February 11th, 2021. The Ottawa Senators had just lost to the Winnipeg Jets 5-1, putting their record at a paltry 2-12-1.
Despite almost an entire year without Senators hockey, the fanbase had already descended into chaos as there were calls by some for Pierre Dorion and DJ Smith to be fired. Erik Brännström and Logan Brown weren’t playing, Christian Wolanin and Colin White were in and out of the lineup, and others such as Alex Formenton, Filip Chlapik, and Vitaly Abramov were essentially in no man’s land. Veterans such as Braydon Coburn, Cedric Paquette, Erik Gudbranson, Derek Stepan, and Alex Galchenyuk were getting playing time despite their poor play, and neither Matt Murray nor Marcus Högberg could stop a puck to save their life.