Today’s news roundup (incidentally, I’ll be posting my Sens prediction this evening):

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch interviewed an unnamed NHL executive about the Sens (link) who had some interesting things to say.  About Ottawa’s prospects he said, “A lot of people at the draft felt he [Zibanejad] was like Gabriel Landeskog and he was NHL ready. He’s got high-end skill and he was chosen No. 6 overall for a reason.  The good news is they’ve got those kids [the prospects]. Nobody’s sure what role they’re all going to play, but they’re all prospects.”  On Craig Anderson, “Can Anderson handle it? The way I look at it, the situation is the same as it was in Colorado, he’s got absolutely nothing to lose. He seems to thrive in that scenario. There’s not a whole lot of pressure and he’s going to face some quality chances. He’s not like Carey Price, he doesn’t have to win. He’s not going to be under the microscope with expectations of winning.”

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Wayne Scanlan wonders who will score for the Sens this year (link).  There’s not much new here, but Scanlan comments that Bryan Murray “dismisses Butler’s ineffective pre-season as a lack of opportunity and suggests  Butler will re-establish himself when the fur flies in the regular season.”

-Rod Brodie, writing for the Sens website, has an article on Nikita Filatov (link), where the winger says “The atmosphere is getting way easier, way better and I just feel more comfortable here. I also need to say the veteran group is very easygoing helping a lot … (there are) lots of jokes and it’s easy to get into the atmosphere here.”

–Sportsnet‘s Ian Mendes offers his prediction for the Senators (link).  It’s worth reading the entire piece, but some highlights: “Anderson is probably the fourth-best goalie in his own division. That’s not a knock against the Sens netminder, so much as it’s a credit to the strength of goaltending within the Northeast. Tim Thomas and Ryan Miller have combined to win the last three Vezina trophies. And Carey Price strongly deserved mention in both the Vezina and Hart conversations last year.” And “Look for the Sens to finish somewhere in the same neighborhood as they did last year — maybe 12th or 13th in the conference. But unlike a year ago, the expectations have been drastically lowered in Ottawa so missing the playoffs won’t be viewed as a disappointment by the fan base.”

–The 6th Sens Scott writes that it’s a bad idea for Mika Zibanejad to stay with the Sens the whole year (link, where he compares him to other Swedish teenagers) while The Silver Seven‘s Dave Young disagrees (link), comparing him to Jordan Staal.

-Joy Lindsay has posted Binghamton’s lines and combinations at practice (link): Hoffman-Locke-Parrish, Grant-O’Brien-Daugavins, Cannone-Dziurzynski-Petersson, Cowick-Hamilton-Lessard, Gratchev-Caporusso-Downing/Radja; Borowiecki-Conboy, Gryba-Wiercioch, Raymond-Schira, Godfrey-Ratchuk.

October 5, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

Lot’s of Sens news today:

–Sportsnet‘s Ian Mendes interviewed Daniel Alfredsson about the upcoming season (link) and he made an interesting comment, “It all depends on how I feel, but I’m going to play like this is my last year and we’ll see how it goes. I think I approach it that way — that it could be the last one because you never know. I’m just going to give it everything I have and have no regrets looking back after.  If at the end of the year, if I’m feeling good and the team is going in the right direction, I wouldn’t say that I wouldn’t play the following season.”

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Don Brennan has a wide-ranging article (link):
*Colin Greening talked about his training camp, “I was lucky enough to get in five pre-season games and I felt like Boston was probably one of my better ones … I was able to finally get the monkey off my back and get a point. The only thing I told myself is, I’ll just play wherever they put me. I think that I can compliment a lot of people. Whether I’m on a fourth line, or just penalty killing, or whatever, I think that it’s important to try and compliment the guys on my line.”
*Bryan Murray commented on Bobby Butler‘s lacklustre camp, “Bobby Butler is supposed to be a goal scorer and he hasn’t scored. Whether he’s been provided the same amount of ice time and opportunity, I’m not sure. But Bobby will end up being fine. He’s a competitive guy that shoots the puck well. When he gets a chance when we drop the puck, I believe he’ll be one of the guys that after a few games you’ll say, ‘you know what, he didn’t do it in pre-season but he is a good pro.”
*Paul MacLean talked about his approach to the roster and David Rundblad, “Somebody has to (sit). I’m not sure how we’re going to do it. You go on the road in the NHL, it’s a hard league to learn in. Sometimes having two young defencemen out there might become a bit of a hazard. We’re going to study it and we’ll make the decision we think is best for the team to win, no matter who ends up sitting in the press box.  I thought he [Rundblad] played well defensively, he did a lot of good things with the puck to elude checks and make exit passes. But it’s a good two weeks for him. Time is what makes you a National Hockey League player. Expectations for him are to remain the same, knowing that at the same time young players tend to go up and down… we have to make sure we continue to impress upon him the need to be here every day, and to do it right every day. So far he has.”

-Both Brennan and The Ottawa Citizen‘s Allen Panzeri have articles that look at Nikita Filatov (link and link), with Brennan selectively using quotes to make the situation look iffy.  Brennan quotes Paul MacLean saying “We felt that if Nikita is going to play on our team, it’s going to be in the Top 6. He has the skill level to be a Top 6 forward in this league, so we’re giving him that opportunity. I don’t think he’s played his way out of that opportunity at this point”, while Panzeri has “I think Nikita’s come in and worked real hard and been good with the puck, and he’s been diligent without the puck.” Brennan quotes Bryan Murray talked about his training camp, “He didn’t finish, which kind of surprised me a little bit. I thought he’d score a couple of goals on the chances he had, but he made some very creative plays. I thought he was very aware on the ice. Again, it comes down to will he compete every night at the NHL level, so that he’s allowed to continue to show his ability with the puck. But he’s very much an NHL skater, very much has the hands and head to play in the league. It’s just a matter of watching him as we go forward here, and can he contribute. He has to get offensive points to be a contributor here”, while Panzeri has “I liked his camp. I think he’s a real high-end, skilled kid.  He didn’t finish, which surprised me a little bit, because I thought he’d score  a couple of goals with the chances he had. But he made some creative plays. I thought he was very aware on the ice.”

-From Brennan Filatov himself takes his performance in pre-season with a grain of salt, “It’s not a huge problem. Still lots of time before the first game. I have to kind of get more into it, shoot more in practice. There are lots of guys who didn’t score in pre-season, and they are way bigger players than me. I don’t really think it’s a huge problem. I think I work pretty hard out there. A couple of times I helped partners to score, and it’s more about that.”  Whatever anyone thinks of his camp, being slotted with Spezza is a reward for Filatov, although I have to think at some point he’ll be switched to his preferred side (the left) given how weak the team is on the side.

-The Binghamton Senators lost 4-3 in overtime to Hershey.  The team was badly out shot, but Mike McKenna kept them in the game.  Derek Grant, Andre Petersson, and Jim O’Brien scored in the team’s last pre-season game.  For more notes check out Joy Lindsay’s blog (link).

-TSN has their list of top-50 players posted (link), but no Senator makes the list.

-ESPN’s Scott Burnside’s power rankings are posted (link), with Ottawa nestled in the basement just ahead of Edmonton; “Ottawa has a great young blue line in the making, but there are way too many holes and question marks for the Senators to be anything but a lottery team this season.”

-I have no interest in debating who has been the best among Senators players over the last 20 years, but there’s a lot of material and debate out there.  The organisation’s celebration has struck me as odd ever since it was announced since 20 years is such a short period of time.  Typically teams’ celebrate recent eras that involved championships, but given that this year is a rebuild I understand the team’s desire to give fans something to focus on beyond the product on the ice.

-I’ll be posting my prediction for the Sens and the Eastern Conference later today or tomorrow.

October 4, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

Today’s Sens news:

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch talked to Craig Anderson about the upcoming season (link), with the goaltender remaining optimistic heading into it, “When you’re not expected to do anything, you play loose. When you’re expected to finish at the top of your division, there are expectations there. When things don’t go your way, and you’re supposed to be a top-ranked team, you could slide sideways and go downhill. When you’re on the bottom, working your way up, it’s just a constant grind. You play loose. You’ve got nothing to lose.”  Ken Warren (in The Ottawa Citizen, link) has an article with a similar theme, but there’s nothing new there.  I cite it because I disagree with Warren that the Sens have never had a goalie who could win games by themselves before–Dominik Hasek could when healthy.

-Allen Panzeri writes for Senators Extra about the upcoming season (link), looking at the Senators difficulty in scoring goals.  Paul MacLean said “Goals are at a premium for every team in the league, and we’re no different than any other team. We have to find ways to create offence and scoring chances for ourselves. We’ve done that (in the pre-season), not in every game, obviously, because we played way too much in our own end in the Newfoundland game and the game in Boston. We can’t continue to do that and have success. You don’t create much offence playing in your own end. Being efficient defensively and being able to come out of our own end with some speed is still a priority. When you do those things, you create scoring chances and you create offence, and that’s what we need to do.”

–Sportsnet‘s Ian Mendes has tweeted the Sens lineup in practice (link): Michalek-Spezza-Filatov, Greening-Zibanejad-Alfredsson, Foligno-Smith-Neil, Condra-Konopka-Butler; Phillips-Lee, Kuba-Karlsson, Cowen-Gonchar, Rundblad.  [A quick update via Mendes’ Twitter feed: Matt Carkner will miss at least a month due to knee surgery.]

–Pro Hockey Talk‘s James O’Brien has his Ottawa preview posted (link).  He doesn’t like their scoring depth or their blueline, but likes Craig Anderson and Paul MacLean.  He see’s Bobby Butler as a potential breakout candidate (I guess he doesn’t put much stock into training camps).  He rounds out his thoughts with “The Senators are a lousy team, although Spezza and Alfredsson could very well produce bounce-back years (while Gonchar could at least be functional). Anderson is a solid goalie who might hit some serious slumps behind a talent-poor squad, but should be given the leeway to stumble here and there. Ottawa could flirt (at least briefly) with playoff contention, but it would be in their best interest to lay low in the cellar and re-stock the cupboard with young talent. Right now this franchise is in a really tough spot, so making the postseason just to get bounced dismissively from the first round wouldn’t do them much good.”

–Puck Daddy’s Ryan Lambert makes predictions for the upcoming season (link), below which he has a blurb about each team including this about Ottawa: “The Sens say they aren’t concerned about their offensive output. Their D and goaltending is going to be so bad that it won’t matter even a little.”  He’s the first person I’ve read who doesn’t like the Sens goaltending.

-The Binghamton Senators play their final pre-season game against Hershey tonight at 7:00 (link).  The game is being broadcast in the US on BIG 107.5 (WBBI-FM).

-Speaking of Binghamton, John Henkelman of Hockey Futures has their preview of their upcoming season posted (link).  Unfortunately, other than naming the players he doesn’t delve into any analysis I can dig into.

-Joy Lindsay reports (link) that Brian Stewart, Jake Reeds, Mike Devin, and Donnie Harris have been sent to Elmira’s camp, while Binghamton has been joined by invites Mike Radja, Mike Ratchuk, and goaltender Corey Milan (NCAA 2.98 .867).  She provides the following forward lines ahead of the game: Daugavins-Grant-Petersson, Parrish-Downing-Radja, Hoffman-Caporusso-Gratchev, Dziurzynski-Cannone-O’Brien, Hamilton-Cowick-Lessard.  I assume that Hamilton will actually centre the fourth line.

-The Elmira Jackals (link) have signed Joey Ryan (2-48/06 LA, ECHL 53-5-13-18) and given Artem Demkov (Belarus 43-15-21-36) a tryout contract.  Demkov played in the QMJHL a couple of years ago.

–Mika Zibanejad‘s older brother Monir Kalgoum has signed with Botkyrka Hockey, a Division 2 team (three levels below the SEL, link).

October 3, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

Here’s today’s Sens news:

–The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch writes about Jason Spezza being given an “A” this season (link), an expected move given all the talk about his leadership at the end of last season.  Alfredsson said “He’s one of the best players in the league. He’s been around a long time, he’s played at the world juniors, was part of the Olympics (in 2006) and the world championships, so he’s got a lot of experience. He’s a good team guy. He helps the young guys a lot and makes my life a lot easier as well.”

-Garrioch also writes about the current roster (link), where Mika Zibanejad shows a very realistic view of his current status, “We’ll see what happens when every team has their best team. You’ve got to be able to take your game to the next level.”  Garrioch says that Da Costa is with the team depending on Peter Regin‘s health, with the same caveat for Rundblad in regards to Carkner and Phillips injuries, but this reads like speculation on his part.

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Allen Panzeri also writes about Zibanejad (link), which includes an interesting comment from Alfredsson, “When you’re a high pick, that usually means you have a lot of skill. But for  a guy who doesn’t have a lot of experience playing against men, he’s doing  really well. He’s smart, with the puck and without the puck, and I think that’s why he  has surprised a lot of people. He just has to play the same way. It’s a different intensity level once the regular season starts, but I’m  sure he’s just going to follow everybody else. I thought the game in Boston (a 2-1 Ottawa win) was high intensity. It was  one of the better exhibition games I’ve played in, and he handled himself really  well in that one. So I don’t think it will be a tough adjustment for him going forward. He’ll  do well.”

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Wayne Scanlan writes about what to expect of the team heading into this season (link).  It’s an interesting article and I agree with him when he says, “But with a team this inexperienced, there will be more than a few rope-a-dope  nights during which the Senators strive to just hang in there behind the heroics  of Anderson. Outshot 40-20, the Senators probably had no business winning the game 2-1,  but Anderson stole it, as he will have to time and again for the Senators to  stay afloat in the Eastern Conference.”  Scanlan ends his article with 12 questions for this season, which in brief are: 1. Who will score?  2. Can Anderson handle the load?  3. Will the older blueliners rebound?  4-5. Will the young players rise to the occasion?  6. Is this Alfredsson‘s last year?  7. Will Spezza emerge as a complete player?  8. Will the middle-tier players (Regin, Foligno, Lee) emerge?  9. Can Zibanejad have an impact?  10. Will the Filatov gamble pay off?  11. Will fans be patient?  12. What constitutes a successful season?  These are all excellent, pertinent questions and the reasons behind why so many prognosticators are picking the Sens to be at the bottom of the conference–too many things have to go their way for that to change.

-The Binghamton Senators lost 4-3 to Hamilton last night.  Corey Cowick, Jim O’Brien, and Kyle Reeds scored the goals for Binghamton.  The B-Sens were down 3-1, fought back to tie, and then Mark Parrish took a dumb penalty that lost them the game in regulation.  The most recent cuts from Ottawa are joining Binghamton today.

-I’ve been listening to the sports media debate the suspensions that have been handed out this pre-season and have to wonder if there’s an actual point to it.  There are clearly some players and journalists who don’t like what’s happened, but I don’t believe it extends very far into the fan base.  The Hockey News‘ Ryan Kennedy looks at the issue from the standpoint of current players (link) and includes a good quote from Ryan Miller, “It’s a small group of guys making it difficult for the rest of us. We’re trying to get that culture out where it’s OK to be a little rat on the ice and not have to be accountable for it. No one has to fight now if they don’t want to and I think some guys hide behind that. So they go out and try to hurt guys and play a game I don’t think our fans want to see.”  I believe the changes are a reflection of what fans want (along with potential fear about lawsuits like the ones the NFL face).  Those who oppose the policy would be better off avoiding hysterics (eg there won’t be any hitting).  Kneejerk reactions to change are common, but it’s odd to me to see them coming without much support from fans.  Regardless, I expect to see the debate continue for months more.

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