens fans, and other fans for that matter feel aobut the Sens thus far? Experts were more or less calling them the cream of the crop in the NHL, and that few would be able to stand against them. Well nearly halfway through the season they stand 5th in the East. Granted they have looked much better of late, but realistically, can they catch the Leafs, Flyers, or Devils? Or will they be forced to play in the 4/5 matchup in the first round? As I stated in another thread the 'experts' were way off base. They made this team out to be completely unbeatable. Did I think they were THAT good? no. I figured they would be leading the division, and battling NJ for the East, but thusfar that seems a distant possibility. Well what do you think?

grim

Slow start, no biggie.... I think the Senoritas are 6 points back of where they were last year at this point. So whatever. The Presidential Pardon Cup thingy didn't get us to the finals. So lets try it from er... third place. :]

Craven Morehead

IMO, Ottawa has not even hit their stride yet, and they are playing much better of late. Can they catch the Leafs??? Absolutely they can. For the Leafs to think they have wrapped up the division would be very foolish on their part, and they won't think like that anyway, for the record. I'm not going to lie, I'm disappointed in how they have performed to date overall, they should be much higher in points, especially at home.
Patrick Lalime has to be better, and that's the bottom line. If your goaltending starts playing up to its abilities, then it seems you start getting the bounces, the goals, etc. just when they are needed, which Ottawa hasn't gotten alot of this year I find. Goaltending really is everything. For a long stretch, Ottawa's best players weren't being their best players. Sure, some of them put up decent numbers, but they were mostly powerplay points in games that were blowouts anyway, proving why Ottawa is 2-11 this year in one goal games, which won't cut it in the NHL. Recently, players like Hossa and Havlat have been much better getting points in tight games.
I still think Ottawa is one of the best 5 teams in the NHL and will be one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference playoffs for sure. I used to have this feeling about Ottawa, that they needed to do as well in the regular season in order to have playoff success after. However, the 2001 sweep to the Leafs and winning the Presidents Trophy last season told me that it wasn't as important as it might seem to be. I agree the seeds for a championship season are started in the regular season, but I consider Ottawa a playoff team now, as opposed to the mentality of about 3-4 years ago where making the playoffs was great, and let's see how far we can take it now. I think Ottawa is a team that can now actually elevate its game in the playoffs, as opposed to in the past, where they tried to bring regular season play into the playoffs, where it failed miserably. Time will tell how they do I suppose!!!

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I'm back baby, I'm back!!

Nasher

They will bounce back... Lalime can't get worst and so does the D. I still think they will be a dangerous team comes april.

TimmyTabasco

Just a slow start. Any fan sees this.

They have proven coaching in Martin, leadership in Alfie, grit with Varada and Chara(among others), high scoring in Hossa, Spezza, and Havlat(among others), and excellent goaltending in Lalime, and Prusek.

All a recipe for success.

hockey nut

Won't be 3rd, that spot is reserved for the under achieving SE division, it will be 1, 2, 4, 5 but I expect 1 or 2.