–Nikita Filatov talked about what he needs to work on (link), “I just need to get better in shooting the puck and creating plays. I have to do the stuff that I have to do. When I take shots, the puck hasn’t gotten through to the net. That’s a problem for me and a couple of times I’ve made turnovers. The good thing is I know my mistakes, I’m going to work on it and try to improve my game. Everybody is making mistakes. I know about them. I’m just going to try to figure out how not to do them anymore.”  He’s exactly right and that awareness should help him fix the problem.

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch writes about the Sens tough practice on Monday (link), which includes at least two confirmed changes in the lineup: David Rundblad in for Brian Lee and Peter Regin will play putting Nikita Filatov out.

-Garrioch is still hot under the collar about Sergei Gonchar‘s play, specifically the Todd Bertuzzi goal in Detroit (link), but as Paul MacLean pointed out, “His partner (Jared Cowen) didn’t tell him he was changing. If you’re leaving the ice, you’re supposed to tell you’re partner that you’re changing, and Sergei didn’t know. The puck moved pretty quickly. I’m not sure what he was supposed to do. Could he have moved, could he have dove, could he have done something? Probably. But for the most part, I’ve got no issue with what happened. He didn’t have a chance.”  This is exactly what he said after the game on Friday, but it appears as though Garrioch (and others) don’t care about the explanation.  The Sens media really does love a whipping boy.

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Wayne Scanlan article includes a pertinent comment by Jason Spezza (link): “We’re so eager to work, to be a fast team, sometimes we turn the puck over, just  trying to be too quick.”

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Allen Panzeri (link) includes comments by MacLean where he singled out his veteran defencemen, “We expect more of (Sergei Gonchar), Chris Phillips, and Filip Kuba. They’re three of our veteran defencemen and we need them to make sure they help  these young guys get through situations.”

–The Silver Seven‘s Peter Raaymakers (link) writes about the positives in the start of the Sens season: 1. They can score goals, 2. They have fixable shortcomings (turnovers and defensive coverage), 3. Rookies are scoring, 4. They have good goaltending.  You can argue with the last point, but Raaymakers means Anderson is a good goaltender despite the early results.

-For those who were shocked by the Craig Rivet Elmira signing, you can watch a video of Rivet talking about it here link.

October 11, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch writes about the Sens needing a full 60-minute effort (link).  Paul MacLean said, “The veterans are the ones that need to come to the fore when a goal is scored against us. They’ve got to step up and make sure that we’re doing things right. We need our youth, our enthusiasm and our energy to get us going on some nights, but the leadership group has to be one that steps up to get things done.”  This is exactly the right place to point the finger when the team sags–the veterans.

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Ken Warren has a similar article (link), within which Paul MacLean says “We’re not playing together as a team and we start to become individuals, and  that doesn’t work in this league. You have to play with work  ethic, and we didn’t do that for most of the first period and the second period  (against Toronto). We can’t get down just because they score goals against us. They’re going to score goals against us. It’s how we respond that will  determine our success.”  The article includes the veteran quote above as well, but then Warren picks Sergei Gonchar, Chris Phillips, and Filip Kuba as the primary problems–I disagree with Kuba, who played well against Toronto.

-Bruce Garrioch tweets that Peter Regin is taking contact in practice today (link).

-The Sportsnet magazine’s Shannon Proudfoot has a preview of the Senators, who see’s them finishing 15th in the conference and among other things writes the following: “the Senators believe they’ve finally solved their problems in net and the shelves are stocked with promising prospects and a handful of veterans looking for redemption.  Still, it’s more likely to add up to a season of energetic–and occasionally ugly–hockey than a smooth ride.”  About David Rundblad, “with the team seemingly committed to a serious rebuild, they’ll be looking to minimize the pressure.”  On Craig Anderson, “Other than 38 wins in 71 games he put up in Colorado two seasons ago.  Anderson has been a career backup.  But Murray believes the 30-year old can provide the stability the team has lacked between the pipes.”  Finally, “One good thing for the Sens: with external expectations as low as they are, it’ll be hard for the Senators to fall short of anything.”

–The Silver Seven‘s Darren M looks at why Bobby Butler was benched (link), saying it’s ultimately the difficulty Butler is having making the transition to being a well-rounded player.

-NHLer Craig Rivet (37-2-2-4) has signed with the Elmira Jackals (link).

October 10, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch had an interesting quote from Paul MacLean about Bobby Butler (link), “We want to make sure he still has good work habits and practice habits because that’s the way it turns around: If you come every day, work hard and do things right. We want to make sure that he gets that kind of work and that kind of coaching he needs to be a consistent player.”  It’s not hard to read between the lines and see that MacLean does not think Butler is working hard enough in practice.  In another article by Garrioch (link) MacLean said “It’s not working for him, but he’s still a young player and he’s still learning. He had success last year and he’s going through a point right now where he’s not having success.”  It’s unrelated, but in the same article Garrioch mistakes Nikita Filatov for Mika Zibanejad.

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Jason York writes his five keys to accelerate Ottawa’s rebuild (link): 1. Peter Regin emerges as the team’s #2 center, 2. Bounce back season from Ottawa’s veteran blueliners, 3. Nick Foligno taking the next step, 4. Good specialty teams, 5. Continued development of Ottawa’s Calder Cup winning players.  These are all solid points, although I think York should have included continued great goaltending from Craig Anderson.

–Hockey Futures‘ DJ Powers previews the WCHA (link), which includes two Sens prospects.  At Nebraska-Omaha Bryce Aneloski‘s coach Dean Blais said, “Bryce is big, strong and mobile. He doesn’t get outmuscled anywhere around the net. He’s not overly physical, but he’s physical enough to make plays and will take a hit to make a play in the defensive zone. Bryce makes good decisions on the offensive blue line and is intelligent. He’s also got a pretty good shot. He’s very coachable and a real competitor. The thing with Bryce is we want him to be more of a leader this year because he’s skilled and he’s going to be a power play type of guy on our blue line.”  On North Dakota’s blueline is senior Ben Blood, whose coach Dave Hakstol said, “Well leadership is certainly a key thing that Ben will bring. The level of play and the number of minutes that we expect from Ben this year is going to be great. We expect him to be a workhorse for us back there, not only in that solid, two-way role playing against other teams’ top forward units, but we also expect Ben to grow in his game and be able to add a little bit in the offensive end of the rink as well. Ben‘s dedication and preparation have been extremely impressive. He has improvement himself in every area of his game, whether it’s been in his skating or really understanding the game. Ben has drastically improved himself athletically and in his conditioning. And he has turned his body into a pro body.”

-The Binghamton Senators have signed blueliner Shaun Heshka (Austria 50-6-18-27) to an AHL contract (link).

-The Elmira Jackals have signed Riley Armstrong (DEL 17-5-3-8) to a standard ECHL contract (link).

-Elmira played it’s final pre-season game, falling 3-2 to Reading.  Of the players signed by Binghamton Josh Godfrey scored while goaltender Brian Stewart was perfect in relief of Marco Cousineau.  The team’s regular season begins October 14th.

October 9, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

Two more regulation loses for the organisation.  Ottawa lost a crazy game that they had no business being in–despite poor play and mediocre goaltending, they nearly beat the Leafs (boxscore link).  Just like in Detroit, they had a decent start, collapsed, and then rallied in the third period.  This is exactly the kind of thing I expect of a young team and the fact that they don’t quit is encouraging.

Paul MacLean was not happy with the team (link), “I’d rather talk about the first period and the second period than the third-period comeback. I’m tired of talking about that already. The first period, the game was going fine for us, we get a goal scored against us and then we stopped playing. We resorted to old habits not playing as a team. We started to become individuals and that doesn’t work in this league.”

The Ottawa Citizen‘s Ken Warren points the finger at Chris Phillips as a major factor in the Sens poor play (link), “DUD: Chris Phillips, Senators. He is off to a rough start in his attempt to  rebound from a poor 2010-11 season. He was repeatedly beaten to the puck by  Maple Leafs forwards. Just as it was Friday, though, it was hard to single out  any particular Senators defenceman for having a rough night.”

I’m not sure any player particularly stood out in a positive way, as must struggled. Zenon Konopka received the least ice time, while Chris Neil spent a lot of time in the box after instigating a fight with Luke Schenn (in retaliation for Dion Phaneuf‘s big hit on Stephane Da Costa).  I have to give Da Costa credit for recovering from the hit and scoring a nice goal.  Nick Foligno finished -3 and was invisible, while Nikita Filatov struggled and was bumped off the top line–but they were not the only players who struggled.  Ottawa’s veterans played a lot in the third period.

I did not see the Binghamton game, so for the game story check out Joy Lindsay’s summary is (link) and the boxscore (link).  Kaspars Daugavins and Eric Gryba scored, while Andre Petersson earned his first point for Binghamton.  Mike McKenna got the call in net.

Here are some of Kurt Kleinendorst’s comments afterward (link), “the second period, obviously, I don’t know what they had for shots exactly, but I can count mine on one finger. That’s not going to cut it. We started turning pucks over in the grey zone — which is the blue line. And then we end up in our end, because of that. We start taking penalties, because of that. And that just gave them life. The first goal was kind of the one that just got them going. And then, in the third, we were fine again. So we got two out of three periods tonight. But you’ve got to play three. You’ve got to play 60 minutes.”  He’s liked Andre Petersson, David Dziurzynski, Pat Cannone in both games thus far.

October 9, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Sportsnet‘s Ian Mendes tweets that David Rundblad and Bobby Butler are the healthy scratches tonight (link), with Zenon Konopka added to the lineup.

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch has a potpourri article (link) which includes comments by Paul MacLean about David Rundblad, “David’s here to play on the team, so we don’t expect him just to practise. But we need to work on his defensive game, just to make sure he’s ready.”

–The Toronto Star‘s Damien Cox looks at the current battle of Ontario (link) and has some interesting comments: “These are two hockey clubs trying to find their way out of the wilderness, and neither is doing it like Edmonton, tearing it all down and finishing 30th for a couple of years to get the best teenagers the world has to offer.  There’s been great criticism in Toronto for some of Brian Burke’s decisions that are viewed as contradictory to the youth movement he has put in place, such as trading away high first round draft picks. In Ottawa, the process is even more confusing. The Sens will dress a host of recent first round picks like 18-year-old Mika Zibanejad, Jared Cowen, Erik Karlsson, David Rundblad, Brian Lee and Nick Foligno, but also thirtysomethings Daniel Alfredsson, Chris Phillips, Sergei Gonchar, Filip Kuba, Chris Neil, Zenon Konopka and Matt Carkner, as well as both goalies, Craig Anderson and Alex Auld.  The much younger Leafs, by contrast, have two players who are 30 years old, Tim Connolly and John-Michael Liles, and that’s it.  So is Ottawa trying to win now, or at least finish much higher in the Eastern Conference? And where do the Sens and GM Bryan Murray stand in their rebuilding project compared to the Leafs? One difference is that while Burke inherited a mess and has spent 2 1/2 years trying to overhaul the roster, Murray, to a large extent, created his own mess, and has been given an opportunity to clean it up.”

I have a lot of respect for Cox and often agree with him, but as interesting as his comparison is I believe he’s erred in making it.  Toronto, under Burke, is in year four of his rebuild, so the apt comparable would be his first full year rebuilding (2009-10) when he had five players over 30.  Cox also skips over the fact that Ottawa simply couldn’t move Kuba or Gonchar when they decided to rebuild.  His other point, that the mess in Ottawa is largely Murray’s doing, is apt and given that Brian Burke’s roster is now truly his both GM’s are perfectly comparable in that sense.

–The Hockey News’ Ryan Kennedy looks at which 2011 draftees will stick in the NHL all season (link), but he isn’t definitive in all his picks.  He does think Mika Zibanejad will stay with the Senators, “A fast-riser as the 2011 draft class came together, Zibanejad entered a perfect situation in Ottawa – the Sens were rail-thin down the middle, but still had talent on the wings. That means Z-Bad gets to kick off his NHL career with fellow Swede Daniel Alfredsson by his side and there isn’t a better mentor I can think of. He’ll stick.”

-The Elmira Jackals lost their first pre-season game 5-4, with all the players sent down by Binghamton getting points (Josh Godfrey lead the way with a goal and two assists).  Goaltender Corey Milan played in relief after the starter (Larry Sterling) was shelled for four goals.

-Former Sens draft pick Philippe Seydoux (3-100/03), who was on a PTO with the Calgary organisation, was released by the Abbotsford Heat prior to the AHL season (link).

October 8, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

The first games are in the books for the organisation and both were regulation losses.  For Ottawa, they played a solid first period and an inspired third, but were awful in the second (check out the game sheet link).  My thoughts, starting with all the goals:
1. Bertuzzi goal – created by a bad line change by Jared Cowen (some have blamed Sergei Gonchar for this, but Paul MacLean fingered the rookie)
2. Lidstrom goal – terrible pass by Chris Phillips to the wrong team
3. Emmerton goal – courtesy of a turnover by Erik Karlsson
4. Hudler goal – created by a Jared Cowen turnover (this is a goal I think Craig Anderson could have stopped–he got too deep in his net)
5. White goal – Stephane Da Costa loses the draw cleanly and the puck is fired through a Phillips screen
6. Michalek goal – deflects a Jason Spezza shot
7. Michalek goal – great pass from Spezza and great move from Michalek
8. Kuba goal – shoots through a Colin Greening screen
–Bobby Butler continues to remain in MacLean’s dog house, receiving by far the least amount of ice time
–Daniel Alfredsson was -3
-MacLean did some line juggling in the third period, putting Alfredsson with Da Costa while Zibanejad joined Zack Smith and Chris Neil
-MacLean liked Da Costa, thought Zibanejad played nervous and thought Cowen was up and down; he said of the team’s overall effort that he’s “not totally displeased”
Overall Spezza, Michalek, Neil, and Condra had strong games, while Phillips and Cowen struggled.  Speaking of Phillips, he had this to say post-game (link), “We all have to be a little smarter with the puck and make better decisions. It’s a part of the game. You have some guys who are just starting out and it’s going to happen. Tonight it was everyone who was making costly mistakes.”  One final, niggling detail I’ve seen repeated in a couple of Ottawa Citizen articles: Ottawa did not ice four rookies (Zibanejad, Da Costa, Cowen, and Greening), but five (Condra), with three others who have never played a full NHL season (Smith, Butler, and Filatov).

In Binghamton, the Calder Cup champs lost 3-2 to Hershey, being out shot 37-29.  I did not see the game, but a few things stick out looking at the game sheet (link) and Joy Lindsay’s game blog (link):
–Patrick Wiercioch had a goal and assist and was named the game’s second star, but was on the ice for all three goals against and made a weak play on the boards that cost a goal
–Mike Hoffman was -3 and was guilty of a turnover that lead to a goal
–Pat Cannone lead the team with five shots
-Hershey scored two short-handed goals
-Binghamton had a goal called back in the third period
Joy interviewed Kurt Kleinendorst (among others) after the game (link): “I thought we got better as the game went along. We took some penalties early, they got some momentum early, the shot clock looked ugly early, but at the end of the day, I thought our killers did a great job. And it was really our power play that did us in. First two goals against our power play. We did get one back, but you can’t be a minus-1 on the power play and expect to win against most teams, let alone Hershey. It’s an early day. I have to think we’ll be just fine, but we still have some work to do.” And “I thought Cowie [Corey Cowick] did a great job. He’s one of those guys that has already kind of shown what hard work does for you. He worked hard over the summer, and his game has improved quite a bit.”

October 8, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

I wrote about my expectations for Ottawa’s and Binghamton’s rosters back in July (link and link), providing a Bingo update in August (link) .  With opening night just hours away I thought it was worthwhile to revisit my prognostication.  I made a number of predictions beginning with Ottawa:

1. Nikita Filatov will make the team
Correct
2. David Rundblad will make the team and be ahead of Jared Cowen
Correct in the first instance, incorrect in the second; although he made the team, for the moment he’s the seventh defenseman
3. Bobby Butler will play in the top six
Incorrect; this may eventually be the case, but he starts the season on the fourth line
4. Erik Karlsson will play in the top pairing
Correct
5. Zenon Konopka and Jesse Winchester will play on the fourth line
Correct
6. Chris Neil will play in the bottom six
Correct
7. Peter Regin will play center
Correct
8. I did not think Mika Zibanejad would make the lineup
Incorrect; he may only last 9 games, but he did earn the right to be part of the team to start the season.
9. Projected lineup (I hedged a bit on defence); tonight’s actual lines are in bold (my misses in italics):
Nikita Filatov-Jason Spezza-Bobby Butler
Milan Michalek-Jason Spezza-Nikita Filatov
Milan Michalek–Peter Regin-Daniel Alfredsson
Colin Greening-Mika Zibanejad-Daniel Alfredsson
Nick Foligno-Zack Smith–Erik Condra
Nick Foligno-Stephane Da Costa-Chris Neil
Colin Greening-Zenon Konopka-Chris Neil
Erik Condra-Zack Smith-Bobby Butler
Erik Karlsson-Chris Phillips
Chris Phillips-Erik Karlsson
Filip Kuba-David Rundblad or Brian Lee-Sergei Gonchar
Jared Cowen-Sergei Gonchar
Sergei Gonchar-Matt Carkner or Filip Kuba-David Rundblad
Filip Kuba-Brian Lee

With Peter Regin, Matt Carkner, and Zenon Konopka injured my predictions take quite a hit.  It appears as though when Regin and Konopka are healthy they will slot in as I’d guessed, but it remains to be seen how that shifts the other forwards around.  I got one blueline pairing spot on and I’m correct that when Rundblad plays it will be with Kuba, but the other guesses were thrown off by Jared Cowen making the team.  My overall prediction for the how the team will fair hasn’t changed since the summer.

Here are my Binghamton projected lines with the actual lineup in bold (link); my errors are highlighted in italics:
Kaspars Daugavins-Corey Locke-Mark Parrish
Mike Hoffman-Corey Locke-Mark Parrish
Mike Hoffman–Stephane Da Costa-Jim O’Brien
Jim O’Brien-Derek Grant-Kaspars Daugavins
Derek Grant-David Dziurzynski-Andre Petersson
Pat Cannone-David Dziurzynski-Andre Petersson
Pat Cannone–Louie Caporusso-Francis Lessard
Corey Cowick-Wacey Hamilton-Francis Lessard
Jared Cowen–Eric Gryba
Mark Borowiecki-Tim Conboy
Patrick Wiercioch-Mark Borowiecki
Eric Gryba-Patrick Wiercioch
Tim Conboy-Craig Schira
Bobby Raymond-Craig Schira

With Stephane Da Costa still in Ottawa I’ll give myself a pass on placing Derek Grant on the third line.  I thought Kleinendorst would stick with the veteran Daugavins over Hoffman for first line duty, but the latter had such a good training camp he’s being rewarded.  Both Cowick and Hamilton are on the roster–with the missing Da Costa I would have picked the former to slide into the lineup, but it’s impressive that the younger Hamilton has knocked Caporusso into the pressbox to start the season.

On the blueline I expected Jared Cowen to be with Binghamton, so his absence throws my projections off.  I would not have picked Conboy to be in the top-pairing and wouldn’t have envisioned a top duo featuring he and Borowiecki.  The blueline as it’s currently composed it’s going to be very reliant on both Wiercioch and Raymond to generate offence.

October 7, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

Today’s Sens news ahead of the season opener:

-Ottawa’s lineup for tonight against Detroit (link, which airs on Sportsnet), with Konpoka out due to bumps and bruises; The Team 1200 just reported that they believe Lee will play instead of Rundblad, but as it’s not definitive I’m leaving both options below:
Milan Michalek-Jason Spezza-Nikita Filatov
Colin Greening-Mika Zibanejad-Daniel Alfredsson
Nick Foligno-Stephane Da Costa-Chris Neil
Erik Condra-Zack Smith-Bobby Butler
Chris Phillips-Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen-Sergei Gonchar
Filip Kuba-David Rundblad/Brian Lee

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Allen Panzeri has a Q&A with Bryan Murray (link) which includes some interesting statements: “Milan Michalek looks like he has come into camp in great shape. If he can  score 25 goals or thereabout, that would be a real bonus to our team. If Nikita Filatov could get 20, we would be incredibly happy, but I don’t know if we  thought that he would be a goal scorer. I think he’s a playmaker. I think he’s a  guy that creates offence by the way he skates and handles the puck.  I don’t think at any time during his career, even when he was drafted by Columbus, that anyone thought he was going to be a high-end goal scorer.”  I don’t recall hearing Filatov described as a playmaker before and I wonder if Murray is simply trying to adjust expectations away from goals.  “There’s no question Brian Lee has to step up. He’s not going to be a point  getter, so maybe he can be a shutdown guy with (Chris Phillips) or whoever Paul decides to put him with. But he has to be strong, be forceful, be a contributing  player.”  This is pretty straightforward to me–if Lee isn’t great defensively there’s no point in having him on the roster.

-Rob Brodie writes about the anticipation for the season opener (link) which includes some interesting comments.  Chris Phillips said, “It seems like everyone’s on the same page. There’s not a lot of guys behind the scenes trying to figure out exactly what’s going on, or any confusion. It is a clear message about what they expect — a lot of skating and hard work. We’ll start from there and if we do that on a nightly basis, things are going to fall into place for us.”  The implication (that last year there were a lot of guys behind the scenes trying to figure out what was going on) is stark.  Jason Spezza added, “It’s probably the hardest camp that I’ve had in years. He’s got our skating legs under us and we’re looking forward to getting in some games and using our legs in a productive manner and not just in practice … The practices are the hard part and the games are the fun part. We’re looking forward to getting into games and reaping some of the benefits of what we’ve been doing in practice.”

–The Ottawa Citizen weighs in with their predictions for the Senators this year (link), which range from 12th-15th.

–The Silver Seven offers their predictions for the Sens (link), which range from 8th-14th.

-The Binghamton Senators roster has been set (link), with Josh Godfrey, Jack Downing, Mike Ratchuk, Mike Radja, and Corey Milan sent down to the ECHL (Joy’s link accidentally misses Max Gratchev making the team below, so I added him in).
29 — Mike McKenna
40 — Robin Lehner
2 — Eric Gryba
5 — Mark Borowiecki
6 — Craig Schira
9 — Bobby Raymond
17 — Patrick Wiercioch
38 — Tim Conboy
11 — Louie Caporusso
12 — Patrick Cannone
13 — Mark Parrish
16 — Kaspars Daugavins
19 — Jim O’Brien
20 — Andre Petersson
21 — Derek Grant
22  — David Dziurzynski
23  — Corey Cowick
27  — Mike Hoffman
36  — Wacey Hamilton
39  — Max Gratchev
44  — Francis Lessard
84  — Corey Locke

-The Binghamton opening lineup for tonight against Hershey (link), with Louie Caporusso and Max Gratchev as the scratches:
Mike Hoffman-Corey Locke-Mark Parrish
Jim O’Brien-Derek Grant-Kaspars Daugavins
Pat Cannone-David Dziurzynski-Andre Petersson
Corey Cowick-Wacey Hamilton-Francis Lessard
Mark Borowiecki-Tim Conboy
Eric Gryba-Patrick Wiercioch
Bobby Raymond-Craig Schira

-The Elmira Jackals released six players from their training camp roster (link), Alec Kirschner, Matt Moffat, Paul Arnott, Vinny Geonnetti, Clay Goodall, and Michael DiLorenzo.

–The Canadian Press included some amusing comments from Chris Nilan after Don Cherry‘s rant on Hockey Night in Canada, but this morning Sportsnet had removed them from the article so I had to go and find them elsewhere (City TV‘s site, link): “Let’s get it straight right here and now, I never said that players who were fighters were prone to alcoholism and drug abuse. I guess those who can’t play coach, or just had a show called coaches corner. pretty sad he has to say that to get ratings. Guess he see’s the writing on the wall with CBC losing market share to Bell and TSN.“

October 7, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

Today’s Sens news:

-Rob Brodie writes about Paul MacLean for the Sens website (link), where the coach (among other things) talks about his approach, “Mike [Babcock] is very prepared. He empowers his players by talking to them and finding out how he can help them or how they feel the coaching staff can help them. Communication with your players nowadays is a really important thing. It doesn’t have to be on a daily, everyday basis with every player, but I think it’s important that players know where they stand and what the expectations are for them as players. Then it’s way easier to demand it if they know it.”

–The Hockey Writers’ Andrew Sykes looks at rookies to watch this year (link) and two Senators make his top ten: David Rundblad at #10, “While his teammate and felow rookie Jared Cowen arguably had the better training camp of the two, Rundblad’s offensive ability gives him the nod at #10. The soon to be 21-year-old is coming off a season in which he was the leading scorer among defenseman in the Swedish Elite League winning the Borje Salming award as the league’s best defenseman. An offensively gifted blue-liner with good size and mobility, Rundblad will look to follow in Erik Karlsson’s footsteps as an all-star rear-guard for the Sens. He did however struggle at times in his own zone in the pre-season so whether or not he is able to adjust to the defensive side of the game will likely be the biggest factor in determining if he is able to remain in the line-up.”  Mika Zibanejad is #7, “The 6th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, Zibanejad made it almost impossible for the Senators not to keep him around for at least the start of the regular season. The rangy Swedish center had an excellent training camp and was the club’s most consistently dangerous threat throughout the pre-season. The 18-year-old is an exceptionally skilled player who already has NHL size and strength; something that was noticeable in the pre-season games and should help him to have continued success in the regular season. Depending on how he is utilized through the first 10 games of the season, Zibanejad has a good shot at remaining with the club and could become a a darkhorse contender for the Calder Trophy.”

–Sports Illustrated‘s Darren Eliot looks at the Northeast division (link) and says this about the Ottawa Senators: “The Senators are in full rebuild mode. New head coach Paul MacLean will have some long nights with a young group that includes enigmatic forward Nikita  Filatov  and defensemen David Rundblad and Jared Cowen. MacLean gets his first opportunity behind an NHL bench after nearly a decade as an assistant in Detroit, where kids go to the AHL before they ever see the ice at the top level.  The Sens don’t have that luxury, so this season is all about learning for all involved.”  He picks Craig Anderson as the team’s MVP, says Jared Cowen is the kid to watch, says we should keep an eye on how Daniel Alfredsson performs coming off surgery, and ends with “The Senators know their plight. They’ve restocked draft picks and prospects.  Some are here now. Others are a few years away. Ottawa is at least that far from playoff contention again. Patience will be paramount — in the moment and in the  longer view.”

–Sport’s Illustrated also has an article with 30 questions–one for each team (link).  Ottawa’s is: “With questionable depth among their scoring forwards, can Nikita Filatov really be the steal of the offseason and will 18-year-old Mika Zibanejad not be overwhelmed? Can both provide the Senators with the weaponry to worry opponents? And can Sergei Gonchar bounce back from a terrible season and spark the Sens’ rushes and power play?”

-The Sens announced that CKOI 104,7 will be broadcasting all the Sens game in French (link). Prior to this year the station covered all the team’s home games and about half the road contests, so it’s a great step forward for fans in the area who either want to listen in French or want the occasional break from The Team 1200.

-Allen Panzeri writes down some memorable Sens quotes for Senators Extra (link).  The collection is a mixed bag, but here are my two favourites:
–“Look, if I’d known Mullen was open, I never would’ve passed it to Stevens.” – Defenceman Ken Hammond analyzes a play during a Jan. 16, 1993 game that saw his pass out of the Ottawa zone intercepted by Penguin Kevin Stevens. Stevens then passed to Joey Mullen for a goal in what would be a 6-1 Pittsburgh win.
–Do you want me to stop the ones that are going wide, too?” – Tom Barrasso

-Joy Lindsay reports that Binghamton practised special teams today (link), with the following combinations: Daugavins-Locke-Parrish with Wiercioch-Hoffman, O’Brien-Grant-Petersson with Raymond-Borowiecki; Cowick, Dziurzynski, Hamilton, Gryba, Conboy and Schira were on the PK.

–The Silver Seven‘s Bobby Kelly has a preview of the Binghamton Senators (link).  It’s mostly a look at the roster changes since they won the Calder Cup.  The most interesting comment is “Tim Murray commented that the only player in Binghamton he believed had the tools necessary to play on an NHL top-six, if he worked hard, was Mike Hoffman. It’s doubtful TM would repeat that sentiment now…”  I’m not sure what Kelly means, since Randy Lee echoed the sentiments on The Team 1200 on Tuesday, so I assume Kelly himself doesn’t believe it.

-The Elmira Jackals added two more players to their training camp (link):Tim Marks (AHL 45-4-1-5), who signed a contract, and Stephen Mallaro (NCAA 26-4-13-17) to a tryout.  Elmira also announced an affiliate agreement with the FHL’s Danbury Whalers.

October 6, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment