Reminder to Campoli and Lee - they wrote your name in pencil

I'm not going to show up here today and say that Patrick Wiercioch and Jared Cowen are fixtures on the blue line next season. In fact, I've often said that Cowen is at least a year away based on his knee surgery recovery and the fact that he hasn't really blown any minds in the past 12 months. But the signing today (or impending signing) of Wiercioch and the report that Cowen will join the team when Spokane is ditched is another reminder to the lesser blue liners that they have yet to do enough in their time here to be etched into the core.

Here's what we know - Chris Phillips is a lifer. Big Rig will know only one team his entire career and regardless of his ups and downs, he'll always be the poor man's Adam Foote and he'll always have a spot on our blue line for leadership and service. Matt Carkner is here for two more years. The guy has shown that he is an NHL defenceman, albeit a third pairing player that, in a perfect game, will only have his name mentioned once or twice for a big hit or shot block.

Erik Karlsson is the future. Bold statement, especially when I criticized his play earlier in the year. But who didn't? We said bluntly that he needed time in the AHL to figure out how to be an effective offensive-minded player while avoided the big hit from power forwards out to take his head off. Whether or not he did this in Binghamton or just played XBOX 360 is irrelevant because he has absolutely been our best defenceman in the second half of this season. He's our third fixture.

Filip Kuba isn't so much of an enigma simply because he never impressed anyone that much to begin with. I've always liked Kuba because he played a simple game, got pucks through to the net, and didn't induce any profanities from the fan base. But his performance this year, likely in part because of a nagging hip injury, has been pretty sad and it isn't out of the question that he's trade fodder at the draft table.

Sutton and Volchenkov. My hope is that at least one of these guys is back here next year. When we first acquired Sutton, I was pumped about the incoming hits and shot blocks but just assumed that his $3M salary was the result of overpayment from a bad GM for a bad team. In order to get Hainsey to Atlanta and Streit to Long Island, GMs pay top dollar. I'm not saying that Sutton is an All-Star, but his performance in the past two weeks has truly been worthy of $3M a year, given what other players make in this league. His hits are insane and he will step in front of any shot (sound familiar?). While A-Train is the preferred option based on age and because we already know his strengths and weaknesses, it wouldn't be that devastating if Volchenkov follows the money and we are stuck with Sutton.

So we have the potential for some openings next year if Kuba is moved and/or Volchenkov or Sutton aren't retained. Does this mean a free pass for Campoli? For Brian Lee? Even after the Picard trade, these guys are still finding it hard to stay in the lineup, or in Lee's case, to stay in the league at all.

Wiercioch and Cowen will be in camp and just like Karlsson and Carkner this year, they'll be given every last opportunity to make the big team. I know it shouldn't come as a surprise to Lee and Campoli that their spot on the depth chart is written in pencil and due to be erased in the next year or two, but it begs the question about why neither of them has truly risen to the occasion.

In Campoli's case, there are so many times where he takes the puck behind our net and instead of moving the puck up the ice (like a puck-moving defenceman should), he passes off to Carkner. Is Carkner the offensive player on that pairing? Campoli just doesn't seem to have the vision of a younger Wade Redden (before you ask, yes, I did struggle typing a rare compliment to poor Wade). Lee, who hasn't had the benefit of icetime up here, has had so many false starts that our expectations for him have just plummeted. I'm not going to sit here and talk about Kopitar and Marc Staal, who Muckler left on the table when he took Lee, because we can all go through and find situations of poor drafting from every organization. I will say that while he does have a bit more time to develop, as most defencemen do take longer to adapt to the NHL (right, Chris Phillips?), the writing is on the wall for the kid.

It is a tough spot for these two guys to play from, nobody argues that. Many defencemen are given the necessary time to develop into solid NHL blueliners. In the case in Ottawa, we've just been stockpiling there and don't have to give them the luxury of time. Brian Lee and Chris Campoli will be NHL defencemen somewhere. I'm just not so sure that Murray will have it be in Ottawa. Your move, boys.

And a quick dose of Bobby Butler - this guy sounds wicked cool. Here's to hoping that he doesn't lose that New England accent.

Thursday Thoughts

1. We're on twitter. I still don't know what the feck twitter is, but we're on it. Follow us, please, so that we feel someone is taking the 15 seconds to read our hockey thoughts. Or visit it here.

2. Kovalev is not playing in Buffalo tomorrow night due to injury. Does this mean that he was playing hurt since the Olympics or will we at least use that as an excuse for his lackadaisical play since the Break? Is it bad that I'm almost excited he's out because it means Chummy will draw back in and actually skate hard and try to score? Listen here, I've made no secret all season long that I was unhappy with the Kovalev signing. Sure, he's shown flashes of skill and has really driven our team's success at times, but I just don't think $5M is fair for a guy that has played as shitty as he has been in the past month. People will be quick to point out that we should have known this when we signed him - my response is that you're right and that's why I'm still pissed that we signed him!

3. I can't tell if I'm worried or relieved that Elliott has taken the reins of our goaltending graveyard. On one hand, it is nice to know that it is no longer a topic of fodder at the water cooler. On the other hand, can you really see Elliott winning a playoff series? Winning two? I hope he has shades of Emery from three years ago - just make the basic saves and give your team a chance to win.

4. The Michalek injury is going to be a huge, huge blow to this team. I know we've won two straight, but we accomplished both with just two goals for the good guys. Michalek is our leading goal scorer and if this injury lasts into the playoffs and God forbid requires surgery, we're in some trouble.

5. On Volchenkov. If you haven't listened to the podcast that the folks at 6th Sens had with A-Traing's agent, Jay Grossman, go check it out. One thing stood out to me as I see Eklund asking fans what they'd pay him. Grossman said that Anton wants to play for a contender not just because he wants to win, but because he doesn't want to spend the prime years of his career blocking shots for a losing team. He's smart enough to know that he'll really have 5 good years left before injuries catch up. Blocking shots is hard work and it is discouraging to do it for a team that can't truly use his services in their quest for the Cup. I guess that means we really need to show him that we're a serious playoff team. And if he doesn't want our money or our team, it would seem like he'd limit his suitors to contenders, unlike some other guys that just follow the money.

6. If A-Train does leave and we can't afford Sutton (please tell me he won't be looking for $3M anymore, or else he's gone), we're going to have a thin defence. I can't imagine that Cowen or Wiercioch will be ready for the big team in the Fall and Lee is still a work in progress. Like we've said before, the East is so bad this year that you can't fault Murray for going for it all right now. We'll fault him later if the plan doesn't work, but that's why he's in the hot seat and we're at home.

7. It pains me to see that there are still tickets left for the April 10th home game versus the Slugs. Why? Because fans should know about the tribute the organization is planning for Daniel Alfredsson for his 1000th game. C'mon people.

8. On headshots - I'm fine with a rule that punishes goons for stupid hits like Cooke's hit on Savard. I'm not fine with every single effing bodycheck being debated at length for what part of the hitter was used to hit what part of the hittee. There are so many bodychecks in a game with varying degrees of impact. There is such a thing as a good hockey hit that leaves the player very badly hurt. Based on the coverage this topic has received in the past few weeks, I'm a tad worried that pundits are going to start saying hard hits are actually dirty hits because the player fell over or lost his helmet. In a relates story, I love the way Andy Sutton has played in the past two games.

What Panic Button?

For some reason, I just haven't really seemed to want to find the panic button during this insanely bad slide for the Sens. Maybe I'm reaching the level that Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown had found where we're out of towels and I'm too old to go diving into lockers. Perhaps it is just because we have seen our team collapse in so many different fashions that nothing is new to me anymore.

Make no mistake - I'm still 100% supportive of this team and still think that we'll find our way into the postseason when all is said and done. I have said since last summer that this team isn't good enough to fight for the division, but we aren't bad enough to finish below the many mediocre teams that make up the Eastern Conference. Just as I've been saying all year, we will clinch our postseason spot in the final week of the season.

What troubles me most is just the roller coaster season these boys have put together. I am very aware of the highs and lows of an 82-game season, but we're having such peaks and valleys that it really doesn't feel right. How did a team go from a brutal five-game losing streak straight into an incredible 11-game winning streak? How does the same team that won 11 games in a row go on a stretch where they win one of nine post-Olympics?

I'm not here to point fingers at coaching, goaltending, defence, scoring, special teams, etc. Truth be told, all of the facets of our game have struggled at some point during this rough patch. What I would like to see from this team in its final ten games is a little bit of fight and a little bit of pride.

I attended the game in Atlanta last Thursday and it was truly embarrassing. We tied the game on a bit of a fluke goal where the ref missed Ruutu giving Hedberg a clear elbow to the head and before the Thrashers could compose themselves, we had potted a quick pair and tied it up. But that was all the excitement we could do. I have been to many Sens games and watched hundreds more on the tube and I haven't seen such a dejected, self-pitying bunch as I did on Thursday night. The Sutton penalty was a horseshit call, but bad calls happen every game.

After the Antropov powerplay goal, the team should have found its focus and been a bit fired up, but instead we had Phillips make one of his worst giveaways onto the stick of Armstrong and the game was over. As soon as that shot made it past Elliott, I watched how the players on the ice and on the bench would react and what I saw was really discouraging. To a man, they all just hung their heads in shame and disbelief. It was not the appearance of a team fighting for its playoff lives; it was the appearance of a team that just wanted to get out of town with another loss. At what point, though, does somebody slap this group upside the head and get them working together again? On every shift, you could even see one player skating his ass off while his linemate floated through the neutral zone without a care in the world. I hear Clouston say that they are all working hard, but I just don't see all the players working hard. That's what bugged me the most.

Listen, Sens fans, they are who we thought they were (thanks, Dennis). For those that thought the 11-game streak was par and we were legitimate divisional contenders needn't look past the goaltending position to see why Buffalo is at the top and we're not. This is a scrappy group of some NHL players and some AHL players (I'm talking to you, Ryan Shannon), a makeshift defence that is showing signs of fatigue, and another failed gamble in nets. It was a crapshoot to make the playoffs from last summer and it still stands that way today. If nothing else, it will make for an exciting April. It's still too early to talk about Clouston and Murray and it is still too ridiculous to think that Mike Brodeur or Jonathan Cheechoo is the missing link. These clowns need to sort this out themselves and that's why they all get paid the big bucks, including the coach.

The call from the Euge isn't a pep talk, as they portray it in the press. It is a wakeup call that the boss doesn't like being proven a buffoon year after year when he goes on the Fan 590 singing our praises. Murray has built a team that he likes, he has the coach in place, and it is up to this group to live up to the word of the big guy in Barbados. And for crying out loud, can somebody stop a freaking puck?

Go finish hard and get that first win out of the way, boys! And because nothing cheers us up like thinking of happier times, here is yet another youtube clip from the Olympics. This one is cool because it has all the international broadcasts of the goal. I was amazed at how excited all of the other countries loved the goal. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, cheer up, and let's go get some wins. "IGGY!"

Where do we go from here?

The good news is that there are two healthy NHL-calibre players waiting in Ottawa for Tuesday's game. The bad news is we really, really need to win Tuesday night's game.

One of our fun things to do as fans is to dream up the forward lines. I've never done it much for the main reason that Clouston changes them up so damn much, but I think it is simple going forward. The top line needs to stay together - they are the gamebreakers, as evidenced by the insance coast to coast job that Spezza put on last night. Michalek is like a junior Heatley in that he seems to only produce on passes from Spezz Dispenser. Alfie, he's just our best player so we might as well leave him at the top.

In my opinion, Kovalev doesn't deserve great linemates just yet. He had chemistry earlier with Regin and Shannon but the trio has struggled post-Break. Let them work through this and find their game again. The other reason to leave it alone is because a line of Cullen/Fisher/Foligno would be a thing of beauty. Hard workers, fast skaters, and an ability to score. Foligno isn't a great backchecker, but the other two can pick him up. These are three guys that will go to the corners and into the blue paint and get us those dirty goals while giving the top billing some rest.

That leaves the fourth line for Kelly with Ruutu and Neil. As Nik pointed out, Cullen is restricted by being with any of those guys. This would make up a terrific fourth line because they'll hit, they'll work hard, and they'll backcheck (Kelly and Ruutu, at a minimum). I'm comfortable with these guys on the ice late in the game if we get stuck icing it or pinned in our zone. Chummy is first out of the press box, before Winchester.

As decent as Sutton has been since his acquisition (not perfect, but decent), one of the benefits is that with Campoli still out indefinitely, we can still bump Lee out to the press box. I have stuck up for Lee since he stepped on our ice, but he's neither an offensive dman or a defensive one and so he's kinda just a body out there that is prone to mistakes and penalty calls (although I didn't think his penalty last night was that bad).

But what about actually winning games? Listen, better we lose these shit-shows in March as opposed to April. I don't want to back into the playoffs, but we have a baker's dozen of games to figure this out and need to play around .500 hockey. Sort out the lines, untangle the disgusting powerplay, and grind out some tough wins this week.

And goaltending - forget salaries, just play the guy that is going to give you the best chance to win. Even though I thought Snoopy made some amazing saves last night, it is still Elliott that is ending up with the wins. Goaltending will keep us from becoming a contender, but all we ask of these guys is to give the skaters a chance to win and Elliott is doing that right now.

To cheer you up, eight of the final 13 games are against non-playoff teams.

Thursday Thinkpiece

A few random thoughts for your Thursday because we haven't been posting much lately:

1. On the headshot discussion - applesauce to the GMs (random Larry Sanders Show reference there) for doing what the players were already asking for. It sounds like they will recommend a penalty for 'blindside hits to the head'. This doesn't eliminate bodychecking and it doesn't eliminate open-ice hits. It just penalizes those sideways, vulnerable hits that have led to concussions. Given this, I'd imagine something like the Neil hit on Drury in 2007 would have qualified as a bad hit because it was from the side and Drury was very vulnerable. Truth be told, I don't have a problem with the rule. I consider myself a hockey purist - hate the shootout, miss a good 0-0 tie - but this was long overdue. I don't question the toughness of today's players compared to the good ole days of Eddie Shore, etc. Those guys were tough as hell, playing without helmets, slashing and punching each other, and more. But the game has changed so much since then and players are so much bigger, faster, and stronger that an open ice hit now is far more serious than an open ice hit in the Original Six days. Every good sport (every good organization anywhere) knows that it has to continue to adapt as it grows and hockey is doing just that. A problem has become more serious to the point that the players asked for a change - now they have it. Kudos to the GMs for acting on this (they shunned the idea 12 months ago). Again - it won't change bodychecks or open ice hits, it will just basically mandate a more respectful approach to the hits. Contradictory statement? Not at all, if you've been on either end of a big hit.

2. Volchenkov - what we know from Booboo is that Grossman, his agent, rejected a five-year offer from Murray. First off, I'm scared of giving the guy another five years based on his insane injury history. Second, unless the offer was lower than what he makes now, A-Train has made a grave mistake in agent selection and retention. I don't necessarily compare this negotiation to the Kovalchuk failed negotiation because in that case, I'm pretty sure that Kovy just wanted to get the hell out of Atlanta. In our case, we all assume that Volchenkov wants to stay but wants Komisarek money. If that is our barometer, then this will be a long negotiation. Grossman will point to the $4.5M Komi deal and show that Volchenkov is better (he's right). Murray will point to it as evidence that the contract was an epic failure and nobody will pay that much. He'll add in about how much the organization has done for him and ask for the hometown discount. I have full faith that Murray gets this done and the train stays in our station for another 3 years. Worst case scenario, he signs with the Caps and we get Sutton signed and hope like hell Cowen has a shot (he won't).

3. The goalie debate - I have no issue with Clouston going back to Ells on Tuesday night. His point is valid in that Elliott is the one that rattled off the winning streak and his numbers are better. We were all a bit surprised, sure, because Snoopy makes a lot of money and could have been given a chance for a few games. But at the end of the day, it was Elliott playing well going into the Break and he's earned the time. To say that Snoopy deserved it because of how well he played against the Leafs - he still lost! I know he made decent saves, but let's hold off on the praise until the dude wins a game. In the meantime, let Ells run with it and see how far we can go. Good call, Clouston.

4. Nice to see Cullen get one last night. I have found that he skates hard and really gets right in there on the play, but his hands have been Kelly-esque. For some reason, I thought he'd be a great stickhandler, but that might be an unfair expectation. He's a third liner with speed and skill, a seasoned Foligno, basically. I've also liked Sutton's play - very simple and poised. Not sure how you earn $3.8M for that, but it wasn't our contract. Karlsson has been great - more on him soon.

5. A month ago, would you have thought that there would be four teams from the Northeast Division in playoff positions? Montreal and Boston sit 7th and 8th respectively, which is impressive considering the stumbling they were working through mid-season. The Southeast Division continues to be awful and it really makes me think that Washington will struggle again. In addition to the fact that Ovie is 0-for-2 in big games, his team really hasn't had any kind of adversity all year. For some reason, I feel that your team has to go through some suffering in order to really come together as a group and play hard for each other. To me, they still seem like a handful of hotshots from different countries that still feel entitled to success, but aren't necessarily prepared to work for it. Without a goalie and without a real great strong defensive pairing, I just don't know if these guys are ready for a the long playoff grind. The only real team that scares me in Pittsburgh, and at some point these guys need to be getting tired of playing until June every year. I think this is why I was happy that Murray went out and picked up some pieces for the stretch run - he recognizes that the East is really bad or really even or whatever. Are we a contender today? Hard to say we're 'the team to beat', but I really think that the Conference is so bad that we might as well go balls out.

Karlsson talk coming soon.

Tonight is a Must Win. Yes, it is.

UPDATE 1:04pm - I didn't do my homework before posting below but it looks like Snoopy's getting the start as Ells has been hit by the flu bug. This is another reason to WIN. If Leclaire wants to see another start this season, he's going to need to earn it tonight. Go Sens!

Can you say must win? I'm not pushing the big red panic button over here, but yes, tonight's game versus the provincial rival Maple Leafs is a must win. The pre-Olympic red hot Sens have cooled off after two uninspired performances since returning to action this past week. Tonight brings the lowly 15th place Leafs to the SBP, and if their record wasn't a good enough reason, here are a few others as to why the Sens need this one...

1. We're at home. Given our record in Kanata this season, we would certainly like to clinch top spot in the North East to give us the advantage in the playoffs. Duh. And with home games becoming few and far between down the stretch, we need to win there as much as possible. We lost to the Rags at home the other night, no need to make it two straight.

2. A good friend of mine, a die hard Leaf fan from Oakville, will be in attendance tonight. Simply, I'd like him to see that the Sens are the superior team.

3. Orr 2 - Carkner 1. While the Sennies need a W tonight, Carks needs to drop Orr like a hot potatoe. A hot potatoe that just got knocked out. (plus I have $20 on the outcome of the inevitable fight!)

4. Our next two games are against the 29th and 30th place teams in the league, respectively. I'll cringe if we don't come out with 4 points. Nuff said.

5. We need to settle our goaltending...once again. Elliot played bad, Snoopy came in. Snoopy starts, sees 5 shots, Elliot takes his place. Ugh. Ells should get the start tonight and it would be grand if he could return to his back-to-back NHL weekly star performance. We need goaltending back on track for the stretch and into the playoffs. It needs to start tonight.

6. HNIC. My buddy from Oakville isn't the only one who needs to see the Sens are the superior team.

7. I can't stand how Luca Caputi is the talk of the town in Toronto. I mean, who's Luca Caputi? Oh wait, he's an AHLer on the Leafs second line. This team is bad. We must beat inferiour teams, always. And so, tonight's a must win.

This is all pretty obvious, but I needed to let it out. After two weeks off and two poor games, all of the Sens (especially Volchenkov) need to get back on track. A two game grace period is enough. Time to get back on track. Honestly, another poor effort tonight would really start to concern me. Again, not "panic button time" but this team needs to respond tonight. I believe Clouston will get the boys rolling, so he better. If they can't get up for tonight's game...uh oh...

So I think it's a must win, but do I think they will win? Of course! Look out for the return of the lunch pails as the Sens will likely welcome the youngest team in the league with a lot of banging off the bat. This should open up room for our top two lines to return to form and find the back of the net.

I'm no good at predicting the final score, so I'm not going to. I'll leave it at Sens W - Leafs L.

Do y'all agree that tonight is a game of significant importance? Or am I over exaggerating the need to win?

Not too long til game time...Enjoy!