Did you watch the Panthers-Senators game on Monday night? The two teams beat each other and received a total of 167 penalty minutes, including 10 concurrent game violations. But it wasn’t the man’s game that captured most of the attention of Senators fans gathered at the Canadian Tire Centre.
It looked like a stuck-on note from the Canadian’s last meeting last Saturday in Los Angeles against the Kings. The Senators were no enemy.
After his team’s defeat, coach DJ Smith did not offer any reassuring comments.
“We weren’t ready, we didn’t put in the necessary effort,” he said.
“I take the blame. I have to send the correct formation to start the game. We talked about how the Panthers would start the game. We knew they would attack. They had lost their last two games.
“We have no excuse.”
It looks like a coach who feels like he’s being burned at the stake.
After Pierre Dorion, it could be DJ Smith’s turn to join the Ottawa Senators. Photo Martin Chevalier
Patience has reached its limits
Sens fans are tired of watching their team falter. Last year, former general manager Pierre Dorion predicted the team would make the playoffs. This improved the ranking by 13 points, but still missed the desired goal.
Dorion may have thought too big.
With the arrival of a new owner, this season was sure to be a good one. The campaign may be young, but the Senators are in last place in the Eastern Conference with a record of eight wins against nine losses and 16 points.
The Senators are the team that has played the fewest games (17) in their association alongside the Washington Capitals, but Alex Ovechkin’s team still has 22 points.
Michael Andlauer won’t wait much longer. After replacing Dorion with Steve Staios, he is preparing to give his hockey president and interim general manager the green light for a move behind the bench.
Roy? Groulx? Hartley or who else?
DJ Smith will likely become the third head coach to lose his job in the National League this season.
Who could be brought in to take over?
Andlauer is said to hold Patrick Roy in high esteem. But that doesn’t mean the former Remparts boss will end up in Ottawa.
The organization could ask the Tampa Bay Lightning for permission to speak with Benoît Groulx, the former Gatineau Olympics coach who is being replaced this season by Joël Bouchard at the helm of the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning’s school club in the American Hockey League became .
Could she turn to Claude Julien?
Could she be trying to bring Bob Hartley out of retirement?
Staios could have someone else on his roster.
Could he choose a coach from the younger generation?
The bets are off.
