Contrary to the lofty assessment of owner Eugene Melnyk the Ottawa Senators have neither the time nor talent to turn this year around.

Enough already.

As of right now this space is officially Mats Sundin free until he actually pulls an NHL team sweater over his head. Reasonable people just can't take it any more.

With that rule officially in place we turn our attention to a topic with merit and real-time consequences: the remarks of one Eugene Melnyk.

In addition to dressing up in military garb and jumping out of a parachute practice tower, the Senators' owner played Commander-in-Chief with his comments that those of us who do not believe in the upscale fortunes of his team are (come season's end) going to find themselves on the wrong side of history.

For his sake and that of the Senators fans I hope Melnyk is right. However, myself being nothing more than a mere foot soldier in the war against unregulated boosterism, chose to disagree.

You see, Melnyk told Hockeycentral @ Noon this week that he has full confidence in Senators general manager Bryan Murray and coach Craig Hartsburg and believes that the team, currently well off the pace for a playoff position, will be a one to be reckoned with come April.

"Are you kidding," Melnyk asked of host Daren Millard and commentator Nick Kypreos? "I fully expect us to be in the top four teams in the Conference."

Melnyk went on to say that both his general manager and coach are safe and that the team needs nothing more than time.

"It takes time and patience to let the system work because they (the hockey department) know it's going to work," he went on. "It just takes time."

Melnyk did add that the time is now.

(It should be noted that after the comments were made the team turned in one of its worst performances of the season, losing to Atlanta, 4-1, in a game that was not as close as the final score.)

Melnyk has had his say and he's made reasonable if perhaps overly optimistic points, but here's my take: the Senators don't have the goaltending, defence, secondary scoring, team chemistry or depth to even make the playoffs let alone be a force once it arrives.

I made that argument in the preseason preview and I've seen nothing so far this season to alter that perception.

Time can make a difference; and no team better illustrates the fact that it's more important to be playing well at the end of a season than at the beginning (remember last season's 15-2 start and then desperate stager to the playoffs and a first-round elimination via a sweep?) than the Senators.

But that only serves to buttress the argument.

The signs of failure were all there through three-quarters of last season and they are still there now. Surely that can't be Ray Emery's fault this time around?

That's no fault of Hartsburg, either. The new coach has shown himself to be a stern taskmaster and one could argue that the Sens needed someone of this ilk, but these players (at least the ones still on the roster) didn't respond to good-guy John Paddock last season (nor did they didn't respond to boss Murray afterward).

If you can't succeed for a good-guy coach and you can't succeed for the man who will determine your future and you haven't had any early success for the taskmaster coach who has a long-term contract, well guess what: your problem isn't coaching.

The Senators were a Cup-contending team for a fair number of years, arguably just one elite goaltender shy -- or maybe even a dose of good luck -- of winning it all. But now the Senators are as close to a championship as the team that emerged from those woeful expansion years.

Sure there is a handful of elite players; but ask the post-Cup Tampa Bay Lightning what that gets you in this day and age?

Melnyk may see a different team or even a different team coming, but the reality around the NHL is that the Senators are relatively easy to contain in regards to scoring. Hartsburg has tried all possible line combinations and teams are rarely flummoxed by it.

It's a bit worse on defence where there is no real threat at the point, no smash-mouth, stay-at-home stud or even a dedicated team effort from the forwards coming back to help what remains from a once formidable unit.

It's a step down from there to the goaltending where Alex Auld at his best is holding down the 12th spot in terms of save percentage with a respectable .920, but that hasn't been good enough to keep the team in top-eight standing and with Martin Gerber recording just two wins on the season it's not likely Auld is going to get a whole lot of help.

These things happen in the NHL and it's not uncommon that team owners are among the last people to see them, but this Ottawa team isn't just a shell of a shell of its former self. It's a team that is mediocre at best and surprisingly bad at its worse.

Time alone won't cure that.