–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch writes about trade speculation (link), saying “Columbus GM Scott Howson is the most active working the phones. The only Jacket not being shopped is LW Rick Nash. Pretty much everybody else is available … and the objective is to get rid of money.”  He speculates the Sens might be interested in Derrick Brassard and continue to have interest in Kyle Turris.  He says there isn’t much interest in Filip Kuba or Brian Lee.

-Both Garrioch (link) and The Ottawa Citizen‘s Allen Panzeri (link) write about Milan Michalek‘s hot start; there’s not much substance, with Michalek saying, “It would be great if I scored more than 30, but I’m not thinking about it. I’m just taking it day by day and trying to be better every game. Everything is going good and I just hope it keeps going like that.”

-ESPN, TSN and The Hockey News have their updated power rankings out (link and link and link), with Ottawa 23rd, 26th and 24th respectively (ESPN adds, “Goaltending and team defense are still a significant challenge for the young Sens“).

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Chris Stevenson writes about the decision not to suspend Milan Lucic for his hit on Ryan Miller (link) and points out an obvious flaw, “I’m guessing Lucic wasn’t going to say something like: “Oh, yeah, Shanny, I saw a chance to lay out that skinny ’keeper and I got him good. Oh, Shanny, you see his mask go flying? Ha, and not one of those Sabres even hit me with a pillow.'”  I have no idea what Shanahan thought he was going to accomplish asking Lucic his intentions.

-Joy Lindsay’s game story includes comments from Tim Murray and Randy Lee about Binghamton’s performance (link), “We don’t shoot the puck at all — ever. Penalties put us in trouble, and they had complete control of the period until late, when we started to play with some urgency and got a power play. It’s consistent with the way a young team plays.”  Lee adding, “You can tell they’re young, and you can tell they’re struggling to score goals. But at least some of the guys are accepting the challenges, and as an organization, we’re happy about that. But we also need to be competitive every game.”

-Joy Lindsay Tweets (link) that Francis Lessard and Andre Petersson are injured; given how short-handed they are, they’ve signed Mike Bartlett to a PTO (he is 6-2-4-6 in the ECHL)

November 15, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Chris Neil has not joined the team on their trip out west, which is no surprise given his ankle injury

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch writes about a variety of things (link) including comments from Paul MacLean about David Rundblad, “(Rundblad’s) play with the puck has been good, his play without the puck has given us some concern. We’re back to that situation. It’s still a product of a young player learning how to play in the league, but eventually that has to go away.”

–The Silver Seven‘s Mark Parisi writes about the team’s ups and downs over the past week (link).  While I agree with a lot of what he says, he inexplicably picks Filip Kuba as having a bad week.  Kuba did not have a bad game and was a plus player in the two loses prior to the win over Toronto.  I also disagree with his minus to Erik Condra (whose play hasn’t slipped) and his plus to Kaspars Daugavins (a -3 against Buffalo; he’s the beneficiary of Condra and Zack Smith‘s play).

–Senators Extra‘s Darren Desaulniers rights about Binghamton (link), with Kurt Kleinendorst saying, “What we’ve got is a lot of young players, and when you’ve got a lot of young players it takes a while for those young players to really mature and develop and become good pros.  There’s a process to that, and that’s where we are. I think you could rattle off seven veteran players last year that were our core. This year, we really only kind of have two right now (Mark) Parrish and (Tim) Conboy, and Conboy tends to sit out a lot of games so I don’t even know if I can throw him in there right now.” And “Let’s see, (David) Dziurzynski I thought played well. (Mark) Borowiecki I think played well. You know what, after that I don’t know if I could give you a third guy. (Hamilton) bounced back and we knew they’d have a good effort, and they did. But I don’t think we’re going to win if we only have a couple of guys playing up to their potential. It’s not going to cut it.”

–The Ottawa Sun has an article on the same topic (link), which is mostly about Corey Cowick, but does include a good quote from Robin Lehner, “It seems we’re taking shortcuts and there’s no shortcuts. All in all this game was brutal … We all have to do some soul-searching here and find a way to win when we get home.”

-Prospect updates (their position in team scoring is noted in brackets, defence compared to defence; I’ve also indicated if the player’s scoring position has change (with a + for up, – for down, and = for unchanged):
CHL
Mark Stone (Brandon, WHL) 22-19-27-46 (1st=)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Gatineau, QMJHL) 16-17-13-30 (1st=) 
Shane Prince (Ottawa 67s, OHL) 15-9-15-24 (3rd=)
Matt Puempel (Peterborough, OHL) 20-13-10-23 (2nd-)
Stefan Noesen (Plymouth, OHL) 17-5-15-20 (t-3rd+)
Darren Kramer (Spokane, WHL) 15-9-6-15 (2nd=)
Jakub Culek (Rimouski, QMJHL) 20-4-9-13 (6th+)
Jordan Fransoo (Brandon, WHL) 22-0-4-4 (6th-)
SEL
Jakob Silfverberg (Brynas) 19-7-7-14 (4th=)
Fredrik Claesson (Djurgarden) 19-1-3-4 (4th=)
Marcus Sorensen (Boras) 5-1-2-3 (11th)
Mika Zibanejad (Djurgarden) 3-1-0-1 (=)
NCAA
Ryan Dzingel (CCHA-Ohio State) 11-3-6-9 (3rd=)
Bryce Aneloski (WCHA-Nebraska-Omaha) 12-1-8-9 (1st=)
Michael Sdao (ECAC-Princeton) 7-4-1-5 (t-1st=)
Max McCormick (CCHA-Ohio State) 4-1-3-4 (injured)
Chris Wideman (CCHA-Miami) 12-1-3-4 (2nd-)
Ben Blood (WCHA-North Dakota) 10-1-2-3 (t-2nd=)
Jeff Costello (CCHA-Notre Dame) 6-0-2-2 (13th)
Brad Peltz (ECAC-Yale) 1-0-0-0 (=)

November 14, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa’s projected lines for tonight: Colin Greening-Jason Spezza-Milan Michalek, Nick Foligno-Stephane Da Costa-Daniel Alfredsson, Kaspars Daugavins-Zack Smith-Erik Condra, Zenon Konopka-Jesse Winchester-Bobby Butler; Erik Karlsson-Filip Kuba, Chris Phillips-Brian Lee, Jared Cowen-Sergei Gonchar

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch writes about last night’s game (link), with Craig Anderson accepting some blame for the result, “What can I say, I left some garbage out front and they tapped it home.”

-Garrioch also writes about Anderson‘s performance this year in general (link), which he believes needs to improve drastically

-Rob Brodie wrote about Binghamton prior to their loss last night (link) and Kurt Kleinendorst reminds us how young the team is, “We’re a completely different team and it’s not even fair to draw comparisons (with last year). There really aren’t any comparisons to draw here. This is a really, really young group, whereas last year we had a pretty strong core. We probably had six or seven solid, older veteran guys who were great leaders.“

November 12, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

The Senators dropped their fifth game in a row with an uninspired effort against the Sabres.  I missed most of the game’s first period, but what I saw in the rest of the game was a team that was ineffective offensively and struggled with defensive coverage.  For the box score go here link.  Karlsson, Kuba, and Daugavins lead the minus brigade (each -3) with Alfredsson and Cowen the only players without.  A look at the goals:
1. Buffalo, Roy
Smith is unable to tie up Roy‘s stick after Anderson makes the initial save
2. Buffalo, Ellis
Konopka turns it over and neither Gonchar nor Winchester are able to tie-up Ellis in front of the net for the rebound
3. Gonchar (Karlsson, Spezza) (pp)
A great one-timer on the feed from Karlsson
4. Buffalo, Leopold
Spezza gives up on his check and Leopold cashes in unopposed
5. Buffalo, Adam
Phillips is unable to take away Adam‘s stick as he cashes in on a rebound
6. Buffalo, Leino
Karlsson blocks the shot which pops up and falls into the net

I didn’t think any of the Senators stood out tonight, so I’ll focus instead on players who struggled:
Zenon Konopka – was guilty of the turnover for the second goal and took a dumb penalty at the end of the second period
Jason Spezza – gave up on his check for the third goal and was murdered in the faceoff circle
Craig Anderson/Alex Auld – these guys have got to bail out their teammates once and awhile; the Sens out shot and out chanced the Sabres and lost by four

The Binghamton Senators lost their sixth game in a row and continued to struggle to score.  I did not see the game so I’m reliant on reports about it (for the box score go here link; Joy Lindsay’s game summary should be here link, but is as yet incomplete).  Petersson scored the lone goal for Binghamton, who actually out shot Rochester (Cannone and Petersson lead the way with 5 shots each).  Lehner took the loss.

The Elmira Jackals lost 5-4 to Reading tonight; Maxime Gratchev had an assist and Brian Stewart allowed no goals in 14 minutes of relief.

November 11, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Daniel Alfredsson is expected to play tonight, while Chris Neil is out with a sprained ankle suffered in the Ranger game

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Don Brennan writes excitedly about Stephane Da Costa (link), but the only worthwhile comment in the piece is this: “In the meantime, the Senators will spend this season running cold and hot, like they’ve done with a six-game winning streak and a four-game slump in their past 10. So will individuals.”  If Brennan actually wrote all his articles with this in mind he’d come across as less reactive and hysterical.

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Wayne Scanlan writes about the team’s upcoming road trip (link) and he includes an interesting quote from Chris Phillips, “It’s what our style is right now, to not be fancy. To get pucks in deep and grind teams down low. And be frustrating to play against. That fits in well to a road style game and hopefully is to our advantage.”  This sounds like a dump and chase style, but my impression was the team wanted to play a puck-possession game.  It’s possible that’s what Phillips means, but I wonder about mixed messages.

-Joy Lindsay writes that Kurt Kleinendorst ran a hard practice yesterday after Binghamton’s loss to Hershey (link).  Kleinendorst is concerned by how few shots on goal the team is generating, saying “I don’t know that we’re missing that many. But I don’t know that we’re generating many opportunities to get shots on net. When you spend a lot of time in your end, the shot clock goes up on one end and doesn’t really move much on the other. That concerns me, but I don’t really have a quick fix.”

-Joy Tweets that Robin Lehner will get the start tonight; Derek Grant will miss the game with a shoulder injury while Mark Parrish is a game time decision.  With Bobby Raymond recalled either Josh Godfrey or Shaun Heshka will sit.

November 11, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Aedan Helmer writes about last night’s game (link) including the following from Paul MacLean, “I thought we played real well. I thought we were in control of the game for the most part. But again, the lack of efficiency and execution in our own zone led to great opportunities for them. We turned the puck over (numerous) times and those are things that are going to come back to haunt you.”

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Don Brennan (link) actually hit the nail on the head when he writes, “It was obvious that David Rundblad was trying to do too much in his first game back after two in the pressbox.”  Brennan also includes this from Paul MacLean, “I thought Brian [Lee] played fine for us in the two (weekend) games. But at this point in time, David Rundblad is a better player.”

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Wayne Scalan looks at Jason Spezza‘s faceoff prowess (link), with Spezzasaying, “Everybody that’s good cheats. Look at the top of the  (faceoff) list, those are the 10 best cheaters in the league. It’s changed a little bit from when I first came in. Some of  those old linesmen, they didn’t give you much of a chance. With a lot of the younger linesmen coming in, it’s a little more of a fair fight.  A lot of it is a respect thing. You have to respect the linesman, recognize that occasionally he’s going to drop the puck wrong, and maybe the  guy’s going to get away with cheating — but if you snap on the guy right away, after a guy cheats on you once, you’re not going to get much respect from the linesman.  A lot of times you tie up and it’s the winger who wins the faceoff. Both my  guys are real good.”

–Sportsnet‘s Ian Mendes speculates on Twitter that Alfredsson will be in the lineup next game (link)

-Joy Lindsay’s has post-game comments from Kurt Kleinendorst up (link), where the affable coach sounds frustrated: “We weren’t very good. We get outshot every night, so it’s not just … it’s frustrating, for sure, but I don’t know if I would call it alarming. It’s certainly a trend. We’re 14 games in now, and generally speaking, that’s the way the shot clock looks at the end of the night. They’re a good team, and this is a tough building to play in. For whatever reason, we walk in here, and we don’t play our best hockey in here. We never have. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why it is. But it is what it is. We just seem to come in here, and we just underperform.”

-Joy also reports that Bobby Raymond has been recalled (link)

-Rob Brodie, writing for the Sens website, has a profile of Mark Borowiecki posted (link).  Kurt Kleinendorst said, “(Borowiecki) and Conboy have been our two steadiest defencemen, without a doubt. And so with that, we match him up against the other team’s top lines … I never thought we were going to have to use him that way but you know what, it’s been a blessing for him. More than likely, if we weren’t made up the way were made up, I probably wouldn’t have put him in that position. But we didn’t have that choice and I’ll tell you, I have to give him a lot of credit. He’s stepped right up and he’s been really good.”

November 10, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

I was at last night’s 3-2 loss to the Rangers, a game Ottawa largely dominated.  Once again, turnovers were the team’s achilles heel (Paul Maclean said the team had 23 in the post-game), although it’s too their credit that they could have won the game regardless.  For the box score go here link.  A look at the goals:
1. Michalek (Spezza, Karlsson)
A great pass to Michalek who scored from the slot
2. Rangers, Gaborik
Gonchar tries to backhand the puck up the boards and gives it away leading to an easy goal for Gaborik
3. Rangers, Stepan
Rundblad couldn’t make up his mind behind the net and then shanked a backhand pass to Phillips that was intercepted and resulted in an easy goal
4. Rangers, Gaborik
Greening, who was covering the point for Cowen, makes an ill-advised pinch which leads to a 2-on-1.  Rundblad gives Anderson the shooter, but for some reason Anderson makes himself right into his net giving Gaborik a ton of room on the short side
5. Foligno (Da Costa, Butler)
Da Costa makes a great pass leaving Foligno all alone in front and he makes no mistake

Top performers:
Milan Michalek – he scored, lead the team in scoring chances, and was a dominant player
Filip Kuba – he wasn’t flashy, but did his job defensively

Players who struggled:
David Rundblad – hadn’t played in more than a week and it showed; he was tentative with the puck (something Paul MacLean mentioned) and I think it’s a reflection of his time away from the rink
Chris Phillips – wound up tied with Rundblad in the turnover department and a veteran like him just can’t do that

Other comments: Craig Anderson played well, but let in a soft goal and with this team he just can’t do that.

The Binghamton Senators lost their fifth game in a row 3-0 to the mighty Hershey Bears.  I did not see the game so I’m reliant on reports about it.  For the box score go here link and Joy Lindsay’s game summary go here link.  Binghamton was outshot 35-15 and from all reports did not play very well.

The Elmira Jackals won 3-2, with Gratchev getting an assist and Stewart earning the win.  Bobby Raymond‘s Everblades also won, with the blueliner earning two assists.

November 10, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch adds his voice to those in the local media beating the drum for retribution against the Rangers after the Wolski hit on Alfredsson (link)

-In The Ottawa Sun‘s “Digital Faceoff” (link) Garrioch wants to throw the rebuild out the window to make the playoffs, “Perhaps you guys will remember the interview with Eugene Melnyk before the season where he said if Bryan wanted to bulk up at the deadline for playoff help, he would do it. Who wants to finish out of the playoffs? I can tell you the fans here would be OK with sidelining all the rebuild stuff if this team has a shot at the post-season.”

-In another Garrioch article (link) he includes a good quote from Paul MacLean about the play of the team’s veteran blueliners, “I think he’s just trying to be Chris Phillips and not trying to be Chris Phillips and David Rundblad, Chris Phillips and Jared Cowen. Filip (Kuba), Sergei (Gonchar) and (Phillips) were maybe trying to do too much at the beginning of the year with the partners they had, but they’ve settled in and just been themselves.”

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Wayne Scanlan writes about goaltending around the NHL (link) and includes some interesting comments from Craig Anderson, “[Back-ups] usually they get thrown in when the team’s down 3-0 halfway through the first, they end up playing 50 minutes and have a shutout, right? Having 25 saves on the night – looks really good on their stats. Then the next game he gives up one or two, and suddenly he’s only given up two goals in nearly two games, and 50 shots later he’s got a great save percentage.”

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Ken Warren writes about Filip Kuba‘s early season performance (link), with the big blueliner saying, “Coming back wasn’t easy. I just wasn’t  there. After my back surgery and then I (rehabilitated) all summer, and then the  leg and everything and I missed a lot of time. I wasn’t up to speed with the  game. It took me more than I thought it would to get back. I think we had a  pretty good couple of months at the end of the season and felt better, I thought  at that point, I was playing the way I wanted to play.”

-Rob Brodie writes about Zack Smith‘s early season success (link), with Smith saying, “I’ve got a lot more confidence, especially after playing in Binghamton in the playoffs last year. I got to play a more offensive role and I’ve come up here and it feels like the coach has more confidence in me. Our line has created chances 5-on-5, and me and Condra have been able to create chances shorthanded.”

-Joy Lindsay writes about Nikita Filatov‘s return to Binghamton (link), with Filatov saying, “Yeah, I kind of expected it. Especially when I figured out I’m gonna play … I started to play like five, six minutes per game, I just kind of understood, it’s not my role there. So, basically, probably, they think I’m not ready yet to try for more. I played not much there, but anyway it was good experience, and I was there, so now just here again, so just gonna keep working.” And “I just was trying to focus more on the defensive. I’m pretty happy with the way it went.” And “I kind of helped them last time, and it’s fun. It’s a pleasure to help these guys. It’s a good group of guys, great coach, so I’m just going to try to do everything I can, and the biggest part will hopefully be getting goals.”  Kleinendorst said, “I think for sure (it’s good for him to be back). He wouldn’t be here (if it wasn’t). It’s all of us working together. That’s the one thing Paul has been real good about. When the guys get sent down, there’s dialogue, there’s a conversation just so we’re all on the same page. I think that Nikita knows that we’re all behind him, we’re all pulling for him, and this is all for his development. This is not punishment. This is for us as an organization to try to create something that we know is there. With Filly, it’s nothing more than he has to be competitive every night and he’s got to be good without the puck. Once he gets those two things, we know what his skill set is.”

-Joy Lindsay has posted quotes from Mark Borowiecki and Robin Lehner (link), with the former saying, “We’re not playing bad hockey; it’s just one mistake here and there. They’re usually mentally errors. It’s not because we’re not working. It’s not because we’re not trying. We’re all working our hardest. It’s just we have to work smarter, and it starts with focus between the ears.”  Lehner adds, “Everywhere on the ice, we have stuff that we can do better, including me. It’s still pretty early. We have to try to start finishing now, and take some wins.”

November 9, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch writes about the struggles of Bobby Butler (link), with Butler saying, “I’ve just got to keep playing and hope that one goes in. Once one goes in, the confidence will come back right away. Until then, I’ve just got to keep working hard and making things happen. Hopefully, I can just help the team win whatever way I can help. Last year, I went through a couple of these droughts. You learn every time to get through them and try to go back to the basics. It comes and goes. If you’re hot, you’re hot.”

-In the same article Garrioch can’t resist taking a shot at Nikita Filatov, “the club needs to get more effort if he’s going to be a full-time NHL player.”  Garrioch’s comment is followed by Paul MacLean echoing what I’ve been saying about Filatov, “Nikita worked really hard and he’s a star in the AHL. It’s good for him and a great place for him to get confidence. When I talked to him (before he left), I told him I want that player here in Ottawa, but right now we’re not getting that player. When he comes up here, he gets a little bit tight and tentative and doesn’t do as much creatively with the puck.”

–Daniel Alfredsson is symptom free and skating again; there’s no time table for his return

–Hockey Futures‘ Chris Roberts writes about Sens prospect Jean-Gabriel Pageau (link), which includes the following, “‘There’s a big difference between NHL shot and junior. So I work a lot on my shot’, said Pageau, explaining that was one of the things the Senators brass told him to work on following his brief stint with the team during training camp.”

–The Silver Seven‘s Darren M writes about Zack Smith (link), but what I enjoyed most about his article is reminded us how well Don Brennan assesses draft picks (link) when he dismissed Erik Karlsson, “Karlsson won’t play in the NHL for a year or two or three, if he ever does. Real tough to get excited about him now.”

–The Hockey News, ESPN, and TSN’s power rankings are out, with the Sens 22nd, 20th, and 24th.

-Joy Lindsay tweets Binghamton’s lines in practice: Filatov-Cannone-Parrish, Hoffman-O’Brien-Petersson, Dziurzynski-Caporusso-Downing, Cowick-Hamilton-Lessard; Borowiecki-Schira, Wiercioch-Gryba, Godfrey-Heshka.

-Prospect updates (their position in team scoring is noted in brackets, defence compared to defence; I’ve also indicated if the player’s scoring position has change (with a + for up, – for down, and = for unchanged):
CHL
Jakub Culek (Rimouski, QMJHL) 17-2-6-8 (9th=)
Mark Stone (Brandon, WHL) 18-14-23-37 (1st=)
Stefan Noesen (Plymouth, OHL) 14-2-10-12 (8th-)
Matt Puempel (Peterborough, OHL) 18-11-9-20 (1st+)
Shane Prince (Ottawa 67s, OHL) 12-7-14-21 (3rd+)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Gatineau, QMJHL) 14-17-9-26 (1st=)
Darren Kramer (Spokane, WHL) 13-7-6-13 (2nd=)
Jordan Fransoo (Brandon, WHL) 18-0-2-2 (t-5th+)
SEL
Jakob Silfverberg (Brynas) 19-7-7-14 (4th-)
Marcus Sorensen (Boras) 4-0-1-1 (NR)
Fredrik Claesson (Djurgarden) 19-1-3-4 (4th-)
Mika Zibanejad (Djurgarden) 3-1-0-1 (NR)
NCAA
Ben Blood (WCHA-North Dakota) 9-1-2-3 (t-2nd+)
Chris Wideman (CCHA-Miami) 10-1-3-4 (t-1st=)
Jeff Costello (CCHA-Notre Dame) 2-0-2-2 (injured)
Brad Peltz (ECAC-Yale) 1-0-0-0
Michael Sdao (ECAC-Princeton) 5-3-1-4 (t-1st)
Bryce Aneloski (WCHA-Nebraska-Omaha) 10-1-6-7 (1st=)
Max McCormick (CCHA-Ohio State) 4-1-3-4 (injured)
Ryan Dzingel (CCHA-Ohio State) 9-3-5-8 (t-3rd-)

November 8, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment