The Ottawa Senators continued their strong play on home ice scoring a huge 2-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres and picking up another important two points.
Brian Elliott picked up his second shutout of the season and now has two goose eggs in his last four starts.
The Senators played a solid team game tonight and really seemed to rally around the loss of Jason Spezza. If not for Ryan Miller this game could have been ugly early on. Miller made some massive saves, especially in the first period.
Full credit to Chris Campoli in his debut as a forward. He did not look at all out of place and could have had a couple points on the night.
The game winner came on a soft yet well placed shot from Alex Picard.
Picard along with the other 5 Senators defenceman had a very solid outing tonight. They were careful with the puck all night and really cut down on the lapses that cost them against the Leafs.
Anton Volchenkov was banged up late in the second period but did return for the third.
Jarkko Ruutu took a 5 minute major in the second period when he ran Patrick Kaletta. At first glance I really didn't think there was anything particularly dirty about the play but the TSN guys seem to think he'll be suspended.
Guess we'll find out tomorrow.
Until then......
GO SENS GO
73 comments:
campoli looked good as a forward hahaha...both goalies were amazing good win for the sens
go sens go
Hey Chirp, I thought the same about the Ruutu hit. Looks like he came in from the side and his shoulder may have been a little high but definitely not a 5 min boarding penalty.
Winnie looked very good up on the top line. He owned on the faceoff circle and was affective killing penalties.
Overall great team effort and well deserved win. GO SENS GO
great hopefully it is nothing serious for volchenkov. The fact he did not return scares me. The sens have enough injuries to deal with.
Solid game though.
Go Winchester! Very solid game, strong on the dot, skating like a demon! Regin also played well, bravo.
Seriously great effort from all defenders tonight. It's going to take this kind of effort on the regular for the Senators to finish 6th or 7th by season's end.
Kudos to Elliot, with several big saves.
Finally, to Kovalev: shoot more often! Remember two years ago, when you scored on virtually every Mtl powerplay, curling off the boards around the hash marks and *shooting*? Well, more please.
that game could've been 6-0 if it wasn't for Miller, damn he made some huge saves.
Volchenkov did return
Ha, leaf lovers beware, the sens can do it without spezza. haters should note that this team can play. the comments on this board are so up and down that most downers won't show up tonight. i for one believe this team will stay in contention for a playoff spot without spezza. one game at a time though. glad to see elliot playing well, i think he is far superior on home ice, his road games lack confidence. good win, rest up boys, tough test against NJ on friday.
Kaleta got what he deserved. Also if those pricks on TSN think Ruutu should be suspended. Mair should be suspended for his cheap shot Volchenkov. Guess TSN was upset that the Leafs were losing.
we won because of the 17 less giveaways a game that spezza would give
lol, I would like to take this post to say first of all, that I predicted a 1-0 win tonight by Ottawa (and I was pretty darn close). I thought I had said it here, but I may have written it somewhere else.
Anyway, great win by the boys tonight. Next they got another tough goalie by the name of Martin Brodeur, they really need to get a goal before the 2nd period, or else it will become dangerous. Anyway GO SENS GO!!! Keep 'em rollin' boyzzzzz
Hate to be the voice of reason on this but the sens beat a very flat sabres team tonight. Bot much fight there. That being said I think the sens played a good team game and I am hoping they can repeat against the devils. Boring hockey but a win is a win!
I thought Regin had a good night, he was buzzing around the net all night.
Someone needs to buy Miller a few beers and dinner they had no busy being in the game, he had some amazing saves.
Cant wait for all the spezza haters to flock in and say,
SEE WE CAN WIN WITHOUT HIM, THIS IS WHAT BM SHOULD DO... HE SHOULD TRADE HIM TO X TEAM FOR THEIR BEST DEFENCEMAN, BEST PROSPECT AND 5 FIRST ROUND PICKS. IF HE DOESNT DO THIS, HE SHOULD BE FIRED AND I WILL START WATCHING GAMES AGAIN.
Solid win tonight for the gentleman. Buffalo didnt look their best, but the score also flattered them, because a few of those chances should have gone in, so it works both ways
The crowd was wicked into it tonight! I see the Sens rallying around Spezza's loss, and the city rallying hard around the Sens!
It's sooo true...taking away spezza's usual 10 give aways a night really probably saved a goal or two...ive seen this team play well with out him in the past
i think its time to try and trade the guy sadly for a skilled forward who plays a good, hard and smarter game
Why am I reading that Foligno is out indefinitely? (as per the NHL website recap of the game) Is this just a formality while they figure out what the actual timeline is?
Anon at 10:25..boring game? What? Did you see all those chances Ottawa had? Jesus Christ, they won the game, beat one of the best teams in the East, and THAT'S your comment? Yikes.
Anyway, SC I'll have to disagree with you on the Ruutu hit...blindsided the guy, went straight for the head, nothing more than an intent to injure play. A penalty was deserved.
i was at the game
saw the ruutu hit up close...definite headshot, definite suspension...prob 2 games.
he hit the right guy tho, lord knows kaleta would have done the same to him.
sens won because the forwards played good defensive hockey. they were urgent on the forecheck and urgent on the backcheck.
i felt winchester looked out of place playing a top line role. he caused a lot of transitions with his down low play, which is particularly dangerous against buffalo.
good win. elliot played well too.
great site fyi.
Strong game all around....a couple of things in particular that jumped out were Kuba with a extremely solid rebound game and Kovalev's energy (he seemed to be putting an extra effort on defense tonight)..and finally Campoli!..two sweet passes that had shades of Alfie in them :)
Ruutu deserved the 5 minutes. Not sure he was looking for a head shot but he was looking to plaster Kaleta for sure. Regardless, he has to smartten up - no matter how the player on the receiving end deserves it. the refs sure had it in for him the rest of the game though... brutal.
Have to disagree about Picard having a strong game. The goal was good but he was responsible for a couple of dangerous giveaways. I think Picard should be playoing forward and Campoli on D - although Campoli was pretty solid up front. I liked that line.
I'm liking Regin's game. The kid has some skill.
I've always said Picard is skilled at getting shots through. Often they're soft shots, but they get to the net.
Refs hate Ruutu. Maybe Cici will have to watch his ice-time late in close games...he could get called for farting.
Miller is not human. I'm sure if Ruutu bit him hard enough we'd see wires and circuits, like a Terminator.
The rest of the Sabres made a ton of mistakes...like they weren't focused or something.
For all the Chris Kelly bashers, he played a nice game and his penalty probably saved a goal. Aside from sucking at face-offs, I don't really know why everyone hates on him so much. He's quite reliable.
I wonder if Campoli could look that good on the wing against a better team? That was really surprising! Where did those body checks come from? He doesn't seem to have those in him when he's on D. When he last played as a forward (when he was 6), there was no checking!
I really liked the game of all the forwards that are often accused of being "AHL guys" (Winchester, Regin, Shannon, Hennessey.) They seemed very motivated and again I wonder if they can look like that against a better team.
(The Sabres can be a better team, but they weren't in this game...it was Miller and 18 slugs out there.)
I loved the Star Trek music after Picards goal. I was watching the game and become positively giddy once I realized why they were playing it.
Guys, this team went nowhere without a true #1 center for years. The team needs Spezza, and he will be missed. He just needs to figure out how to play without Heatley.
With that said, if he needs a star winger to reach his full potential, the Blue Jackets have been looking for a center for rick nash forever. There are a few good pieces in Columbus that would make the sens pretty good right away...
"Ha, leaf lovers beware, the sens can do it without spezza. "
Of course we can. All Spezza ends up being is a 7 million cap hit that gives the opposing team scoring chances/
We're fine without Spezza. We'll make the playoffs and then some, with him warming the bench for Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly.
Just an additional comment but the game was indeed boring. Low shot count, not a lot of chances being traded and so on.
We won though and super glad that Elliott got a shutout.
Great to see the crowd getting back into it. Home ice advantage was definitely noticeable tonight; thanks to everyone in section 324 for getting on board and booing every time a Saber touched the puck!
The post-game show on Team 1200 just said that 6 or 7 Sabres had food poisoning. I guess the first star goes to some restaurant guy who left the fridge open all night. Apparently guys were leaving the bench to barf all game.
Ryan Miller, being a machine, doesn't eat so he was as usual...unbelievable.
Anon 11:15
Are you serious?
Honestly, why do you watch hockey...that was an outstanding game. There's more to good hockey that trading end to end rushes. I recommend you take up following NASCAR, lots of speed, and no thinking required...right up your alley!
GN
Miller's got his mojo back.
Watch out for the Americans at the Olympics.
SOOOO - Ottawa is 7 and 7 since LeClaire went down.
Did anyone actually expect more from a banged up team and a second string goalie who hadn't played much ???????
Only SEVEN days until Snoopy returns !
Wow, a solid performance by everybody tonight, what a great team effort! Glad to see we can win a game even with 5 guys injured.
Buffalo looked awful on the other hand with the exception of Ryan Miller. Team Canada should be scared to play the US team because of him alone! Man, he's good!
I must admit, I heard the crowd struggle out a few Go Sens go chants that faded to nothingness after 15-20 seconds. I also heard some boos when the sabres held onto the puck all game. I also heard a Miller chant for a while in the first period. Glad to hear the fans atleast starting to get into it, but it was still rather quiet for most of the game. Louder and longer chants please!
Go Sens go!
Campoli should play forward, and we should definitely hang onto Picard. Regin and Winchester are good young players. I love when we beat Buffalo. Kudos to Elliot, he's playing awesome!
GO SENS GO!
I was really impressed with Campoli' play this evening.
As for Kelly, he has played well this year but how many scoring changes does he need before he puts the puck in the net. It seems like he gets his chances every night but can't do anything with them.
k, first of all, i want to proceed and proclaim that I alongwith a few select amazing hockey minds including SC, was posting all day on this forum against the huge backlash of panicky fans and BM-haters and spezza-haters. and after all, campoli looked good on that fourth line. infact, correct me if I am wrong but I counted atleast 3 A-grade scoring chances by that line. they were bomb in the first, and campoli brought a good physical edge to his game. Man, I thought the guy was a complete softie, but he laid out a few good hits out there on the boards, was effective on the forecheck. Played a really solid game as a forward, whole lot of new respect for the guy, after being scratched and then being put in as a forward on the fourth line, just awesome performance. big time kudos.
elliot was solid. for a moment i got doubtful because the buffaslugs were not really playing and i thought elliot would be shaky on their first good chance, but he came up big on each of their good chances. just great to see him get a second shutout.
all in all, great game by all lines, if not for miller, this was definitely 5-0 in the first for the senators. GUARANTEED. miller absolutely robbed them singlehandedly atleast 5 times in the first.
also, fisher has now gone into near-lock mode for team canada, they were talking about him during the vancouver game and they said he is in top position to take up mike richards spot on the team. infact he might just have bumped richards. which i think he has. it would SUPER for ottawa to get fisher in the olympics, big time confidence boost after a sucky last season.
thoughts on ruutu: i think regardless of his hit being dirty, his antics were fully deserved. and im sure clouston gave him a small pat in the back too for doing what he did. Ruutu, kelly and cheechoo won us this game guys. It was their shift where kelly got high-sticked in the face and the referee looked the other way. that was what got these guys fired up like no tomorrow all of a sudden and they brought HELL TO PAY for buffalo right that moment. the crunched their D, the got that amazing cycle going and they setup Picard's goal the superb perfection. I think Ruutu brought all his weapons to play today, his effectiveness, he pugnacity and his supreme talent of bothering the opponent into a losing situation. i think his hit on kaleta was beyond deserved because kaleta would was starting to get loose and would have taken a nasty run soon at someone. and with that douchebag mair running around, something had to be done. it was nice to see the senators maintain a solid physical edge all game long. each of ruutu's hits and antics dumbfounded buffalo more and more. i think he had a huge hand in absolutely putting buffalo out of this game by taking their dog in kaleta out.
awesome win. if all those boo-birds who were here this morning watched the game, well, they will stay away for a good while because that was as convincing a win you can get. outplayed buffalo from START TO FINISH in EVERY DEPARTMENT, your favorite first line centreman be damned.
To the losers blaming Spezza for giving away the puck, get real.
The Sens won tonight, because they played a solid game, and Elliot made the saves he needed to.
It was a good solid effort from everyone. Regin should have had a hat trick. best game from him in awhile. Miller stoned him though.
KJ
All you fucking ANON's saying trade Spezza can kiss my arse. And if you'd like to know, this is coming from a Mike Fisher fan...
You guys are seriously stupid and I've had enough of your shit. I remember when the target for trade was Alfredsson. It was probably the same morons calling for him to be traded too.
Go find another team to cheer for, I'm getting sick of you douche bags, who probably didn't cheer for the Senators until 2006-2007... you Bandwagon twits.
Signed,
Dylan in Alberta
To all these so-called fans saying this game was boring..... you clearly weren't watching the same game. It should've been 6-0 for the Sens after the 1st period alone. If it wasn't for a couple unlucky posts/crossbars and missed open nets, not to mention some RIDICULOUS saves by miller, this game would've been over in the first 20 and the last 40 would've been boring.
To everyone saying we don't need Spezza, of course we don't, one player isn't gonna win us a cup, it'll be a team effort. If Spezza would stop with the giveaways he'd be much more bearable when he's the ice, he started that season off really well, playing solid two-way hockey and not making too many idiotic plays, but lately he seems to have just given that up and gone back to what we all hated seeing last year.
I won't even get into the Ruutu hit on Kaleta because i hate Kaleta and my opinion would be biased haha
Is anyone else starting to REALLY notice how good Karlsson is? He had a tough start to the year, but i think that demotion to Bingo for 10-12 games has done wonders to his game. He seems way more comfortable and composed with the puck, he doesn't seem to be making the same plays he made before the demotion that would give other teams scoring chances.... this kid is gonna be ridiculously good once he puts some size on.
Loved the crowd tonight, especially the long ovation for elliott after he made that HUGE blocker save late in the 2nd to keep us up 1-0 (even though he admitted he slipped trying to get over and just tried to get anything on it haha). I'm hoping for more of the same on Saturday night!!!
This comment may sound childish but how does Miller get the first star in this game? He is the losing goalie and let in two goals. Now Elliott brings home the "W" with a perfect game. Maybe someone can clear this up to me since i was not at the game.
Dude i was at the game...and for sure the most the crowd has been into it for a while. Gotta love the Miller chants...and koodos to 324 for the booing along with 308! We need to start a 'rowdy' section at SBP...way to quiet for the most part.
I don't think that Ruutu should be suspended for that hit. I will admit it wasn't a clean hit and the 5 minute major was deserved.
Having said this I won't be surprised if the NHL does suspend him simply on reputation alone....which isn't right but that's the way the NHL operates...
GO SENS GO!
I was at the game last night and I saw the hit that took Volch out for a bit, it was a mean elbow...not called by the Refs, of course.
The Rutuu hit look clean, I saw the replay and Kaletta's number were visible to the camera the entire time. Rutuu basicall grazed his face with his shoulder and Keletta went down. It was cleaner that Richards' hit on Booth, much cleaner. I have no idea how someone can get a boarding call when a player is hit from the side, not the back.
If he gets suspended, I will cry foul, not that it will matter. The refs again were brutal and if the NHL turns a clean hit into a suspension it will just further degrade their credibility, if it can possibly get any lower.
I was at the game last night and I left with 10 min remaining in the 3rd period. WHAT A BORING HOCKEY GAME THAT WAS. Timbits hockey was better then that. The Sens might want to get it going because monday night the Bruins are in town and if they play the way they did last night, they are going to get badly beaten. NO SPEZZA, NO SHOW
Good game by the Sens, although I don't think the Sabres all showed up, for whatever reason. Still, you need to take these games when you can.
Miller was amazing.
I was sitting about 10 feet away from Kaleta when Ruutu hit him. The back of Ruutu's helmet hit Kaleta in the chin, that's what caused the damage. I'm not convinced that Ruutu meant to do it, but given his history I guess I could see the league handing him a short suspension. I think after review they'll certainly see that it wasn't boarding.
Kaleta lives by the sword, and sometimes those that do end up dying by it. He threw a really borderline hit on Karlsson late in the 1st, so perhaps this is the universe's way to evening things up for punks like Patrick Kaleta.
Also, the 3rd deck was only half full last night. It was 20% off tickets, why the heck can't people come and fill the place up for a game like that?
do you remember the year the Sens went to the finals...the team was playing ok and really picked it up later in the season when Spezza went down? The way the Sens played last night really impressed me, hopefully they keep playing that way and when Spezz comes back, watch out!! This team will be dangerous!!
I hate hearing that the SENS aren't deep. I find that they have some good depth in the organization. + Last years draft and the year before was spectacular. Bryan Murray is the man let him do his work.
Love to get Filatov though.
GO SENS GO! We're going to win the division mark mey words. + Spezza will rest his back and when he returns in Feb watchout!
Haha Dave Young, that's great. Not only will the dumb-ass anons clamor for Spezza to be traded, they'll make it some insane trade too. "Trade Spezza for the entire Washington roster plus all their draft picks" (the all-capital-letters were a nice touch too). Honestly, for those people out there that speculate trades, put 2 seconds of thought into them and ask yourself "why the hell would the other team do that". Might save you some ridicule on here.
It was a good game by us. I'll be honest, I didn't expect a win (although I always hope for one), but we played strong. Heck, a good team game like that is exactly what we'll need for Jersey, better than relying on one or two big-play players. That being said, I do hope Spezza gets well soon...
even though we didnt see it happen this game, but there is another plus side to having campoli up front: they can put him on the PP to add the extra shot threat instead of putting phillips back there with picard.
Message to Bud...were we watching the same game? A Miller chant? There might have been some Sabres fan but c'mon. And the Sabres "held onto the puck all game"? Now you're making shit up. The Sens crowd looked no different then any other NHL crowd. If you were expecting an ole ole ole chant...then maybe you'll be disappointed.
we won bout only because of food poison, they Sabs did not really seamed slow only 22 shots on our net. there averg is 42. but nice to have the win
The fans were the Senators 6th man on the ice tonight. I was proud to boo the Sabres everytime they touched the puck. I somewhat feel responsible assisting in the teams shutout tonight.
Keep it up fans. There's no reason why we shouldn't be booing the other team the entire game. We pay good money to act like goofs and it's actually a lot of fun when people are into it.
Hey sensay, how about addressing the issue here.
This team from the mid 90s to early 2000s was predicated on speed and a deadly transition attack. We had tremendous firepower and made teams pay for it game in and game out.
Now we don't have that firepower so this has become a much lower-scoring team that has to play prevent defense a good part of the time. That's great and all, it does win games...but hockey is entertainment. This product is a shadow of what it was a few years ago entertainment wise and talent wise.
Just as a counterpoint, the Anaheim-Vancouver game was also close but was MUCH more physical and had more chances generated by both teams, much more team speed as well.
Feel free to keep waving pom-poms though, not all of us are 100% dyed-in-the-wool superfans that would pay to see anything in a Senators uniform...some of us expect dominance, the dominance we were weaned on for the last decade.
Too bad that's gone now.
"we won because of the 17 less giveaways a game that spezza would give"
Not really, we won cuz Buffalo played like crap!!! Man were they aweful!!
Miller was the only one playing out there!!
And for the 5 minute major on Ruutu, come on man, is this a contact sport or not, not only did he not plaster the guy, but even let up and went a bit sideways to not kill him from behind. He did not lift an elbow, he did not lift his shoulder, nothing, just went in straight and brushed Kaleta's chin. Wasnt even a hard hit either.
Either way I dont care about Ruutu as he is completely useless and we did kill the whole 5 minutes but that was more to Buffalo's credit, they sucked hard!
SM
lotta goofs on here, i once had high hopes for this forum, but it seems the quality is degenerating as more dummies find out about the site...maybe it would be better to get rid of anon comments, I'd sign up for an account just to stay on here if it would filter out dumbasses...couldnt follow the game last night, i was busy, but was surprised and happy to see the final score. Food poisoning, my ass.
Oh, and Chirp, of COURSE the tsn guys wanted ruutu suspended, they are all the most obvious bunch of Ottawa haters I've ever seen, especially McGuire and McKenzie. I dont watch the sports highlights on there EVER because of their clear leaf homer bias.
I personally think that Campoli and Phillips were the best Sens out there! granted Elliott shut the door, but if you look closely Phillips had an incredibly clutch game on defense and also a very solid offensive game! I found that the D were pinching and joining the rush more than usual. And Campoli! good hard work on the boards, and his passing!!!!! christ, that was excellent! Looked Kovalevesque minus the 3 laps of the neutral zone before making the pass! i kid, kovalev is definitely working out there, and he needs to! Last note is that Karlsson is looking really confident out there! he played real well last night and making good offensive and defensive plays! Any word if the Sens are going after a short term replacement for Spezz?
What's going on with Foligno?
cant blv the idiots over here who say the sens played a boring game OR that buffalo did not show up. give me a break.
the sens outshot buffalo 11-6 in the first and led the game 1-0 purely because of Miller's heroics, otherwise it would have been 6-0. ofcourse buffalo showed some minor fightback in the second and the shots started to even up. but the senators started the game on a tough physical note and that took it out of the sabres. not to mention ruutu put out one of their top energy guys in kaleta to start the second. this game was all senators forecheck forecheck forecheck. and it forecheck the sabres into the ice.
get over this bullcrap of food poisoning and the sabres not showing up. the sabres record is purely because of their crazy goaltender. they are the semi-NJD, hot goaltender, slightly more offensive team.
i dont know whats boring in that. i dont know whats boring in watching your own team dominate the divisional leader from start to finish. i dont know whats boring in watching the opposing goaltender try to make saves as if his life depended on it, because the rest of his team was getting blasted all over the ice. i also dont know whats boring in watching your team put in a solid full game in after a tough loss to the leafs, while being short of TWO top six forwards who have been running our offense for the past four games.
it was a complete game. get on with it. can't blv the shit that spews here sometimes. comments like "we use to have a dominating team, with so much scoring bla bla bla". go fuck yourself anon @ 9:47 a.m. because that dominating team used to get owned in the playoffs.
i dont know what people watch man. saying things like no team speed? i think i counted numerous senators odd man rushes. i dont know how you get odd man rushes if YOU dont have TEAM SPEED? want to explain that anon@947 a.m. not to mention they had odd man rushes against the leafs too. so no fluke over there.
i have finally come to a conclusion. some people really do have penises stuck in their eyes and ears while they claim to be senators fans and watch senators games. period.
p.s. forgot to add into last nights comments, but has anyone noticed karlsson's active stick? its pretty impressive and very alfie like, he is good at stripping oncoming forwards of the puck with pokes and rushing or passing the other way. the guy is the real deal. he has really proved the doubters (including me) wrong.
TSN had been sucking fresh leaf-dick for the past week. too bad for them phoenix came in and shoved a wedge up the leaf's and tsn's ass collectively.
i flipped the channels a few times to see the score, and the drastic change in comments about the leafs between the start of the game and the end of the game, was day and night.
and also, i dont get why senators fans would want or imply that ruutu get a suspension. as far as i see, it was a good hit, it was in front of the referee. and not just like in front as in 200 feet away, the referee was just a few steps away. he saw ruutu coming, he saw ruutu's hit through and through. and you might even say he had his hand half raised just in case. he thought it was good for 5. and thats what it really was at most.
stop calling suspension. i think ruutu had an effective game and even though he took penalties, he agitated the sabres enough to just put them off their game. good payback for last year. too bad for the sabres they dont have peters anymore.
Nothing new on Foligno yet. Expecting an update at some point today.
Also going to try and tune into that fan forum call and see if anything interesting comes from that.
@9:47AM
Spoken like a true bandwagon fan. Where were you during the 92,93,94,95 stretch? I for one back this team all the way, all the time. A win is a win.
@ hq
Karlsson really is getting more and more comfortable with his play. I was at the game last night and noticed that he finished a lot of hits (which has been uncommon to see in his Ottawa play, but not so while he was in Sweden).
His stick work is very good, I really want him to score his first goal, he contributes so much from the back end with his insane end to end passes, but nothing comes to fruition.
Cowen, Karlsson, Weircioch and Lehner. Not a bad set of prospects from the backend. Hopefully Murray will swing his draft focus to forwards this year...
From Sens Twitter: Foligno needs Scope surgery on Knee and will be out 2 weeks.
What's with all the knee injuries?
They were talking on the team 1200 about maybe calling St. Pierre up to have an option on hand until Neil and them are ready to go. I hope so, he could be excellent playing with the right guys! certainly better than shannon
I too have noticed Karlson's improvement. It's exciting to see how quickly he's learning. He's obviously a very smart person and will be a hell of a defensement in the near future.
Anon 9:47....you're out to lunch.
First of all, please get a free (and quick) handle so we can give up on this Anon stuff.
The Sens are a different team then other years...no doubt about it. I don't see how you can call their style of play boring with a straight face, though. They play an aggressive, attacking, forechecking style that is very entertaining.
During many Jacques Martin years, the Sens were trappists in the NJ mold...and less entertaining. As the roster started filling up with stars and future stars, they became a very high scoring team and were quite a treat to watch. They had a hard time in the playoffs, though, because they were easy to shut down when teams cranked up the muscle and the Sens couldn't respond. So many years it was like..."Where did all the scoring go?"
Now the plan is to be tougher and grind out wins. If you don't find these games entertaining, you're watching the wrong sport.
I'm totally impressed with how Murray has dealt with the adversity of the empty cupboard Muckler left him and the treason of Heatley and still managed to give us a good team to watch.
There are still improvements that can be made to the roster, but you can't force other teams to give you the players you want. Timing is everything...and I'm excited by the direction of the Sens!
You're hit it right on Sacul.. this is a different team. The high-flying, high-scoring team did not know how to grind out playoff hockey.. that's why they did not do so well in the playoffs.
Last night's game was more like a playoff kind of hockey.. if this team keeps playing like this they should make the playoffs. But it's a long season and we can't afford any more injuries.
The NJ game tomorrow will be a good test -- as they are one of the better teams in the league..
Whats with all the Karlsson praise? what has he done that is impressive so far.
That MAJOR giveaway in our own zone trying to go cross ice, almost turning into a goal if not for a diving Campoli to break it up.
His countless lost battles on the boards (he needs to beef up big time).
SM
BLACKMAGIC
Coincidence that one of the brutal refs last night was wearing #15?
Dylan in Alberta...I don't really want to see Spezza traded either but everyone is entitled to their opinion...ya gotta tone it down there Buddy...Wow, that is alomst embarassing to get that worked up over people's opinion. You can yell, scream and swear all ya want but do you think by ranting like like a lunatic you are going to change their minds. I hope you don't go on other sites and rant like that b/c that is embarassing and I sure wouldn't want someone to group me with a hot head like you seem to be.
Mac
To Anonymous December 17, 2009 9:26 AM,
By Miller chant I was refering to the heckle. Milllllllllllerrrrrrrrr Milllllllerrrrrrrrr... get it? A good thing!
As for you quoting me saying "the Sabres held onto the puck all game", I admit, my wording wasn't the best. By that comment I meant that the fans were booing the Sabres all game when they were touching the puck. Another good thing!
All in all, a great game by the Senators and was glad to hear the crowd getting into it. Just a little bit louder and longer chants and I'll be a happy camper!
Go Sens go!
Mac...
I've sat and read a lot of the crap that is posted on this blog over and over and eventually I get sick of it.
Sure people are entitled to their own opinion, but if their opinion is stupid or uneducated, then they'll get to hear about it, if not from me... I'm sure someone else will step up and do it.
I've dealt with this kind of nonsense season after season, when there were no live action feeds on the net I was the one listening to team1200 and then the tripe that would follow the games on the post game show... you wanna talk about hot heads? Before our cup run in 2007, it was trade Alfredsson... there always has to be a goat with these fans, many of whom are simply under educated, impatient and simple.
To say that we don't need an #1 center is simply ludicrous. Spezza is more skilled than just about everyone on this team, besides maybe Alfredsson. No body can pass like Spezza, nobody can find lanes like Spezza and the guy is willing to learn and change his ways. But how can anyone learn or get better on this team when people want that player to be everything right now.
There is another comment about Karlsson up there, from someone who is probably another undereducated hockey fan. This person doesn't see the intelligence or the improvement of Karlsson's game in such a short period of time, rather they see only the bad things Karlsson is doing. Every one of those players is a human being and they aren't perfect.
Our fans need to get the fuck down off their high horse and learn to deal with it. Who am I kidding, the Senators can't sell ticket even when they're winning... WHAT FANS? Bandwagoner's the lot of ya. I wish I lived in Ottawa and got the chance to go to live games and watch my team play. Here in Edmonton, the Oilers sell out almost every night and their tickets are far more expensive.
If you want to continue to debate, I'll let you know... I've debated much more tedious and boring subjects than Hockey. We can try US politics on for size if you like?
Dylan
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