Is Ottawa good?

[Sun God Nika]

What’s wild is how good they are playing defensively. I was sitting right behind forsberg in the last game he had to make minimal game saving saves because the skaters took care of business. They are playing without their top defensive right shot D, and missing a key defensive forward in Pinto.

 

[Neil Patrick Harris]

Well, we're somewhere between 'We're so back!' and 'It's so over!'

 

[Crocket]

With a couple more pieces I think they could be excellent. A top 4 D and a 1C would make them really good.

 

[Bleedred]

My only skepticism is who their head coach is.

Any improvement is almost entirely due to Ullmark. Travis Green is horrible.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

With a couple more pieces I think they could be excellent. A top 4 D and a 1C would make them really good.

We have four top 4 D(Sanderson, Zub, Chabot and Jensen) and a 1C(Stutzle).

 

[Golden_Jet]

My only skepticism is who their head coach is.

Any improvement is almost entirely due to Ullmark. Travis Green is horrible.

No the team as a whole is playing better defensively, other than a couple of games.

 

[RedWingzz]

can't believe I'm gonna say this, because the Sens are a huge rival with the Wings at the moment, but...

yeah, they are good, and I think they're a playoff team if they can tighten up the defence a bit. They are fun to watch, and know how to push the pace offensively. I've watched a few Sens games this year, win or loss, they've been pretty entertaining games.

 

[Crocket]

We have four top 4 D(Sanderson, Zub, Chabot and Jensen) and a 1C(Stutzle).

You're right. They're elite

 

[Bleedred]

No the team as a whole is playing better defensively, other than a couple of games.

The roster isn't that bad.

Teams can be good with bad coaches.

 

[NyQuil]

It’s still very early.

Judging Green at this point is premature either positively or negatively in terms of his stint with Ottawa.

We need a larger sample to determine if this is the new normal or they are just playing fairly well fundamentally for a change.

If the PP cools off a great deal, they will have to make up for it with more ES scoring and better team defence.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

can't believe I'm gonna say this, because the Sens are a huge rival with the Wings at the moment, but...

yeah, they are good, and I think they're a playoff team if they can tighten up the defence a bit. They are fun to watch, and know how to push the pace offensively. I've watched a few Sens games this year, win or loss, they've been pretty entertaining games.

Is this rivalry strictly bc their rebuilds are roughly on the same timeline/they have been competing for the same playoff spot? Or is there some animosity stemming from in-game incidents?

 

[NyQuil]

Is this rivalry strictly bc their rebuilds are roughly on the same timeline/they have been competing for the same playoff spot? Or is there some animosity stemming from in-game incidents?

There has been some spice on the ice and some silliness between our fanbases.

 

[RedWingzz]

Is this rivalry strictly bc their rebuilds are roughly on the same timeline/they have been competing for the same playoff spot? Or is there some animosity stemming from in-game incidents?

the fact that they are both trying desperately to end their respective "rebuilds" and both want to end their playoff droughts is part of it, but there are other storylines too

-2 seasons ago the Wings were pushing for a playoff spot, and then got absolutely embarrassed on back to back nights by Ottawa, thus somewhat transforming the Wings from buyers to sellers in 48 hours. I live in Ottawa, and am a diehard Wings fan, so those games were tough to watch live, and a bunch of Sens fans gave it to me those games. Tkachuk challenged the entire team (unfortunetely nobody on the Wings did anything), and yeah, the Sens pretty much ended our playoff chase and embaressed us on back to back nights.

there are other things too..like DeBrincat leaving Ottawa for Detroit. Then the Mathieu Joseph "questionable" collision that knocked Larkin unconscious. Both fanbases have gone after each other on this site, so neither team loves the fans of the other squad. For me personally, it's fun being a Wings fan in Ottawa at the moment, and I would love to meet in a playoff series one day. Last year, the Wings seemed to be "ahead" in the rebuild, but this year Ottawa has been hands down the better team. But yeah, a playoff series between these teams would be great, but both teams need to figure out how to make the playoffs, or we may never get it.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Ottawa looks good but I'm really hoping that the high hopes are based on all of the games they played but the Rangers game. The Rangers are basically the Sharks now with all world goaltending. Your local beer league team can put up 40 shots or close to it. This is not minimizing the Sens' play but you need context.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Ottawa looks good but I'm really hoping that the high hopes are based on all of the games they played but the Rangers game. The Rangers are basically the Sharks now with all world goaltending. Your local beer league team can put up 40 shots or close to it. This is not minimizing the Sens' play but you need context.

The only bad game the Sens had was against the Avs. Every other game they've been mostly good or meh, a few excellent. And keep mind Sens are missing their best defensive forward and 3C, along with their 1RD

 

[SnowblindNYR]

The only bad game the Sens had was against the Avs. Every other game they've been mostly good or meh, a few excellent. And keep mind Sens are missing their best defensive forward and 3C, along with their 1RD

Ok, not saying they're bad just providing context since some people seemed to read into the Rangers game more than needed to.

 

[SpezDispenser]

My only skepticism is who their head coach is.

Any improvement is almost entirely due to Ullmark. Travis Green is horrible.

I'm gonna disagree and preface it by saying I wasn't thrilled with the Green hire.
Green has them aggressively forechecking, plugging the neutral zone and boxing out opponents in the D zone.

It's not all him, but his system has been refreshing, imo.

 

[TeamRenzo]

You're right. They're elite

Who is trying to argue they are elite? Stutzle is definitely a #1C

 

[jbeck5]

You're right. They're elite

How does this answer make sense to what he said?

 

[Golden_Jet]

With a couple more pieces I think they could be excellent. A top 4 D and a 1C would make them really good.

Stutzle says hi,
Edit: Should have guessed, a leaf fan.

 

[All Mod Cons]

Not really.

 

[Dubi Doo]

I think improved is the right word. They're a .500 team, which isn't good. Still, a lot of season left. Time will tell, but it's apparent they have some growing pains to go through.

 

[BlueGoose27]

BT trade coming up…like I’ve been saying for over a year now.

 

[LuGBuG]

Nope. They ain’t.