-No lineup changes are expected tonight.

–Robin Lehner isn’t interested in talking about his season in Binghamton, “I don’t really care what people say about me and my statistics in the AHL. I know what they are and I know me, myself, how it’s been, and why. I’ve gone through a lot since I came over here, and I’m learning from it. I have people who are helping me to go through it. Everything is a learning thing and I’m learning every day.”

–Craig Anderson won’t discuss how his injury happened, “I really don’t care to talk about the details of it all. (It was a) freak accident. Happened in the kitchen. Leave it at that. Something you learn from. Unfortunately, it was a costly mistake. I knew it was severe when it happened,” he said when asked if he thought his career was in jeopardy. “I knew it wasn’t the end of the world. I knew I had an issue, I knew I needed to take care of it. My main concern was just to get the help I needed right away, get the right people involved right away to make sure the road to recovery happened as soon as possible.”  I don’t understand his reticence, but the specifics are irrelevant.

-A lot of ink has been spilled talking about Erik Karlsson as a Norris Trophy candidate.  Laurie Boschman offers a pile of numbers supporting him, while Tyler Dellow presents numbers against him (Dellow makes the mistake in his presentation by not applying his analysis to any other player, making comparison via his method impossible).  Greg Wyshynski decries Karlsson‘s defensive acumen as compared to other candidates and ultimately I think that train of thought will win the day when it comes to voting (hockey traditionalists despise players they consider to be one-dimensional).  The prejudice clearly still bothers Paul Coffey, who said “No disrespect to defensive defencemen, but every team has one, How many teams have a defenceman that can do what Erik Karlsson is doing? (The award) should go to an exceptional defenceman. That’s Karlsson this year.”  Personally, whether Karlsson wins the trophy or not is irrelevant.  He’s having an excellent season and is a major reason why the Sens have played so well this year.

-Speaking of Karlsson, Chris Phillips credits him with the improvement on the Sens blueline this year, “I think having D-men jump up in the play and getting involved is something that helps the forwards. Being involved, being an option (for a pass), forces the other team to back off, not play them as hard, be aware of guys jumping up. That gives forwards more time with the puck and time to make plays.”

–Bob McKenzie reports that a group from Saskatoon is trying to land an NHL franchise.  It’s hard to imagine a city that small being granted a franchise, but McKenzie does indicate that it’s not completely implausible.

March 2, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Senators president Cyril Leeder is trying to drum up pressure to fight against the plans of the Ontario government to eliminate the tax exemption for sports tickets.  I won’t go into the specifics of how much business the team might lose (if any), but the idea that it threatens the franchise is a joke–Eugene Melnyk has nowhere to move the team and neither he nor the league are going to dissolve it.  I expect the sports journalists in the city will push the panic button regardless.

–Ken Warren is worried about the length of Erik Karlsson‘s contract, but he doesn’t provide good comparables to make his point.  Karlsson is 21 and has no history of serious injury problems, so how long a deal is too long?  I don’t think there’s much point in fans speculating on the kinds of hypothetical’s that has Warren worried–Craig Anderson‘s four years will bother me more than Karlsson getting six or seven.

–Joy Lindsay reports that Mark Parrish will return to the lineup tomorrow.  Here are the lines: Mike Hoffman-Corey Locke-Derek Grant, Rob Klinkhammer-Wacey Hamilton-Mark Parrish, David Dziurzynski-Pat Cannone-André Petersson, Jack Downing-Mike Bartlett-Francis Lessard; Mark Borowiecki-Eric Gryba, Tim Conboy-Dan Henningson, Patrick Wiercioch-Craig Schira, Josh Godfrey.  Ben Bishop is expected to start Friday and Sunday with Mike McKenna on Saturday.

RTS Sport interviewed Roman Wick about his season last year and he had some interesting things to say, “I played three exhibition games in training camp. Each game, I had less than 10 minutes of playtime and it made me lose faith in myself. I felt that the coach [Corey Clouston] did not have faith in me. Da Costa arrived at the end of the season, but he played in the NHL directly, without going to the minors. Ottawa must think the NCAA is better than the NLA, but I know what I’m worth. I feel that I am better than him. I’m glad to have become the first Swiss player to win the Calder Cup. There were about 10,000 people in the streets of Binghamton, a city more or less as large as Zug [26,000], to celebrate our victory.”  Wick said he has not given up his NHL dream (presumably he has an opt out clause in his three-year contract).  I don’t disagree with him that Clouston was not interested in giving him much of a chance, but he shows considerably naiveté in not understanding the tools teams have to use to lure NCAA free agents.  Ottawa retained his rights so he could be invited to training camp, but it’s difficult to see where or how Wick would fit into the organisational depth chart.

–The Silver Seven‘s bobbykelly continues to look at Ottawa’s organisational depth and includes Nikita Filatov at #22.  “If Filatov plays in the NHL, it is sure to be in a top-six role” seems true enough.  The other issue is that Filatov financially supports his family and cannot or will not do that with an AHL salary.

–Bobby Raymond has been sent back to the ECHL

-Elmira won last night with Brian Stewart earning the win and Corey Cowick held off the scoresheet.

–DJ Powers writes about the top free agent collegiate prospects, which he lists as follows:
Spencer Abbott, 5’9, LW, Maine, 33-19-37-56
J. T. Brown, 5’10, RW, Minnesota-Duluth, 32-20-22-42
Jack Connolly, 5’8, C, Minnesota-Duluth, 34-18-36-54
Dan DeKeyser, 6’2, D, Western Michigan, 36-5-8-13
Brian Flinn, 6’0, C, Maine, 33-17-28-45
Torey Krug, 5’9, D, Michigan State, 35-11-21-32
Jack MacLellan, 5’11, C, Brown, 27-15-14-29
Chris Rawlings, 6’5, G, Northeastern, 30-12-13-5 2.63 .919
Jeremy Walsh, 6’3, C/W, Union, 33-22-13-35

March 1, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment