CHALLENGE FOR THE SENATORS: BE SPECIAL AGAIN IN 2015-16
Congratulations, Senators.
You got our attention with one of the great stretch runs in NHL history. Now, what?
With two days of wrapup events in the books, culminating in Wednesday’s media conferences of general manager Bryan Murray (he’s staying on) and head coach Dave Cameron (he has a contract extension offer sitting on his kitchen table), the wheels are already turning toward the 201516 season.
Murray has his off-season wish list (a top-six forward, as usual) and also his conundrums – getting many of his bright young players new contracts while trying to move a veteran or three that can’t be accommodated, either on the roster or in the hockey budget.
They simply don’t all fit. As a result, it’s going to be a very busy summer in the Senators offices, heading into the June NHL entry draft and onto the free agency period.
Trader Bryan, quiet at the deadline, is due for a deal.
The interesting thing to watch, once the summer moves settle, and the goaltending, defence and forward groups are fine-tuned, will be how this group comes together in the fall.
The bar has been raised, as at the Olympic high jump pit, on expectations for this team. Coming off the disappointment of 2013-14, the Senators were barely expected to finish in the top eight of the Eastern Conference this season.
One hockey publication forecast the Senators to finish as low as 13th in the conference – Sabre country.
Given that backdrop, the lousy first half by Ottawa, capped by the December firing of head coach Paul MacLean, and then a sparkling 23-4-4 finish, the lasting impression was that the 2014-15 Senators hit one out of the park.
Not even a six-game, round one loss to the rival Montreal Canadiens — a series that could have easily been Ottawa’s — can take the shine off this season, full as it was with spring surprise and hope.
Now, the “young and hungry” Senators will be expected to do it all again, minus the lousy first half part.
There are two aspects of this Senators roster that has management and staff convinced there won’t be a drop-off, the way was there was after that “pesky Sens” team of 2012-13 went two rounds deep in the playoffs, then finished fifth in the division and out of the playoffs the next season.
One: Youth. The 2012-13 team, by comparison, was led by an older core. Captain Daniel Alfredsson was in the twilight of his fine career. Aging defenceman Sergei Gonchar also played a prominent role. So, too, did veterans Chris Phillips, Chris Neil, Colin Greening and Zack Smith, players that have seen their roles diminish as the team gets younger and faster.
Murray and Cameron both told their young players, in exit meetings, they will be counted on to grow into “prominent positions” as Murray put it.
“I think we'll be a better hockey club and if we do a couple of things in the summer, we have a chance to be a playoff team, for sure, and my expectation is to be above that,” Murray said, stopping just short of calling this group a serious StanleyCup contender.
Two: The nature of this dressing room. By all accounts, this is one of the closest and hardest-working rosters the Senators have had. Murray says he can't recall a team he's been around where individual players espoused how much they enjoyed each other's company, and how happy they were to be part of something special.
Not every team has that going for it.
Cameron deserves enormous credit for his role in making it all work, empowering his younger players, who were well equipped to execute a game plan that called for more aggressive play, an up-tempo style.
One of the quality exports from P.E.I., Cameron identified an important element of this particular room, what he refers to as “balance.”
Many were the Senators teams of the past that grew a tad arrogant with the taste of success. This young group kept pushing, even when the wins weren't there in December and January.
It didn't quit when both goalies went down, and some guy named Andrew Hammond had to tend goal (who could have known, an instant legend born).
Then, when the team got hot and the Hamburglar was a league-wide craze, they all, Hammond, included, kept their heads.
“There was no change in them,” Cameron said. “It wasn't like, 'oh, we're good.'”
Finally, when they lost a few games down the stretch, there was no panic.
“There's something about this group that's a little bit different,” Cameron says, noting it has a lot to do with them being “good people.”
They were likeable, at times remarkable.
Now, all they have to do is something special again next season, when a lot of other teams in the Parity Hockey League expect to be better, too.