It seems like every offseason, the entire NHL is waiting for the talent young core in Ottawa to take a step and make the Senators a competitive team once again. However, with their stars now locked up to big long term contracts, the Senators are still a basement team - currently second last in the eastern conference.
From the outside perspective, the Senators appear outside to be lazy or immature as a team. Today, in their game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Senators showed that level of immaturity by breaking a cardinal rule of hockey that let to a goal against - you've got to play to the whistle.
Midway through the first period, the puck bounced around the Senators' net and the entire team collapsed to the slot thinking the play had gone dead. Instead of playing to the whistle, one of the first things a player learns to do, the Senators stand around in confusion as they watched the Flyers put the puck in the net.
It's a ridiculous and immature mistake from the Senators that encapsulates the problem they have with the team. Despite this atrocious mistake, the Sens still have the talent to come back and win this game against the Flyers - who have been a great surprise this year. The Sens ended up winning by a score of 5-3.
When the Senators make a move to hire a new coach to replace the interim Jacques Martin, the team needs to make a good choice and find a coach that can whip this team into line, and to finally return their potential of a playoff team.
