The Senators jumped out to a two goal lead on goals by Michalek and Lee but just couldn't hold the Devils off. Couple of the goals are ones that Pascal Leclaire would love to have back, especially the tying goal from Clarkson.
Not much else to say. I just figured I would throw up this post so all the angry fans would have a place to vent. If the Live Blog is any indication the fans have some things to say after that loss.
Back at it Tuesday against the Oilers...
Enjoy the rest of the weekend folks.
84 comments:
With about 3:00 to go, you could see Kovalev near the bottom of the TV screen just coasting along. If there was a chair out on the ice, he'd probably have been sitting on his lazy ass.
And Carkner is awesome.
leclaire, kovalev, neil....terrible games. You lose volchie and then we're screwed on the PK. I'd like to say the PP was our downfall...but what PP? The PK needs to improve again....
It's just so frustrating that the sens lose a game they had control...they should have won. Another game like the one against Boston....let's hope we don't think of these games come April.
Go Sens...and go clouston, time to whip these guys back into form.
Will be nice to see most of our Defense looking for jobs elsewhere next summer. Just horrible!
Tough loss. The only thngs that really bothered me was, the go ahead goal let in, and Kovalev trying to go 1 on 2 instead of dropping for Spezz on the 3 on 2. Meh. Whatever.
the Clouston watch is officially on.
@peter
Dont be retarded
Anyone else mention how poor our face offs are? We need to win key face offs and we dont. How I miss Vermette and Mcammond now.
Picard for the Norris!
Actually had a pretty decent night in the faceoff circle tonight.
You're right about needing to win the key ones though. Last few games there have been at least three goals directly the result of lost faceoffs.
penalty killing has been horrible since A-TRAIN has been out, if he was in the game, Sens would've won.
The honey-moon is over for the following people: Cloutson, Kovalev, LeClaire, and Cheechoo. It times these guys take-off their diapers and become man cause if the Sens are going to make the play-offs. We can't see anymore softies going in or lack of goals or points from some of highest earners on the roster. Also no more blown 3rd period leads cause this is 5th blown 3rd period lead under clouston in 48 games. Not a good sign
Just sad. WTF 2 goals ahead and we are handing out the 5 on 4's. Neil needs a slap upside the head, bench em. Kov, ditto...bum. Learn from the team you lost to. Learn why they win so many 1 goal games.
Get it together. Clouston better slap someone around. Was the Heat Bag right?
Ashamed
(Faceoffs) Maybe I went over board on how bad it is. Stats would be nice for the past 3 losses.
I still would like to see Spezza and Kovalev together. Just try it.
I dont usually leave any comments, but I was at the game tonight and I got a first hand look at how much of a floater Kovalev is and how often he doesn't back up his teammates.
I really think this guy was a big (5 million dollars bid) mistake!
Anyone else agree?
Tough loss for fans...embarrasing loss for this team. Get a lead and get it outta the zone without the lame penalties. Come on. Neil: how much more do we have to pay for you to smarten up? Kov: are you needing some more cash too?
Is Clouston just dumber than the rest of the world or is there any possible reason he won't try Kovalev with Spezza?
Lee is a stud.
Kovalev is just a cherry picker. He needs to be gone!
Okay this is a rant to get frustration off my chest, if you don't agree I don't care lol.
First of all, I am ******* of the double standards with the refs, like seriously I'd accept it if the NHL flat out said they hate Ottawa, but its so full of **** how Sens have had more PPs than the other team once that I can count, perhaps twice and that was last game against tampa bay.
Secondly, I know this didn't affect the game, but how does Neil get a 10 minute misconduct for hitting Clarkson after the whistle, when #10 on New Jersey (Shelley or Pelley or wtv) hits Kelly (I think) like 5 secs after the whistle just 5 mins earlier and gets NOTHING, to boot New Jersey scored on the ensuing PP, BOTH TIMES.
Thirdly, I felt Kovalev was playing hard tonight apart from the last 10 mins, quit bitching guys no he wasn't the greatest signing, but he's a top 6 and he looks more interested lately. Some selfish plays I know, but put him with linemates who can finish, Alfredsson Spezza and magic happens.
Fourthly, our PK, no our defense DESPERATELY, and I mean DESPERATELY needs Volchenkov back, everyone looks like lost two-legged dogs without him back there. If I may compare, I'm a huge Steelers fan, and their defence wasn't the same without Polamalu, and Ottawa's is equally shit without Volchenkov (even though I did think Lee looks pretty good, maybe he will develop after all). If Ottawa doesn't sign him then quite frankly we're screwed, I love pazzy, but he needs a shot blocker to help him save some of those floaters.
Lastly, Ottawa PLEASEEEEE look into another 2 players, thank you for addressing a lot of concerns, but we have Campoli, Kuba, Picard as puck movers and soft player, that leaves Phillips, Volchie and Carkner as strong defensive defense. Lee is somewhere in between. Ottawa needs to go out and find someone willing to tango and trade Campoli/Picard/Lee, Kelly/Ruutu/Shannon and picks for a solid defenceman, I'm not quite sure who is on contract year and is UFA, and I know it is early, but maybe this year Ottawa can be that team that makes a significant move. A guy like Dan Hamhuis would be beautiful (even more so would be Michalek's brother Zbynek, but Ottawa would have to give up a ton to land him, guys full of talent). Or even guys like Lukowich, who is just sitting on the bench in Vancouver, or Mitchell (even though I think he loves Vancouver).
Anyway, I know it's early, I realise that and I'm not giving up hope yet because it's a long season, but if the Sens don't make a few tweaks, they're just going to keep losing to playoff teams, and if they squeak in, they'll be out just as fast.
A very frustrated and exasperated Sens fan, good night
Hopeful for at least 2-0-1 next week!!!!
The league isn't out to get the NHL. Clouston is a whiny little bitch and it's hurting the team every game with the refs. Even McGuire called him out on it the other day.
Even McGuire?!
Oh my
Oh My: Sens Chirp: are you from Nfld??
JJ,
Did it ever occur to that the reason why Clouston looks like a whiney bitch is because that he has legitement beef with the refs. They always seem to have double-standards when it comes to the Hooking, Tripping, Slashing, and Holding calls that never called against the other team. Regin was hooked like what 3 times tonight and nothing was called. The minute Regin put his stick around the New Jersey player. The refs blow the whistle and call a penalty.
If I were BM or Clouston, I would file a complaint to the NHL about how the games have been officated whenever the Sens play. They better make sure they send the tapes of every game how the refs have been letting teams get away with the same stuff the Sens been called for. People might think that the Sens are just whining and actin like babies but they have a case. Maybe then the NHL will finally wake-up and fire some of these poor excuses of refs.
I bet the Leafs and Habs have filed tons of complaints about how the refs seem to have double-standards against them over 10-15 game period to NHL. They always seem to get the refs on their side usually after that.
If Pierre McGuire was behind the Ottawa or any other NHL Team as the head and he saw how the refs were having double-standards against his team. He would be shitting bricks until Chirstmas. It is so easy for that douche to crictize Clouston with-out feeling the pain he has gone through.
Top shelf NHL goalies close out games like that. Leclaire was poor tonight, and cost his team two points that were there for the taking.
Clouston is a whiny bitch to the refs?
are you kidding me? i thought he bends over backwards in terms of not saying anything to the refs. I have yet to see clouston VOICE proper opposition to the refs against call and non calls the same. Sure the coach can't raise hell on each call, but sometimes most coaches do it to let the refs know their displeasure. Clouston i think is still learning and/or just doenst understand. sometimes sadly he really looks like a rookie coach: for example the atrocious amounts of too-many-men penalties the sens were taking until recently.
After every game of senators taking too many penalties, he is just not prepared to say anything substantial about the refs.
However, that issue is further aggravated because these guys need to smarten up, put in a full 60 minutes as a team and start dominating more. They clearly outplayed the devils right upto the end of the second. Its high time this team started putting clinical games together.
gosh....NJD had no business in that game.
Neil and Campoli's penalties were just careless penalties. Neil should have looked at the score and thought TWICE before he did that stupid thing. and campoli...man..i dont even know what to say. i think campoli needs an attitude shakedown quite honestly. OR NEEDS TO BE TRADED. yet to see a complete game from this guy. so much for PMD. takes lousy penalty. which actually leeds to GWG.
i am liking Brian Lee's play though. he looks to be getting into his own and a nice rythm. I like what Jacob said earlier regarding the PMD.
bah.....too pissed. this is a game we should have won. and even worse.... the effing leafs won....huh
Penalties, penalties, penalties. I'm not even pissed about the loss, although it definitely sucks. But the Senators gave that game to NJ. They had control, and they gave it away by being undisciplined. Don't even blame the refs. As much as I might think that it's not holding or interference when your stick touches another's guys hands, that's the current rule in the NHL, and the Senators should know better. Bottom line, they need to do a better job at keeping themselves out of the box. If they had done so tonight they would have won. They better work on correcting that soon, because they'll end up losing a lot of close games if they continue to take undisciplined and foolish penalties as the year carries forward.
The non call on Alffy getting high sticked in the dieing minutes was absolutely disturbing. A guy is near a NJ player his stick comes up Ottawa player goes down holding his face and is slow to get up how the fuck is that missed with 5 mins or less left in a 1 goal game.
I feel this is getting old already Fan are fedup, we need Murray out of Ottawa.
Murray going to be the GM for another 2-3 years. Murray isn't going anywhere so live with it idiot @ 12:19 am.
Kuba was simply awful tonight. Up 2-0 with a PP and he showed the worst decision making on the PP since Meszaros was here.
Rest of the game, he had no urgency, was soft on the puck, couldn't complete a pass to a team mate, and really didn't look interested.
I continue to be worried about Spezz...he's still creating scoring chances but he's labouring out there. His skating is far from where it was at the start of the season and I think he's still bothered by the back/groin problem. Clouston's reluctant to use him on the PK as a result.
I hope he's able to stay healthy...without him, the offense goes nowhere.
- Jalen
When is Clouston going to grow a fucking pair of balls. The last coaches with balls we had were Murray and Martin.
Sit one of the fucking core players like Neil or Kovalev already; enough of the candy-ass country club garbage. Skate these lumps hard or tell them dead on that they are costing us points int h standings.
Who does Neil think he is anyway? He doesn't have a ring to flash, why is he being so selfish?
This team has deteriorated so much over the past three years. Accountability? Not in this fucking country club. Tear a strip out of these guys Clouston.
I'm almost hoping Edmonton bombs us Tuesday so we can see Clouston's balls drop and we can see some actual change...benching CHeechoo, Neil, anyone to send a goddamn message.
I'm not expecting a win every game but I DO expect discipline!
Engin,
I hope you're wrong.
I miss the Senators actually being competitive, something that hasn't happened in the last 3 years.
Jalen I think Kuba pulled something. About half way through the game he seemed to lose a step and start limping off the ice after shifts. He had a lower body injury before and it wouldn't surprise me if he aggravated it again tonight.
Kovalev is what he is. I wish people would stop bitching. Lecavalier doesn't skate much harder in Tampa. Kovy doesn't even skate during the summer off-season. He rounds into form for the last 20 games and the playoffs. He's got good finish and he'll get his points and improve our PP. Let him do what he does and be what he is. He's never going to have the effort level of a guy like Michalek. He relies on his skill level to play in the NHL and he makes differences in games in split second moments with that ability. He is what he is, get over it. You're all like the girlfriends who date a guy with problems and then try to change him. It's not going to happen.
Most importantly I think the Sens have a huge issue to deal with. We have an absolutely toxic relationship with the officials in this league. We need to set a team rule where only the Captain, the Coach, and the Assistant captains are allowed to talk to the refs and linesmen about the officiating of the game. We need to turn over a new leaf and show 100% respect for the decisions they make even if we disagree with them. Our little hissy fits and attitude from the bench is starting to cost us games. We bruise those refs egos and in return they punish us by the letter of the law, while the other team gets the benefit of the doubt. It's the same as a defensive breakdown except in this case it's just a breakdown of respect. There should be a second commitment from those few players we allow to speak to the officials which is that they should not swear or yell, but instead speak only in a polite tone about what is concerning them. It's good to show emotion but its much more important to show respect. The ref's do not like us right now. It's very clear. Our team has a reputation for having a difficult attitude toward the officials. Murray gave them a good two years of nightly abuse all by himself. It needs to stop. I guarantee if we institute the above rules as team rules we will immediately gain the respect of the officials. We might even start getting the benefit of the doubt instead of getting shit on.
The reality is all officials make mistakes. If you're nice to them about it they will try to give you a break to make up for it later on. If you complain and bitch at them or worse just simply berate them all night long, then they will shit on your team whenever the rulebook allows. Nothing actually illegal just calling it stricter than they otherwise might. Lets be smart, put the emotions aside, and start showing respect for the guys who are doing the difficult job of officiating a fast paced game. It's got to be better than the attitude were giving the refs now and the problems it's getting us into.
i agree with anon @ 12:55
guys like neil should know better.....
and after being one of cheechoo's supporters all along....i think its time clouston sat him a game....and let dono play.
cheechoo sitting would send a message to nearly everyone.
and yea...he really needs to rip some guys on this team a new hole for taking assclown penalties. and maybe campoli should be sat in favor of karlsson. im tired of seeing that guy in a senators jersey, just has the wrong attitude.....what a waste of that 1st rounder by Murray.
another dubious trade to add to his record. good drafting, but dubious trading.
!!!....they have wins, but there is too much fragility still. it doesnt feel solid. it doesnt feel like its glued together properly. i dunno....maybe i have the wrong impression of clouston. to me it seemed like this guy wanted winning so badly that he would turn these guys into clinically driven monsters. but i havent seen any hint of that yet.
maybe its just the defense we have....
alas...it felt like this team could cause some damage and stay close to the top of the conference. but maybe a midrange to barely making the playoffs performance is on the card. still needs a major tweak on the defense. a major bomb shot from the blueline hopefully.
I hope everybody here will think twice about having shannon benched from now. His speed and skill was missed out there tonight.
I hope everybody here will think twice about having shannon benched from now. His speed and skill was missed out there tonight.
Stop just blaming the refs. After this many games the Sens are taking stupid and lazy penalties game after game. Sure the Alfie non-call was a piss-off but the story is all the dummy penalties the Sens take that is costing them games.
why dont they just bench everyone and call up everyone on bingo
No, no,no - Shannon would have been totally ineffective against a tight checking team like NJ - Donovan would have been a better choice than Winchester although Clouston has to play Winchester at some time
I think BenJamin's comments are right on - it's quite clear Ottawa is getting the letter of the law while other teams seem to get away with murder at times - case in point - the high sticking on Alfreddson that was missed was a pretty egregious (as McGuire would say) oversight on the refs part - Alfie doesn't usually stay on the ice looking for blood and lost chicklets - that penalty would have gone a long way to stemming the tide against NJ
As for the refs having egos that have to stroked - apparently that is true and the Sens will have to suck it up - at least until Volchenkov gets back!! LOL
Great effort for the first 40 minutes !!
If I were Clouston, I would have a team meeting on Monday morning at 7AM, speak to them about undiciplined play,leading to many stupid penalties!!
I would have the whole game replayed on video, to show how they blew a 2-0 lead in last period !! 3 PP goals by the Devils, directly caused by 3 stupid undisciplined plays !!
Then I would announce that both Neil and Winchester are "BENCHED"
for the Oilers game !!
We need Clouston to take charge and remedy our numerous trips to the penalty box !
Robert Cyr
We had a lot of stupid penalties last night. The antics of Neil and Ruutu are no longer acceptable in the nhl. I love Chris but he got several very stupid lazy penalties in the last 2 games. NJ played a very aggressive forecheck and it worked. Lee looked a lot better as did Carkner. Leclaire may have made a couple of mistakes but I think he never even saw the last goal. Before that he made some enormous saves. First time the crowd was vocal and started several chants on their own. I was pissed that close to a thousand left right after NJ scored their 3rd goal. Phillips looked lost without Vol. What is this fascination with Winchester. He is not that big, not fast, can't shoot or pass yet he kept Donovan and Shannon out of the lineup. There must be something wrong with Cheechoo. He was invited to fight 3 times and he backed away. He had several opportunities for big hits and he settled for nudges. He is not fighting for position in front of the net. He seems to be floating out his contract. It is worse for him to be on the 3rd or 4th lines because those players have to have hustle and heart, two things he does not seem to display. Regin and Foligno played with a ton of heart. Spezza is playing like a man possessed. I still wonder where did he get that speed.
Enough with the reactionary crap kids: "fire Clouston, fire Murray, trade everyone". It's a long season, the sens have barely played any games over the last 3 weeks, and so have not been able to get into a groove.
The only people missing Shannon's display of speed and skill were any female figure skaters attending their first nhl game.
BeJamin,
Change our attitude to the refs? Are you high? Clouston needs to rip into them every now and then because he has been holding back. The amount of weak calls on Ottawa is bad enough, but throw on the blatant no-calls like like the 4 mins that should have been called when Alfie started bleeding, and enough is enough. Refs should be getting canned when there is such a obvious bias, and they are either unwilling or unable to call the game as the rules are written.
Engin...Your an idiot, you have no idea what your talking about...The sens didn't miss anything by having Shannon out of the line-up, but rather should have had Donnovan grind it out instead...Engin your always posting things on here and cutting people down, and you seem to know nothing about hockey what so ever, sound more like a leafs fan to me??
Why is Donovan a contsant scratch? So frustrating!
Defense Defense Defense...we dont have any! Hurry back Volks!!!
what i hope people will notice soon enough is that we lack dono's energy and he needs to stay...
It just seems that in those late minutes of each period and anywhere from the half of the 2nd and 3rd period we lack energy. Dono brings it all game and livens everyone up.
Hopefully Clouston stops benching him. So he doesn't score. What else he does brings more to our game then his goals
@Bejamin - Very well said. It's not that Ottawa doesn't deserve the penalties they're taking, it's just that the other teams are getting away with the same thing. IMO, the biggest problem (as you said so perfectly), is the 'toxic relationship'. This has to end! It's costing us game after game after game.
As for Kovy, he was pushing extrememly hard for the first 50 minutes. I didn't notice him much in the last 10, but he was playing angry for the first half +. I must have pointed out his play at least 4 or 5 times in the first two periods as he was hitting and battling.
Again, THESE PENALTIES HAVE TO STOP!!!!!
What are everyones expectations here?? We are a maybe a 500 team right now at best.
We have 3 current AHL D Men in Picard, Lee, and Carkner. Carks is being asked to play more than he is capable with A-Train out, but he brings something that we need toughness so no issues him being a 5th or 6th D Man.
Campoli was not worht a 1st round pick as well, very average player.
Then you have Cheech who is useless (timbits skater) and can understand why Zack Smith or Zubov could be pissed off, even Cody Bass.
AK is just lazy, though looked better on the right side. Kelly is falling in to obscurity again, Ruutu giving out penalties like halloween candy along with Cheech.
All this equals a 500 team, in the next one or two years we should have a stella Blue line with Karlsson and Cowen. Hopefully AK, Cheech, Kelly, will also not be wearing Sens uniforms.
I think everybody can complain about the specifics we all know about. Cheechoo, Kovalev the defence and maybe even the coaching...But all of this is a result of one person, Bryan Murray.
He has made bad trades, signed the wrong guys and brought in 3 different coaches.
The simple fact is, like any job, you need to be judged on the results you bring in, in his case it has been multiple failures, Failures that have cost Melnyk, lots of money, Everything from the Heatley front loaded contract to the Emery buy out...
He should not be fired, but he should definitly not have his contract renewed after this season, as I see us missing the playoffs again this season. With an already weak season ticket base, It doesn't make sense for Melnyk to spend top dollar and stay at the top of the cap and still have a losing team. If we were rebuilding, I would not be making this point, but we are not rebuilding by the likes of the veteran longterm contracts we have on this team.
And some of you may argue that he has done "wonders" by drafting well, it's not that hard to do well when you have hight draft picks because you suck as well as have a decent scouting staff....again, not a true credit to Murray.
Melnyk, please get rid of Murray, he took a contender and drove it to the ground....He no longer deserves this job...Plain and simple.
Wow people - relax a little - Team is still gelling; I agree that the team should have won last night but doesn't mean you dismantle the team. There are a couple of tweaks to make but all in all I think we have a good team. Would still like to see a PP quarterback and would be nice to see Cheecho score a few but there are enough pieces that we will be able to win our share this year.
Murray and Clouston are fine. I think Murray has done a good job of rebuilding the depth of talent in the organization and Clouston can not be faulted - he has been the only coach since Murray to show some success
Let's get behind the team!!! GO SENS GO
We could be a very good team but we take so many stupid penalties - reminds me of the Dallas Cowboys. We completed outplayed the Devils and deserved to win. However, until we start playing with discipline we will continue to give away games (e.g. the loss the Bruins in the final few minutes when we had that game won). Coach has to do something. On the plus side, I thought Spezza played well, as did Michalek.
P.S. I think the Murray bashing is complete nonsense.
Time to insert Donovan back....I always feel they play much better when he's in there. At times we needed the 4th line to re-energize the crowd and the team and that just didn't happen either. Donovan is that man...
also, put fisher and alfie back together. They've been awesome together.
Alfie-Fisher-?
Michalek-Spezza-?
Foligno-Regin-Neil
Ruutu-Kelly-Donovan
find a spot for Kovy and Cheech and keep them the fudge there!
As for defence...block some freakin' pucks once in a while. It shouldn't only be volchie doing it...carks was doing it earlier but he seems slower now. Man do we miss Volchenkov
Not that hard to do with high draft picks and scouting? Ladies and gentlemen, Allow me to present Exhibit A: John Ferguson Jr.
'nuff said
Murray's track record in the draft is amazing. That is the one regards at which, now, I believe he is strongest. However I will unfortunately need to agree now, trades he has made have not exactly worked out for the best. The one sticking out in my mind is the Campoli trade, as already he has proven himself in my mind to be not worth a 1st rounder. Too bad, as admittedly, I liked the trade last year when San Jose looked to be going deep. Now, I'm in a "Meh" mood. Same with Meszaros, but that at least wasnt so bad with the first rounder included. Commodore and Stillman, well, cant blame him for trying. Heatly, well... wasnt exactly his fault, but cheechoo ended up being a much worse prospect than we imagined. I seem to remember somewhere that the rangers offered Del Zotto... *beats head against wall*
Hindsight is 20/20 I guess but I'm not totally willing to blame murray for everything yet.
Anon 9:13AM that's exactly the problem. The Sens are yelling at the refs with a lot of entitlement. I expect impartiality just as much as you do. However I do realize that when you yell at someone constantly it's going to create a very negative and toxic relationship. That means we'll get punished by the letter of the law, and the other team will get the benefit of the doubt. The result is about a 60/40 or 70/30 slant in the officiating instead of the 50/50. We can bitch about the Refs all we want, but it is the Sens job as professional athletes to show some respect.
They need to institute a team policy immediately where nobody but Clouston, Alfie, Phillips, and Fish talk to the officials about officiating related stuff because hell small-talk friendly style should be outright encouraged. Nobody yells or swears at the refs they talk only in a polite tone. It's really not that f***ing hard to do and I promise you it would make a world of difference if we would bite our tongues when we're upset with the calls they make. Refs are much more prone to give you a break later on if you say politely that you feel that they might have made an incorrect call rather than yell at them from 30 feet away that their an asshole. We need to keep the emotions level and treat these guys with some more respect.
The second thing the Sens need to do is Clouston ought to let it be known that anybody who takes a dumb penalty, and I mean anybody. Is sitting on the bench for a 10 minute misconduct if they do. Even Spezza. Frankly if it's Neil doing this half the time maybe we'll just end up with someone out there who can finish the chances he gets but heels off to the corner lol.
Lee is not a stud....either are Kuba and Campoli
We only have 2 good dman, Phillips and Volchie...the rest are all 5th or 6th Dmen.
We aren't going anywhere with a top 2 dman and i blame brian murray for not addressing this need in the off season...he could sign Kovalev's lazy ass for 5mill but I would have rather spent that money on a top flight dman.
:(
SensChirp, are you one of Bryan Murray's nephews?
Anyone who says fire Murray is a complete moron and a leaf fan-which is the same thing.
i would like to know what the hell is the problem with kovy he is a great hockey player but what the hell is he doing ,i think he want to be traded back to montreal i would bench him for two game
and of course we should get rid of Leclaire
Anyone (or Chirp) have a stream for the Bingo game today? I live in Calgary so wont be able to watch it on Rogers.
Thanks!
Clouston has to figure out a way to settle the boys down and play disciplined. When you're the 2nd most penalized team in the league, it's not the refs, it's your team. The PK has been good but you're playing with fire being shorthanded all the time and they caught up on the Sens last night.
I don't think calling out the refs will help their cause.
So much for a fast/good start from the Sens. They're basically a .500 hockey team. Once again we're talking about getting a consistent effort for 60 minutes, wasn't that a problem for the last 2 years?
To many stupid penalties, the power play sucks, to much perimeter play and lack of consistent effort. What a joke they've become. Very boring hockey. And all this with an easy schedule, at home, against weak teams. What happens when the schedule get's tougher and they go on the road? DOOM!
Anon 10:14
idiot next post please....
Lets not forget that the Sens did have a few pps and did absolute fuck all with them. Instead of dwelling on how few they get they gotta be more worried about capatilizing on the PPs they do get.
Murray will not be fired.
He's from Shawville and tells Melnyk great hockey stories from in the day.
He's also Melnyk's man and Melnyk is too proud to fix the mistakes he has made.
We're screwed. Just lie back and enjoy it because we're in for years of mediocrity with Murray at the helm.
is cheechoo playing hurt?
why can't we take him off if he's injured? he's useless. donovan is better than him for cheaper $
Please have Clouston talk to the team about DISCIPLINE! Penalties killed us in this game plain and simple.
people need ot chill the F out!! I have watched every ottawa game this season and WE LOOK GOOD. The only goals that are going in on Leclaire are ones that any goalie would let in. WE JUST CANT CATCH A BREAK!!! its as simple as that
"PISSED OFF SENS FAN"
I agree with you Matt in two years the additions of Karlson and Cowen our defense will be better than it is today. Unfortunatley our forwards will not be, Alfie will be two years older, Kovalev will be gone (not that he's any impact now), Bingo doesn't have any potential top forwards. A rebuild is needed if this team is going to return to the top. Last year Murray should have saved San Jose's #1 instead of adding Campoli. Colorado has proved that a year in the basement can yield the kind of players that can quickly make a difference. Our record reflects our lack of depth, without Spezza we lost to both Tampa and Atlanta. In fact our record against non-South East opponents hasn't been great. Elite teams like the Pens and Devils continue to find ways to win without injured players, Ottawa simply doesn't have the depth to due so. Players like Mike Fisher a great 3rd line center are taking on roles that do not match their skill set. While Fisher has improved his scoring touch, this seams to be the case of Alfie elevating the play of his linemates. Fisher's shot is often off the mark, against the Devils he actually deflected Kovalev's backdoor pass to Picard who would have had any empty net. When Spezza was out and Fisher became our #1 center he wasn't able to amp up his game to the degree that is neccessary. I don't mean to come across as overly negative on Mike Fisher, I like the physical edge he brings to the game and his net presence on the PP but I just don't think 2nd line center matches his skill set (compare our position to teams like the Pens with Crosby, Malkin and Philly with Richards,Carter). I think Murray has to consider if the goals is limited to just making the playoffs or a long term contender. If the goal is next season and beyond, trading a player like Volchie could yield the kind of players that would make this team a true contender in the years to come. The kind of game Volchie plays could result in an injury that dramatically reduces performance and his offensive upside remains non exsistent. If we aren't careful and Murray goes long term on the deal we may be stuck with a Jason Smith in a couple of years.
Bejamin:
What proof do you have regarding that supposed "toxic relationship"? Is this based on what you see from the tv? Because I tend to think that most questionable calls gets contested no matter what the team.
I tend to agree more with Anon: 9:13 although ripping into the refs publicly won't do anything productive. But filing a complaint is, so far this year, more than warranted. I hope Murray has it faxed already...
There is no better proof of this bias than the Alfie no call late in the third, after several consecutive calls against the Sens, and blood on his face.
Go fuck yourselves refs. You blew your mandate to officiate a fair game.
Anyone who thinks Chris Neil should be on this team needs to re watch last nights game and realize that he's been a cancer on this team his whole career
Hey, I was the first guy to trash this team all during the off-season. I hate Cheechoo and I still think our D is among the weakest in the NHL, but the coach has them playing a very good system. I think he's using his assets to the best of their potential.
Ever noticed how we dominate as long as we press with a strong forecheck? The problem comes if we sit back, even for a minute or two (such as during a penalty kill) when our D is exposed. The best D is a strong O for this team.
Murray needs to make a few moves soon to beef up our back end, but we are not half bad.
Grinder
Ottawa's top two scorers last year in the farm system were Zubov and Mauldin both gone this year...One is Russian one is African American.
Murray's discrimination is obvious to the league He would rather play a washed up canadian over a young up and coming forward. Comrie last
year Cheechoo this year. Nowonder Ottawa's farm system sucks now...
This endless debate on what is wrong with the Senators is largely incorrect. Sure, everyone has their opinion, but look at the facts.
1) Any fans who are complaining now were not complaining 6 games ago.
2) The roster that Murray built is more than capable of winning. Again, look at 6 games ago.
3) The system that Clouston has in place is effective. Yet again, look at 6 games ago.
There's nothing wrong with the personnel, the coaching, the system. They're in a slump right now, and wouldn't you prefer that they hit it in November when there is time to correct the problems, instead of having it happen in mid-March when they're deep in the throes of a playoff race?
Here's what I see. There's a whole lot of panic about the Senators, and it's largely unwarranted. There's no question that they are really missing Volchenkov. Beyond that, everyone's assessments are basically wrong. I wouldn't describe Kovalev as lazy, he's always been the way he is now. That's what he looks like when he's making an effort. Leclaire let a soft one in last night, sure. So did Brodeur. So does every goalie from time to time. They're taking far too many penalties, but that's not the referee's fault. There's NO excuse for taking an interference call or a hooking call in the offensive zone, that has to stop. No matter how good your PP is, if you give any team enough chances, you'll end up getting scored on eventually. It's not the ref's fault, no matter how much we like to point the finger. I agree that maybe they could give the Senators a few more PP's, but the Senators can't control that, so they should just worry about keeping their own asses out of the box.
Last, I can't believe that people here are actually questioning the effort level of the team. Have you people even watched any of the games this year? TO A MAN, every player on that team is working hard. You don't bench Cheechoo. The message that sends is that results are more important than effort, and that puts a negative spin on things, especially for 3rd and 4th line players. You bench guys when they aren't pulling their weight. I feel bad for Donovan, but his scratch has nothing to do with effort, and it's not like there is a clear candidate for Clouston to bench in place of him.
Just don't question the effort of the team. They deserved the win against Atlanta, and they ran into a hot goalie. They deserved the win against Boston, but they made a couple of critical errors at really bad times. They deserved the win against NJ last night too, but they ended up doing themselves in. None of those losses had anything to do with a lack of effort. So, if their record was 10-3-1, would anyone be crying now? Definitely not.
8:35pm, I can't believe you're still showing up here. Change your diaper and go back to 9th grade.
Brian Murray doesn't make the decisions on call-ups and demotions. That's done by a committee of people, which includes the coaches and GM's of BOTH teams. To suggest that Murray would discriminate against anyone who would make his team better is laughable. Mauldin, for example, wasn't able to stick with Columbus when they were the worst team in the NHL. So, he wasn't even good enough to be a marginal player on a bad NHL team. Why the hell would the Senators need him up? Are his 51 AHL points going to translate to 51 NHL points? Grow a brain loser.
Mat I'm there at almost every game at ice level. I see the yelling on a regular basis. Regardless of whether every team does it Ottawa does it a lot. Fuck Murray did it non-stop for two years. It doesn't do us any favors. If we clean things up I think it will be better for us that's all I'm saying. I don't think it will move the world for us but it can't hurt.
I personally watched the ref standing by the penalty box last night ignore Peters yelling at Ruutu that he was a "fucking homo" multiple times super loud and berating him for his full 2 minute minor. The entire surrounding crowd in 116 could hear him. No misconduct, no 2 minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, just nothing. The ref completely ignored it and he damn well for sure heard every word of it. If that's not a sign that the refs don't much like us and think we deserve that kind of crap when even the fans can hear what the guy is yelling I don't know what is.
I am 100% certain from the behavior of the refs that on some nights we most defintely irk them the wrong way. I've seen them to tell Alfie and others to just piss right off when they come to talk to them at commercial breaks if they aren't in the mood to hear it. These refs have egos and the way we treat them certainly isn't helping our cause. They should suck it up and just do their job impartially but the reality is that's not how it works. That's not how it works in the minors and that's not how it works in the pros. If you give the refs shit they will shit on you as much as they can. Notice how Crosby often gets hooked to death but doesn't get the call because he's a whiney bitch.
I can't believe the amount of Morons who post insults at people with opinions with no counter
arguments to their points...
I have seen some people blast Murray for the job he is doing(Deservedly so) and the best come back some useless shits can come up with is, "your an idiot"? Thats weak!
Chirp, you need to do a better job of controlling comments from some of the muppets that come here...
Doing the best I can Anon at 9:11 PM.
I agree though, the personal stuff is getting a little out of hand lately.
BeJamin,
For the same reason you expect you expect the Sens to be professional, I expect the refs to be so as well. Calling a biased game is not far off of fixing the outcome of the game itself. This kind of hack officiating makes the league look like a joke.
I don't think they are doing it out of some sense of entitlement, but pure frustration of not being able to judge what is a penalty and what isn't. It all depends on the jersey you're wearing. And that's what makes it wrong.
I don't care if the team refuses to stroke the egos of these refs or not. They should do their job as impartially as possible, or get another job.
someone above said we are lacking forward depth currently on our NHL roster. i would disagree. maybe the second line centreman position is not as strong as you would like to be. but given the upside shown by Regin, you can compensate. saying that the secondline centerman is not strong on this team (fisher) would have to be in the context of talking about the second line exclusively, but given the depth of the fourth and third lines, i think Fisher is just fine up there. I do agree that Alfie should drop down back to the second line, i think it helps near the end of tight games. just a thought.
in an overall summary. there are alot of areas where this team can improve. although the amount of improvement needed is debatable. i dont think any of us over here will say that major improvements are needed everywhere. penalties and the play of campoli, cheechoo are the only places where major improvement is needed. i get the feel that the system of play is good and the fundamentals are right. however, its high time this team showed the real potential it has and really played a full game to clouston's system.
i dont think the devil's game warrants a total put down on this team. but the minor things that divide winning teams and inconsistent teams need to be rid out. penalties, undisciplined play, getting on the refs bad side and lousy selfish attitudes have no place on this team anymore after last year's debacle. this team has the right amount of veterans to work those kinks out.
lets hope the NJD game is a turning point and an eye opener for these guys. they know they can win games, now they just need to stop letting teams take it away from them.
Murray's trade record: everyone here, is very very quick to bash Murray for trades, but lets not forget that one of the biggest reasons this team is above .500 right now is LECLAIRE. and murray made that trade by sending Vermette the other way. not to mention, the pick he got back from that trade, he picked Robin Lehner. the only trade he really sucked at is the Campoli trade. The commodore and stillman trade, as we all know right now, was on the insistence of Paddock, that came out last year when Paddock opened his mouth. The Heatley trade he had his hands tied. and the mesjaros trade he got favorable return. i think he will remedy our forward core situation in bingo soon too.
Anon 10:11pm I don't think it's overly biased. I have the same expectation you do, that the game will be called fairly regardless of how much abuse is thrown at the officials. However Refs are not perfect and they are human beings. If someone was telling you to F*** off and stop making terrible calls all night, you'd probably call them to the letter of the law whilst letting the other side have a little more lee-way. It's just a natural effect it's not like its done intentionally. What you get is a 60/40 imbalance.
I think a ref is also more prone to giving you a make-up call when they make a mistake if you are polite and cordial with them. It's a difficult game to officiate and it's a lot easier from the stands than it is at ice level.
Whether there should be a third ref in the stands or not is debatable. I would be one to think that there should be. This ref would have a better vantage point if they were sitting in say the 100's at Scotiabank place and had access to instant video-review from multiple angles. They could call-back penalties that were mistakes (face off at center ice) and call clear penalties that are missed by the on ice officials. I think it would help a lot actually. Officiating the game at ice level while trying to skate around results in much worse officiating than just sitting there with a birds eye view from the stands where its easier to see everything that's going on.
You need to only look to see the bias.... OTT vs FLA, 2- 8 PP, OTT vs NJD, 4 -10 PP. I know Ottawa is not as undisciplined as you would have them out to be... There is an officiating problem if you agree or not.
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