Opinion: Do The Senators Need A New Chris Neil?

In the aftermath of Tuesday night's massive hit on Nick Cousins by Jacob Chychrun, there are two questions that seem to be on everyone’s mind.

Was it a clean hit? And why didn’t the Senators do anything about it?

Like it or not, the hit was clean. You may recall this one where Chris Neil “blew up” Johnny Boychuk?

If you’re honest, you probably cheered the Neil hit from wherever you were. Though Neil felt it too, it was a great hit with textbook delivery and no head contact. He glided into the hit and put his shoulder right into Boychuk’s chest.

Chychrun glided into the hit or, believe it or not, it could have been worse. It was awful to watch Cousins lie motionless, but the correct assessment was made to have no penalty on the play.

In terms of why the Senators didn’t do anything about it, with roughly three minutes left in a tie game, instigating a fight would have put the Senators in a position they ultimately found themselves in a couple of minutes later when Fabian Zetterlund took a delay of game penalty.

Under the circumstances, the Senators did the right thing. 

Some fans will question the fortitude of a team when they don't answer something like that. But what would the masses be saying if a penalty was drawn for instigating and the Capitals had scored to win in regulation?

Meanwhile, there's a third question that fewer people have been asking.

If the outcome of the game had been known at the time of the hit and an instigator penalty was irrelevant, who would have served justice from the Senators roster?

This is the void that GM Steve Staios hasn’t filled since he traded Brady Tkachuk.

Staios is on record as saying that the Senators are a difficult team to play against. He is right. They are a tough team to play against while the play is live. They are not a tough team to play against between the whistle and puck drop.

Travis Green and his staff have the team playing an extremely tight system with attention to detail. There is no coaching system for what might be needed the next time the Senators line up against the Capitals.

Staios himself played 1,001 regular season games and amassed 1,322 penalty minutes. His career was split fairly evenly between pre- and post-lockout. He understood the value of having players who were able to hold people accountable.

Because he was one of those players.

Staios tried to bring in a player like Kurtis MacDermid as a nuclear deterrent. Unfortunately, MacDermid wasn't able to contribute enough in other areas to justify a spot in the lineup.

In today’s NHL, the players who can hold people accountable AND play regular minutes are worth their weight in gold, and given that Staios was such a player, you would think he would have targeted at least one or two in his roster reconstruction.

This team hasn’t had a Chris Neil since he retired, and while Neil was there, the Senators also had Zack Smith and Mark Borowiecki. It doesn’t take a lot of players like that to change the culture of a team.

I am sure that every player on the Senators roster would love to take a run at Chychrun and let him know those types of hits don’t go unanswered.

Unfortunately, with the exception of Hayden Hodgson, Ridly Greig, or perhaps Tyler Kleven, the Senators roster doesn't really have that type of player and no one has established himself as the kind of intimidating presence the team once had in Neil.

The five players on the ice when Tuesday's hit happened were Sanderson, Zub, Batherson, Pinto and Cousins. Whether Chychrun gave any thought to who was on the ice when he was about to throw that check is anyone's guess.

He may not have foreseen the outcome, but he surely meant to hit him hard like Neil did on Boychuk. Whether he expected to have to answer for it is another question.

The league may decide that this is the way they can beat the Senators, so addressing this need should be major priority.

By Pat Maguire
The Hockey News Ottawa