Three days into the new year, as the Ottawa Senators approach the halfway point of the season, general manager Steve Staios delivered a state of the union address to local media Saturday morning.
As the team prepared to host the Winnipeg Jets later in the day, Staios began with a prepared statement describing the expectations being different this year, the incredible parity in the league and that there is a lot to like about the way the club is playing this year.
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But as former NFL head coach Bill Parcells once said, “You are what your record says you are.” » Silver linings and moral victories won’t go far with this hungry Ottawa fan base, which was hoping the club would take a step forward after making the playoffs last spring. Instead, the Senators will need to take major steps forward in the second half simply to replicate last season’s success.
The Senators entered play on January 3 at the bottom of the East standings. Three points out of a wild card spot doesn’t seem so bad, but when you have seven teams ahead of you, there will always be someone winning the games to keep you stuck in the deadlock.
NHL East rankings as of January 3, 2025.
It’s not unreasonable to suggest that it will take five or six straight wins to get to the other side of this wild card jungle. And if they do, they’ll need to continue to play well and consistently.
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When asked about the team’s lack of consistency this season, goalkeeping was the first thing Staios brought up.
“I don’t know if the players’ efforts have been consistent,” Staios told the media. “We live in reality, and there are a few areas of our game that are not living up to expectations. We can talk about the goaltenders, and if the goalkeepers were here right now, they would be honest in saying they didn’t live up to expectations.
“I think the optimism comes from the fact that over the last month they to have played according to expectations. It wasn’t the best start for them, but the situation has stabilized, and I would be comfortable saying that the situation will not only continue to stabilize, but also move in the right direction. »
That’s all well and good to say, but between the worst save percentage in the NHL, combined with Linus Ullmark on indefinite personal leave, and their two current goalies with only 31 games of NHL experience between them, it all seems like the opposite of stable.
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Staios was asked if he knew roughly when Ullmark might return.
“Well, Linus knows he has our full support, and we’re going to respect that by not commenting on this situation. We have full confidence in Linus, as well as Leevi, who is a good young goalie who continues to develop, as well as our depth with Mads Sogaard and Hunter Shepard.
“We know what Linus is as a goalkeeper, and he knows what he is as a goalkeeper. But at this point he has our full support and we will respect his privacy until he comes back.
“We will give him the time he needs to make sure things are in order.”
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Asked about the possibility of pulling the trigger on a deal to get more goaltending depth, Staios brought Mads Sogaard into the discussion.
“Mads continues to develop and he’s in the right place right now, where he scored at Belleville and got that time. But he’s always been a top goalie, becoming a top pro prospect, about to get an opportunity.”
But for now, Merilainen is emergency plan A, and has been since last summer. Staios now executes what he thought was the best plan he had if something happened to Ullmark.
He believed it, knowing that Merilainen is the sixth youngest goalie in the league; he believed it the day he let Anton Forsberg have free will; and he believed it, knowing that Ullmark had never played more than 50 games in a season.
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We are now on the verge of finding out whether he was right or not.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News-Ottawa
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Josh Norris: “I really felt like (Ottawa fans) had my back, even when I was injured
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