HockeyDire days for Ontario's NHL teams

Glum Senators fans watched Dany Heatley and San Jose shut out their team on Thursday. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

Thursday morning, hours before Dany Heatley heard boos every time he touched the puck in warmups, Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray was asked how much the trade set back his hockey team.

He talked about it for a few seconds, and finally said, "In this business, if you're not moving on, you're not helping your franchise."

He's right. And you know what? The Senators have bigger concerns.

On a night where Ottawans gave a huge cheer when the Edmonton-Toronto score was posted on the scoreboard, neither fan base had reason to laugh at the other. Ontario's two teams lost by a combined 9-0.

The Edmonton Oilers, who began the week dead last in the NHL, passed Ron Wilson's Maple Leafs and moved within one point of Ottawa thanks to a sweep of Canada's Eastern teams. There will be sleepless nights for members of the Ottawa and Toronto organizations.

In Toronto, they chanted "Fire Wilson!" and threw jerseys on the ice. In Ottawa, as the players walked off, fans threw their ticket stubs at them.

The most dangerous thing any franchise can do is make an emotional judgement. It can devastate a team.

Both Brian Burke and Bryan Murray have been trying for weeks to do something. Unless some magical move appears out of nowhere, there's no help coming that way. Look at the trades being made: someone else's salary cap problem, someone else's extra player. There doesn't appears to be a true difference-maker available.

Maybe the Senators will try Bobby Butler, who is close to being NHL-ready. After that, who knows?

As I blogged Monday, I despise calling for coaches' heads. Maybe that makes me a big softy, but there are lives and families involved. However, this is a harsh business, with little room for sentimentality.

After a good performance in a road loss last Friday in Pittsburgh, Ottawa appeared to right itself by shutting out Toronto. But the loss to the Oilers and the San Jose shutout eradicated any good feeling. Five days after owner Eugene Melnyk proclaimed, "Fasten your seat belts, we're going all the way," his team wilted in a game that was hugely important to its supporters.

Melnyk is very emotional. He'll be angrier than anyone who paid for a ticket.

In his post-game newser, Cory Clouston said, "We have too many fragile players right now. What I mean by that is as soon as things go wrong ... we don't have any pushback."

That quote was a five-alarm blaze in my head. Last week, a GM said that is a huge factor in making a coaching change. If your team doesn't consistently compete when things go bad, managers see that as time for change.

The last coach Brian Burke fired during a season was Mike Keenan. That was a personality clash, which isnot the issue here. I've been told he doesn't want to fire Wilson, one reason being he doesn't feel the coach should be scapegoated for a flawed roster. That's a noble sentiment, because it's true.

But if they thought their fans were angry Thursday, wait until Saturday, when Tyler Seguin comes to town. That's going to be very ugly.

I can only imagine the look on Burke's face after the game, but I've seen it before. Walking quickly, head down, not making eye contact, not as much a scowl but a frown of disappointment. I did see Murray as he left the building. Slow walk, eyes down, weight of the world on his shoulders. He's been Ottawa's best coach since Jacques Martin. With his own future not secure, does he go back behind the bench?

It will be a long night for both of them. Their fans can't stand each other, but both want the same thing: change in the morning.