Sens notebook: D.J. Smith’s comments on fans, first-quarter MVP & the future of LeBreton Flats

It didn’t matter that they were outshot. It didn’t matter that they were outplayed.

The Ottawa Senators needed that win on Thursday night in Raleigh.

Need some proof?

Check this video the team posted of D.J. Smith addressing the club a few moments after they stepped off the ice in Raleigh.

Back in the win column‼️ pic.twitter.com/C7SeiTz63l

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) December 3, 2021

You can’t blame Smith for being excited to play the role of a true DJ when he said, “Hit the music!”

It was refreshing to see and hear the excitement in Smith’s voice as he handed that game puck to Anton Forsberg. The Senators are a battered and beleaguered bunch and the head coach has taken the brunt of the criticism over the past month.

It was nice to get a glimpse into the team’s behind-the-scenes reaction to the win on Thursday, which snapped a seven-game losing streak on the road.

That win over the Hurricanes serves as a perfect place to launch this weekend notebook.

The Sens viral GIF

Let’s start this column by looking at a moment that went viral during the Senators-Hurricanes game on Thursday evening. It’s a clip featuring four Ottawa players simultaneously trying to block a Teuvo Teravainen shot in the slot in front of goaltender Anton Forsberg. The Senators’ defenders almost look like they’re foosball players being controlled by a single rod at the same time.

pic.twitter.com/3dCMgM24IF

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) December 3, 2021

And many fans and media poked fun of the still image of the moment, which captured the uniqueness of the situation. I mean, it’s not too often you see something like this in an NHL game:

"Hard" pic.twitter.com/GqYdgpJ0ij

— Shawn Simpson (@TSNSimmer) December 3, 2021

But here’s the thing: 24 hours earlier we were ripping the Senators for their lack of intensity and compete level against the Vancouver Canucks. The J.T. Miller goal, in particular, was an egregious example of defensive ineptitude that bordered on carelessness.

At least in this sequence above, you’re seeing four guys committed to blocking a shot and doing everything in their power to keep the puck out of the net.

Is it pretty? No. But it shows a level of dedication that was lacking in the previous game.

And it was clear in Smith’s postgame comments on Thursday night that he and his team were quite upset with the narrative being floated after their 6-2 loss against Vancouver.

“I live it every day with these guys and the team didn’t like being questioned on their compete level,” Smith said after Thursday’s 3-2 win in Carolina. “One thing they do is compete for each other and they didn’t like being questioned.”

I think it was fair to question their intensity on Wednesday, but it’s also important to highlight their resiliency on Thursday in Carolina. In particular, the Senators could have easily folded when the Hurricanes scored two goals in under two minutes to tie the game late in the third. But they bounced right back and got the game-winner from Josh Norris just 19 seconds after Carolina tied the contest.

It was ugly and sloppy, but at least it felt like there was some pushback and character from the Senators on Thursday night. And if we’re going to carve them for a lack of intensity on Wednesday, we should make sure we praise them equally for not crumbling when facing some third-period adversity on Thursday.

Smith’s comments on Ottawa fans

There were a lot of fans unhappy with Smith’s postgame comment on Wednesday when he said, “If you’re a true fan, you’re going to stay by your guys.”

The responses from Senators supporters on social media were not polite, as they did not appreciate the insinuation that they weren’t being “true fans” if they were critical of how things have played out recently. Nobody likes being told how to be a fan. There are dozens of ways you can support a sports franchise and there isn’t some uniform code of conduct you need to adhere to in order to gain access. Fandom is an individual choice and the gatekeeping that goes on in this sport is truly mind-boggling.

But as I saw the negative reaction pouring in on Twitter, I felt it was my duty to step in and offer a little context.

Let me defend D.J. Smith here.

I asked him specifically what his message is to fans at this stage.

So it’s not like he just brought up fans unprompted.

This guy has been left to twist in the wind and has faced a barrage of tough questions for weeks.

Cut him some slack. https://t.co/8SqxJR5xKT

— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) December 2, 2021

For starters, I asked Smith what his message would be to the fan base after the 6-2 loss against Vancouver. So I want to clear up any misconception about Smith’s reference to fans in this situation. He didn’t bring up Ottawa fans unprompted — he was specifically asked about them. I think when people read quotes on Twitter or watch video clips from press conferences, they are often missing the question that preceded the answer. So I think it’s important to note the head coach didn’t randomly start talking about fans on his own. He was led down that path by a question I asked him.

Secondly — and I think this is an important debate for us to have — I am wondering about the timing of my question.

I’m willing to concede that perhaps it was a touch unfair to ask an emotional coach about his message to the fan base a few minutes after a loss. I spent a good portion of Thursday wondering if I had asked him that question on an off-day, would I have received a more measured response?

As reporters, we often know when to ask questions to coaches and players. For example, if I was doing a feature on Alex Formenton, I would never have asked Smith about him in the wake of a loss. Those are the types of questions you wait to ask in a different environment, especially if you’re looking for a thoughtful and insightful answer. You tend to get better answers to big picture questions when they are posed against a less tenuous backdrop.

In the moments after a game, coaches tend to be emotional and mentally exhausted, so you’re subjected to more curt responses. I also think the Zoom format is to blame, as it’s very difficult for reporters and coaches to develop a rapport on that platform. It would be a lot easier for Smith to answer my question if I was looking him in the eyes and he could sense my body language. Instead, he’s listening to my voice come over a speaker and it’s a question with a negative slant. It’s hard to expect a positive response in that situation.

I am leaning towards believing my question was fair game, considering the fan base was irate after the embarrassing loss to Vancouver. I felt like somebody needed to speak to the fans directly with a message on behalf of the organization.

But I’m curious to hear from readers in the comment section below. Was I offside in asking that question to the head coach at that particular moment? Should I have waited to ask that on a non-game day — or was it fair game to pose that question to an agitated Smith?

This has been a volatile and tumultuous stretch in Ottawa and I feel like everybody has frayed nerves. Coaches, management, players, fans — and even us in the media — are all feeling a little sensitive these days. I think my question to Smith is a perfect example of that.

Anton Forsberg. (James Guillory / USA Today)

Forsberg steals a game

As the Senators defeated the Hurricanes on Thursday evening, the TSN broadcast flashed up a graphic that showed it was the first time Ottawa won a game with a shot discrepancy of that nature. Carolina outshot the Senators 49-20, giving the Hurricanes a 29-shot advantage in that department.

It’s safe to say that Anton Forsberg stole that game for them with his brilliant play. And last week, Smith basically pleaded for a goalie to step up and steal them a game. It’s a huge reason why they demoted Matt Murray — they simply felt he wasn’t stealing them games for giving them a chance to come out with a point or two on a regular basis.

There is a pattern developing here, with Forsberg and Filip Gustavsson stealing games for Ottawa when they are badly outplayed. If you look at their allocation of wins, you’ll see that all but one of Forsberg and Gustavsson’s wins with the Senators have come when they’re being outshot:

Sens goalie win breakdown

Goalie	Wins When Outshot	Wins When Outshooting Opponent
Filip Gustavsson	7	1
Matt Murray	5	5
Anton Forsberg	4	1

For reference sake, the Sens are being outshot by roughly an average of 10 shots/game in these victories outlined above. The Senators have been outshot by 12.25 shots per game in the four wins for Forsberg, but that number was largely skewed by the 29-shot discrepancy on Thursday. Ottawa has been outshot by 10 shots per game when Gustavsson and Murray are in the nets for a win.

I’ve been largely critical of the Senators’ handling of Murray this week, but this graphic shows the tendency for the other goalies to step up and steal games. And I can’t sit here and tell you Ottawa wins that game Thursday with Murray in the net — at least the way he’s performed lately. Forsberg deserves credit for delivering a much-needed win for Smith and his beleaguered team.

Of course, there is a larger issue at play, which is the fact Ottawa is being outshot on such a regular basis.

Ottawa and Arizona are the only teams this season that have failed to win a game when outshooting their opponent. For the Senators, they’ve only managed to outshoot their opponent four times this season and their minus-6.6 shot differential ranks 31st in the league.

Since Smith took over as Senators head coach, Ottawa has only been able to outshoot their opponents 49 times in 148 games. That’s a number that needs to change significantly if this team is going to take a step forward. Regular season juggernauts like Vegas (99), Boston (96) and Colorado (91) are all closing in on the century-mark in outshooting their opponents over the same stretch.

At this point, the Senators are asking for a Herculean effort from their netminder on a regular basis to compete. Forsberg delivered it for them on Thursday, but they can’t expect that type of goaltending every single night.

First-quarter MVP?

A lot of The Athletic beat writers have been issuing first-quarter report cards for the NHL teams they cover. And I’ll admit I toyed with the idea of that for the Senators.

But as I’ve mentioned in the comment section lately, I’m trying my best to not get weighed down by the crushing negativity around this team lately. It’s hard to do, but fans need hope and optimism sprinkled in with the critical coverage.

And I felt like doing a report card column would just be a painful exercise in doling out a bunch of Cs and Ds and getting everybody angry. So let me quickly flip the script and ask the question: Who would you say has been the Senators MVP up to this point in the season?

At one point, I would have considered Filip Gustavsson. But his save percentage has slipped under .900 and he’s only appeared in 10 of the club’s 21 games this season. I think Drake Batherson deserves a lot of praise, with his 17 points in 16 games so far this season. He’s emerged as the Senators most dynamic and confident player in the offensive zone and it’s starting to feel like his six-year contract extension is a steal.

Josh Norris is on pace for a 35-goal season and deserves a lot of praise for his offensive work, but like a lot of his teammates, he’s probably disappointed with some of his game below the faceoff dots in his own zone. I like the way he’s progressed, but I’ll stop just shy of giving him serious considering for the team MVP honours for the first quarter.

Ultimately, I think I’m settling on Thomas Chabot for this fictitious award. On the surface, it might look like Chabot has underachieved with zero goals and just three power play points so far this season. But he’s been an absolute workhorse this season in logging 27:10 of ice time per game, which is tops in the NHL by a healthy margin.

Via Natural Stat Trick, Chabot has been on the ice for 22 goals for and 22 against in almost 500 minutes of even strength time this season. Considering this team is carrying such a negative goal differential, that’s a remarkable achievement. Put it this way, when Chabot is not on the ice, the Senators have been outscored 39-17 at even strength.

Their GF percentage is 50 percent when he’s on the ice — and an eye-popping 30.3 percent when he’s not.

That seems good enough for me to hand him the first-quarter MVP award.

Brady Tkachuk. (Brian Fluharty / USA Today)

Brady Tkachuk’s penalty streak

One name that was noticeably absent from the first-quarter MVP debate was Brady Tkachuk. And it’s not because the new captain has been off to a terrible start or anything. If you project his numbers, he’s on pace for a 23-goal, 60-point campaign over a full 82-game season — both of which would represent career highs.

But the number I want to quickly draw your attention to is the penalty minutes for Tkachuk. The Ottawa forward has now taken a penalty in five consecutive games for the first time in his young NHL career. After Thursday’s games, Tkachuk, is leading all NHL players with 19 penalties taken so far this season.

That’s not atypical when you look at where Tkachuk has finished in that category so far in his career:

But what is different this season is that he’s not drawing as many penalties as he’s taken. Tkachuk has drawn 13 penalties from opponents this season and while that’s still tied for third in the NHL, he’s carrying a minus-6 penalty differential. That puts Tkachuk 783rd amongst NHL skaters, carrying that minus-6 penalty differential. If you look at his previous seasons in the league, you’ll see he’s always been on the positive side of that ledger:

I don’t think it’s a huge area of concern just yet, but there have been a couple of instances recently where Tkachuk has taken some ill-advised penalties. Last week’s game in San Jose where he took three minor penalties was probably a good example of that. It’s probably something we should monitor in the weeks ahead and hopefully Tkachuk’s penalty differential is close to zero by the time we hit the midway point of the season.

C-level changes … again

Last December, the Senators put out a press release announcing the bold hiring of three executives for key positions: Gregg Olson and CFO, Jeff Morander as VP of ticketing and Tom Hoof of VP of marketing.

The belief was they were bolstering their front office to launch into a robust period of sales and marketing.

But very quietly, two of them have now disappeared.

Morander’s LinkedIn page suggests he left his position in October, while the club confirmed Olson has also officially departed.

Olson has been replaced by Erin Crowe, who the Senators announced will be taking over as an executive VP and CFO on February 1. Crowe had previous tenures with the club, but it’s clear there remains some instability at the higher levels of this organization with the departures of Morander and Olson.

A second — and final chance — at LeBreton Flats

We’ll close this notebook column by touching on Eugene Melnyk’s statement that he is once again open to the idea of building an NHL arena at LeBreton Flats.

“We’re always open and interested in a new multi-purpose entertainment facility at LeBreton Flats. And understand how it can benefit our fans and the Ottawa Senators hockey club generally,” Melnyk told Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch in a statement on Thursday.

The word “always” is an interesting inclusion in this statement because if you go back just six months, Melnyk was less bullish on the idea. In fact, he ruled it out altogether.

“As far as LeBreton Flats is concerned, we’re nowhere. We’re not involved anymore. It was a bad dream that has ended up in court,” Melnyk said on the Bob McCown podcast on May 20. “I’ve ruled out going to LeBreton.”

These two statements — made in the same calendar year no less — seem to run in direct contrast with each other.

These discrepancies are a common theme in the LeBreton negotiations between Melnyk and local government officials.

After procuring the winning bid and the right to develop the parcel of land at LeBreton Flats in January of 2016, Melnyk stunned city officials by doing a flip-flop on the issue less than two years later.

“I’m not sure downtown is necessary,” Melnyk told reporters at his infamous outdoor game media appearance in December of 2017. “All those Kanata people, are they going to come downtown? Are you just moving an arena closer to people who can’t get tickets?”

That sudden change-of-heart certainly flummoxed Ottawa mayor Jim Watson, who voiced his exasperation with reporters in February of 2019.

“One of the frustrations I think in this partnership was Eugene Melnyk. The very fact that during the NHL outdoor or just before that, was musing about not even going downtown,” said Watson. “I was pretty livid with him back then. I said ‘Wait a minute. You’re putting a lot of time, effort and money into this process and you come out and just muse off the top of your head, ‘Well, I’m not interested in moving downtown.'”

The inconsistencies weren’t just limited to the arena location either. Melnyk has also wavered on whether or not he actually wants to be the owner of the new arena.

Back in January of 2016, Melnyk told the Ottawa Sun, “I have no interest in selling and I have no interest in playing in somebody else’s arena. It’s just not practical. I have no intention of moving into somebody else’s place.”

But then just two years later, in the fall of 2018, Melnyk and the Senators released a proposal to try to salvage the LeBreton Flats project.

Under the terms of the amended deal, Trinity Developments would finance the construction of a state-of-the-art downtown arena in exchange for the Senators giving up their share of the profits for the surrounding retail, residential, commercial and recreational land in the development. In this scenario, Trinity would finance the entire project and the Senators would simply come in as the main tenant — although the hockey club said it would be on the hook for the operational costs of the arena during the term of the lease.

After vowing to never have his hockey team play in a building he didn’t own, Melnyk suddenly did an about-face and was willing to have a landlord.

So while Melnyk’s comments to Postmedia on Thursday were certainly newsworthy, they should be ingested with a large block of salt given the road we’ve travelled to reach this point.

In that appearance on the McCown podcast in May, Melnyk also mused about potentially building a new arena in Gatineau. And then he reiterated his desire to stay in the west end of the city.

“I think that that is more of a reality than LeBreton ever was. Either we build another stadium out in Kanata on our own property that we own or there’s a great deal that comes from the other side of the river,” Melnyk said. “But again, my No. 1 preference is Kanata by far.”

Melnyk’s statement to Postmedia on Thursday comes at an interesting juncture.

Earlier this week, the National Capital Commission — the regulatory body in charge of LeBreton Flats — announced their new plan to solicit “bold and transformational” ideas for attractions on the land.

And despite all of the previous hiccups, the NCC at least publicly appears to be willing to consider a new proposal from Melnyk and the Senators.

“The door is open,” Katie Paris, director of the LeBreton project told reporters on Wednesday. “We understand that the Senators owner has been vocal in the media about looking for another location for the arena. If it’s of interest of him or to the Senators, then the door is open.”

At the very least, it feels like we’ve suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly reached a fork in the road here.

The NCC is taking submissions for new proposals at LeBreton Flats until February, which gives us roughly 12 weeks to find out whether or not Melnyk’s latest words will come to fruition.

If city officials — and more importantly the NHL — are adamant about a future downtown arena in Ottawa, this is the moment of truth.

They are being gifted a rare second opportunity to build an NHL arena in a prime location. Gary Bettman has often interjected himself directly into arena negotiations with city officials to ensure venues are secured for his respective NHL teams.

The question is, how active will the commissioner be in making sure the Senators don’t fumble this LeBreton opportunity for a second time?

(Top photo: Steve Babineau / NHLI via Getty Images)