What the paid pundits think of Ottawa's future
Bob Mackenzie:
"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.
....
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."
Chris Stevenson:
"No one in the organization should escape the gaze of a man who knows what it takes to make tough decisions.
You don't get to be a self-made billionaire without knowing who can do their jobs and who can't. Melnyk kept the Senators together this year, a good idea at the time since it had come within a goal of reaching the Stanley Cup final. He has had a year to see this operation in action.
....
Was Lalime the reason why the Senators lost this series? He has already received his share of blame and will no doubt receive much more. He had a terrible night when it counted the most. The next time they play NHL hockey, do you want to trust he can raise his game to the level required?
The truth is for much of the series, he gave the Senators goaltending of a quality that was good enough for the Senators to win. It's not his fault the Senators were shut out in three of the Leafs' wins."
Stephen Brunt:
"...count those two whiffs as the effective end of Lalime's career as the Senators' No..1 goaltender.
He can't go back. He'll never again have the confidence of his teammates. However well he might play during the regular season, it's those goals they'll always remember.
That's why Lalime sat at the end of bench after being pulled in favour of Martin Prusek, looking like a guy hoping to be offered a place in the witness-protection program.
The changes can't stop there, though. In the old, tin cup Rod Bryden era of the Ottawa franchise, drastic moves could always be postponed with the excuse that the team simply didn't have the dough.
The Senators have a real owner now, Eugene Melnyk, who has both a passion for hockey and considerable resources.
And he's certainly smart enough to see the pattern here, to understand that there's a losing culture with his hockey club — at least when it comes to playing the Leafs, and at least when it really matters — that isn't going to fixed by a few fiddles here or there.
This cast has got to change — though that's easier said than done. Coach Jacques Martin has got to go — though that's going to be expensive.
The alternative? Just ask anyone in Ottawa this morning how much they'd like to sit through this horror film one more time, knowing that it always ends the same way.
"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.
....
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."
Chris Stevenson:
"No one in the organization should escape the gaze of a man who knows what it takes to make tough decisions.
You don't get to be a self-made billionaire without knowing who can do their jobs and who can't. Melnyk kept the Senators together this year, a good idea at the time since it had come within a goal of reaching the Stanley Cup final. He has had a year to see this operation in action.
....
Was Lalime the reason why the Senators lost this series? He has already received his share of blame and will no doubt receive much more. He had a terrible night when it counted the most. The next time they play NHL hockey, do you want to trust he can raise his game to the level required?
The truth is for much of the series, he gave the Senators goaltending of a quality that was good enough for the Senators to win. It's not his fault the Senators were shut out in three of the Leafs' wins."
Stephen Brunt:
"...count those two whiffs as the effective end of Lalime's career as the Senators' No..1 goaltender.
He can't go back. He'll never again have the confidence of his teammates. However well he might play during the regular season, it's those goals they'll always remember.
That's why Lalime sat at the end of bench after being pulled in favour of Martin Prusek, looking like a guy hoping to be offered a place in the witness-protection program.
The changes can't stop there, though. In the old, tin cup Rod Bryden era of the Ottawa franchise, drastic moves could always be postponed with the excuse that the team simply didn't have the dough.
The Senators have a real owner now, Eugene Melnyk, who has both a passion for hockey and considerable resources.
And he's certainly smart enough to see the pattern here, to understand that there's a losing culture with his hockey club — at least when it comes to playing the Leafs, and at least when it really matters — that isn't going to fixed by a few fiddles here or there.
This cast has got to change — though that's easier said than done. Coach Jacques Martin has got to go — though that's going to be expensive.
The alternative? Just ask anyone in Ottawa this morning how much they'd like to sit through this horror film one more time, knowing that it always ends the same way.
