-Ottawa plays Buffalo (3-5-1) tonight; the Sabres are lead by NHL leading scorer Tomas Vanek (19 points; no one is mocking his contract this season) and backstopped by the always opinionated Ryan Miller (3-4-1 3.11 .906).

–Paul MacLean talked about the tendency of the team to over pass the puck:

I call it ‘Give it to Johnny’, because we’re always trying to pass to the other guy, because Johnny has a better shot than I have or Johnny is in a better place. I thought we were tight, I didn’t think we were loose and confident with the puck.

I think the confidence comment is the right one–there are a lot of Sens right now who are afraid to shoot.

–Nichols shares thoughts on Stephane Da Costa‘s recall and he’s exactly right that he’s in Ottawa because Peter Regin isn’t performing.  I’m with Nichols in liking Regin, but he’s a player who has clearly lost his confidence and in the absence of Jason Spezza he does have to start producing.  I’m not sure Da Costa is really ready for prime time, but he is an offensively gifted player who could help.

–Varada has a rambling piece which I think is about the rebuild, but there isn’t much meat on the bones.  I did want to comment on one thing he said:

Silfverberg and Stone both kind of came out of nowhere, projected to either be lower pairing players or not play in the NHL at all.

Admittedly Varada might mean fans had this perspective, but that’s not true within the scouting community or the organisation.  Stone is a surprise, but his stock was badly hurt in his draft year due to injury and playing on a stacked team, while Silfverberg was always projected as an NHL player (you can read Pierre Dorion‘s comments here and scouting thoughts on Stone here).

-Former NHLer Brett Ledba has signed a PTO with Binghamton; Ledba was playing with Rockford (27-0-11-11) where he sported an ugly -12 rating.  With Robin Lehner around to clean up his mistakes he looks like a useful addition to Binghamton’s depleted blueline.

–Bobby Kelly looks at the weekend that was for Binghamton and makes a good point that David Dziurzynski is missing out on an excellent opportunity to see some NHL action.  After receiving praise last season he’s struggled this year and has been unable to step up in the absence of so many of Binghamton’s top players.

-I’m starting to think virtually every draft year (excluding 2010 which was considered a stinker throughout) is going to start with praise for its depth and then see that opinion change.  The Sens have done pretty well in these circumstances under Bryan Murray, but it is food for thought.

-Here’s a very long blog about the Penguins move away from European players–Don Cherry must be proud!

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 5, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-As reported by SensProspects yesterday Stephane Da Costa has been recalled by the Senators.  The lines at practice are: Zibanejad-Turris-Alfredsson, Michalek-Smith-Silfverberg, Greening-Regin-Neil, O’Brien-Da Costa-Condra.  I like Regin with physical players–maybe he’ll find his confidence there.  I don’t like Smith playing in the top six.  I wish Paul MacLean would give up putting Chris Neil, Zack Smith, and Colin Greening on the powerplay–they don’t produce enough, can’t distribute the puck, and Neil has taken penalties several times already.

-Here are my thoughts on Ottawa’s 2-1 loss to Montreal, including links to Greg Kimmerly’s wonderful history with the Sens.  Scott has the scoring chances 16-18, which seems about right.  The Raaymaker talks about the blown call (Allan Muir also makes note of it) and I agree with his summation:

in the end, Ottawa lost the game, and the waved-off goal wasn’t the only reason for that.

Can’t say I agree with his Michalek comments (echoed by Mark Parisi below) nor that Carey Price is a Sens killer–Ottawa just didn’t put enough pressure on Price, so credit the defense not the goaltending.

–Mark Parisi offers his ups and downs for the Sens week that was.  I largely agree with Mark, although not about his downward trend for Michalek (who has always been a streaky scorer) or Latendresse (who is sick).  Mark apparently agrees with Adnan that Silfverberg was previously “invisible”, a standard which apparently can’t be defined but must remain in the eye of the beholder.

–Scott Burnside offers up his power rankings and has Ottawa 10th.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 4, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Paul MacLean reflected on their loss to Carolina:

I think our execution level again is something we need to continue to work at. I thought the game was pretty fast I thought they were at times quicker than we were, especially on their forecheck, which led to some poor execution by us. But at the same time, it was a 1-0 game and we had an opportunity to tie it late in the game

I have to agree wholeheartedly with MacLean that a lack of execution was a big problem in the Sens loss.  Scott had the scoring chances 16-21, which seems about right.

-MacLean expects no lineup changes played for this afternoon’s game against the Habs (5-2-0); Montreal is lead by Andrei Markov and Raphael Diaz (8 points each) and backstopped by Carey Price (5-1-0 1.82 .932).

–Nichols wonders both about the long term future of Jason Spezza as well as the short-term impact on the Sens this season.  In terms of the latter, I agree with Nichols that it’s a excellent opportunity for the centers in the organisation to try and impress.  Fans need to remember the organisation is still in the midst of a rebuild and making the playoffs is more of a bonus than a necessity (particularly given how good the draft class of 2013 is).  In the former case, the future, I think the Sens have to hope that Kyle Turris can step into Spezza‘s shoes, given that I agree with Nichols that Jason‘s injury history is a big red flag.

-It was a rare telecast of the Binghamton Senators last night (a 1-0 loss to St. John’s; here’s the boxscore) and I caught the action and have a few thoughts:
>Robin Lehner was excellent
>the dumb penalty quotient was high, with Danny New, Derek Grant, Chris Wideman, and Darren Kramer all taking them; Kramer‘s was by far the worst as it not only lead to a goal, but it was the first of four straight which killed whatever momentum Binghamton had at that point
>the team had an awful start and didn’t generate a scoring chance until the 14 minute mark of the first period
>Eric Gryba was far and away the best defenseman for Binghamton, although he did get burned on the IceCaps only goal as O’Dell simply skated around him
>Ben Blood continues to struggle; losing battles along the board and getting lost positionally
>It was a game of ups and downs for Jean-Gabriel Pageau; he had some golden chances in the game, but also made a brutal turnover in the third period that lead to a 2-on-1 for St. John’s; he also ate a huge hit by Arsene and I’ve noticed throughout the year that he struggles to avoid open ice hits
>Pat Cannone needs something to change; his body language is terrible and he clearly lacks confidence (even failing to make an open five-foot pass on the powerplay)
>Hugh Jessiman was completely invisible for two periods
>Tyler Eckford‘s only notable play was to make a lazy turnover on the PK in the third
>Grant had the best chance offensively for Binghamton

-Elmira defeated Evansville 3-1 last night; Louie Caporusso picked up a goal

–Stu Hackel looks at Gary Bettman’s 20-years as NHL commissioner and its worth reading.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 3, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-Here are my thoughts on Ottawa’s 1-0 loss to Carolina last night.  There’s not much to say about Adnan‘s recap other than I disagree with him that Jakob Silfverberg was invisible.

-For those who missed it, Craig Anderson was named the NHL’s first star of the month.

-Binghamton lost 4-2 to St. John’s last night; Robin Lehner made 30 saves in the loss while Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Shane Prince provided the offense.  The B-Sens were shorthanded 9 times and everything I’ve read about the game said they played terribly.  Here’s the boxscore.  Binghamton faces St. John’s again this evening.

-Elmira lost 4-1 to Toledo last night, with Louie Caporusso picking up the Jackals only goal.

-The farcial Phoenix ownership situation continues as Greg Jamison missed his deadline on a sweetheart deal and now a hardline group of city councillors will make it impossible for he (or anyone else) to get the same.  It’s seemed inevitable from the beginning of the process that the Coyotes will move, but the question remains when and where.

-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) 52-12-35-47 (1st)
Matt Puempel (OHL Kitchener) 34-23-8-31 (2nd)
Stefan Noesen (OHL Plymouth) 33-17-13-30 (7th)
Jordan Fransoo (WHL Victoria) 45-3-10-13 (3rd)
Jakub Culek (QMJHL Cape Breton) 9-4-3-7 (10th) (injured)
Jarrod Maidens (OHL Owen Sound) (injured)
Chris Driedger (WHL Calgary) 25-11-3 2.41 .916
Francois Brassard (QMJHL Quebec) 23-15-3 2.90 .903

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

KHL
Nikita Filatov (Salavat) 43-9-11-20 (4th)

NCAA
Ryan Dzingel (Ohio) – 27-12-13-25 (1st)
Max McCormick (Ohio) – 27-8-8-16 (3rd)
Jeff Costello (Notre Dame) – 19-6-10-16 (6th)
Bryce Aneloski (Nebraska-Omaha) – 26-4-11-15 (2nd)
Michael Sdao (Princeton) – 20-6-6-12 (1st)
Tim Boyle (Union) – 14-0-2-2 (t-6th)

USHL
Robbie Baillargeon (Indiana/Omaha) – 40-14-16-30 (t-1st)

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 2, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-Ottawa faces Carolina (2-3-0) tonight; the Canes are lead by Eric Staal (6 points) and backstopped by Cam Ward (1-3-0 4.50 .861).  Sergei Gonchar is back, so Mark Borowiecki sits; Guillaume Latendresse is out with the flu (presumably Kaspars Daugavins will be inserted).

–Scott provides the scoring chances in the Montreal game (13-15).

–Varada and James debate whether Craig Anderson is the best goaltender Ottawa has ever had.  Varada says:

Andy might be playing behind one of the weakest Senators teams of the last several years, and he’s outright stealing games.

Are they one of the weakest Sens teams?  I think that’s debatable (the first Sens team to make the playoffs was pretty awful).  It’s fun to speculate, but as James points out the sample size it just too small at this point.

-Binghamton faces St. John’s (19-22-3) tonight; the IceCaps are lead by Jason Jaffrey (23 points) and backstopped by Eddie Pasquale (12-15-2 2.58 .916).

-Elmira plays Toledo (24-17-4) tonight; the Walleye’s are lead by Willie Coetzee and Andrej Nestrasil (37 points) and backstopped by Mark Guggenberger (16-6-3 2.36 .909).

-The Jackals traded Matt Campanale to Las Vegas in return for forward Matt Carter (29-2-3-5) and blueliner Cameron Cooper (13-0-1-1).

-I’ve got to think fighting fans are thrilled that Shawn Thornton was concussed by John Scott last night.  Getting punched in the face is an important part of the game, especially when the puncher can’t actually play hockey.  Scott had this to say:

You never want to hurt somebody.

Really?  You punch people in the face, but you don’t want to hurt anyone?  Maybe Scott has a concussion too….

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

February 1, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-The big news is that Jason Spezza is out indefinitely as he will have back surgery.  The Sens historically are not good without Spezza so it will be interesting to see how they manage in his absence.

-Here are my thoughts on last night’s game.

–Alfredsson talked about dealing with frustration with the first period of last night’s game:

We kind of told ourselves after the first that we thought we got a couple of calls against us that were tough and we just have to keep moving our feet and we’ll get some power plays and it’s nice when you can capitalize on it.

-Binghamton has recalled Darren Kramer and Dustin Gazley while signing Elmira d-man Kyle Bushee to a PTO.

-Elmira suspended Justin DaCosta who signed a deal with Kookoo in the Finnish second division.  The departure to Europe is also why the team suspended Artem Demkov not long ago (he’s playing for Hamburg in the DEL).

–Bob McKenzie‘s mid-season draft rankings are out (I’ve put ISS‘ rankings, where different, in brackets, with NR designating the player did not make their top-30):
1. Seth Jones
2. Nate MacKinnon
3. Jonathan Drouin
4. Aleksander Barkov
5. Elias Lindholm (6)
6. Sean Monahan (5)
7. Rasmus Ristolainen (8)
8. Hunter Shinkaruk (14)
9. Nikita Zadorov
10. Valeri Nichushkin (7)
11. Alexander Wennberg (21)
12. Darnell Nurse (10)
13. Frederik Gauthier (19)
14. Andre Burakowsky (18)
15. Ryan Pulock (17)
16. Adam Erne (15)
17. Anthony Mantha (NR)
18. Max Domi (28)
19. Bo Horvat (22)
20. Josh Morrissey
21. Mirco Mueller (NR)
22. Zachary Fucale (NR)
23. Kerby Rychel (27)
24. Jason Dickinson (13)
25. Curtis Lazar (11)
26. Jacob De La Rose (NR)
27. Valentin Zykov (16)
28. Ryan Hartman (25)
29. Robert Hagg (12)
30. J. T. Compher (26)

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

January 31, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment