It’s exhausting being an Ottawa Senators fan lately.
The excruciating rebuild that General Manager Pierre Dorion spearheaded alienated many fans from the franchise, which was to be expected. A great young core was assembled,
But, after a fun summer filled with stellar signings and great trades, optimism was high in Ottawa. Playoffs were never guaranteed by any of the staff or players, but better and more competitive hockey was promised.
Once again, we sit at the end of November, and the Ottawa Senators have ended their season before even hitting the 20-game mark. The goal for this team was to play meaningful games by the trade deadline, a goal set out by Dorion during training camp in September.
Yet they find themselves in a battle for 32nd overall in game #20.
Record aside, the Senators have certainly improved. Their possession game is much better than years prior and they haven’t been outclassed in many of their games so far this year. But Wednesday night in Las Vegas was indicative of their season.
They dominate play but can’t score, and mistakes end up costing them. Rinse and repeat. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, and the Senators have repeated the same thing 19 times now.
Somebody has to take responsibility, and it falls on the General Manager.
The hype was inevitable, and while Dorion did his best to temper expectations, the bar has been on the floor for the last few years in Ottawa. Of course, fans were going to be excited about the upcoming season.
I have no issue with the way he approached things during training camp. However, Dorion has been very public about his desire to add a new defenseman, and a few times he has mentioned how hard it is to trade for one.
That bothers me. Fans don’t want to hear how hard your job is. Just get it done, and if you’re not going to, then stop publicly confirming that you’re looking for an upgrade. Show, don’t tell.
On Nov. 7th, Dorion spoke to the media in the midst of a 5-game-losing streak and backed his head coach. At the time, the Senators were 4-7-0, but their underlying results said that the team would turn it around. They were holding most of the possession at even strength, and their scoring chances just weren’t finding the back of the net as frequently as they should have been.
At the time that was a very valid point. But since he publicly backed these numbers and his coach while stressing patience as the answer, the Sens are 2-5-1.
Not only are they 2-5-1, but in their last 3 games, they’ve been outscored 14-3. I don’t know about most fans, but I’m out of patience. It’s time for the GM to step up and do something:
Since Pierre Dorion publicly backed D.J. Smith the Sens are 2-5-1.
2 more games left in his “next 10 games are very important” stretch, including a battle for the basement of the NHL during game #20
Absolutely pathetic display.
— Jack Richardson (@jackrichrdson) November 24, 2022
In that same Nov. 7th press conference, Dorion emphasized the importance of the next 10 games. After facing Anaheim on Friday and Los Angeles on Monday night, that will wrap up the road trip and this 10-game swing.
Changes need to be made when the Senators return home from the road trip. Dorion has already sent Nikita Zaitsev down to Belleville in a long overdue move, but that hasn’t changed anything.
There’s no internal help coming. Top prospects Jake Sanderson and Shane Pinto are under contract and playing every night, making the impact we all thought they would and more. But the team is still losing hockey games.
Top players like Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle are on pace for career years offensively, but the team is still losing hockey games.
It’s time for Pierre Dorion to own this failed season and make changes. A coaching change could still salvage some of the excitement from the summer, even though meaningful games at the trade deadline are probably already out of the question.
It really is incredible that Hot Pierre Summer has already turned into “Tank For Bedard” in less than 2 months, but here we are. The onus is on Pierre Dorion, who is about to be the General Manager of a team that has missed the playoffs for 6 straight years under his leadership, a franchise record.
With new ownership looming, Dorion needs to do something impactful if he wants to keep his job in 2023.
-Jack Richardson
Twitter: @jackrichrdson