There are many years where the hockey punditry simply shits all over the Sens due to a combination of ignorance, jealousy and vindictiveness…or as Nick Kypreos calls it — objective reporting. They are often proven wrong because they make no effort to actually pay attention to anything outside the 905.

This is not one of those years, or if it still is, circumstances will declare them right nonetheless. This team is going to be bad, maybe really bad, but that’s OK.

I understand the hope for players like Greening, Butler, Filatov, Cowan and even Anderson, I really do, but that hope is only going to result in something two or three years from now.

As of today, the Sens have a line-up filled with unproven rookies and no amount of AHL success or meaningless, playing-out-the-string NHL wins last season change that.

That said, I think this is the perfect year to have a season like this. The 20th anniversary celebrations give us something to cheer for, some interesting sidebars to distract us and some nostalgia to ground us. And of course we finally got decent jerseys.

Add in the joy of watching talented players develop and mature before our eyes and I’m really looking forward to this season, even if we finish 30th.

If we can finish bottom two in the league and pick up a prospect like Yakupov or Grigorenko, two Russians that actually seem committed to the NHL, the renaissance could only be another year away.

I don’t want to be the Leafs, constantly rebuilding for a shot at ninth. I want to do it right and rocket back up to the top of the pack. In today’s NHL many teams have proven it can be done.

Although the Leafs may beat us back into the playoffs (though the chances are not as great as Leaf fans would believe) I’m confident the Sens will easily become an elite team much faster.

I’m gonna go buy my Zabinejad heritage jersey this weekend and look forward to a season where I watch more like a scout, looking for improvement and tendencies, than as a fan.

So ignore the pundits, the critics, the experts, and yes even Kypreos, and enjoy the season as a fan. The haters will make it that much sweeter when the time comes.