From: simpson@bnr.ca (Scott Simpson)
Subject: SENATORS NEWS:  General update
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 04:03:18 GMT

[*WARNING* -- I've had a *particularly* bad weekend, so this post may seem
              more downbeat and bitter than it should be.  Apologies in
              advance...]

Well, the home team continues to look pretty pathetic.  But the news is not
all necessarily bad.  Some scoring punch has been added in the form of Dave
Archibald (more on him later), Rob Murphy's play is much improved, and we're
through 1/4 of our road games.  Besides, the Oilers are undefeated in *five*!
(Oops, wrong team loyalty there...  Sorry.)

That's the good(ish) news.  Now the reality.  For your perusal from today's
paper:

After 14 games   GP   W   L  T   F    A   PTS
===============  ==   =  ==  =  ===  ===  ===
74-75 Capitals:  14   1  12  1   32   77    3
92-93 Senators:  14   1  12  1   32   78    3

And now, the final record of the NHL's worst-team ever, along with Simpson's
Projection from extrapolating the above data:

74-75 Capitals:  80   8  67  5  181  446   21
92-93 Senators:  84   6  72  6  192  468   18

Yeesh.

I know we're supposed to be patient, and for the most part, fans, coaches and
players are all being good thus far.  But you gotta start wondering...  I've
only been able to go to 2 of the 5 home games (Montreal and Pittsburgh), and
they seemed polar opposites in how hard the team played and how organised they
seemed.  Opening night against Montreal was so promising; everyone worked hard
and did simple things like finishing checks, getting back and generally not
standing around so much.  The Penguins game was a completely different story.

Of course, playing in the first game lends itself to having a huge adrenaline
flow that playing in a big winless streak doesn't.  Of course, Montreal was not
up to par for the first few games of the season, and the Penguins are on top of
the NHL.  Of course we're not to expect too much from an expansion team.  Of
course they're supposed to finish last.  Of course blah, blah, blah, blah...

I just wish that the team played as hard every night as they did opening night.
Maybe they are, but it's not showing for every player.  Guys like Darcy Loewen
and Brad Marsh seem to kill themselves every shift, whereas Mark Lamb and
Tomas Jelinek seem to be floating around, waiting for things to happen.  But I
must admit again, I've only been able to see two home games and only two have
been on the tube, so maybe this lack of effort is all in my head.

And I know I should never think this, but a guy's gotta wonder what would the
team be like if John Ferguson, Mel Bridgman and Rick Bowness were in some kind
of fiery car crash (OK, that's harsh...  How about they all decide to quit and
move to Bermuda?).  Then Firestone hires Mike Keenan to take over as coach, G.M.
and director of player personnel.  Hmmm...   Would the team win more games?
Probably.  Would they become threats to move out of the basement?  Probably Not.
Would the team give 100% *every* night?  Most definitely.

Yes, I realise there's a definite lack of talent on the team and there is
nothing really wrong with Mel and Rick, it's just that Keenen seems to know how
to get the most out of everyone who plays for him, regardless of where he's
coaching (particularly when he coached the lowish-talent Flyers in the mid-80's).

But I think I'm just being bitter 'cuz the team's off to such a poor start.  And
like I said-- there *is* good news.

The biggest news is the arrival of Dave Archibald from the Rangers.  How we got
him for nothing is even sweeter.  A fifth-round pick for a 23 year-old former
first-round pick with plenty of NHL and international experience can rarely be
a good deal for the other team.  Archibald was simply lost in the talent in New
York and was simply expendable.

Archibald was a junior phenom in the WHL (the youngest ever to play and score
a goal in the WHL at **14** years of age).  He was taken by Minnesota in the
1987 entry draft, sixth-overall.  He played two seasons for the Stars, scoring
33 points in each year, was traded to the Rangers and sent to the minors half-
way through the 89-90 season.  At the end of 1990 he retired from hockey at the
age of 21.  He didn't even lace on skates until Dave King called and got him to
play on the Canadian National team on a line with Eric Lindros where he scored
63 points in 58 games.  He went to the Olympics and became the Games' top scorer
with seven goals.  After the Olympics, he played in Italy for 12 games and
started this season with the Rangers' farm team in Binghamton, scoring 9 points
in 8 games.  He asked to be traded from the Rangers as he couldn't stand
playing in the minors for another year.

So, the Sens get an under-used true goal scorer to try and ignite a stagnant
offence.  Best I can tell is that he's shifting over to left wing, and playing
with Rob Murphy at center and Tomas Jelinek on the right side.  I'm going to
both games this week (Toronto and Quebec), so I'll let you know the latest line-
up shuffle.

Anyway, aside from the rumours that the Sens are trying to get Alexi Yashin out
of Russia sooner than planned, that's about all that's news.  An updated roster
and stats summary follow this post.

Like always, comments 'n' questions are welcome in my mailbox...


Later kids,
That Scott Guy
----------------->  rec.sport.hockey Ottawa Senators Contact <------------------
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