Back up Brian Elliott will make his second start of the season tonight when the Senators host the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Place.
Pascal Leclaire has been battling a little bit of a flu the past couple days and was not on the ice for the morning skate. That being said, Clouston did say Elliott would start one of the two games this week so I guess this makes sense. Elliott's only other start this season came in a win over the Thrashers.
There will be no other line up changes for the Senators although Jonathan Cheechoo will return to his spot on the right side with Michalek and Spezza. Cheechoo struggled at times last game but I was surprised to see him benched in the third. Here's hoping he can get one tonight and get going.
Filip Kuba practiced with the team this morning and the Senators are hopeful he will get back in the line up sometime next week.
Coming off a sloppy performance against the Predators this is a real statement game for the Sens. The Bruins are battling injuries right now but are still the defending North East champions.
It's time for the Senators to slay the dragon that has been Tim Thomas the last couple seasons.
GO SENS GO!
70 comments:
so cbc has ****** around again
no senators game broadcast outside of ottawa.
i cant blv this shit. was this happening last year or years before too? the maple leafs are the shitiest team in the friggin league. hell people who have paid for leaf's tickets dont want to go see them anymore. yet this stupid shit crap of a tv channel has to force us to watch the leafs lose night after night in the most unmanly fashion.
i cant blv it. pathetic.
SC you need to start a petition against cbc. i for one will overload it with votes.
i heard they even fired Al Strachan just because he wrote some book about how the leafs suck so badly.
godawful pieces of shit.
Just found the blog..love it, however please learn the difference between it's and its.
This might not apply to everyone, but I live Downtown Toronto, the supposed heart of leafs nation, and right now Rogers is giving me a free preview of NHL Center Ice...if you guys have Rogers, check channel 450, my preview is in that area.
I hope this benefits some of the other sens fans stuck in Toronto.
Tonight is Cheechoo's night. I'm sure he didn't like being benched...I'm hoping he can really turn it on! Collectively, Cheechoo and Michalek are far better for the team than Heatley ever was, now its time to show it on the scorecard.
Calm yourself Iago - The CBC is obviously less than worthy
Elliot is starting bc Leclaire was a sive againts the Pred's, and has been the last 2 games.
My guess is Elliot stumbles badly.
anonymous @ 11:31AM
A collective go fuck yourself from all of us here at senschirp!
douche.
Anon @ 11:31
Leave SC Alone. You must have something better to do with your time.
Pretty damn sad if you don't.
This is entertainment, not grammar class.
-KB
Haha Id hate to lose a reader over that.
It's not my fault, I guess the blog has its mistakes.
I have been coming to this blog daily for the last 3 months, and I have to say that this is my fav - great job....and onto my first post.
Leclaire has been great, but it is nice to see Elliot get a start. As a die-hard Sens fan, I am very happy and feel comfortable for the first time ever with our goaltending situation. I look back to our prior goaltending tandem's and the closest I was to being comfortable was in 05/06 with Hasek and Emery. But I find myself much more confident with Leclaire playing 40-50 games than a wonky Hasek, and Elliot playing the remainder than a hot tempered Emery.
As per Leclaire and the flu, here's hoping the flu does not run through the team like a few years past.
Being in the GTA, I am used to not seeing as many Sens games as I like, but the talk around town is that if the Leafs continue to tank as they are, CBC will be spreading out the primary Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts to other Canadian teams - meaning the Sens and Habs for Eastern viewers....I have all the faith in the world that the Leafs will continue to lose.
Go SENS Go.
Hutch
"Elliot is starting bc Leclaire was a sive againts the Pred's, and has been the last 2 games.
My guess is Elliot stumbles badly."
LOL - I think you're confusing the Senators strong goaltending with the absolute crapfest going on with YOUR maple laughs. Stick to your own blogs shithead.
SC can you tell me if Steve Kouleas still has that panel with Al Strachan et all? i can't find it listed anywhere on the Score.
Thanks
@ Anon 11:32am
Stumbling? Hahaha can u ever smell the jeaslousy of your post. But, hey i would be pissed to if my team was the loafs and they are about to go 0 for October
*Ric Flair voice * WOOOOHH!
Man, I work at a sports apparel store here in Ottawa, and I have to say, even as a Sens Loyalist To The End (TM), I feel pretty bad for Leafs fans these days. I see them come in the store, look at leafs jerseys, and just sigh. It`s a painful sigh too, like they desperately want to buy a Leafs jersey, but are so overcome by depression as to who to put on the back. Kessel? Hasn`t played a game yet this year. Schenn? Dude looks bad so far. I remember suffering through those BAD first few years, the "Brad Marsh is our All Star" year, Daigle's career going down the toilet, the Yashin thing... it`s not even a good rivalry right now. I mean, I feel confident that we`re at the very least going to SHOW UP tonight against the Bruins, and we`ve got an excellent chance of winning this thing tonight.
I think I`m just a little sad that Toronto is so god-awful right now. I miss hating every leaf. Who is there to hate right nowÉ You just kind of pity them, and move onto the next game against a better opponent.
To everyone using all the ****'s PLEASE be aware that some of our younger hockey fans who are developing a passion for the game and all that goes around it read Sens Chip's site. I hope this great site does not deteriorate to the point we cant allow our kids to read the comments.
To the points made - CBC must at least get the games outside of Toronto broadcast in HD. I paid good money to watch my games in HD and I never get that service from CBC.
To Anon at 12:44 PM,
Agreed.
I have been letting more through lately but I may need to crack down a little bit.
I understand the odd swear but no need to over do it. The use of **** is a good way to get the point across.
just wanted to mention I am a Sens fan in Halifax and CBC is scheduled to play the Bruins vs Sens game tonight. SCHEDULED. We'll see what actually happens. There were a lot of angry easterners on CBC online watching the game complaining last week.
Sigh. Why is it easier to get an answer from this site about where to get the best fish and chips or meat balls then any suggestion where I might find Al Strachan and Steve Kouleas these days......
I'll be at tonight's game. I'm planning to lead a chant of "Bingo, Bingo,..." everytime Picard touches the puck. Please feel free to join in if you're there tonight.
To all those complaining about the swear words:
This is the Internet and the swear words will always be here.
What can you do then? There's free profanity filter add-ons available for all the popular web browsers. So get googling for those options as it is your responsibility for your children, not ours.
to anon @ 11:26, though I admit the sens should get more national coverage (especially over the leafs), hard to fault them when they have two canadian match-ups today. leafs/canucks at 7, then flames/oilers at 10.
However I do agree we should complain in great numbers about last weekend's broadcast, when two canadian teams (that actually have victories under their belt, i.e. sens/habs) were not national but rangers and leafs were. the HD was terrible as well for the habs game but much better for the leafs. I'm sending a complaint right now
I don't feel Cheechoo should be playing and it is not because he is not trying he just does not have what it takes to help this team. I can see why BM did not want to take him, thanks heatley.
anyone want to make a bet on how many losses it will take before Murray is canned?
I say 18
I think we need a good Toronto team. Seeing them dwindle in last place doesn't make for much of a rivalry. It was much better when both teams were strong.
And I don't know about you guys, but after the slow starts of Luongo, maybe we should be talking Leclaire for Team Canada!?
I moved to the Edmonton area in September and signed up for Center Ice so I could get my Sens games out here. LOw and behold I was shocked to discover that IF CBC is broadcasting a Sens game Center ICe does not carry it (like tonight's game, even though it is also being broadcast on NESN..Center Ice Canada isn't carrying it tonight).
I would understand this IF the broadcast was the "national" game...but no, in order for me to see a CBC Sens game that isn't the national broadcast I had to sign for a "time shifting" pacakage in order to get CBC-ottawa.
What a bunch of BS this all is. So in 2 hours I get to watch the Sens game in SD because of this crap.
Hey Chirp,
have you heard anything about Ruutu, Lee, PLUS for Frolov?
Watching leafs games is the equivalent of stabbing myself in the eye. I subscribe to the local ottawa cbc channel through Shaw digital, no HNIC without my sens that way.
I use a good site to watch SENS games stream live. www.atdhe.net
Its great you don't have to sign up and ands its free... oops I mean "it's"...
I'm in Cambridge Ont. So I all ready know which CBC feed I'm getting.
Haven't read the comments, but FYI: you can watch the game in pretty good quality online through CBC. Enjoy!
Go Sens!
i am getting to watch the game tonight down here in Atlanta on US Center Ice.
I can't ever recall a Sens team that were THIS willing to drop the gloves. To not back down from ANYONE. It's still in the 2nd period, and Carkner's already gone TWICE, while Neil just made Steve Begin look silly.
And for the record, I love it. If that's wrong, I don't want to be right.
well that was disturbing, FUCK
Gutless Pukes.
worst game ever...the Sens have no heart and no soul...15th place will soon be theres!!! Toronto will recover soon, Ottawa has no idea what to recover from!
Unbelievable! Those referees should be fired for their gross incompetence. The Bruins did not have a timeout, nor should they have been afforded extra time after the whistle was blown NOT ONCE but TWICE!! They should have DAMN WELL been PENALIZED for DELAYING THE GAME!!!!! And the GOAL should not have counted either. As Clouston was clearly saying, that's F***ING B***S**T. What a joke!
Well, all I can say is: ****.
So what was this? The reverse of last game? Solid first and second and total debauchery in the third?
I prefered Thursday's format...
p.s. No one can blame Picard or Carkner on this one...
You know SensChirp has truly arrived when the site is being trolled by Leaf fans.
Thanks for comin out fellas
I have heard many media recently debating on how after every big clean hit fights always break out. That Neil KO punch on Begin is why you shouldn't bother. Man that was hillarious.
I've been checking up on Lehner's play in the Soo throughout the start of the season. Looks like last night there was a brawl and he went with the opposing goalie. Can't wait to see how he developes over the next couple of years. 6'4" 225lbs at 18 years old.
As much as watching the last 2 minutes of the Bruin's game really hurt, I think this is something that all teams with a lot of new players goes through. Under pressure, last night the Sens forgot all about their defensive positioning, started to run around after the puck, with predictable results. They forgot their defensive assignments.
It'll get better. And it these really are "the New Sens" - and I believe they are - we will see strong results on the mini-road trip to Florida next week, which traditionally has not gone well for the Sens.
We lost a point in heart-breaking style, but still lots and lots of positives. Spezza in particular is really opening my eyes this years. For the first time ever, he is a complete player. He's playing like Alfie in his prime, but with more speed.
Cheechoo and Kovalev are useless...
I actually think their play hurts this team and Eliot Broke down and once again proved that he will never be a #1 goalie. He's Lalime in a different mask.
Honorable mention for Crappiness goes to the Sens overall defensive game,I hope Clouston is working on this, He should be embarrased about the last 2 games.
Well, I wasn't happy with last night, but the way I see it, we didn't deserve a point on Thursday and we didn't deserve to lose a point last night. Getting 2 points out of a possible 4 seems correct to me after watching the past two games. I just didn't think we'd get them that way...
@ Anon 9:55 -
I think you and all of your other "optimistic" Leaf fans, need to pull your head out of Burke's *ss and get with reality. You're team is headed for dead last, AFTER ANOTHER LOSS, and traded away their 1st round pick. Bravo! No, really... Bra-fuckity-O! Have fun missing Taylor Hall and coming dead last in the NHL. I'll take coming 9th or 10th in the conference with a 1st round pick then 15th without one. Idiot.
@ Anon 10:05 -
That pretty much summed up my entire reaction after last nights bullsh*t. I mean, if they missed a hooking call or two, I could understand not calling it. You could easily miss it. But when the whole damn team goes over to the bench... TWICE... after the timeout has already been used, how the hell do you miss something like that?! I'm not saying that that caused us to lose, but it did help. I'm sure we would have won 3-2 if that crap never had happened. But we got sloppy and couldn't get the damn puck out (Fisher).
Overall, we definately deserved the win, and the only fault that I could see in performance was Campoli. Everyone stepped up their game, but Thomas stood to much of an obstacle to win. You got to love Carkner. And win or loss, my night was made after Begin tried to side-swipe Neil. Didn't end to well for Begin, did it.
Good game boys, and one hell-uv-a game for Tim Thomas.
- oO Karlsson Oo
A heartbreaker last night; all I can say is learn from it and move on.
The linesmen should have dropped the puck when Clouston was losing his mind on the bench. The game did not hinge on that though, Fisher not clearing the puck was pivotal and sorry to say the game was on his stick; 9 times out of 10 I would be ok with that. Bad play and **** happens. Tough way to lose but full credit to the B's for pulling out the W.
Sens still looked good and I would take that effort all 82 games.
Well not much to say about last nights game...A blown lead, which will lead to work on stronger defensive coverage and the message to bear-down - which we will see the Sens do. The game was on Kovalev's stick with the first shoot-out, but hit the post.
Onto a little chatter on a nice Sunday morning...
I have been hearing a rumour around about the Sens putting forth an offer for Frolov. And I have heard the following: Frolov for Ruttu, Lee, Zubov - But in all honestly that deal does not make any sense to me as the Kings are stock-pilled with strong young D. and I doubt that would be enough to pull a Frolov away from the Kings (regardless if he is in the dog house)
If I were Murray, I would put forth the following offer for Frolov.
Regin, Ruttu, Zubov, 2nd 2010 for Frolov.
I would then make a strong effort to move Picard for a 2nd 2010 to replace the 2nd that would be moved for Frolov.
F***ing Horse****, F***ing Horse****, F***ing Horse****
Clouston sure was pissed. So was I. Thomas stole that game from the Sens. That was about it. With probably the hottest goalie we have seen all year, we managed to get three goals. I am VERY happy with that as in the past we have hit hot goalies and been scoreless. I still consider this a chemistry building phase for the team and although it was a heart breaking loss, they came away with a point.
Sens should be renamed the Ottawa Rollercoasters. Or Ottawa Heart Attacks.
WTF, where were the Refs in overtime when Kovie got his face washed and Alfie got tripped?
I think I am going to take up 'high bridge diving' after last nights disaster.
Hutch, you would move Regin for a guy whose contract is up at the end of the season? Come on? Regin is the best prospect the sens have had in years. He's fast and he can get to the net. Frolov would be nice but a big, fast, strong back and forechecking player like Regin is a gem. Ottawa should make plans to have this kid around for the long haul.
Anon @4:42 and Hutch, do you have a source/link for this rumor? And Chirp can you confirm you have heard similar???
As much as Frolov would be a good pickup, watching the Sens this is clearly not what the team needs, and how do we fit him into the cap when he's a UFA at the end of the year? He's going to want around $4-5 mill/year and we still have to resign Volch, Foligno, Regin and possibly Pickard, Donovan and Campoli.
I think Murray should offer that same package for a Top 4 Dman personally, that is clearly our biggest need.
Looking at who is a UFA in the summer I would go after Dan Hamhuis in Nashville or Zbynek Michalek (Milans Bro) in Phoenix.
There's also Cam Barker who might be available due to the need to clear cap space in Chicago to fit in Toews, Kane and Keith etc this summer.
Just my 2 cents
Give me a break. Sens played an excellent game for 57 minutes. They went to sleep in the last 3 and it cost them dearly. They'll learn from it and move on. The first goal was a deflection - but we should have been out in Morris's face on the point anyways. The second one was the same situation but A-Train broke his stick and Elliot didn't get enough of it. Leclaire probably would have made one of those saves. It doesn't really matter. We showed we can compete with the best in the East when we play a full 60 minutes. We'll be 6th-8th in the conference for sure and we are going to surprise some people.
Sens record Vs. Lousy teams
5-0-1 (11/12 possible points)
Sens record VS. Playoff teams last year
1-2-1 (3/8 possible points)
I told everyone right from the first few games that we were good enough to crush on the lower ranking teams and 50/50 the upper echelon teams. That's how it's going and it will probably continue to go just like that. We have the depth and we are a good team.
Boston may have been missing Savard tonight, but we were missing our best offensive/all around top 4 D in Kuba. He makes a huge difference for our PP just like Savard does for theirs so to me that's a wash.
We are a good team. They will learn from this and show character. I am happy they fight hard and care about every win. Not like last year where they only started caring with 30 games left. Despite the fact that Hartsburg was clearly the wrong guy for the job.
What I would really like to no who the **** are the 17 ppl that have been more impressed by Kovalev then Michalek Leclaire or Carkner.
The guy looks like hes in his own world collecting 5 mill. I admit he might have 3 good shifts a game but my god does anyone think Clouston or Murray are happy with his effort so far.
Hutch... Frolov is UFA at the end of this season, why would we give away players like Lee and Regin. Regin will become one of the best 2way player in the league in a couple of seasons.
Patience, my friend. We are only 10 games in the season and we have lots of positives already to build on. We are close to being the worst PP team and still manage to be really competitive. Imagine when the PP will get going.
Last night, our D's were tired late in the game because Carkner took 2 majors during that game. He should think more before dropping the gloves twice in a close game. Our D have to be smatter with the puck. For example, Phillips should have known the clock was below 20 seconds when he gave the puck away. Normally, he would have hold the puck on the board to let the last seconds go.
The "dragon" as SC puts it, came back and burnt their collective butts yesterday :(
I also think it was a bad judgement choice on volchenkovs part to pick up his stick instead of taking his man, who scored the tying goal, if hes there morris doesnt make that pass...still that was very annoying to watch last night, its okay though, sens will go 3-0 this week!!!
A few facts:
We had no business getting a point against Nashville after that first period - so giving up a point on Saturday is a bit of a wash (though it also gave 2 extra points to Boston).
We're way ahead of where most people thought we'd be after 9 games, so it softens the blow (a bit).
By getting one point last night, we matched what the laughs have all season. Nice to see the laughs suck - looks great on Burke.
One of our biggest problems so far this year is our PP - and really, we have to assume it's going to be strong in the long run with all the weapons we have. Getting Kuba back will help A LOT.
The way Michalek is playing, I would happily take him over Dany one-for-one (when you factor in contracts, effort etc).
Count me among the Kovalev lovers.
This team is so bland, from its captain to its coach to its GM, Kovy is like a breath of fresh air in this town. The hair, the skating gait, the stickhandling, all scream to a destiny. On top of that, he has something our team doesn't: a ring.
I love Kovalev. I suspect those of you that are infuriated don't understand that sometimes, art takes time. The level of artistry a man like Kovalev delivers, simply cannot be rushed.
Kovalev!
What's with Carkner and Neil after they fight? Pumping up their arms like fools. Is this the NHL or WWE? I hope Clouston tells them to stop the nonesense. Just play the game and focus on winning.
BeJamin you musta pulled those stats outta your ass. So we played 4 games against Playoff teams? Tool.
Get your stats right before you go making statements, that 1-2-1 record wouldn't even make sense if you were trying to state our record against the Bruins last year since we played them 6 times. How did you even come up with that crap?
elliot is going to be good but, he is our backup and it showed last night.
BeJamin you musta pulled those stats outta your ass. So we played 4 games against Playoff teams? Tool.
Get your stats right before you go making statements, that 1-2-1 record wouldn't even make sense if you were trying to state our record against the Bruins last year since we played them 6 times. How did you even come up with that crap?
We played four games against teams that made the playoffs last year (Montreal, the Rangers, The Pens and the Bruins) and we are 1-2-1. We are doing much better against teams that didn't make the playoffs. Seems like a pretty useful way of looking at our (easy) early schedule to me.
Bad judgement by Volchenkov to get a stick? Get a clue! A defenceman is useless without his stick, and and Morris still makes the pass. If anyone had bad judgement it was Philly trying to slide the puck along the boards to get it out of the zone through 2 Bruins.
Mike,
Man crush on Grapes much? Neiler and Carks did it too get the crowd into it. After all, sports is entertainment.
anon 4:42, you need to discuss kovalevs hairstyles somewhere else
Playoff Teams - Rangers, Bruins, Habs, Penguins...combined 1-2-1
...do i need to draw up the 5-0-1 for you as well?
ANON 7:35 - might want re-read BeJamin's post before you go making yourself look like an ass: "Playoff teams last year".
And Mike - your maple laughs SUCK. Stop coming here crying about crap that's none of your damn business.
Good thing Clouston has them pressing hard, because our D would look like crap if not for the fact that we spend 75% of our time in the opposing zone. The best "D" is a strong "O"...
I also agree that Picard is weak weak weak. What would Carkner do if he had a solid sidekick?
i'm one of them who mostly post negative stuff : bottom line is I can see them trying this year and that counts big time with myself if I am going to spend money i want to see them working hard to win every game and I am happy what I seen so far this year, I would love to see Lee back in the line up I would also like to see Cheechoo sent down can they do that? he seems like a nice guy but I can't see how he ever popped 56 ? having him in the line up is not fare to the rest of the team.
A man crush on Kovalev? Why assume all Sens Chirp followers are male.
blaming the loss on Elliott?? lmao the team was horrid, we will NOT make the playoffs, i say Toronto finishes ahead of us...
Cheechoo has a one way contract worth 3.5 million over the next two years - that's a lot to swallow if the Sens send him down to the AHL
best bet - flip him with Foligno so that he plays on the 3rd line - less ice time but against weaker opposition
if he doesn't pan out this year - I predict the last year of his contract will be bought out to minimize the cap hit
Volchenkov doesn't need a stick, to knock down the Bruin who deflected in the tying goal. He left his position, to chase down his stick...which was laying in the corner.
It was an incredibly dumb play, but not the only bad play which lead to that goal. Fisher and Phillips each made one as well.
These are 3 veteran guys, who will accept that they made mistakes in the last minute, and bounce back strongly next game.
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