The Sens earned their 2-1 overtime win last night, riding the coattails of Erik Karlsson and a strong performance from Craig Anderson. What I don’t see is the team surviving four powerplays in the first again; speaking of the man advantage, I’m not a fan of Alex Burrows on the powerplay. Other positives: Chris Neil in the pressbox (where he belongs); the end of the Ben Harpur experiment (I take him over Mark Borowiecki, but that’s not saying much). There wasn’t a lot of the silly chippiness the Penguins are known for (a couple of dangerous hits, but very little of the after whistle nonsense). Fans should soak in the win–I’m not sure how long this ride will last, so best enjoy it while it does.
It has been a long time since I talked about hockey broadcasts (five years in fact)–the painful noise that generally pollutes viewing an NHL hockey game. It’s sad to note that the lineup hasn’t really changed since then, other than Glenn Healy is off my TV. Briefly, here’s what we have (split by play-by-play and colour, best-to-worst):
PBP
Gord Miller – good; can add insight and excitement to the broadcast
Chris Cuthbert – good; a touch less insightful than Miller, but it’s close
Mike Emrick – generic; defines average
Paul Romanuk – generic, but a little less of a dinosaur than Hughson
Jim Hughson – boring; hasn’t evolved at all since he broke in with TSN (yes, I’m old enough to remember)
Bob Cole – I can’t believe he still broadcasts; I’ve never heard a man sound more bored than during the Pittsburgh-Washington series; plays favourites, doesn’t understand the game, etc, etc
Colour
Ray Ferraro – the best colour guy (NBC saddling him with Olczyk is painful)
Garry Galley – good; has actual insight
Greg Millen – generic, but solid–neither adds nor subtracts from my enjoyment
Ed Olczyk – not good; hasn’t evolved
Pierre McGuire – awful; you’d think he’d be at the bottom of the list given the hyperbole and self-aggrandizement, but he’s still actually better than the two that follow
Craig Simpson – terrible; out of touch and plays favourites
Louie DeBrusk – terrible; out of date and out of touch
The sad thing is, the people making decisions don’t actually know who is or isn’t good. Grey Wyshysnki says that NBC likes Mike Milbury, which is a sign of lunacy. The folks at Sportsnet also keep trotting out neanderthals like Don Cherry. Is it ignorance? Or do they think these are the kind of personalities hockey fans want? Elliotte Friedman (among others) have defended some of the inanity (I’m not sure he really has a choice)–Dave Shoalts is drinking the Koolaid (for Shoalts never forget and of course his opinion on analytics). Generally speaking the primary broadcasts are not something I look forward too–Hughson and Simpson? Awful. Emrick and Olczyk? Bland at best. Is there relief in sight? Absolutely not. Low ratings have led to retrenchment.
Ross A brought up something I mentioned back in January:
I also saw it [complacency] in the blogging world. The usually vibrant world of Sens news was quiet this year.
He goes on to note the state of various blogs and how the playoffs have breathed a tiny bit of life into WTYKY (which is really just Luke P writing more). Another thing I’ve noticed is a decrease in The Silver Seven citing other bloggers, although that seems to boil down to who is writing the piece.
Back when Kurt Kleinendorst was brought back to coach the AHL team I didn’t mention that he signed a two-year deal; I wasn’t sure if Binghamton’s season would put that in jeopardy or not (I thought he did well with what he had, but I don’t make decisions for the org), but a Tweet from the Belleville Sens seems to indicate he’ll be around to finish out that contract (something that makes sense for the cash-strapped Sens anyway).
I was not surprised Barry Trotz was unable to get the Washington Capitals into the third round, as he’s been unable to get any roster beyond that point [not pictured above: Trotz, but Torts is a wonderful poster boy for incomprehension]. It is amazing to so how far a good roster can carry a clueless coach (Randy Carlyle), but that roster needs to be truly superlative to overcome the inadequacies in charge of them. I looked at the impact of coaching a year or so ago (something still poorly understood; my link in that piece to Nick Emptage’s article is broken, so one that works is above).
I haven’t talked about the NWHL in awhile (which differs from the CWHL in that its players are paid). The league has struggled with it’s second season, forcing its players to accept as massive 50% pay cut in order to remain solvent (bringing the $10,000 minimum salary down to a miserly $5,000). The change does not bode well for the future and I have to wonder if any paid women’s league can survive without the active support of the NHL (ala the WNBA, which took 13 years to turn a profit).
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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eyeonthesens 
Great article, always a pleasure to read your work. Your blog deserves more attention!
Don’t hesitate to post your articles to our forum or contribute to discussion. We’re mostly Sens fans and would all appreciate your opinions.
Great article, always a pleasure to read your work. Your blog deserves more attention!
Don’t hesitate to post your articles to our forum or contribute to discussion. We’re mostly Sens fans and would all appreciate your opinions.
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