Yes, well Barry Melrose is just a hockey genius isn\'t he....not.
The Senators
were favourites for the series, and they earned that right because they finished only 2 points behind the Devils for the first place in the Eastern Conference, and they went 5-0 against the Leafs during the regular season.
They lost because of two main factors - goaltending and lack of veteran leadership. Patrick LaLime is a decent goaltender, but his great regular season stats are misleading because Ottawa\'s defence is so good - it\'s similar to a Chris Osgood situation in Detroit - awesome defence, mediocre goalie. This was prevalent through the series, because in the first three games the Sens heavily outshot the Leafs but LaLime let in wrist shots from the blue-line and cheap wrap-arounds. Even Mats Sundin admited his overtime goal in game one was flukey, and Lalime gave up a GIANT rebound to Corry Cross in game 3\'s overtime. On the otherhand Cujo was simply unbeatable.
Lack of veteran leadership was a big problem for this team because they\'re so young - they\'re they youngest team in the NHL - Redden, Bonk, Fisher, Hossa, Havlat, Rachunek, Phillips and many others are all under 25. It\'s a big problem when you\'re veteran leaders are Shawn McEachern and Rob Zaumner. Marshall Johnston (Sens GM) will have to adress this - as well as the fact that almost half of the roster is up for free-agency and the sens have limited funds.
While the loss was disapointing, as a franchise the Sens have nothing to be ashamed of. They have the youngest team in the league, with the lowest payroll in the NHL (yet the finished as the
4th best team in the league in the regular season), and they have very promising young stars - and even though quite a few will inevitably leave because the Sens simply don\'t have the funds to keep them, their scouting is second only to the Avalanche and Sharks - just look at this season with the additions of Havlat and Rachunek, and it was good to see a fit Mike Fisher too. All they need is to add some verteran leadership, and improve the goaltending and their first round blues will be over.