ASB Happy Birthday Edition

As the Sens get set to face the Devils tonight, ASB would like to recognize Leclaire and his 27th birthday.

Happy Birthday Snoopy!

And as he blows out his pregame candles, you can bet he is wishing for nothing more than a big W Marty Brodeur and David Putty's Devils. NJ is on fire right now (pun intended), winning their last 4 and sitting in 5th in the East. Saturday night at home is a perfect opportunity to take them off their stride and give us a 2 game streak. An older, wiser Leclaire should be ready to make that happen.


As we wish Snoopy a happy day, it leads me to wonder what the other Sens would wish for when blowing out their candles. Here are some thoughts, just for fun...

Spez was all ready to wish for his first grape, but with that behind him, I'm sure he's wishing for a public speaking coach. But don't do it Spez! You're awful interviews are part of your charm.

Spez's new linemate/boyfriend, Milan Michalek, would be wishing for a mild Ottawa winter. This ain't watermelon country, warrior! At the same team, Cheechoo is not even thinking about adjusting to the change in winter weather, he's just wishing for an identity on the team.

AK27 would be wishing for your patience, while we all wish he came to play every minute. Now Kels is mad cause Kovy stole his wish, so he'll be wishing for new stick with goals in it, before having to resort to the old 'blade down the toilet' trick.

Winchester, Donovan and Shannon would all be wishing for a permanent spot on the team, while Lee is wishing people stop comparing him to Marc Stall.

Phillips would wish Volcheckov would heal faster, and that also goes for the balance of the D core. Picard would also wish to become captain someday, only to have the coolest nickname in the league.

Carks, who's birthday was this past week, wished to not be woken up from the dream. Campoli wishes to wake up from his early season nightmare.

Neil would be wishing to keep seeing his hit on Hedman, but also that all Sens road games are moved to SBP for the rest of the season.

Fisher would wish that he doesn't mess up the year he's having. Then we would thank God. Alfie would wish to retire as a Sen and have his number retired before his final game, matching my wish.

Clouston, of course, would wish for less penalties, a winning record, and that he never goes bald.

What am I missing? Who else needs a wish? Have some birthday fun and let us know what you think the boys would be wishing for if they were blowing out the candles today!

Oh, one more, his wish would be that I don't do this, but I'd like to wish my good friend Duff a very Happy Birthday today! Happy sweet 16 buddy...

Unfair InFLUence? Calgary and Toronto get the shot, we don't.

H1N1 is all the rage these days, and the Flames and Leafs decided they wanted none of it. Jumping the "high priority" line up, these clubs were offered the vaccination and the media is all over it. I'm not debating the morality from a public health point of view (well, maybe a little), but I'm wondering if this is fair from a hockey point of view.

The Leafs and Flames have been offered the shot, but what about the remaining 28 teams in the NHL, specifically the other 4 Canadian teams including your Ottawa Senators. Does the H1N1 shot give those teams an advantage while the others are left susceptible to a nasty flu virus? I think it could.

But then again, do we want to rally that the Sens and their families get the shot? I think not. And why not? Frankly, it's unfair to those high priority Canadians that just can't get it in time. We hold these hockey players and teams in high regard - they provide us with entertainment, debate and endless blog fodder; while working their butts off and traveling at a wild pace. For that, we thank them. But do they deserve the H1N1 shot over you and me?

Or, are you of the camp that the Flames and Leafs have opened the door and the Sens need to follow. Given what's at stake in the world of hockey (for the fans, the sponsors, the city, etc.) should our team not naturally be offered the shot to ensure a fair playing field? Imagine the virus sweeps the Sens dressing room and wipes out 5-6 players for a week. Egads! All the while, Toronto manages to collect three more OT losses with their healthy club. It just ain't right.

We've got about 10 hours to kill until game time, so what do you think of this issue? What side are you on?

What if our AHL team played in Ottawa?

When Erik Karlsson was sent down to Binghamton last week, I started wondering what would be the pros and cons of having the AHL team right in town. On the surface, you see the benefit of letting the kids hang around the big boys, see what it is like playing in an NHL market. It would also let management be very hands on in the development of the players. And Brian Lee could drive himself to the rink when he gets called up. But for every positive spin, I can start naming off many problems with the scenario. Here's a basic breakdown:

Benefits of having the AHL team in Ottawa:

1. The Murray Bros. could actively manage the system.

Some might see this as micromanagement and something that would take the elder Murray away from his attention on the big team, but that's nonsense. These are big boys and I think there is significant value in baing able to watch the minor league team first hand on a regular basis. The coaching staffs can work together, pool resources, share training facilities, etc.

2. It builds chemistry with the players.

Injuries happen (like the ones right now) and we're going to be calling players up throughout the year. By having the team in the same city, these players could potentially build some chemistry off the ice, as well as shorten the learning curve for the call-ups. The entire organization can work on the same system.

3. Logistical Eureka!

Brian Lee gets called up and drives down the Queensway to the rink. Brian Lee gets sent down and drives to the Civic Centre as planned. Every time a player is called up now, a car service is sent to Binghamton to pick up the player and make the 5-hour drive to Ottawa. That ends. And as I said earlier, Murray is at arms length to all of the organization - players, coaches, etc. Cancel the conference call number, just keep the Eugene Red Phone.

Drawbacks of having the AHL team in Ottawa:

1. Pissing off a fan base

Binghamton regularly is above 90% capacity in their arena (holds 4,717), which ranks them in the top 10% of the AHL. While we aren't sure if all Binghamtonians are Ottawa fans by default, it is safe to say that they do have an interest in what the parent club is doing. By taking away their team, we lose that fan base. Considering our footprint really goes from Stittsvilly to Vanier in terms of fan base, are we really in a position to turn our back on fans?

2. Can Ottawa support a third (fourth) team?

This is the big one, folks. The Sens will continue to pack the place. The 67's have become an amazing alternative for hockey fans as the community shows its love of minor hockey. The 67's are one of the top draws in the entire CHL, averagine over 8,000 a game. The 67's have sort of become the anti-Sens, almost like a first choice for fans that want to spend $15 on a ticket and stay in the city. Don't forget the Hull/Gatineau Olympiques across the river being a decent draw in the Q. Can Ottawa really support a fourth hockey team? Would it take fans away from the 67's and Piques?

3. Logistically nice, but financially awful.

For all the benefits of having the minor players down the street, the travel costs will undoubtedly skyrocket. Oh, they'll still jump on the bus, but add hours to every trip, add outrageous gas costs to every trip, and add another meal to every trip. They'll go through customs far more often and spend a significant number of additional hours on the bus, which isn't that fun. The costs of travel alone might rule this out.

4. It's been done and hasn't worked.

Okay, so we've looked at how the 67's have solid attendance and the B-Sens have solid attendance. That is reason enough to not mess with this. I then started to look at the rest of the AHL affiliates and their proximity to the parent club. With the Philadelphia Phantoms moving to New York after the team was sold last year, the Toronto Marlies are the only AHL team that is in the same city as their parent. The Marlies, from an attendance perspective, suck. Part of this might be because Leafs games aren't filled with hockey fans, but rather corporate suits that are hob-nobbing. This would mean that an AHL game isn't quite as glamorous as a client appreication night. But the Marlies had around 2,800 for their first playoff game and are quickly finding out what others in the past already knew - minor league hockey in city limits won't work for Toronto. There are some franchises that are 'close', such as Grant Rapids and Detroit, Pittsburgh and Scanton/Wilkes-Barre, but others are nowhere close. Buffalo was affiliated with Rochester in the past, but are now tied with Portlant, while Rochester feeds Florida. If the benefits of cost savings were so critical, don't you think teams would be interested in lining up the closest AHL franchise as their affiliate?

Conclusion - don't do it!

As much fun as it would be to have the feeder team right down the road, it just looks like it won't work. First, Bingo loves their team and it makes no sense to abandon them like that. Second, there are as many logistical and financial drawbacks as there are benefits. Third, it just hasn't worked around the league, so why not leave it alone and learn from everyone else's mistakes?

Any thoughts? Would you check out AHL games at $17 a ticket in Ottawa, in addition to the 67's, Piques, and Sens?

Here's a list of NHL/AHL affiliates, though this is a year old:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR)
Lowell Devils (NJ)
Manchester Monarchs (LA)
Portland Pirates (BUF)
Providence Bruins (BOS)
Springfield Falcons (EDM)
Worcester Sharks (SJ)

East Division

Albany River Rats (CAR)
Binghamton Senators (OTT)
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI)
Hershey Bears (WSH)
Norfolk Admirals (TB)
Philadelphia Phantoms (PHI)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT)

Western Conference

North Division

Grand Rapids Griffins (DET)
Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL)
Lake Erie Monsters (COL)
Manitoba Moose (VAN)
Rochester Americans (FLA)
Syracuse Crunch (CBJ)
Toronto Marlies (TOR)

West Division

Chicago Wolves (ATL)
Houston Aeros (MIN)
Iowa Stars (ANA)
Milwaukee Admirals (NSH)
Peoria Rivermen (STL)
Quad City Flames (CGY)
Rockford IceHogs (CHI)
San Antonio Rampage (PHX)

Available: DAL - They will spread their players around the AHL for the 2008-2009 season.

How Deep is our Depth?

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.

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!

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.