Playing hockey in a Canadian city is bowing down to the fact that you will be scrutinized constantly. Outside the rink, you do get privacy, but on the ice, everything you do is picked apart, and woe betide if you make a mistake.

The Senators are now playing with trepidation bordering on fear. They fear their next mistake, and this is our fault more than anything else.  Yes our fault: we the fans, the scribes, the analysts, and the journalists. We have high expectations from our team, and we tear them to shreds when our expectations are not met. We abandon our team when they don't win.

There is now some talk in the media of firing coach Cory Clouston. I brought it up in this blog myself. It was wrong to bring it up. Clouston is not at fault, and he is a good coach for the team. Replacing him now would be fruitless. But the media has brought it up, so that it is now in the public's mind. The public is now disgruntled, ready to fire the coach, ready to abandon the team for the rest of the season.

We should remember the lesson of the Québec Nordiques. I remember it all too well as I lived in Québec at the time. As the losses mounted for the Nordiques, the media was vicious, the fans were livid, and the seats slowly emptied. It was not until the team started winning again with the addition of Mats Sundin, Peter Forsberg, and Joe Sakic  that the fans returned to the seats, but too late. The financial damage had already been done. The team moved to Denver, became the Colorado Avalanche, and won the Stanley Cup in its first year.

While I do want the Senators to play better - to the level that I know they are capable of - I don't want them to play with fear. I want them to play with pride, and for pride. Whatever may come out in my blog, I am and will always be a Senators fan.

GO SENS GO!!