Emery was a fan favourite for the majority of his tenure here in Ottawa but the wheels really came off towards the end. Emery had run ins with the teammates, management and even the law while in Ottawa and eventually ended up leaving for the KHL.
Emery has found a home in Philadelphia. He's the number one goalie for a contending team and seems to be finding his game once again. I for one am happy for Ray. There was speculation that if this game was in Ottawa, Ray would receive a rough ride but I really don't think fans in Ottawa hold a grudge.
Meanwhile, the Senators likely face their toughest test of the season tonight in the Flyers. Philly has won four straight and is 6-2-1 on home ice this season.
The Senators are expected to ice the same line up as Tuesday against the Oilers, meaning the lines will look something like this...
Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Cheechoo-Fisher-Kovalev
Foligno-Regin-Shannon
Ruutu-Kelly-Neil
Phillips-Kuba
Campoli-Lee
Picard-Carkner
Pascal Leclaire will get the start in net.
Tonight's game can be seen on...sigh...TSN. Puck drop is 7:00 PM.
120 comments:
It would be nice if the Sens could finally beat a playoff contending team for the first time this year.
Keep your head up for Pronger!
Go Sens Go!
Can I ask why...Sigh?
I miss him... sigh...
Ah well, not our friend tonight! Let's do work boys!
And game being on TSN is a good thing, - Penis Head Pierre of course, because it will be in HD... finally!
SC,
NHL.com is saying that the game-time 7:00 PM. I hope that Pierre McGuire isn't behind the benches for tonight's game. That guy is going over-hype 2 of his 15 boy-friends in Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. Also he going to say that our team is a bunch of whiners. I hope TSN finally comes to their senses and fire McGuire's ass.
To Anon at 11:55 AM,
Nothing against the network really. Just not looking forward to Pierre McGuire talking about how great Mike Richards is all night.
I guess the HD is a perk for some though.
I call a 4-2 Sens win tonight, with Kovalev leading the way with two goals.
I also expect him to be the MONSTER of the night.
Hutch
Thanks for the heads up Engin. Made the change
Atleast the SENS have the inside scoop on Rayzor's weak wrist gloveside... lol.
Here's hoping that Pascal will one up Emery in nets tonight... we need it!
I missed the game .vs. the OIL, were Phillips and Kuba paired for that game?
Does Carkner get an intro to the "Fight Night on Broad St. with the Bullies?" Circa 2-3 years ago??
They need to put Donovan in for at least one game. I think putting him on Regin's line will jump start the slumping youngster.
As much as I want a win tonight, its gonna be rough dealing with Philly's forwards. I think our D is going to get dominated, but with a great game from Leclaire and an average game from Emery, we win. All these people who miss Emery, its easy to miss a guy when hes winning. I don't hold a grudge, but I'm happy Emery is gone, any drama/distractions is not healthy for the team. And with Emery's life style, theres no way that could have been cleaned up. I'll take Leclaire over Emery any day, despite of the way Leclaire has been playing as of late. I feel at ease with Leclaire in net, with Gerber and Emery this was never the case. Feels so good to have a clear cut #1. GO SENS GO!
Sorry but I feel a raping coming on. 6-2 Flyers
I will be muting my TV for the game, can't stand McGuire.
IF the Sens can't get a few PPs against the Flyers than something really is up.
I still like Emery but lets hope he has a stinker tonight! Go Sens..
You didn't congratulate Clouston on his 50th game as the Sens head coach. FOR SHAME DAVID! FOR SHAME!
And a weak blocker side SENS613. I I remember one game when 4 goals went in on him in one night. Brutal!
I may not hold a grudge per say, but I didn't appreciate his over the top attitude for such an average goalie. What I can't stand is anyone saying he 'led' the Sens to the finals. He followed a team that was firing on all cylinders and provided adequate goaltending.
Yes, he's played well for Philly so far, but he will never steal a game for you. Ever.
High glove side all night.
I still think buying Emery out ranks up there with the Havlat trade and letting Chara walk.
Stupid move.
Put TV on Mute, and let Dean Brown do the commentary as he voices over the TSN broadcast... Team 1200, great broadcasting... keeps you on the edge of your seat while driving down the 417.
only 1 Sens player knows Emery best from the AHL and NHL, Spezza... pop in 3 against him Jason.
Contrary to what SC says, I do hold a grudge against Emery (although, no where near the one I have for Heatley or Yashin).
Emery was a valuable asset to Ottawa who, through selfish egoism (that may be redundant), cost the Sens. Was he the root cause of the post-Stanley Cup appearance collapse? No, but he was most definitely a contributing factor.
His actions contributed to a loss of points that could have put the team in the playoffs, a devalued asset that could have been used in a trade, a negative influence on the dressing room that made it more difficult to pull out of a nose-dive, lost money from the buy-out and potential playoff revenues and a year or twos worth of service on every players contract as the Sens did their best Blue-team impression.
OK I'm venting and this is probably not entirely fair. As I said, he wasn't THE reason, but he played his part.
I am happy for Ray Emery the person. I am glad to see that he has turned things around for himself. It would be a shame to waste so much talent. That said ... I don't forgive him.
someone above mentioned the havlat trade. we all remember letting Chara go as John Muckler's greatest blunder. But I think it was the Havlat trade probably. atleast we didnt give up anything for Chara, it was purely money not being paid. We gave up Havlat, and whatever we got back, we have NOTHING to show for it. Barinka bolted to the czech league, corvo and preissing both gone, Josh Henessey is turning into the B-Sens all time games played leader lol. what a bust. geez.
another quirky fact: Emery being in the same organization as John Paddock. didnt these two guys not like each other very much? didnt emery make Paddock lose his job lol? didnt Paddock openly blame emery before and after?
emery was alright for us until the cup finals, where the senators met a defense better than their own. and that turned into our defense not playing as good/ducks having more dominant physical forwards=more shots on emery=crappy goaltender. before that, he had Phillips and Volchie playing goalie infront of him. he is a good guy though who just had the wrong head at the wrong time. im sure he learned his lesson good in terms of that.
cup-winning goaltender?...hmm probably not.
gut feel says all kinds of mixed things today. sometimes feels like a big time loss coming our way, but then turns to hoping that leclaire and the forward core turning a crazy performance and beating philly good.
and pierre mcguire isnt coaching anymore because he made players feel awkward in the locker room HAHA ;)
IMO the Sens need an off night from Emery to sneak out a win. I hope I'm wrong, but I see a 5-1 Philly win tonight. Leclaire's streaky play has me worried a bit.
KD
There's still one piece left from the Havlat trade in the Sens organization HQ, he's playing for Denver University and being considered for the Canadian World Junior team this year.
I live in the west so im usually pretty happy when the games on tsn becdause all i get our oilers and flames games plus its high def but i completely agree with you about pierre mcguire talking about mike richards all game or someone else but it definatly wont be a senator he'll be talking about all game. Anyways, Wish Volchenkov was playing because im scared of briere richards and carter skating circles around or defense.
Ray Emery was used as a scapegoat for Ottawa's problems. I think he got a raw deal. Things were blown way out of proportion.
Senschirp, even your post talks about run-ins with teammates. Those were absolute non issues. Why bring them up again and again. Even Neiler is quoted as saying everyone liked him. Spezza says it was blown way out of proportion. And yet, every report talks about fighting with teammates.
Spezza and Neil had a dust up earlier this year, no one keeps bringing that up. Rightly so.
Almost every report on Emery still brings up the "road rage". It was a verbal incident. Not a good PR move on his part, but still pretty harmless.
Contrast that with Patrick Kane. He beat the crap out of a cabbie, and it's over and done with. No one brings it up. Reports are more likely to talk about the potential amount of his new contract.
Dany Heatley and Craig MacTavish were behind the steering wheel of their cars when people were killed. People let that slide and instead focus on their performance on the ice.
There's a double standard here that people do not want to talk about, because it makes them feel uncomfortable.
I just hope Pronger doesn't concuss anyone tonight.
1:35,
I think the issue was more that with
Emery it was a continued pattern of negative behaviour as opposed to one isolated incident. That being said, I do think he was used as a scapegoat when things got bad for the sens. If he had been playing well at the time, people would have looked the other way, like they had time and time before.
Agree 100% with Anon @ 1:35. Get over it. He was the only goalie to take us far in the playoffs then everyone poops on him the next year when the team isn't doing well... He wasn't the only player out having a good time... get over it folks.
It will good game tonight, but we will have to hear McGguire yell and scream all night. Go Sens Go!!!
Anon @ 1:35 PM yes there is a double standard; it's in the flavour of ice cream (vanilla vs. chocolate) and Emery was the wrong flavour. In a town like Ottawa, Emery was pretty doomed.
The media, management and team couldn't handle a cocky young man with bling strutting around town and being late for practice. Too exciting, too extroverted for insular and dull Ottawa.
He left and we missed the playoffs. Heatley left and guess what, we might miss the playoffs. Emery had his faults for sure, but the problem goes deeper than Emery and even Heatley.
If we miss the playoffs again, who will we blame now, Kovalevl and Cheechoo?
Anyway, Flyers should take this one handily.
I hope Leclaire surprises me.
I thought it was well established with sens fans that we offered chara more money then redden and he turned it down as he wanted to be team captain/leader of a team.
4-1 Ottawa
Hey SC,
Eklund is posting that there is a Hawks/Sens rumour (yet to e announced) and the message board is firing off some interesting ideas...
What would you like to see in a Hawks/Sens deal...
RR
anon @ 2:33pm
I agree. Well said.
2:33,
I'm confused, are you suggesting Emery was run out of town because hes black? Maybe I misinterpreted that whole Chocolate and Vanilla ice cream analogy.
To RR,
No one that I have talked to knows what the rumour might be so we will have to wait and see.
I would love to take Cam Barker off their hands though.
Yay! Pierre Mcguire between the boards!!!!.... PUKE.
There's no way the sens come out with a win tonight. If Volchenkov would have been in, then yes I could see it but without him forget it! And our D is NOT confident right now.
They will be running around in their own end for most of the game and I also think they will get into penalty trouble.
5-2 Philly
I would love for the Sens to somehow land Sharp and Barker - but that is a pipe dream...
I have a hard time putting an offer together the Sens could give...Kelly, Shannon, Picard, 1st - not sure we could move spare parts for players like that.
And I have to be honest, I don't have a lot of faithin BM to make a savy move.
Campoli / Lee as the second pairing?
*Shudder*
I can only hope the Flyer forwards have an off-night so that our bottom two pairings don't get taken to the cleaners. I'm not sure if the Sens will have faced a more stern test yet this year.
Clouston has to keep the squad out of the penalty box. It worked well last game, and there's no way the Flyers will go a whole game without taking some penalties, so we should get a couple of chances to try and score on the powerplay tonight. Here's hoping for a grind-it-out one goal win!
yea Cam Barker would be sweet on the sens blueline. man they have a lot of d-men right now (except for B.Campbell) that would be sweet on the sens blueline. take your pick: Keith, Barker, Seabrook, Hjalmersson (how is that for a name lol).
i dunno, but i think the hawks might be interested in ruutu because they are probably rearing for a playoff run too. dont they have Burrish and Eager out for long periods to injury? I think Ruutu would fit nicely with them.
BUT I BEG BM TO NOT GIVE RUUTU UP!!! THAT GUY IS BEST ON OUR TEAM THAN ANY OPPOSING TEAM.
ship kelly for whoever from chitown. please and thank you. kelly can't score a goal even if there wasn't a goalie in the opposing net. gosh.
Murray has also talked about looking for another forward and Chicago might need some space when they get hossa back.any chance Ottawa might be looking at a sharp or versteeg instead of grabbing another d-man?
Cam Barker and Sharp for Kelly and Lee/Picard/Campoli. and our 2nd SJ's pick.
That would be on my wish list.
Hey chirp,
How goes it?
My NHL10 first line of Milan "The Man"-Spezz-Alfie are still doing amazing. I've streched out my winning strek to five games.
Also, no applause needed for my prediction of 4-3 SO win on Tuesday, it was just a hunch.
My question is, with the hawks-sens rumor, I heard we would be looking at Patty Sharp? Does that make sense?
I do remember Murray saying in the Citizen recently that he wanted to bulk up with another forward. It seems to me we should get a D man before another forward. What you sayin chirp? Dman or forward from the windy city?
Cheers,
Jonben
I would rather Murray not make anymore trades does not have the best record, I dont think he will be with the club much longer
Anyonymous,
Yes I am saying Ray got less leeway because he is black. Face it, the stuff he got scrutinized for is ridiculous: He ate a bug? He got a tattoo? He got into a road rage incident? He was late to a few practices? This is minor stuff that a team can easily gloss over. Look at Patrick Kane, he mugged a cabbie and got off scot-free for cryin' out loud.
Emery was the best damned goalie this town ever had and the media zoned in on him and tore him to shreds. Still burns me to this day. This is a media circle that just can't handle anyone being original, different, or thinking outside the box.
I apologize to JC for suggesting anything, I apologize to the other bloggers for bringing it up.
Go Sens tonight! Important two points!!!
Ah, we're screwed as the Flyers will outshoot us and be in our end due to the way our D has been playing lately. I predict a 5-1 win for philly while Leclaire gets shelled all night.
Any trade for a D will have to involve loosing a few roster players, and I don't mean spare parts. Top 6 F for a Top 4 D.
3:43,
Emery wasn't quite that good. He had his moments, and definitely demonstrated long-term promise, but he frequently looked soft.
Above all else, he didn't come to camp with any sort of competitive fire after the playoff campaign of '07. He lollygagged after his injury healed, and Gerber of all people, outplayed him.
Furthermore, the other supposed "bad seeds" in the organization were also dealt, so your argument that Emery was singled out for special treatment doesn't hold water imo.
I do agree, though, that the media often played up his antics. Emery was a magnet for that... let's face it, he was a more interesting character than McGratton or Redden. He had personality, and it came back to bite him when he let things go south.
anon @ 3:43pm
Kudos for bringing up an unappealing thing. I wish this was not a factor in our city, but I think it was.
Go Sens! Another goal for Cheech! Carkner and Picard are also due (they'll beat Pascal five-hole).
3:43,
I completely disagree, I think the city of Ottawa loved the personality this guy brought to the game when he was playing well. However, the frequent rumours of substance abuse combined with his lack of respect for the team and his poor play at the time, ultimately led to his leaving the team. Consider that the two guys who were consistently rumoured as being "substance" users (McGratton and Emery) were both kicked off the team that year.
Yes, the media used him as a scapegoat 100% and some of the examples they used were quite idiotic, but I refuse to believe the primary motivation was the colour of his skin. People are willing to look the other way if you're playing well, but as soon as you stop playing well, all the negative attention swirling around you is gonna come back and bite you in the ass.
I agree the Patrick Kane incident was much more severe than anything Emery did in Ottawa, but the difference was Patrick Kane had one isolated event, whereas Emery has a running track record of negative behaviour. Additionally, I'm sure if Kane started playing poorly, he would be under a lot of scrutiny, with people referencing that incident to establish points.
GO EMERY!!
I am sure I am feeding the trolls here, but can we please stop with the NHL10 references (JonBen 3:32).
I own, play and like the game, but I am not delusional enough to even consider that a line in a video game would be relevant to real life (ie that is the world outside your mom's basement) or as a comment on this site. So you won 5 games, good for you. I will notify the Nobel prize committee.
The only thing more annoying than that is people who end their comments with "end rant".
---End rant
PL
I used to love Pierre McGuire...but then i hit puberty and really listened to what he was really saying. He sounds like he's a crazy chef who belongs on the food network. all he's really cooking though is spam and kraft dinner, but he acts like it's such a big deal.
I wish Emery nohing but the WORST!
His BS set this team back a few years.
Think of it, we drafted him, paid money to groom him, and then his childish antics force us to try and trade him.....only he keeps up his BS and we can't trade him.
So in the end we get nothing for a potential/legit number one goalie. Not only that but we have to use up valuable cap space to finally get rid of him. Why, becuase he couldn't act like a pro in his place of work!
Then we are forced to deal a player to get a number one goalie.
So in the end that idiot, made us waste a pick, cost us vermette, and is still making us waste cap space...on top of all the distractions he caused us for a whole season.
I hope the fag blows his knee out tonight.
Lee's play against the Oil made we want to burst into tears.
Chirp,
Are you gonna run the in game blog on the score again?
anon @ 4:51pm
Part of the reason that Patrick Kane has found his game, is that every media person is not putting a microphone in front of him and asking him about the incident. They never harassed him.
They never harassed Heatley about his accident either. With Emery, he can dye his hair blond, and it's front page news. The media scrutinized everything he did and made a big deal out of everything he did. They create distractions when he's just living his life. He's a different guy, so what?
Why does the press keep talking about his Hummer. It's a vehicle. The Governor of California drives one and no one cares. Kovalev owns a plane. No one bugs him for being flashy.
I think Emery was getting too popular and some people wanted to cut him down a bit.
Shannon and no Donovan?????!!!! What gives???!!!
MooseFactory Dude
Mcguire is going to be the next gm of the Sens. Book it. The sooner the better, there's no way we're going to see the cup until this move happens.
you don't like tsn chirp?
What's with the PM haters? I feel a little empty when I miss his segment in the morning. He is different on TSN though I'll concede to that. Can't fault him for liking Richards. One of the TGOR guys has a man crush on him (can't remember who) and we don't bash that guy. Anyway, hope Spezza gets a couple hat-tricks tonight and bring up his numbers.
Whoever posted about Chara rejecting an offer from the Sens because he wanted to be a Captain, FALSE!
Muckler never offered Chara anything. Muckler told the media Chara rejected an offer so he wouldn't look like the bad guy. Chara I miss you, a lot. Muckler ruined this organization big time in his tenure as GM. I'm talking about our AHL affiliate aswell.
What a liability Campoli is .. the guy skated right around him on the first goal like he was a pylon. Leclaire should have played the puck...what the fuck is with these weak goals he's been letting in. FUCK ME!
my god i hate kelly
he cant finish ANYTHING JUST ANYTHING!!!!!
god damnit murray trade this stupid glue of yours
i dont give a shit about his hockey sense.
dumb penalty that causes a goal.
no shot.
no play.
NO EFFING NOTHING.
this guy gets set up for gimmes EVERY EFFING GAME. BUT HE CANT FINISH ANYTHING. IF ONLY CHEECHOO GOT SETUP SO MUCH. GOSH
I'm sorry, but how homophobic is the expression "man crush"?! Honest to God, what are you afraid of?
Our D sucks! Murray needs to fix this soon or we are done!
5:52,
I seem to remember an absurd amount of media attention being devoted to the Patrick Kane incident and the whole ordeal being blown way out of proportion. If he were to continue this negative behaviour, I guarantee the media would set their sights on him.
As a professional athlete you have to be able to deal with the media and maintain a certain level of play. Kane has kept his play up because he is committed to the team and the game of hockey, whereas Emery was not at all.
Kelly has got to go!
Kelly, Picard, Campoli and Lee...all underachieving career AHLers, good luck making the playoffs this year. This team is so capable of doing good things this year but a few players keep weighing them down.
Kovalev...what a waste!
looks like we are going to lose another nice work BM,
I hope BM does not make anymore trade he is killing us.
whats with Shannon why do they keep playing him
My comment remains. Please go back to the two lines that had us 6-2-2 with two lines of consistent threat every night.
Michalek-Spezza-Cheechoo
Alfie-Fisher-Kovalev
I don't understand this:
Michalek-Spezza-Alfie
They have zero chemistry out there and its obvious.
That being said the whole team needs to stop playing like they all have the flu and move their damn feet! Fuck its depressing to watch the lack of intensity right now!
Can't help but do a massive face palm when the whole team is stacked up in the nutreal zone and the flyers just blow thru it like a hot knife thru butter and get a goal. Jesus
When can we officially hit the panic button for Leclaire?
lose again
i thought clouston's system was about generating more offense? more shots? more up tempo?
i see more NJD style play without the NJD style players.
where to start with this team......
sigh..
I still believe this is a playoff team however there is serious cause for concern. Not one of Ottawa's wins has been against a playoff team...East or West. Yikes
What a horrible game...penalties...soft goals...no offense...bleah...terrible.
Ummm, ya, this team is not a playoff team at all.
Few points:
-they can't beat a good team
-Leclaire has been below average, good at select times, but very weak for the most part
-their D is awful
-there coaching decisions have been very odd, they played a terrible trap vs. Philly and could never hit the net on captain rebound (emery)
Very disapointing to say the least. All u homers will come on and defend them, but the play has been very lackluster.
man
we suck
and we suck really bad.
wow.
peace out.
im still a sens fan, but i think its time i stopped giving up my life to watch sens games because its just not a good feeling watching them lose. every game i watch, hoping hoping hoping they would come out with a better overall effort, but there is always parts on this team who just dont have it in them. always, even when they are winning.
and then you see wrong kinds of coaching decisions too by not putting more energy guys in- i mean what use is shannon against a powerboost time like Philly? does he really give us that much of a speed advantage over Donovan? seriously Clouston needs to show up. its about time. the record is great and all that. but its ABOUT TIME THIS TEAM SHOWED UP against a higher placed, playoff team.
and lastly, please murray trade kelly. for all the skating and hockeysense he has, if only he had shooting skills. in the end, you win games by scoring goals and kelly cant score any.
i think all game these guys thought it was the first 10 minutes.
and WHAT THE HELL IS GONE WRONG WITH LECLAIRE ALL OF A SUDDEN?!!
tired of watching my favorite team lose. so im just going to stop watching.
Picard, Campoli, Lee and Kelly...way too soft! Im afraid of what trades BM will make next...losing faith in him as a GM, lets hope we can fix things and start playing some good hockey!
Frustrated.
I dont get what the fuck they were doing sitting back in the third when it was still 2-1. What was the plan ? wait until the last 5 minutes to try and tie the game. This team is not built to sit back in the nutreal zone and play like the Devils. Leclaire ? I dont even no what to say.
Kovalev invisible again
1 pp in the last 2 games what the hell is going on NHL ?
Guys Leclaire isn't in net for us, its Patrick Lalime reincarnated.
Fire Murray....Because one can see some aspects of our team failing but I am sorry, All aspects of this team just plain and simple suck!
The offence is terrible, the D is even worse! and Leclaire can join the Sens goalie graveyard....
We officially are terrible, Thanks Bryan Murray, you have done nothing right for this team but drive it to the ground.
k....need to rant more so here it goes.
THE PROBLEMS THAT THE SENATORS HAVE:
a)kovalev is just floating every game, its like he just got out of bed and is hungover.
b)kelly cant decide to shoot fast enough even if the net was WIDE FUCKING OPEN FOR 10 SECONDS.
c)campoli and picard TAKE TURNS TO DOWN THIS TEAM EVERY OTHER GAME.
d)LECLAIRE IS BECOMING LALIME. they both might as well be come LA-LAME. gosh this guy is shitting on expectations. ALL GOALS TONIGHT WERE BETWEEN MAJOR SOFTIE and JUST SOFTIE. WOW.
e)Clouston seemingly is contradicting his coaching reputation. I thought he would be the complete polar, geometric, absolute opposite of Hartsburg, but i what i see is more of Hartsburg. the boring NJD stype 1-2-2. no shots. not uptempo forechecking style. no fast leg moving. its painful to see guys like Michalek choking the neutral zone. for the love of god, use the guy's speed you idiot. i dont know, its either Clouston has got his bearings wrong or this team is about to eat another coach's job. btw, please anyone, dont mention the record, look it up, its mostly against teams they really should have won against all the time with the losses also coming against teams they should have won against.
f)having the wrong defense pairings. it was clear since the start of this game that Phillips and Kuba dont have ANY CHEMISTRY. yet they were still together.
g)why the hell did we send Karlsson down, when more expensive versions of him are on the team: CAMPOLI AND PICARD??...yea smart? i dont think so.
h)not playing Donovan. you know what. Donovan might be the most dedicated Ottawa Senator right now. its funny how he hasnt asked for a trade because clearly, he has the feet, he has the jam and he is a good fourth liner. he is the real glue on this team Clouston and BM. and you guys are stupid fucking idiots for not playing him. its ridiculous and disgusting at this point. look at philly, they are playing guys like donovan in carcillo and Laperierre.
i) THE REFS STILL DONT LIKE US!!!
j) DEFINITELY NOT MAKING THE PLAYOFFS WITH THIS D-CORE.
k) EMERY WAS DEFINITELY NOT ON HIS GAME TONIGHT, but these idiots made him look gorgeous and amazing.
Our team is playing retarded. I don't know how Clouston is letting them do this unless the entire team has been hit by the flu in the past few games. I mean christ if you draw one fucking power-play in two fucking games you're not moving your fucking feet.
Five Tips for the Sens not to Suck:
1. Go back to two lines of threat. Michalek-Spezza-Cheechoo, Alfie-Fisher-Kovalev.
2. Picard and Campolli never play as a pairing under any circumstances. When A-Train comes back in, Picard or Campolli sit the fuck out and stay there.
3. Get the fuck out on the points. Watching these timid wingers not do their fucking job at even an OHL level is pissing me off. They are letting teams cannon shots from the point and doing absolutely nothing to push out hard and cover those point shots. Brutal to watch and its absolutely killing us.
4. Move the puck faster. Standing behind our own net and taking 5 minutes to make a decision rather than taking a few strides and making the easy pass is killing our momentum.
5. Play aggressive pressure hockey all over the ice. Hit anything you get a chance to do. Move your feet and win some damn battles.
6. Donovan comes back into the lineup and I don't care who the fuck sits out. 2M useless tool Neil who isn't even skating or hitting the past 3 games. Ruutu who has taken far too many bad penalties. Shannon who seems to be completely useless. Pick one and put Donovan back in permanently.
Clouston has talked the talk about keeping players in the lineup who work hard. Well why the fuck is Donovan sitting out then? He's better than at least 3 of the 6 guys playing in the bottom six right now. He's gotta walk the walk with this one. He seemed to let all the chirps on Cheechoo break up the good chemistry line of Michalek-Spezza-Cheechoo which was the same design as the line centered by Thornton. They had mad chemistry and were creating chances like wild. I mean seriously what the fuck. So frustrating to watch him toss out two clearly ineffective lines when he has combos that has us flying earlier in the year. Just brutal. Do your God damn job Clouston and put this fucking team in a position to succeed rather than neutering them with your bullshit man-crush on Shannon. Fuck. So pissed.
i really really really hate to say it right now.
but if this continues, and by the looks of it, this will continue.
Melnyk needs to sweep in post olympics.
and
fire both Murray and Clouston. yea, the ultimate anathema to all sens fans right now. and get in Steve Yzerman and Mike Keenan.
and then go back to Barbados and disappear for making Murray ever sign Kovalev. GOSH WHAT A FUCKED UP MOVE. BOB GAINEY even with his one line midget team probably rolls laughing in his sleep and falls off his fucking bed for letting Murray take Kovalev off the market.
so friggin frustrating.
this team LEARNS NO LESSONS. they barely scraped by Edmonton. JUST BARELY. and then they show this kind of effort against Philly? :s messed up for sure. This definitely goes on Clouston's head too.
Ottawa's problem lies with their D. Murray really has no options this season to make trades. No one really wants our horrible Dmen or Kelly. Think we are stuck with them until seasons end. BM will have to make some changes in the summer. Another frustrating season ahead of us...sigh.
Does anyone know that pussy a-train will be back. Yes he is a pussy because a-train was suppose to be out 10-14 days. Well guess what is has been 15 days.
1. Leclaire must, I repeat must play better - they simply can't win if he plays like that - that 2nd goal just sucked the life out of Ottawa
2. this team has to forecheck to be effective - they simply can't trap effectively - it makes them too passive
3. they get good first chance scoring opportunities but few rebounds - where is the 2nd forward going to the net?
4. Volchie, Volchie - we need you - Phillips and Volchenkov have to be 1 and 2 D-man - no one else seems to be able to play on the top D unit
5. Shannon was invisible until the game was out of reach - Donovan would have been a better fit against the Flyers - Clouston must see that by now - he can only be played against the smaller teams
6. Alfie has to be played on the second line with Fisher and Kovalev - otherwise they don't penetrate
7. Try Cheechoo with Spezza and Michalek as the gunner - otherwise use Foligno and let Winchester play on the 3rd line
8. The Flyers are a much better team than the Sens and appear to be a strong regular season team and a strong candidate for the Cup - I think the Sens chances of winning the cup are slim to none - they are an average team and should be blown up soon - 5 years in the wilderness and then we will have legitimate talent and size
clouston thinks they played good for the first 40? how, just how?
philly was sitting back for the first two periods and got two soft goals. instead of attacking them, we just....sat back more and then philly finally thought to turn it into a rout.....and they did.
i just dont understand.
pronger absolutely ate us alive singlehandedly this game.
and gosh. do we have such bad shooters also? they kept trying high glove side but never once got it right. you would think eventually they would revert to the safer bet shots and try rebounds on emery. but NO. NOT EVEN THAT.
not only did they show a surprising lack of skill. they showed a complete lack of smarts.
Philly absolutely cruised the first two periods. they just sat back and enjoyed their time. you could tell the way the crowd was. and then in the third they decided that they had had enough and that ottawa was not going to show up.
So is this Murray????
The problem is the core of this team, new players come and never feel welcomed.
Murray plase don't make anymore trades spend some time looking for a new job I think you will need one soon.
Well guys, I hate to be negative, but Sens might be in for a rough couple of weeks if Clouston doesn't get them motivated and if Volchie isn't back in by next Tuesday.
After the Leafs, the Sens play 6 playoff contending teams and how they've played lately is going to make it very ugly to watch.
I understand Murray said he is looking for a scoring forward, but I don't see how he is going to do this at this point in the season with the players he is most likely offering up (Kelly, Donovan, Shannon, Ruutu, Picard, Lee, Campoli, picks)...
All in all, I think Murray should go out and try to acquire a forward as the sens offensive prospects aren't all that impressive, but in a year or two they're defence will be gunning with Wiercoch, Cowen, Karlsson, Phillips, Volchenkov and (enter name here)...
C'mon Sens let's wake up and rebound from this ugly loss
GO SENS GO!!!!
P.S. Keep up the fantastic work SC, sorry about the immaturity of other posters.
Very disgusting effort. I expected a loss and took philly +2 on proline but yet still sit here disturbed at the effort tonight.
After all the damn missed shots trying to go high you would think in all the wisdom of NHL caliber coaches they would of been told to fuckin just worry about hitting the net Emery has always had shoddy rebound control, yet we kept seeing pucks going high and wide.
Playing behind and the team is still sitting back 1-2-2 WTF is that ?
I really think some people have to calm down. I can't believe how high people get after a win, only to come crashing down after a loss. We're doing exactly as well as most of us thought; we aren't an elite team anymore -- all we can hope for is that we make the playoffs, a goal that is still realistic.
The problem, as I see it, with the Sens (and I think we all knew this from the summer) is that our defence is absolutely terrible. I love Phillips and Volchenkov, but they are a good #3 and #4. Kuba is not a top-pairing d-man...while Picard and Campoli...man, they are awful. I hate to sh*t on the guy when he's getting it from all sides, but I honestely wonder if Picard is the worst d-man in the league. He's just way too timid and soft -- I have never seen a player make so many giveaways. It's not even really his fault -- he should not be playing so many minutes, but because of our lack of depth, there isn't really much of a choice (he would probably be a serviceable 7th d-man who plays 13-14 mins a night every once in awhile). But I don't see a solution to this problem; BM isn't going to be able to get a top d-man, but I hope that when Volchenkov comes back they sit either Picard or Campoli and give Lee a chance.
Hq,
do you really think that Keenan and Yzerman will come to Ottawa? No they won't because they will to scared to make a mistake without idiots like you taking a shit fit. Also Ottawa has gone thru 4 coaches during the past 180 regular season games. Also have gone thru 2 gms since the lockout. That is a ton of money Ottawa has been paying out. Most of that will still be on the books till the end of the season. Expect clouston be in ottawa at till the of next year. Expect Murray to be here till the end of next year. Muckler was given 4 Years, Murray is going to get the same amount whether you idiots like it or not.
As for the homers who keep thinking that trading Kelly, campoli, Picard and lee in a package will get a top 4 d man. Think again, teams will asking for cowen, or karlsson and 1st rounder just for calling them.
The team is in no win situation here with the fans.
Murray needs to clean up this team. Picard, Kelly, Shannon, Kovalev & Lee need to go. Trade all of them to LA for Frolov :)
I would rather have Brunnstrom, he's on his way out of Dallas... make a pitch for him.
BTW I watched Cheechoo, no one should rag on him, he works his ass off every shift.
LeClaire was garbage tonight, I think he need to sit a few games.
Our D is weak, 4 AHL'er, beside Spezza, we don't really have any all-star offensive talent, certainly no snipers (how many times will Fisher miss the net!, he's a great net presence on the PP, but 5-5 he's a
3rd line center) Alfie's in decline, hasn't really been the same since the Mark Bell hit and Kovalev remains Kovalev. The smart move would be to rebuild this team, but Murray/Melynk keep spending to the cap to be just good enough to not draft top tier talent. When a team loses during a rebuild at least it's for the greater good. We are in the worst possible spot, good enough to beat non-playoff teams and not good enough to compete.
With regard to tonight's game what the hell was Clouston thinking with the trap! Hartsburgh, tried it for 40odd games last year, it was boring as hell and it didn't work. To trap effectively you need good D and a good goaltender, we posses neither. Leclair is becoming the second coming of Martin Gerber. Dispiline remains a problem with Rutuu's dumb penalty leading to a goal, and Carkner's leading to goal, 10-20 seconds after his penalty expired.
#1 Frustrated Sens Fan
no effort
other than alfie, fisher, and carkner there is no effort, no desire to win, no hard work.
kelly needs to go
shannon needs to go
i don't know....just sick of watching other teams show up and try to win.
eklund is saying the sens are trying to pull brent seabrook from the blackhawks, i hope to god he is right for once
Holy crap. The sens win a few games at the start of the season and everyone is planning the parade. Sens lose a couple - let's not kid ourselves, the refs have had a major hand in this - and now everyone sucks and its time to get rid of everybody.
People need to relax a little. This adversity is going to pay off at the end of the season. We've seen it before - or do people have such short memoris.
its funny reading these blogs after a loss so much finger pointing.. ud think people that take the time to post on schirp would be bigger sens fans and not bandwagon fans that cheer when they win and blame everyone when they lose
go cheer for the leafs
...and BTW, kovalev is playing well, he's just not playing with people who can finish his awesome passes. Clouston needs to pull his head out of his ass and put kovalev with alfie.
one last thing. am I the only person whi sees other teams getting Carkner to fight so that ottawa goes from 3 to 2 good defensive players every game? why is clouston letting him fight with goons on the other teams? It doesn't say much about our D but right now Carkner needs to stay out of the box because he is one of our best D.
The problem why ppl are pissed is not that the Sens lost to an elite team but the embarassment of an effort they showed combined with questionable coaching and piss poor performance between the pipes.
I have no problem with the Sens losing to teams like the Pens or Flyers if they come out and work their asses off but come up short, clearly they did not give that effort tonight.
The sens looked bad tonight.
If I were Murray, I would file two complaints.
1) About how the standard of officating has been piss poor this year.
2) How the Flyers have been over cap for about a month now.
Here is the link to prove it:
http://nhlnumbers.com/overview.php?team=PHI&season=0910
engin: ofcourse the yzerman and keenan reference was in utter sarcasm.
but you have to start somewhere. i dont know man. along with all the positives i see a lot of holes too. and its not that most of this team does not have the skill and does not have the right people for the right roles. its just the stupid decisions and stupid play. just being stupid on the ice. thats all. you can start with the Donovan issue. the kovalev being floating issue. outside of Picard, Campoli and Kelly, the rest of this team's players all have proven qualities. the only people i see trying really hard are fisher, alfie, spezza, phillips, michalek and cheechoo. and thats just not going to cut it.
i dont know whats the matter with leclaire all of a sudden. the guy has the right attitude. he better not turn out to be a gerber man. that would really suck.
Plain and simple, not an inspired game...
I was also disappointed we played a trap. I thought we learned our lesson on that....
Also Pierre M is starting to grind my gears.
Warching this game felt worse than the two teeth i had extracted in the afternoon...
Something wil need to happen in terms of effort and team system if we hope to have any chances in the next two weeks. And the trap is not the answer.
Fire Bryan Murray!
Andre it's not that I'm worried were going to lose all our games. It's that the last 2-3 games the Sens have been absolutely lousy.
Clouston just seems dumb lately. Michalek-Spezza-Alfie is clearly not working. When your #1 center goes 3 games with zero points you have to make a fucking adjustment. You know that Cheechoo was a good fit with Spezza and Michalek and the only reason that line got broken up was Spezza missing 2 games. It makes no sense that he hasn't gone back to it. It's just frustrating for fans to watch the team play so lousy after working so hard/playing so well even just 3 games ago. The work ethic seems to have evaporated. Probably partly from being frustrated with the officials and partly from being annoyed that Pascal has given up quite a few too many softies lately (although I think he's the guy and he'll be better sooner rather than later).
Either way. They need to get back to what was helping them be a winning team. None of this 25 or less shots a game lazy as hell trapping BS.
Time to get rid of golie coach Eli Wilson. Leclaire comes out so far to challenge that he loses his net. I don't believe the advice he is getting from Eli is helping his game at all.
Phillips, Campoli and Picard need to go ASAP. They are making mistakes EVERYTIME they are on the ice on the easiest of plays......a DUMP IN!!!
Goddamn man, how do you get beat twice on dump in's, soft ones to boot, Leclair cant go out and play them cuz its in the trapazoid and both our D's are skating like peewee players back for the puck, turn the fuck around and hustle man. None of our active D's hit anyone, its like they dont want to play man, well ship them the fuck out, we cant be having these peewee mistakes everygame which is becoming a trend.
SM
K seriously....Picard needs to be traded. I dont care for what. Draft pick or other player, just get rid of him. His value is somewhat respectable and we should jump on it right away.
Campoli is a great player, Picard makes him look REALLY bad.
Also, I agree with the 2 scoring lines. Clouston should try to stop spreading out the scoring throughout all 4 lines.
Bring donovan back and take out shannon or ruutu. I would rather have shannon out because he's as invisible as kovalev in most games. Not only that, but Foligno and Ruutu seem to work surprisingly well together and adding Donovans hustle would really help that out.
Go Sens GO!!
Engin,
If Murray is here next year my ticket-buying decisions have been made. Murray means failure and no playoffs or a first-round sweep. I'll just see a few games every now and then to cheer on the guys but no season tickets here.
Given a chance...*boggle*. Put it this way. If Murray had taken an NFL team coming off a Super Bowl final, had it bounced in the first round the next year and then missed the playoffs the year after, he wouldn't be there. Yes...I know the situations are different but this team and this town have embraced mediocrity of late. Maybe Melnyk needs to lose out on more playoff money to change his mind.
As to the game, Leclaire needs to allow no more than one or two goals per game, period.
There isn't a conspiracy against us. When you have Ruutu and Neil on the saem team you're going to get nailed for more penalties. A lot of our penalties are lazy hooking and holding too.
This team just isn't very good...I can't see it reaching a conference finals.
RIGHT on mikep
well said we are not in a rebuild and that makes it hard on the fans in Ottawa we dont the furture being positive, I would look at the so called CORE of this team sounds more like a click, anytime we bring new players they don't work out,
just making the playoffs PLEASE
I am not going to support a team who's goal is to JUST make the playoffs. I will only support a team that wants to win it all thats what its all about.
I stopped going to games at the 1/2 way point in the season last year I WILL not go to any games this year until time they can ice a winner I work to hard for my money.
5 Things to HATE if you are a Sens fan:
1) Bryan Murray's complete disconnect with the team's weaknesses. He said at the beginning of the season that he liked the defence and goaltending, he was only worried about the team's ability to score goals. Obviously, the he should have worried plenty about the back end! Scary he didn't see the glaring weakness WE all saw!
2) Cory Clouston studying at the Hartsburg school of Accountability! Where is the accountability? Why is Kelly dressed every night. Why do the two guys (Neil and Ruutu) that took stupid penalties that cost them the NJ game get rewarded with the START against the Oilers??
3) Eli Wilson - He has never made a single Ottawa goalie better. In fact, he seems to make the worse! Under his watch we have seen Emery implode, Gerber lose all confidence and positioning, and now LeClaire sucks!
4) Alexei Kovalev - obviously just along for the ride. Adding nothing to the team, in fact, he's often a liability out there.
5) HORRIBLE situation with the officials! I understand that the players yap. And maybe they yap more than other teams. Who knows. But even if they've pissed the officials off in the past, they are paid to OBJECTIVELY officiate games. If they favour some teams over others based on vocal skills, what is to stop them for favouring teams because they like on city over another. Something has to be done because it's not fair to the paying fan.
Can this team hit anyone??!!! Is it me or does this team turn away from some potentially devestating hits? I am sure I saw a few times where guys like Pronger were right in a players sights and they avoid the hit. When you have a chance for a clean hit where you can arock a guy...YOU HAVE TO TAKE THAT HIT!!! Make these guys hear footsteps. The Flyers probably take more hits in their own practices.
This team is soft...grow a set, will you and knock some people on their butts!!! They are the most penalized team in the league and they don't hit!!! What a lark.
Note to Clouston: Please spend the next 1-2 months having a couple of guys chase Kelly toward the net on a breakaway and force him to shoot on net until he can pick some corners. I have never seen a guy get so many primo chances and not bury a single one. PRACTICE SHOOTING ON THE BREAKAWAY, SO YOU DON'T S**T THE BED EVERY TIME YOU GET A CLEAR CHANCE. Don't get me wrong, I love what Kelly does on D, but, please, what? 10 breakaways and not a single goal.
One last note to the team: THE GAME IS 60-65 MINUTES....ENOUGH WITH THE 10-20 MINUTE SPURTS AND THEN TURTLING!!
Thanks for letting me rant.
I think Leclair is doing all he can for such a depleted back end, I mean damn! even the best goalies have problems during the season, better to have em now than later and if not for Leclair in nets we would probably still be winless...
Get Seabrook, Campbell, Niedermayer, Regehr, Boyle.....I dont care what you have to give up. I've said this for years now Phillips and Volchy are not #1 D's.
SM
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