Efforts like that seem to be pretty much the norm when this team plays out West. Not sure what it is but the Senators always struggle on their trips to the Left Coast.
Obviously this wasn't the Senators best effort and while I could sit here and point out the negatives I'll leave that to you guys.
I thought Jonathan Cheechoo played his best game as a Senator. He scored a goal and drew three penalties with hard work down low. Cheechoo had 6 shots on goal and another 5 missed shots. He was a plus one on the night and led the team with 6 hits all in just 13:54 of ice time.
Ottawa could definitely use efforts like that from Cheechoo on a more consistent basis.
Mike Fisher also looked like he's back up to speed after missing a couple games. Fisher had a couple goals on the night and added 6 shots. He was strong on the forecheck and seemed to create offense every time he was on the ice.
Erik Karlsson also had a pretty solid outing. He's still getting caught gambling at times but you can see the offensive instincts that are going to make him a great defenceman in this league.
Unfortunately, this was a night where the negatives far outweighed the positives. Plenty of question marks heading into Phoenix on Saturday night.
85 comments:
Sens are toast on saturday night. This team has really fallen from grace. Its going to take a few more years of good scouting and solid trades to get back to the glory days. Murray should start on our Blueline and quit plugging the holes with too many AHLers. Oh well, lets hope we get a win sometime this weekend.
ummmmm... spezza you can show up soon. the blinder passes are coming back into his game. he is brutal. once again no jam in his game.
Spezza has to be better. No doubt about it...
Agreed chirp, Cheech, Fish and Karlsson all looked good tonight, Elliot not so much in my opinion.
They were also a dman short for a good portion of the game, hopefully its nothing to serious, I guess Campoli will be back in the line up now.
Brutal that the next game isn't even televised anywhere as far as I know!
Did you hear anything from Chicago now that they have signed Toews, Keith and Kane?
Looks like Brodeur will have his chance on Saturday...
SC: You forgot to mention the work of Shannon who, by all accounts, was very good out there (and usually is despite what uninformed idiots tend to post on here).
To bad for Picard too. I didn't hear any timeframe but shoulder injuries tend to last 6-8 weeks. Not a good outcome for an already struggling team at all.
I bet Foligno was glad he didn't have to partake in that debacle...
Frustrated with the production of quite a few sens recently. Even more concerning to me is that we keep making the same mistakes.
- Too many penalties.
- Spezza still lost.
- Stagnant PP.
- Falling PK.
Clouston's gotta step up here, same old isn't working.
This is getting ugly...however, im not that surprised.
Murray will be making some big changes in the offseason, or hes done. Blueline first then top six fwd! This team has big question marks all over it for this years playoffs.
I actually think the forward group is decent if some of the better players can get going.
The defence needs help though. Although being down to 5 guys did not help tonight.
Yup, everyone shredding Shannon earlier needs to take their collective feet out of their mouths. He actually had a really good game, as did most players on the team.
I thought the defense looked really tired by the end, which was no doubt a function of the Picard injury. Phillips taking a dive is unnecessary, but so is the official calling it. Guys exaggerate infractions nearly every time a penalty is called, so why pick Phillips out as the culprit? Lame. Still, a dumb move by Phillips.
I'm not terribly disappointed or surprised by this loss. LA is a good team, I thought the Senators did enough to win, but obviously they still needed to push harder. 6-3 is pretty flattering for LA, I thought that should have been a one goal game for either team.
However, I still think that the Senators will come off this road trip with 2 wins. Before they left, I thought they would beat PHX and either ANA or LA, so we're still on pace for what I thought. Disappointing loss, but enough good stuff happened for them to build on.
Another great night for the Spezza-dispenser:
0 pts, -2, and a whopping 25% on the draws. Poor Alfie must be so frustrated playing with this guy.
Of the 24 games he's played this year he has points in only 10. I just don't get it. I could care less if he was only making 2-3 million a year, but as our #1 centre getting as much 1st line ice and PP opportunities as he does we need more. I'm also tired of everyone making excuses for him, guys play hurt all the time. If his back is as bad as all you Spezza-lovers claim then do the right thing and get some treatment, staying in the lineup is just hurting us.
Cheechoo really played well. A lot of hustle and jam tonight.
Seemed like LA had a lot of attitude tonight, they took a lot of liberties with our forwards. Knowing that they would not have to answer to anyone on Ottawa's soft lineup made it easy for them. With Neil out that only left Carktner, but once Picard went down Matt had to stick to just playing hockey as we couldn't afford to have him in the box.
Wish we could trade for some tougher and bigger forwards who aren't afraid to mix it up when required. Don't quite understand why Winchester didn't get very much ice tonight, he's not afraid of the rough stuff.
time to play brodeur, elliott is struggling and is probably playing with no confidence. 10 goals let in in 2 games is unacceptable for him
The only thing Spezza does these days is get tossed from the face off circle.
I was watching the L.A. tv station online and the announcers mentioned that Picard Jammed his wrist into the boards while being checked and thats why he was out. Hope the wrist isn't broken.
Loved Cheechoo's play tonight. maybe this western swing is what he needed to revitalize his play. Shannon, Fisher, and Cheech were the best out there tonight in my opinion.
Where have Alfie and Spez been the last handfull of games? They seem lackluster out there. Are they playing injured or uninspired?
If Spezza is playing through back problems, time to shut it down for a while to heal. He isn't doing himself or the team any good being a hero if that's the case.
Chirp, any sources willing to talk about Spezza's back condition?
Why aren't people ripping our captain Alfie? He has been playing like shit for the past 5 games and no here has been calling him out? Don't give me that he been covering up for Spezza mistakea cause there have been times that Spezza has had to cover for Alfie. Also look at what your boyfriend Carkner has been doing lately, he has been making some bonehead plays that have cost the team dearly. I hope that until Neil comes back Clouston plays with seven D-man and having Carkner playing on the 4th line.
Yo what the hell is this? I really am not a fan of all these ignorant comments.
So the team has trouble on the road? So they are on a losing streak, IT HAPPENS. We won't be blowing the team up in the offseason, nor will we trade for more defensemen.
The hockey season goes from October to April, give it time you damn WHINERS.
Rule # 67 from the Budweiser commercials: BELIEVE (in your team)
Seriously tired of coming on here and reading about firing coaches, GMs and sending people down to the AHL, what team ACTUALLY does that?
On the other hand, SC you know I love you but maybe you shouldn't post these terrible negative and ignorant comments. I seem to see a number of smart, constructive posts here but lately all we see is blame blame blame...
I'm sure Clouston will address the issues we saw tonight at practice and get them ready for Pheonix, thats all we can hope for.
elliott was really bad, he pretty much lost them the game so hopefully he gets his game together, two outings in a row where he didnt look sharp and 14 goals in his last 3 games.
Two things,
Left coast if you're Euro centric. Right Coast of you're Asian centric. Cool reveal...
Anyways, after going 4-5, it is clear now the Sens should have not made any lineup changes. Rookie Coaching Mistakes when the last thing you need questiong going into a long road trip is what the guy next to you is doing or where on he ice he is putting the puck.
That being said, Sens could still be 0-3 on this road trip even with Lee and the rest.
Big mistake in my opinion to bench Foligno, this is the back-story reason as to why Heatley wanted to be traded. There is a simmering disclipne on this team that not all the players respect or trust. And it starts with Murray wanting to be everybody's Pal, and the rookie coaches left with not fully understading where anybody stands. Hartsburg is an NHL coach, just no support. Clouston is too, but always left being the lone wolf calling out his players when Murray's moves like Cheechoo, Campoli and Elliot are clearly not working.
Murray is never the bad guy - EVER - he is always the Media good
guy ALWAYS - Heatley deal he was the handcuffed GM, in the Meszarso deal he was the GM that wouldn't give into unreasable salary demads (even though the salary demands were more then reasonable) He sells the future ALWAYS, even in the Heatley deal saying his 2nd will tip the scales when he knows full well he will be retired well before that 2nd ever plays an NHL game.
In his time in the NHL Murray has learned more to be a media hound then a Champion builder, and his record shows that.
Sens are still a playoff team, if Alfie's legs hold up.
Oh man do I miss Pascal.....
Eliott fucking sucks and has proven he will never be a #1 goalie....
It doesn't all fall on Elliot, but he didn't make any saves in this one that any goalie in the league would make. He needs to make a few stops to keep his team in it. With the way the team played in front of him, there should not have been 6 goals on 23 shots. They made mistakes in front of him, but not to that extent.
Two things,
Left coast if you're Euro centric. Right Coast of you're Asian centric. Cool reveal...
Anyways, after going 4-5, it is clear now the Sens should have not made any lineup changes. Rookie Coaching Mistakes when the last thing you need questiong going into a long road trip is what the guy next to you is doing or where on he ice he is putting the puck.
That being said, Sens could still be 0-3 on this road trip even with Lee and the rest.
Big mistake in my opinion to bench Foligno, this is the back-story reason as to why Heatley wanted to be traded. There is a simmering disclipne on this team that not all the players respect or trust. And it starts with Murray wanting to be everybody's Pal, and the rookie coaches left with not fully understading where anybody stands. Hartsburg is an NHL coach, just no support. Clouston is too, but always left being the lone wolf calling out his players when Murray's moves like Cheechoo, Campoli and Elliot are clearly not working.
Murray is never the bad guy - EVER - he is always the Media good
guy ALWAYS - Heatley deal he was the handcuffed GM, in the Meszarso deal he was the GM that wouldn't give into unreasable salary demads (even though the salary demands were more then reasonable) He sells the future ALWAYS, even in the Heatley deal saying his 2nd will tip the scales when he knows full well he will be retired well before that 2nd ever plays an NHL game.
In his time in the NHL Murray has learned more to be a media hound then a Champion builder, and his record shows that.
Sens are still a playoff team, if Alfie's legs hold up.
Something is up with Spezza. Maybe too much partying. He looked like crap in an interview on Monday or Tuesday morning of this week. Like he just came off a huge weekend bender. So either he's completely off the wagon or he's playing hurt. I hope its the latter, but the thing is, playing hurt doesn't force you to make stupid plays like he did with the defensive back pass to Carkner that ended up behind elliot to make it 5-3. Being hurt doesn't force you to do that, being high all the time might. I though he was going to play lights out this year given Vancouver and all. I'm sure he is way off the Olympic depth chart by now.
I have to agree that Elliot looked really shakey, but I don't think its time for him to sit, he's got to battle back if he wants to keep playing at this level. What's killing me to watch though are the penalties, granted we've all seen some shadey calls, *ahem* non-calls, but were not helping ourselves out there either. I agree with SC though that Cheechoo had a solid outing, and considering how invisible Kovy has been i'd move him to the bench till he decides he wants to play, and give Cheech a reward, at least he's putting in the effort, and finally taking shots.
In fairness to the Sens, they kept the game competitive for the most part, big PK when they had THREE (yikes) penalties called against them in less than 2 minutes, and tied it 3-3 after being down 3-1. Having said all that, Carkner seems to be make one huge mistake a game that's costly (end of third cough up making it 5-3 and out of reach), Elliot needs to be better, and the big offensive guys like Spezza and Kovalev have to score.
I don't buy the fatigue argument being made. These are big boys paid big dollars to go out and play, and the D should relish the chance to play the extra minutes to show Clouston they deserve more ice time in the future. They simply need to be better.
My negative night started with TSN forcing me to watch the end of the Boston/San Antonio basketball game... WTF is that TSN?
As for Spezza, I wanted him gone last year when it started to become obvious his back was going to be a long-term issue. I'm worried tht this is just the tip of the iceberg we're seeing here...
Good to see Fisher back on the score board.
Still, from a team perspective I'm not too worried. The team is slowly improving and hopefully peaking towards a solid run in the playoffs. I think we're one solid d-man trade away from going really far in the playoffs.
It all comes down to goaltending.. and Elliott has lost it a bit.
He was very good at the beginning of the year... what has happened.
This team will struggle until Leclaire is back. Look behind them in the standings. Leafs are 7points back and are climbing fast.
Time to get back to the way the Sens were playing at the beginning of the season....At least break even on this roadtrip.
I kind of knew Spezza was going to have a problem with out Heatley but this is crazzy. I think TSN might be right on this teams Standing, before they headed to the west coast I was thinking we had a pretty good team, Dam
Defense, Defense, Defense...i've preached this from gm 1 of the season. We aren't going anywhere with out D like this...you guys actually surprised???
Half the game we are pinned in our zone against the better teams in the league, sloppy board play, we lose the one on ones in our zone, and struggle mightily clearly the puck out of the zone. We are lacking a true top 4, and IMO possibly two top 4 dmen.
Now Phillips and Volchenkov haven't been perfect, but guys like Kuba are REALLY stinking it up out there, I don't understand why we play him so much, i guess we don't have many options.
I told you this would be a LONG month with Elliot in net.
The guy is a career back up at best.
I hate watching them play decent only to have bad goals go in, that kills the team everytime.
Our PP sucks and for whatever reason Clouston is sticking to the dump but dont chase method...
Excited to see Brodeur play next game. Might steal it for us out of pure excitement!!
SM
A lack of intensity in the defensive zone and bad penalties cost us this game.
Cheechoo should be playing on the first line. On the one shift where he was swung up there after a PP he created space for Spezza and Michalek. Thats where he needs to be playing for us to get the most out of him.
Shannon was actually quite good with Fisher and Kovalev last night so I'd leave that for now.
Alfie-Foligno-Regin (or Swap F&R) would be nice to see as the other line in this scenario. Then we could roll three powerful lines and run over the opposition. Especially if Cheechoo has the effect I think he will on the first line.
I think with Cheechoo up there the first line would be better defensively than it has been of late and that kind of bump and grind player with a little finish will create space for the other two. This line was dominating early in the season I have no idea why Clouston refuses to go back to it.
With these three combos you can always swap Alfie and Shannon if we need to bump Shanny down but right now he's using is speed and playing really well.
-Bejamin1
To all you idiots that want Brodeur to start next game...
He sucked even in the AHL and now you want to start him up here.
It seems like a lot of dumb people post here.
I thought the sole difference was Elliott. He really seems to be struggling. On the penalty shot he looked terrible. The 5 hole was humongous. Karlsson looked great. LA is a lot bigger than I thought.
Spezza makes absolutely awful decisions with the puck
Between not shooting when he has a clear lane
passes to absolutely noone
trying for fancy all star passes when a simple saucer would do
I just can't figure out what game Spezza is playing
Before he was an offence threat and a defencive liability
Now he doesn't even have the offence
Then when you consider he is our top paid player it just doesn't add up
He is either hurt or maybe
just maybe
he isn't nearly as good as we all want
that being said
Karlsson will be a PP wizard but probably lack icetime even strength
Shannon was flying everywhere and shows a ton of moxy
Cheechoo easily had his best game yet
Elliot can not and will not ever carry this team as is
So Chirp, you think Brodeur will get a shot in nets?
Spezza Sucks!!!
Any news on Picard? Is it serious? Or will he be back soon?
I'm going to go out on a lime and say:
Fire the coach! (Only half kidding)
What does this team do when a bench boss can't motivate the millionaires and vets? They fire him. How long until we hear about a Clouston watch here in Ottawa? Melnyk believes this core is a contender (that stopped 2 years ago Eugene) and if we slip below the 8t-9th in the East...management has never been known to rock the boat by trading core players unless requested.
All kidding aside though:
Spezza invisible
Alfredsson doing bonehead plays, lacked drive out there.
Soft ones from Elliott
Scrambly defensive coverage
Sluggish powerplay
Slow team overall...
We'll likely beat one of Phoenix or Ducks but going to be tough.
BobbyJones,
Give Spezza a chance. The local media have said he's the next coming of Steve Yzerman, so his two-way game must be improving! :p
Yes, we should play Brodeur to give Elliott some rest.
i still dont get the apologetic nature here from people.
comments like "most players played good"
the thing is, this bunch "PLAYS GOOD" every game according to their coach. who is becoming somewhat of a complete idiot to allow people like Kelly to take dumb stupid penalties all over the ice EVERY GAME.
lets just go over what were some of the problems to start the season, regardless of wins:
1. too many penalties
2. bad pp
3. lack of chemsitry among lines
4. defensive breakdowns thanks to picard/campoli/karlsson.
5. failing to play the right system (the philly game and the end of the toronto game).
for chemistry, you can say that except for the first line, the chemistry among other lines has worked just fine. PP, has come along and is clicking at a PPG per game pace which isnt too bad. the defensive breakdowns arent as atrocious yet. however that assclown gamble by karlsson when the game was 2-1 was the main reason doughty got to make that pass to the LA player which caught Kuba off guard and resulted in the 3-1 goal. Clouston needs to pull his head and karlsson's head out each other's asses and EXPLAIN to Karlsson to not pull that kind of shit when the team is a GOAL DOWN early in the game. MOVING ON. they have started to play the right system and you dont see them pulling the 1-2-2 so much anymore, thankfully.
but the bad penalties man. and the play of spezza. these are two things that will absolutely handicap this team. the bad penalties need to end. i know running a 5-man D is tough, but its not that bad if you dont take as many penalties. The amount of penalties to start the second and any other that they took later, ABSOLUTELY COOKED 4 GUYS ON OUR D. Phillips, Volchenkov, Carkner were just DONE. nothing left in the tank. Even though Phillips somehow found an extra gear and was unbelievable.
again, they need the first line clicking, otherwise that depth is worth shit. if the first line doesnt produce, the pressure goes on the third and fourth lines and it takes away their effectiveness which is to put the other team on its heels even more and create havoc. right now those guys get tasked with creating offense more than havoc. they are hitting the 30 game mark soon. so the slow start for spezza has turned into a shit start. this is clouston's real test. how does he handle, motivate and ultimately extract the production from the star centre on this team. also, how does he try to limit the amount of penalties these guys take. blaming the refs is old stuff now. elliot has again thrown away the trust he was given. he looked like a #1 and that he would be fine filling for leclaire, but he has given some softies in two games now.
and um PHX might be better than LA. so lets not get hoping there. this is only going to get tougher. and Anaheim has always had our number.
in summary guys, this team could have won the last two games with just more effort which it can clearly give. but some people refuse to do it and some people do things that result in steps backwards instead of forwards. and that is the bottom line right now.
Looks like Spezza is the new whipping boy! Only a matter of time before the inept sports writers in Ottawa run him out of town too!! Granted he isn't playing his best hockey, but he hasn't been that bad.
btw...for people saying they did enough to win: um getting owned 32-19 in the faceoff circle, is clearly doing helluva lot enough to win. RIGHT?
its just B.S. the way spezza bends over in the faceoff circle, he thinks the guy on the other side is just going to buckle by looking at his long wooden stick. and then on top of it, he acts all lazy and tries to make the ref wait. which only proceeds to piss the ref off and he drops the puck on spezza without spezza knowing. resulting in a lost faceoff. OR I dont know what spezza does, but the ref decides he is vermin in the circle and just plain kicks him out of the faceoff, resulting in alfie taking a faceoff against fill-in-the-name top centreman on the opposing team. resulting in LOST FACEOFF.
and this just didnt start last game. THIS IS THE STORY EVERY GAME!.
over a game spezza gets kicked out of a faceoff atleast 3 times. he is just not interested. i mean, what happened to all the motivation for Team Canada. is he even interested in that. or is he just too depressed by the rejection?
Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas is for the Senators to win on the road AND Spezza to score goals.
P.S. I have been pretty good this year, so please to this for me.
Thanks
To all the idiots who want to start Brodeur..
HE SUCKED IN THE AHL. Why would Clouston even consider starting him in the NHL.
I thought Cheechoo played his best game as a Senator last night.
Team played well with some boneheaded mistakes costing us big time.
we HAVE to use cheech more , im sorry but he is a top 6 player , we have 6 of them now so why we keep putting one on the 3rd????? makes no sense , he was fire with spezza and fire with kovalev , fact is we gave him what 1 or 2 games to score then pulled the plug??? get real this guy is healthy and playing with alot of heart!!!!!!he deserves a better spot, were coming along in the season , and right now is when hell be putting up goals so i say use him!!!!
no bashing on shannon , but common !!!!!
train train cheechoo train , sens are gonna win this game cheechoo!!!
Wish Clouston would openly talk about spezza if there's a reason for his poor play...like injury.
I didn't like Elliot's game against SJ, but I don't place the blame on him for last night. I think all those guys that took stupied penalties to kill the teams momentum are to blame: Kelly, Alfredson, Volchenkov and then Phillips on the winner. The Sens Battled back to make it 2-1 and those three penalties by Kelly, Alfie and Volchenkov within a minute of one another was just unacceptable by leaders on a team who are struggling on a long road trip. And then after tying in up Phillips take an obvious interference penalty to lead to the winner. Way to kill the momentum boys! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
On the plus side, I like to still look at the glass as half full. The team is hanging in there points wise, and these last three games against Boston, SJ and LA I think the Sens have matched up well enough to win, they just are having brain cramps and finding ways to lose. Imagine if Spezza and the power play ever got going!
Why the hell would anyone start Brodeur when the guy can't even cut it in the AHL?
I'm not sure Elliott is a 1B goalie. He is proving himself to be a good Backup.
Spezza is just lost. Can you imagine if he finishes the season with something like 7 goals?
We need more grit in the forward lineup. Donovan type player with a little mor size. Rutuu needs to be more of a prick while Neil is out.
Hey Bobby,
Alfie frustrated playing with Spezza? Do you actually watch the games?
I love the Captain, but his giveaway and failure to even try to backcheck (he was beaten back by both Kings' D) caused the first goal on the first shift of the game.
At least Spezza came back hard and had his guy down low.
And what about the Captain's retaliatory penalty to put us down two? You can also hang Volchi's penalty on that poor decision, too. Not the leadership we're used to from Alfie.
As for the draws, Fisher was 2 of 14 last night (and something like 7 of 22 in the Sharks game), funny you don't mention that. Maybe if you watched, you'd have noticed both Fisher and Spezza have had issues with positioning on the draws and with the linesmen.
You're continuing Spezza rants make you look like an idiot. You won't be happy until we have a mediocre, low talent team of overachievers. You wouldn't know a good player if he punched you in the face.
There's no doubt Spezza needs to be better, especially offensively for a change. But you need a padded room if you think Spezza's the cause of this team's problems. The offense is generating opportunities but struggling to cash. However, the team's given up 11 goals in the last two games, and blown multiple two goal leads (2x against Boston, NJ). The goaltending's been weak and our defence corps, outside of Phillips (and Volchi before he got hurt) has been terrible.
Without better play from the back end, this team's going nowhere.
- Jalen
Are the problems with this team fixable with a couple good trades? I don't think so. I (still) really think this team needs to scrape together some draft picks and look to a couple years from now to be competitive again. Call-up send down trade for whoever you want, this team needs some serious blue-chippers to get competitive again.
I am NOT saying this because of three losses on this road trip. I was never sold on this group, although we have some very good players at all positions, we just do not have enough talent anywhere to be a threat. And we won't be again until we can admit this and go forward from there. I would happily support the sens through a mini-rebuild. I would love to see this team load up on picks and become a force again, instead of slowly dwindling away in the sea of mediocrity.
pg
And please, anyone that wants to come on here and just slam Spezza - shut up and go cheer for the Leafs. People were on his case for THREE YEARS to backcheck more/throw his body around, now he's doing that, and has an unbelievably low (read: unlucky) shooting% and people are back saying "He sucks he sucks..."
Where's the sniper he plays with now? Michalek is a great player, and is scoring a lot of goals, but he is scoring tough goals, not goals where he's taking a nice setup pass and rifling a shot top shelf. Kovalev isn't that either. Maybe if Cheechoo can keep it up he will be a good complement for Spezza's game. There's a reason both Kovalev and Spezza's production are way down compared to years past...no snipers.
Just stop. Please God just stop.
Good Point Anon 10:38, I pondered this the other day, anyone notice that Ruutu, although still playing well this year, just isn't the "Pest" that were use to seeing?
He doesn't draw penalty's like he use to, I'll admit some of the stuff he did last year was over the line but do something!
Not sure if this is Cloustins doing or is he just trying to be a regular hockey player this year, perhaps to impress the Olympic team, who knows.
Hard to tell sometimes what fans posting here want: Spezza to play well or the team to win? Sure the two are corelated, but this team....
- gives up way too many goals
- takes way too many penalties
- gives up a weak goal at least once a game
- plays sloppy in it's own end
- is struggling on the powerplay and, recently, on the penalty kill
I expect Spezza to contribute more offensively 5 on 5 and definitely on the powerplay, but the rest?
Better play from the defence corps will fix a lot of what ails this team.
I think it's worth pointing out, amongst all the mistakes, Phillips is having his best season in a long time.
- Jalen
It's called an enternal clock, these guys are playing 10:30pm games not 7:30pm games like the western teams, you could see the sens were running out of gas by the end of the 2nd. Then the 3rd started and it was past midnight back home. You're all gonna say "well they're professionals they should be able to deal with" but it's not something you get used to unless you play out west all the time, which the Sens do not do. The west has always been brutal for us and i blame the time difference. If these games were playing at 7:30est (4:30) then maybe the outcome of these games would be different (not the sharks game). But i digress, the team needs tweaking, picard getting hurt is almost as good as a trade, life moves on, brodeur should start against the coyotes with elliott getting the call against the ducks.
I have come to the point where I have to stop reading the comments on this game. I'm so sick of seeing all of the comments calling out Murray and Clouston, I wasn't aware that trying to show players that if they don't stick to the system, which is what I am assuming happened with Foligno, there will be consequences. It's easy as fans to sit back and say "We lost, and it's all because of coaching errors, If I were the coach I would..." and so on. But you are not the coach, and you will likely never be the coach. They know what they are doing otherwise they wouldn't be with the team anymore, see Hartsburg.
On that note, I noticed a comment about Hartsburg being an NHL coach who lacked support. I would have to disagree 100%, Hartsburg, as shown through his losing record (overall 201-208-69-7) having been over .500 in only 3 of those 7 seasons, and 2 of them by 1 game (if you don't count OTL's, in which case they would be below .500). His junior record is much better than that, having made it to the playoffs every year he has coached. Therefore I would argue that he is a very good junior coach, and a mediocre NHL coach.
The other point I would like to discuss is the play of Kovalev. I read some comments about him being invisible. I have to say that I noticed him on many shifts last night, he was so calm with the puck, even when he nearly turned it over but recovered, it was refreshing to see.
Finally, I am happy that a lot more people are giving Cheechoo credit for his strong play, which he brings every game.
Dave
The team always seems to struggle with these West coast swings, always.
Elliot needs to be better, he wasn't the only bad player out there last night but he definitely deflated the team with some untimely goals. Still, let's all remember that this is the back-up. He's not as good as Leclaire, the defense can't leave him out to dry 15 times like they're used to. They have to tighten up their play while Elliot is in for the next few weeks.
This team does not have a good enough penalty kill to take the stupid penalties they take on a near-constant basis. A lot of people are struggling right now, I don't know what the issue is but they need to get it sorted out fast because a bad month will put you out of the playoffs. On that note, can we all keep in mind when the team struggles that no one was predicting them to be a playoff shoe-in. They were a bubble team, and even that might have been a bit generous. I still expect them to go out and give their all every night though, and that has been sorely lacking the last couple of games.
nobody mentioned how good Phillips was.
People, for @#@#@ sakes. Ottawa got tired in the last 3 minutes, and the last LA PP hurt them in the third.
No one mentions how well they killed that extended 5-3.
Kuba has been bad. Why isn't anyone picking on him?
Otherwise, it was a pretty exciting game.
Did anyone bleeping watch it?
If you want to harp on guys, fine. It easier to be negative, so why shouldn't you be.
The boyz were gassed at that end of the game, and the timezone lag does affect you at that level of competition.
I predict we see better performances against Anaheim, and Phenoix.
Geesh.
KJ
Michalek-Fisher-Alfredsson
Foligno-Spezza-Shannon
its worth a try...
Fisher is playing far far better than spezz. His energy out there would be an amzing boost to the top line.
Clouston is a joke...
I liked the way Karrlson played I feel he will be a star in the NHL one day. also Cheechoo played well nice 2 C
For the people who expect nothing but sunshine and rainbow's in the comments section after a loss and get all bent outa shape about it maybe should just give there head a shake.
It's ok to talk about the negative aspects of your teams game to you know? Doesn't make people any less of a fan IMO. Yes some of the comments in here are pretty stupid e.g. fire Murray, trade so n so for spare parts etc. but to expect pure positivity in these comments after a loss is just as stupid as you claim the critcs to be.
WOW Jalen...my words exactly...those are probably the same poeple who had 4 years of patience with Fisher underachieving and 1 month with Spezza.
I missed last night's game. I see Karlsson played over 26 minutes. How did his defensive game look?
Anons 8:49 10:01 10:24: What are you idiots going on about, there is no way that Elliot is going to start every game in a month until Leclaire is back. Brodeur will get starts. Deal with it.
I love how you people love to rip on this team on any chance you can get! It seems to me that I was the only guy watching a different game last night. I saw a team with gutts and heart! Fatigue was a major factor in this game! People saying that they don't buy the fatigue excuse because they boys get paid is horse shit! When one of you lose a Dmen early in the first, kill insane amounts of 5 on 3s, have boards that are horribly dead, have a fast young legged team that takes it to ya every shift and that the team on the other sides players also get paid! C'mon Phillips played hard the whole game and was dead tired same can be said about Carkner. Volchenkov has a timing issue that with patience will come back shortly. A young Karlsson that played more minutes then he ever played before at the level. Kuba was getting double shifted with Phillips the whole game and was obviously fatigued!
The sens are showing more fight in there game then I ever seen before. A good example of this was the Cheechoo goal. The young 4th line we got are playing really well by putting everything on the line every shift. Mike Fisher...enough said. Kovalev I find is starting to hit his stride. Trust me he is doing better now then he was in Montreal last year! Elliot well I can't ask for more he is keeping us in the game every night. Couple weak goals here and there but for the most part is making huge game savers.
My only real negative that game was the first line. Where in the world were they. I think Spezza's poor play starting to brush off on Alfie with bad turnovers and forcing plays and taking bad penalties.
Well I got my two cents in. Here is to a long season with many games and a huge break for the olympics. Tomorrow is a new day!
There is def something wrong with Cheechoo, the guy cant even skate, falling all over the place when slightly nudged!!
He had his chance on the top 2 lines for 10 games and what did that produce?? 3 assists!!!!!!!
The guy went from 56 to 24 to 12 and now 3.
I thnk its time for him to go hunt some seals like he used to do back in the day!, Get his fire back!!!
SM
"Mike said...
I missed last night's game. I see Karlsson played over 26 minutes. How did his defensive game look?"
Absolutely horrible! Was the reason the Kings went up 2-1 and 3-1.
SM
I've noticed in a lot of your posts, SC, you mention that Alfie and Spez have not skated with the team that practice... Is that because they are playing injured?
As for the people saying Murray should be fired, He's the one that built the Anaheim team that beat out our Sens in the '07 finals... remember that anyone? Maybe he's not that bad at building teams. I think we have some underachieving players at the moment, but not a bad team.
I thought the bulk of the team played well after spotting LA the lead. The Senators were in this one right to the end. The last two goals were icing on the cake and not really indicative of the overall effort of the two teams.
The penalty-kill was amazing with 2 men short for almost 4 minutes.
The real problem on this team is that the star forwards (ie Kovalev and Spezza) aren't producing points.
Ottawa has no chance at the playoffs if they don't start earning their massive paycheques. Fisher, Alfredsson and Michalek can only do so much.
Also, what with all the too many men on the ice penalties? I've been seeing at least one a game, sometimes two or three. Does Cory not know how to organize his lines and players?
Frusterating as a Sens fan, But I know we'll get better.
In case anyone doubted the need for the Leclaire trade, it has been on full display the last two games. Brian Elliott is a backup, and is simply not the guy you can rely on to carry a club on a tough road trip. You need top shelf goaltending if you want to win, particularly against tougher Western Conference opponents, and he hasn't given it to us.
I have no problem starting Brodeur against the Coyotes - it may give the team a lift, and he will be so psyched that he may play over his head. Elliott needs a game to watch, and to get his game together - he is fighting the puck something fierce right now.
for all the spezza sympathisers: i thought he was going to be extra motivated for the olympics and show that he really is an all-time great talent. where did THAT disappear? unless he is trying to make team canada as a defensive forward?
im not saying spezza is shit and is worthless and deserves to be run out of town. but spezza game is way off what it even normally is, let alone expectations. you can only use the improvement in the defensive part of his game for so long. i mean at 50 games if he is still slumping, you're not going to be saying that he is more careful defensively now are you? so just keep things in perspective. he is being paid to score goals than the amount he stops from getting scored.
I agree 100% with Jalen.
Our defense and goaltending are letting us down. But then again, maybe they just aren't good enough.
Spezza needs to be better, but the Spezza bashing is way over done. The whole team needs to pick it up. That includes Alfie.
What do the bashers want? Do you want to run another star player out of town? We can have a hard working AHL squad who plays dump and chase.
I have to say that these last three games have been very frustrating for me as a fan and I understand the discontent being voiced here by some. I do however have a great deal of respect for those of you that are staying positive. We are mid-season now and we haven't had many stretches on the road. I think that the home stand we just came off of was extremely impressive and that this team will make the playoffs but it will be tight. We need to regain our composure and fans need to show unconditional love toward out boys. We could learn something from MTL and Leafs fans everywhere, they may be obnoxious and loud but they continue to support their team through thick and thin. GO SENS GO
For all the Cheechoo naysayers out there, he has more goals than Spezza, and one less than Kovalev.
And he's playing way better than them too in my opinion.
At least it should now be clear to all the doubters why Murray held out until the sharks agreed to include chechoo in the heatley deal.
Jeremie, for your reference:
Brian Burke overhauled the entire defensive corps (which had notables like Salei etc) and signed and traded for key agents. It's funny that the people that say Murray "built" the Ducks miss that while he was GM he never won...when you have only 5 or so players from the previous regime when the time wins, can you really credit Murray for anything?
I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt though. Let's see the Ottawa Senators reach the Cup finals this year or within the next two years. If they do, you're right and Murray can built a Cup winner. If not, then...you have to admit he took a Cup finalist and made a very mediocre and pedestrian team.
Since I know the inevitable: "Scott signed because Rob was there" well, why didn't Scott go to NJ this year and to Calgary previously?
"Murray drafted Getzlaf" He sure did, but someone else made him a winner. The list goes on, Murray sets a small foundation but he is unable to build a winner or be a winner. 30+ years without a Cup to his name. That's failure with a capital "F" folks.
As for Spezza, meh. The local media are convinced he's Yzerman. Hopefully he asks out so we can clear some cap space and get some cheap young players.
hey sm, your and idiot. cheechoo plays with unreal heart. he isnt the most graceful skater for sure, but the guy doesnt lose many battles along the boards are gets in the dirty areas all the time, not most of the time but all the time.He forechecks hard and finishes checks. The way he plays is very effective. Just cause it ain't pretty, doesnt mean he useless. I really think this guy should be given another shot up in the top 6. They should leave him there for five to ten games and see what happens. This guy can still burry 20 this year the way he works.
@Pond
"At least it should now be clear to all the doubters why Murray held out until the sharks agreed to include chechoo in the heatley deal."
Cheechoo was always part of the deal, due to the need for SJ to dump salary(as far as rumour speculation went)... Murray held out for Michalek.
Dave
Hey Ana 11:54..
Learn a thing or two about the game. Elliot may not start EVERY game this month, but you definitely pick your spots IF you want to even put Brodeur in nets.
Yeah let's put a shitty AHL goalie in the frying pan when the team is struggling badly.
Get a clue.
I think often people build up ridiculous expectations. Spezza may not be producing as much but for the first 13 games he was playing a much more complete game and Michalek-Spezza-Cheechoo were playing very well together. I was very pleased with him during that stretch.
After his injury kept him out for two games Clouston has forced this line of Michalek-Spezza-Alfie down everybodys throats. They have been not great defensively and only had a couple of games where they had any significant offensive impact that wasn't on the PP. Most games they spend entirely too much time in our own end struggling to get the puck back. Why? It's because they don't have a physical forward who battles to get it back aka Cheechoo. Not to mention Alfie and Spezza are clearly below 100%. If that isn't obvious the proof is in the face-off percentage of late. Spezza has never in his entire career struggled to win draws. Lately he's struggling badly. I can guarantee that's in some part due to an injury. Something isn't right with him. It might not be bad enough to keep him out but it's certainly affecting his game. That being said the last 3-4 games he is forcing bad passes and falling back into bad habits and we need to nip that in the bud ASAP.
Part of Spezza's struggles however can be aligned with Clouston not putting him in a position to succeed. He needs a bump and grind player with some finish to create slot presence. It helps Spezza be effective aka Cheechoo needs to play with him.
I have said this time and again. Michalek and Alfie are too similar a player. They are very often getting in each others way and have not shown any chemistry together except for the PP.
Look at the big line in San Jose that did all the damage years ago back when Cheechoo was a 50 goal scorer.
Michalek-Thornton-Cheechoo
That's not that big a difference if you just drop Spezza in the middle of that. That is why they were having success early on. Clouston should take advantage of the history and chemistry between Cheechoo and Michalek to make them both more effective and to help Spezza in the process.
Lee should never have been sent down. His speed back there was most definetely helping us win battles and move the puck out of our end. If he puts Campolli in the lineup instead of Lee (with Picard out) then he's being flat out stupid.
/End Rant
Also you might want to realize the Sens are a good team. We will end up being .500 vs. the good teams in the league this year. We are always competitive. The San Jose game should have been a 3-2 one goal game. The LA game was a 4-3 game until our D coughed up the puck like dumbies in the last 3 minutes and shot ourselves in the foot. In general these have been close games and we are competitive. As a fan I emphasize what I think we can do better because that's the way I feel we can help the team.
-Bejamin1
Watched the game at Staples Center last night. Fisher and Cheechoo played really well, Fisher was crashing into Kings and firing bullets. Elliott was terrible - except for a couple of very nice glove saves in the second period. Maybe he was distracted by the King's ice cleaning girls. Spezza looked uncomfortable and did nothing; Keller is slow and looked lost in his few shifts. Kovalev put on a real stickhandling show. Karllson was tenatative when he tried to carry to puck or get involved offensively - and was easily checked off the puck when he tried to carry it. And the penalty that led to the penalty shot was a bad one - Simmonds was not going to score.
I'm surprised how few people are pointing at the absence of Chris Neil. Elliot has played poorly since Boston, but the Neil effect is quite noticeable. Combined with Shean Donovan, the Sens have lost much of what made them hard to play against early on in the year. Gone is the 4th line that can exploit the other team's 4th line filled with slugs and goons, along with the 5-6 D-Men.
Forwards: Just need Neil and Donovan back. Spezza, Kovalev, etc will come around.
D: Same as September, this team needs a 3-4 D-Man to play with Kuba. Too many guys "learning" as they play too many minutes and just way too soft.
Goal: Too much pressure on Elliot Moose. Need Lucky Leclaire back. This Brodeur is not an NHL answer.
Elliot was fine the goals weren't his fault. Spezza needs to get going and other than that, whatever. This team isn't going to win every night so stop acting like the world is coming to an end when they drop a few. People need to relax.
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