5 weeks - time flies when you're having fun, eh? The Ottawa Senators are off to one of the best starts in NHL history and sit at 14-2 heading into the five day break in mid-November. Taking the idea that it is always best to go on a break on a winning note, the Sens took down division rival Montreal on Saturday before hosting the Sabres in Ottawa next Thursday.
It seems like a natural time to start to really evaluate the state of the team at this point of the fresh season. Enough games have been played for fans and management to get a better idea of how the lines will roll, which forwards are finding the twine, and which defenceman are ready to put bruises ahead of beauty. Here's a quick breakdown from the eyes of this beholder:
Forwards:
Let's be honest here - there are the first three guys and then there are the rest of them. Without a doubt, Daniel Alfredsson has been the best player on the team, and quite possibly the conference, showing that there might be some benefits of a short summer after all. Spezza, though out with a groin injury right now, and Heatley are continuing their love affair and put it on paper for the world to see with their 7- and 6-year contract extensions, respectively. Spezza hasn't found the back of the net as much, but he continues to feed it to that other guy that can, as Heatley continues to develop into one of the top two-way players in hockey.
As for the rest of the forwards, it has really been a case of the "different guy each night" cliché. One day it is Fisher, the next it is Vermette, then newcomer Randy Robitaille, and the list goes on. Secondary scoring was a question mark for a couple of reasons: one, because the Anaheim Ducks showed what can happen if the top line gets shut down, and two, because Bryan Murray said repeatedly that he wanted another top-six forward to balance out the lines. He is fully aware of the potential in the secondary forwards, but he's also fully aware that it is easy for them to lay back and rely on the pizza line to deliver the wins.
If Ottawa is to continue its torrid pace into the postseason, which is still months and months away, it will need Fisher, Vermette, and Eaves to chase that 20-goal plateau. Todd White once had 60 points centering Alfredsson in Ottawa - Fisher doesn't have the luxury of having the captain on his right, but he also gets to bypass the opponent's top defensive pairing so he needs to chase the 60-65 point mark this year to take the next step.
Defence:
Much like where the top pair left off, Phillips and Volchenkov continue their monstrous efforts on the blue line. Volchenkov took the early NHL shot block lead and will likely not give it up, and Phillips has the city completely forgetting that big guy that used to play for us a couple of years ago. Perhaps most refreshing, though, is the rebound performances of Meszaros and Redden to date. While they still won't lay one solid bodycheck and will continue to get hammered by forecheckers, the two of them have rediscovered their communication and poise and are far better at clearing pucks out from the paint. Both players are due for contracts next summer, one looking for a raise and the other looking for a paycut. Whatever offer Murray tenders to Redden will directly affect half of the third pairing. Perhaps the biggest loser of the summer, Joe Corvo had his +/- leading defensive partner, Tom Preissing, replaced by aging cold-cock afficionado, Luke Richardson. Richardson has definitely held his own back there, but paired with Corvo, these guys will see limited ice time all season long. If Corvo was looking to build off his solid postseason last year with more minutes and a more important role, he can think again. Truth be told, Happy Feet looks a bit lost back there and might be trying to overcompensate in the massive change in speed in his partner - Richo doesn't get up and down the pad quite as fast as Preissing could. If Redden signs, it is because Corvo is on his way out. Simple as that.
Goalies:
Who would have thought this would even be a topic a few months ago? Not me. Ironically, I supported Gerber indefinitely last year and was constantly ripped on by other media outlets and fans alike. Emery stole the job, saved our fall, and rode on the coattails of a possessed captain all the way to the Finals. Job secure, right? Wrong. A surgery recovery that dragged on has now cost Emery his icetime and possibly his job in Ottawa altogether. Rumours are abound that management is tired of his poor work ethic and debbie downer attitude around the room - there is talk of a deal to LA. Meanwhile, Gerber has made the necessary saves and is showing us all why he was given that $11M contract a couple of years ago. His rebounds are still out of control and he has been a true beneficiary of the defensive system in place in Ottawa, but that doesn't take away from his performance to open the season. He will make Emery earn every single minute he plays, and that is all you can ask of your supposed backup goalie. The only question is if Emery will push him back for the time, or just let him take the job.
Special Teams:
Really quick here - powerplay is trying to be too fancy. Get the puck down low to Spezza, let him find Alfredsson in the slot of Heatley on the goal mouth and end it. Our inability to score on every single 5-on-3 makes me sick. Penalty kill is lights out and leads the league in shorties, to boot.
All in all, I don't think Ottawa is playing its best hockey yet but they certainly look fantastic. Their passes are crisp and while it often goes unmentioned, their neutral zone play has been downright scary. Other teams' fans think that their boys aren't playing well against Ottawa when this is merely a testament to the Sens' ability to govern between the blue lines and exploit every single mistake made by the opponent. This group reminds me a lot of Detroit in 2003 - just a well-oiled machine who can only lose because of a lack of focus and effort. There isn't a more talented team in the Conference, and possibly the league. That being said, no trophies are handed out in mid-November. If the season ended this time last year, we'd finish in 12th place! Let's push the guys to maintain this focus and intensity for, what, another 8 months or so?
Monday, November 12, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Senators July Report
Well, July has come and gone, so let's take a look at how new General Manager did in his first full month on the job.
Topics to be discussed:
1. The Ray Emery contract
2. The Wade Redden non-trade
3. The Peter Schaefer trade
4. The Oleg Saprykin non-offer
5. The coaching change
1. The Ray Emery Contract
Simply put, this is a necessary signing that gives the team the stability it needs. Had we run into talks of offer sheets or even walking away from arbitration awards, it is hard to say how Murray would have felt going into the season with Gerber. Ray Emery isn't flawless, but he's a young goalie that has now put a lot of experience under his belt in his two years. And keep in mind that playing a post-season in a hockey market like Ottawa provides far more lessons and experience than a post-season in Anaheim or Carolina or other less-interested cities. If Emery didn't crack in his first two seasons, I think it is safe to say that he truly can be the goaltender of the future for the Sens. Getting him under a contract that makes him the 3rd highest paid goalie in Ontario and 18th highest paid in the league is dreamy given that he took his team to the Finals. This also gives Murray the opportunity to move Gerber whenever he finds a taker. He said up until the signing that he wouldn't do anything with Gerber until Emery was under contract, strictly because of the fear of giving Ray too much leverage.
Now that the contract is done and he's here for three years, Murray will have his eye on the street and wait for a goalie to go down. It is beyond me, though, why we can't find a trading partner in LA or Phoenix, though I guess those teams just don't want a 32-year old that just came off a tough season and makes $3.7M. If Murray can't move him before October, I can't see him being a deadline move just to make sure we can have two competent goalies going into the playoffs. 8 weeks to move him now, or we keep him for a second season, in my opinion.
2. The Wade Redden non-trade
This is the big one, folks. I'm no mathmetician, but luckily it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Redden doesn't figure into the plans of the Senators after this season. On the ice, he was essentially relegated to #3 defenceman behind the shutdown pair of Phillips and Volchenkov. Off the ice, his money will be basically used up in its entirety on extending Heatley ($4.5M will likely become $7.5M), Spezza ($4.5M will become at least $6.5M), and Fisher ($1.5M will be at least $3M). Oh snap, those raises work out to exactly $6.5M! It puts Murray in a really tough situation because you can't move your highest paid player at the deadline going into the playoffs, but you hate to let him walk away for nothing next summer. In going public with having a trade in place for Redden last month at the draft, Murray reiterated where #6 stands on this team. In other words, we'd love to move him and get a scoring winger and a mid-level defenceman, much like what Philadelphia got in Lupul and Smith for Pitkanen. Can we assume that this is the same offer Murray was going to make with Redden?
I think in going public with the non-trade, Murray basically puts the spotlight on Redden both for the rest of the summer and into the season. I have to believe that Murray is still putting his name out there and will simply ask Redden AGAIN to waive the no-trade clause. If you're asked twice to leave, do you get the hint that you don't fit in? On the other hand, if you are Redden's agent, you are insisting that your client STAY in Ottawa at all costs. He is in a contract year and is playing in a high profile market on a guaranteed playoff team. Where else can you prove that you are worth $6.5M in next summer's market? As beneficial as it would be to us to move him out for two players back, I think he'll be back on the blue line in October. The silver lining in all of this is that there is no way that he can be as bad as last season.
3. The Peter Schaefer trade
This was my midsummer night's dream. I never liked Peter Schaefer so it is hard to look at this one objectively. I see the value in him as a penalty killer and I dont' think $2M for him in today's market is completely unreasonable. But he was such a lollygagger last year and he brings so little offence to the second line, that you are just better off giving the icetime to Vermette and finding a grinder to take Schaefer's spot on a third line. Or in Donovan's case, the fourth line. We saved a lot of money and instead of having a guy that is here for three more years, Murray has a guy that comes up for contract next year. The hidden gem there is that Murray has the money to sign his stars first and then can see if Donovan still fits into the plans. He never had that luxury with Schaefer, who was on the books and taking up much-needed cap space.
4. The Oleg Saprykin Deal
The story seems to be that Muckler qualified him before getting fired, and Murray basically asked Saprykin's agent to tell his client nto to sign it. It is great that this was so cordial and now Oleg is off to Europe and we have the $1M+ in money to spend elsewhere. Saprykin was solid in his play and was absolutely worth the second round pick just for that game winner he scored in Buffalo in Game One. That being said, it is tough to pay over a million dollars for a guy that is almost a lock to be on the fourth line. Better to have McAmmond at $900K, who can play on any line, can kill penalties, and can grind if needed (even if he's not that big). Good move on Murray to save the money - we'll need it next summer.
5. The coaching change
Not much to discuss here, except that Paddock was the right choice to take over. We can all look at Pat Burns, Pat Quinn, all those other big name guys, etc. But with Paddock, you get a guy that knows the players and knows the system we play. As a team that just played in the Finals, we don't need to be changing our style and learning a new system. We just need to tweak it a bit, add some Murray-type players that have more size and sandpaper (see Donavan for Schaefer), and we'll be fine. Murray is still in the picture and if he wants John Paddock to coach this team, I think he has earned our trust.
All in all, a pretty breezy summer for Murray. His challenge now is to get straight into extension talks with Heatley, Spezza, and Fisher. If there is one thing we've learned from Buffalo's experience this year, it is that when a player says that they want to talk, we listen. Stories are abound that Drury would have signed at $5M a year last summer but the Sabres didn't want to talk until now. Oops. I hope Murray at least opens the dialogue with all three and we get an idea of their desired number. If we can extend them before June 2008, then that whole "the window is closing" pressure disappears and we can just play. What are your thoughts on the Sens summer thus far?
Topics to be discussed:
1. The Ray Emery contract
2. The Wade Redden non-trade
3. The Peter Schaefer trade
4. The Oleg Saprykin non-offer
5. The coaching change
1. The Ray Emery Contract
Simply put, this is a necessary signing that gives the team the stability it needs. Had we run into talks of offer sheets or even walking away from arbitration awards, it is hard to say how Murray would have felt going into the season with Gerber. Ray Emery isn't flawless, but he's a young goalie that has now put a lot of experience under his belt in his two years. And keep in mind that playing a post-season in a hockey market like Ottawa provides far more lessons and experience than a post-season in Anaheim or Carolina or other less-interested cities. If Emery didn't crack in his first two seasons, I think it is safe to say that he truly can be the goaltender of the future for the Sens. Getting him under a contract that makes him the 3rd highest paid goalie in Ontario and 18th highest paid in the league is dreamy given that he took his team to the Finals. This also gives Murray the opportunity to move Gerber whenever he finds a taker. He said up until the signing that he wouldn't do anything with Gerber until Emery was under contract, strictly because of the fear of giving Ray too much leverage.
Now that the contract is done and he's here for three years, Murray will have his eye on the street and wait for a goalie to go down. It is beyond me, though, why we can't find a trading partner in LA or Phoenix, though I guess those teams just don't want a 32-year old that just came off a tough season and makes $3.7M. If Murray can't move him before October, I can't see him being a deadline move just to make sure we can have two competent goalies going into the playoffs. 8 weeks to move him now, or we keep him for a second season, in my opinion.
2. The Wade Redden non-trade
This is the big one, folks. I'm no mathmetician, but luckily it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Redden doesn't figure into the plans of the Senators after this season. On the ice, he was essentially relegated to #3 defenceman behind the shutdown pair of Phillips and Volchenkov. Off the ice, his money will be basically used up in its entirety on extending Heatley ($4.5M will likely become $7.5M), Spezza ($4.5M will become at least $6.5M), and Fisher ($1.5M will be at least $3M). Oh snap, those raises work out to exactly $6.5M! It puts Murray in a really tough situation because you can't move your highest paid player at the deadline going into the playoffs, but you hate to let him walk away for nothing next summer. In going public with having a trade in place for Redden last month at the draft, Murray reiterated where #6 stands on this team. In other words, we'd love to move him and get a scoring winger and a mid-level defenceman, much like what Philadelphia got in Lupul and Smith for Pitkanen. Can we assume that this is the same offer Murray was going to make with Redden?
I think in going public with the non-trade, Murray basically puts the spotlight on Redden both for the rest of the summer and into the season. I have to believe that Murray is still putting his name out there and will simply ask Redden AGAIN to waive the no-trade clause. If you're asked twice to leave, do you get the hint that you don't fit in? On the other hand, if you are Redden's agent, you are insisting that your client STAY in Ottawa at all costs. He is in a contract year and is playing in a high profile market on a guaranteed playoff team. Where else can you prove that you are worth $6.5M in next summer's market? As beneficial as it would be to us to move him out for two players back, I think he'll be back on the blue line in October. The silver lining in all of this is that there is no way that he can be as bad as last season.
3. The Peter Schaefer trade
This was my midsummer night's dream. I never liked Peter Schaefer so it is hard to look at this one objectively. I see the value in him as a penalty killer and I dont' think $2M for him in today's market is completely unreasonable. But he was such a lollygagger last year and he brings so little offence to the second line, that you are just better off giving the icetime to Vermette and finding a grinder to take Schaefer's spot on a third line. Or in Donovan's case, the fourth line. We saved a lot of money and instead of having a guy that is here for three more years, Murray has a guy that comes up for contract next year. The hidden gem there is that Murray has the money to sign his stars first and then can see if Donovan still fits into the plans. He never had that luxury with Schaefer, who was on the books and taking up much-needed cap space.
4. The Oleg Saprykin Deal
The story seems to be that Muckler qualified him before getting fired, and Murray basically asked Saprykin's agent to tell his client nto to sign it. It is great that this was so cordial and now Oleg is off to Europe and we have the $1M+ in money to spend elsewhere. Saprykin was solid in his play and was absolutely worth the second round pick just for that game winner he scored in Buffalo in Game One. That being said, it is tough to pay over a million dollars for a guy that is almost a lock to be on the fourth line. Better to have McAmmond at $900K, who can play on any line, can kill penalties, and can grind if needed (even if he's not that big). Good move on Murray to save the money - we'll need it next summer.
5. The coaching change
Not much to discuss here, except that Paddock was the right choice to take over. We can all look at Pat Burns, Pat Quinn, all those other big name guys, etc. But with Paddock, you get a guy that knows the players and knows the system we play. As a team that just played in the Finals, we don't need to be changing our style and learning a new system. We just need to tweak it a bit, add some Murray-type players that have more size and sandpaper (see Donavan for Schaefer), and we'll be fine. Murray is still in the picture and if he wants John Paddock to coach this team, I think he has earned our trust.
All in all, a pretty breezy summer for Murray. His challenge now is to get straight into extension talks with Heatley, Spezza, and Fisher. If there is one thing we've learned from Buffalo's experience this year, it is that when a player says that they want to talk, we listen. Stories are abound that Drury would have signed at $5M a year last summer but the Sabres didn't want to talk until now. Oops. I hope Murray at least opens the dialogue with all three and we get an idea of their desired number. If we can extend them before June 2008, then that whole "the window is closing" pressure disappears and we can just play. What are your thoughts on the Sens summer thus far?
Monday, June 04, 2007
rd 4 gm 4; anaheim @ ottawa; 6.4.07
That’s what happens when you take your boot off their throat.
The Balance in the Bank:
Final Score: Anaheim wins 3-2 (Anaheim leads series 3-1)
Ottawa Goals: Alfredsson, Heatley
Making Sens: Volchenkov, Phillips, Fisher
Lacking Sens: Redden. Heatley, Meszaros, more
It was over when: The first few minutes of the second period. It was clear our edge was gone and we handed them the keys to take back the game. They did.
It was definitely over when: McDonald’s second goal (in one minute) gave them the lead, silenced the crowd, and forced our boys back into their timid style they’ve played all series.
Message in a Molson bottle: It pains me to no end that we can come out flying in the first period, take the lead, and then just walk away for the final 40 minutes. Sure, we had some pressure and a game-tying goal late in the second period, but we are a scared team. Our top players are terribly intimidated by their team, and it rubs off on the rest of the boys. We’ve become so hands-off (with notable exceptions like Fisher) and basically wear our fear on our sleeves. The result, against a dominant team like Anaheim, is this shitestorm we allowed over the final two periods, and our first elimination game of the playoffs.
Grab a Timmy’s double double and listen to what really happened:
Optimistic Ophelia
Mike Fisher’s status as an underrated player in the league is over – everyone notices him now. He has been the absolute heart and soul of Ottawa over the course of the fourth round, partly because he plays such an inspired game and partly because our old stars are out of their element this round. Mike Fisher represents everything you need to be a champion – skill, speed, tenacity, and a city’s worth of heart. How his teammates can watch a shift of his and then not respond the same way is frightening. The most painful thing about this 3-1 deficit right now is that Mike Fisher deserves better and nobody is helping bring that fate.
Pessimistic Patty
I don’t care who scored our goals tonight, our top players are soft. We don’t have a top line crusher, like a Rod Brind’Amour, and we don’t have a game-changing blue liner like a Scott Stevens. In this particular series at this particular time, it is unraveling our team in front of the world. We were one of the most physical teams in the Eastern Conference. Apparently, the Western Conference is far tougher because besides just a few guys, our entire team looks terrified and rattled each and every shift. Dany Heatley was supposed to be the North American difference maker, the anti-Hossa, but you can’t really tell a difference right now, can you? Even Alfredsson and his ass-first hits on the dump-in are gone. Why do we choose to stick-check the hell out of everything instead of using our body? Why, when approaching an oncoming winger, do we take an angle alongside the guy so we can poke it away instead of taking the angle to knock his head off? We look physically pathetic and it isn’t because we’re smaller, its because we don’t want to play that style. Guess what, boys, it’s too late. Anaheim wrote the prologue at home in the first two games and you have NOT answered the bell. Frigging stick-checking everything.
Upbeat Urusla
Have I talked about Mike Fisher yet? Other than that, I can’t take a positive out of this game yet. Perhaps emotions are still boiling over at having crapped the bed in a game where they missed their top player and their lower-tiered defencemen looked completely awful. Perhaps we really did play that timidly over the last 40 minutes that there is nothing to be happy about. Hey, did Heatley get his first point of the series? Great. We lost. What have you done for me lately, Eddie?
Debbie Downer
I don’t want to sound like a Debbie Downer here, but it is going to take all of our might as fans to analyze how we can come back in this series. Even last year when we were down 3-0 to Buffalo, we could conceivably put a plan together to win the series. Down 3-1 now, I really don’t think we’re a couple of line changes from winning. While all three losses have been in one-goal games, they’ve been in games where we just rolled over and played dead. For God’s Sake, the biggest game in franchise history and Wade Redden plays like a total pansy. How the balls are we going to regroup and beat these guys three times when Redden is our man and some buffoon named Meszaros skates beside him? Don’t get me wrong, I’ll try and figure out a way of how we’ll come back and win this on the road in seven, but the way we’ve played through four games, we’re somewhat lucky we got a fifth game out of it, in my opinion. Am I overreacting to the loss? Speak to me.
Keys to next game
Hit their heads off, for crying out loud
Traffic in front of Giguere
Leave it on the ice and have no less than a dozen cuts and bruises. You don’t know when you’ll be back here.
The Balance in the Bank:
Final Score: Anaheim wins 3-2 (Anaheim leads series 3-1)
Ottawa Goals: Alfredsson, Heatley
Making Sens: Volchenkov, Phillips, Fisher
Lacking Sens: Redden. Heatley, Meszaros, more
It was over when: The first few minutes of the second period. It was clear our edge was gone and we handed them the keys to take back the game. They did.
It was definitely over when: McDonald’s second goal (in one minute) gave them the lead, silenced the crowd, and forced our boys back into their timid style they’ve played all series.
Message in a Molson bottle: It pains me to no end that we can come out flying in the first period, take the lead, and then just walk away for the final 40 minutes. Sure, we had some pressure and a game-tying goal late in the second period, but we are a scared team. Our top players are terribly intimidated by their team, and it rubs off on the rest of the boys. We’ve become so hands-off (with notable exceptions like Fisher) and basically wear our fear on our sleeves. The result, against a dominant team like Anaheim, is this shitestorm we allowed over the final two periods, and our first elimination game of the playoffs.
Grab a Timmy’s double double and listen to what really happened:
Optimistic Ophelia
Mike Fisher’s status as an underrated player in the league is over – everyone notices him now. He has been the absolute heart and soul of Ottawa over the course of the fourth round, partly because he plays such an inspired game and partly because our old stars are out of their element this round. Mike Fisher represents everything you need to be a champion – skill, speed, tenacity, and a city’s worth of heart. How his teammates can watch a shift of his and then not respond the same way is frightening. The most painful thing about this 3-1 deficit right now is that Mike Fisher deserves better and nobody is helping bring that fate.
Pessimistic Patty
I don’t care who scored our goals tonight, our top players are soft. We don’t have a top line crusher, like a Rod Brind’Amour, and we don’t have a game-changing blue liner like a Scott Stevens. In this particular series at this particular time, it is unraveling our team in front of the world. We were one of the most physical teams in the Eastern Conference. Apparently, the Western Conference is far tougher because besides just a few guys, our entire team looks terrified and rattled each and every shift. Dany Heatley was supposed to be the North American difference maker, the anti-Hossa, but you can’t really tell a difference right now, can you? Even Alfredsson and his ass-first hits on the dump-in are gone. Why do we choose to stick-check the hell out of everything instead of using our body? Why, when approaching an oncoming winger, do we take an angle alongside the guy so we can poke it away instead of taking the angle to knock his head off? We look physically pathetic and it isn’t because we’re smaller, its because we don’t want to play that style. Guess what, boys, it’s too late. Anaheim wrote the prologue at home in the first two games and you have NOT answered the bell. Frigging stick-checking everything.
Upbeat Urusla
Have I talked about Mike Fisher yet? Other than that, I can’t take a positive out of this game yet. Perhaps emotions are still boiling over at having crapped the bed in a game where they missed their top player and their lower-tiered defencemen looked completely awful. Perhaps we really did play that timidly over the last 40 minutes that there is nothing to be happy about. Hey, did Heatley get his first point of the series? Great. We lost. What have you done for me lately, Eddie?
Debbie Downer
I don’t want to sound like a Debbie Downer here, but it is going to take all of our might as fans to analyze how we can come back in this series. Even last year when we were down 3-0 to Buffalo, we could conceivably put a plan together to win the series. Down 3-1 now, I really don’t think we’re a couple of line changes from winning. While all three losses have been in one-goal games, they’ve been in games where we just rolled over and played dead. For God’s Sake, the biggest game in franchise history and Wade Redden plays like a total pansy. How the balls are we going to regroup and beat these guys three times when Redden is our man and some buffoon named Meszaros skates beside him? Don’t get me wrong, I’ll try and figure out a way of how we’ll come back and win this on the road in seven, but the way we’ve played through four games, we’re somewhat lucky we got a fifth game out of it, in my opinion. Am I overreacting to the loss? Speak to me.
Keys to next game
Hit their heads off, for crying out loud
Traffic in front of Giguere
Leave it on the ice and have no less than a dozen cuts and bruises. You don’t know when you’ll be back here.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
rd 4 gm 3; anaheim @ ottawa; 6.2.07
Tonight we spell redemption M-lower case c-upper case A-M-M-O-N-D
The Balance in the Bank:
Final Score: Ottawa wins 5-3 (Anaheim leads series 2-1)
Ottawa Goals: Neil, Fisher, Alfredsson, McAmmond (GW), Volchenkov
Making Sens: Volchenkov, 3rd and 4th lines
Lacking Sens: Redden. Heatley, Emery
It was over when: Getzlaf’s offsetting holding penalty negates a key Ducks penalty and keeps momentum in our favour.
It was definitely over when: Our boys hold the Ducks to 3 shots in the third period and smother them for the final ten minutes until time expires.
Message in a Molson bottle: To play better tonight wouldn’t have been good enough – a win was the only thing that mattered. With the help of our third and fourth lines, we were able to gain back a bit of momentum. The turnaround wasn’t evident until Alfie’s game-tying goal in the second when we came back for a third time, this one giving us enough push to take over the game. The positives here were that we were a bit better in the faceoff circle (still getting killed there), a bit more physical, and created a bit more space on the ice to attack. Still, we have far too many non-players dressed in the jerseys of our highest paid players and all they did was get bailed out by our lowest paid guys.
Courtesy Boxscore: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=270602014
Grab a Timmy’s double double and listen to what really happened:
Optimistic Ophelia
Hey, a win is a win is a win, right? We didn’t get much from Redden or Phillips, Heatley was invisible, Spezza was soft, and even Alfredsson wasn’t terrific. What we did see was some top-flight effort from guys like Chris Neil, Antoinne Vermette, Dean McAmmond, Oleg Saprykin, etc. They say we couldn’t win if we didn’t have our top line clicking – we proved them wrong in a big way, potting five behind their Conn Smythe candidate. It was this four-line effort that we said was one of our strengths coming in. Now let’s get the big boys to follow suit and hit something.
Pessimistic Patty
Speaking of our top players, they look lost out there. It isn’t that they aren’t trying, but it just seems like they aren’t willing to fight for pucks like they did before. Spezza and Heatley still look timid, Alfie isn’t driving towards the net for goals like the previous series, and Redden just needs to be taken out back and beaten with a rubber hose. If Chara were still in town, he’d eat Redden for lunch, just to prove a message. But seriously, our top players are just not in this series yet and it is getting to the point where they can either get on the bus or watch it go by. This series hits the halfway point now and there is still no real sign of our four highest paid guys. Ding ding, all aboard.
Upbeat Urusla
This was an alley fight. We went down three times by a goal and three times we fought back. This was also the first time we fought back physically and for the first time in nine periods, there is some hatred between these two. The Pronger hit on McAmmond (for which he has just received a one-game suspension) was the icing on the cake of this battle and if you think about it, we play our best when we hate our opponent. Our best regular season and playoff games were against none other than Buffalo, a team that we despise. If we can build up the same kind of hatred towards the Ducks, it definitely neutralizes their physical style and brings the fight into the alley, a place where we know we can be successful.
Debbie Downer
I don’t want to knock on our penalty killers because they still do a great job, but we don’t have that same kind of swagger we did in the first three series. We are aggressive penalty killers and it actually worked against us on their PP goal this time around as we just didn’t cover the holes on the ice. It is not fair to ask that they score shorties night in and night out, but I don’t think we have such an obvious special teams advantage anymore, even though I am flip flopping on what I said after game one.
Keys to next game
Take this game into the corners
Get first line swagger back
Dump and chase and hit
The Balance in the Bank:
Final Score: Ottawa wins 5-3 (Anaheim leads series 2-1)
Ottawa Goals: Neil, Fisher, Alfredsson, McAmmond (GW), Volchenkov
Making Sens: Volchenkov, 3rd and 4th lines
Lacking Sens: Redden. Heatley, Emery
It was over when: Getzlaf’s offsetting holding penalty negates a key Ducks penalty and keeps momentum in our favour.
It was definitely over when: Our boys hold the Ducks to 3 shots in the third period and smother them for the final ten minutes until time expires.
Message in a Molson bottle: To play better tonight wouldn’t have been good enough – a win was the only thing that mattered. With the help of our third and fourth lines, we were able to gain back a bit of momentum. The turnaround wasn’t evident until Alfie’s game-tying goal in the second when we came back for a third time, this one giving us enough push to take over the game. The positives here were that we were a bit better in the faceoff circle (still getting killed there), a bit more physical, and created a bit more space on the ice to attack. Still, we have far too many non-players dressed in the jerseys of our highest paid players and all they did was get bailed out by our lowest paid guys.
Courtesy Boxscore: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=270602014
Grab a Timmy’s double double and listen to what really happened:
Optimistic Ophelia
Hey, a win is a win is a win, right? We didn’t get much from Redden or Phillips, Heatley was invisible, Spezza was soft, and even Alfredsson wasn’t terrific. What we did see was some top-flight effort from guys like Chris Neil, Antoinne Vermette, Dean McAmmond, Oleg Saprykin, etc. They say we couldn’t win if we didn’t have our top line clicking – we proved them wrong in a big way, potting five behind their Conn Smythe candidate. It was this four-line effort that we said was one of our strengths coming in. Now let’s get the big boys to follow suit and hit something.
Pessimistic Patty
Speaking of our top players, they look lost out there. It isn’t that they aren’t trying, but it just seems like they aren’t willing to fight for pucks like they did before. Spezza and Heatley still look timid, Alfie isn’t driving towards the net for goals like the previous series, and Redden just needs to be taken out back and beaten with a rubber hose. If Chara were still in town, he’d eat Redden for lunch, just to prove a message. But seriously, our top players are just not in this series yet and it is getting to the point where they can either get on the bus or watch it go by. This series hits the halfway point now and there is still no real sign of our four highest paid guys. Ding ding, all aboard.
Upbeat Urusla
This was an alley fight. We went down three times by a goal and three times we fought back. This was also the first time we fought back physically and for the first time in nine periods, there is some hatred between these two. The Pronger hit on McAmmond (for which he has just received a one-game suspension) was the icing on the cake of this battle and if you think about it, we play our best when we hate our opponent. Our best regular season and playoff games were against none other than Buffalo, a team that we despise. If we can build up the same kind of hatred towards the Ducks, it definitely neutralizes their physical style and brings the fight into the alley, a place where we know we can be successful.
Debbie Downer
I don’t want to knock on our penalty killers because they still do a great job, but we don’t have that same kind of swagger we did in the first three series. We are aggressive penalty killers and it actually worked against us on their PP goal this time around as we just didn’t cover the holes on the ice. It is not fair to ask that they score shorties night in and night out, but I don’t think we have such an obvious special teams advantage anymore, even though I am flip flopping on what I said after game one.
Keys to next game
Take this game into the corners
Get first line swagger back
Dump and chase and hit
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Riddle me this:
What is the bigger storyline so far this series:
1. Ottawa abandons gameplan, loses focus, and looks like boys playing a man's game.
2. Anaheim shows how dominant they really are as not even the NHL's second best team can compete.
In other words, are we playing that bad or is Anaheim playing that good? I know it is a combination of both, but which is more prevalent?
Report coming soon.
1. Ottawa abandons gameplan, loses focus, and looks like boys playing a man's game.
2. Anaheim shows how dominant they really are as not even the NHL's second best team can compete.
In other words, are we playing that bad or is Anaheim playing that good? I know it is a combination of both, but which is more prevalent?
Report coming soon.
Monday, May 28, 2007
rd 4 gm 1; ottawa @ anaheim; 5.28.07
Chalk that one up to slow legs
The Balance in the Bank:
Final Score: Anaheim wins 3-2 (Anaheim leads series 1-0)
Ottawa Goals: Fisher, Redden
Making Sens: Emery, Volchenkov, Fisher
Lacking Sens: Meszaros, Kelly,
It was over when: The Moen goal was in that “next goal wins” time frame and gave them more than enough momentum.
It was definitely over when: Our powerplay, which had been great earlier in the game, fades away like the game clock.
Message in a Molson bottle: Holy Toledo, if that loss wasn’t a result of our lazy legs from nine days off, we are in trouble. Badly outplayed and physically dominated, this was our worst of the playoffs, and it wasn’t more evident than with our captain. Alfie gets a free pass because he is the one that got us here, but starting with him, this group needs to find their legs and their bollocks fast. The same edge that let us annihilate the Sabres is what Anaheim used to throttle us tonight – winning battles in the corners and wanting it more. Regroup and go for the split on Wednesday.
Courtesy Boxscore: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=270528025
Grab a Timmy’s double double and listen to what really happened:
Optimistic Ophelia
We have immediately established our major edge in the special teams. Penalty kill, while not as offensive as it was last series (that’s okay), was solid and the powerplay put up a pair. What irks me is not scoring on a 5-on-3 – absolutely no excuse for that as we need to score on 100% of those freaking things. Regardless, we sent a message that if they take penalties, we’ll make them count.
Pessimistic Patty
Good Lord, were we physically outplayed tonight or what?! To a man, they hit the balls out of us in all areas of the rink and you need to look no further than Meszaros’ fly swat on Rob Niedermeyer on the Moen game winner to see how we reacted. If we showed our advantage in special teams, they trumped that in spades in their physical style of play. We need to start throwing bodies around and quickly or they’ll continue to exploit us. We got this far by being the more physical team against our opponents, but we were shown up tonight. Of particular concern is our handling of their forecheck. They’re going to hit the shite out of Redden and Meszaros and create scoring chances and we better find a response. For those keeping score at home, Redden was a minus-3 and Meszaros was a minus-2, all the result of being outhit and not getting pucks out.
Upbeat Urusla
Our best player tonight? Ray Emery. He was beat twice on point blank shots from the slot and once on a nifty move by Getzlaf, who I personally thought was about a km offside on that one, but who am I? By the way, is CBC showing Getzlaf on the bench all the time like Versus is? Why in the shite do I care about Ryan Getzlaf? Get him off my frigging television before he starts getting Sydney Crosby treatment from the television crew down here. Anyway, I thought Emery fought the puck early but settled in to make some key saves in the second and third and showed outstanding composure as they crashed the net on him all game, much to the apparent acceptance of our defencemen. Hey Meszaros, why don’t you make them a frigging sandwich while you have invited him in our crease? Might as well be hospitable, since you obviously have no problem with him being there. Jackass.
Debbie Downer
We haven’t been down in a series. We haven’t had pressure of a must-win game yet. We haven’t been outplayed in a game. We haven’t had our captain shooting blanks. These are all reasons to get down between now and Wednesday night. But at the same time, we didn’t dominate 15 games up until this point by backing down. Chalk this one up to the layoff and get behind your team before Game Two. No sports clichés, just don’t suck next game.
Keys to next game
Find our physical response
Establish a better forecheck
Establish any kind of backcheck
The Balance in the Bank:
Final Score: Anaheim wins 3-2 (Anaheim leads series 1-0)
Ottawa Goals: Fisher, Redden
Making Sens: Emery, Volchenkov, Fisher
Lacking Sens: Meszaros, Kelly,
It was over when: The Moen goal was in that “next goal wins” time frame and gave them more than enough momentum.
It was definitely over when: Our powerplay, which had been great earlier in the game, fades away like the game clock.
Message in a Molson bottle: Holy Toledo, if that loss wasn’t a result of our lazy legs from nine days off, we are in trouble. Badly outplayed and physically dominated, this was our worst of the playoffs, and it wasn’t more evident than with our captain. Alfie gets a free pass because he is the one that got us here, but starting with him, this group needs to find their legs and their bollocks fast. The same edge that let us annihilate the Sabres is what Anaheim used to throttle us tonight – winning battles in the corners and wanting it more. Regroup and go for the split on Wednesday.
Courtesy Boxscore: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=270528025
Grab a Timmy’s double double and listen to what really happened:
Optimistic Ophelia
We have immediately established our major edge in the special teams. Penalty kill, while not as offensive as it was last series (that’s okay), was solid and the powerplay put up a pair. What irks me is not scoring on a 5-on-3 – absolutely no excuse for that as we need to score on 100% of those freaking things. Regardless, we sent a message that if they take penalties, we’ll make them count.
Pessimistic Patty
Good Lord, were we physically outplayed tonight or what?! To a man, they hit the balls out of us in all areas of the rink and you need to look no further than Meszaros’ fly swat on Rob Niedermeyer on the Moen game winner to see how we reacted. If we showed our advantage in special teams, they trumped that in spades in their physical style of play. We need to start throwing bodies around and quickly or they’ll continue to exploit us. We got this far by being the more physical team against our opponents, but we were shown up tonight. Of particular concern is our handling of their forecheck. They’re going to hit the shite out of Redden and Meszaros and create scoring chances and we better find a response. For those keeping score at home, Redden was a minus-3 and Meszaros was a minus-2, all the result of being outhit and not getting pucks out.
Upbeat Urusla
Our best player tonight? Ray Emery. He was beat twice on point blank shots from the slot and once on a nifty move by Getzlaf, who I personally thought was about a km offside on that one, but who am I? By the way, is CBC showing Getzlaf on the bench all the time like Versus is? Why in the shite do I care about Ryan Getzlaf? Get him off my frigging television before he starts getting Sydney Crosby treatment from the television crew down here. Anyway, I thought Emery fought the puck early but settled in to make some key saves in the second and third and showed outstanding composure as they crashed the net on him all game, much to the apparent acceptance of our defencemen. Hey Meszaros, why don’t you make them a frigging sandwich while you have invited him in our crease? Might as well be hospitable, since you obviously have no problem with him being there. Jackass.
Debbie Downer
We haven’t been down in a series. We haven’t had pressure of a must-win game yet. We haven’t been outplayed in a game. We haven’t had our captain shooting blanks. These are all reasons to get down between now and Wednesday night. But at the same time, we didn’t dominate 15 games up until this point by backing down. Chalk this one up to the layoff and get behind your team before Game Two. No sports clichés, just don’t suck next game.
Keys to next game
Find our physical response
Establish a better forecheck
Establish any kind of backcheck
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