-Ottawa faces Boston (19-6-3) tonight; the Bruins are lead by Patrice Bergeron (25 points) and backstopped by Tuukka Rask (14-4-3 1.92 .928).  Robin Lehner will get the start while Mike Lundin slides into Marc Methot‘s place.

–Scott had the scoring chances in the Islanders game 13/15.

–Patrick Wiercioch talked about himself and playing with Sergei Gonchar:

Confidence is a two-edge sword. It’s quick to get and really easy to lose, so you don’t want to build it up too quickly, but you obviously want to know you’re capable of making those plays and go from there. [Gonchar is] so patient and so poised with the puck. He draws a lot of guys into himself and opens up so many other opportunities for other guys on the ice, so when you do get the puck, you don’t have to make a quick play. You can kind of read off him. He has been nothing but spectacular for the past 10 or 15 games.

–Bobby Kelly goes over yesterday‘s official signing of Andrew Hammond.  I bring it up because of this:

Though this signing serves an immediate purpose for the team in Binghamton and adds slightly to the Senators’ goaltending depth, it will be most notable for the conjecture and speculation that arises as a result. Rumours abounding because of Ottawa’s depth in nets are sure to feed off of this signing. I would exercise a word of caution, but upon second thought, where’s the fun in that?

Normally I’d agree with Bobby that speculation about the goaltending situation is premature, but given that Hammond is destined for the AHL next year (and presumably the rest of this season), there truly is a logjam that makes no sense at all unless a player is moved (unless Bobby envisions an Anderson/Bishop duo next year with Lehner remaining in the minors).  The Sens really must move one member of their three-headed monster (no later than the off-season) and what makes the most sense is retaining Anderson and Lehner with the latter playing in the NHL next season.

–Mike Hoffman is close to coming off the injured list and Jakob Silfverberg had a lot of praise for him (link below):

He’s an incredible skater. He’s pretty much like Erik [Karlsson]. It doesn’t look too hard on him, but he’s so fast out there. Other than that, he’s got a great shot, he’s skilled with the puck, he’s got a good head, he reads the play. To me, he’s a really good hockey player.

–Don Brennan reminisces about trying to run Gonchar out of town (well, he doesn’t actually reflect on himself, but it would have been more entertaining if he did).

-Speaking of reminiscing, we can remember how Damian Cox thought the Sens rebuild was a complete mess last year.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 21, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-Ottawa came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Islanders 5-3 last night; Ben Bishop made 26 saves for the win (allowing a couple of goals he would like back), while Matt Kassian (!), Jakob Silfverberg, Zack Smith, Sergei Gonchar, and Guillaume Latendresse (empty-net) scored the goals.  Marc Methot was hurt during the game.  Peter Regin rose out of the dog house to play quite a bit.  Here’s the boxscore.  Final thought: not a great night for the officials (Chris Rooney and Ian Walsh), with several phantom calls–Rooney has a track record of rough times calling Sens games.

–Sylvain St-Laurent thinks Gonchar‘s recent success is partially tied with being paired with Methot.

-Speaking of Methot, Paul MacLean says he may play tomorrow.  Mike Lundin is apparently ready to play if Methot can’t go, while Robin Lehner is going to get the start against Boston.

-Here’s my look at Ottawa at the 30-game mark.

-Confirmation has finally come through that the Sens have signed collegiate goaltender Andrew Hammond to a two-year ELC, who was rumoured to be signed two days ago.  Nichols echoes my point at the time that the signing is an indication that the team is ready to move one of their goaltenders (my guess remains Bishop).

–Corey Pronman offers his two cents on free agent prospect Andrej Sustr (RLR‘s opinion can be found here):

His skating is average, but notably above-average for a 6′8′’ defenseman. His mobility has seen significant advancements in the last 12-24 months. He’s a good puck-mover too, showing nice touch with the puck and the offensive instincts to make unusual offensive plays for a player his size. For Nebraska-Omaha on the man advantage I’ve seen him be used in front of the net as a screen or a primary quarterback up high. This combo of traits make Sustr a very desirable asset with the potential to be a #3 if not a #2 defenseman. He is not a player without warts though, for one even though he’s a huge player with a good wingspan, he isn’t all that physical. His decisions in both ends, while not a major issue, could use some work as he can make the odd bad turnover or be off with his positioning.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 20, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

Ottawa has reached the 30-game mark and it’s time to take stock and see how the team has performed.  The Sens went 4-2-4 (here’s the previous ten games) which puts them 5th in the conference and drops them to 3rd in the division (opening a window on how much fun the new playoff format will be next season).  Their 77 goals is twelfth in the conference while their 65 goals against remains second.  Ottawa’s powerplay rose to 11th overall (19.8%); and they now have the 2nd best penalty killing in the league (88.4%).  The Sens are the 2nd most penalized team in the league and they have the 10th best 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio (1.10).

Player’s stats (INJ=games missed due to injury, SCR= scratched, SUS=suspended, AHL=games in the AHL):

Sergei Gonchar 10-1-12-13 +4 TOI 24:40
Patrick Wiercioch 10-4-4-8 +3 TOI 15:18
Kyle Turris 10-4-3-7 -1 TOI 19:23
Zack Smith 10-3-4-7 -2 TOI 15:50
Daniel Alfredsson 10-2-5-7 +2 TOI 19:04
Jakob Silfverberg 10-4-1-5 +3 TOI 16:23
Guillaume Latendresse 5-3-2-5 +4 TOI 15:08
Chris Phillips 10-1-4-5 +6 TOI 21:01
Mika Zibanejad 10-3-1-4 +3 TOI 13:08
Andre Benoit 9-0-4-4 -2 TOI 16:02 SCR 1
Chris Neil 10-0-3-3 +1 TOI 14:09
Jim O’Brien 9-1-1-2 -1 TOI 11:31 SCR 1
Colin Greening 10-1-1-2 Even TOI 14:10
Milan Michalek 2-0-2-2 Even TOI 18:23 INJ 8
Erik Condra 10-0-2-2 -3 TOI 13:39
Matt Kassian 3-1-0-1 +1 TOI 4:44 [AHL 4-1-0-1]
Kaspars Daugavins 5-0-1-1 -2 TOI 11:09 SCR 5
Peter Regin 8-0-1-1 -1 TOI 11:49 SCR 2
Marc Methot 10-1-0-1 -7 TOI 22:39
Eric Gryba 10-0-1-1 -4 TOI 21:37
David Dziurzynski 4-0-0-0 -1 TOI 12:26 INJ 6
Mark Stone 4-0-0-0 -1 TOI 10:00 [AHL 5-1-2-3]
Erik Karlsson (injured)
Jason Spezza (injured)
Jared Cowen (injured)

Robin Lehner 2-0-4 1.90 .946
Ben Bishop 2-2-0 2.62 .921
Craig Anderson (injured)

Gonchar has enjoyed a remarkable run over this period, taking up the offensive load left by Karlsson‘s absence.  Wiercioch has also stepped up his game.  In general, after suffering through a period of sputtering offence the Sens have ramped up their goal scoring–Turris finally scored again and Smith rewarded Paul MacLean’s faith in him.  Phillips lead the plus/minus charge (+6) while surprisingly Methot (-7) is at the bottom.  Among the depth players it appears as though Regin gets the nod over Daugavins, although he remains maddeningly inconsistent.  Lehner has been fantastic since Anderson‘s injury and earned the team at least a point in every start.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 20, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 3 Comments

-Ottawa faces the New York Islanders (13-12-3) tonight; the Isles are lead by John Tavares (31 points) and backstopped by Evgeni Nabokov (13-8-3 2.89 .902).  Ben Bishop will get the start in goal.

–Bruce Garrioch Tweets that Milan Michalek has had knee surgery.

–Jakob Silfverberg talked about his progress this season:

I feel like I learn something new every day, and I have a coach that believes in me and wants me to play good. I get stronger and stronger on the puck every day and make better decisions, so yeah — the confidence is getting higher and higher.

–Paul MacLean also talked about Silfverberg‘s progress:

Jakob, in the AHL, it was a similar type of production for him until the 20-game mark, then his production and consistency came around. He’s learned to play in the league and what he has to do to be successful. He really shot the puck (against Winnipeg) which is good to see, and something he does well. His play up and down the rink has been excellent all year. He learned to play without the puck, which is important to have success with the puck. He’s consistently getting opportunities, and he’s starting to finish. I knew from watching him in Binghamton he just had to feel his way through the league. It was just a matter of time for him to find his way. We just felt we had to keep putting him out there.

–Bryan Murray continues to indicate that he doesn’t expect to be a player at the trade deadline, as he wants a top-six forward, but doesn’t want to give up a top prospect to get that player.

–Scott had the scoring chances 25/14 in the Winnipeg game.

-I mentioned yesterday that I thought Robin Lehner had outdueled Ben Bishop and that Bishop‘s time with the Sens was running out.  Sylvain St-Laurent wonders about the same thing today, but doesn’t offer an answer the question, instead stating the obvious in that it’s an academic debate until Craig Anderson is healthy.

–Amelia L goes into the numbers to see how Paul MacLean’s approach to young defensemen varies from Cory Clouston, with the conclusion being MacLean gives his young players more sheltered minutes.

-With the Sens recent signings there has been some limited discussion over Ottawa’s contract situation.  NHL teams are allowed 50 contracts per season and Ottawa is very close to their limit.  There are, however, quite a few players who are in the last year of their contracts.  They are (those in red are the ones I expect to be let go or traded before the year is out):
Daniel Alfredsson
Guillaume Latendresse
Peter Regin
Sergei Gonchar
Mike Lundin
Andre Benoit
Hugh Jessiman
Nathan Lawson
Kaspars Daugavins (RFA)
Erik Condra (RFA)
David Dziurzynski (RFA)
Patrick Wiercioch (RFA)
Ben Bishop (RFA)
Stephane Da Costa (RFA)
Mike Hoffman (RFA)
Corey Cowick (RFA)
Mark Borowiecki (RFA)
Louie Caporusso (RFA)

That’s 18 players whose contracts could disappear at season’s end, with (by my estimation) 9 disappearing, leaving plenty of space for additions to the NHL and AHL rosters.

-The WTYKY boys debate Paul MacLean’s shot at the Jack Adams award and it’s well worth combing through.

-Yesterday I took a look at free agent prospects in Europe.

-Here are Binghamton highlights from Friday and Saturday.

–Bobby Kelly takes a look at the week that was for Ottawa’s prospects and agrees with me that Chris Wideman seems to have turned a corner in his development.

-I like Pierre LeBrun, but I have no idea why he’s stunned that Anaheim was able to retain both Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.  The team had the cap room and the success to pitch both of them–I would have been surprised if they were moved.

–Stu Hackel outlines the topics for the upcoming GM’s meeting, but expect nothing particularly worthwhile to come out of it (goaltending equipment changes would be at the top of the agenda for me, along with some safety provisos).  It amuses me that GM’s are more concerned about players faking boarding calls then the serious injuries that are the result from boarding.

–Sarah Kwak believes the Sens stock will fall before the season ends because…well, you know, injuries:

With forwards Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek, defenseman Erik Karlsson and  goalie Craig Anderson all on injured reserve, Ottawa is ailing to say the least.  It’s a wonder that with so many injuries they remain fifth in the East. Head  coach Paul MacLean should be commended for the job he’s done keeping things  together, but the wear is bound to catch up with the Sens. They’ve been able to  eke out points by just making it through regulation — nine overtime games this  season — but if this playoff race comes down to tie-breakers, as I suspect it  will, those shootout wins won’t help.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 19, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa ran over the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 yesterday afternoon; Robin Lehner made 25 saves for the win, while Jakob Silfverberg (2), Guillaume Latendresse, and Kyle Turris provided the scoring.  It was a good effort all around for the Sens (who had 42 shots on goal) and a well-deserved win.  Here’s the boxscore.  Adana offers his own description of the game and the most interesting thing he pointed out was that Ottawa has the Eastern Conference’s best home record (10-1-3).  I think that’s a tip of the hat to Paul MacLean, as home ice is the place where a coach is most to affect the game.

–Robin Lehner talked about being run into by Dustin Byfuglien:

I don’t know (what happened). I saw the replay a little bit later and he was trying to cut in (to the net). It’s hard to say (if he was out). It was a little blurry for me. It was more when (athletic therapist) Gerry Townend came to talk to me (he wasn’t sure what happened) and then I felt good. (Byfuglien) hit my head, I was leaning forward and my neck took a beating. That just took me out for a second or two. It’s nothing concussion-wise. That’s fine.

-If the evidence hasn’t been clear enough I thought last night was yet another nail in the coffin for Ben Bishop, whom Lehner has outplayed at the NHL (and AHL) level.  If the Hammond signing (see below) is accurate it could be an indication that the Sens are preparing the groundwork to lose one of their current goaltenders.  Paul MacLean talked about Lehner‘s performance yesterday:

We’ve seen a lot good things from Robin, but maybe Lehner is Irish. He was outstanding. Outstanding. He made some really good saves (in the third) and he held the fort in the second when they came out hard.

–Mark Parisi offers his ups and downs for the week that was, with only Colin Greening getting a negative marker (I’m ignoring Mark Stone‘s selection as it’s not his fault Bryan Murray made a dumb trade), which I’m not sure I agree with.  Mark doesn’t like the fact that Greening isn’t producing, but he’s never going to be consistent in his production.  Matt Kassian deserves a negative–two games, no fights, and no discernibly positive impact.

–Ian Mendes goes through the ins and outs of who might be coach of the year, pointing out an interesting fact:

In fact, on that list of eight teams that have completed the similar turnaround to what the Canadiens are trying to do this season [last place to a playoff position], only Pat Burns with the 1998 Boston Bruins ended up winning the Jack Adams. So for some reason, the voters — who are broadcasters from around the National Hockey League — are not impressed with the going from worst-to-a-playoff spot storyline.

He also throws Sportsnet Nick Kypreos under the bus who told viewers that the Sens weren’t a playoff team.  As one would expect Ian concludes that Paul MacLean should be coach of the year (should things continue as they are) and I think it’s hard to argue with that conclusion.

–Reports have free agent collegian Andrew Hammond signing with the Sens.  The 6’3, 25-year old Bowling Green State grad had a record of 10-15-3 2.47 .917 this season.  Given his age his ELC would be for just one season (assuming this is not an ATO like Nick Craven).

–Scott Burnside offers his power rankings and has Ottawa 9th.

-As expected Kyle Bushee was released from his PTO by Binghamton.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 18, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 3 Comments

-Ottawa defeated Buffalo 4-3 yesterday, overcoming a shaky start (falling behind 2-0) to rally to a 3-2 lead and eventually win the game in overtime.  Ben Bishop made 25 saves for the win while Kyle Turris (2), Patrick Wiercioch, and Chris Phillips scored the goals.  The Sens deserve credit for overcoming the early deficit.  Matt Kassian barely played in his debut (3:21), which was as expected, and did not look like he belonged on the ice.  Here is the boxscore and here’s Mark Parisi‘s lengthy description of the game.

-The Sens play Winnipeg (15-11-2) this afternoon; the Jets are lead by Andrew Ladd (28 points) and backstopped by Ondrej Pavelec (12-11-2 2.75 .904).

-Binghamton crushed Norfolk 5-1 yesterday; Nathan Lawson made 42 saves for the win, while Mark Stone, Chris Wideman, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Wacey Hamilton, and Michael Sdao (his first professional goal) scored.  Sdao also fought in his first game, so it has been an auspicious beginning for the rugged defenseman (this was his second game).  Here’s the boxscore.

–Allan Muir offers his draft rankings and for context I’ve noticed the differences between his list and the latest from ISS:
1. Seth Jones
2. Nathan MacKinnon (3)
3. Jonathan Drouin (4)
4. Aleksander Barkov (6)
5. Elias Lindholm (8)
6. Sean Monahan (9)
7. Darnell Nurse (5)
8. Ryan Pulock (12)
9. Hunter Shinkaruk (13)
10. Valeri Nichushkin (2)
11. Anthony Mantha (27)
12. Curtis Lazar (11)
13. Valentin Zykov (15)
14. Max Domi (28)
15. Adam Erne (NR)
16. Zach Fucale (NR)
17. Rasmus Ristolainen (10)
18. Alexander Wennberg (18)
19. Frederik Gauthier (20)
20. Ryan Hartman (26)
21. Nikita Zadorov (7)
22. Shea Theodore (NR)
23. Josh Morrissey (19)
24. Morgan Klimchuk (NR)
25. Bo Horvat (24)
26. Robert Hagg (23)
27. Kerby Rychel (16)
28. Ian McCoshen (30)
29. Nic Petan (29)
30. Gustav Olofsson (NR)

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 17, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa plays Buffalo (10-14-3) this afternoon; the Sabres are lead by Thomas Vanek (30 points) and backstopped by Ryan Miller (9-12-3 2.83 .914).  Matt Kassian will make his debut and Peter Regin is also added up to the lineup while Kaspars Daugavins will sit.

–Wayne Scanlan talks about the fighting culture in the NHL:

Future generations will look back at this era and wonder. They’ll wonder how it was that a relatively sophisticated professional sport, one that supposedly cared about player safety, would not only allow big, strong players to crack each other in the skull with bare knuckles, it would encourage it. Of course, a single generation from now there will be such detailed information on brain function and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), it will be deemed common sense … the NHL’s move to ban fighting in the year (fill in the blank). It won’t be any time soon. Not when the NHL does such a poor job of policing terrible behaviour on the ice that teams have to find their own means of street justice.

Scanlan is right about the how the game will be looked at in the future, but I agree with him that that future is a long way away.

–Sylvain St-Laurent writes about Michael Sdao and includes these comments from Pierre Dorion (courtesy of Google translation):

He is robust, he has a good sense of the game and does not complicate life unnecessarily, he makes things simple. He is very strong physically. He’s a very good fighter. In college, he could not fight. He will therefore be obliged to spend a little time in the minors to learn how to play his position, but in the medium term, we believe he can play a role with our team [Ottawa].

-Binghamton plays Norfolk (29-26-5); the Admirals are lead by Patrick Maroon (36 points) and backstopped by Frederik Andersen (16-11-1 2.11 .931).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 16, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-The Sens have announced the signing of Michael Sdao to an ELC (yesterday only his ATO was official).  The release notes:

Sdao recently completed his fourth and final season of college eligibility with the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association’s Princeton Tigers. Sdao played in 31 games this season, scoring seven times and adding eight assists, while recording 36 penalty minutes. In four years with Princeton, he recorded 54 points (26 goals, 28 assists), while registering 236 penalty minutes in 118 games. Sdao was an assistant captain for the Tigers in each of the last two seasons and, following the 2011-12 season, he was named Second-Team All-ECAC Hockey and First-Team All-Ivy League. Originally drafted by the Senators in the seventh round (191st overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Sdao has participated in the team’s annual development camp in each of the last three summers.

–Scott had the scoring chances in the Montreal game 16/17.

-Binghamton faces Adirondack (23-31-5) tonight; the Phantoms are lead by Jason Akeson (36 points) and backstopped by Scott Munroe (12-15-0 2.78 .912).

-Yesterday I looked at Binghamton’s last ten games in Binghamton at the sixty game mark.

–Bob McKenzie Tweeted about this year’s crop of FA college players:

DeKeyser generally considered to be head and shoulders No. 1 guy in this college UFA class, which is considered average, at best, this yr. Based on my conversations with NHL clubs, consensus top 3 college free agents are: DeKeyser, D, WMU; Sustr, D, UNO; Laganiere, RW, Yale.

The Sens have already signed one free agent (Rutkowski) and from past comments generally only target two free agents per season, so I wouldn’t expect much more activity.

–Eric T. writes about modern hockey statistics.  The article is very involved, but here is a selection:

For starters, if we know that a team’s shot differential is a strong predictor of their future results, then it makes sense to look at what their shot differential is with a given player on the ice. But it’s not that simple. (Is it ever?) If you just rank all of the players in the NHL by Corsi, you come up with a list that does OK but has some clear flaws. The problem is that it is missing context. One way we can adjust for this is with a statistic called Relative Corsi (often abbreviated Corsi Rel), which compares the team’s shot differential with a player on the ice to their shot differential with him off the ice. Corsi Rel isn’t perfect, though. It does a reasonable job of accounting for the forwards [playing] in front of [a defenseman], but it is quite closely tied to their defensive depth — if the guys who come on the ice whenever he goes off are inept, that will make him look better by comparison. The simplest thing to do is use Corsi Rel with a bit of subjective modification, recognizing that it is easier to have a good Corsi Rel on a team with little depth at your position.

We have more direct metrics for assessing a player’s quality of competition. The most widespread is one calculated at behindthenet.ca, called Corsi Rel QoC. Corsi Rel QoC assesses the average Corsi Rel of a player’s opponents and does a pretty good job of showing who goes against the opponents’ top lines. The other important piece of context is zone starts. Offensive zone faceoffs are often followed by a shot attempt, so a player who is used for a lot more offensive zone draws than defensive zone draws will see his Corsi inflated by his usage. The current revolution in advanced stats is starting to break things down from team-level results to individual contributions — figuring out exactly what a player is doing to help drive shot differential. We’ve talked about zone entry data a couple of times this year, and now perhaps you can see how this fits into our evaluations. The stats show that carrying the puck into the offensive zone generates more than twice as many shots and goals as dumping it in, so a player who is very good at gaining the line will help drive his team to have a positive shot differential.

–Stu Hackel states the obvious that the NHL’s suspensions don’t actually work as a deterrent for behaviour (specifically in regards to head shots).

-ISS has released its latest 2013 draft rankings (for their previous list go here):

1 – Jones, Seth – D – Portland – WHL
2 – Nichushkin, Valery – F – Chelyabinsk Chelmet – RusS
3 – MacKinnon, Nathan – C – Halifax – QMJHL
4 – Drouin, Jonathan – F – Halifax – QMJHL
5 – Nurse, Darnell – D – S.S. Marie – OHL
6 – Barkov, Aleksander – F – Tappara – FinE (+1)
7 – Zadorov, Nikita – D – London – OHL (-1)
8 – Lindholm, Elias – C – Brynas – SweE (+1)
9 – Monahan, Sean – C – Ottawa – OHL (-1)
10 – Ristolainen, Rasmus – D – TPS Turku – FinE
11 – Lazar, Curtis – C – Edmonton – WHL
12 – Pulock, Ryan – D – Brandon – WHL
13 – Shinkaruk, Hunter – F – Medicine Hat – WHL
14 – Dickinson, Jason – F – Guelph – OHL
15 –Valentin Zykov – RW – Baie-Comeau – QMJHL
16 – Rychel, Kerby – F – Windsor – OHL (+4)
17 – Burakowsky, Andre – F – Malmo – SweAl (-1)
18 –Alexander Wennberg – C – Djurgarden – SweJr (NR)
19 – Morrissey, JT – D – Prince Albert – WHL (-2)
2o – Gauthier, Frederik – C – Rimouski – QMJHL (+1)
21 – J. T. Compher – C – USA Under-18 – NTDP (+4)
22 – Santini, Steve – D – USA U18 – NTDP (-2)
23 – Hagg, Robert – D – Modo – SweJE (-1)
24 –Bo Horvat – C – London – OHL (NR) (-1)
25 – Madison Bowey – D – Kelowna – WHL (-1)
26 – Ryan Hartman – RW – OHL (NR)
27 – Anthony Mantha – LW – QMJHL (NR)
28 –Max Domi – C – London – OHL
29 – Nic Petan – C – Portland – WHL
30 – Ian McCoshen – D – USHL (NR)

Falling out of the top thirty were Adam Erne (26), Artturi Lehkonen (27), and Keaton Thompson (30).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 15, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

The Binghamton Senators have reached the 60-game mark so it’s time to take stock and see how the team and the players are doing (for the previous ten games go here).  Binghamton went 6-3-1, dropping to 4th in their conference 2nd in their division.  Their 179 goals-for are tied for 3rd in their conference, while their 150 goals allowed drops also puts them in 3rd.

Player’s stats (INJ=games missed due to injury, SCR= scratched, SUS=suspended, NHL=games in the NHL, ECHL=games in the ECHL):

Shane Prince 10-5-3-8 +3
Jean-Gabriel Pageau 10-3-5-8 +7
Corey Cowick 7-3-4-7 +5 INJ 3
Brett Lebda 10-0-7-7 +1
Stephane Da Costa 10-1-5-6 +2
Chris Wideman 10-1-5-6 Even
Dustin Gazley 10-3-2-5 +5
Wacey Hamilton 10-2-2-4 -3
Mark Stone 5-1-2-3 +2 INJ 1 [NHL 4-0-0-0]
Mark Borowieck 8-1-2-3 +5 INJ 2
Derek Grant 4-2-0-2 +2 [NHL 1-0-0-0]
Cole Schneider 7-2-0-2 -3 INJ 3
Fredrik Claesson 10-2-0-2 -1
Pat Cannone 10-1-1-2 +1
Darren Kramer 6-1-0-1 -2 SCR 4
Hugh Jessiman 6-0-1-1 +1 INJ 4
Louie Caporusso 10-0-1-1 -5
Tyler Eckford 6-0-0-0 +1 INJ 4
David Marshall 3-0-0-0 -3 [AHL 4-1-1-2, ECHL 3-1-2-3]
Mika Zibanejad 2-0-0-0 +1 [NHL 9-4-1-5]
Kyle Bushee 2-0-0-0 Even [ECHL 9-2-5-7]
Stephen Schultz 3-0-0-0 +2 [ECHL 8-10-4-14]
Nick Craven 4-0-0-0 Even [NCAA 25-16-17-33]
Daniel New 6-0-0-0 Even
Jean Bourbeau 6-0-0-0 -3 [ECHL 4-1-0-1]
Ben Blood 8-0-0-0 Even SCR 2
Andre Petersson injured
Mike Hoffman injured
Jack Downing injured

Nathan Lawson 3-1-1 2.30 .937 INJ 2
Marc Cheverie 3-2-0 3.10 .900

The Binghamton lineup continued to be devastated both by call-ups and injuries, but played very well despite that.  Players like Prince, Pageau, and Cowick took their games to another level to fill-in for the scorers missing in the lineup.  The blueline remained patchwork, but Wideman showed the first signs of serious development as he contributed offensively on a consistent basis.  Lawson has returned to form and Cheverie has been solid backing him up.  Cannone‘s miserable season continues, while Blood hasn’t been good enough to be regular even with the depleted blueline.  Craven hasn’t made an impact yet, while Caporusso‘s brief offensive burst (beginning at the end of the last 10-game segment) quickly fizzled.  The only ECHL call-up who has truly delivered is Gazley.  Blueline reinforcements are on the way in the form of NCAA grad Michael Sdao, but free agent signee Troy Rutkowski likely won’t arrive any time soon as the Portland Winterhawks look bound for a long playoff run.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 14, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 3 Comments