-Ottawa fell 3-0 to the Leafs tonight in a game that was much more entertaining than I expected.  The score is somewhat deceiving as Toronto did not dominate and the Sens could have earned a point or two if they had more puck luck (there are many instances one could pick, but for example Stephane Da Costa losing control of the puck on a clear breakaway in the first comes to mind).  Craig Anderson made 25 saves in the loss, but wasn’t really a factor either way in the loss.  Here’s the boxscore; Scott had the scoring chances 12/10.  As for the players debuting for Ottawa, Derek Grant struggled the most and played the least, while Eric Gryba played the most and tied as a team-worst -2.

–Nichols transcription service offers some words from Bryan Murray:

Some of these damaged tendons take up to a year (to recover fully). Dr. Chow was the front doctor on this with a couple of others working with him and indications were that it went well enough that the timeframe was basically confirmed to be 100-percent.

So the expectation continues to be that Karlsson will fully recover.

The league, Brendan [Shanahan] being the front guy for the league in this case, has to do what they feel is right. They feel it was a hockey play gone bad. I suggested that Matt Cooke had somewhat of a history and that maybe that should be considered as well. But I don’t believe that’s the approach that they took; they took it as the individual act. I’m not sure. I’ve heard some sources say that this is the new way to do things in hockey – get your body in position and your skates are more in the play than they have been in the past. Being in hockey all these years, I don’t see that very often but beyond that… it’s no benefit for us or for anybody (to push for the player to be suspended). It’s up to the league to make these decisions. We get no value out of a player being suspended and I’m not pushing that at all.

It’s a polite way for Murray to say he thought Cooke deserved a reputation suspension, but has already moved on.

We’re going to talk to teams. I don’t think I want to give up first round picks right now to finish up the year. I want to continue to… we have got some kids. We have got a few hurt down there but we’ve got a few kids that we’ll give a chance to – out of necessity, more than anything. I think we’ve got a core here and I know we’ve got a good coaching staff and they’ll put up a game plan to make us competitive every night. I thought last night we kind of lost a little heart in the third period because of Erik (Karlsson). I think they all went into the room and saw him. I thought we had a really good second period; we were very competitive in the game. Now we’ll have a day to recover and hopefully come back.

These comments (and others) boil down to is that Murray isn’t looking for quick fixes and is taking the long view.

-Binghamton lost 5-2 to Wilkes-Barre last night; Robin Lehner made 30 saves in the loss while Tyler Eckford and Jack Downing provided the goals (Louie Caporusso picked up his first-ever AHL point). Binghamton then proceeded to defeat Albany 3-2 this afternoon in a shootout, with Lehner given a rest so Cheverie made 35 saves for the win; Cole Schneider and Caporusso scored the goals and Chris Wideman enjoyed his first two-point night in the AHL.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 17, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-Ottawa faces Toronto (7-5-2) tonight; the Leafs are lead by Nazem Kadri (12 points) and will be backstopped by Ben Scrivens (2-3-0 2.66 .912).

–Colin Greening and Patrick Wiercioch will be healthy scratches tonight; Greening might deserve his fate, but I’m not so sure about Wiercioch.  There’s speculation the team is playing its three call-ups to audition them (and others) for trades, but I really don’t know what assets of use the Sens would get back if that was the case.

–Lyle Richardson examines trade options Bruce Garrioch suggests and I agree with him that other than Lubomir Visnovsky none of them seem reasonable given what Bryan Murray is willing to part with.

–Hockey Reference see’s the Sens finishing 9th given their situation.

-Binghamton got hammered by Syracuse last night 7-1; Robin Lehner made 26 saves in the loss while Shane Prince scored the only goal.  Only three players avoided being a minus on the night and Mark Borowiecki was a team worst -4.  Here’s the boxscore.

-Binghamton has recalled Ben Blood leaving no signees remaining with Elmira.

-Elmira lost 4-3 to Reading last night; Blood had no points.

-ISS has released its latest 2013 draft rankings (for their previous list go here):

1 – Jones, Seth – D – Portland – WHL
2 – Nichushkin, Valery – F – Chelyabinsk Chelmet – RusS (+5)
3 – MacKinnon, Nathan – C – Halifax – QMJHL (-1)
4 – Drouin, Jonathan – F – Halifax – QMJHL (-1)
5 – Nurse, Darnell – D – S.S. Marie – OHL (-1) (+5)
6 – Zadorov, Nikita – D – London – OHL (+3)
7 – Barkov, Aleksander – F – Tappara – FinE (-3)
8 – Monahan, Sean – C – Ottawa – OHL (-3)
9 – Lindholm, Elias – C – Brynas – SweE (-3)
10 – Ristolainen, Rasmus – D – TPS Turku – FinE (-2) (-2)
11 – Lazar, Curtis – C – Edmonton – WHL
12 – Pulock, Ryan – D – Brandon – WHL (+5)
13 – Shinkaruk, Hunter – F – Medicine Hat – WHL (+1)
14 – Dickinson, Jason – F – Guelph – OHL (-1)
15 –Valentin Zykov – RW – Baie-Comeau – QMJHL (+1)
16 – Burakowsky, Andre – F – Malmo – SweAl (+2)
17 – Morrissey, JT – D – Prince Albert – WHL (+30)
18 –Alexander Wennberg – C – Djurgarden – SweJr (NR) (+3)
19 – Rychel, Kerby – F – Windsor – OHL (+8)
20 – Santini, Steve – D – USA U18 – NTDP (+3)
21 – Gauthier, Frederik – C – Rimouski – QMJHL (-2)
22 – Hagg, Robert – D – Modo – SweJE (-10)
23 –Bo Horvat – C – London – OHL (NR) (-1)
24 – Madison Bowey – D – Kelowna – WHL (NR)
25 – J. T. Compher – C – USA Under-18 – NTDP (+1)
26 – Erne, Adam- F – Quebec – QMJHL (-11)
27 – Lehkonen, Artturi – F – Kuopio – FinE (-3)
28 –Max Domi – C – London – OHL
29 – Nic Petan – C – Portland – WHL (NR)
30 – Thompson, Keaton – D – USA U18 – NTDP (-1)

Falling out of the top thirty were Ryan Hartman (25) and Anthony Duclair (30).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 16, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

–Eric Gryba, Derek Grant, and David Dziurzynski were all recalled by Ottawa.  A lot of people have been puzzled by the choice of Dziurzynski who hasn’t had a great year in Binghamton (44-3-14-17 +6), with players like Corey Cowick and Hugh Jessiman having superior numbers.  I think there are a number of factors involved: 1) familiarity (Dziurzynski was part of the Binghamton group recalled during Ottawa’s brief playoff run last year), 2) defensive play (Jessiman is not strong defensively nor as good a skater), 3) consistent physicality (in the games I’ve watched neither Cowick nor Jessiman have hit with regularity–Bingo fans who’ve watched the whole year can correct me on that one).  In the end I think the first point is the most vital (it may also be a pat on the back in the hopes of getting Dziurzynski going).

–Bryan Murray put on a brave face in comments about the team going forward:

We’ll recover from this, without a doubt. We may not be as talented but I think we’ve got a real good, strong character group and we have to hope they will carry us through.

There’s not much else Murray can say at this point–he has to support the players who are still active as well as encourage fans to come out to the games.

–Chris takes a brief look at how the Sens will survive without Karlsson and the most obvious point is those who are still playing need to step up their game.  Can they do so enough to compensate for the loss of their top defenseman and forward?  I think it’s a bit much to ask, but it will be interesting to watch who does well in their absence.

–Stu Hackel doesn’t think Matt Cooke deserves any blame for Karlsson‘s injury and goes through his reasoning for that; Sean Gordon thinks Cooke should have been suspended to stop the kind of play he was executing.  The blame-game seems pretty pointless to me; no action was taken and Karlsson is injured so that’s all there is to it.

-Binghamton faces Syracuse (27-14-6) tonight; the Crunch are lead by Tyler Johnson (43 points) and backstopped by Riku Helenius (9-8-0 3.06 .878).

-Binghamton recalled Louie Caporusso and signed Reading Royals’ David Marshall (52-17-29-46) to a PTO.  With their current roster Bingo is lead by Hugh Jessiman (22 points) and Brett Ledba (13 points).

-Elmira faces Reading (33-13-6) tonight with Ben Blood the only remaining Bingo signee on the Jackals roster.

-I’m looking for feedback from readers to see if there’s anything they want to see more/less of on the blog.  All thoughts are welcome!

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 15, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 3 Comments

-Happy Valentine’s to one and all

-I was unable to watch last night’s game, where the Sens took a 2-1 lead but couldn’t hold on to beat the Pens.  Craig Anderson made 26 saves in the loss while Stephane Da Costa and Jim O’Brien added the goals.  Here’s the boxscore; Scott had the scoring chances 14/16.

-No one is talking about the game however, as the focus is on Matt Cooke slicing Erik Karlsson‘s achilles tendon and ending his season.  The least surprising part of the incident is that the NHL has not suspended Cooke.  Whether what Cooke did was intentional or not (Pierre LeBrun thinks it was unintentional) seems pretty moot to me–guilt is not going to bring Karlsson back nor would a suspension really punish the Penguins for his loss.  The incident doesn’t make me dislike Cooke any more than I already did–I don’t think he belongs in the league, but the NHL does not share my opinion.  Middling players injuring stars has a long and healthy track record in the Gary Bettman era, so what’s one more in the grand scheme of things?

-What does the loss of Karlsson mean for the Sens?  It means the pressure and expectation to make the playoffs is gone (my pre-season prediction was that health would ultimately wreck post-season changes for the Sens).  With both Karlsson and Spezza injured there’s no realistic hope for Ottawa to remain in the playoff hunt.  Instead, I’d expect Paul MacLean to play younger players more and for Bryan Murray to make a few moves to land picks, prospects, and young players going forward.  As disappointing as this scenario is in the long run it’s probably beneficial for the franchise (a sentiment Adam Proteau echoes).

-Elmira defeated Reading 5-3 last night; Louie Caporusso had an assist in the win.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 14, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-Ottawa beat the Sabres 2-0 in a game lacking entertainment value; the Sabres dominating the first half of the game, but kept a long parade to the penalty box that combined with an inability to beat Craig Anderson could not sustain momentum their momentum.  Erik Karlsson and Erik Condra scored the goals (the former on a 3-on-2 shorthanded chance and the latter in a scramble in front of the net less than two minutes later).  The only other thing of note was Robyn Regehr running Alfredsson from behind for no particular reason.  Here’s the boxscore; Scott had the scoring chances 20/17.

-The Sens face Pittsburgh (8-5-0) tonight; the Pens are lead by Sidney Crosby (17 points) and backstopped by Marc-Andre Fleury (5-3-0 2.46 .906).  Patrick Wiercioch is being scratched in favour of Andre Benoit.

–Adrian Dater has Ottawa 14th in his power ratings, who writes:

I’m in agreement with my colleague Mr. Muir on his early favorite for the  Vezina: Craig Anderson, who is big, quick and reads the play extremely well. He  may anticipate where the puck is going better than any goalie in the league.  Blueliner Erik Karlsson has been tremendous, too. It will still be tough without  Jason Spezza (back surgery), but if Anderson keeps playing this well, pencil  Ottawa in for another playoff berth.

-Binghamton crushed Wilkes-Barre 5-1 last night; Robin Lehner made 24 saves for the win while Shane Prince, Derek Grant, David Dziurzynski, Pat Cannone, and Jack Downing scored the goals.  Here’s the boxscore.  Nathan Lawson did not finish the game and Marc Cheverie has been recalled from Elmira, so is seems like there could be an injury situation.

-Elmira faces Reading (33-12-6) tonight; the Royals are lead by Yannick Tifu (46 points) and backstopped by Philipp Grubauer (19-5-1 2.30 .912).

-Here the latest prospect update (for players with more than 10 games played I’ve indicated where they are in scoring; for blueliners they are compared to other defensemen on the team):

CHL
Cody Ceci (OHL Ottawa/Owen Sound) 55-12-37-49 (1st)
Matt Puempel (OHL Kitchener) 38-24-9-33 (3rd)
Stefan Noesen (OHL Plymouth) 36-17-15-32 (7th)
Jordan Fransoo (WHL Victoria) 50-4-12-16 (3rd)
Jakub Culek (QMJHL Cape Breton) 9-4-3-7 (10th) (injured)
Jarrod Maidens (OHL Owen Sound) (injured)
Chris Driedger (WHL Calgary) 27-12-3 2.43 .918
Francois Brassard (QMJHL Quebec) 24-17-3 2.88 .904

Allsvenskan (Swe)
Mikael Wikstrand (Mora) 37-11-11-22 (1st) WJC 6-0-4-4 (1st)

KHL
Nikita Filatov (Salavat) 45-10-11-21 (6th)

NCAA
Ryan Dzingel (Ohio) – 30-13-15-28 (1st)
Jeff Costello (Notre Dame) – 22-7-15-22 (4th)
Max McCormick (Ohio) – 30-8-9-17 (3rd)
Bryce Aneloski (Nebraska-Omaha) – 29-4-13-17 (2nd)
Michael Sdao (Princeton) – 23-6-6-12 (1st)
Tim Boyle (Union) – 14-0-2-2 (t-6th)

USHL
Robbie Baillargeon (Indiana/Omaha) – 43-16-19-35 (1st)

-It didn’t take long for Columbus GM John Davidson to do the obvious and fire Scott Howson and then hire former Blues super scout Jarmo Kekalainen to take over the role.  The organisation will get better at long last.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 13, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-Ottawa faces Buffalo (5-7-1); the Sabres are lead by NHL scoring leader Thomas Vanek (23 points) and backstopped by Ryan Miller (5-5-1 2.98 .913).  Craig Anderson is expected to start; the only other change to the lineup is that Jim O’Brien slides in due to the injury to Peter Regin.

–Paul MacLean talked about the production of his top players:

[Michalek] works so hard without the puck and with the puck that I think at some point in time he’s going to score. We’re not concerned. Yeah, we’re like everybody, we’d like to see him get two or three last week and this week, but I think he’s such a diligent player and conscientious player, that the puck is going to go in the net for him if he keeps working at it. Same with (Kyle) Turris. You can’t try to be something you’re not. The more you try to force things, the worse things usually get. So you if you just go out and allow for the structure of the team, and work hard at it, then their skill is eventually go to be there where they can find an opportunity.

–Patrick Wiercioch talked about defending in the NHL:

I know it’s tough to defend, especially in the game up here. It’s so sound technically, with the systems, everyone has kind of got a guy. Any time you see a guy maybe breaking through or has that split second of opportunity, you try to give him the puck so he can do something with it. If it’s there I’ll go for it, doesn’t matter who it is. It’s more just the amount of time. I think a half second in this league is so crucial. If you’ve got a half second, even going back to the puck and turning out with the puck out of the corner, it opens up so much more opportunity. So even moving it up that much quicker to them hopefully gives them a chance to either make a play or keep going with it.

–Scott looks at Senators scoring chances at the quarter pole (12 games in this shortened season) which for Corsi fans is a treat.

–Mark Zwolinski thinks the Sens will trade to fill in for the injured Jason Spezza, but I have a hard time believing it.  There’s no real market of top centers and those available are on expiring contracts–the Sens would have to pay a hefty price for a rental and I just don’t see the point.  Ottawa is not a Stanley Cup contender so there’s no need to give up prospects to try and make the dance.

-Binghamton faces Wilkes-Barre (25-19-3); the Penguins are lead by Chad Kolarik (39 points) and backstopped by Jeff Zatkoff (16-12-0 1.96 .920).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 12, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Here are my thoughts on Saturday’s loss.  Scott had the scoring chances 15-15, which definitely seems high on Ottawa’s side.  Ryan Classic thoughts on the game amused me (his emphasis on how bad the game was as entertainment is fully justified).  Ben Bishop and Stephane Da Costa were the only players Paul MacLean singled out as having had good games.

–Stephane Da Costa talked about the difference in his play this season as compared to last:

I tried to cheat a little too much last year because I felt I wasn’t producing as much as I wanted to. And it just didn’t work for me. So I’m trying to be honest, and trying to play just how I can. When we play honest, that’s when the chances are coming more, I think.

A clear, honest assessment from Da Costa who probably needs to put on a few more pounds of muscle before he’s ready for prime time.

–Mark Parisi‘s ups and downs seem more focussed on the funny than anything else, so any disagreement seems out of touch with the spirit of the piece.

–Pierre LeBrun‘s power rankings have the Sens 18th, which if Pierre had to watch that tedious Winnipeg game is only appropriate.

–Adam Proteau writes about San Jose GM Doug Wilson (and others) trying to get goalie equipment reduced–all I can say to that is good luck.  The league has talked about it for years and nothing has been accomplished.  It would be nice, but it’s just hard to see anything happening.

-Binghamton lost in back-to-back games on the weekend, first to 4-3 to Hershey and then 3-2 (SO) to Albany.  Robin Lehner took the loss in each, making 25 stops in the first and 44 in the second.  Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Derk Grant, Brett Lebda, and Corey Cowick and Hugh Jessiman scored.  Here are the highlights from Sunday’s game.

-Elmira defeated Wheeling 5-0 yesterday; Marc Cheverie picked up the shutout while Louie Caporusso added an assist.

–Stu Hackel writes a long piece about fighting and “the code” which I think dances around making any kind of point.  The main take away should be that “the code” doesn’t really exist–it’s a term thrown around to justify things, but it’s completely meaningless because no one can really define it and it doesn’t dictate the actions of people on the ice.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 11, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-A quiet night on the Sens front as neither Ottawa nor Binghamton plays tonight.

–Mark Borowiecki was re-assigned to Binghamton which is no surprise with Mike Lundin healthy.  He’ll be a big boost for Binghamton and may be the ticket for Ben Blood to return to Elmira–I missed my chance to look smart as that change has now been announced.

-Here are my thoughts on last night’s 3-2 loss to Carolina.  Scott had the scoring chances at 26-20.

-Elmira faces Kalamazoo tonight; the Wings are lead by Aaron Clarke (35 points) and backstopped by Joel Martin (19-17-5 2.64 .920).

–Pierre LeBrun and Adam Proteau wonder if having a third referee would help avoid mistakes on the ice and I just don’t see it.  Officiating in the NHL has always been capricious and that will continue no matter how many refs are involved.

-I wrote about how many former Hartford Whalers were coaches (looking specifically at the 88-89 roster) last April; Tal Pinchevsky writes about the topic (but broadly for the Whalers) for NHL.com.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 8, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa plays Carolina (4-4-0) tonight; the Canes are lead by Eric Staal (10 points) and backstopped by Cam Ward (2-3-0 3.43 .895).  Both Sergei Gonchar and Mike Lundin are expected to play, so Patrick Wiercioch and Mark Borowiecki will sit.

–Daniel Alfredsson talked about Jakob Silfverberg‘s play:

He’s a guy that plays well in all situations, knows the defensive side and the offensive side of the game, and knows what it takes to win. He’s done that a couple of times now. I remember in Florida, same thing in the third period he goes down, blocks a shot and we get a breakaway out of it. He’s a really smart player to go along with his offensive instincts. I think he’s probably got one of the best shots in the league and if I was a kid, I’d definitely study the way he shoots the puck.

-Here’s my look at Ottawa at the 10-game mark.

-Binghamton defeated Adirondack 3-0 last night in a game I was unable to watch.  Robin Lehner made 29 saves for the shutout while Corey Cowick, Danny New, and Brett Lebda (empty-netter) provided the offense.  Here is the box score.

-Elmira defeated Reading 6-4 with Louie Caporusso picking up 3 points.  Marc Cheverie has been sent down to Elmira.

–Brandon Dubinsky was fined the maximum $10,000 dollars for boarding Rob Scuderi; given Dubinsky‘s 4.2 million dollar salary is 0.2% of this years earnings (so if you made $30,000 a year it would cost you $71.42).  I know this is the maximum fine in the CBA, but to make a real statement the NHL would have suspended him for games, not asked him to cover a movie night for a few friends.

-Michael Grange has a story about how Colton Orr‘s weight was a major problem for him keeping up with the pace of the NHL because of how it interfered with his skating.  Orr is the kind of player Randy Carlyle likes, but Grange carefully does not delve into the general value of fighting or how (if) it impacts the outcomes of games (something that has been debunked repeatedly: here, here, here, etc).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 7, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Here are my thoughts on last night’s game and here are Paul MacLean‘s:

I thought Peter Regin was very good tonight, Stephane Da Costa played very well for us. (Erik) Karlsson, I thought, was outstanding in the game. Mark Borowiecki had his best game to this point. Patrick Wiercioch was fine. Andre Benoit was fine. The team, as a group, really showed a good work ethic and we stuck to the structure of our team. We did a better job of getting the puck to the net and getting some opportunities and playing not as tentative offensively. We’ve got to find the right guys to put on the ice after we score a goal. The experiment is not working with what we’re doing. The shifts right after goals, for and against, are always real important and the last two (games), we get the lead and then within 20 or 30 seconds, they’ve got the game tied up, so we’ve got to do a much better job of being focussed at those times in the games. Those are big shifts that we can maintain momentum or give momentum back.

It’s interesting who MacLean singled out beyond the obvious (Karlsson and Regin): young players for the most part (Da Costa and Borowiecki barely played in last night’s game).  MacLean has a strong tendency to stroke his young players in the media (much like Luke Richardson does in Binghamton), which is all to the good.  Speaking of Regin, he had this to say:

Of course, it has been awhile. I had high expectations for myself coming into this season. It has been a long time and maybe the timing has been a little off and it took a more time than I was hoping or expecting.

–Scott had the scoring chances 14-10 for Ottawa.

-Binghamton plays Adirondack (18-22-3) tonight; the Phantoms are lead by Danny Syvret (22 points) and backstopped by Scott Munroe (9-11-0 2.65 .913).

-Elmira plays Reading (31-11-5) tonight; Reading is lead by Yannick Tifu (43 points) and backstopped by Philipp Grubauer (19-5-1 2.30 .912).

–Stu Hackel takes a look at the early surprises this season; there’s nothing Ottawa-related here, but it’s worth checking out.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 6, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment