The big elephant in the room, at least in the Senators dressing room, is that this team is not good enough to win anything. Sure, on any given night, the Senators possess the raw talent to fool some Senators fans. Kovalev, Alfredsson, Spezza et al. are extraordinarily gifted players with the demonstrated ability to lift fans out of their seats. Nonetheless, something just always seems to be missing. In the early days (early nineties) the Sens could do nothing right. Then, as the nineties came to a close, under Jacques Martin they became one of the consistently better defensive teams in the NHL that won more often than it lost. Unfortunately, team toughness became the issue and they never seemed to be able to compete with teams that went deep into the playoffs. The dawn of the 21st century found the Sens with amazing individually talented players who lacked heart. Moreover, with Tugnutt, Lalime, Gerber and the like, I would be remiss in not mentioning the dismal goaltending of this era. Now, as the century approaches adolescence, the Sens as a team are once again found wanting. Great goaltending and an emerging leadership group which includes handsome Mike Fisher and the much maligned, Jason Spezza, cannot disguise the fact that this team lacks depth and a one through seven NHL caliber defense corps. He-who-cannot-be-named was probably bang-on in his personal assessment of the Sens’ playoff chances. This team will be hard pressed to finish among the top eight in the East. Bryan Murray knows this. He is too astute a hockey man not to know this team has no chance of winning the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, Murray took over an organization lacking in identity and bereft of real prospects. Quite simply, this is not a Bryan Murray team. His teams play fast, aggressive, defensively sound and passionate Ottawa Valley hockey (unlike the current Sens).The future looks bright, though. In Cory Clouston, Murray has found a surrogate who would thrive in the hockey mad Valley. Top that up with Murray drafted prospects like Derek Grant (Michigan State), Jared Cowen (Spokane Chiefs), Erik Karlsson (Binghamton) Zack Smith (Binghamton) and Patrick Wiercioch (U. of Denver), the Senators may be putting together a fledgling powerhouse that plays the kind of hockey of which Sens fans can be proud. The Sens have too often told its fans to be patient. With Murray running the show the patience may finally be warranted.