-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

-The lack of meaningful hockey news prior to the start of Binghamton’s season tomorrow created a flood of Ben Bishop-to-Binghamton articles.  This possibility has been up in the air for weeks, but given the difficulty goaltenders have found in finding jobs in Europe it’s no surprise this was the route Bishop had to take.  The only real impact of the signing is on Nathan Lawson, whom Andy Strickland reports has refused assignment to Elmira.  I’m not sure how that will be handled, although it’s Lawson‘s prerogative to refuse.

–Mika Zibanejad and Matt Puempel were both interviewed on The Team 1200 recently.  No earth-shattering comments from either, as you’d expect.

-Elmira has announced their opening night roster (they play Reading tonight; Sens prospects in green): Forwards: Brad Peltz (NCAA 9-1), Dustin Gazley (ECHL 72-85), Jordan Pietrus (ECHL 65-40), Brandan Blandina (NCAA 39-9), Corey Bellamy (FHL 32-14), Jean Bourbeau (ECHL 49-26), Andrew Rowe (AHL 34-11), Alec Kirschner (ECHL 30-2), Rob Bellamy (ECHL 63-24), Artem Demkov (ECHL 67-57), Kevin McCarey (NCAA 37-12); Defense: Ben Blood (NCAA 42-21), Chris Wideman (NCAA 41-24), Danny New (NCAA 36-14), Kyle Bushee (ECHL 57-19), Jordan Southorn (ECHL 50-21), Matt Campanale (ECHL 58-22), Jimmy Martin (ECHL 70-27); Goalies: Marc Cheverie (ECHL 2.71), Nick Niedert (ECHL 2.07).  Chaz Johnson (ECHL F 64-35) is on injured reserve while Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel (ECHL D 62-14), Kevin Harvey (ECHL F 34-11), and Jarrett Rush (ECHL D 57-13) are on reserve.  That’s 12 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders excluding reserves.  Clearly the team expects more forwards from Binghamton in the near future.

-Just a clarification on Brad Peltz as I get asked about him frequently: despite being a Senators draft pick he was not offered a contract by the team when he turned pro.  He was invited to Binghamton on a tryout basis and remains with Elmira on a tryout.

-Speaking of Elmira’s game against Reading, the latter features prospect Philipp Grubauer (who lost to both Binghamton and Elmira in pre-season action), as well as former B-Sen Yannick Tifu.

-Elmira released goaltender Joe Spagnoli from their roster.

–Hockeys Future has finished it’s top-50 prospect list and Mika Zibanejad shows up at #5 (Jakob Silfverberg was #40 and Robin Lehner was #46).

-I’m not sure what their source is, but Hockey-Site provides a list of average player salary by league:
NHL
KHL
Czech Extraliga
SEL
SM-Liiga
NLA
AHL
DEL
With elite players in various other professional leagues making decent salaries.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 12, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-Binghamton has made two more roster cuts, with Marc Cheverie going to Elmira (as expected) along with Ben Blood who (for the moment) he’s lost his spot to Fredrik Claesson.  With Jared Cowen in a healthy lineup both Blood and Claesson were aiming to be seventh defenseman (behind Benoit, Cowen, Eckford, Wiercioch, Gryba, and Borowiecki), so it’s not that surprising the team would rather have teenage Claesson ride the pine while Blood plays a ton in Elmira.

–Ben Bishop has reportedly signed with Binghamton, putting Nathan Lawson in limbo barring injury or the end of the lockout.

–James Gordon wonders if fans will come back to the NHL when the lockout is over, a question whose answer is tied to context.  For hardcore hockey fans there’s nowhere else to go, so it won’t impact them, but for casual fans a prolonged lockout will hurt weaker markets.  The idea that fans can speak with their dollars is true only to a point–outside of walking away from the sport, there’s no real alternative for hockey fans.

–D. J. Powers looks at Hockey East (NCAA), which doesn’t feature any Sens prospects, although it contains mention of Sens Development Camp invitee Trevor Van Riemsyk:

Van Riemsdyk came to Durham as a highly touted rookie last season and didn’t disappoint. The Middletown, NJ native led all New Hampshire defensemen with 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) playing in all 37 games. He also earned a spot on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. Van Riemsdyk is a blossoming, two-way defenseman that is very good at both ends of the ice. But what really stands out about him is his excellent vision and hockey sense. He utilizes his speed quite effectively in the Wildcats’ transition game, as well. None of this has been lost on NHL teams. Among the teams already giving Van Riemsdyk a look are the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ottawa Senators, whose prospect camps he attended this summer.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 11, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Roster changes are still coming to both Binghamton and Elmira, but mid-week everything is quiet (everyone in Binghamton was at practice today except for Shane Prince).  Binghamton’s season begins on Saturday (13th) and the Jackals on Friday (12th). [Reported practice lines: Silfverberg-Pageau-Zibanejad; Petersson-Cannone-Hoffman; Cowick-Grant-Stone; Cowen-Benoit, Eckford-Blood, Borowiecki-Gryba, Claesson.]

–Matt Weinstein is the new beat reporter for the Binghamton Senators and has big shoes to fill in the form of the departed Joy Lindsay.

–The Raaymaker worries that if Ben Bishop signs an AHL deal it may hurt Robin Lehner‘s development.  I don’t see the problem–competition is good for both players–the only guy sweating that possibility is Nathan Lawson.

-Sens blogger Brochenski joins the 6th Sens, which I only bring up because it reminds me that I forgot to mention his blog on the Sens penalty killing last season and how brutal Zenon Konopka was on it.

–Stu Hackel wonders if NHL players who sign in low-level leagues will see their play suffer post-lockout.  The conclusion he comes too is pretty simple: it depends on how hard they work.  The talent level of the league is less relevant than how much work they put into it.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 10, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Randy Lee offers his two cents on Binghamton’s camp (transcription courtesy of Nichols):

The biggest thing that we were impressed [me] about [player fitness] was the attitude. They really competed in the testing. Chris Schwarz and the testing group came down here and we replicated everything that we do at a regular training camp and there was some really good leadership shown from the veteran guys. You could see when guys were doing the test and looking at (the results), and coming back and saying, “Can I get another rep in, I want to see if I can beat that.” So the competitiveness is there, which is a great tell-tale sign for the future of this team.

A small correction for Nichols who believes Claesson left a comfortable situation in the SEL–his team was relegated to the Allsvenskan.  I think the odds are decent that Claesson will spend time in Elmira when the blueline is healthy and the lockout continues–his primary competition right now is Ben Blood and I expect the NCAA grad to get the edge.

Some guys who thought they would be guaranteed top six D, are going to have a tough time now with the numbers here. They are going to have to adjust. I think they are realizing… the players aren’t dumb. They do the math. They are realizing that there are too many guys here for the number of positions available, so some people aren’t going to be happy then and they’re going to have to adjust. And that’s one thing that we will look at, how did you handle that? If you do get sent down to the East Coast (Hockey) League, how did you handle that? What was your approach when you went down there? How did you work? Did you pout? Or did you embrace it and challenge (yourself) and force us to bring you back? We always tell them, “You make the decision, if you’re good enough, we’ll put you back on the team, but you have to prove it. If you pout, you’re sending us a really bad signal.”

He [Lehner] addressed some issues that we had. His weight was an issue and he addressed that. It’s down two camps in a row now. In terms of being at development camp last year, he was very good. He was under 10-percent body fat and under 10-percent fat now, so he has addressed that. That was part of his approach. He is sleeping better and eating better. You know what it is like, guys learn at different paces and some guys get it faster and some guys take a bit longer. Robin is a very good talent. He has just had to adjust his lifestyle. He has adjusted his approach to the game. He has been calm. He has been competitive. He has looked really solid in the net and that is great for him. It’s our job to support these guys. We know it’s not going to be automatic that once we explain this to you and say that you should be at this level, it just happens. Guys take longer and he did have big success. He won MVP of the Calder Cup and then we wanted that to follow that up. They have been very good. Rick Wamsley has worked with him and Bryan has been very (forthright) with him. We want you to play lots. We want you to dominate and we want you to be a great teammate and a great worker, and he has done that. He has done everything that we have asked of him.

-Binghamton still has a cluttered roster and the difficult decisions haven’t been made yet.  There’s no roster limit in the AHL, but once players are healthy the organisation is going to want them to play, so expect more movement.

–Hockey’s Future has begun their top-50 prospect countdown and thus far Robin Lehner (#46) and Jakob Silfverberg (#40) have made the list.  What relevance does this have?  Not much, although it’s a small indication of how prospects are viewed outside the Ottawa microscope.

-Elmira won their first pre-season game 4-1 against the Reading Royals (defeating Philipp Grubauer whom Binghamton beat a couple of days earlier).  Andrew Rowe, Brandon Blandina, Chris Wideman, and Dustin Gazley all scored.

-In an illustration of how badly a team can miss with a first round pick defenseman Mark Mitera (1-19/06, Brian Burke) was cut by St. John’s and is without a team.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 9, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Binghamton re-assigned one more player today, sending Jakub Culek to the QMJHL (and yes, I’d forgotten he was CHL-eligible).  This isn’t a surprising roster decision, but it does mean Culek fell behind tryout Jack Downing.  I think more roster moves may have occurred today were it not for the injury situation in Binghamton. [Sylvain St-Laurent has Tweeted that Jean-Gabriel Pageau is going to spend the year in Binghamton, but I haven’t seen any confirmation of that–he’s subsequently Tweeted that Luke Richardson has confirmed he’s staying, although I’m not sure if the “other decisions” will be made when Da Costa is healthy impacts Pageau or not.]

-Here are highlights from Binghamton’s 6-3 win over Albany.

–Pierre LeBrun and Scott Burnside‘s pre-season power rankings have the Sens 13th and 17th respectively.

–DJ Powers looks at the Atlantic Hockey Conference (NCAA), which features no Sens prospects, but does reference free agent signee Cole Schneider.

–Jason Chen offers an early look at some of Ottawa’s prospects thus far (there’s nothing new here, although I’m always happy to see Michael Sdao brought up).

–Jeremy Rutherford warns that the NHL is risking losing corporate ticket sales with the lockout, with Spotlight TMS CEO Tony Knopp saying:

Since 2008, I would say that one in every four [corporate] customers we talk to, somebody internally is telling them that they have to drop their tickets. I know (the NHL and its teams) are saying, ‘This is what happened after the last lockout, this is how much business you can expect.’ My argument is that’s not going to be the case this time. These guys are already looking for a way to get out of sports tickets, and now they’re just giving them bullets to shoot themselves with. The reality is, once budget gets cut, you don’t just add budget overnight. You have to justify why doing business with the St. Louis Blues is better than not laying off these three people. That’s an awful difficult fight to have post-2008.

The article also talks about how NHL players receive a greater percentage of revenue than the NBA and NFL and talks about how normal fans will return to the league like they always do after work stoppages.  It’s an interesting read.

-Here’s the weekly prospect update:

CHL
Matt Puempel (OHL Kitchener) 6-5-2-7
Cody Ceci (OHL Ottawa) 6-2-5-7
Stefan Noesen (OHL Plymouth) 5-5-1-6
Jordan Fransoo (WHL Victoria) 4-0-2-2 (injured)
Jarrod Maidens (OHL Owen Sound) (injured)
Francois Brassard (QMJHL Quebec) 6-1-0 2.00 .924
Chris Driedger (WHL Calgary) 4-0-1 2.34 .918

Allsvenskan (Swe)
Mikael Vikstrand (Mora) 9-3-2-5

KHL
Nikita Filatov (Salavat) 13-3-6-9

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

USHL
Robbie Baillargeon (Indiana) – 4-0-3-3

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 8, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-Binghamton wrapped up its pre-season action with a 6-3 win over Albany.  Robin Lehner earned the win and Corey Cowick, Derek Grant, Mike Hoffman, Andre Petersson, Andre Benoit, and Mark Stone (empty-net) scoring.  I watched the game which was slow and sloppy, with the only takeaways being that Stone and Jean-Gabriel Pageau were completely invisible–that won’t impact Stone much, but may hurt Pageau (who is CHL eligible).

-Final roster decisions haven’t been made and given the injury situations of several players they may be delayed for some time.  My guess for the roster remains largely unchanged (in no particular order): Cannone, Da Costa, Silfverberg, Zibanejad, Petersson, Jessiman, Stone, Grant, Hoffman, Dziurzynski, Kramer, Schneider, Cowick; Benoit, Eckford, Borowiecki, Gryba, Wiercioch, Blood, Claesson,  The toughest guess is the extra forward, but assuming I’m right we’ll see Downing, Culek, Hamilton, and Caporusso sent to join Wideman in Elmira (any of the first three forwards mentioned could be swapped out with Cowick), while Pageau and Prince go back to junior.

–Nichols transcribes an interview with Tim Murray from Wednesday and there isn’t much of interest said.  A couple of quotes amused me:

The first thing that you notice about the league [AHL in lockout mode] is that maybe some of the one-dimensional players [goons] are going to be eliminated a little bit because you have to get your kids and your good prospects in the lineup and your good players in the lineup.

Doni Brennan on a Swede [Lehner]? Really? That would amaze me that he’d like a Swede or any other type of Euro.

I like Murray’s dismissal of the enforcer as a useful part of the team, as well as his poke at Brennan’s predilections.  Unfortunately that’s it; part of the problem are the questions he was asked, but there’s nothing of substance here.

–Sportsnet has announced the airing of AHL games, but so far Binghamton is not on the list (Toronto, Hamilton, Abbotsford, and Chicago are the Canadian affiliates being shown).

–Daniel Wagner looks at Don Cherry’s Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em on the hunt for illegal hits and its worth reading through what helped make Grapes rich.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 7, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Binghamton defeated Hershey 5-3 in their second game of the pre-season, with Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Mika Zibanejad, Mike Hoffman, Jakub Culek, and Andre Petersson scoring.  Of note, Brad Peltz got into a fight, which may be the first of his career.  Bobby Kelly watched the game and provides his insight on it.  Incidentally, Bobby expressed surprise that Culek was given serious defensive responsibilities, but the organisation has always projected him as a checking forward.  Binghamton’s final pre-season game is today against Albany.

-Lines for tonight’s game: Zibanejad-Pageau-Stone, Hoffman-Cannone-Petersson, Dziurzynski-Grant-Schneider, Cowick-Culek-Downing; Cowen-Benoit, Borowiecki-Gryba, Ekford-Claesson; Robin Lehner will start.

-Binghamton made their second round of cuts, sending Chris Wideman, Brad Peltz, and Danny New to Elmira and returning Scott Greenham to Bakersfield.  No surprises here, with only Wideman actually signed to an ELC.  This leaves the B-Sens with 3 goalies (Marc Cheverie will be sent back to Elmira when Nathan Lawson is healthy), 8 defensemen (Patrick Wiercioch has not played in the pre-season), and 19 forwards (including tonight’s game Da Costa, Jessiman, Caporusso, Hamilton, and Prince have not played in the pre-season).

-Speaking of Albany, here is their training camp roster.  They are 3-0 so far in pre-season action, with the team featuring NHLers Adam Larsson, Adam Henrique, Jacob Josefson, and Mattias Tedenby (and Bobby Butler).  The only significant roster loses for the team from last year are Vladimir Zharkov (KHL) and Peter Harrold (one-way with New Jersey).  I have no idea if class act Tim Sestito will play.

-Elmira made their first round of cuts, releasing 11 players: Yegor Bezugly, Tim D’Orazio, Luke Frey, Artem Gumenyuk, Matt Harrington, Nicolas Lareau, Ivan Lyaskevich, Jeremy Narducci, Kyle Pelke, Charles Vaillancourt, and Jon Vaillancourt.  None of these cuts are surprises.

-Former B-Sen Francis Lessard has finally landed elsewhere, signing with the LNAH Cornwall River Kings.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 6, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-Lineups for tonight’s game have been announced: Zibanejad-Pageau-Stone, Hoffman-Cannone-Petersson, Cowick-Culek-Schneider, Peltz-Kramer-Downing; Blood-Borowiecki, New-Wideman, Cowen-Claesson.  Marc Cheverie will play the first two periods, while Scott Greenham will play the third.

–Highlights from Binghamton’s exhibition game are available (the only thing missing is Mark Stone‘s shootout goal).

-Binghamton reduced its training camp roster by three today, returning Dustin Gazley, Jimmy Martin, and Matt Campanale back to Elmira.  Hershey, whom Binghamton is playing again tonight, has also reduced their roster (by 12 players).

-News has also come down that The Team 1200 will carry Binghamton broadcasts in the short term (including tonight).

-The 6th Sens interviewed Kurt Kleinendorst and its worth a listen for those wanting insight into KK’s time behind the Binghamton bench (he had a lot of praise for Bryan Murray, incidentally).

-Elmira held its intersquad scrimmage last night, with Team White defeating Team Blue 5-4.  Luke Frey, Jimmy Martin, Rob Bellamy, Yegor Bezugly, Jean Bourbeau, Andrew Rowe, Kevin McCarey (2), and Brandon Blandina scored (here are highlights).

–Stu Hackel writes a long and interesting article about the problems with the CBA negotiations, believing Bettman and ownership have made settling it much more difficult for themselves by their approach.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 5, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-I caught about half of Binghamton’s pre-season tilt with the Hershey Bears last night.  The game was slow and sloppy and lacked surprises (the best players were the best players).  Robin Lehner was good, but not great; Jakob Silfverberg and Mika Zibanejad were excellent (making life great for linemate Jean-Gabriel Pageau).  There were three fights in the game, with Corey Cowick‘s specifically defending Derek Grant after he was run head-first into the boards (Kramer and Dziurzynski also fought).  Silfverberg, Zibanejad, and Eckford scored in regulation, while Silfverberg, Stone, and Pageau tallied in the shootout.  Luke Richardson talked about the goals allowed:

All three goals were probably bouncing off shin pads and went to the open guy. The second and third one, I thought we over back-checked and left guys open.

The Raaymaker offers his views of the game, but admits he “wasn’t watching it too closely.”

-My prediction that we wouldn’t lose any regular season games due to the CBA negotiations has crashed and burned as Bob McKenzie reports the cancellation of the first two weeks.  We’ll see how long it lasts, but I’m curious to see just how far the league is willing to go.

-A few more comments about EA Sports 2013.  The wonky draft trends have sorted themselves out in GM mode, but I do have a few comments about the play itself: 1) when an AI opponent throws any kind of hit, your player will go flying, 2) the AI takes virtually no penalties (a problem in virtually every version of the game).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 4, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment