–Daniel Alfredsson talked about the effect of the players fathers being around, “I think everybody wants to show off for their dads, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change. Your old man is your old man. He’s not going to be impressed with too much. You’ve got to make sure you do something extra.”

–The Silver Seven‘s Mark Parisi looks back on the Sens week that was including individual performances.  I agree with the bulk of his assessments, with the exceptions of Sergei Gonchar (he was mediocre, not bad), Colin Greening (the same distinction), and Milan Michalek (who was average, not good).

–ESPN‘s power rankings are out, with Ottawa 17th

-Binghamton got hammered by St. John’s yesterday, with Mike McKenna allowing all six goals on 38 shots.  Josh Godfrey, Jack Downing, and Derek Grant scored, with Godfrey (a healthy scratch the past three games) leading the way with two points.  Stephane Da Costa was out of the lineup with a minor injury.  Here’s the box score and Joy Lindsay’s game summary.

-Elmira lost 4-2 last night, with Brian Stewart taking the loss and Corey Cowick held off the score sheet (Louie Caporusso did not play).  The signs are not good for Cowick, who has no points in three straight games and is expected to produce more.

-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 (RW, Brandon, WHL) 51-36-54-90 (1st=)
Shane Prince (C/LW, Ottawa 67s, OHL) 44-34-38-72 (2nd=)
Stefan Noesen (C/RW, Plymouth, OHL) 49-25-38-63 (1st=)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (RW, Chicoutimi, QMJHL) 37-30-28-58 (t-2nd=)
Matt Puempel (LW, Peterborough, OHL) 30-17-16-33 (injured)
Darren Kramer (C/LW, Spokane, WHL) 54-19-15-34 (6th-)
Jakub Culek (C/LW, Rimouski, QMJHL) 43-10-18-28 (6th=)
Jordan Fransoo (D, Victoria, WHL) 55-2-13-15 (2nd=)
SEL
Jakob Silfverberg (C/RW, Brynas) 39-17-22-39 (1st=)
Mika Zibanejad (C/RW, Djurgarden) 16-4-4-8 (16th=)
Fredrik Claesson (D, Djurgarden) 39-1-5-6 (5th=)
Allsvenskan
Marcus Sorensen (RW, Boras) 23-7-6-13 (7th=)
NCAA
Ryan Dzingel (C, CCHA-Ohio State) 29-7-16-23 (2nd+)
Max McCormick (LW, CCHA-Ohio State) 23-10-11-21 (t-3rd+)
Michael Sdao (D, ECAC-Princeton) 24-8-9-17 (1st=)
Bryce Aneloski (D, WCHA-Nebraska-Omaha) 30-5-12-17 (1st=)
Chris Wideman (D, CCHA-Miami) 32-1-16-17 (1st=)
Ben Blood (D, WCHA-North Dakota) 29-2-12-14 (2nd+)
Jeff Costello (LW, CCHA-Notre Dame) 22-3-6-9 (11th-)
Brad Peltz (LW, ECAC-Yale) 8-1-0-1 (20th=)

None of the Swedes have played since last Monday.  I believe Jeff Costello is injured, but haven’t specifically seen a report to confirm it (while his team has played games since last week, he has not).

February 13, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Daniel Alfredsson summed up the team’s home stand, “Overall, the (homestand) was disappointing, but the positive is in the last few games we’ve played pretty good,” said Alfredsson, who is on the verge of his 13th 20-goal campaign. The last two we got three-out-of-four points. That’s something to build on. We can’t look back. The way we have to look at it is that one point is better than none.”  The points are what counts, but I’m also encouraged that the Sens are starting to score again, with 7 goals over the last two games.  If the various players who’ve been ice cold start to warm-up it will make for a fun stretch run.

–Craig Anderson blames himself for the overtime goal, “I’ve got to be better on my rebound control, that’s the bottom line. I can’t leave my D-men hanging there and leaving garbage around the net, so that’s on me.”  I’m happy to hear Anderson taking the blame, even though Milan Michalek should have been there on the back-check.  I made the point earlier in the season that Anderson needs to stop making excuses (eg link) and as the games have marched on he’s started to embrace taking responsibility.

–Lyle Richardson writes about the quiet trade market, “there aren’t many teams currently considered sellers. Only the Columbus Blue Jackets, the worst team in the league, are in that category, with the Edmonton Oilers close to joining them. The reason there is so few sellers is due to the standings in both conferences, where the race for the final playoff berths remains close. As a result, the GMs of those respective teams aren’t ready yet to give up on their playoff chances and go into sell mode.  With buyers far outnumbering sellers, there’s not much available talent to choose from. Another potential factor is concern over what will be contained in the next collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA is set to expire in September, which is surely making GMs leery of taking on too much salary before knowing how the next CBA will affect their payrolls. Over the next couple of weeks, some of those teams jockeying for the final playoffs berths in each conference should fall further out of contention, thus putting more sellers into the market. But if things remain tight, don’t be surprised if this year’s deadline is a dud.”  There will be trades (with teams overpaying for mediocre talent), but possibly far fewer than in years past.

-Binghamton blew three one-goal leads and Robin Lehner made 44-saves (including 21 in the third period) in their loss to the conference leading Sea Dogs last night.  Mike Hoffman, Stephane Da Costa, and David Dziurzynski scored.  Craig Schira, Rob Klinkhammer, and Corey Locke were a team-worst -2 (Schira is now -17 for the season).  Here’s the box score and Joy Lindsay’s game summary.

-Elmira won 3-2 last night, with Brian Stewart earning the win and Corey Cowick held off the score sheet (despite leading the team with six shots on goal).  Louie Caporusso did not play.

February 12, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Bryan Murray talked about potential trades, “Right now, some teams are looking for a top young prospect and a first-round pick in exchange for a (UFA). I’m not willing to do that. I’d like to send a message to our team that we’re serious about getting into the playoffs and being able to perform at that time.  If something comes along that makes a lot of sense to us as far as improving the team, maybe not necessarily short-term, but longer-term, then certainly I’d consider that. Maybe a little like Kyle Turris. Maybe not that young, but a player we know we can keep in the organization for a period of time and can help us as we go forward. I’ve only talked to a few, but the teams I’ve talked with, it doesn’t seem realistic that you could make a deal from our perspective. I think if you’re a top team, you might pay the price, but from our perspective, not being in first place in our conference, we probably wouldn’t want to pay the price that’s being asked. I won’t be as busy. I can assure you of that. I don’t really have an answer. I believe that core of players that we have, we want to keep. We feel we have a plan in place that will give us a chance to grow this organization back to one of the good ones. I’m not in a mood to trade a top young player for a rental.”  Let me unpack this a little: Murray might part with a high pick and a prospect for a player who is not a UFA.  It’s hard to know who that might be–someone like a re-signed Tuomo Ruutu?  To my mind the only parts they could use are a top-six winger or a blueliner with decent footspeed.  Given that Murray wants to send a message of encouragement to the players it seems unlikely potential UFA’s like Filip Kuba are going anywhere.  It will be interesting to see what, if anything, the Sens do at the deadline.

–Allen Panzeri writes about Milan Michalek‘s goal scoring troubles (and briefly those of many of his teammates), with everyone believing he’ll pull out of his slump soon.

–Joy Lindsay writes that Robin Lehner will get the start for Binghamton tonight.

-Elmira lost in OT last night, with Brian Stewart taking the loss and Corey Cowick held off the score sheet.  Louie Caporusso did not play again with what I assume is a lingering injury.

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

-Very quiet day for Sens news.  Elmira plays tonight, with the B-Sens looking for their first win in February tomorrow.

–Chris Phillips had a good sense of humour about his two goals last night, “It just took me 1,000 games to find my offensive side of the game.”

–Craig Anderson is expected to start tomorrow against Edmonton

–Steve Lloyd Tweets that Paul MacLean continues to be very happy with Jim O’Brien‘s game

–AP reports that the Conference Board of Canada believes the nation can support two more NHL teams, the best sites being Quebec City and Hamilton.  A second Toronto team was dismissed because “getting and keeping” it would be difficult.

February 10, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-Paul MacLean talks about the Sens struggles, “Somewhere along the line we lost our identity and our work ethic. Our identity was a team that worked really hard for 60-65 minutes. Somehow that competition level, coming out of the break, hasn’t risen with the what the rest of the league has done. (Other teams have) come out and gone to another level and we haven’t elevated our game to this point.”  I’m not sure putting Bobby Butler on the first line is a good way to show players how to earn their ice time (Zenon Konopka will sit).  On the plus side, MacLean has figured out Anderson needs a break and Auld will start.  Lee is finally ready to return and will play instead of Carkner.

–Chris Phillips will play his 1,000th game tonight, which is an incredible achievement (particularly with one franchise).  It’s unfortunate that Phillips has been a less effective player post-lockout, but he does have intangibles that are great for the organisation.

–Hockey’s Future‘s John Henkelman writes effusively about Ottawa’s 2007 draft class (Jim O’Brien, Ruslan Bashkirov, Louie Caporusso, and Ben Blood).  Realistically it’s a disappointing group, although O’Brien has saved himself from being a bust and there’s still time for Caporusso and particularly Blood to help the organisation, but none of these players are going to play meaningful roles long term.

–Sports Illustrated‘s Stu Hackel writes about stats he wishes the NHL would keep:
1. Man games-lost to injury
2. Hit posts
3. Improved shooting accuracy
4. Special teams trends
5. Face-off specifics
6. Time of possession
7. Attack zone time
8. 6-on-5 situations
9. Who draws penalties
He also notes a reader who wants to know which team injuries the most players and which building has the most injuries.

February 9, 2012
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment