Our first true test of the season isn't a certain opponent or a difficult road trip. It is battling the injury bug. These things are inevitable over the course of a long season, especially with the lunchpail style that Clouston has us playing. Each team battles the bug and so I'm happy to see the team isn't using it as an excuse for the complete bush league effort they put forth in Tampa on Thursday.
The test that will be presented to the team will be to see if our depth is just as good as we all think it is. The Michalek trade brought us two forwards (though only one of them has actually played so far this season...). Add this to the Kovalev signing and the emergence of Peter Regin as a decent player and we're advertising ourselves as a 4-line team that isn't nearly as top heavy as in the past.
Well, a pair of injuries are going to test just how deep we are. First, Jason Spezza is out (day-to-day) with what is believed to be a re-aggravated back injury. These things can be tricky and Clouston has eluded that this has been nagging Spezza since before the season. He has been ruled out for the Atlanta game Saturday and we aren't sure when he'll return. That means Ryan Shannon is pressed back into duty. After watching Thursday's game, it didn't feel like our 'depth' was quite where we thought it would be. Taking away one player, even if it is our most talented skater, shouldn't mean that the offence shuts down. I know it is one game and they travelled the night before, rah rah rah, so let's see how this goes in the next week.
When you take out Spezza, Kovalev floats all night, and Cheechoo has proven useless, the forward ranks seem to lack the depth we're praising. Fisher, Alfie, and Michalek have all looked solid all year long. Foligno really needs to step into a full-time role right now. Shannon needs to earn his icetime. Kovalev...ahhh, I have nothing to say about him. And Cheechoo, we're just hoping for any sign of life.
But the issues run back to the blueline, too. Anton Volchenkov is out a few weeks and not only does it mean we're missing our best shutdown player, it changes the makeup on the ice. First, the pairings get skewed and Campoli gets stuck playing with Brian Lee, who looked awful Thursday (full disclosure: I'm pulling for Lee, but he wasted a big opportunity in Tampa and stunk it up). It also means the forwards have to backcheck even harder because we don't have a warrior blocking the shots. Don't underestimate what A-Train does for the transition, as forwards don't all have to crash their own net and can focus on breaking out, knowing that the Russian will stick his body in front of anything.
The Volchenkov injury can expose a major weakness on the blueline. Phillips and Kuba isn't really a shutdown pair or a transition pair. I was hoping Carkner would get that spot with Big Rig so Kuba could stay with Campoli and spread out the task list. Instead, Campoli babysits Lee out there while Picard and Carkner hold their own in the third pairing (dare I say anything bad about Picard and risk feeling the wrath of canucnik).
Hey, I think we've got more depth than in years past. We roll four lines better than ever before. Our defencemen aren't quite up to snuff as we start leaning on four guys in the last 15 minutes, but they're getting by. But as long as Spezza and Volchenkov are out, our depth is tested. First assignment - facing a Thrashers team going through the same problem with Kovalchuk being out with the foot thingy. If the Sens are really capable of beating an opponent with all four lines, Saturday afternoon would be a nice time to show it off. Table is set. My guess is that Murray reaffirms his need for a better defenceman and realizes the forwards are good enough so long as they all show up to play.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Volchenkov out; Brian Lee in
Make us proud, Lee!
A-Train out for a while with an elbow injury sustained in the late third last night, crashing into the net. Carkner is expected to jump up with Big Rig, which would leave Lee with Picard on the third pairing.
On another note, we're 6-1 with Donovan and 0-3 without him...what an impact...and he didn't even get 5 minutes of icetime!
A-Train out for a while with an elbow injury sustained in the late third last night, crashing into the net. Carkner is expected to jump up with Big Rig, which would leave Lee with Picard on the third pairing.
On another note, we're 6-1 with Donovan and 0-3 without him...what an impact...and he didn't even get 5 minutes of icetime!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Murray reads Another Sens Blog; then demotes Karlsson
From Brennan in the Sun, Karlsson has been sent to Bingo. This is after Murray confirmed with the league that the AHL demotion would NOT count as a year of his entry-level contract. Murray must read this blog. Or perhaps, he just knows how to do his job and the due diligence that accompanies it.
Murray said Karlsson was 'emotional' during the meeting, which clearly is code for crying. He is still 19 years old and chances are this is his first setback, if you can call it that, in a long time. I'm happy with the move. He isn't critical to our success this year, he can get more icetime down there to adapt to the game, and IT SAVES US A YEAR ON HIS CONTRACT! Add those up and to me, this was a no-brainer. We'll be thankful next year when the kid is ready to roll.
Murray said Karlsson was 'emotional' during the meeting, which clearly is code for crying. He is still 19 years old and chances are this is his first setback, if you can call it that, in a long time. I'm happy with the move. He isn't critical to our success this year, he can get more icetime down there to adapt to the game, and IT SAVES US A YEAR ON HIS CONTRACT! Add those up and to me, this was a no-brainer. We'll be thankful next year when the kid is ready to roll.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
One Point Taken, One Point Given Back; Plus, My Take on Cheechoo (with video)
Just 48 hours after stealing an undeserved point against the Predators, we graciously give one back by blowing a two-goal lead in the dying minutes before succumbing in overtime to the offensively-struggling Bruins.
I was preparing to write a really heartfelt blog about puck possession in the third period and how this team has really turned a corner. It turns out that we just made four left turns and are right back where we were a few days ago. This was ugly and there is just no excuse for it.
On one hand, some fans will look at this and call it even steven - we shouldn't have gotten any points against Nashville and we should have gotten two in this one, so we come out of it with two points. Statistically, that's fine but there are some psychological ramifications in this one, folks. This is two overtime games we've lost in a row and a brutally blown lead against a team that is missing Savard and Lucic and hasn't replaced Kessel. Sure, they've got a world-class goalie that robbed us a few times, but this was in the bag and we pulled it back out and handed it to them.
A quick shout out to Carkner's two fights and Neil's one wrestling match. Nice physical game from the whole team tonight.
A few highlights:
- Nobody was benched tonight! Hooray for Picard and Cheechoo! Ruutu had the least amount of icetime at 9:03, which means we rolled four lines for the better part of the game. This works better than draining the top six forwards and top two pairings when we get to the grinding days of March.
- Michalek is an amazing player. I said on the day of the trade that this guy was going to become a fan favourite and after a game like tonight, he should really start selling some jerseys soon. His speed is already known to be unreal, the best on the team. Add to that aspect that Watermelon Warrior is a very skilled penalty killer and we gain a nice edge. Also go ahead and add that he is enthusiastic and passionate out there. I love a guy that scores a go-ahead goal and jumps off the glass, cheering with the fans. Be happy that you scored, right Grapes? The kid is clearly fitting in well. Obviously, he doesn't take any heat from a hockey market when he keeps scoring, so that helps, although would it kill the kid to get an assist? Cy is gonna have a tough time, though, when his two linemates haven't scored in nine games, eh?
- Alfie was flying today. Not only did he show his skill on that shorthanded goal when he took a pass between his legs on his skate and withheld the reach on the way in, but he just had his poise back tonight. I thought he had a tough time corralling the puck Thursday, but it appears it was just a 24-hour bug for him as he was back on his game tonight. He's gonna have nightmares about the save that Thomas made on him on that great feed from Kovalev.
Disappointments:
- I know that the last one was tipped in, and I know that we gave Leclaire a free pass after the six-spot, but I kinda hoped that BEe Keeper could have stopped one of those damn goals late in the third. It's hard to say that Pascal would have won that game, so I'm not going to say that (or did I just say that...). Still, you want your goalie to make that one huge save when you need it the most and we didn't get it tonight.
- Mike Fisher's clearing attempts. Sure, the ladies in the city will be blinded by those eyes and half the fans will be happy that he scored a dirty goal to get the edge, but his failure to clear the puck in the final minute is completely unacceptable from a professional. Puck on your stick, one goal lead, last minute, GET RID OF IT!!!! Fisher instead banked it off the boards in our zone and the puck stayed in, only to end up in the back of our net 15 seconds later. That's the tying goal, people. I just hate seeing fundamental hockey blown like that. Fish knows better. Sorry, Carrie, I know you don't like reading this stuff.
- I know that the local papers picked on him today, but I want to try and solve the riddle of Jonathan Cheechoo. Seriously, this is a guy that scored 56 goals. We have never seen a 56 goal scorer, so we don't even know just how often a guy has to put it in the net to accomplish this. In Heatley's two 50-goal seasons, he scored so damn often that you called him out if he went two games without a goal. Add six to that and it is Cheechoo's Maurice Richard Trophy winning season. So why can he not score a single goal in nine games this year, adding to a vicious downward trend since that season.
That's our transition into the Cheechoo piece.
Here's a 10 minute look at most of his 56 goals:
So here are some notes from that video:
1. Just about every single one of those goals is from the slot right in front of the net. Whether he's there receiving a pass (from Thornton, usually) or he is there in position to capitalize on a rebound, he scored a ton of goals in that zone. How often have you seen him there this year in Ottawa? This isn't rocket science. Spezza plays such a similar style to Thornton and has the puck on a string when they gain the zone, so there shouldn't be much of an adjustment.
2. He has a lightning fast release on that snap shot one-timer. Most of his shots this year - he has 20 shots in 9 games - are from difficult angles or with guys in his face. He hasn't found open space to be set up like he was in San Jose. Again, there should be so much open space when his linemates draw defenders and backcheckers, but he doesn't find the open ice.
3. He was semi-fast. He actually had enough speed to keep pace on a breakout or to fly down on a two-on-one odd man rush. I know he won't keep up with Michalek and Spezza, but he looks slow as hell out there right now.
Possible excuses/reasons for the slowdown:
1. The injury bug. Sure, I hear that. But we all heard he has done the recovery thing, worked out very hard this year, and is 100% healthy. Plus, injuries don't change how a guy like this scores goals in the slot. If it slows him down a bit, I get that, but it doesn't stop him from getting to the front of the net.
2. It was a fluke. I don't buy that. It WAS NOT fluke. Watch that video and tell me this guy didn't get in the slot and hammer home a ton of goals. He was an elite goal scorer and that doesn't happen by chance. On any given night, an average player can put up a a few goals and play out of their skates. Cheechoo had FIVE hat tricks in the 56 goal season. Five hat tricks. That isn't a fluke. He is good enough to score goals at this level.
3. Spezza is a rightie, Thornton was a leftie. I read this in the paper somewhere today and it is kinda valid, I guess. Thornton gains the blue line and veers to the right wing while looking for a pass. With Cheechoo being a right-hand shot, he's set up very well for a one-timer. Spezza gains the zone and heads to the left wing, meaning the one timer has to go across Cheechoo's body, which basically takes it out of the playbook. There is some merit to this, but again, watching that video showed that there were so many goals on broken plays, rebounds, and passes from behind the net from Thornton. Spezza gets behind the net a lot, as well, and Cheechoo needs to get his stick up in the slot and get something to eat.
I know Clouston has been working with him on driving to the net again and until he regains the knack for the crease, the dude is going to continue to struggle. As it stands today, he is a $3M forward that doesn't score, doesn't assist, doesn't play on the top powerplay, doesn't kill penalties, doesn't fight, doesn't forecheck, and doesn't make saves. I am a huge fan and would love to see this guy break out and get his career back on track, not just because it helps us but because it makes a great comeback story. He's going to get a free ride from fans for a while, but the more goals that Michalek puts in, the more we're going to wonder why Cheechoo can't do it, too. Hit the slot and start banging some home.
What do you guys think? How do we solve the riddle of Jonathan Cheechoo?
I was preparing to write a really heartfelt blog about puck possession in the third period and how this team has really turned a corner. It turns out that we just made four left turns and are right back where we were a few days ago. This was ugly and there is just no excuse for it.
On one hand, some fans will look at this and call it even steven - we shouldn't have gotten any points against Nashville and we should have gotten two in this one, so we come out of it with two points. Statistically, that's fine but there are some psychological ramifications in this one, folks. This is two overtime games we've lost in a row and a brutally blown lead against a team that is missing Savard and Lucic and hasn't replaced Kessel. Sure, they've got a world-class goalie that robbed us a few times, but this was in the bag and we pulled it back out and handed it to them.
A quick shout out to Carkner's two fights and Neil's one wrestling match. Nice physical game from the whole team tonight.
A few highlights:
- Nobody was benched tonight! Hooray for Picard and Cheechoo! Ruutu had the least amount of icetime at 9:03, which means we rolled four lines for the better part of the game. This works better than draining the top six forwards and top two pairings when we get to the grinding days of March.
- Michalek is an amazing player. I said on the day of the trade that this guy was going to become a fan favourite and after a game like tonight, he should really start selling some jerseys soon. His speed is already known to be unreal, the best on the team. Add to that aspect that Watermelon Warrior is a very skilled penalty killer and we gain a nice edge. Also go ahead and add that he is enthusiastic and passionate out there. I love a guy that scores a go-ahead goal and jumps off the glass, cheering with the fans. Be happy that you scored, right Grapes? The kid is clearly fitting in well. Obviously, he doesn't take any heat from a hockey market when he keeps scoring, so that helps, although would it kill the kid to get an assist? Cy is gonna have a tough time, though, when his two linemates haven't scored in nine games, eh?
- Alfie was flying today. Not only did he show his skill on that shorthanded goal when he took a pass between his legs on his skate and withheld the reach on the way in, but he just had his poise back tonight. I thought he had a tough time corralling the puck Thursday, but it appears it was just a 24-hour bug for him as he was back on his game tonight. He's gonna have nightmares about the save that Thomas made on him on that great feed from Kovalev.
Disappointments:
- I know that the last one was tipped in, and I know that we gave Leclaire a free pass after the six-spot, but I kinda hoped that BEe Keeper could have stopped one of those damn goals late in the third. It's hard to say that Pascal would have won that game, so I'm not going to say that (or did I just say that...). Still, you want your goalie to make that one huge save when you need it the most and we didn't get it tonight.
- Mike Fisher's clearing attempts. Sure, the ladies in the city will be blinded by those eyes and half the fans will be happy that he scored a dirty goal to get the edge, but his failure to clear the puck in the final minute is completely unacceptable from a professional. Puck on your stick, one goal lead, last minute, GET RID OF IT!!!! Fisher instead banked it off the boards in our zone and the puck stayed in, only to end up in the back of our net 15 seconds later. That's the tying goal, people. I just hate seeing fundamental hockey blown like that. Fish knows better. Sorry, Carrie, I know you don't like reading this stuff.
- I know that the local papers picked on him today, but I want to try and solve the riddle of Jonathan Cheechoo. Seriously, this is a guy that scored 56 goals. We have never seen a 56 goal scorer, so we don't even know just how often a guy has to put it in the net to accomplish this. In Heatley's two 50-goal seasons, he scored so damn often that you called him out if he went two games without a goal. Add six to that and it is Cheechoo's Maurice Richard Trophy winning season. So why can he not score a single goal in nine games this year, adding to a vicious downward trend since that season.
That's our transition into the Cheechoo piece.
Here's a 10 minute look at most of his 56 goals:
So here are some notes from that video:
1. Just about every single one of those goals is from the slot right in front of the net. Whether he's there receiving a pass (from Thornton, usually) or he is there in position to capitalize on a rebound, he scored a ton of goals in that zone. How often have you seen him there this year in Ottawa? This isn't rocket science. Spezza plays such a similar style to Thornton and has the puck on a string when they gain the zone, so there shouldn't be much of an adjustment.
2. He has a lightning fast release on that snap shot one-timer. Most of his shots this year - he has 20 shots in 9 games - are from difficult angles or with guys in his face. He hasn't found open space to be set up like he was in San Jose. Again, there should be so much open space when his linemates draw defenders and backcheckers, but he doesn't find the open ice.
3. He was semi-fast. He actually had enough speed to keep pace on a breakout or to fly down on a two-on-one odd man rush. I know he won't keep up with Michalek and Spezza, but he looks slow as hell out there right now.
Possible excuses/reasons for the slowdown:
1. The injury bug. Sure, I hear that. But we all heard he has done the recovery thing, worked out very hard this year, and is 100% healthy. Plus, injuries don't change how a guy like this scores goals in the slot. If it slows him down a bit, I get that, but it doesn't stop him from getting to the front of the net.
2. It was a fluke. I don't buy that. It WAS NOT fluke. Watch that video and tell me this guy didn't get in the slot and hammer home a ton of goals. He was an elite goal scorer and that doesn't happen by chance. On any given night, an average player can put up a a few goals and play out of their skates. Cheechoo had FIVE hat tricks in the 56 goal season. Five hat tricks. That isn't a fluke. He is good enough to score goals at this level.
3. Spezza is a rightie, Thornton was a leftie. I read this in the paper somewhere today and it is kinda valid, I guess. Thornton gains the blue line and veers to the right wing while looking for a pass. With Cheechoo being a right-hand shot, he's set up very well for a one-timer. Spezza gains the zone and heads to the left wing, meaning the one timer has to go across Cheechoo's body, which basically takes it out of the playbook. There is some merit to this, but again, watching that video showed that there were so many goals on broken plays, rebounds, and passes from behind the net from Thornton. Spezza gets behind the net a lot, as well, and Cheechoo needs to get his stick up in the slot and get something to eat.
I know Clouston has been working with him on driving to the net again and until he regains the knack for the crease, the dude is going to continue to struggle. As it stands today, he is a $3M forward that doesn't score, doesn't assist, doesn't play on the top powerplay, doesn't kill penalties, doesn't fight, doesn't forecheck, and doesn't make saves. I am a huge fan and would love to see this guy break out and get his career back on track, not just because it helps us but because it makes a great comeback story. He's going to get a free ride from fans for a while, but the more goals that Michalek puts in, the more we're going to wonder why Cheechoo can't do it, too. Hit the slot and start banging some home.
What do you guys think? How do we solve the riddle of Jonathan Cheechoo?
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Ups and Downs of Being a Sens Fan
There you have it, in 63 minutes, we all see first hand how our season is likely to go. There were moments of brilliance, like Spezza flying end to end before flipping it back to A-Train for one of three tying goals we had. There were moments of humiliation, like Picard tipping it into his own net or the Kelly turnover behind the net (those are two of many, many turnovers and I'm sorry for picking on those two alone). Reasons to cheer and reasons to scream. Yep, that's what we're in for all year long. We are not a first place team but we are certainly far from a last place team. Much like we did in this game, we're going to have to fight for our lives until the bitter end, though we hope for a slightly better result than we saw tonight.
It is hard to really touch on all the highs and all the lows because there were just so many twists and turns tonight. Let's try and rattle off a few and you guys and girls can all add your own in the comments.
Things we can hang our hats on
1. Even though Jason Spezza had a few dumb passes in this one, he still flew on the ice. That was easily the fastest he has looked all season and he continues to backcheck harder and harder. I couldn't care less if he doesn't score a single goal all year if he plays like he did tonight (he'd also be on pace for 200+ assists...). Again, not excusing the dipsy doodles in the neutral zone, but he hardly looked like a guy with a nagging back problem. See that, Stevie Y?
2. Pascal. Can we honestly say enough about this guy? I have never before had great things to say about a goalie that just let in six goals, but this one easily could have been 10-0 after 40 minutes. Pascal is such a calming influence out there that it allows the defencemen to use their natural instincts to play to their fundamental ability instead of trying to overcompensate for a weak goalie that they don't trust. You can absolutely tell out there that those skaters know what they have in their nets. He's been very sharp and if he keeps this up, he'll be a huge reason for us making the playoffs.
3. Chris Campoli played his best game of his season. This goes beyond his goal on a 5-on-3 because those things should be automatic. He was second only to A-Train in icetime, putting in over 24 minutes and really looked like he had settled down when he was away from Karlsson. That isn't an intentional knock on the kid, and I know it is still early, but it does need to be pointed out that good players have looked bad when playing with Karlsson so far. I still believe he could do for some AHL time because expectations are unrealistically high (he's not a top ten pick, he's tiny, he needs to be in an environment with less consequence where he can get his mojo back). Full disclosure here, I'm a Campoli fan and think he rounds out our top four (I know that isn't a popular belief). Tonight, he proved that he can handle those minutes and that responsiblity.
Things that make you want to pull your hair out
There were a bunch. The first period was utterly disgusting. Top to bottom, the skaters looked like hell. The only notable performance out there was Snoopy, who for 40 minutes managed to keep this ONLY a three-goal deficit.
1. Turnovers. For the love of Pascal, can a brother get a breakout pass? In the first period, our best chance at getting the puck out of the zone was when the freaking linesman was fishing it out of our net for a centre ice faceoff! Unacceptable performance from professional hockey players. Picard, Phillips, Carkner, Karlsson, Campoli, Alfredsson, Fisher, Kovalev, Kovalev again, Kelly, those are guys that I can think of off the top of my head that turned it over in the first period alone in our end. Snoopy kept us in this.
2. Alex Kovalev, L'enigma. Alright, I'm not going to be the type of fan that does the 'I told you so' each time Kovalev and Carkner have bad games because I truly love these guys and want to see them succeed. I just thought Kovalev as awful tonight. Careless with the puck in all three zones. I get it, though, that's what he's going to be like all year. Then why did we give him $5M? I'm sorry, Sens fans, but for that amount of money, you have to be held to a much higher standard than a guy like a Carkner or a Shannon or anybody else making in the thousands. He's our third highest paid player and he played like hell tonight. It is fair as a fan to call him out for it.
3. Sorry to say it, but Alfie was off his game tonight. I know he finished with two assists (both second assists), but the puck wasn't staying on his blade tonight. Love the guy, but again, as a fan we're allowed to point out the highs and lows and this was an off night for the saviour.
4. Alex Picard stunk tonight, and he ruined Matt Carkner's night. He scored the first two himself on Leclaire and turned over the puck for the third. Picard finished a minus-3 while Carkner was a minus-4 and took the overtime penalty that led to the winner. I'm not going to get too down on this pairing because it is just one game, but now you'll excuse me when I don't soil myself if they have one good game, okay? They're regular players, both that have not played a full NHL season. They'll have great nights (and they have so far this year), and they'll have awful nights. Don't be shocked when I don't rush to the Sens Store for a Picard jersey if he has a multi-point night. Remember - I'm a Sens fan, too, and want nothing more than for all these guys to be superstars!
5. Picard and Cheechoo were notably benched late in the game. We expect that guys like Ruutu and Kelly are going to see less ice in a crazy third period when we need goals, but Cheechoo was pulled off the top line after 20 minutes and I don't remember seeing Picard hardly touching the ice in the third period. I do like how Clouston will send a message, though I don't want him to do it based on salary. If Kovalev is playing like shat, sit him down. This isn't the guidance counselor's office and we aren't handing out stickers. If you stink, you sit. Picard should know to get his stick out of the way of that shot and if he thought it was a pass, then he needs to clear it to the corner, not bury it in our own net.
6. One more - the penalties! Phillips missing the window on a clearing attempt right after we've tied it up is brutal. Then taking a too many men penalty is inexcusable! 4 guys out there at one time, folks, this isn't your first rodeo. We miraculously escape by getting a shortie of our own (Phillips comes back and TOTALLY redeems himself), then Carkner does the old 'kneel down behind the guy and flip him over' play. I have no problem with getting aggressive in the offensive zone, but it was a poor decision and we either would have lost on the 2-on-1 that he created for the Preds, or like we did on the ensuing powerplay from him taking the man down. Bad penalties at bad times and we made their powerplay look legit.
For practice - discipline and breakouts.
On a final note, so we can end this sandwich on a high, you've gotta love how they fought back so hard with five goals in the third period. It shouldn't have gotten so out of hand, but they tied it up three separate times in the third and earned a tough point that will go a long way in April when the dust settles. Commendable effort from the boys in the third period, especially that sickening wrister from Foligno. I love that kid! Also, we're now 0-2 without Chum Donovan.
It is hard to really touch on all the highs and all the lows because there were just so many twists and turns tonight. Let's try and rattle off a few and you guys and girls can all add your own in the comments.
Things we can hang our hats on
1. Even though Jason Spezza had a few dumb passes in this one, he still flew on the ice. That was easily the fastest he has looked all season and he continues to backcheck harder and harder. I couldn't care less if he doesn't score a single goal all year if he plays like he did tonight (he'd also be on pace for 200+ assists...). Again, not excusing the dipsy doodles in the neutral zone, but he hardly looked like a guy with a nagging back problem. See that, Stevie Y?
2. Pascal. Can we honestly say enough about this guy? I have never before had great things to say about a goalie that just let in six goals, but this one easily could have been 10-0 after 40 minutes. Pascal is such a calming influence out there that it allows the defencemen to use their natural instincts to play to their fundamental ability instead of trying to overcompensate for a weak goalie that they don't trust. You can absolutely tell out there that those skaters know what they have in their nets. He's been very sharp and if he keeps this up, he'll be a huge reason for us making the playoffs.
3. Chris Campoli played his best game of his season. This goes beyond his goal on a 5-on-3 because those things should be automatic. He was second only to A-Train in icetime, putting in over 24 minutes and really looked like he had settled down when he was away from Karlsson. That isn't an intentional knock on the kid, and I know it is still early, but it does need to be pointed out that good players have looked bad when playing with Karlsson so far. I still believe he could do for some AHL time because expectations are unrealistically high (he's not a top ten pick, he's tiny, he needs to be in an environment with less consequence where he can get his mojo back). Full disclosure here, I'm a Campoli fan and think he rounds out our top four (I know that isn't a popular belief). Tonight, he proved that he can handle those minutes and that responsiblity.
Things that make you want to pull your hair out
There were a bunch. The first period was utterly disgusting. Top to bottom, the skaters looked like hell. The only notable performance out there was Snoopy, who for 40 minutes managed to keep this ONLY a three-goal deficit.
1. Turnovers. For the love of Pascal, can a brother get a breakout pass? In the first period, our best chance at getting the puck out of the zone was when the freaking linesman was fishing it out of our net for a centre ice faceoff! Unacceptable performance from professional hockey players. Picard, Phillips, Carkner, Karlsson, Campoli, Alfredsson, Fisher, Kovalev, Kovalev again, Kelly, those are guys that I can think of off the top of my head that turned it over in the first period alone in our end. Snoopy kept us in this.
2. Alex Kovalev, L'enigma. Alright, I'm not going to be the type of fan that does the 'I told you so' each time Kovalev and Carkner have bad games because I truly love these guys and want to see them succeed. I just thought Kovalev as awful tonight. Careless with the puck in all three zones. I get it, though, that's what he's going to be like all year. Then why did we give him $5M? I'm sorry, Sens fans, but for that amount of money, you have to be held to a much higher standard than a guy like a Carkner or a Shannon or anybody else making in the thousands. He's our third highest paid player and he played like hell tonight. It is fair as a fan to call him out for it.
3. Sorry to say it, but Alfie was off his game tonight. I know he finished with two assists (both second assists), but the puck wasn't staying on his blade tonight. Love the guy, but again, as a fan we're allowed to point out the highs and lows and this was an off night for the saviour.
4. Alex Picard stunk tonight, and he ruined Matt Carkner's night. He scored the first two himself on Leclaire and turned over the puck for the third. Picard finished a minus-3 while Carkner was a minus-4 and took the overtime penalty that led to the winner. I'm not going to get too down on this pairing because it is just one game, but now you'll excuse me when I don't soil myself if they have one good game, okay? They're regular players, both that have not played a full NHL season. They'll have great nights (and they have so far this year), and they'll have awful nights. Don't be shocked when I don't rush to the Sens Store for a Picard jersey if he has a multi-point night. Remember - I'm a Sens fan, too, and want nothing more than for all these guys to be superstars!
5. Picard and Cheechoo were notably benched late in the game. We expect that guys like Ruutu and Kelly are going to see less ice in a crazy third period when we need goals, but Cheechoo was pulled off the top line after 20 minutes and I don't remember seeing Picard hardly touching the ice in the third period. I do like how Clouston will send a message, though I don't want him to do it based on salary. If Kovalev is playing like shat, sit him down. This isn't the guidance counselor's office and we aren't handing out stickers. If you stink, you sit. Picard should know to get his stick out of the way of that shot and if he thought it was a pass, then he needs to clear it to the corner, not bury it in our own net.
6. One more - the penalties! Phillips missing the window on a clearing attempt right after we've tied it up is brutal. Then taking a too many men penalty is inexcusable! 4 guys out there at one time, folks, this isn't your first rodeo. We miraculously escape by getting a shortie of our own (Phillips comes back and TOTALLY redeems himself), then Carkner does the old 'kneel down behind the guy and flip him over' play. I have no problem with getting aggressive in the offensive zone, but it was a poor decision and we either would have lost on the 2-on-1 that he created for the Preds, or like we did on the ensuing powerplay from him taking the man down. Bad penalties at bad times and we made their powerplay look legit.
For practice - discipline and breakouts.
On a final note, so we can end this sandwich on a high, you've gotta love how they fought back so hard with five goals in the third period. It shouldn't have gotten so out of hand, but they tied it up three separate times in the third and earned a tough point that will go a long way in April when the dust settles. Commendable effort from the boys in the third period, especially that sickening wrister from Foligno. I love that kid! Also, we're now 0-2 without Chum Donovan.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Midweek Hodge Podge
A few quick hits:
- Spezza left practice early with bumps and bruises and is still probable for tomorrow night. I like to see that the new Spezza gets bumped and bruised - it means he's battling.
- Kuba is still out. Healthy salad Clouston says it is groin/hip/pelvis and they can't seem to fix it. To me, this is sounding less of 'day-to-day' and more like 'indefinite'. Meanwhile, Picard, Campoli, and Karlsson can continue their extended tryouts.
- Ilja/Ilya Zubov is 'on loan' to Russia for the year, awaiting his inevitable trade to the Coyotes.
- Earl McRae continues to maintain the low, low standards of all Sun writers. His comments about Ottawa fans aren't controversial, they're just dumb. Maybe that earns him a spot in their Digital Faceoff. Roy McGregor, please come home!
- Spezza left practice early with bumps and bruises and is still probable for tomorrow night. I like to see that the new Spezza gets bumped and bruised - it means he's battling.
- Kuba is still out. Healthy salad Clouston says it is groin/hip/pelvis and they can't seem to fix it. To me, this is sounding less of 'day-to-day' and more like 'indefinite'. Meanwhile, Picard, Campoli, and Karlsson can continue their extended tryouts.
- Ilja/Ilya Zubov is 'on loan' to Russia for the year, awaiting his inevitable trade to the Coyotes.
- Earl McRae continues to maintain the low, low standards of all Sun writers. His comments about Ottawa fans aren't controversial, they're just dumb. Maybe that earns him a spot in their Digital Faceoff. Roy McGregor, please come home!
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