How much rope does DJ Smith have? [UPDATE: None]

[Loach]

Coaching is the first victim if they fail to play to their level. So far they've looked great and coaching deserves some praise, but assessing a team takes about 15-20 games.
By mid-November we should know how this team will fare.

We play 17 of the first 21 games at home right? That means 24 home, 37 away the rest of the year. Last year I think our record was 6 or 7 games below .500 on the road. We need to have a win percentage of .725, or something crazy, in the first 21 games to balance out big road trips the rest of the year. Dec and Jan have 5 game road trips, March has a 4 game and April is 6 of 9 on the road. DJ has always had a rough go on the road. January might be a better indicater of things. Perhaps having Claude on board is to work with DJ, they have a history at the Worlds together don't they? It could be as simple
CJ - Deeg. You know it has to be done. It doesn't mean you don't have the guys back, it's your job. To win.
DJ - (exhales slowly, gets fresh gum) I know. Time to move Sandy on to pp1 for Chabby and switch Chabby back to the left side with Chych on the right. If it doesn't work though, I'm benching Branny.
CJ - Jesus DJ...(takes a shot of Jamo)

 

[sennysensen]

I hope DJ does well, good guy, players like him.

He finally is playing the right defensive pairings.

Lines are good, considering we really only have 2 centres with offense, and Greig isn't a superpower offensively. Once Norris is on line 2, Greig should be able to help line 3 get going, which has done nothing offensively with Chartier at centre. When Pinto is back, he is 3rd line centre, Greig replaces Kubalik (traded) as 3rd line LW. Then our lines are set up perfectly.

If there's 1 thing he's doing wrong is the power plays. Yes, we're at 27%, the 2nd unit has been better than the 1st unit. Problem with the 1st unit... no shooters! All the shooters are on the 2nd unit, they need 1-2 on unit 1. I know Norris is a shooter, and will be on unit 1, but right now... Chychrun should be the unit 1 QB, no doubt. He's our best offensive D-man, and has a howitzer of a shot. Play Sandy with Chabot on unit 2. Heck, Sandy is better than Chabot as PP QB right now, better shot. While Norris is out, Tarasenko needs to be in his spot on PP1. Stutzle, Tkachuk, Batherson, and Giroux are all fine players, but none is a sniper. Chabot isn't a sniper either, hence 1st PP unit looks limp. Swap Giroux with Tarasenko.

 

[Xspyrit]

DJ seems to be a great guy and players seem to like him but expectations are high. We went through a scorching earth rebuild for 6 years and started with a boatload of very valuable assets (Karlsson, Stone, Duchene, Brassard (even after downgrading the asset from Zibanejad), Pageau, Chabot, Batherson, etc), for these reasons we have to become nothing less than an elite team going deep in the playoffs, and that time is now, just look at players ages, only Stutzle, Sanderson, Greig and Pinto are "young", everyone else is 24+

DJ has to deliver great results, only way him and Dorion should last.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Another ten feet of rope.

 

[aragorn]

A good start is not a 2-1 record.

We actually had a 4-2 record after six games last season.

It turned into 6-13.

A good start is how a team looks when playing against good teams, they looked great against Carolina until the 3rd when Korpisalo let in a couple of questionable goals. They dominated Philly throughout most of that game doubling the shots on net for most of the game & they did the same with Tampa which is a pretty good team. Of course, it's early & they have a 2-1 record but let's not forget they also had a pretty good pre-season something else that hasn't happened for a number of seasons. Of course, they are not perfect & still take some bad penalties & get caught in their own zone for periods of time, but it's not lasting as long as before or happening as often as they dictate the play themselves throughout the games.

They just look so much better now than in the past & are rounding into what I would call a good playoff team that doesn't get pushed around & dictates the play & physicality at times. They are still young & make young players mistakes especially Timmy but they are also learning & improving which is what we want to see. And of course, injuries could derail this team or any team at any time, but let's also not forget that they are still short two of their good young players, well three really if we count the guy who can't be mentioned.

 

[Crosside]

Smith: It won't be long-term if Artem Zub misses any time.

Senators head coach DJ Smith on putting Josh Norris into the lineup, the teams reaction to Norris' return, the club's offensive depth, Ridly Greig mixing it up with Tom Wilson, Jake Sanderson and an update on Artem Zub.

www.tsn.ca

 

[Flamingo]

Smith: It won't be long-term if Artem Zub misses any time.

Senators head coach DJ Smith on putting Josh Norris into the lineup, the teams reaction to Norris' return, the club's offensive depth, Ridly Greig mixing it up with Tom Wilson, Jake Sanderson and an update on Artem Zub.

www.tsn.ca

LOL at calling Grieg a rat.

Defensive structure has looked a lot better so far this season. Even in the Carolina game, somewhat.

It will be fun to see if they keep it up with home change advantage vs Wings and Sabres, and then another test when they hit the road later next week.

Hoping DJ can meet the expectations of coaching a competitive team rather than letting players roll and make mistakes this season.

 

[aragorn]

Every team goes through ups & downs during a season, can the fan base take it when there is a down period & they start calling for DJs head ... again?

 

[Golden_Jet]

LOL at calling Grieg a rat.

Defensive structure has looked a lot better so far this season. Even in the Carolina game, somewhat.

It will be fun to see if they keep it up with home change advantage vs Wings and Sabres, and then another test when they hit the road later next week.

Hoping DJ can meet the expectations of coaching a competitive team rather than letting players roll and make mistakes this season.

Ya excellent changes to the system this year, that DJ has talked about.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Every team goes through ups & downs during a season, can the fan base take it when there is a down period & they start calling for DJs head ... again?

If we have another no-win November, I think it’s more than just “ups and downs”.

 

[Here I Pageau Again]

If we have another no-win November, I think it’s more than just “ups and downs”.

Honestly if we can go and rebound from losses with solid games then and string together a few wins and not have multiple losses in a row. I'm happy.

 

[Loach]

3w - 2l with 1 road game and 4 home games. Next 5 games is 3 home and 2 road. Let's see what happens.

 

[aragorn]

I'm not sure you can blame the coach for this one, they came out strong & held the play in the offensive end for what seemed like the first 10 minutes & eventually got the first goal. Unfortunately, after the Greig penalty Det scored pretty quickly & the Sens seemed to lose their jam after that & things began to unwind for them, lots of missed passes, bouncing pucks & inability to take a clean pass today.

 

[ottawagm]

DJ doesn't have any original thoughts of his own which is why he can't make any in game adjustments.

He's said he studies what other successful teams do in the off season and then implements it into his plans.

How about we just go get one of the coaches who can make a winning strategy on their own, with the players they have on hand, rather than having to wait a year to implement something that works?

 

[Tuna99]

I think the thing with D.J. is his team have always shown 2 fundamental flaws which non playoff teams always display and the question right now on D.J. is can he fix it:

1. They don’t win games when they play well. This has been argued here ad nauseam by both sides who show stat and metrics lines that show they should have won and by fans who just want to see wins and not woulda coulda.
2. They take way way way way too many penalties. They take themselves out of games.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

I think the thing with D.J. is his team have always shown 2 fundamental flaws which non playoff teams always display and the question right now on D.J. is can he fix it:

1. They don’t win games when they play well. This has been argued here ad nauseam by both sides who show stat and metrics lines that show they should have won and by fans who just want to see wins and not woulda coulda.
2. They take way way way way too many penalties. They take themselves out of games.

The team is built to be a hard hitting team... a team that is told to finish all checks. We will always be getting penalties

 

[bert]

DJ doesn't have any original thoughts of his own which is why he can't make any in game adjustments.

He's said he studies what other successful teams do in the off season and then implements it into his plans.

How about we just go get one of the coaches who can make a winning strategy on their own, with the players they have on hand, rather than having to wait a year to implement something that works?

Hahahaha. Some of the stuff you guys come up with is hilarious.

While I unfortunately do think it's time for a new voice these types of posts are unreal. Like the audacity and saying it with such confidence.

DJ needs to start holding his players more accountable. That's the issue.

Stutzle flat out didn't want to go get the puck on the 2nd goal by Detroit. Then after he didn't go get it he didn't cover the player he lost the battle to. Was pathetic to watch. Should have sat his ass down. Problem was he threw him right back out there. When your best players aren't held accountable the trickle down effect is bad. We saw it yesterday the sens got out worked by a team that simply wanted it more. That's an accountability issue. Not a systems problem or an adjustment. Detroit was sacrificing it all to get a win against a more talented team. Until the sens are ready to fully commit as a team they won't win anything. At this point I don't think DJ has the buy in.

 

[Loach]

Hahahaha. Some of the stuff you guys come up with is hilarious.

While I unfortunately do think it's time for a new voice these types of posts are unreal. Like the audacity and saying it with such confidence.

DJ needs to start holding his players more accountable. That's the issue.

Stutzle flat out didn't want to go get the puck on the 2nd goal by Detroit. Then after he didn't go get it he didn't cover the player he lost the battle to. Was pathetic to watch. Should have sat his ass down. Problem was he threw him right back out there. When your best players aren't held accountable the trickle down effect is bad. We saw it yesterday the sens got out worked by a team that simply wanted it more. That's an accountability issue. Not a systems problem or an adjustment. Detroit was sacrificing it all to get a win against a more talented team. Until the sens are ready to fully commit as a team they won't win anything. At this point I don't think DJ has the buy in.

Are you saying he lost the room?

 

[Tuna99]

The team is built to be a hard hitting team... a team that is told to finish all checks. We will always be getting penalties

coach said himself he wants to limit his team to 1 penalty per period but this team is nowhere close to that.

 

[Micklebot]

The team is built to be a hard hitting team... a team that is told to finish all checks. We will always be getting penalties

I guess but there's a difference between a penalty for crushing someone into the boards and a penalty for getting your stick between a guys legs or in their hands. I can live with the former, we need to cut down the latter.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Hahahaha. Some of the stuff you guys come up with is hilarious.

While I unfortunately do think it's time for a new voice these types of posts are unreal. Like the audacity and saying it with such confidence.

DJ needs to start holding his players more accountable. That's the issue.

Stutzle flat out didn't want to go get the puck on the 2nd goal by Detroit. Then after he didn't go get it he didn't cover the player he lost the battle to. Was pathetic to watch. Should have sat his ass down. Problem was he threw him right back out there. When your best players aren't held accountable the trickle down effect is bad. We saw it yesterday the sens got out worked by a team that simply wanted it more. That's an accountability issue. Not a systems problem or an adjustment. Detroit was sacrificing it all to get a win against a more talented team. Until the sens are ready to fully commit as a team they won't win anything. At this point I don't think DJ has the buy in.

Agree, except Stutzle was benched in the third for a while.

 

[LiseL]

The team is built to be a hard hitting team... a team that is told to finish all checks. We will always be getting penalties

And getting injuries.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

H mm..

Ottawa Senators top Canadian teams in first NHL Power Ranking of the season - TSN.ca

Despite sitting middle of the pack in goals against, the Senators look much improved defensively and look like a legitimate threat to earn a playoff spot this season.

www.tsn.ca

 

[Cosmix]

Honestly if we can go and rebound from losses with solid games then and string together a few wins and not have multiple losses in a row. I'm happy.

I want to see the team get 10 points for every 8 games played (effectively 5 wins and 3 losses). That would be a playoff team performance. Anything less would be a bubble team or worse.