The Ottawa Senators are not off to a great start this season. On Saturday night, the Sens lost a tough game to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point scored for a combined 9 points and led the way to a 6-4 lead. It was a tough game for the Senators as they came so close but were also so far.
The Lightning have been a barometer of success for a long time in the league so there is no shame in losing to them from time to time but the Senators clearly crave becoming that type of team. It is becoming frustrating to see all of this talent on the team not grow together.
There have been lots of good young teams across the league that were once in the same spot as Ottawa is right now. The New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, and Buffalo Sabres are all at different spots right now but they are all much improved over where they were two years ago. Ottawa can become the next in line.
Right now, however, people don’t seem to be optimistic. The fans in the crowd during the loss to the Lightning were not thrilled. They let the team know it too and Brady Tkachuk didn’t like it. He called out the fanbase to the media about the situation too.
“It’s frustrating — the negativity from the outside — the constant booing, and the bullish—t from the crowd tonight.”
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 5, 2023
Blunt postgame assessment from Brady Tkachuk 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/j9m6C4zARH
"In here there's no quit and there never has been."
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) November 5, 2023
📺 Brady Tkachuk full media availability: https://t.co/D3ckyHQqQs pic.twitter.com/N7g0Hxj6qe
The Ottawa Senators fanbase is looking for their team to take the next step.
That isn’t the best look for Tkachuk because these people pay money to watch their team play. Folks should be able to fan how they want to fan. It isn’t on the players to have feelings about it. If you want the fans to be happy, the team must play better.
They certainly weren’t booing Tkachuk as an individual. He had two goals and an assist so he factored on three of their four goals. None of this is his fault but he needs to understand how sports crowds work. He is playing hockey in Canada, this isn’t new.
The Senators have what it takes to win in this league. Maybe they aren’t a Cup contender or anything like that but they have enough talent to challenge for a playoff spot which would mean they are competitive on a nightly basis.
This is also just a hard time to be a Senators fan in general. Guys are being suspended for off-the-ice stuff, the owner is brand new along with the GM, and they are losing draft picks because of a mishap with the previous regime in charge. It is all bad.
Their next game is on Wednesday against a franchise that knows a lot about failing to meet expectations and hearing about it from the fans. The Toronto Maple Leafs will host Ottawa in their barn.
It should be a very interesting matchup and you can expect the Sens to come out with a huge effort led by Brady Tkachuk. There should be no hard feelings on either side, both the players and fans want to see their team win.