–The Ottawa Sun‘s Don Brennan writes about last night’s game (link) which includes quotes that get to the heart of the matter.  Paul MacLean said, “Obviously, coming to town with all the reports of their [the Bruins] demise, they responded real well. I didn’t really think they gave us much of an opportunity to play and we didn’t respond really well. I thought they were a better team than we were (Tuesday). When we did make good plays, we couldn’t make the next one. We couldn’t put two or three passes together like we had been doing. A big strength of our team the last six games was how well we played in our own zone and (Tuesday) it was an Achilles heel.”  Jared Cowen added, “We kind of knew what to expect. We didn’t really play in a way that hindered them. They were keeping us in our own zone and making us play defence quite a bit, which is something we obviously have to work on.”

-Allen Panzeri, writing for Senators Extra (link), quotes Craig Anderson happily throwing his teammates under the bus again, “You want to limit the odd-man rushes in this game. That’s what’s going to kill you. When you start giving up three-on-twos, two-on-ones, and breakaways, you can make a few saves, but those are good players you’re playing against, and eventually they’re going to score.”  Anderson should take a page from his coach and talk about how winning and losing is a team game rather than blaming defensive breakdowns for all the goals scored on him.  I wonder if this approach was part of his problem in Colorado.

-In the same article Panzeri singled out David Rundblad as a big part of the problem last night.  It wasn’t a great night for Rundblad, but he was nowhere near the worst player on the ice.  I do agree when he writes “in the end didn’t get the saves they needed from Anderson.”

–Sports Illustrated‘s Stu Hackel looks at early season surprises in the NHL (link), including Ottawa, but there’s nothing new here.

–The Hockey News offers up a mea culpa about their prediction that Edmonton will finish at the bottom of the Western Conference, but won’t do the same for Ottawa insisting that they were lucky to win six games in a row (link)–apparently all the teams they played aren’t very good, ergo, Ottawa isn’t very good.  The errors in logic here are a bit astounding, but in brief if Ottawa can beat other teams that aren’t very good it’s pretty hard to see how they’ll sink down to where THN predicted.

–Tim Sestito, who elbowed Nikita Filatov in the head (and in an earlier game ran Mark Borowiecki from behind) was suspended for five games by the AHL (link).  Joy Lindsay has included a Youtube link of the brutal hit (which you can watch here link).

-Joy Lindsay provides the following forward lines for Binghamton: Grant-Cannone-Petersson, Hoffman-O’Brien-Parrish, Cowick-Radja-Downing, Dziurzynski-Hamilton-Lessard

–Hockey Futures D. J. Powers takes a look at college hockey through October (link), which includes very little about Ottawa’s prospects.  He writes that Michael Sdao (Princeton) had two points in the ECAC’s opening tournament, that Ben Blood and Derek Forbort are an excellent pairing on the blueline, and that Jeff Costello‘s (Notre Dame) injury is considered week-to-week.

November 2, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-It’s been confirmed that Daniel Alfredsson has suffered a concussion and will miss at least a week

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Don Brennan (link) and The Ottawa Citizen‘s Allen Panzeri (link) both report Bryan Murray’s puzzlement over Brendan Shanahan’s decision to not suspend Wojtek Wolski.  The explanation Murray was offered was as follows: “Basically what I was told is the player (Wolski) reacted to contact and stiffened up, but didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. He just happened to hit Alfredsson in the head.”  But Murray doesn’t sound as fired up as I expected, saying “It’s my player and I have an emotional attachment to him, so no, I told him I didn’t agree. I felt that the player did go out of his way, a little, to make contact. That it was an elbow involved in the play, and I thought we had determined, a shoulder check, contacted with short vs.  taller players and all that type of thing, would be considered an accidental hit, but an elbow to the head would be a suspension.”  Maybe Murray is being circumspect, but the emphasis he puts on it is that he disagrees because it’s his player.

-Panzeri (above) says that Ottawa has one of the foremost experts on concussions on staff (Dr. Mark Aubry), which is fortunate for Alfredsson

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Chris Stevenson writes about Ottawa beating expectations (link).  I recommend reading the full article and I agree with Stevenson when he says, “One of the first things you would look at in such a dramatic improvement is the goaltending, but I think the biggest reason for the Senators’ turnaround has been the fact they have gotten much better in how they break out of their end. They’re getting the puck out.”  He also rightly points out that the Sens breakouts (good passes out of their zone) has been a key improvement as well.  A final point in the article, “One of the things the Senators like is how good they’ve been at recovering the puck after a scoring chance on the power play, keeping the opposition’s penalty killers on the ice and grinding them down. That’s nothing but hard work.”

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Don Brennan writes about the Sens streak (link) which includes an interesting comment from Colin Greening, “I like it in front of the net. Statistically, if you look at where most of the goals are scored, it’s within like six feet of the crease, and if they want to put me there, fine. I’m a big body, I can screen goalies, make it hard for them to see the puck. When you have talented shooters like Karlsson, Michalek, Spezza, Gonchar, obviously, they’re able to shoot around me, which is nice. Sometimes it can be bad, sometimes it can be good. Sometimes you need to put in a little extra padding in certain areas … I don’t want to say too much. It’s part of the game.”

-Allen Panzeri writes for Senators Extra that the Sens were motivated by their embarrassing losses at the beginning of the season (link), with Jason Spezza saying, “I think they were wake-up calls for us. In hindsight, it was better that we lost those games 7-1 and 7-2, instead of 3-2 or 2-1, because it doesn’t allow you to think you were in the game. We weren’t doing things right, and when we started to do things right we were rewarded for it.”

-Joy Lindsay reports that Bobby Raymond has been sent back to Florida in the ECHL

–Marcus Sorensen has finally been loaned to a team in the Allsvenskan (Boras, link)

-Power rankings are out (TSN link, THN link, and ESPN link) with Ottawa ranked 19th, 17th, and 8th.  Adam Proteau (THN) writes “Have to give coach Paul MacLean, young Sens credit for six straight wins” and Scott Burnside (ESPN) saying “What a turnaround for the red-hot Senators, who have won six in a row after Sunday’s victory in the Battle of Ontario. Perhaps more impressive is the manner in which the Sens are stealing victories, as they did from the Panthers and the New York Rangers after falling behind. The Sens boast the top-ranked power play in the league but rank dead last in goals allowed per game. Go figure.”

-Prospect updates (their position in team scoring is noted in brackets, defence compared to defence):
CHL
Jakub Culek (Rimouski, QMJHL) 14-2-5-7 (9th)
Mark Stone (Brandon, WHL) 15-11-20-31 (1st)
Stefan Noesen (Plymouth, OHL) 11-2-10-12 (5th)
Matt Puempel (Peterborough, OHL) 15-7-7-14 (t-1st)
Shane Prince (Ottawa 67s, OHL) 8-3-11-14 (4th)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Gatineau, QMJHL) 12-14-7-21 (1st)
Darren Kramer (Spokane, WHL) 11-7-6-13 (2nd)
Jordan Fransoo (Brandon, WHL) 15-0-1-1 (6th)
SEL
Jakob Silfverberg (Brynas) 17-6-7-13 (2nd)
Marcus Sorensen (Skelleftea J20) 8-2-3-5 (has been loaned to Boras)
Fredrik Claesson (Djurgarden) 16-1-3-4 (3rd)
Mika Zibanejad (Djurgarden) DNP
NCAA
Ben Blood (WCHA-North Dakota) 8-1-2-3 (3rd)
Chris Wideman (CCHA-Miami) 10-1-3-4 (t-1st)
Jeff Costello (CCHA-Notre Dame) 2-0-2-2 (injured)
Brad Peltz (ECAC-Yale) DNP
Michael Sdao (ECAC-Princeton) DNP
Bryce Aneloski (WCHA-Nebraska-Omaha) 8-1-6-7 (1st)
Max McCormick (CCHA-Ohio State) 4-1-3-4 (injured)
Ryan Dzingel (CCHA-Ohio State) 7-3-4-7 (t-2nd)

November 1, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch looks at last night’s game (link), which includes Kaspars Daugavins reaction to his first NHL goal, “It feels good. It feels great to score that goal. I was just lucky to score and help the team win a game. I was just trying to get to the net. I saw it go in, but I didn’t really look at the way it went in.”  Robin Lehner also credits his team with the win, “Sometimes the small things pay off. I gotta give the team a lot of credit because I didn’t have much to do. I didn’t expect to play. It’s just nice that this team trusts me and they want to keep on giving me some chances.”

-Garrioch also writes his surprise about the lack of suspension for Wojtek Wolski‘s hit on Daniel Alfredsson (link).  I don’t share Garrioch’s shock although I disagree with the decision.  From the one replay I’ve seen it looked like a clear head shot.

-Allen Panzeri writes for Senators Extra (link), where he quotes Paul MacLean talking about whether he expected the team to win six in a row, “Well, realistically speaking, no. But the fact that it has happened is outstanding. Our team has showed a lot of resiliency and character in the 12 games we’ve played. We’ve handled adversity, we’ve faced adversity, we’ve caused our own adversity. We’ve kind of been up and down the hill, but it’s a learning process, and we know that, at one time, it’s going to come to an end and we’re going to have to get back on the horse and do it again.”

-Wayne Scanlan (also writing for Senators Extra, link) includes some words from Paul MacLean looking forward, “Let’s see where we are after 20 games, after 25 games. We’ve played well for five in a row, but it’s a long season.”  Jason Spezza talks about the team coming back in games, “There’s no real answer. I think it’s just that we have a never-say-die approach right right now. We got embarrassed a couple of times early in the year, we got guilty of maybe letting up a bit in the Philly game, they embarrassed us. I think maybe that message went through pretty clear, that we’re never out of games. Once you get a few wins, you start believing in it more and more. Last year we had the problem, every time we got scored on first we felt like we couldn’t win. Now, we feel like when we’re behind we can win. It’s a bit of a belief thing, a confidence thing.”

-Joy Lindsay has her post-game quotes up from Binghamton’s 3-2 loss to Hershey (link).  Here are Kurt Kleinendorst’s thoughts on the game, “Well, I think we just got ourselves in trouble tonight by taking penalties, really. I mean, five-on-five, we were fine, but they scored two of their three on the power play and had us on the ropes, for the most part, every time we were killing penalties. We just have to be a little bit more honest, especially against this team. Their top power-play group is pretty effective, and you give them opportunities, they’re going to find a way to get the puck in the back of the net at some point.” And “we have extra guys sitting around, we’re playing three-in-three. And I know we’ve been playing awfully well, but for me, we need to see what we have in Heshka. We need to find out what we’ve got there. And you know, I’m not thrilled about taking Schirsy (Craig Schira) out, but he’s such a little warrior that he competes night in and night out, and in hindsight, we probably could have used him,  his battle level. But again, we’re still learning our team. We’re learning our players. And you want to give them every opportunity to be in the lineup every single night. And then we’ll make evaluations. Tonight, there were some red flags where we’ve got guys playing three games in three where, you know what, it’s not easy to do. So maybe we’ll have to play some certain guys two games out of the three. And we’re just, like I said, we’re still working our way through it.”

October 31, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

Tonight Ottawa beat a listless Toronto team 3-2, dominating the first two periods before falling asleep in the third. Robin Lehner had a light night in goal, but did made a key save late in the game.  Against expectations Nikita Filatov played (his third game in three nights), but neither he nor Bobby Butler saw much ice time (5:16 and 8:52 respectively).  For the box score go here link.  Here’s a look at the goals:
1. Toronto, MacArthur (pp)
Foligno awkwardly goes down to block a shot and MacArthur fires it home in the slot
2. Greening (Rundblad, Kuba) (pp)
A fantastic pass from Rundblad in his own zone springs Greening on the breakaway who makes no mistake
3. Neil (Karlsson, Gonchar) (pp)
Fired from the point for a tip
4. Daugavins (Smith)
A nothing shot from the top of the circle finds its way in
5. Toronto, MacArthur
Phillips is way out of position leaving MacArthur with a wide open chance

The game’s best players;
Colin Greening – a great goal and continued strong play in all zones
Sergei Gonchar – continued to provide offence and played well in his own zone
Chris Neil – a terrific tip on the second goal and a great presence on the wall and in front of the net

Players who struggled:
Nick Foligno – too many mental errors tonight
Stephane Da Costa – pulled a disappearing act tonight

Others: David Rundblad did some good things tonight, but he turned the puck over more than anyone else on the team.  Nikita Filatov didn’t have a great night, but with the 3-in-3 and playing so little I’m not going to bury him for that.

Binghamton lost in Hershey tonight.  I did not see the game so I’m reliant on reports about it (for the box score go here link and for Joy Lindsay’s game summary go here link).  Mike McKenna took the loss while Wacey Hamilton scored his first goal of the year and Andre Petersson his second.  Mark Borowiecki stands out as a +2.

October 31, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Newly recalled Robin Lehner will get the start against the Leafs tonight, but is looks like Nikita Filatov (who was recalled last night) will sit while Bobby Butler will play (or so speculates Sportsnet‘s Ian Mendes, link)

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch writes about the game against the Rangers (link).  He quotes Milan Michalek talked about the importance of staying positive, “We’ve got great strength on this team and we’re trying to keep positive.  Even if we’re losing, everybody is positive. If we can score one, we know we can get back in it. We know that we’ve done it before. That helps confidence.”  Wojtek Wolski, who hit Daniel Alfredsson in the head, says he thought it was a legal hit.  Paul MacLean said, “It was the right call. Now, it’s up to Brendan (Shanahan) to (decide if there’s further action).”

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Jason York talks about the importance of Paul MacLean remaining positive and says that element is a big part of Nashville’s Barry Trotz’s success (link).

-Binghamton continued their winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Rochester.  Jim O’Brien scored his first goal while Pat Cannone and Mike Hoffman scored the others while Mike McKenna got the win.  For the box score go here link, for Joy Lindsay’s game summary go here link.

-Joy Lindsay’s post game quotes are here (link), with Kurt Kleinendorst summarising the game with, “Well, I think for us, it was just, I thought we were a determined group, which is really what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to establish our work ethic. We’re trying to make sure that we’re an honest and hard-working team, and that plays for 60 minutes. And I think, for the most part, we did that. And I think what you can also see is, you know, week by week by week, we’re starting to get some structure to our game, which over time comes. So then those two come together, and then you have an honest, hard-working team that plays with structure, and that’s a pretty good combination.”

–Corey Locke is going to miss a month with a hand injury

-The Elmira Jackals lost to South Carolina again (5-3).  Max Gratchev scored a goal, while Louie Caporusso was held pointless.

October 30, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Alex Auld has suffered an undisclosed injury so Robin Lehner has been called up to replace him

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch talks about the Sens interest in Kyle Turris (link), but other than confirming Ottawa’s interest he just summarizes the information already available

-In another article (link) Garrioch confirms there won’t be any lineup changes for today’s game against the Rangers

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Allen Panzeri looks at Nick Foligno‘s start to the year (link), noting it’s an improvement on last year’s abysmal beginning.  Of his own expectations Foligno said, “Everyone wants to contribute. I’d love to have a point-a-game  average. Who wouldn’t? You expect some things of yourself, but the most important thing is that  you’re playing the game the right way and doing what the coaches are asking, and  I think I’ve been able to do that. I’ve got some great linemates, too (Stéphane Da Costa and Daniel Alfredsson), and when you play with those guys, you want to produce some points.  That’s what our role on the team is. That’s something I want to do on this team,  contribute some points. It’s nice to get a couple, but I just have to keep  playing well, and I feel I have done that.”  Paul MacLean said Foligno has to establish what kind of player he is.  Panzeri doesn’t fully quote the coach, but MacLean implied that Foligno is at his best when he’s a north-south player who drives to the net–a criticism of him often overhandling the puck.

-Panzeri’s other article (link) includes Paul MacLean’s expectations for the team, “I see this team improving just a little bit every day, just like we talked  about at training camp. We’re building a foundation for  something down the road when we’re going to be good, and that takes doing a  little bit better every day. We’ve seen this team get better. We’ve seen it be bad and improve, and show great character and learn what it takes to win and how to win, and those are all  very good building blocks to build that foundation we’re talking about. So I think with every one of those blocks we put in, it gets a little more  stable. I don’t think it’s the Great Wall of China yet, but it’s all positive signs.”

-The Binghamton Senators defeated the Albany Devils for their first win at home this season.  I didn’t see the game so I’m reliant on reports (for the box score go here link, for Joy Lindsay’s game blog go here link).  Robin Lehner made 42 saves for the win, also joining a melee that broke out after Tim Sestito elbowed Nikita Filatov in the head.  Offensively Mike Hoffman lead the way with a goal and assist; Corey Cowick and Pat Cannone scored their first goals and Filatov himself scored (Jack Downing also picked up his first AHL point).  In the post-game interview Filatov said he didn’t think he was concussed, but suffered headaches immediately following the hit (he played the rest of the game anyway).  For those with good memories Sestito ran Mark Borowiecki from behind on October 16th, but escaped suspension.

-Joy Lindsay’s says in her post-game report (link) that Corey Locke was injured in the game against Albany.  Kurt Kleinendorst was happy with his team’s effort, “Yeah, I did, you know. And I thought that there were moments in the game where, you know, we were faced with a little bit of adversity, and I thought we pushed through it just fine, you know. So, I mean, we showed up this morning to skate, and we couldn’t skate because the ice plant was down. So we talked a little bit about it, even though that’s not much adversity; it’s adversity in a form. Some guys like to skate in the morning, and they couldn’t, so I thought it was the perfect morning to really get on that word. And then tonight, again, any time it kind of popped up, we dealt with it.”  I recommend looking through all of Kleinendorst’s comments–it’s a very thorough look at the whole team and how they played.

-Joy Lindsay reports that Binghamton has called up goaltender Brian Stewart and a forward (Joy says Mike Radjawore in the link following but clarifies it’s Mike Radja via Twitter) from Elmira (link)

-The Elmira Jackals lost 5-2 to South Carolina.  Louie Caporusso had a goal and assist while Max Gratchev picked up a helper (Brian Stewart was the backup).

October 29, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment