The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

The season of the #peskysens has been over for about a week.  The lockers have been cleaned out, final press conferences held and the Ottawa Senators fanbase discuss what was, what is and what can be.

It's hard to believe that it had been 6 years since the Senators won a playoff round.  But seeing them take on one of the most storied franchises in the NHL, the Montreal Canadiens, and beating them in five games gave Sens Army a bit of swagger heading into next season, and something to talk about for years to come.

Captain Daniel Alfredsson's decision on whether he will return for another year weighs heavily on everyone's mind.  I think that he will sit down with the coach and management and listen to what they have proposed for the 2013-14 season in terms of what the roster will look like, and from there he'll decide if he thinks the team has a shot of winning the Stanley Cup.  If he doesn't think there's a chance, he'll hang them up.  He'll be turning 41 years old this December and no one will exactly blame him if he decides to retire, but I think that will also signal to the fans it might be a bit longer for Ottawa to contend.

Personally, I don't think the Sens are too far way.  I like the goalies.  I like the defence.  I do think they are about 2-3 top end forwards away from being a legitimate threat.  The crop of young players should continue to get better and the core is developing.  I'm optimistic of what this team can do.

What troubles me is that GM Bryan Murray stated in his most recent press conference is that the Senators are "on a budget", meaning they won't spend to the salary cap.  While I do think it's folly to recklessly overspend on free agents, owner Eugene Melnyk claims he wants a winner and will do what is necessary to bring a championship to Ottawa.  If that's what he claims, and he can land a game breaker or two that can bring the Senators over the top to contend, will he spend to the cap in that situation?

It's unclear what Murray means about that budget comment.  As a Sens fan, over the years you get sick of hearing the term "small market", sort of like the rest of the league looks at you as second rate or whatever, because it doesn't have a 5 million population like Toronto or isn't a media centre like Los Angeles.  As long as ownership shows it's fanbase it wants to win and backs it up through their actions, then who really cares?

No one wants to sign a long term mistake like many other teams have (Ilya Bryzgalov anyone?) but as long as you're smart about it, what's wrong with bringing in an established veteran that can contribute?

We'll find out this summer what the Senators have in store for us.