-Lineup for tonight’s game against Hershey: Silfverberg-Pageau-Zibanejad, Dziurzynski-Culek-Stone, Cowick-Grant-Peltz, Kramer-Gazley-Downing; Eckford-Blood, Gryba-New, Claesson-Wideman; Robin Lehner gets the start.

-Tim Murray has praised Robin Lehner and Jared Cowen‘s training camp thus far.

–Mark Borowiecki talks about this year’s training camp experience:

There’s nothing unexpected here, but there’s little reason to doubt Borowiecki‘s sentiment that the players feel like they have something to prove this season.

–SteffeG offers some insight on Mika Zibanejad:

I do think he’s [Zibanejad] better suited at wing. He likes to rush down the wing and try to beat his defender or fire a hard shot from distance, which might be a good way to create chances for a certain type of player, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the full capacity of the wingers are used if the finishing player is the centre. In addition to that, he’s struggled in the face-off circle in Sweden, which usually means he’d have an even tougher time in the NHL in that aspect. [Zibanejad‘s] shown great maturity and defensive qualities early in his career. Perhaps even more so in his first year, as an SEL rookie, actually. I don’t think he’ll ever be a part of a good PP unit. Well, he likes to shoot and his shot is his best PP quality, so if anywhere, that’s where he should be. Perhaps as the net-front presence if he can handle that on an NHL power play.

The description of Zibanejad‘s style reminds me a lot of Mike Fisher–a player who loved to rush down the wing and fire the puck (high, hard, and wide most of the time).  That style is much better suited on the wing, although for whatever reason Fisher was never able to thrive that way.

-Binghamton plays Hershey in their first pre-season game tonight so I thought I’d look at the Bears and the changes to their roster since last season (this is their training camp roster).  Six of the team’s top-eight scoring forwards are elsewhere (Chris Bourque with Providence, Keith Aucoin with the Toronto Marlies, Jacob Micflikier with Biel in the NLA,  Kyle Greentree with Zagreb in Austrian league, Cody Eakin with Texas, and Christian Hanson with Providence).  Remaining with Hershey are former B-Sen Ryan Potulny along with Boyd Kane, top-blueliner Patrick McNeill and the goaltending tandem of Braden Holtby and Dany Sabourin.  Veterans signed include Jeff Taffe (from Houston), Jon DiSalvatore (also Houston), and Garrett Stafford (from Hamilton).  In terms of interesting or highly ranked prospects there’s Dmitry Orlov (who spent most of last season with Washington) and former 8th overall pick Zach Hamill.  No word on either lineup as yet.  Addition: here’s a Hershey blog that examines the players in training camp.

–Bob Howard wonders if Luke Richardson will be the best coach in Binghamton’s history, basing his speculation on Richardson’s past as an NHL player.  I don’t follow the logic–Scotty Bowman never played in the NHL and that didn’t hurt his coaching acumen, while there is a long laundry list of former players who have crashed and burned as head coaches.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

October 3, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Luke Richardson singled out David Dziurzynski as the most impressive skater at camp so far.

-Besides Dustin Gazley being added to Binghamton’s camp there are two other roster notes related to Elmira: forwards Chris Campanale (SPHL 22-4-7-11) and Rob Bellamy (ECHL 63-11-13-24) were added to training camp.

–Bobbykelly begins projecting Binghamton’s lineup with the forwards because hey, why write one article when you can write two or three?  Before I get to his lines here’s a quote:

Being productive in the AHL versus the NHL are often two different skill-sets. To be a winner in the former, your body needs to be conditioned to handle the wear-and-tear of a very physical league, for up to three games in three days. Air Canada doesn’t charter many flights–you’re riding the bus. A player who can work in a third-line role in the NHL, cycling well from the corners and scoring goals from dirty areas might excel in the AHL. Similarly, a smooth-skating top-line NHL star could be slightly worn down by the drudgery of the AHL schedule. The Corey Lockes and Mike Zigomanises (Zigomanii?) are often the league’s leaders and top playmakers.

Let’s be clear, players who are good in the NHL are good in the AHL.  A more accurate way of looking at the differences between the leagues is that the AHL has a lower level of talent so players can get away with things in that league that won’t work in the NHL.  With that aside, onto his lines:

Silfverberg-Hoffman-Petersson
Zibanejad-Da Costa-Stone
Prince-Cannone-Dziurzynski
Hamilton-Grant-Cowick

There’s some speculation included here that I want to address before I consider his lines: neither David Dziurzynski nor Hugh Jessiman are in danger of assignment to Elmira; Pageau will go back to the Q before being sent to Elmira; it’s unlikely that college FA signee Cole Schneider will spend much time in Elmira; Darren Kramer is also unlikely to go to the ECHL given the lack of heavyweights in Binghamton; Petersson‘s production was consistent throughout last year (he finished 15th in AHL rookie scoring); Brad Peltz doesn’t have a contract yet so there’s no guarantee he’ll be in Elmira; the attempted speculation about translating European and Collegiate success in North America can be more fully explored here (Europe) and here (college).

So what about the lines?  First we can throw Shane Prince out as he’ll be returned to junior–his performance at camp is irrelevant because the team has too many forwards to indulge testing him out in the AHL (it would also make an already small forward group even smaller).  Bobbykelly’s top-six is reasonable, although it’s not identical to mine.  Grant won’t play on the fourth line, but I agree that Cannone is a top-nine forward.  Hamilton and Cowick are in the mix for fourth-line roles.  All that being said his line speculation is reasonable.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

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

–Sean Leahy provides an overview of the Sens last season and projects for this one:

There’s enough promise up and down the Ottawa lineup to believe they can make a return trip to the postseason. If the offensive leaders in Alfredsson, Michalek and Spezza don’t take big steps back and the defense improves slightly, the Senators will find their way into the Eastern Conference’s top-8 again. Anderson will once again need to play at a consistent level, with Bishop (or Lehner) providing reliable spot duty. If the youngsters like Zibanejad, Silfverberg and/or Stone are able to help make an impact offensively, there won’t be any questions about whether or not this team will be playoff-bound.

It’s hard to disagree with any of this given how vague it is, but I think Leahy misses what I see as the key issue for Ottawa which will be the offensive transition from defense to offence–will having only Karlsson and Gonchar as puck-movers be enough?

–Mika Zibanejad talked about playing the wing in Binghamton:

I’ve played pretty much every position: Right wing and centre as well. I’m comfortable (with the change). I played left, right and centre at the world juniors. I played half-and-half back at home as well. I don’t mind the switching around. It’s good to be able to play different positions as well. If it’s going to give me a bigger chance to make the team, it’s good. For me, it doesn’t matter. I just want to go out there and play.

The organisation wants Zibanejad to play in the top-six and believe the wing is the only way for him to do so (which makes sense given the contracts of Spezza and Turris).

-In the same article Garrioch reports that Hugh Jessiman suffered a shoulder injury in the team’s scrimmage (Stephane Da Costa and Shane Prince [strained knee] also had issues); presumably one of these injuries was enough for Dustin Gazley to be called up from Elmira.

-Speaking of Jessiman, he talked about the opportunity with Ottawa:

They said we need size. We don’t have a lot of it. We think you can be a Dwight King kind of guy for us and if willing to take that chance, we’ll sign you. I’m not a heavyweight fighter, but I’m not afraid to stick up for my teammates and drop the gloves. Both here and (in Ottawa), I can do that. It might be a touch different role here than (in Ottawa). [When I turned pro] I was forced to not only use by body, but back when I came in here, five, six, maybe seven, years ago, there was a lot more fighting, it was a lot grittier. It was a different game. Hartford and New York wanted me to be a gritty, two-way power forward, but to do that, you have to be able to stick up for yourself and your teammates. So I had to learn how to fight. You learn the hard way. A lot of these young guys will go through this in the next year or two or three…or four, if it takes them as long as it did for me. It takes awhile for guys to bring the same game every night. It’s really hard to do. Not everybody can do it.

-The ECHL has announced training camp rosters and Elmira’s includes (players from college, junior, or pro leagues below the ECHL are highlighted in green):
Goaltenders
Bryan Kalczynski (NCAA III 2.54)
Nicholas Lareau (has not played since the BCHL in 06-07)
Nick Niedert (ECHL 2.07)
Joe Spagnoli (FHL 4.44)
Defense
Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel (ECHL 62-3-11-14)
Lucas Frey (FHL 38-7-16-23)
Artyom Gumenyuk (NCAA III 26-4-2-6)
Ivan Lyaskevich (GMHL 31-6-17-23)
Jeremy Norducci (NCAA III 23-1-10-11)
Andrew Rowe (AHL 34-8-3-11)
Jarrett Rush (ECHL 57-0-13-13)
Jordon Southorn (ECHL 50-8-13-21)
Forwards
Corey Bellamy (FHL 32-6-8-14)
Yegor Bezugly (ACHA II 6-3-6-9)
Brandon Blandina (NCAA 39-4-5-9)
Jean Bourbeau (ECHL 49-10-16-26)
Artem Demkov (ECHL 67-20-37-57)
Dustin Gazley (ECHL 72-25-60-85) – called up to join Binghamton’s camp
Matthew Harrington (FHL 43-11-30-41)
Kevin Harvey (ECHL 34-3-8-11)
Chaz Johnson (ECHL 64-20-15-35)
Alec Kirschner (ECHL 30-0-2-2)
Kevin McCarey (NCAA 37-4-8-12)
Tim D’Orazio (NCAA III 21-8-6-14)
Jordan Pietrus (ECHL 65-13-27-40)
Charles Vaillancourt (NCAA III 10-0-0-0)
Jon Vaillancourt (NCAA III 22-1-2-3)
Kyle Watson (SPHL 53-6-16-22)

Some of the league acronyms may not be familiar, so: SPHL = Southern Professional Hockey League (a feeder for the ECHL), FHL = Federal Hockey League (feeder league for the ECHL), ACHA II = college three-tiers below the NCAA, GMHL = Greater Metro Hockey League (independent junior league).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 30, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-With Binghamton’s training camp in progress we are finally getting the normal flood of hockey news

–Sylvain St-Laurent provides Binghamton’s lines and pairings: Zibanejad-Da Costa-Petersson, Hoffman-Grant-Silfverberg, Cowick-Cannone-Jessiman, Dziurzynski-Hamilton-Stone, Kramer-Pageau-Culek, Schneider-Caporusso-Prince (Peltz and Downing as extra forwards); Wiercioch-Benoit, Cowen-Eckford, Blood-Borowiecki, Claesson-Gryba, New-Martin, Campanale-Wideman.

-Sens prospect Mikael Vikstrand has been named to the Allsvenskan’s Team of the Week.

-Binghamton coach Luke Richardson reminds the prospects that:

Someone’s always watching. Every work stoppage, some players might not come back. Some of the older players might not be ready to go. Somebody might go and get injured in Europe or training too much. There might be more opportunity. You can never write off the season and be disappointed.

–Robin Lehner talked about the upcoming season:

Bishop is the guy I’ve got to beat, anyways, if I want to play up there. He’s a little older than me (Bishopis 25), but I’ve had success down here with a Calder Cup and I’ve had my other good stretches here and I’ve had success in Ottawa, too. I want to get a complete season. I grew up a little bit [last season], I think. I was a certain weight when we won (the Calder Cup in 2011) and during the summer I didn’t change that much. I came in a little heavy (last) year, but I didn’t know any better. It wasn’t celebrating success, it was more not knowing. Me, as a young guy, with a young head. I went into the summer not doing anything about it and I came into camp like that and it’s not acceptable. And I know that now. I’m not going to blame [last season’s struggles] on weight. Last year was a tough year for me, but it was tough for everybody. When it’s a tough season, goalies usually suffer a lot. I’m not happy with last year, I know I’ve got to be better. It’s a learning curve.

One of the great things about Lehner is how open he is. Sens goaltending coach Rick Wamsley added:

It’s fair to say that Robin’s career has been like this. So, with fitness, it should even out. We would still love to get the highs, but also limit the lows. We want him playing, if it’s earned. We want him playing a lot. We’re selling the ‘earned’ part and judging by the condition he has come in at, he looks like he’s buying into it. At some point, if you’re going to play in the National Hockey League, the other goalie is going to be a good goalie, so at some point, you’re going to have to deal with that. Last year, Robin’s best nine games were the nine games after we acquired Ben Bishop. Competition is healthy.

–This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 29, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Binghamton has released its training camp schedule which begins today and will wrap up October 12th.  The players have been divided up into two groups:
Team One
Matt Campanale (ECHL contract)
Pat Cannone
Louie Caporusso
Fredrik Claesson
Jared Cowen
Corey Cowick
Tyler Eckford
Derek Grant
Scott Greenham (tryout)
Eric Gryba
Mike Hoffman
Hugh Jessiman
Robin Lehner
Brad Peltz (tryout)
Shane Prince (CHL eligible)
Cole Schneider
Jakob Silfverberg
Chris Wideman

Team Two
Andre Benoit
Ben Blood
Mark Borowiecki
Marc Cheverie (AHL contract)
Jakub Culek
Stephane Da Costa
Jack Downing (tryout)
David Dziurzynski
Wacey Hamilton
Darren Kramer
Nathan Lawson
Jimmy Martin (ECHL contract)
Daniel (Danny) New (tryout)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (CHL eligible)
Andre Petersson
Mark Stone
Patrick Wiercioch
Mika Zibanejad

-Blogger Nicole Sorce is following Binghamton on Twitter, so check her out for updates.

–Bryan Murray talked to the media today (follow the link for a full transcription) and the most interesting tidbit was that the team was interested in sending Ben Bishop to the AHL, but will wait a little before signing him to an AHL deal in case something happens in the CBA negotiations.

–The Hockey News, who predicted a last place finish for Ottawa this past season, see’s them as the 8th place team this time around who will live and die by their youth.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 28, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Bob Howard is providing coverage of the Binghamton Senators post-Joy Lindsay.  He has a piece about the team where he wonders how motivated Robin Lehner will be this season (I have to wonder how insulted he felt to win a Calder Cup and then be ignored for the backup role in Ottawa in favour of the hapless Alex Auld).  Howard has a positive view of the lockout version of the Binghamton blueline.  A second article looks at the forwards.  He assumes (dubiously in my opinion) that Corey Cowick and Wacey Hamilton are automatically in the mix for Binghamton.  He doesn’t believe the team will be high scoring, but thinks contributions from Andre Petersson and Stephane Da Costa will be vital:

Both are skilled shooters, speedy and smart players but last season both players were inconsistent at best which limited their point totals and made people question their drive to play at this level.

Other than Da Costa‘s conditioning issues I haven’t heard anything internally from the organisation that reflects these sentiments, but as always time will tell.  Binghamton will definitely need younger forwards to step up and produce offensively for the team to have success.

–Justin Goldman writes about Binghamton’s third goalie Marc Cheverie and he had a lot to say:

You can’t be delusional, and you need to know where you are on the depth chart. But you also have to realize there’s always an opportunity to move up or even move down, so you always have to perform. Anything can happen and I’ve seen it; the depth chart changes every day, so you have to perform every day. Even if you’re signed or under contract by an NHL club, if you’re not performing, they’ll get someone else. There are so many veteran guys without contracts right now that would love to step into an American league deal a week or two into training camp, so you’re always in a battle. This year is going to be even tougher for goalies than any other just because there are so many guys without contracts that are just waiting for an injury, or for a team to be struggling.

I mean there’s always been times in my career where it has been more frustrating than others. Sometimes you’re not getting the opportunity you wish you were getting. Last year was really tough when I moved up to Portland and then got sent down when they signed Peter [Mannino] there. So that was a really tough situation because I felt that I was playing well, but it was one of those things where they wanted experienced guys, and that’s the way I’ve sort of dealt with it when it comes to playing in the American league. For me it’s kind of hard to get that [AHL] experience because unless you get a chance to play there, it’s tough to be an experienced [AHL] guy. So that was one of the toughest pills to swallow; going up after Christmas and staying there, and then all of a sudden, on the last day you can possibly go down, you get sent down. But it was probably better for me in the long run because I got the opportunity to play in the ECHL playoffs for the first time, and going down and playing well turned out for the best.

You can’t force things and there’s so many things going on that you just have to take what’s given to you and do the best you can with it. Goaltending is such a different position in the way you manage things that you almost have to let things come to you. You never know when your number is going to be called, and that adversity definitely makes things a little bit easier to deal with, but obviously you hope that with each time it happens less and less, because you’ve already learned what can happen and how well you have to perform day in and day out to get that opportunity, so you don’t want it to slip through your fingers. Things change so much every day that you just never know what is going to happen.

I know that the Senators have seen me play, and some of their staff saw me play in college because I played with Patrick Wiercioch, who is currently in the system there. My agent informed me that they came to me for the deal, they did their research, and I was their guy. It’s always nice to be a known entity when you’re going in, and knowing what the expectations are. But you want to exceed them and hope to continue the relationship with the organization. Besides Robin Lehner and Nathan Lawson, they don’t have anyone else in the pro system right now, so it’s a really good situation to go into, and I’m really looking forward to making the most of it.

There’s one thing I worked on this summer, and it was my eyes. I was in Vail and I had the chance to work with Steve Valiquette for a few days. He talked about something called The Quiet Eye, which is something that helps you be more relaxed and be able to read shooters, and it includes little techniques about tracking the puck better. It’s kind of hard to explain without writing an essay about it, but those things I felt helped me make huge leaps and bounds with my game. I was better able to track the puck, which helped me all of a sudden be more relaxed in the net. I was making better decisions and things were coming more naturally, and it was just one of those things that snowballed for me all summer. That was the biggest thing for me, the puck-tracking aspect.

-Yesterday I examined McKeen’s 2012-13 projections.

–Robert Vollman looks at the worst free agent signings of the year via the collective opinion of 24 hockey stats experts (no idea how they were selected).  No Sens made the list, although Matt Carkner received the honorable sixth worst signing.  Previously Vollman went through the same exercise for the best signings, but again no Sens made the list (amusingly, “pancake” Dustin Penner was considered the best–both the experts and Penner will eat those words at the end of the season).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 27, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

–Bob McKenzie Tweets that the Sens put Cody Ceci and Stefan Noesen on their CHL reserve list allowing them to be recalled whenever the season begins.

–Bobby Kelly writes his preview of the Binghamton Senators’ season, but it’s not a breakdown of the team and expectations, rather it is a review of the last two seasons and a reminder that Luke Richardson wants to be a player’s coach and that Kelly thinks Shane Prince will be a key part of the team.

-I confess to being puzzled by the various petitions being sent to the NHL pleading for an end to the lockout.  Other than making those involved feel good about their efforts, the petitions have no effect on the CBA negotiations–the NHL and the NHLPA have no interest in fan opinions, just their money when the lockout is over.

–Joseph Phung reviews EA Sports NHL 2013, giving it a 9.5 out of 10.  His primary complaints are:

Although the goalies in NHL 13 are generally better, they can sometimes easily be beaten with a top corner wrist shot just like in last year’s game. Some other complaints about the gameplay include the lack of penalties called during a match even when the penalty slider is set to maximum. Also, the high passing accuracy of the AI opponent feels cheap as it’s common to see them end a match with an accuracy rate of 85 percent or higher.

He’s right that the AI behaves more like an NHL team as you’ll see all players defensively boxing the front of the net.  Phung is right that the AI does not make many mistakes when it comes to either carrying the puck or passing it.

In terms of my own experiencing GMing I’m at 12 straight years of weak drafts.  The weird math for the draft lottery is slowly correcting itself (the last place team has won it over 50% of the time now, after a 1 for 5 start).  Amusingly, a goaltender has won the Ted Lindsay award every single season.  I haven’t figured out how you draft a diamond in the rough in this version, as good players are inevitably top players (which is realistic to a point).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

September 26, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment