| Heatley to Oilers |
[Jul. 1st, 2009|12:12 am] |
It looks like it's all over but the crying, folks. At least if Heatley waives his no-trade clause, which sources say he probably will. Sportsnet and TSN are carrying the story; I chose TSN:
OILERS, SENATORS AGREE TO DEAL, ASK HEATLEY TO WAIVE NO-MOVE
Sources say Dany Heatley has been asked to waive his no-trade clause to go to Edmonton in exchange for Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner and Ladislav Smid.
If Heatley agrees to waive, it would appear the Sens and Oilers will have a deal, pending the official trade call with NHL central registry, but that is generally a formality.
Heatley informed the Senators in early June that despite having five-years remaining on a six-year contract extension that he recently signed that he wished to be moved. The contract calls for Heatley to make $7.5 million per season against the cap.
The veteran forward became unhappy with his role in Ottawa last season, especially after the Senators made a coaching change. Heatley discussed his concerns about what he felt was the limiting of his ice time, and his shift from the first power-play unit to the second unit with head coach Cory Clouston in the Senators end of season meetings.
The Senators have gone downhill since they appeared in the Stanley Cup Final in 2007.
In the 2007-08 season, the Senators had a hot-start, but then had a brutal second-half of the season and held on to seventh place in the Eastern Conference, only to get swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This past season, the Senators never really got it going, and missed the playoffs.
Heatley notched 39 goals and 33 assists in 82 games last season. The 72 points were his lowest point totals in his four seasons with the Senators.
The 28 year-old, had back-to-back 50 goal seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
The 26-year old Penner found himself in former Oilers' coach Craig MacTavish's dog house on more than one occasion during his two seasons in Edmonton.
Penner, who signed a five-year offer-sheet with the Oilers in 2007 has never really developed into the player that Edmonton hope. Last season, he recorded 17 goals and 20 assists in 78 games.
Penner has three-years remaining on his contract that will pay him $4,250,000 million per season.
Cogliano, who the Oilers drafted in the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft has already played in two full NHL seasons.
In 2008-09, the 22-year old forward recorded 18 goals and 20 assists. He has one-year remaining on his three-year entry level contract that he signed in 2007.
The 23-year old Smid, has played three-seasons in the NHL. Last year, he recorded 11 assists in 60 games.
The 6'3" defensive man will give the Senators some size on the blueline.
Penner, along with Smid both have ties to Senators general manager Bryan Murray from his time with the Anaheim Ducks.
EDIT: Well, as we all know by now, it didn't go through. At least not yet. According to Bob McKenzie in the article I just linked, Heatley hasn't outright said that he won't move, which leaves open the possibility that until 11:59 p.m. tonight, the deal might still take place. |
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Official ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) ottawa_senators Draft Discussion Post! |
[Jun. 26th, 2009|06:33 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | draft | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  excited | ] |
| [ | music |
| | TSN - TV | ] |
Happy Draft Weekend, everybody! I decided to do something quite similar to what we had for Trade Day here on the comm - one central post, where we can keep all the speculation, excitement, trade news, trade rumours, etc. I'll be parked in front of my laptop all night tonight, mainlining TSN and several pertinent Twitter feeds, and I will add all Sens-related news to this post via edits.
If you're near a computer, feel free to contribute to the discussion, toss me any news you've got, and just generally have fun! Will Heater be traded? Will Ottawa move up in the pecking order? Which new faces will be welcomed into the fold? Discuss away! Anything draft-related is more than welcome; as always, just keep it respectful to fellow commenters. :) Any news stories in the edits will be substantiated with links - rumours are interesting and great and all, but I'm not going to jump the gun prematurely, heh.
Have at it, folks!
EDIT #1 (8:12 p.m.): The Leafs have selected Nazem Kadri, a centre, with the seventh pick, a guy Bob McKenzie says Ottawa was apparently interested in. One option down, but I think we still have several to go.
EDIT #2 (8:20 p.m.): Darren Dreger just talked to Bryan Murray and there is "nothing going" with regards to Dany Heatley. I will try to find a source for this, but the Sens want at least three players in exchange from the "dozen or so" teams that have expressed interest.
EDIT #3 (8:27 p.m.): And our 2009 selection is ... JARED COWEN, a defenceman from the Spokane Chiefs. He is 6'5; I will have a weight on him ASAP. TSN calls him a comparable to Brayden Cobourn. He blew out his knee in January but will be ready by the fall. Apparently really wanted to go to a Canadian team. May be on the World Juniors come December. Murray likes his size, calls him a big defender who plays a lot of minutes. McGuire on Cowen: "He's a Memorial Cup winner, has overcome his knee injury, but most importantly he has big body presence. Ottawa won't be easy to forecheck against Cowen and Erik Karlsson [our pick from last year]." Source
EDIT #4 (8:31 p.m.): Murray does not anticipate any action on Heatley tonight. They have turned down several offers because they did not conform to expectations.
EDIT #5 (9:15 p.m.): Murray is talking with Glen Sather of the New York Rangers. They had a "lengthy discussion" and the Rangers are supposed to have "keen interest." But Murray is not receptive. Darren Dreger tweeted that "Murray says Heatley will play LW in Ottawa if he doesn't get more interest."
EDIT #6 (6:21 p.m. 26/06/09): The Sens drafted Jakob Silfverberg, a forward with Brynas Jr. (Sweden) with the 39th pick in the second round and goaltender Robin Lehner from Frolunda with the 46th pick. In Round 4 we drafted defenceman Chris Wideman of Miami (CCHA) with the 100th pick. Our Round 5 picks were forward Mike Hoffman from Drummondville of the QMJHL with the 130th pick and forward Jeff Costello of Caedar Rapids (USHL) with the 146th pick. Round 6 the Sens chose forward Corey Cowick (of the 67's, actually!) using the 160th pick. Round 7 saw Ottawa choosing forward Brad Peltz of Connecticut with the 190th pick and defenceman Michael Sdao of Lincoln (USHL) with the 191st pick. Sorry for the lateness of these updates; I was erranding and napping this aft. ;) Source |
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| Date for Heatley deal set by Sens |
[Jun. 22nd, 2009|04:37 pm] |
Monday, June 22, 2009
By IAN MENDES
Sportsnet.ca
If Dany Heatley isn't dealt by July 1 he will likely remain a Senator.
Bryan Murray still intends to trade Dany Heatley by the end of this weekend's NHL Entry Draft.
And on Monday, the Senators general manager hinted that at least one team could be close to offering a package that would interest him.
"I'm doing a lot of the asking. Nobody has really agreed at the moment. But one team is getting close to where I want to be," Murray told reporters. "I guess I can take an offer that's been made, but it's not one that I want right now."
But Murray was also quick to point out that he is putting a deadline on making this deal happen. Heatley is owed a $4 million roster bonus on July 1st. And if the Senators are on the hook for that cheque, Murray says it makes it unlikely that Heatley will be playing for a new team in the fall.
"I've made it very clear that if we pay any more money, this (trade) probably isn't going to happen," stated Murray, who added that he's spoken with one of Heatley's agents in the past few days.
Since Heatley's trade request became public two weeks ago, a number of general managers have stated they would not be interested in the sniper because of the way he's handled the situation. Leafs general manager Brian Burke and Predators general manager David Poile have both gone on the record to voice their displeasure with Heatley's camp. On Monday, Murray says he doesn't mind that rival general managers are making their feelings known and he says it's not hurting his attempts to trade the disgruntled superstar.
"It basically just tells me that particular team doesn't want the player," Murray explained. 'I think everybody is fairly independent and we all have our own opinions. Managers in this league know this is a good hockey player. Someone is going to have to make up their mind that they want to make a trade and they want this player. I will get an offer that I'll really have to consider."
Chris Neil Update: Murray added that he spoke to the agent for Chris Neil on the weekend, in the attempt to sign the winger before he hits the free agency market on July 1st. Murray said there will be one more phone conversation this week to see if something can be hammered out. |
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| Roy Mlakar leaving job at end of June |
[Jun. 15th, 2009|07:11 pm] |
And so, the upheaval continues ...
From NHL.com:
Ottawa Senators president and CEO Roy Mlakar leaving job at end of June
OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators are making some front-office changes.
President and CEO Roy Mlakar will leave the job when his contract expires at the end of the month, Senators owner Eugene Melnyk announced Monday. Melnyk has promoted chief operating officer Cyril Leeder to president of the club and Senators Sports & Entertainment.
Joining Leeder on the executive team will be Erin Crowe, who will serve as executive vice-president and chief financial officer, and Bryan Murray, who will continue as the Senators general manager and will now add executive vice-president to his duties. Mlakar's contract expires June 30 and the new appointments will take effect July 1.
"Roy Mlakar's leadership over the past 13 years has been an impressive journey of achievement and success," Melnyk said in a release. "Roy has worked in professional sports for nearly 40 years. That depth of experience and leadership, along with his constant compassion and support for Ottawa's many charitable organizations has contributed greatly to defining the Ottawa Senators and our relationship with our community and our fans."
Melnyk said he spent four months evaluating the long-term objectives of Senators Sports & Entertainment before making the organizational changes.
"Returning the Stanley Cup to Ottawa remains my top priority for Senators Sports & Entertainment, but we will also continue to stay focused and work very hard at seeking out additional opportunities to invest further in Ottawa," said Melnyk.
Melnyk is looking to eventually bring an MLS team to the city and says the new executive team will "be responsible for managing and more effectively integrating our current business as well as source future opportunities for growth beyond hockey."
The Senators finished out of the playoffs this season with a 36-35-11 record.
I'm kind of starting to wonder how much of a team we'll have left at the end, heh. Mind you, it's only two people thus far - Heatley and Mlakar, and Heatley hasn't yet left - but I still find it surprising. |
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| Heatley asks Senators for a trade |
[Jun. 9th, 2009|01:41 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  confused | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Front Row - Metric | ] |
From TSN:
Despite only being one year into his contract extension with the Ottawa Senators, Dany Heatley wants out. TSN has confirmed that the 28-year old who signed a six-year, $45 million contract extension with the team in October of 2007 - that includes a no-movement clause - informed the team a week ago of his desire to play hockey elsewhere. Senators general manager Bryan Murray has seen his club go downhill since they appeared in the Stanley Cup Final in 2007. In the 2007-08 season, the Senators had a hot-start, but then had a brutal second-half of the season and held on to seventh place in the Eastern Conference, only to get swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins. This past season, the Senators never really got it going, and missed the playoffs. In order to deal Heatley, Murray would have to find a team with the room to take on the final five seasons of Heatley's contract that would count for $7.5 million per season against the salary cap. While he may have to be less selective to encourage a trade because of this, Heatley will have significant input into where he moves. Heatley notched 39 goals and 33 assists in 82 games last season. The 72 points were his lowest point totals in his four seasons with the Senators. The veteran winger, who had back-to-back 50 goal seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07, is believed to be interested in going to a Western Conference team.
------
... what the hell. :(
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| Sens Sign Eric Karlsson |
[May. 7th, 2009|06:46 pm] |
From TSN.ca:
Senators Sign First-Round Pick Karlsson to Entry-Level Deal
OTTAWA -- Defenceman Erik Karlsson, the Ottawa Senators' first-round pick in the 2008 entry draft, has signed an entry-level contract with the club.
Karlsson, 18, recently completed his second season with the Frolunda HC Indians of the Swedish Elite League, recording five goals and five assists in 45 games. He also added a goal and two assists in 11 playoff games.
Senators forward Dany Heatley, who's playing for Canada at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in Switzerland, wasn't surprised the Senators signed the promising blue-liner.
"He's a great offensive defenceman, I think it was just a matter of time before we signed him," said Heatley. "I'm looking forward to seeing him at camp."
Sens fans will be familiar with Karlsson, who won a silver medal with Sweden at this year's world junior championship in Ottawa.
Good for Karlsson and the Sens! He may not be NHL-ready this year, as the general opinion seems to be that he needs to beef up a bit, but Karlsson will definitely be someone to watch for the future. :)
(Also, some end-of-season community business to wrap up - real life got pretty crazy for me there with school ending and exams and so forth, but the banner for the winner of this season's prediction game is still on my to-do list, and I'll have that posted by next week at the latest, promise. :D) |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 28th, 2009|01:37 am] |
Anton Volchenkov broke his leg in the Russia - Germany game (Russia won 5-0). He went to block a shot and broke a bone. He was sent home from the tournament this week. Russia now only has 7 defenseman on their roster.
No idea on how long the injury will be, but I found a Russian agent on twitter who has said it is "very bad".Hopefully he's not gone too long, and it's not serious or his femur ... Torrey Mitchell missed the regular season with a tibia/fibula fracture. He was sent back to Canada before the Russia-France game for further medical evaluation.
If I find more information, or if anyone has it, let me know and I'll edit this post.
EDIT: He blocked a Schubert (oh the irony!) shot in the first period of the game with his skate. In Anton's own words to a Russian interviewer, it was a "harmless looking shot" and "it's a shock" to have broken it so early.
He broke his fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot. |
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| Leafs 5, Sens 2 |
[Apr. 11th, 2009|11:05 pm] |
(Icon not intended to cause offense to anyone on this Easter weekend, by the way - it's merely a reflection of my own Toronto hatred. ;))
Not exactly the way we want to end off the season, heh. ;) But as bad as this game was, it in many ways typified the way this year has gone for the Sens. They seemed very lackadaisical, not winning battles, being late getting to loose pucks and having some crappy luck around the net when they did manage to reach it. A lot of folks are saying that the Battle of Ontario just doesn't have the suspense and the genuine hatred that it used to, and this game definitely seemed to bear that out - though I would generally tend to disagree with the above assessment when it comes to the fans, because all of the Leaf games I've gone to at Scotiabank Place are like old times.
I don't know whether it was the fact that they really had nothing to play for, the absence of Alfie (who was a late scratch with a back problem, and various bumps and bruises) or something else, but the old Sens showed up tonight, and they played like it. Toronto was all over them from the very start, and while I am very hard-pressed to say that the Leafs are a better team (both because I hate them and because of simple fact), our opponent seemed as though they were tonight, and they walked away with what to be honest was a pretty easy victory. Be that as it may, they'll still finish below us in the standings, and by winning tonight they've also cheated themselves out of a chance to participate in the draft lottery. So that's good, at least! ;)
Ottawa got its two goals from Jason Spezza (his 32nd, on the power play) and Chris Kelly (his 12th), while Boyd Devereaux (his 4th, 5th and 6th markers for a hat trick) and Nicklas Hagman (his 21st and 22nd) provided all of Toronto's offence. Devereaux having such a good night was again a marker of how things have gone throughout the 2008/09 season for the Senators, since we seem to have cultivated a talent for allowing players in scoring slumps - or who don't normally score - to get goals against us. Ah well.
Unfortunately Dany Heatley was denied a chance to get 40 goals on the season, with his best opportunity coming in the second when he missed a half-open cage. Too bad for him, but he almost made it, right? :( Ottawa outshot the Leafs 39-30 and went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Toronto was 0-for-4. We also owned them in the faceoff circle, winning 28 draws to their 23.
See, focusing on the positives here! That's me. :)
This game, as I'm sure most of you know, concludes the Senators' 2008/09 season. It also concludes the 08/09 prediction game on this community, and while you'll all be easily able to see the winner tonight, I plan to make a separate post tomorrow with a nice shiny banner to celebrate the placings and make it all official-like. Then ... well, we settle in for a looooooong summer, I suppose. Sigh.
As I posted to my Twitter tonight: "And thus ends the 2008/09 season for the Ottawa Senators. It's been real, boys. Love you forever. :)"
CBC three stars:
1. Devereaux
2. Kelly
3. Hagman
NHL.com three stars:
1. Devereaux
2. Stempniak
3. Stajan
( And the (final) results are ... )
Of course, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens at Leafs, April 11th |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|09:13 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | predictions | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  okay | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Calgary/Edmonton hockey - TV | ] |
And so we come to the very last prediction post of the year. *sniff* I've had an absolute ball running the prediction game since taking over about a month ago, and I'm already looking forward to next season, which will hopefully be a little better both points- and wins-wise for the Senators! Based on what we've seen so far from Clouston, there's no reason to suspect that won't be the case - and you've got to admit, we as fans were treated to some pretty awesome hockey to end things off. Even though we won't make the playoffs (and it hurts to type that!), I personally am leaving this season behind with a far better taste in my mouth than I did last year. We have hope, the value of which isn't to be underestimated!
But, there's one more game to go before the book is officially closed on the 2008-09 season. Ottawa (36-34-11, 83 points and 11th in the East) will meet our rivals from down the 401, Toronto (33-35-13, 79 points and 12th in the East), for one last installment in the Battle of Ontario. Outside observers would probably characterize this as a nothing game, since it's two non-playoff teams meeting each other in what will essentially be a dignity fight. If the Sens win, we Ottawa fans get to brag about having bested the Leafs again, and about having finished six points above them in the standings. If the Leafs win (that hurt to type too!), they'll finish two points below us, so we still get to brag about being higher in the standings. It's a win-win situation, basically. ;) And Battle of Ontario games are always fun!
Injuries for the Sens are the same, so I'll just engage in a little copy-pasting: Jason Smith (knee), Alexandre Picard (knee), Cody Bass (shoulder) and Pascal Leclaire (ankle) will all miss tomorrow's tilt. For the Leafs, Vesa Toskala (groin), Olaf Kolzig (biceps), Mike Van Ryn (knee) and Jonas Frogren (knee) are all out indefinitely. Erik Reitz (ankle) and Jamie Heward (concussion) are possibilities for the Saturday game.
Ottawa's last game was yesterday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Devils, while Toronto is coming off a 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. And I will leave you with this: Martin Gerber is confirmed to be starting in nets tomorrow for the Leafs.
Take that as you will. ;)
Edit: CBC just announced Alfie won't play due to a bad back and various other bumps and bruises. Lowers our chances a bit, but at least the Leafs fans won't be able to get on his back. Ugh. |
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| Devils 3, Sens 2 (SO) |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|08:18 pm] |
Well, on Fan Appreciation Night, the Sens certainly gave their fans something to be appreciative of! Even though they didn't win, it was an awesome game to be at, and they gave out all kinds of prizes to different folks and sections. (My boyfriend and I won two gift certificates for a 30-minute massage ... sweeeet. :D) Fans also got their money's worth as far as excitement was concerned, even though the actual result left a bit to be desired. As a caller noted on the postgame show, what was good about this game was the effort level displayed by the Sens. Even when down by a goal they didn't give up, just kept on trying to tie it up and to put pressure on the Devils. When you see that effort level, the final result doesn't seem to matter so much - at least you know that they tried!
Scoring the first goal continues to be an apparent curse for Ottawa, though - either that or they can't actually hold those leads for beans, heh. In any case, the Sens opened the scoring on a goal from Jarko Ruutu (his 7th) that bounced in a weird way and eluded Martin Brodeur. That lead stood until the start of the second period, when New Jersey took over on a pair of goals 46 seconds apart from Brian Gionta (his 20th) and Brian Rolston (his 15th). It looked like that might be it for scoring - many of the Devils fans in the building certainly seemed to think so, judging by how obnoxious they were being! - until the end of the third period, when Ottawa pulled Alex Auld and had several minutes of good pressure in the opposing end. We fans all jumped up when we thought they'd scored, but the puck had actually gone off the post. Heatley made no mistake seconds later, however, banging it home for his 39th of the year. Scotiabank Place was as loud as I've heard it this season, and I think we all watched the entire overtime and shootout standing up.
Five extra minutes solved nothing, and the game went to the aforementioned shootout. Personally, I've found that when the opposition scores to take a lead in a shootout, it almost never ends well, but maybe that's just me - or it could be that Ottawa usually sucks at shootouts. ;) The crowd still cheered heartily throughout, especially when Alfie scored. We'd been pretty annoyed at the referees when they had given him a four-minute penalty earlier on, so it was nice to see him get a goal. :)
Shootout
Ottawa:
1. Alfredsson (score!)
2. Fisher (miss)
3. Spezza (miss)
New Jersey
1. Parise (goal)
2. Shanahan (goal)
3. Langenbrunner (save!)
The Devils outshot the Sens 32-30, and Ottawa went 0-for-3 on the power play to New Jersey's 0-for-6. The Sens' next - and last - game is tomorrow night in Toronto against the Leafs, so I'll have the prediction post up in just a sec.
NHL.com three stars:
1. Winchester
2. Brodeur
3. Auld
( And the results are ... )
Of course, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens vs. Devils, April 9th |
[Apr. 8th, 2009|10:01 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | predictions | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
| [ | music |
| | CBC News - TV | ] |
Well, as ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) synthetek noted earlier on, we have ourselves a permanent coach, folks! The "interim" label was today removed from Cory Clouston's title, as Murray inked him to a two-year contract. I personally feel awesome about this, not just kinda "eh" as I did with Hartsburg. We've seen results under Clouston, positive results that can make us believe respectability might be just a season away. The contract wasn't exactly a surprise, since I think we can all agree they'd have been fools to let Clouston go, but it's still good news. :)
Meanwhile, let's gear up for the next game! Ottawa (36-34-10, 82 points and 11th in the East) will tomorrow meet New Jersey (49-27-4, 102 points and 3rd in the East). While the Devils are in a good position right now - third in the conference ain't too shabby, after all! - they've been fading of late, and don't seem to be able to put together a string of good games. This is despite the return of their star goaltender, Martin Brodeur, after an injury to his arm that kept him out for several months. I've heard several commentators talk about the let-down that sometimes occurs after a player coming back from the IR has participated in a few games, but it's hard to know if that's what's happening here. Only time will tell, most likely. In any case, these are the Devils and they're still nothing to sneeze at, so the Sens shouldn't sit back just because New Jersey has been slumping of late.
In terms of other injuries - well, you guys should pretty much know the deal by now, at least where Ottawa is concerned. ;) We'll be missing, as per usual, Jason Smith (knee), Alexandre Picard (knee), Cody Bass (shoulder) and Pascal Leclaire (ankle). Out for New Jersey are Patrik Elias (groin), Nicklas Havelid (lower body) and Kevin Weekes (knee). Scott Clemmensen suffered a slight bruise to his finger in a recent practice, but all indications are that he'll be good to back up Brodeur.
The Sens' last game was yesterday's 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins, while the Devils are coming off a disappointing 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. |
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| SENATORS REWARD HEAD COACH CLOUSTON WITH TWO-YEAR CONTRACT |
[Apr. 8th, 2009|11:57 am] |
OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators are keeping Cory Clouston as their head coach.
The team announced today that they have signed him to a two-year deal, removing the interim tag from his title.
Clouston took over Feb. 2 when Craig Hartsburg was fired but was only given the keys to the Sens until the end of the season.
Clouston had been in charge of the American Hockey League affiliate Binghamton Senators.
He became the fourth different coach to go behind the Senators bench since the team reached the Stanley Cup final in 2007.
Last year, the team dumped John Paddock on Feb. 27 and general manager Bryan Murray took over to finish the season.
Hartsburg, 49, was hired last June and given a three-year contract. He left with the Senators in 13th place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 17-24-7 record, 14 points out of a playoff spot.
Ottawa is currently 11th in the East, nine points out of the playoffs with a 36-34-10 record. |
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| Sens 3, Bruins 2 |
[Apr. 7th, 2009|10:55 pm] |
The games after a team is officially mathematically eliminated from the playoffs are supposed to mean very little in the grand scheme of things. You're playing for a little bit of dignity, maybe some pride, and more than likely to knock off one or two other teams that are right on the playoff bubble. But it doesn't much matter even if you don't do those things. Nobody's paying attention to you, except your own fans, and the majority of the league is focused on making ready for the playoffs. So you don't have to put in much effort. Right?
Well, apparently nobody told the Ottawa Senators these things.
Tonight they looked - well, I'm not sure there's any other word for it but awesome. While it's true that the Bruins were in the "show up and we win" mindset, it should be amply clear by now that they have shown themselves able to do just that, so this looked like a difficult one for the Sens going in. Even I, the eternal optimist, had my doubts. But again, nobody told Ottawa that they were supposed to suck. Nobody told Ottawa that they probably didn't have a chance. And they played like they believed in themselves, like they were still in the hunt, like the game really mattered and meant something. They outpaced Boston at almost every turn, and in the third period simply clamped down - despite another of those stupid last-second goals from the opposition to end off the second - and refused to allow the Bruins even a sniff as far as bonafide scoring chances went. It was an amazingly well-played game, and I'm telling you, if this is what Ottawa are going to be like next season, BRING IT ON.
No penalty shots this game (heh) but Dany Heatley is now only two markers away from notching 40 on the year. Kudos to him! He notched his 38th and the GWG to vault the Sens to a 3-1 lead, with Ottawa's other goals coming from Christoph Schubert (his 3rd) and Mike Fisher (his 13th). Phil Kessel (his 32nd) and Zdeno Chara (his 18th) replied for the Bruins. Of note regarding Chara: the commentators on the radio called this "his worst game in the building since leaving Ottawa," which was ironic and entertaining for me considering how much everyone's drooled over him of late. Then again, the way Boston played you'd think they were the ones playing their second in two nights, rather than us. Not that I'm complaining, of course! ;)
The Bruins narrowly outshot Ottawa 33-32 and both teams went 1-for-5 on the power play. Faceoffs were also close tonight, with Boston winning 26 to Ottawa's 24.
Ottawa's next game is on Thursday at home against the fading New Jersey Devils. (Seriously, they lost 4-1 to Toronto tonight. Eep!)
Sportsnet three stars:
1. Fisher
2. Heatley
3. Shannon
NHL.com three stars:
1. Fisher
2. Heatley
3. Auld
( And the results are thus ... )
Of course, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens 3, Montreal 2 |
[Apr. 7th, 2009|02:54 pm] |
Memo to Habs fans: do not tempt the hockey gods. They don't generally take kindly to being mocked.
Specifically, it is inadvisable to begin singing the Olé song when you're only up by one goal, even if it's the third period. Odds are that will come back to bite you in the ass, probably when you least expect it. Probably when a playoff spot is potentially on the line, and you need to win two out of your next four games to make it. You might get away with singing against the Islanders or even the Thrashers. But the hockey gods have watched you deal too many death blows to the Ottawa Senators over this past season. Last night, when it really counted, the Sens decided they were mad as hell and they weren't going to take it anymore.
Inconvenient, no?
Okay, so I'm gloating a little. ;) (The above isn't the half of it, by the way - this community did not witness me dancing around my living room last night and pointing at Habs players on the TV while chanting, "You suck, you suck you suck you suck, you suck, you suck," to the tune of Olé and accompanied by the sighs of my Hab-fan boyfriend. *grins*) But Ottawa deserves this, dammit, after such a crappy season. We deserve to play spoilers in a major way, instead of the tiny little setbacks we've been dealing to other teams of late. (Philadelphia, for instance, was denied the one point they needed to clinch a playoff spot. Cry me a freakin' river.) No, this was bigger. If the Habs don't win their next three games, they're out. Period. And if that happens, we can proudly say we had a hand in it. :D
The Sens rode to victory last night on the strength of goals from Chris Campoli (his 11th, on the power play) and Dany Heatley (his 36th and 37th, the latter being the GWG). Montreal's Alexei Kovalev (his 26th) and Mathieu Dandenault (his 3rd) replied, and the Canadiens also missed on a penalty shot after Alex Auld foiled a breakaway by tripping the oncoming player. That's the second penalty shot against us in two games, for those of you keeping score at home.
To be (grudgingly) fair, Montreal did learn yesterday that two of their top defensemen, Dany Markov and Mathieu Schneider, will be out for the foreseeable future due to injuries suffered in the Toronto game. But to be additionally fair to the Sens, they were the better and more physical team from the start, pounding the Habs into the ice and making them pay for nearly every penetration into the Ottawa zone that they attempted. This reinforces even more my belief that Montreal has been lulled into a false sense of security by playing some of the NHL's true bottom feeders over the last few games. You can't win all contests simply by showing up, y'know.
Ottawa outshot Montreal 23-22 and went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Habs went 0-for-4 and did miss that penalty shot I talked about earlier.
The Sens' next game is tonight against the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Place. Prediction post is here if you haven't already seen it. :)
Team 1200 three stars:
1. Heatley
2. Kovalev
3. Auld
NHL.com three stars:
1. Heatley
2. Kovalev
3. Fisher
( And the results are ... )
Of course, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens vs. Bruins, April 7th |
[Apr. 6th, 2009|11:41 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | predictions | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | jubilant | ] |
| [ | music |
| | 1234 - Feist | ] |
(I shall post up the recap of tonight's Habs game - which was AWESOME, by the way! - as soon as possible tomorrow, but since we're dealing with two games in two days here I thought it more important to get the next prediction post up before going to bed, so here it is. :D)
After this evening's game of TOTAL EPIC WIN, the Sens (35-34-10, 80 points and 11th in the East) return to Scotiabank Place to face who other than the Boston Bruins (51-17-10, 112 points and 1st in the East). I don't know about you, but as an Ottawa fan I am rather inclined to shake my head at the NHL schedulers and ask, "Uh ... didn't we just leave this party?" Because, SERIOUSLY - Boston twice in less than a week? Who the hell did we piss off to deserve this fate? Whoever they are, they must be really mad, because the Bruins just keep on rolling in the run-up to the playoffs. Boston is as strong as ever; not only is Tim Thomas an amazing goaltender but he is also rich; Claude Julien deserves at least two Jack Adamses for his brilliance; and Zdeno Chara was recently observed walking on water. If you listen to the commentators, this is just some of the kind of stuff you'll here. ;) And yes, the Bruins are good, but I'm a tad sick of hearing them praised over and over and over. Especially when it's TWICE in a week. (Who DID we piss off???)
Um. Right. Being mostly serious now. :) Injuries are as always the same for Ottawa, with your regulars being Jason Smith (knee), Alexandre Picard (knee), Cody Bass (shoulder) and Pascal Lecliare (ankle). Boston will be missing Phil Kessel (shoulder), Shawn Thornton (undisclosed) and Marco Sturm (knee). Andrew Ference was hurt on Saturday and is still being evaluated; there is no word yet as to his status. Aaron Ward and Dennis Wideman, though they're both suffering from a collection of various bumps and bruises, will play.
The Sens' last game was tonight's 3-2 win over Montreal (HELL. YES.), while the Bruins are coming off a 1-0 victory over the Rangers on Saturday. |
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| Sens at Habs, April 6th |
[Apr. 5th, 2009|04:12 pm] |
Okay, so, in case anyone wasn't aware: this is pretty much the ULTIMATE spoiler game. Guys, if we win this game, it could conceivably go a loooooong way towards keeping the Canadiens out of the playoffs. This isn't just my foolish optimism shining through, either - it was all over the postgame show last night, and by all accounts this game is being hyped as one of the best to end off the season. If the Habs (41-27-10, 92 points and 7th in the East) beat the Sens (34-34-10, 78 points and 11th in the East), those two points will go a long way towards securing what many now believe to be an "inevitable" playoff spot for Montreal. (Personally I think the only reason they look so good right now is because they've been playing a succession of shitty-as-hell teams, but hey, that's just me.) If Ottawa wins, they will be denying the Canadiens a crucial victory that might well be the difference between finishing in the playoff race and finishing out of it, especially if the teams below Montreal pick up their games a little. Oh, and did I mention that the Sens are now ahead of the Leafs in the standings?
THE SENS ARE NOW AHEAD OF THE LEAFS IN THE STANDINGS.
There. I mentioned it. (Small favours, people, small favours.)
And hey, we want to take this one for pride if nothing else. The Habs have had our number this season when it really counted, so why shouldn't we return the favour? ;)
Injuries stand thus: the usual for Ottawa, with Jason Smith (knee), Alexandre Picard (knee), Cody Bass (shoulder) and Pascal Leclaire (ankle) all out. Montreal will be missing Robert Lang (torn Achilles tendon), Francis Bouillon (groin), and Sergei Kostitsyn (suspected concussion). Carey Price has been out the last two games with the flu, but should be ready to start in nets if that's Bob Gainey's decision. Mathieu Schneider and Andrej Markov both left the Toronto game with upper-body injuries, but are both good to go for tomorrow according to most sources I've consulted.
The Sens' last game was Saturday's 4-3 win over the Flyers in a shootout, while Montreal pounded the Leafs 6-2, also on Saturday. |
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| Sens 4, Flyers 3 (SO) |
[Apr. 5th, 2009|03:25 pm] |
This was definitely a good game to be at, although a loooong drive home in super-crappy weather pretty much sapped my energy afterwards - which is why this is once again going up a day late. *headdesk @ self* Although the contest did lag a bit at times, particularly in the second period, the third, overtime and the shootout made it more than worth any fan's time, at least in my opinion. And I think Ottawa deserved to win. This wasn't just one of those games where the lesser team manages to hang around and hang around and then eke one out in extra time. No, the Sens kept pace with the Flyers throughout the contest, except for parts of that aforementioned second period and a bit of the third, and the victory in the shooutout was well-merited, if perhaps a bit stunning for Philly.
As has been their modus operandi in the last few games, the Sens opened the scoring on Nick Foligno's 17th of the season. The goal came on a 5-on-3 after Daniel Carcillo of the Flyers was assessed an unsportsmanlike penalty and a game misconduct (my boyfriend's reading on the situation: "He said the f-word to the referee"). The resulting marker must have been especially sweet for Foligno given that his father Mike and mother Janice were in the crowd to watch him play. Good on Nick! Ottawa would add another goal from Chris Kelly (his 11th), but Darroll Powe would reply on a penalty shot for his 6th, and Mike Richards then netted his 30th to tie the score at 2. Things looked especially bad when the Flyers scored again only 28 seconds into the third period (Simon Gagne with his 33rd) to take the lead. The Sens could've just folded up the tent right there, and I think some people were expecting them to, but they persevered and were rewarded when Jason Spezza scored his 31st just three minutes later. Alex Auld had an awesome game, including in the shootout, so a healthy dose of credit is also owed to him. And congratulations to Spezza for participating in his 400th career game!
I give full shootout stats below, but the kinda-sorta notable thing about it was that the refs actually decided to send the Flyers' first attempt to a review, which is something I personally had never seen before. I didn't even know that shootout goals were reviewable, though it makes sense that they would be. It took an awfully long time for a call to be made, but eventually the decision on the ice was overruled and the attempt termed a goal.
Shootout
Ottawa:
1. Comrie (miss)
2. Alfie (score!)
3. Spezza (miss)
4. Foligno (miss)
5. Fisher (score, with the GWG!)
Philadelphia
1. Briere (goal)
2. Richards (miss!)
3. Gagne (miss!)
4. Carter (miss!)
5. Giroux (miss!)
The Sens outshot Philadelphia 38-34 and went 1-for-2 on the power play, with the Flyers also going 1-for-2. Ottawa's next game is tomorrow in Montreal against the Canadiens.
NHL.com three stars:
1. Fisher
2. Richards
3. Spezza
( And the results are ... )
Of course, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens vs. Flyers, April 4th |
[Apr. 3rd, 2009|03:01 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | predictions | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  creative | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Song 2 - Blur | ] |
Nothing we can do now but enjoy, folks, and I personally plan to do just that! It'll definitely be different not having playoff hockey this year - though how different from our past early playoff exits, I'm not yet sure. But we've still got until April 11 before we have to say goodbye to hockey for another year, so it won't be cold-turkey like the playoff defeats. At least, that's the hope. ;)
Our next game will be another tough one, as Philadelphia (41-25-10, 92 points and 5th in the East) rolls into town to battle the Sens (33-34-10, 76 points and holding steady at 12th in the East). With New Jersey seemingly fading fast, the Flyers have an opportunity to capture the Atlantic Division title, guaranteeing them a spot in the top three Eastern seeds, so they'll probably be hungry for that. I personally find it amazing how quickly Philadelphia has pulled themselves up from the bottom of the East, where they were just a couple years ago, to become legitimate contenders again - and it also gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, Ottawa might be able to do the same. :) In any case, we continue to play out our string of games against some of the toughest teams in the conference (Boston twice in a little less than a week, for example, makes me say "What the HELL, schedulers?") in comparison to Montreal, who get to collect points against apparently easier teams like the New York Islanders. Then again, given our record against teams below us in the standings, that might actually be a good thing, but suffice to say I don't think Montreal are as good as they believe themselves to be right now.
Injuries: same old, same old for Ottawa, with Jason Smith (knee), Alexandre Picard (knee), Cody Bass (shoulder) and Pascal Leclaire (ankle) all out. For Philly, Derian Hatcher is out with a knee injury, and Riley Cote (finger) is currently day-to-day but may possibly play tomorrow night.
The Sens' last game was last night's 2-1 defeat to Boston. The Flyers play Toronto tonight, so I will update with that score when the game ends.
One last note - I'll be at Scotiabank Place tomorrow for the game, so the recap might be a little later than usual. :)
Edit: Philadelphia beat Toronto 8-5 last night (no, I am actually not making this up!) so I guess we can only hope the Flyers will have run out of goals for tonight's contest. Heh. ;) |
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| Bruins 2, Sens 1 |
[Apr. 2nd, 2009|10:30 pm] |
Playing out the string though we may be, I was still hoping for an entertaining game tonight, and that's essentially what we got. Okay, so the result left a little to be desired, but honestly, can more really be expected? We were playing a team whose boot soles we barely deserve to lick - at least if you listen to the commentators - and yet we actually turned in a pretty decent performance! Certainly we gave them a bit of a fright, if Marc Savard's celebration after his game-winner was any indication. ;) So, there are dignity points in that. Auld played an excellent game as well, and the score may have ended up a little worse than it was had it not been for him.
Getting the first goal continues to be a curse for the Sens, for whaever reason. I'm kind of confused by this, since you'd think scoring first would actually give them a lift, but apparently not. They seem to let go of leads awfully easily, and not only that, let the opponent come all the way back. Quite strange. Be that as it may, Daniel Alfredsson opened the scoring with his 24th of the season, and things looked relatively okay until Milan Lucic got his 17th in the second, followed by Savard's GWG (his 24th) in the third. From there the Bruins clamped down defensively, and the Sens just couldn't seem to muster a whole lot in terms of actual offense - though they did have a number of chances. They also couldn't convert on the power play, which probably ended up hurting them more than it might have on another night.
There was a bit of a scary moment in the third when Alfie got checked into the boards knee-first, and seemed rather wobbly on his way back to the bench. Although he did go to the dressing room afterwards, I caught one or two mentions of his name later on in the game, so it seems like it might not be too serious. Here's hoping! No penalty on the play, by the way, which rankled me a little. Only a little.
Boston narrowly outshot Ottawa 33-32, and both power plays pretty much sucked in terms of chances converted, with the Sens going 0-for-4 and the Bruins for their part were 0-for-2.
Ottawa finally returns to home cooking on Saturday with a game at Scotiabank Place against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Sportsnet three stars:
1. Thomas
2. Auld
3. Lucic
NHL.com three stars:
1. Savard
2. Lucic
3. Thomas
( And the standings are thus ... )
Of course, let me know if I've made a mistake! |
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| Sens at Bruins, April 2nd |
[Apr. 2nd, 2009|12:16 pm] |
So sorry about the late prediction post, folks! Unfortunately I just ran out of time yesterday and last night, heh. Gotta love real life occasional interferences, I guess. ;)
In any case, tonight's game has Ottawa (33-33-10, 76 points and 12th in the East - again) facing the Boston Bruins (49-17-10, 108 points and 1st in the East). An overmatch perhaps, although not as much as one might think given the fact that the Sens actually haven't done too bad against the Bruins this season. At least, not in comparison to the stinkers they've turned in when facing teams such as Atlanta, for example. Last time the Sens and Bruins met, we took them all the way to a shootout before finally losing. So, while you obviously have to go into these games with a hell of a lot of respect for the other team, they also need to be careful of you. Not that Boston necessarily has anything to lose if they drop tonight's contest, but Ottawa is now truly playing fast and loose with nothing to worry about except perhaps a bit of pride and dignity, and those are the teams one often has to be most aware of in the closing days of the NHL season. It'll be a challenge, but my guess is we'll get to see some damn fine hockey. Unless of course we get totally blown out, but that's another story!
On the injury front, there is really nothing new to report for the Sens aside from the usual walking wounded - Jason Smith (knee, out for the season), Alexandre Picard (knee), Cody Bass (shoulder) and Pascal Leclaire (ankle surgery). Boston is missing Marco Sturm (knee). Phil Kessel (shoulder) and Shawn Thornton (undisclosed) are both day-to-day.
Ottawa's last game was Tuesday's 5-2 defeat to the Florida Panthers, while the Bruins won 3-1 over the Tampa Bay Lightning, also on Tuesday. |
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