There are basically three problems with the Senators right now. The passes suck, the guys aren't putting the puck on the net, and when they shoot for the net, they miss.



Passes sometimes seem to have a life of their own, or it sometimes seems like the puck has a mind of its own. As it heads towards a stick as it should, and at the last second, decides to jump over the blade. That my friends is either a badly served pass or a badly received pass. The puck has no mind.

The second: because of the sparsity of goals, the Senators forwards are trying for that "extra pass" that will guarantee that the goalie will be totally out of position and guarantee a goal. There's no such thing. Did you notice the blueliners have no problems putting the pucks on the net? That's because they haven't been robbed 20 times already. So when Chris Phillips puts a puck on net (and don't get me wrong, Philips is a pretty fine shot), the pucks go in, whereas when Jason Spezza shoots...

The third problem is that the Senators keep missing the net. There's 24 square feet of space there, being blocked by about 12 square feet of goaltender. Half the cage is open, all the time. The Sens know the sweet spots as well as anyone else, and they try to roof every puck, and a large percentage of those pucks are going over the net.

All three problems are actually one and the same: they're holding on too tight and getting panicky. The passes are awful, the puck is hopping constantly whereas the opposition's passes seem smooth and effortless. This is not luck folks, it's called "holding on too tight" and "trying to do too much", and they all mean the same thing: you're so fixated with the problems you're having that you try to do the extra thing to fix it all.

So once again, in the hopes that someone is reading this (as it has happened in the past with Alex Kovalev and a few others), it's time to relax. It's time to simplify and play your role. It's time for smart passes and putting the puck on the net. Doesn't matter if it's a shot to that sweet little corner top right, just put it on the net. Hey, statistically, if you put 50 pucks on the net, five will go in. So shoot!!

Also, read "The Game". I'm re-reading this Ken Dryden masterpiece and his description of the Canadiens during his last season with them shows that they are indeed "holding on too tight" and "waiting for that big goal or big play". Perhaps seeing and understanding what is happening, will help on the ice. "When defensemen push and shove in the corners, but don;t hit, when forwards shoot from afar and don;t scramble in front of the net..." Sounds awful familiar.