-The Binghamton Senators lost a weird game to Syracuse last night, a game in which they built up a 5-0 lead in dominating fashion and then lost in overtime due to some awful goaltending from Nathan Lawson.  The officiating wasn’t great (Dave Schreiber described Jamie Koharski as incompetent), but ultimately wasn’t the main reason behind the team’s loss.  There was some attempt to blame Robin Lehner for getting into a fight mid-period (most of the post-game questions to Richardson were about that), as if that forgives the team and his backup for yielding 6 goals in 35 minutes.  Cannone, Hoffman, Eckford, Grant, and Borowiecki scored for Binghamton.  Here are the game highlights.  Luke Richardson said they failed to come together as a team and that the lesson learned was to play a full sixty minute game.

-Binghamton plays Hershey shortly; no update on the lineup yet.  Jon DiSalvatore and Jeff Taffe currently lead the Bears in scoring.  Hershey lost a wild game 8-7 against Rochester last night.

-Here are highlights from the team’s game against Hershey.

-Elmira beat Wheeling 5-0, with Cheverie earning the shutout, Caporusso scored, Wideman two assists, New an assist, while Downing and Blood were held off the scoresheet.  Here’s the game recap.

-Elmira released Kevin McCarey, while Brandon Blandina and Brad Peltz were placed on reserve.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 21, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-Binghamton lost 3-2 to Hershey last night in an entertaining game.  The B-Sens dominated much of game (outshooting the Bears 44-21), particularly once they were down 2-0.  The officials put the whistles away until it was 3-0, in yet another illustration of how irrational hockey officiating is.  The last ten minutes saw Binghamton get back into the game with a powerplay goal by Benoit, a huge hit by Gryba, a shorthanded tally (Eckford) off a dumb Gryba penalty, but it was all too little, too late.  One amusing element of the broadcast was having it cut off when Grady Whittenburg started to talk about the US election.  All the goals on Lehner were through screens.  Jared Cowen left the game with an injury, but Luke Richardson didn’t think it was serious.

In terms of player impressions Mark Stone has elevated his game significantly after an indifferent pre-season and his line (with Grant and Dziurzynski) has been the most consistent over the last two games.  Andre Petersson has struggled this season with what are largely mental errors (something that’s plagued Gryba as well).  I’ll mention Silfverberg because he played well–it’s expected so it doesn’t seem remarkable, but given who is centering his line (Pageau) he’s had a good start to the year.  Finally, Corey Cowick continues to be completely invisible.

Richardson was not happy with the team’s start, saying they were “sleepy” and made a number of unforced errors (particularly those in the defensive zone).  He said he believes the poor start lost them the game and I fully agree with him.  He was happy with Lehner‘s game, but not happy with the team’s effort.

-Binghamton plays Syracuse tonight and I’d guess that Ben Bishop will get his first start and that Fredrik Claesson will play if Cowen is still injured.  The Crunch beat Albany 3-2 last night and are now 2-0-1 this season.  Syracuse forward Cory Conacher leads the AHL in scoring with 7 points.

-Elmira defeated Wheeling 4-2 with Nathan Lawson picking up the win and New, Wideman, Downing, and Caporusso picking up assists (Peltz and Blood were pointless).  Wideman (5’10) got into a fight with Reid McNeill (6’3).  Here’s the game recap.  The Jackals play Wheeling again tonight (presumably Cheverie will get the start).

-Elmira traded their rights to Evan Barlow to San Francisco.

-Sens president Cyril Leeder made it clear that Ottawa wants the lockout to end ASAP:

What we’ve been telling them is our fans are not in the same spot as they were seven years ago. They’re not going to put up with a long lockout. We’re encouraging the league to try and make a deal as quickly as possible.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 20, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Binghamton’s lines for tonight’s game against Hershey: Silfverberg-Pageau-Zibanejad, Hoffman-Cannone-Petersson, Dziurzynski-Grant-Stone, Cowick-DaCosta-Jessiman; Cowen-Benoit, Gryba-Borowiecki, Eckford-Wiercioch; Lehner will get the start.  There are thus no changes to the lineup.

-Binghamton beat Hershey in the pre-season, but this is their first regular season meeting.  The Bears have lost their only game of the season 4-3 to Syracuse with Brayden Holtby taking the loss.  A note of trivia: Binghamton has the youngest team in the AHL while Hershey has the oldest.

–Nathan Lawson has accepted his re-assignment to Elmira.

-With additional bodies sent to Elmira the Jackals have released Corey Bellamy, Alec Kirschner, and Nick Niedert.

-The Jackals play Wheeling tonight (here’s a preview).

-I keep trying to avoid CBA talk but journalists keep writing things that amuse me.  Ken Campbell believes the lockout will be protracted because…Gary Bettman seemed upset at a press conference!  If that’s not stretching for sensationalism than I don’t know what is.  I have some sympathy for hockey journalists in scrambling to write something of interest, but I think they are all better off focussing on hard news when it comes to the CBA while exploring the hockey that’s happening rather than this kind of nonsense.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 19, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-I’ve been amused by how many stories (and Tweets) are making the rounds expressing the sentiment that the NHLPA “must” accept the NHL’s proposal because…well there aren’t any concrete reasons beyond some saying “50-50 seems fair.”  The only element of the league’s proposal that really struck me as interesting was the league wanting to limit deals to no longer than five years, admitting that ownership is incapable of controlling themselves when it comes to term (just as a cap is an admission they are incapable of limiting themselves in compensation).  For a full breakdown of the proposal go here (player reaction is here).

-Most of the news today is following the ping-pong of CBA negotiations, but I think most fans just don’t want to hear about it until either 1) a deal is reached, or 2) the season is cancelled.

-Binghamton has re-assigned Louie Caporusso, Ben Blood, and Jack Downing to Elmira.  The move is no surprise, but will help an already strong Jackals squad.

–Jeremy Milks broke his blog silence last week to let us know he wishes that the Cup would be handed out by former winners rather than by Gary Bettman, which raised the question for me: who watches the Cup being handed out?  I mean, except for fans of the winner?  Frankly, they could have Bozo the Clown hand the trophy out and I wouldn’t care.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 18, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Binghamton defeated Rochester 3-1 last night, playing their best hockey of season (including pre-season).  There were far fewer turnovers and errors and much better flow to the game.  David Dziurzynski scored twice (including an empty-netter) and Patrick Wiercioch had the other goal.  Lehner was solid between the pipes.  Here’s the game story (Pat Cannone took a puck in the face during the game, but was fine).  Luke Richardson said the following:

I thought Patty [Wiercioch] really tried to skate and play physical. He’s gotten a lot stronger over the summer and he’s going to get better. He was out on the power play contributing and that’s something he has always done well at.  Big Dave [Dziurzynski] and Derek (Grant) up front were great on the penalty kill but also helped on offense and that’s great to have. To have a tandem line like that that can play against the top line and stay together all night on the power play and penalty kill. It’s valuable. We made a few mistakes here and there tonight but 5-on-5 we were outskating people. We’re back on the ice Thursday to get ready for the weekend and we’ll start the planning for the three games.

-New Jersey assigned goaltender Maxime Clermont to Elmira.

-D. J. Powers has posted par-one of his ECAC preview.  It includes comments about Tim Boyle from his coach Rick Bennett:

One thing about Tim that we were pleasantly surprised with is his work on the offensive blueline. He will need to learn to play within our system and just get used to the speed of the (college) game. I don’t think Tim has to worry about the size (of opposing players), but he’ll have to adjust to the speed of the game throughout his freshman year.

-Ryan Kennedy wonders about the way forward for the CWHL, posing the following question:

Do you need the NHL in order to legitimize the women’s game in the eyes of mainstream fans? And can women grab headlines outside the Olympics without Maxim-style photo spreads or skimpy uniforms? These are two questions I don’t have answers for right now.

I don’t think these are the most pertinent questions, but they are both easily answered: yes and yes.  Women’s hockey can succeed without either the NHL or skimpy uniforms, but both would offer short-term benefits which (if the WNBA is illustrative) won’t create a long-term market.  There is an appetite for women’s hockey in Canada, but the calibre needs to improve and there needs to be an evolution in marketing.  When (or if) those two elements will evolve remains to be seen, but to me it’s never a question of whether it’s possible for women’s hockey to become a viable commercial enterprise.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 17, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-The hockey world is buzzing about the CBA because the NHL made a proposal today which is a little closer to the land of reason.  What really interests me about this offer is that it includes the proviso of a full NHL season that would begin November 2nd.  The timeline suggests there may be a nugget of truth to Bruce Dowbiggin‘s theory that the league wants to come to terms with the NHLPA before late November in order to meet its commitments to HBO and NBC.

-Binghamton plays Rochester tonight, so here’s a look at the Americans (no word on any changes to Bingo’s lineup as yet).  Rochester plays in the AHL’s Western Division and finished seventh in that conference last season (36-26-10).  Top players: Cody Hodgson (NHL 41), Luke Adam (NHL 52-20), Kevin Porter (NHL 35-7), Mark Mancari (58), Phil Varone (52), Marcus Foligno (60-39), Brayden McNabb (D) (45-30), T. J. Brennan (D) (52-30), Evan Rankin (35-29), Corey Tropp (27-22; injured), Mark Pysyk (D)(WHL 57-38).  Goaltending: David Leggio (2.63) and Connor Knapp (NCAA 1.69).  Key players departed: Paul Szczechura (57-46), Derek Whitmore (44), Mark Voakes (34), Colin Stuart (51-32), and backup goaltender Drew MacIntyre (3.19).  Four of the team’s top-six scorers are gone from last year’s roster, but with the influx of NHL talent they have a better lineup.  Here’s a blog that covers the team.  Tropp has suffered a season-ending knee injury, incidentally.

-Binghamton’s lineup tonight: Silfverberg-Pageau-Zibanejad, Hoffman-Cannone-Petersson, Dziurzynski-Grant-Stone, Cowick-DaCosta-Jessiman; Cowen-Benoit, Gryba-Borowiecki, Ekford-Wiercioch.  As expected Claesson comes out of the lineup as does Downing.  Also scratched/injured are the recalled Blood along with Caporusso, Prince, Hamilton, Schneider, and Kramer.

-Here’s a profile of Mike Hoffman (a gritty left winger?) who said the following:

Every time you come back in the league you want to be bigger and better than last season, and help the first-year guys accomplish their goals as well. I always want to get better as a hockey player. I have a lot of confidence from last season going into this season and I want to keep that going. We want to stand up for each other. If one guy goes down, we got to help him out.

–Jeff Simmons offers a belated preview of the Binghamton Senators, but other than naming a few players on the team offers no analysis.

–Marc Cheverie was named ECHL goalie of the week after a 2-0 start for Elmira.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 16, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-Here are highlights from Binghamton’s win on Saturday.

–Ben Blood has been recalled to Binghamton from Elmira.  Ben Bishop has also officially signed to play in Binghamton.

-Here’s part two of D. J. Powers look at the WCHA, but other than casual mentions of Bryce Aneloski and Ben Blood there’s nothing to be gleaned for Sens fans.

-Here’s the weekly prospect update:

CHL
Cody Ceci (OHL Ottawa) 9-2-8-10
Matt Puempel (OHL Kitchener) 8-6-2-8
Stefan Noesen (OHL Plymouth) 8-6-1-7
Jordan Fransoo (WHL Victoria) 6-0-3-3
Jakub Culek (QMJHL Rimouski) DNP
Jarrod Maidens (OHL Owen Sound) (injured)
Francois Brassard (QMJHL Quebec) 7-1-0 1.87 .926
Chris Driedger (WHL Calgary) 5-1-1 2.92 .902

Allsvenskan (Swe)
Mikael Vikstrand (Mora) 11-6-2-8

KHL
Nikita Filatov (Salavat) 15-3-6-9

NCAA
Bryce Aneloski (Nebraska-Omaha) – 2-1-1-2
Max McCormick (Ohio) – 2-1-1-2
Ryan Dzingel (Ohio) – 2-0-0-0
Jeff Costello (Notre Dame) – junior year upcoming
Michael Sdao (Princeton) – senior year upcoming
Tim Boyle (Union) – freshman year upcoming

USHL
Robbie Baillargeon (Indiana) – 7-1-4-5

-Unsurprisingly, Nathan MacKinnon tops ISS’ early 2013 draft rankings.
1. MacKinnon, Nathan – C – Halifax – QMJHL
2. Jones, Seth – D – Portland – WHL
3. Barkov, Sasha – C – Tappara – FinE
4. Monahan, Sean – C – Ottawa – OHL
5. Lazar, Curtis – C – Edmonton – WHL
6. Burakowsky, Andre – F – Malmo – SweAl
7. Ristolainen, Rasmus – D – TPS Turku – FinE
8. Shinkaruk, Hunter – C – Medicine Hat – WHL
9. Lindholm, Elias – C – Brynas – SweE
10. Drouin, Jonathan – C – Halifax – QMJHL
11. Hagg, Robert – D – Modo – SweJE
12. Lehkonen, Artturi – F – Kuopio – FinE
13. Pulock, Ryan – D – Brandon – WHL
14. Nichushkin, Valery – F – Chelyabinsk Chelmet – RusS
15. Santini, Steve – D – USA Under18 – NTDP
16. Nurse, Darnell – D – S.S. Marie – OHL
17. Erne, Adam – F – Quebec – QMJHL
18. Zadorov, Nikita – D – London – OHL
19. Compher, JT – C – USA Under18 – NTDP
20. De La Rose, Jacob – C – Leksands – SweAl
21. Rychel, Kerby – F – Windsor – OHL
22. Morrissey, JT – D – Prince Albert – WHL
23. Gauthier, Frederik – C – Rimouski – QMJHL
24. Harper, Stephen – F – Erie – OHL
25. Fasching, Hudson – F – USA Under18 – NTDP
26. Dickinson, Jason – F – Guelph – OHL
27. Buchnevich, Pavel – F – Cherepovets – KHL
28. Horvat, Bo – C – London – OHL
29. Downing, Mike – D – Dubuque – USHL
30. Kujawinski, Ryan – C – Kingston – OHL

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 15, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-Binghamton opened their season with a 2-1 win over Wilkes-Barre.  I watched the game and it was not a particularly good one for Binghamton until the third period, but they survived on the goaltending of Robin Lehner and solid performances from Hugh Jessiman and Jakob Silfverberg (who scored each of Binghamton’s goals, the team coming from in the third).  The powerplay was brutal, although eventually the top unit began to apply pressure.  There are recaps here and here.  For some reason Mark Parisi posted his impressions while admitting he missed half the game (a Silver Seven trend)–look for it if that interests you.  There was general sloppiness in the team’s play; in particular keeping the puck in the Penguins zone and applying offensive pressure.  Bingo was awful on faceoffs and I suspect that will be something they work on in subsequent practices.  Luke Richardson emphasized character in his post-game remarks:

I said the word character and I’ll say it again because that’s what they showed tonight. In the third period it’s really easy to come apart as a team when you have a lot of offensive talent and everyone is going on their own page and trying to win it themselves, but we didn’t do that.

There were two fights in the game, the first with Marc Borowiecki (vs Eric Tangradi) trying to create energy after Wilkes-Barre opened the scoring while the second was a surprise battle with Fredrik Claesson (vs Adam Payerl) that was much more spur of the moment.

-Elmira crushed Greenville 7-1 last night with Marc Cheverie picking up the win.  Brad Peltz had a goal and an assist and finished +5, while Chris Wideman had an assist/+2, Danny New 2 assists/+2, and Ben Blood was +3.  Here’s the recap.

-D. J. Powers offers up part one of his WCHA preview, but it does not include any Sens prospects.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 14, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Some of tonight’s Binghamton lineup has been announced: Cowen-Benoit, Eckford-Claesson, and Borowiecki-Gryba are the defensive pairings (Lehner gets the start).

-Elmira won 3-2 last night with Marc Cheverie picking up the win; Chris Wideman had an assist and was +2, while Ben Blood had no points and was -1.  Brad Peltz had one SOG while Danny New picked up an assist and was a +1.  Here’s the recap.  The team plays Greenville tonight.

–Andre Benoit has been named captain of the Binghamton Senators, which comes as no surprise (Eric Gryba and Mike Hoffman are the assistant captains)–notably, none of these players are expected to challenge for regular spots in Ottawa.

–Luke Richardson was on The Team 1200 yesterday and Nichols has transcribed the relevant parts of the interview.  One interesting tidbit is that Ben Bishop is not yet in Binghamton nor has Richardson heard any confirmation that he’s been signed–all that information is coming from Andy Strickland.  Richardson had a lot to say about Jean-Gabriel Pageau:

He has stepped up his offseason conditioning with a lot the guys here around Ottawa and it has really helped. He has been very poised defensively; which is kind of a surprise to me because of his age and his size. At this level, he has played in all three exhibition games and he has contributed offensively, so with the injury to Stephane Da Costa, it has given him an opportunity to start the season with us and he made a real case to make it very difficult to make any movements on him (when Da Costa gets healthy).

This confirms that 1) Pageau is a placeholder for Da Costa, and 2) Da Costa‘s injury is the primary factor in him still being with the team.  Nichols believes these comments mean that Pageau is a serious candidate for Elmira, but I still believe he’ll be returned to the CHL once the team is healthy.  Richardson then talked about Da Costa:

I think working on the strength this summer, he really limits the energy that he spends every shift on skating because he is a great skater. He really can save that strength when he goes into the boards or around the boards into a battle with a big guy. I noticed that he wasn’t afraid at all. He was in there battling with some of the big guys on the other roster in the AHL that were experienced and he showed no signs of backing down or being overpowered, so that’s a great sign because he still has some upside to him to improve in the areas of strength and speed (aspects). He is just a smart hockey player and he’s a great prospect within the Ottawa organization.

There’s nothing surprising in any of this, other than confirming the organisation still thinks highly of Da Costa.  Richardson also talked about the system he’s employing:

It is all about puck movement. We have a very strong defence down here. Some of the guys are bigger and stronger but they can still move the puck well, so that’s great.  So, I think we can run a very similar, if not identical, style [to Paul MacLean’s]. Everybody is just a little bit different, but overall, pretty much close to the same style, so I think the transition will be much easier for players moving up. And really, that’s what it is all about – we want to have that fine line of competitiveness here to win and teach them to win and be unhappy when you lose and learn to fix things when you’re not doing them properly and you don’t have success. At the same time, you want to develop them for the parent club and for the dreams of where those players want to go.

-A comment made by assistant coach Steve Stirling comment worth repeating:

There’s only a handful of teams in the league [AHL] that will have a good team every year, because their goal is to win it every year, and sometimes that may be at the expense of development. Our philosophy is to develop first. We’re here to get prospects ready for the NHL, but at the same time everyone likes to win.

-Here’s my look at Binghamton’s roster and expectations (point projections).  I’ll be posting my thoughts on how the team will perform in the AHL later today.

-Speaking of roster projections, Bobby Kelly weighs in with part two of his own (this time defense and goaltending), which is pretty elementary at this point.  He believes that (when healthy) Eckford and Gryba will form one pair (behind the obvious Cowen-Benoit), while Borowiecki and Wiercioch will form the other.  He suggests seventh defender Fredrik Claesson will get regular playing time, but not at whose expense.  My personal feeling is that Claesson, Blood, and Wideman may transition back and forth between Binghamton and Elmira regularly, although it’s admittedly easier to let the teenage Claesson sit as opposed to the two college grads.

-D. J. Powers provides a CCHA preview, making no mention of Jeff Costello at Notre Dame.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 13, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment