Tonight will be a tough test for the Ottawa Senators as they visit their division rival Boston Bruins. The Bruins picked up a single point yesterday and now sit tied with the Senators with 29 points a piece.
The Senators will get a boost tonight with the return of Mike Fisher. He has missed the last two games after an apparent off ice back injury but he is back and ready to go tonight.
Ottawa will also have rookie Erik Karlsson in the line up this evening. He'll take the spot of Brian Lee who was sent down early yesterday. Sounds like Anton Volchenkov will be out of the line up once again.
With Fisher's return, call up Ryan Keller will be a scratch. Here are the lines from this morning's skate...
Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Kovalev-Fisher-Foligno
Ruutu-Kelly-Cheechoo
Regin-Winchester-Shannon
Brian Elliott gets the start in goal. Puck drop is at 7:00 PM on CBC.
** I've seen a few people mention it so I thought I should clear something up. There were no scouts from the Chicago Blackhawks present at the game on Thursday. There were 3 or 4 other teams but the Hawks were not one of them.
77 comments:
Big test tonight! Gotta reclaim that top spot in the northeast!
We can do it! Thomas aint in goal right?
GO SENS GO!
Hoping for a victory tonight - great to hear fishies back lets hope he starts where he left off!
get well soon volchie! we will need u to run into heatley on tues!!
So what happened to Regin the last game where he only played in the first?
PL
So Karlsson contracts kicks in now?
What are the defence pairings?
Should be a good game.
Predicting a 4-2 victory. Hope Elliot is once again solid. He has played very well since taking over.
If Thomas plays, we lose, if it's rask, we win, it's just that simple. We outplay them every time but it just seems like thomas has our number. Hopefully that changes tonight.
There was talk Tim Thomas would be ready to go but no word yet.
Anyone hear otherwise?
Glad to see the Fish back in. Go Sens Go!
Let's hope not SC because Thomas owns our bones and I'm pretty sure we've lit up Rask at least once.
Just wondering what scouts were in attendence last game since it was not the Chicago Blackhawks ones?
Pretty certain it is Thomas
damn if thomas is ....
anyway hear anything about ottawa interested in jagr?
I love the Sens play of late : thats the way to bring back the fans as per last game sell out, even if they lose but put in that kind of efford makes it soo much fun to watch them.
Eww....Ottawa and Jagr. What a horrible combination. That has to be one of those Ecklund creations, I can't imagine there is any reality there.
Ottawa only has a bit of cap space, there's just no way they'll blow it on a big-ticket forward.
Forwards? We don't need no stinkin' forwards!?! :)
Will be interesting to see what Karlsson does instead of Lee. Lee was apparently playing "timid", but I saw him just making tons of boring, safe plays. He wasn't pinching much, chipping off the glass a lot, avoiding getting hit by making east-west passes. I hope Karlsson is at least reasonably sound defensively because the Bingo broadcaster said he loved taking risks while he was down there.
(I remember commenters laughing when I said Karlsson would be back for sure this year. It's way earlier than I thought, though.)
I sure wish I knew how to make Volchenkov's elbow heal faster.
With a lot of forwards playing well, it sure gives Clouston a lot of options. He doesn't hesitate to use them, either. It's such a good reason to remember that we shouldn't get to focused on the starting line combinations. These guys are all pros, they can play with pretty much whoever. Any team that doesn't dress a goon that can't play (Laraque, McGrattan, Peters, Orr, etc.) can really move people around. Who's going well on any given night seems to be way more important than "chemistry."
I really think the team will miss the grit of Neil, Donovan, Volchenkov (hopefully not Fisher tonight) against teams like Boston.
It's impressive that Winchester stepped up to be a mini Fisher for a few games....I really had serious doubts. I hope he keeps it up.
With all the talk of injuries, goaltending, grit and offense...I unfortunately think the biggest variable in the Sens/Bruins game will be the zebras. If they predictably tilt it too much towards Boston, the Sens are cooked.
Thomas with a bad hand, Rask has just played 4 straight, 2 tough ones in the last 72 hours, Thomas said he just loves playin' against Ottawa!
Special K should be given to Kuba immediately...Carkner starts with #4 (I hate this pair, too similar)and Campy and Pic all over the place mix and match...it's the way our coaches do it!!! At least till Volchy is back.
Thomas first off the ice at practice today which usually means he is the starter. Julien says both goalies were told 'expect to play'.
yea the ottawa jagr rumours are from eklund
Thomas first off the ice at practice today which usually means he is the starter. Julien says both goalies were told 'expect to play'.
FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SENS KILLER
ugh already know the outcome now -
LOSS
So, SensChirp, what are the defense pairings gonna be tonite ??
Robert Cyr
i actually thought lee did well though... :(
Jagr has been mentioned in a few articles i have read, as having attracted the interest of the Senators, though im not sure he would fit. Great player though.
if Thomas is in, aim for his gloves!
theres a little more to it then lee not playing well because he did play well. Any news on Volchenkov coming back yet?
They can always put Cheechoo on waivers/AHL and sign Jagr for $3 million.
Don't see it happening though.
Puh-lease Gawd no Jagr. And for all of your throwing in the towel if Thomas starts - yeah he's been a pain against us, but with Fisher, Michalek and Ruutu crashing the net these days I say we're up for the challenge.
Go Sens Go
McGuire sucks. Cherry sucks.
Defensive pairings?
I havent heard for sure but I would assume...
Phillips-Kuba
Carkner-Picard
Karlsson-Campoli
meh on the d
me like:
phillips camps
kuba karlsson
carkner picard
both karls and camps need to play with big vets camps sucked lately
the key to this win will be pounding pucks from the point, crash the net. lets hope spez carries over some O from thursday. Going to be a great game i think...
enjoy volchie while he's still technically a member of the sens, people. Soon he WILL be a member of the blackhawks.
I really think that the defense pairings will be :
Phillips Karlsson
Kuba Campoli
Picard Carkner
Karlsson has been brought up to play the #1 D position with Kuba...that was the excuse when he went down was that he never got his shot...I'm all for it let him "Do his thing...he's brought in to be a game changer!"
Preissing was placed on waivers... interested in bringing him back??
anon 2:53 quit stroking your wang in here and cough up some names.
anon 2:53 quit stroking your wang in here and cough up some names.
Chirp, no Blog 2day?? do u decide wen u want a blog?
anona at 2:53 isn't even c lose to being an adequate replacement for BOOK IT!!! guy
very disappointing
Anon 2:53PM I will not be surprised if A-Train is dealt this year if Ottawa can't get him to sign a reasonable extension. That being said you're clearly full of it.
People who have information don't go around anonymously posting teasers and trying to get attention. They post the details in a single statement with confidence that it is true and leave it at that. It is clear by the way that you are trying so hard to make people believe your teaser statements that you don't have any real information. Troll.
There is a reason Preissing is on waivers (he sucks). Good on him though for transforming ONE good year in a long term very lucrative contract.
He is however paying it for now. I suspect he will become another McLaren (not good enough for the money he makes) and spend a lot of time in the minors. He can count his 2.7M on the bus ride.
PL
Preissing???? Man, the LAST thing we need is another so-so PMD with holes in his defensive game.
Sadly Volchenkov to Chicago does make some sense (UFA, will take the spot of one of their younger guys coming our way). Not sure I like the idea though. But if Murray's already talked numbers with Anton's people and an extension ain't happening, then I guess it makes sense.
Uh...have you seen preissing's contract???
No thanks.
Anon 2:53 doesn't know anything about inside trading in the sens. He's just saying that to make everyone get giddy, sens aren't going to trade Volchenkov unless they are sure he isn't coming back...
stream for the game:
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Sports/Live_Streaming/Live_Stream:_Hockey_Night_in_Canada/ID=1337368473
how about these disgusting calls going against the sens the last 4 games or so? so many non calls for them, and so many bad calls on them... its really pissing me off!
Ian Walsh is reffing tonight so I am not that surprised...he was partnered with Justin St. Pierre during the Sens Florida trip and we remember the quality of the calls for those games.
You almost have to laugh at this point..Philips penalty was identical to the way Alfredsson was stood up crossing the blue line during the PP only minutes before...either you call it or you don't.
I dont think that it was more evident than it was tonight that the sens need SIZE. the bruins bullied them around for 65 mins. we need a true power forward.
neil is not the best player but when you take the only player who hits out of the lineup it makes the sens an easy team to play against.
MURRAY move any combo of Picard, Campoli, Lee for some SIZE!
volchenkov and a 2nd for seabrook is the deal.
No trolling. Just a heads up. Book it.
camp ain't worth a 1st this season.
if you know what the sens trade is, then when is it going to be announced
anon@10:21
I call BS.
That makes absolutely no sense for the 'Hawks. Seabrook is a member of a first-pairing that led the 'Hawks to the conference Finals last season, is significantly better offensively than Volchenkov, arguably not far off defensively, 3 years younger, and not an upcoming UFA.
Plus, it doesn't even help them out in terms of cap managment - the difference in cap hit is only 1M, and Volchenkov's going to be wanting a raise.
Also, you (if you are the same person from the other blog) mentioned earlier that the delay in announcing the deal was that the other team needed to hammer out a few things on their end. If they're only moving one player, I hardly see what the difficulty is in figuring it out.
I'm going to chalk this up as trolling. If I'm wrong, I'll apologize, but I really, really doubt it.
I'm mad at murray for calling up Karlsson in replace of Brian Lee. For once in Lee's life he was playing good. I like BM but sometimes he just does stupid things.
glad to see they tied it, but honestly for the first 30 secs of the goalie pulled (before the timeout) did anyone notice Jesse Winchester as the extra attacker - are you freakin kidding me??
After the timeout, Cloustons boner for him went down and he put out Kovalev, but regardless of hard work your skilled guys have to be out there...whether it be Kovi or Fisher, someone else but Winchester....my god! Glad to see they at least got a point, should have been two, again.
Why are posters assuming that Volchenkov will be traded ??
Contract extension talks are not mentioned in any shape or form, and Anton loves playing in Ottawa !!
Chris Neil was offered more money by at least 2 teams, and he signed for less in Ottawa , because his heart is in Ottawa !!
Man, if the Sens are stuck paying Cheechoo $3.5 million, surely they can work out contract, with their best shutdown defenseman and part time goalie !!
Robert Cyr
what a rat ass game!
all sucked except elliot (solid) and alfie (goal,assist,saved goal) michalek was good too (got us point)
camps not worth 1st
dont understand why brought up karls ... he aint ready.
lee was fine IMO
spezza brutal back to old self giveaway machine ... frustrating
fisher aint recovered from injury .. no hits.
gotta do good in west ...
Trading Volchenkov would be one of the biggest mistakes this franchise could make. Keeping Volchenkov and Phillips for this team is a must. Yes, there are good rookies coming in... but they are just rookies. We need these two experienced D to help them along.
My question is why, with so much fire-power, does this team suck in the shoot-out. Fisher has such a great wrist shot -- yet he tries to go backhand. Same for Alfie, Michalek.... just shoot the puck -- stop this fancy backhand stuff -- will not and have not beat Thomas this way.
I suggest they start practising the shoortout -- as it is costly valuable points whenever they lose one.
To Ottawa Senators:
Cam Barker 3,083,333
Brent Sopel 2,333,333
-------
5,416,666
To Chicago BlackHawks
Brian Lee 1,275,000
Chris Kelly 2,125,000
------ $3,400,000
Chicago Blackhawks two-way center Dave Bolland has been sidelined by back surgery that’s expected to keep him out of the lineup for up to four months. That’s sparked talk management is looking for a replacement. TSN’s Darren Dreger claimed the Blackhawks had sent the Leafs and several other clubs some trade options with defenseman Brent Sopel as the centerpiece.
Where was fisher in the OT I only saw him for 30 seconds. Also someone please give me a reason why karlsson should stay on this team. It's so frustrating when you have a guy like lee who did his time in bighampton and now is more than ready for the nhl
I know some one who knows someone (dont we all) I heared Spezza is looking for a way out of O town, reason is his wife is a Cailf Girl and we all know they don't like our waether in Ottawa and just maybe he already ask for a trade and BM said no way, so Spezza is playing the way he is because of that? I hope this is not true cus next we will be losing Fish.
i hate doing this but I keep thinking what this team could be with out Cheechoo. nice guy but??
11:48
Thanks for coming out, but the cap numbers don't work. Not to mention we have no need for Sopel.
i am with Andrei on this Karlsson is still not NHL ready, I also think Lee played much better. I am sure this is all about a trade coming up. I am not a big fan of BM trades of late
Didn't care much for Clouston, saying the PK has to be better. The PK can't be killing 5 penalties+ a night and be expected to be successful. In fact the success of the PK combined with bad officiating has caused Clouston to ignore the fact his team is taking a lot of dumb/lazy penalties. Olive Oil Kelly, has to pack on some muscle instead of hooking/obstructing other players.
Why not start holding players accoutable for taking stupid penalties, therby tiring/out and wearing down your team. Folgino, careless stick, Kovalev/Kelly lazy obstruction penalty.
Michalek scores 2 goals, one that ties the game with 20 seconds left. Why not select him in the shoot out? Instead of a player that has missed the net in his last two attempts?
Hey Whati'mHearing...
Your "hearing" must be off, because how do you expect us to absorb the $2Mill cap hit? muppet!
Andrei,
I agree 100%
our 7 mil center isn't putting pucks in the net, our 3 mil fourth liner has lost his scoring touch. Don't even get me started on the horrible penalties they are taking, yes they are taking lazy penalties... oh and the fact that they don't skate or work hard enough to draw them... Didn't deserve that point last night one bit.... literally got their asses whooped for 55 mins....
12:28
A lot of time on your hands? Same story came out about Heatley this summer. And I'm pretty sure Spezza's wife is local.
anon 12 26.... bullllshiiitt... hes got a bad back this year man. we need to sit him for like half a season so that he is good in the long run.
@ Anon 12:26
Thanks for coming out, but not even close, spezza's wife is from Ottawa born and raised..also fisher isn't going anywhere, guy has no interest in a trade to be closer to his woman!
last I heard Fish bought a house with Carrie in the Ottawa area.
whats with chirpys big neglect for sundays????up all night chirp?
Spezza just bought a house in Ottawa...doesnt sound like the move of someone interested in taking off.
To anon 4:38 - Carrie went on the record on Live with Regis and Kelly and said that she is NOT moving in with Mike. It's on You Tube - check it out.
Somethings up...
The Lee to Bingo move makes next to no sense unless a trade is on the horizon.
If we can all agree on Sens Chirp that Karlsson doesn't belong on the big club right now, than it seems pretty clear that we aren't wrong.
O who? O who? is the next to go...
The Sens have over 2 million cap space available. If a team wants Barker they would have to pay the price.
Speaking of the Blackhawks, management’s efforts to re-sign three key players may result in another being traded or demoted to avoid violating the league’s tagging rule.
It’s believed the Blackhawks are on the verge of re-signing forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews as well as defenseman Duncan Keith to long-term contract extensions. Kane and Toews have reportedly agreed to identical five-year, $6 million per season deals, while Keith’s is reportedly for 13 years at $5 million per.
The problem is, those combined salaries would push the Blackhawks’ committed payroll for 2010-11 to around $60 million. Under the tagging rule in the CBA, no team can commit more to next season’s payroll than the current salary cap limit, which is $56.8 million.
That means the Blackhawks might have to move nearly $4 million in salary before they can officially announce those re-signings, but TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports the Blackhawks might be able to increase their tagging space by another $4 million; the amount of their performance bonus cushion.
McKenzie suggests one possibility is to trade or demote defenseman Brent Sopel and his $2.33 million per season salary.
Sopel is likely – as McKenzie claims – the most expendable player, but that hasn’t stopped speculation the club may also peddle more valuable players like Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg or Cam Barker.
I really think everyone is overreacting to the Karlsson promotion / Lee demotion. It's just a case of EK being "Murray's guy" and Lee not. It's not often that you move someone down just before dealing him...and there's no way golden boy EK is going anywhere. I along with several other people said Karlsson would come back up and the 10 game thing was never a big deal. I would never have guessed November...but I'm sure BM has his reasons.
I honestly don't see why everyone thinks this has to do with a pending trade. There might be some internal stuff with the Sens, but I can't see an imminent deal having to do with these guys.
I see Murray dealing in January...he's done that before.
And Volchenkov? Not going anywhere.
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