–The Ottawa Sun‘s Don Brennan gleefully writes about Nikita Filatov‘s demotion to Binghamton (link).  He quotes Bryan Murray, “He wasn’t playing and the indication from the coaches was that he wasn’t going to be playing over the weekend. He’s a young player, he has to play. If he’s going to be a player on our team, we want him to be a Top 6 forward. Skill level indicates that’s what he should be.”  The Ottawa Citizen‘s Allen Panzeri, who doesn’t have an axe to grind with Filatov, so includes a further quote from Murray in his story (link), “We’ve asked (Filatov) to play hard, have the right frame of mind, and that’s  what he says he’s going to do.”  Joy Lindsay has the most complete look at the move (link), making the point that Filatov is on on an entry-level contract which makes sending him down easier and cheaper. “That was part of it [his contract]. The other part was we had extra bodies, and we didn’t want one guy sitting around who we couldn’t see getting back in the lineup the next couple games. The best way to try to get him to get his game going is playing games down there, just competing, playing the way we want him to play.”

So what can be gleaned from all this?  First, neither major publication really delved into the issue, but more to the point: Filatov wasn’t going to play this weekend and Murray believes he needs to play.  The only other roster player who could have been sent down was Stephane Da Costa, but he’s played too well to be demoted.  I don’t think Filatov will have any issues in Binghamton in the short term.  Looking ahead, it’s hard to imagine at this point that the Sens will keep Mika Zibanejad and then the decision on Filatov will be a matter of injuries and Da Costa.

-This morning Pierre McGuire’s segment on The Team 1200 (link) believes there’s a need to worry about Craig Anderson, “He shows flashes of brillance and then for some reason it won’t kick in.”  McGuire says that his problem is he gets comfortable and then doesn’t respond well to the pressure of being the starter.

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Waynce Scanlan and James Gordon had an online chat with Sens fans today (link) and Scanlan made some interesting comments: “I think the Senators are going to be grilled about the contract to Phillips, to Anderson, Gonchar, Kuba. They’re paying these guys big $ and for what? To head to a lottery pick. It’s going to be a long year, last night we got a sense of just how long it will be.”  I like his general point, but the latter two contracts were signed before the team started the rebuild so are more a product of being difficult to move than desired.  “I think MacLean felt pressure from within the org to get Butler into the lineup, and to do something about Lee, who sat for so many games last year. BUT, he didn’t want to sit Rundblad, so he played, but just 12 minutes, not enough time to break a sweat. He doesn’t look comfortable yet, to me.”  I agree completely with Scanlan here.  I don’t think MacLean has been impressed by Butler and I think he’d prefer to play the dynamic Rundblad over Lee.

-Joy Lindsay has posted the lines prior to tonights game (link): Filatov-Locke-Daugavins, Cowick-O’Brien-Parrish, Grant-Cannone-Hoffman, Gratchev-Hamilton-Lessard; Borowiecki-Conboy, Gryba-Schira, Heshka-Wiercioch.  Petersson, Dziurzynski, Caporusso, and Raymond are the scratches (the first two are dinged up), while McKenna gets the start.

–The Hockey News has posted its AHL predictions (link), with Binghamton in 9th (on the outside looking in).

-Tonight is also the first game of the season for the Elmira Jackals.

October 14, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Paul MacLean has made two changes to his lineup, sitting Zenon Konopka and Erik Condra in favour of Bobby Butler and Brian Lee.  He had interesting comments about both moves (link and link), “Erik Condra is also a young player who needs to learn and sometimes you can learn a lot by sitting in the press box.” And “We want to see what we can do with the minutes and see if we can get out of our zone better.” I think Condra‘s play has been fine, but as an undersized fourth line forward he’s easy to shift out.

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Wayne Scanlan looks at the coming roster changes in Ottawa (link).  It’s worth reading the whole article, but some highlights: “The roster will soon change, says head coach Paul MacLean, but when injured forward Jesse Winchester and defenceman Matt Carkner return to the roster, assignment decisions will also have to be made. A player like Filatov, for example, here on a two-way contract, is a good bet to be sent to American Hockey League Binghamton eventually. Is it fair that Filatov, Butler and Lee are missing games when the season has barely started? Hardly. Hockey people love to call this a “numbers” problem. At the moment, the Senators have too many players. Someone has to sit.” And “Following Wednesday’s practice, MacLean said he sat Lee not because he was playing worse than his veterans, but because he needed the vets to step up. They  more or less did against Minnesota, with Chris Phillips having his best game of the season. The Lee move was also an opportunity to activate prized Swedish rookie David Rundblad, and he is expected to stay in the lineup after Ottawa’s first win of the season.”

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Ken Warren writes about Colin Greening (link).  There’s not much new here, but Greening does say “When you have that net presence, it gives your  more skilled guys, like Alfredsson and Spezza, time to shoot, and goalies are  not as prepared. If I can get that little bit of an advantage, great.”

-On the same theme but with better content, Rod Brodie writes about Greening for the Sens website (link).  He quotes Greening himself, “Until they tell me to stop going to the front of the net, that’s exactly what I’m going to be doing. I want to be able to provide a good (scoring) option as well. There are other aspects to it besides just being in front of the net but, if you kind of break everything down, that’s what my job is. I’m built for that area. I consider myself to be a pretty good shape, and I can take the hacks and the whacks and the bangs. You’ve got to be able to take it. There’s a certain mentality that goes along with it as well. I don’t have the skill set a Jason Spezza has, so if that’s what it takes to get on the power play, that’s fine with me. I spent four years there in college doing the same type of stuff. For me, it’s nothing new and something I can thrive at.”  Randy Lee said, “We all said if you are a hard player to play against, you’ll create more space and you’ll be a lot more effective. There’s lots of skilled players in the league, but he’s such a physical specimen that he’s hard to control, he’s intimidating, he can hurt guys on the forecheck and he creates lots of space for himself and his wingers. If he plays that way, he has a chance to be more than a good player. That’s what Bryan (Murray) has told him, that’s what Kurt (Kleinendorst) has told him, that’s what I’ve told him. His teammates like playing with him because he’s got speed and decent hands.”

–Senators Extra‘s James Gordon talked to Paul MacLean about Sergei Gonchar being booed (link), “I’ve been booed, so it’s something that you…I think it’s a motivator,” MacLean said. “If your fans are unhappy with how you play, they should express that they’re unhappy with how you play. Conversely, if you play better, they should appreciate that you play better and to me, it’s just a signal that you need to be better.”  MacLean didn’t think the booing bothered Gonchar and for the team’s sake I hope he’s right.

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Don Brennan says writes that Ottawa won the Dany Heatley trade because they have Milan Michalek and another 3.2 million for another player (link).  It’s not much of an argument, but Michalek does state the obvious in speaking of himself, “The main thing for me is to stay healthy. If I’m healthy and I can play my game, I can use my speed. I guess (the injuries) are from maybe my style of play, but I don’t want to change the way I play, I wouldn’t be affective.  If injuries happen, they happen. I’ll just have to battle through them like in the past.”

–The Hockey News‘ Adam Proteau writes about the ten most untradeable contracts in the NHL (link), with Sergei Gonchar represented as the only Sen at #2.  The list itself is questionable, but perhaps Proteau just wants to stir up a reaction.

–The Silver Seven‘s Adnan makes some statistical analysis of the Sens last game (link).  I take Corsi numbers with a grain of salt, but for those unfamiliar with them I’d recommend taking a look.

-Joy Lindsay tweets that Andre Petersson is still questionable for Friday’s game (link).  The Binghamton lines at practice were: Grant-Locke-Daugavins, Cowick-O’Brien-Parrish, Hoffman-Cannone-Gratchev, Dziurzynski-Hamilton-Lessard; Borowiecki-Conboy, Gryba-Schira, Heshka-Wiercioch.

–Hockey Futures has listed their top-50 prospects (link; the list is divided into five pages and the link is just the first).  Several Sens make the list:
7. David Rundblad, “A tremendous skater and puck handler, Rundblad also possesses a calm demeanor and deadly shot. Though not particularly physical, he shows good defensive awareness and positioning, uses his stick effectively to block passing lanes or strip attacking forwards, and makes fluid outlet passes. On offense, Rundblad shines. He has a hard, accurate slapper, a sniper’s wrist shot, and can deke and dive around defenders with ease. Rundblad needs some time in the AHL to get used to the smaller size of North American rinks, but will probably play the bulk of the 2011-12 season in the NHL as the Sens do not want to risk him going back to Sweden for another year.”
14. Mika Zibanejad, “A strong two-way center with very good size, Zibanejad enjoys using his body to both protect the puck and in hitting along the boards. The young center does not shy away from the physical game and his work ethic is one of the best among all prospects.”
30. Jared Cowen, “has solid positioning in all zones of the ice, has improved his decision-making with the puck, and has solid hockey knowledge. He can play the shutdown role while playing both the power play and penalty killing units. The large defenseman has good skating speed for his size and a strong point shot, but he must continue to improve his mobility without the puck and develop the physical side to his game.”
Honourable mention: Nikita Filatov, “Filatov‘s spot was heavily debated during the construction of the top 50. Ultimately, it was decided a second chance for enigmatic winger in Ottawa was not enough wash away yet another sub-par season in 2010-11.”

-Tonight TSN is doing a feature on Sens prospect Darren Kramer prior to the Jets/Hawks game.

October 13, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Nikita Filatov talked about what he needs to work on (link), “I just need to get better in shooting the puck and creating plays. I have to do the stuff that I have to do. When I take shots, the puck hasn’t gotten through to the net. That’s a problem for me and a couple of times I’ve made turnovers. The good thing is I know my mistakes, I’m going to work on it and try to improve my game. Everybody is making mistakes. I know about them. I’m just going to try to figure out how not to do them anymore.”  He’s exactly right and that awareness should help him fix the problem.

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch writes about the Sens tough practice on Monday (link), which includes at least two confirmed changes in the lineup: David Rundblad in for Brian Lee and Peter Regin will play putting Nikita Filatov out.

-Garrioch is still hot under the collar about Sergei Gonchar‘s play, specifically the Todd Bertuzzi goal in Detroit (link), but as Paul MacLean pointed out, “His partner (Jared Cowen) didn’t tell him he was changing. If you’re leaving the ice, you’re supposed to tell you’re partner that you’re changing, and Sergei didn’t know. The puck moved pretty quickly. I’m not sure what he was supposed to do. Could he have moved, could he have dove, could he have done something? Probably. But for the most part, I’ve got no issue with what happened. He didn’t have a chance.”  This is exactly what he said after the game on Friday, but it appears as though Garrioch (and others) don’t care about the explanation.  The Sens media really does love a whipping boy.

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Wayne Scanlan article includes a pertinent comment by Jason Spezza (link): “We’re so eager to work, to be a fast team, sometimes we turn the puck over, just  trying to be too quick.”

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Allen Panzeri (link) includes comments by MacLean where he singled out his veteran defencemen, “We expect more of (Sergei Gonchar), Chris Phillips, and Filip Kuba. They’re three of our veteran defencemen and we need them to make sure they help  these young guys get through situations.”

–The Silver Seven‘s Peter Raaymakers (link) writes about the positives in the start of the Sens season: 1. They can score goals, 2. They have fixable shortcomings (turnovers and defensive coverage), 3. Rookies are scoring, 4. They have good goaltending.  You can argue with the last point, but Raaymakers means Anderson is a good goaltender despite the early results.

-For those who were shocked by the Craig Rivet Elmira signing, you can watch a video of Rivet talking about it here link.

October 11, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch writes about the Sens needing a full 60-minute effort (link).  Paul MacLean said, “The veterans are the ones that need to come to the fore when a goal is scored against us. They’ve got to step up and make sure that we’re doing things right. We need our youth, our enthusiasm and our energy to get us going on some nights, but the leadership group has to be one that steps up to get things done.”  This is exactly the right place to point the finger when the team sags–the veterans.

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Ken Warren has a similar article (link), within which Paul MacLean says “We’re not playing together as a team and we start to become individuals, and  that doesn’t work in this league. You have to play with work  ethic, and we didn’t do that for most of the first period and the second period  (against Toronto). We can’t get down just because they score goals against us. They’re going to score goals against us. It’s how we respond that will  determine our success.”  The article includes the veteran quote above as well, but then Warren picks Sergei Gonchar, Chris Phillips, and Filip Kuba as the primary problems–I disagree with Kuba, who played well against Toronto.

-Bruce Garrioch tweets that Peter Regin is taking contact in practice today (link).

-The Sportsnet magazine’s Shannon Proudfoot has a preview of the Senators, who see’s them finishing 15th in the conference and among other things writes the following: “the Senators believe they’ve finally solved their problems in net and the shelves are stocked with promising prospects and a handful of veterans looking for redemption.  Still, it’s more likely to add up to a season of energetic–and occasionally ugly–hockey than a smooth ride.”  About David Rundblad, “with the team seemingly committed to a serious rebuild, they’ll be looking to minimize the pressure.”  On Craig Anderson, “Other than 38 wins in 71 games he put up in Colorado two seasons ago.  Anderson has been a career backup.  But Murray believes the 30-year old can provide the stability the team has lacked between the pipes.”  Finally, “One good thing for the Sens: with external expectations as low as they are, it’ll be hard for the Senators to fall short of anything.”

–The Silver Seven‘s Darren M looks at why Bobby Butler was benched (link), saying it’s ultimately the difficulty Butler is having making the transition to being a well-rounded player.

-NHLer Craig Rivet (37-2-2-4) has signed with the Elmira Jackals (link).

October 10, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch had an interesting quote from Paul MacLean about Bobby Butler (link), “We want to make sure he still has good work habits and practice habits because that’s the way it turns around: If you come every day, work hard and do things right. We want to make sure that he gets that kind of work and that kind of coaching he needs to be a consistent player.”  It’s not hard to read between the lines and see that MacLean does not think Butler is working hard enough in practice.  In another article by Garrioch (link) MacLean said “It’s not working for him, but he’s still a young player and he’s still learning. He had success last year and he’s going through a point right now where he’s not having success.”  It’s unrelated, but in the same article Garrioch mistakes Nikita Filatov for Mika Zibanejad.

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Jason York writes his five keys to accelerate Ottawa’s rebuild (link): 1. Peter Regin emerges as the team’s #2 center, 2. Bounce back season from Ottawa’s veteran blueliners, 3. Nick Foligno taking the next step, 4. Good specialty teams, 5. Continued development of Ottawa’s Calder Cup winning players.  These are all solid points, although I think York should have included continued great goaltending from Craig Anderson.

–Hockey Futures‘ DJ Powers previews the WCHA (link), which includes two Sens prospects.  At Nebraska-Omaha Bryce Aneloski‘s coach Dean Blais said, “Bryce is big, strong and mobile. He doesn’t get outmuscled anywhere around the net. He’s not overly physical, but he’s physical enough to make plays and will take a hit to make a play in the defensive zone. Bryce makes good decisions on the offensive blue line and is intelligent. He’s also got a pretty good shot. He’s very coachable and a real competitor. The thing with Bryce is we want him to be more of a leader this year because he’s skilled and he’s going to be a power play type of guy on our blue line.”  On North Dakota’s blueline is senior Ben Blood, whose coach Dave Hakstol said, “Well leadership is certainly a key thing that Ben will bring. The level of play and the number of minutes that we expect from Ben this year is going to be great. We expect him to be a workhorse for us back there, not only in that solid, two-way role playing against other teams’ top forward units, but we also expect Ben to grow in his game and be able to add a little bit in the offensive end of the rink as well. Ben‘s dedication and preparation have been extremely impressive. He has improvement himself in every area of his game, whether it’s been in his skating or really understanding the game. Ben has drastically improved himself athletically and in his conditioning. And he has turned his body into a pro body.”

-The Binghamton Senators have signed blueliner Shaun Heshka (Austria 50-6-18-27) to an AHL contract (link).

-The Elmira Jackals have signed Riley Armstrong (DEL 17-5-3-8) to a standard ECHL contract (link).

-Elmira played it’s final pre-season game, falling 3-2 to Reading.  Of the players signed by Binghamton Josh Godfrey scored while goaltender Brian Stewart was perfect in relief of Marco Cousineau.  The team’s regular season begins October 14th.

October 9, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

Two more regulation loses for the organisation.  Ottawa lost a crazy game that they had no business being in–despite poor play and mediocre goaltending, they nearly beat the Leafs (boxscore link).  Just like in Detroit, they had a decent start, collapsed, and then rallied in the third period.  This is exactly the kind of thing I expect of a young team and the fact that they don’t quit is encouraging.

Paul MacLean was not happy with the team (link), “I’d rather talk about the first period and the second period than the third-period comeback. I’m tired of talking about that already. The first period, the game was going fine for us, we get a goal scored against us and then we stopped playing. We resorted to old habits not playing as a team. We started to become individuals and that doesn’t work in this league.”

The Ottawa Citizen‘s Ken Warren points the finger at Chris Phillips as a major factor in the Sens poor play (link), “DUD: Chris Phillips, Senators. He is off to a rough start in his attempt to  rebound from a poor 2010-11 season. He was repeatedly beaten to the puck by  Maple Leafs forwards. Just as it was Friday, though, it was hard to single out  any particular Senators defenceman for having a rough night.”

I’m not sure any player particularly stood out in a positive way, as must struggled. Zenon Konopka received the least ice time, while Chris Neil spent a lot of time in the box after instigating a fight with Luke Schenn (in retaliation for Dion Phaneuf‘s big hit on Stephane Da Costa).  I have to give Da Costa credit for recovering from the hit and scoring a nice goal.  Nick Foligno finished -3 and was invisible, while Nikita Filatov struggled and was bumped off the top line–but they were not the only players who struggled.  Ottawa’s veterans played a lot in the third period.

I did not see the Binghamton game, so for the game story check out Joy Lindsay’s summary is (link) and the boxscore (link).  Kaspars Daugavins and Eric Gryba scored, while Andre Petersson earned his first point for Binghamton.  Mike McKenna got the call in net.

Here are some of Kurt Kleinendorst’s comments afterward (link), “the second period, obviously, I don’t know what they had for shots exactly, but I can count mine on one finger. That’s not going to cut it. We started turning pucks over in the grey zone — which is the blue line. And then we end up in our end, because of that. We start taking penalties, because of that. And that just gave them life. The first goal was kind of the one that just got them going. And then, in the third, we were fine again. So we got two out of three periods tonight. But you’ve got to play three. You’ve got to play 60 minutes.”  He’s liked Andre Petersson, David Dziurzynski, Pat Cannone in both games thus far.

October 9, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

–Sportsnet‘s Ian Mendes tweets that David Rundblad and Bobby Butler are the healthy scratches tonight (link), with Zenon Konopka added to the lineup.

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch has a potpourri article (link) which includes comments by Paul MacLean about David Rundblad, “David’s here to play on the team, so we don’t expect him just to practise. But we need to work on his defensive game, just to make sure he’s ready.”

–The Toronto Star‘s Damien Cox looks at the current battle of Ontario (link) and has some interesting comments: “These are two hockey clubs trying to find their way out of the wilderness, and neither is doing it like Edmonton, tearing it all down and finishing 30th for a couple of years to get the best teenagers the world has to offer.  There’s been great criticism in Toronto for some of Brian Burke’s decisions that are viewed as contradictory to the youth movement he has put in place, such as trading away high first round draft picks. In Ottawa, the process is even more confusing. The Sens will dress a host of recent first round picks like 18-year-old Mika Zibanejad, Jared Cowen, Erik Karlsson, David Rundblad, Brian Lee and Nick Foligno, but also thirtysomethings Daniel Alfredsson, Chris Phillips, Sergei Gonchar, Filip Kuba, Chris Neil, Zenon Konopka and Matt Carkner, as well as both goalies, Craig Anderson and Alex Auld.  The much younger Leafs, by contrast, have two players who are 30 years old, Tim Connolly and John-Michael Liles, and that’s it.  So is Ottawa trying to win now, or at least finish much higher in the Eastern Conference? And where do the Sens and GM Bryan Murray stand in their rebuilding project compared to the Leafs? One difference is that while Burke inherited a mess and has spent 2 1/2 years trying to overhaul the roster, Murray, to a large extent, created his own mess, and has been given an opportunity to clean it up.”

I have a lot of respect for Cox and often agree with him, but as interesting as his comparison is I believe he’s erred in making it.  Toronto, under Burke, is in year four of his rebuild, so the apt comparable would be his first full year rebuilding (2009-10) when he had five players over 30.  Cox also skips over the fact that Ottawa simply couldn’t move Kuba or Gonchar when they decided to rebuild.  His other point, that the mess in Ottawa is largely Murray’s doing, is apt and given that Brian Burke’s roster is now truly his both GM’s are perfectly comparable in that sense.

–The Hockey News’ Ryan Kennedy looks at which 2011 draftees will stick in the NHL all season (link), but he isn’t definitive in all his picks.  He does think Mika Zibanejad will stay with the Senators, “A fast-riser as the 2011 draft class came together, Zibanejad entered a perfect situation in Ottawa – the Sens were rail-thin down the middle, but still had talent on the wings. That means Z-Bad gets to kick off his NHL career with fellow Swede Daniel Alfredsson by his side and there isn’t a better mentor I can think of. He’ll stick.”

-The Elmira Jackals lost their first pre-season game 5-4, with all the players sent down by Binghamton getting points (Josh Godfrey lead the way with a goal and two assists).  Goaltender Corey Milan played in relief after the starter (Larry Sterling) was shelled for four goals.

-Former Sens draft pick Philippe Seydoux (3-100/03), who was on a PTO with the Calgary organisation, was released by the Abbotsford Heat prior to the AHL season (link).

October 8, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment