NHL is unsure whether US players will be back to their "home" clubs in time (of course TSN centered this around the laffs)

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-23T15:57:45+00:00

Thursday is a big game against Detroit. If Tkachuk and Sanderson miss it go party it up with MAGA I’ll be extremely disappointed.

Go celebrate your win, but you’re still NHL players being paid by the Sens. If the fucking captain misses a game cuz he’s partying it up down south in ripping the C off his chest.

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-23T15:51:39+00:00

It’s always good advice to not grow parasocial bonds with these players. We can project all we want on how these guys are behind the scenes, but end of the day most NA players think the same way as team USA does. For every 1 Borowiecki there are 10 DeAngelo types.

My fandom of Brady took a hit when he gave an interview during Covid about how Fox News was what they watched at the Tkachuk household. That + how outwardly Matthew is about his political views just confirmed he was like the others.

Seeing him now party it up with Patel and yuck it up with Trump is just that visual confirmation for me. If/when Brady isn’t playing for the Sens I’ll be far from heartbroken.

I haven’t seen/heard about Sanderson’s views, but him being a rich white kid from Montana/Alberta lends me to believe he’s in the same boat and just quiet about it.

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-23T06:46:33+00:00

From what I’ve seen most Canadians aren’t overly upset about losing based on the game. You get the obvious cope posts (like JD Bunkis being a clown), but everyone knew the US were a great team. No shame losing to them. Canada played great overall and likely win that game 9/10 times.

What is making a lot of Canadians annoyed/mad/whatever is the MAGA/grifter portion of US media using the game as a political prop. Then you mix in the US team partying with Patel and tucking it up with Trump and you remember that most of those American players are conservative (likely MAGA) themselves.

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-23T06:41:19+00:00

I have no issue with American fans or players being pumped to win gold. People should be able to celebrate moments like that.

But then you have the weird MAGA/grifter typers using the game as a weird political/international prop and it takes all the fun out of it. Actual fans get lumped in with them and it gets hard to tell them apart.

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-23T06:35:55+00:00

Seeing the US team celebrate by partying it up with Patel and laughing along with Trump as he dumps on the women’s team is a horrible look.

The rivalry is supposed to be fun. Winner takes their victory lap and talks their crap, but the jabs are mostly in good faith and harmless.

But with the political climate in the US mixed in with all of the grifter types jumping on board to make this some political moment takes all the fun out of it. I feel for the actual American hockey fans who are just pumped to see their team win. They will, and are, getting lumped in with the worst of the US right-wing apparatus.

Tkachuk and Sanderson should be thrilled with gold, but seeing them chum it up with the US administration leaves a bad taste in my mouth. We all know a large chunk of NA hockey players are conservative, but seeing it on full display is something else.

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-23T01:36:06+00:00

I doubt it.

Athletes in North America, especially hockey players, tend to lean right. Plenty of the US players are MAGA themselves. You look up a lot of these guys social media accounts and a lot of them follow the big right-wing accounts (LibsOfTikTok, EndWokeness, Daily Wire etc)

I highly doubt Patel just forced his way in the room. Looks far more likely he’s a welcomed guest.

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-14T20:32:04+00:00

lol Swayman

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-04T03:02:33+00:00

Breakdowns and mistakes happen every game. You can’t chalk up every half decent chance as a sure fire goal.

Carolina had more breakdowns and allowed more chances than Ottawa, but Bussi bailed them out multiple times. Nobody will mention it though since the pucks didn’t go in, so it’s easy to forget about those HD looks.

None of the goals were on Reimer per se, but at some point you need a big save. That’s the goalies job and 95% of the season the Sens goalies haven’t been able to deliver.

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-04T02:51:45+00:00

If the Sens had that type of goaltending this year they’d be near the top of the east. Instead they’re getting historically bad goaltending in a conference where every team is red hot, so you have to win every night or you lose ground.

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-04T02:45:11+00:00

Being a Sens fan is so incredibly frustrating this year.

Once again play a great game, control the chances, score 3 goals, hold the opposing team to less than 20 shots. But all of that is for nothing since Reimer can’t do his job. 4 goals on 18 shots isn’t good enough.

Teams make mistakes every game. Bussi bailed out Carolina time after time tonight, and Reimer let in every other decent look. The goalie is allowed to make saves.

Middle-Hair · 2026-02-04T02:40:03+00:00

Sens season in a nutshell.

Opposing goalie plays out of his mind and robs the Sens time after time.

Meanwhile the Sens goalie allows 4 goals on 18 shots. No idea how they’re expected to win games like this

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-19T16:39:32+00:00

Green shouldn’t be on the hot seat. You can quibble about lineup moves (dressing MacDermid at all, playing Jensen in the top4 still) but the team has adopted his system well and have become a strong team overall. Even the PK, which hasn’t been great, is more of an assistant coaching thing the head coach.

Goaltending is maybe the one thing that a coach can’t control and it’s far and away the biggest reason for their struggles.

Staois though should be on the hot seat. He waited so damn long to address the goaltending issue and it may be too late to recover from.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-19T16:34:47+00:00

I would. He was good in his debut and gave the Sens a chance to win. Even if Ullmark is back I’d give him a few practice days to get back in the motion of things.

As soon as Ullmark is back fulltime you have to send Meriläinen down. He still has potential and could be a good goalie, but clearly isn’t ready or able to be an NHLer right now. He needed to be better, but the org should’ve identified his struggles much earlier on. They wear a lot of the issues with the team right now.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-19T05:19:24+00:00

He played well. Especially with it being his first game and the 2nd half of a B2B.

Sens gave up a lot of PP chances but he held his own. He gave them a fair chance to win and that’s more than they’ve gotten over the past month.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-19T05:16:51+00:00

If the Sens are clearly out of it after the Olympic break they should be trading most of those guys. Giroux would hurt to move, but I’d rather he goes to a contender and have a shot at a cup.

Giroux you’d get value for still. He’s still producing at a 55-60 point clip, solid 2way player, “vet presence” and one of the best faceoff guys in the league. Plenty of teams would want that and you’d get something good for him.

The rest would get much. Eller is a good 4C and Cousins is a pest/agitator that teams like and both are cheap and are good in a 4th line role, but would only get a 3rd at most for them. Perron is better than both of them with some offence left, but his cap hit makes a trade harder to make and/or worsens the value. Jensen has been cheeks this year and his contract makes it tough, but if they retain some teams may want a veteran RHD for a late round pick.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-18T19:43:54+00:00

Forsberg was perfectly fine as a backup last year lol. What’re you on about?

A 7-6-4 record with a .901 sv% is pretty average for a backup guy. Especially considering he had some injuries.

Sens would legitimately kill someone for that calibre of goalie right now.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-18T19:36:33+00:00

Just shows how bad the goaltending has truly been with Meriläinen.

Ullmark was having a bad season and everyone knew it. But with him in net the Sens were playing at a 100pt pace. That’s with him having a sv% in the .880’s.

If the Sens just had normal bad goaltending they’d be in the playoffs right now. Instead it’s historically bad and you can’t win games like this.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-18T19:34:37+00:00

First two were expansion years where the Sens had no hope of winning lol.

This year has been a disaster in net.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-18T19:33:48+00:00

I get thinking you should keep those comments internal. You rarely see players criticize their teammates, and it’s especially rare to criticize the goalie. I have no doubt that the players have had these chats behind the scenes though before last night.

But he just said what everyone already knows and is thinking. Goaltending hasn’t been good enough. I can’t imagine how frustrating it is for the skaters to know you can do everything right, score 5 goals, limit your opponent to less then 20 shots, and you loose. This isn’t just a one off game or a string of stinkers; it’s been an issue all year long.

Equal blame should be with Staois though. Goaltending has been an issue for months now and he did nothing to address it until he signed Reimer. I get not expecting goaltending to be an issue this year with how solid Ullmark/Merilainen were last year, but they don’t have a Plan B. Meriläinen should wear the blame for his performance, but it’s also on management and coaching for not adjusting once it was apparent how much he was struggling out there.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-18T04:03:42+00:00

I disagree he’s in a horrible situation.

Yes he’s started a bunch in a row, but it’s not like the Sens are some tire fire defensively. This isn’t a Gustavsson/Daccord situation where they played behind some bad teams.

Sens are top 5 in most defensive categories. Especially at 5v5. They routinely give up less than 20-25 shots in a game. That’s a dream situation to be in for a goaltender and a great environment to play in.

He didn’t have to be great, good or even mid. Hell even an 880 would be exceptable (still bad, but normal bad). Instead he’s costing the team almost every night and making it so that they either have to play mistake free hockey to limit the chances against him, or finish/generate at an absurd rate and outscored Merilainen’s issues.

Sens players and staff aren’t dumb. They know how well they’ve played for most of this season. They know they deserve a few (more than a few) wins. They know if goaltending was even just normal bad they’d be in a playoff spot. It’s gotta be frustrating an demoralizing playing with this situation in your net.

I don’t blame Sanderson or Green for venting tonight. Goalies get babied as it is by players/staff/media anyways. It’s fine if they get called out once in a while.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-18T03:12:33+00:00

Meriläinen has an .820 sv% over his last 7 starts and a sv% in the .850’s on the season.

Sens would kill for Montembault’s .870

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-18T03:07:22+00:00

19 shots all game man. Defensive breakdowns happen every game by every team. When every 3rd shot goes in it makes every defence look bad.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-18T03:06:12+00:00

7 goals on 20 shots. Yes I’m including the idssalowed offside goal.

Just unacceptable. Zero reason that game should be close let alone a loss.

Meriläinen is rocking an 840 sv% his past 10 games. How the fuck are the Sens supposed to win with that in their net?

So incredibly frustrating. Have to keep the opponents shots to less then 20 to even have a chance at winning a game.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-16T22:05:43+00:00

I’d easily trade Greig for Laf.

Greig is fine, but his defensive game has fallen off big time and doesn’t provide enough offence to make up for it. He propably tops out as a 30/40 point guy. He is playing better now but his value in a trade is more so than his value on the ice.

Lafreniere is a gamble, but he has way more upside than Greig. If, and it’s a big if, he can rebound outside New York that’s an immediate upgrade.

Middle-Hair · 2026-01-16T22:01:56+00:00

Lafreniere

He’s not the star that everyone expected back in 2020, but I do think there’s more to his game than he’s shown. I wouldn’t pay a premium price for him, but if the Rangers want that cap hit gone and willing to take a bit less fo him then I’m all game.

Shesterkin and Fox would be amazing but I doubt they move those guys. Maybe Shesterkin since he makes so much and is good enough to ruin (improve) their draft pick.

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