TSN Columnist Bob McKenzie
McKenzie: Time for a change in Ottawa?
4/20/2004
You don't need a hockey insider to tell you that you can't win a Game Seven with Patrick Lalime letting in goals like he did against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. The first goal by Chad Kilger was no problem but allowing both goals by Joe Nieuwendyk, especially the second one with 21 seconds left in the first period, puts your team at such a disadvantage.
It's tough to know if the Ottawa Senators came with their 'A' game or not because you never really got a chance to find out. Lalime just didn't get the job done and I can't imagine any circumstance where Lalime comes back as the #1 goaltender for the Senators next year. And that may be one of many changes.
General Manager John Muckler suggested Game Seven would be a defining moment for the franchise and it was that. It's not exactly what you want to be defined as though because it is as a loser. The Senators have now lost four of the last five years to the Maple Leafs and losing in the first round with this crew means there are going to be changes.
I can't imagine any scenario whereby head coach Jacques Martin will be back. Martin is a great NHL coach and a terrific guy but, when you lose as many times to the same team over and over again in a year when you're supposed to get to the Stanley Cup final and maybe win it, that's a likely change.
But the Senators can't console themselves by saying they simply got out-goalled by Belfour because that's not the truth. With the series tied 2-2, the Senators did absolutely nothing in a crucial Game Five. They had no inspiration, no motivation.
What could possess a team that fancies itself a Stanley Cup contender to come into a crucial game and not even show up? That's precisely what happened in Game Five and, for that matter, the first half of Game Six.
And while there is no shortage of incriminations for the Senators, I didn't think captain Daniel Alfredsson had a very good game Tuesday. He was by no means alone on that front, and Alfredsson has been a good leader for the Senators all season, but he was a frustrated hockey player for the better part of the game. When you get to a Game Seven situation, you have to deliver and Alfredsson, and the whole Senators team for that matter, did not.
One guy who did show up was Zdeno Chara. I was watching the handshakes after the game and, from Gary Roberts to Tie Domi, every Leafs player stopped and had a long talk with the Senators defenceman, who was a horse for Ottawa.
McKenzie: Time for a change in Ottawa?
4/20/2004
You don't need a hockey insider to tell you that you can't win a Game Seven with Patrick Lalime letting in goals like he did against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. The first goal by Chad Kilger was no problem but allowing both goals by Joe Nieuwendyk, especially the second one with 21 seconds left in the first period, puts your team at such a disadvantage.
It's tough to know if the Ottawa Senators came with their 'A' game or not because you never really got a chance to find out. Lalime just didn't get the job done and I can't imagine any circumstance where Lalime comes back as the #1 goaltender for the Senators next year. And that may be one of many changes.
General Manager John Muckler suggested Game Seven would be a defining moment for the franchise and it was that. It's not exactly what you want to be defined as though because it is as a loser. The Senators have now lost four of the last five years to the Maple Leafs and losing in the first round with this crew means there are going to be changes.
I can't imagine any scenario whereby head coach Jacques Martin will be back. Martin is a great NHL coach and a terrific guy but, when you lose as many times to the same team over and over again in a year when you're supposed to get to the Stanley Cup final and maybe win it, that's a likely change.
But the Senators can't console themselves by saying they simply got out-goalled by Belfour because that's not the truth. With the series tied 2-2, the Senators did absolutely nothing in a crucial Game Five. They had no inspiration, no motivation.
What could possess a team that fancies itself a Stanley Cup contender to come into a crucial game and not even show up? That's precisely what happened in Game Five and, for that matter, the first half of Game Six.
And while there is no shortage of incriminations for the Senators, I didn't think captain Daniel Alfredsson had a very good game Tuesday. He was by no means alone on that front, and Alfredsson has been a good leader for the Senators all season, but he was a frustrated hockey player for the better part of the game. When you get to a Game Seven situation, you have to deliver and Alfredsson, and the whole Senators team for that matter, did not.
One guy who did show up was Zdeno Chara. I was watching the handshakes after the game and, from Gary Roberts to Tie Domi, every Leafs player stopped and had a long talk with the Senators defenceman, who was a horse for Ottawa.
