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Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios: 'I Don't Think This Is A Dire Situation For This Group At All'

steve warne
·3 min read

With the Ottawa Senators approaching the quarter-point of the season, GM Steve Staios held a state of Sens Nation address on Wednesday afternoon with members of the local media. The easy question right out of the gate was asking about his thoughts on the first 40 days of the club's season.

Because, well, Sens fans have a lot of thoughts right now.

"Well, we're 8-9-1, and they keep score for a reason," Staios said. "And do I think we've played better than that? Sure. I think figuring out, as a group, why that's our record is what we're trying to unlock. For the majority of the games, to me and to most people, the team looks and feels like not only a competitive team but a playoff-caliber team."

Staios says a lot of the players are still trying to figure out the mental resolve of the game. He states that dealing with adversity is the next challenge for the group. That might come in the form of a bad play, a bad goal, or poor officiating. But Staios doesn't sound worried.

"I don't feel like this is a dire situation for this group at all," Staios said. "I think we've played very well at times, for long stretches as well. I think what we have done is identify the area where we need to improve. You can use all the words you want. Is it maturity, experience, or whatever it might be? We have to figure out how we can get better."

Struggling with adversity is not a new problem for this young core. Staios probably hoped that a layer of veteran insulation would help expedite their maturity. But it still feels like some of them are too giddy in the good times and devastated during the bad. Adversity is even harder to handle when you work your tail off to do all the right things only to have goaltending lapses give games away.

"Yeah, (goaltending) could be better," Staios said. "We certainly have faith in both of them, and I think they've proven it. So you can ask each individual; we have some players that are exceeding expectations and some that aren't. And that's how the season goes. You're going to have players that aren't playing as well for certain stretches, and it gets magnified if you're playing goal."

As far as making changes, Staios is always looking to improve but doesn't see any glaring areas where the group needs much improvement. However, many fans want to know why Travis Hamonic is being favored over Jacob Bernard-Docker.

"I think Travis Hamonic has played very well. I think he's bounced back from last year, and he's played very well. We have a good young defenseman in JBD ready to break in and pushing. From a management perspective, that's the depth that we like to create."

While Ottawa Senators fans are starting to feel like they're at another bad movie they've seen before, Staios sounds like a man who still believes this year's story can have a better ending.

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