(UPDATE 2:37 PM)- Ian Mendes is reporting that the San Jose Sharks will start Thomas Greiss tonight againt the Senators.
It may not be a visit to Ottawa but tonight's head to head match up with Dany Heatley and the San Jose Sharks is as close as Ottawa fans will get this year.
Had Chris Neil been in the line up I would've expected him to take a run at Dany at some point but that's not gonna happen. Here's hoping Volchenkov can catch Heatley with his head down at the blue line.
I know these guys are all professionals but I think the actions on the ice will go a long way towards showing how some of the guys in the locker room felt about Heatley's trade demand this summer.
Beyond the Heatley angle, this is really just a massive test for the Ottawa Senators. The Sharks are league's top team and have been nearly unbeatable on home ice. Staying out of the penalty box will be huge tonight for the Sens. The Sharks have some lethal players on that power play and Ottawa needs to keep them off the ice.
I'm expecting a nice ovation for both Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek in their return to San Jose. Both players were fan favourites in the teal and black so it should be fun for them to go back to the ol' stomping grounds and hopefully make an impact on the scoresheet.
Anton Volchenkov is expected to finally make his return to the Ottawa line up. No word yet on who comes out to make room but you would think its either Erik Karlsson or Chris Campoli. The forward lines remain unchanged...
Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Foligno-Fisher-Kovalev
Ruutu-Kelly-Cheechoo
Regin-Winchester-Shannon
Brian Elliott gets the start in goal.
Puck drop is at 10:30 PM tonight. I'll be live blogging this one for theScore.com. I'll post the link later today...
50 comments:
The D will likely look like this:
Phillips Volchenkov
Kuba Karlsson
Carkner Picard
Would be nice to have both Michalek and Cheechoo on the scoresheet tonight.
I'm also glad this is the last of Heatley we're going to hear this season. The only thing left to do is compare.
Right now, as it stands, this deal has been fairly even. Heatley's put up 18 goals in 28 games. Michalek and Cheechoo have 15 in 24.
I just hope that the team will step up their game and play this one like it's a playoff game. The Sharks can't win in the playoffs so you basically have to keep hitting them and that top line will choke.
I'd absolutely love it if the Sens stick it to the cry baby. I'd also love to see a big hit on him too.
Usually players play on a higher level when they visit the place where they were traded from, Kovy has an extra energy when he plays in Pittsburgh and now in Montreal. Hope to see the same from Cheech and Michalek. Although, lets not kid ourselves, the Sharks are not an easy task, especially in their own building. Don't care if we lose, I just want to see the effort.
I havent been this excited for a game since we last played in the playoffs!
Lets hope A-Train catches Heater with his head down and crush him in an open ice hit!
HUGE test for the Sens. Dont lose focus like they did in Boston, and we will be alright.
Prediction:
4-2 SENS.
Michalek gets Hat trick via an empty net goal.
Cheechoo doesnt score (surprise)
Heatley will be a -3 with 2 PIM and another missing tooth.
GO SENS GO!!!!
Sens are in tough, against a very strong San Jose team. I hope for a Sens victory, but I don't really expect it.
I do hope that Michalek has a strong game, and it would be awesome if Cheechoo could somehow manage to score on his old team.
Keeping Heatley off the board, would be great as well, but with a strong Sharks PP and Ottawa's ability to take penalities.....I'd be surprise if the ex-Sen is held scoreless.
I am looking forward to watching the game, and I hope it's a good exciting one.
Any truth to the Lee, Winchester, 2nd to CLB for Filatov + AHL player rumoured deal?
- Mark Christopher Twitter
Yes, same question here, watch the game or tape it, hate those West Cost trips. I'm going to watch it so they better play their best :)
I get the sense that rumoured deal is mostly based on circumstance.
With Lee being sent down, the Jackets losing a defenceman and Filatov not fitting in it was just kinda pieced together.
I would not be surprised to see Lee get moved though.
Hopefully its Campoli coming out.
Bringing Karlsson back up and then making him a healthy scratch would make even less sense that what has already happened.
hope heatley gets run over by philchenkov everytime he's on the ice!!!
That would be an awesome deal for Ottawa - Filatov is like getting a Tavares.
I would love to see Dany boy being smashed around. Let's just hope that the guys stay focused and play hard.
This should be good. I really hope Ottawa pulls out a win, and Heatley doesn't even get a shot on net.
im going to bet that ruutu will take a run at heatley for sure.
you can also add mike fisher to the list of people who might give heatley a good ride.
the way alfie and chara jawed at the bruins game early on, you might see some from alfie too.
maybe the guy most suited to put a shiner on heatley would be spezza? wouldnt it be fitting?
even better, a matt carkner facewash to the dilated one would be very satisfying.
hm...you have to think that other than spezza, most people on this team really dont like this guy very much.
would have been amazing if neil played. lets hope ruutu gets under his skin in game warmup before faceoff. hey winchester might be a candidate too lol.
i think kovalev is long overdue for a dominant game though. how about a nearly a season overdue dating back to his days in mtl.
i think it should be a good game to watch so long as the sens play clouston's system to tbe book. the sharks have good mobile D. but not much in the way of physical punishing D. douglas murray is the only guy. compared to us, they might be a little too soft on the back end. so if our third and fourth lines do a good job of finishing punishing checks, hard hits and relentless forechecking, you might just never know we might sneak a win.
and by extension of that defense, no way the sharks win the cup or go deep. their D will crumble playoff time. you cant expect boyle,blake,huskins,vlasic and whoever else to sustain playoff grind.
is neil back in?? saw that hed be in for tonight?!!!
Crush 'em Christon Philchenkov!!!
I just hope Heatley doesn't pull a Corvo and gets a hat-trick or something.
All the Sens need to do it keep it close until the third period where DH will take one of his patented late 3rd hooking/slashing penalties.
PL
Thanks for the post chripie. By the way, do you have the weekly updates for the Sens prospects ready yet? I really enjoy what you are doing with that.
Hey Eli,
Wish I could take credit for those things but they are courtesy of the Ottawa Senators Twitter feed.
Here is the link to this week's.
http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/PDFs/Prospect_Update-091130.pdf
Keep your expectations in check. I'd be very, very surprised to see anyone try to take a "run" at Heatley. The Sens, if they're smart, are more concerned with getting the win and staying out of the box. Considering the problems the Sens have had with the refs this year, you know the officials are going to be watching very closely to make sure Heatley isn't the victim of any late hits or cheap shots and will think of any excuse to blow the whistle. A win is more important that anything else, in my opinion.
Should be a great game. Hopefully A-train can lay Heatley out.
I'm secretly hoping for SJ-Ott SC final (Ottawa winning of course) so we can give Heatley the warm welcome he deserves.
FYI
Greiss: 3.19 GAA 0.897 SV% 2W 2L 0OTL
Elliott: 2.59 GAA 0.911 SV% 5W 2L 3OTL
PL
Agree with SBP completely !!
Ottawa might get penalized by trying too hard to slow down Heatley, and anyone else for that matter !!
Usually in past games, we have lost quite a few ,that we should have won, but many penalties ended up costing us many games !!
Just play with a lot of heart, grit, and for the whole 60 minutes, or more, if it goes to overtime or a shootout, but FOCUS on clean play, and shadow that first line to stop them from scoring !!
Chasing Heatley will turn into another loss !!
GO SENS GO !!!!
Sens 5 Sharks 3
Robert Cyr
If there was anytime at all for me to become psychic, now would be the time.
I had a dream last night that Spezze cleaned Heatley's clock open ice hit LOL
I would die laughing and that would be the most entertaining thing to watch besides a stanley cup win of course.
cmon, yeah I want to win but if I had to trade the win for that, I think I would ... oh and Spezza would be my newest fav player HAHA
Woot Campoli out. Long time coming if you ask me. Hopefully this can maybe shake him up and he can play a bit better when he gets another chance to play.
With Campoli coming out, I guess this means the verdict is in, regarding whether or not he was worth a first round pick.
Whatever words they use to spin the story, actions speak louder than words. They are playing the top team in the league, and the coaching staff would rather play without Campoli.
Anyone else notice that teams often throw their backup goalie at us? This trend started last year.
I guess the Campoli trade can now be called a bust?? Seriously he has been invisible on the ice this year and they would rather have a 19 year old kid who isn't ready playing against the top team?
I am glad that Campoli has come out. I think Campoli should be traded as opposed to Lee or Winchester.
Here's hoping Volch and the Sens will dominate tonight.
GO SENS GO!
Perhaps we can leave Cheechoo behind tie him up stuff him in a Locker for Willson
The Campoli trade was a last-ditch effort to save last year's season by acquiring a PMD. It was a gamble taken before they finally figured out that the problem lay elsewhere. It wasn't so much a long-term plan. They figured a pick was worth the sacrifice to salvage the season. A bit of a desperation move. The future: I don't know. But you could bet that first round pick wouldn't be in the lineup either.
Tim
Aww you had to bring Doug Wilson Up dam, its hard to beleave he is from Ottawa after what he did to this city, in that so called deal and we still have to carry Cheechoo for another year.
Not sure if anyone caught the article in the Citizen today -- mentions an exchange between Brian Lee and Cory Clouston during the last home game against the Blue Jackets.
Speculation was Lee talked back to Clouston and subsequently had his butt glued to the bench for most of the third... and then a demotion to Binghamton.
Completely unconfirmed, but an interesting piece of info.
(http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Weekend+tripleheader/2288113/story.html)
Meanwhile, man I hope Sens crush tonight.
Fish Campoli was a Murray deal need i say anymore, they NEVER work out....
I know we will not win this game but I hope Heatley does not score, cus it will all start up again. Heatley deal
anon @ 322.
not really. we have only played one legitimate backup uptil now: Lalime.
toronto has played us with both toskala and gustavsson. but they have goalie issues.
ditto for tampa, they have played us with both mike smith and nittymaki. but then again, they dont have nittymaki as outright starter.
i think they are resting nabokov. obviously, the sharks only have one player on their team who has more vested in this game than just a win. the senators as a whole organization more vested in this game. whether the senator's players admit it or not, for sure some of these guys have the whole heatley trade and his rejection/rebuttal fresh on their minds.
so you can attribute nabokov sitting as more of a rest for him. dont forget they just came back from a road trip too, so maybe thats why they want to rest him. plus ottawa is not a team from their own conference also, so there is little countereffect in the standings.
Y anon 4:06, ahmen, and Murray let Boyle get away to San Jose as well. Geez:(
Heatley has done nothing but disappoint me since 2007. The only way he can disappoint me now is to get a hat trick, so I think he will do that. Nevertheless, I'm glad he's not a Sen anymore. Michalek has turned out great, has 13 goals, plays defence, plays in the dirty areas, and kills penalties. All for 50 percent less money than Heatley and 100 percent less whining, pissing and moaning.
Have you heard anything regarding a Brian Lee trade? I'm hearing deals that involve Minny or Columbus but figured I's check with you first.
I have trouble seeing us lose this game...Greiss will allow an early goal and then we're off to the races, really. 6-3 Senators after two. I've been deadly wrong before though.
As for Heatley, whatever...make the check if it's there but no headhunting. Sharks have a ton of weapons and we don't want to let them get ahead of us early on.
Campoli coming out should have happened ages ago...he's brutal. My only hope is that Karlsson doesn't panic out there.
Go Sens!
Gregory.
Anon 4:13 what kind of support is that!?! You aint no sens fan, we definitely have a chance to win this one
san jose is not the berst team in the leage...wud rather face them then calgary because they are on fire, and the best team in the league after a slow start hands down
Good point SBP but I would be willing to sacrifice one PK for a nice run at Heatley...
I hope the Sens take advantage of this nowhere goalie and put on a scoring clinic in the Shark tank.
Go Sens GO!!!!
I don't think we are going to win But we can always have hope, and we are still under consuction so to say
any live streams?
I wonder if there will be many Sens fans in the building, if there are, im sure they'll be heard over the some 100 sharks fans there :P
dont see how we can win this game...give ur best is all im asking tho...and yes i mean you kovalev
Is anybody shocked that campoli is a healthy scratch? This is a guy who couldn't even make a shitty Islanders team last year and was in the dog house before being traded to Ottawa.
great trade Bryan in giving up a first round pick in a strong draft for this douche!
Your an idiot Murray!
@ Gregory: "6-3 Senators after two. I've been deadly wrong before though"
And again...
Your right anonymous, we should hire you instead! Dummy.
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