Roy MacGregor out-scoops the lads at the Ottawa Sun with this little gem, which was quietly whipped up while Bruce and Don were still wondering what The Euge meant.
More later. But if Bruce reads this: what that is called is reporting.
Is 29th place within reach?
The Senators have 40 points in 46 games. Edmonton and the Islanders have 35 points but have played 3 fewer games. Unless New Jersey goes on an epic tear they are heading for last place and first pick with 27 points in 44 games.
If the Leafs are buyers for a playoff run, ahem, then it leaves the Senators as challengers for the number 2 pick.
What are the chances of the Senators finishing 29th? Higher than ever, especially if they dump talent before the deadline, which the in-rebuild teams are less able to do because the talent they have they want to keep.
**Update: Currently that chance stands at 40%. No longer unlikely.
Avoiding Flailure
I’ve started or been an early hire in several high tech companies, and now work for a big one. Some succeeded (if you define success as reacquisition or IPO so someone else can fuck it up). Some failed. All had one thing in common: Avoiding the deathmarch, or if on it, ending it and fast.
Few get everything right in the beginning. The smart ones change course when they sense they are going down the wrong path. Change requires innovation. There is one small problem however, summarized by this axiom:
Innovation is inversely proportional to organizational strength.
Organizational strength increases over time.
New companies and larger companies that have successfully survived a near-death experience (hello, Apple) can innovate. Newer companies have little organizational strength, so change is easy. Larger companies can only do this by purging themselves of existing organizational strength, and to do so radically. In other words, they must change their executives, discard, isolate or encapsulate the current organization, and reboot.
Apple, at one time, needed a US$150 million investment from Microsoft to make payroll and survive. The giant today is a result of a reboot in technology and mindset (OS9? Power PC?) . For larger companies the situation has to be this extreme, as only a true rebirth allows for a return to real innovation. Half measures don’t count. Half-measures result in flailure, in other words, being good enough, but no better, and in reality getting worse.
If you haven’t heard of flailure, here’s a definition.
flailure: (noun): misfortune that occurs because of clumsiness; an accident that includes a wild flailing of limbs.
What does this have to do with hockey? Well, everything.
The Senators have been in flailure state for a while now. Doesn’t matter who’s fault it is. Too many favorites. Too many empires. The only way forward is to take the great leap into rebirth. This, of course, means that everything must be on the table, from management to player personnel to expectations of the fans and the media.
Such a decision can only come from ownership. The fans seem ready, some media (not Sun media) are there, it appears some players are there, as is some management. Is the team ready, willing and able for a rebirth, or will it continue to sadly march along in seemingly endless flailure?
New Senators Logo Revealed!
Update, with a perspective fix:
The Huge Euge: Kool Aid with Barbados Rum.
More on this at The Sixth Sens.
Let The Rebuild Begin
Bryan Murray at today’s presser.
” I feel for the fans.”
“If we continue to drop games going forward, there are a lot of players I will consider moving.”
On “The Euge” – “He’s realistic.“
Murray added that he’s considering bringing up Robin Lehner. Given the way the Senators are playing, you might as well start with him.
It’s also clear that he’s gone as GM at the end of the season.
The rest was valedictory. He mentioned that when he came on as a GM the organization was short in depth and their drafts were not up to scratch. They’ve done a good job in the last few years of selecting people in the draft for the future.
Robin Lehner will play in Bingo for the weekend and then he may be brought up if things don’t go well between the pipes.
He’s not yet at the “blow it up” stage, at least publicly. But it seems that the Senators are already in transition towards a total rebuild with a new GM and a new head coach.
Could both roles be filled by St. Michael’s Majors head coach and GM Dave Cameron, who has done a brilliant job coaching Team Canada at the World Juniors?
Since Cameron already works for “The Euge”, why not?
All Aboard The Draft Lottery Express!
Ottawa is in 25th place with other teams having games in hand. At this pace the Senators will have a lottery pick at the 2011 draft, giving them an outside chance at the number one pick.
Let’s look at the ISS Top 10:
Sean Courturier, C
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C
Adam Larsson, D
Gabriel Landeskog, RW
Ryan Murphy, D
Joel Armia, RW
Victor Rask, C
Duncan Siemens, D
Brandon Saad, LW
Matt Puempel, LW
Of these, let’s look at forwards, where Ottawa is a little bit starved for the future:
Sean Courturier, C
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C
Gabriel Landeskog, RW
Joel Armia, RW
Victor Rask, C
Brandon Saad, LW
Matt Puempel, LW
Ottawa suckage and lottery luck will define how close to 1st Ottawa can go. Not sure if they can beat Jersey, Edmonton and the Islanders for the bottom, but it’s just like the Leafs and the Sabres to go on a pathetic end-of-season tear. So let’s place the Ottawa Senators at 26th with no changes due to the lottery, as per usual. Since they have traded their pick to Boston the Leafs have no incentive to suck. Buffalo of course is a suckage wildcard, as always. But let’s assume 26th.
Courturier is likely a first or second pick, a classic Islanders choice. Gone. Adam Larsson plays D, and is a perfect fit for New Jersey. Gone. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, an Alberta WHL boy, is too tempting for Edmonton to pass up.
It means that either Gabriel Landeskog, or Victor Rask could end up in an Ottawa Senators uniform.
Of these, my bet is that it will be, should be, must be Gabriel Landeskog.
This is Elite Prospects’s take:
“An offensively skilled talent with good speed, technique and eye for the game. Likes to carry the puck a lot and finish himself. Could sometimes pass the puck a little earlier. Fairly well-rounded. Very strong. Loves to hit people.“
Uh huh. Any further questions?
