Sunday, July 26, 2009

This Week's Focus - Defence

First off, if you haven't seen them yet, here's a link to a handful of pictures from Spezza's wedding by Tony Caldwell of the Sun. Highlights include Brendan Bell in a clubbing black golf shirt, Bobby Orr the agent, and my favourite, Ray Emery shaking hands with a police officer. How did that conversation go down? "Thanks for pulling me over 3-4 time a week during my time in Ottawa, have we met?"

Second, the theme for this week is going to be on the defencemen on the roster. Each day, we'll dive into expectations, potential, strengths and weaknesses, etc. In the meantime, let us know who you think will be our top defender this year, who will surprise, who will disappoint, who won't be on the team by next summer...

Happy Sunday.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chris Phillips will have the best season of his career! Heard it here first, my not make the olympic squad but will be a spare.

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:05:

I would love it if you are right, but it's not going to happen. Evidence from the past few years (yes, even our run to the Cup finals) shows that Phillips, never the fastest skater, has lost a step, maybe more. He was able to get by pre-lockout, but post-lockout he can't clutch and grab as much, and that's really hurt his effectiveness.

Anonymous said...

Volchenkov has been and will continue to be our best defenseman (and my fav senator). He hits, blocks shots, and plays his heart out without being a cheapshot artist.

I'm hoping for big things out of Lee and Campoli this upcoming season. Campoli showed signs of untapped potential at the tail end of last season, and I believe Lee can become more solid defensively given more time to adjust to the speed of the game.

Unfortunately I think Phillips and Picard will dissapoint. I see Phillips in the same light as I see Neil- they have contributed a lot to the sens over the years, but they are both losing a step in their game, each season it seems like they do less and less.

Kuba will be reliable but I hope someone can step up and produce more offense!

Phillips-Kuba
Volchenkov-Campoli
Picard-Lee
Smith(IR)

Grinder said...

I know I'll get my butt kicked for even suggesting this, but what if we signed Yashin to a one year $1 million dollar deal and put him with Kovalev... With everybody busy booing Heater, maybe the fans won't even notice the previous most hated Sen of all time on the ice.

Thing is, now that the Leafs are out of the talks with Yashin, he is willing to sign for not much at all, just to get a chance to return to the show.

Man, our scoring potential would be unreal. We could become known as the misfit offence that won the cup.

Any feedback? (take it easy on me here, I'm just thinking out loud).