Ottawa Senators’ Brady Tkachuk: ‘No more bullshit excuses’

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“Immaturity” is a word that comes up a lot when the Ottawa Senators crap the bed, when things go as badly as they did in Tuesday’s 5-2 home-ice setback to the Edmonton Oilers.

It’s something we’ve heard about this franchise going back a few years. Hit the rewind button to times when leaders like Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson, Drake Batherson, Josh Norris and Tim Stutzle were NHL newbies, still cutting their teeth.

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We should be past that, “immaturity” should not be an excuse. Or, should it?

“No more bullshit excuses,” Tkachuk, who took a maintenance day and was not on the ice for Wednesday’s practice, said in the moments following the disappointing loss to the Connor McDavid-led Oilers.

Bottom line, a record of 8-9-1 isn’t where the Senators expected to be at this point. With the good and the bad, there has been too much ugly.

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We hear about inconsistency, lack of energy, blah, blah, blah. Not performing up to expected standards has dogged this team for way too long. Just find a way to win hockey games. Build off the hope, not the hype.

“Look at our record,” Tkachuk said. “Look at the games we lost that we should have won or should have at least gotten a point. Too many opportunities have been missed. I believe it will be corrected, it needs to get corrected. Trust in the good we have, trust in what we preach.

“Right now, every game is a must-win. These are the moments, the games that could turn a season around. We know we’re a good team.”

But you are what your record says you are, right? And, so far, that slots the Senators in as below average.

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Is a wake-up call needed?

Does something more than a good verbal spanking from coach Travis Green need to happen?

Do the Senators need to trade one of their core pieces to bend the locker-room mindset?

If you’re thinking it’s time for a major shakeup, if you’re waiting for Senators general manager Steve Staios to pull the trigger on a big trade, don’t count on it. At least, not yet.

Fans have been critical, they expect more, many expect changes.

“It’s fair of the fans to say that because that’s what we’ve proven to this point,” Staios said. “It’s up to us to change that narrative. I believe we can and I believe we will.

“Is one player coming in, one player going out going to change what we’ve identified? Not at this point, I don’t think. I don’t see anything right now in that regard.”

It’s not like the Senators have been horrible, they’ve played several good games. It looks like they’ve taken a step ahead of last year’s mediocrity. But what happened Tuesday for the mostly uninterested Senators was disturbing.

Asked about the “immature” tag duct-taped to his core group of players, Green said: “I don’t want to answer prematurely. The one thing I believe in is open, honest communication with your team, whether you play well or you don’t.

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“It’s a tough league to win in if you’re not playing with energy and if you’re flat — you don’t pass the puck as well, you don’t get open as well or you don’t score when you have a chance.”

Is the team’s mentality so fragile they’re afraid of making mistakes?

“When you make a mistake, you have to stick with your game,” Green reasoned. “I find with this group, we’re a great team when we play with the lead, we haven’t done well when we’re behind and chasing the game.”

When things go wrong, the light shines on the players, but the necessary accountability goes beyond that.

“As a coach, you take everything personally, how your team plays,” Green said. “We’re always looking in the mirror to see how we can improve our group and improve ourselves.”

And, now, with an eye on the rear-view mirror so they can figure out how to be a lot better, the Senators have to look ahead at another tough matchup. The Vegas Golden Knights are in town for a Thursday night game. And, if the Senators show a lack of energy, if they’re again flat against the Knights, Stanley Cup champs from two years ago, the Senators are staring at a fourth straight loss.”

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Beneath the doom and gloom, beyond the out-of-the-playoffs-again misery the team has created, the players say they’ll “stick to the process.” And, they insist if they do that, more positive results will follow.

“Some nights we deserve better and we don’t get the result,” defenceman Thomas Chabot said. “That’s hockey. Some nights you don’t play your best and you win the game.”

“You’re going to go through some ups and downs. There’s so much hockey to be played, a lot of games left.”

In an 82-game schedule, there’s always time — until there isn’t.

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