Sens Nation - Your Ottawa Senators Podcast

The Sens fall behind 5-1, mount a furious comeback but eventually lose 6-4 in Pittsburgh. Matt Murray waves at Penguin fans from the press box while his replacements both have a tough night. We discuss some positives and negatives from the game. Some curious interpretations of "interference" in the game. Brady Tkachuk leaves a mark at the end of the game. The NHL has finally gotten around to resch...

Our review of a very frustrating 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. We discuss the bizarre third period dog pile that the refs refused to blow the whistle on and Josh Brown's glaring giveaway that led to the game winning goal on the play. We get into DJ Smith's end of game tactics, not calling a timeout to rest his top power play unit and not pulling his goalie for a 6 on 4 situation to try and tie t...

The Sens rally for another win, this time a 5 goal third period outburst in Edmonton. Josh Norris starts and ends the scoring, and leads the Sens with 16 goals in 30 games. Norris scored the winning goal while wearing a teammate's helmet. Tim Stutzle and Alex Formenton have one of their best games of the season, as DJ Smith mixes up the lines for the third period. Another good Matt Murray performa...

No rust on the Sens in an impressive 4-1 win over Calgary. Matt Murray had a fine game, although he insists nothing in his game has changed much all season. Nick Paul filled in for Tim Stutzle (in COVID protocol) and led the way with 2 goals. Do you keep Paul in Stutzle's spot for the game in Edmonton? Drake Batherson, who's fluent in hockey jargon, is named Ottawa's NHL all-star. The S ens are re...

We're back after the holidays, illness and cross country, winter highway travel! We discuss the ongoing challenges of COVID with 13 postponed Senators games. Is COVID giving UFAs yet another reason not to sign with Canadian teams? Another edition of "Dissecting Dorion" as Sens GM Pierre Dorion appeared on radio last week. A full roster update as the Sens deal with their third team outbreak since t...

The Sens and Leafs are rusty and shorthanded as they prepare for Hockey Night in Canada in front of only 1000 fans. The World Juniors have been cancelled; 10th overall pick Tyler Boucher leaves school to join the Ottawa 67s; Ottawa native Zack Senyshyn has requested a trade. Would/should the Sens have any interest? Remembering Sens assistant coach E.J. McGuire and also the famous 1975 New Year's E...

As the 10th overall pick, Tyler Boucher's absence from the World Juniors, combined with a sluggish start in college can't just be dismissed as meaningless.  We update you on the Sens prospects who ARE playing in the tourney. Owen Power, Jake Sanderson and Simon Edvinsson are all going to be blue line beasts in the NHL's Atlantic Division. Will COVID permit the Sens return to play this Friday versu...

Coach Gregg is home to stay. COVID postpones all NHL games until December 27th and keeps NHL out of Olympics. We discuss Kevin Bieksa's Hockey Night in Canada tear down of Thomas Chabot; Is Chabot playing too much again? Our Best Christmas Hockey Gifts ever.

In today's episode, we're all over the Sens' crazy 8-2 road win in Florida versus the best team in the NHL. The top line has taken their game to a new level. Is this 6 game stretch just a blip on the radar? Or is it something more? Just for fun, Steve's done the math on what it will take for the Sens to make the playoffs. Is Jake Sanderson ready to be a top 4 NHL defenceman right now? A tough rema...

Ian Mendes is our third man in today. The Sens have won 4 of 5, including a shocking 4-0 win over the Lightning. Anton Forsberg got hsi 4th shutout and 4th straight victory. Is he taking control of the Ottawa net? Thomas Chabot was 4th in ice time among Sens defencemen. Is he playing his best hockey ever? JBD is up from the minors, Lassi Thomson goes back down, and veteran Michael Del Zotto clears...

Senators win streak ends at 3 with a home loss to the Islanders, a team that had lost 11 in a row. Filip Gustavsson has a rare off night but was it really time already for DJ Smith to call him out to the media? We discuss the evolution of Josh Norris and what his next contract will look like. The Sens host Tampa Saturday at 1. Finland names two Senators to their world junior team. Sens rank 28th i...

Is Eugene Melnyk taking offers to buy the team? I s an arena at Lebreton Flats still in the cards? GM Pierre Dorion finally speaks about the state of the Senators at the quarter mark of what's been a very ugly season so far. Brady Tkachuk with the game winner in a 6-5 OT win at home on Saturday night. That followed a 3-2 win over Carolina. Not exactly convincing wins, giving up 49 shots in game on...

We get into the awkward discussion of a possible coaching change - what the Sens need to do versus what they'll actually do. Matt Murray reported to Belleville this week, and as he answered some awkward media questions, said he believed he was a scapegoat for the Sens tough start. Big money or not, he's also been through a hell of a lot this season. Adam Gaudette makes his Ottawa Senators debut an...

Brady Tkachuk gets bitten twice by Brendan Lemieux, goes on major rant about him. Matt Murray clears waivers and the NHL's 6th highest paid goalie is sent to Belleville of the AHL. Will he rediscover his game? Will he block goalie development of others? Who takes over the starting job in Ottawa? Sens acquire 2018 Hobey Baker winner Adam Gaudette. Batherson returns Wednesday. DJ puts his lines in a...

The Sens are half way through their 4 game post-COVID road trip, and it's going about the way we expected. Some good hard work but nothing to show for it. The Sens are 4-12-1, the exact record they had this time last season. The Sens starting goalie controversy hits a new level with DJ Smith sounding like he may be ready to climbed aboard the Gus bus. Smith pretty much pinned the loss in San Jose...

After a 3 game COVID shutdown, the Senators resume their season in Denver Monday. They now have 4 road games in 6 days and Drake Batherson will miss it all. COVID didn't just come and go…Nick Holden's 3 kids all have it now. Austin Watson's wife has it, Assistant coach Jack Capuano had a bad case of it and still isn't back on the ice. Which Ottawa Senators will play in February's Winter Olympics?...

The Sens have at least 3 games postponed this week. Can they still salvage this season? Vegas has 3 players in COVID protocol - did they catch it here in Ottawa two weeks ago? If Drake Batherson keeps scoring, does he have time to work himself into the Olympic discussion? Former Senator Marion Hossa enters the Hall of Fame. When is Alfie's turn coming? Is it coming at all? Will Jake Sanderson walk...

The Senators lose to Calgary 4-0, beat Pittsburgh 6-3, and lose to LA 2-0. The Senators now have 10 players in COVID protocol. Drake Batherson is the latest. He had a 4 point night vs Pittsburgh and then tested positive. Shane Pinto came back from a shoulder injury and re-injured it taking a draw. He may be done for the season. Erik Brannstrom will be out two months with a broken hand. Have the Se...

Steve is already feeling Christmasy with a parody song for the holidays. The losing streak hits 5. But at least they didn't give up  5. We'll talk about a 3-2 loss in Boston. As if the Sens didn't have enough to worry about, they're hit with another COVID outbreak. 6 players and a coach are now in COVID protocol. So that meant, Erik Brannstrom made his season debut, Egor Sokolov made his NHL debut...

Brady Tkachuk is the 10th captain in history. Sens give up five goals in every game of a 4 game losing slide. After 4 straight years of missing the playoffs, surely the grace period of a rebuild must be over now. We review of the last 2 games as DJ splits up Chabot and Zub. Stutzle to Belleville to get his swagger back? We discuss why that would be a bad idea. Anthony Duclair, who didn't get a qua...

Former Senator Brendan Bell joins Steve and Gregg as the Sens conclude their road trip, taking 3 of a possible 6 points. More on the Senators goalie conundrum. Who's your number one? The kid or the kajillionaire? What's to be done about the Senators bottom 4 defence? Should they split up the top pairing and spread the wealth around? Will Shane Pinto's return help the D zone coverage? What we like...

Reviewing a 4-1 win in Big D against the neon Dallas Stars. Sens now 3-4 on the season, although the Sens played the second half of that game like they were shorthanded. Josh Norris has 5 goals in 7 games...sure is nice to see an Ottawa Senator pop up on the first page of NHL scoring leaders. Ovehckin and McDavid are off to ridiculous starts. We discuss the debut of new centre Dylan Gambrell, who...

In this episode, we discuss the first 6 Sens games this year compared to the first 6 games last year. The record isn't much better but the stats and the eyeball test certainly are. Newcomer Dylan Gambrell, along with Matt Murray and Austin Watson are all expected to play on this road trip at some point. The advantages of being on the road. The defence struggled versus Washington and Erik Brannstro...

In this one, we review game #5 of the season – a 3-2 collapse against the Rangers and we dig into that many frustrating reasons it happened. That includes the horrible embellishment call on Tim Stutzle. Matt Murray and Parker Kelly are out, Filip Gustvasson and Scott Sabourin are in. We update injuries to Matt Murray and Shane Pinto. Artem Zub's new role as a big wheel in Ottawa. The Sens acquire...

Today we discuss the season debuts of Brady Tkachuk and Matt Murray in a 2-1 loss to San Jose. A shoulder injury to Shane Pinto. With Colin White already out, what do they do if Pinto is out for an extended period? Erik Karlsson is out there dropping s bombs in a TSN interview. Our web poll, what will Josh Norris be after in his next contract and wil lhe sign sooner or later? And NHL great Mike Bo...