The Senators were back on the ice, the morning after a tough loss at the hands of the red hot Hurricanes.
Tomorrow sees the Sens match up with another cellar dweller as they host the rival Maple Leafs for a 7:00 PM puck drop. Wasn't pretty the last time these two teams met so you know Ottawa will come out hungry.
After last night's debacle you can bet that Brian Elliott will get the start. Clouston is a no non-sense kind of guy and it showed last night when he gave Leclaire the hook just 7 minutes into the game.
While those were saves you would love to see Leclaire make early in a game, he shouldn't shoulder all the blame. Defensive zone coverage was weak on both goals and has been an issue the last couple games.
The Senators were a little shorthanded at practice this morning with Ruutu, Regin, Winchester and Shannon all not on the ice. Winchester was out for personal reasons while the other three have been hit by the flu bug. Could be some call ups tomorrow to replace sick players.
No change to Filip Kuba which means he is unlikely for tomorrow night.
72 comments:
Leclaire is damaged goods....it's frustrating to watch him play, I'm pulling for him, but his game is gone. We need a goalie who can steal a game once in a while like Hasek in '07. Elliot is our best hope and if all else fails we got the undefeated champion Brodeur!
Damn flu bug! I have bad feeling we're going to lose to the Leafs now :(
It does not sound encouraging for the Sens tomorrow night. I'm still very disappointed that Clouston decided to pull Leclaire six minutes into the game. Go Sens Go!!!
They will lose against the Leafs...it sucks but that's how it will go. They're already making excuses for the game tomorrow with the flu bug thing....whatever. It seems this team always needs a slump to get back to playing well.
Well Chirp, I disagree on reason for pulling Leclaire last night !
The whole team never showed up at all . Toal disgrace, so blame Leclaire . They played 5 minutes in 3rd period,what a shame !
If I were Pascal, I would pull a "Dany Heatley" and say "Diminished Role" !!
Look how many posters on your website, all agreed not to pull Leclaire so early .
Coach Clouston needs to sel-examine his "Trigger Happy" habit.
Also, the line combinations have to go back to the winning combinations, that produced the many wins in a row after Jan14th,
(Alfie-Fisher) and when all or almost all key players were healthy.
This team beat Washington twice,
and can play exciting hockey, so
I hope that on Saturday, they wake up, and trounce the Leafs , or face another dive into a losing streak similar to early January !
Robert Cyr
Call cheechoo up ~~!!!!!
Cant stand the comments that already have our team defeated.. what happened to rooting for our team and going in with the attitude that we're gonna kick some ass instead???
Get well guys and to the healthy ones..please...lets stomp on those leafs on sat
Three options with Leclaire:
1) Let him play 5-6 games no matter what and if isn't playing better than Elliott's best by the 6th game, Elliott's the man.
2) Give up completely and ride Elliott.
3) (Too late here) Send him to Bingo for a conditioning stint and if he gets to playing lights out down there call him up and put him in goal.
But to expect him to "prove himself" in 7 minutes is totally unrealistic.
Clock is ticking ....
I thought Lee and Carkner looked lost again last game. I never thought I would ever say this but I think we could use Campoli back.
It's time to trade lee before his value dies. And this coming from a big Lee fan.
William, Hasek wasn't 07. You mean Emery! :)
Would have been interesting to see what we could have done w/Hasek had he not pulled his groin muscle though thr season prior.
J
Chirp, why don't they send LeClaire down for 10 games for a conditioning stint? Are they not allowed to do it?
Or is LeClaire not willing?
I think Carkner will be the odd D-man out once the playoffs start. Love his effort but
Campoli and Sutton are a lot better.
People piss on Campoli but he brings speed.
William Rentz - you *might* be right, but I don't think Clouston has done enough to know for sure. Not that he has the luxury of letting Leclaire lose a bunch of games to remove all doubt, but I think with the injuries and the break and Elliott's strong play it's become hard to give Leclaire time to get his game in order.
Now some will have no sympathy for Leclaire's injuries etc, which is fine I guess, but whatever the cause any goalie needs some time to settle back in.
As I said in an earlier post, the clock is ticking in that we don't have enough games left to mess around and we should still be trying to win the division or even finish second in the conference, but if this was happening in November or if we had a decent lead in the division then the approach would be different - i.e. let him play a bunch of games without pulling him after a questionable goal.
It would be nice if for once we can all be healthy. It just gets sickening man because we'll never get to see what damage this team can really do.
brutalllllllllllllllll
I hope this flu bug misses Mike Brodeur. Mark my work, he will be our saviour
Andrew Ladd wouldn't have been brought down by the flu bug. He would have only gotten stronger.
Anon 2:45 - your word, marked!
lol
Matt Catner maybe not as good as we think, we are getting closer to the playoffs and players are starting to peek, he looks lost the last 5 games. I also see Lee is much better I hope they send Cartner down next time and give Lee a real shot.
Robert Cyr you're wrong. See the difference is when Elliot was put in not only did the team play with a little more confidence, but he actually bailed them out numerous times throughout the game or it would have been a blowout instead of 3-1 with an empty netter.
Look at Leclaire. He looks absolutely tiny in the net. Rebounds go everywhere. Elliot, Lungquist, and Miller actually fill up the net. I've supported Leclaire and hoped he could turn it around for a long time. It's becoming quite clear his one good year was a fluke and was probably caused by a team that played the 1-2-2 all game instead of his ability. He makes the big flash save, but he can't do the little things right. There are so many small things he does poorly or at least has been doing poorly. Perhaps it's because the guy has spent over half his career on the IR and he can't get into a groove. Either way after next year is this the guy you want leading our team? A guy we can't even trust to stay healthy? He might have #1 potential but it won't matter if he spends 2+ months in the injury ward every year and can't even make the easy saves. Clearly he hasn't been able to handle the pressure of a Canadian city. I'm ready to call it at this point. He's not going to be the guy. I'll be happy if he proves me wrong, but he looks absolutely terrible right now. Elliot for now, Lehner in the future. Dump Leclaire for a bag of pucks at the draft.
To everyone in the last post saying Clouston made a mistake pulling Leclaire...
Elliott came in and stopped what, 13 of 14? Including absolutely robbing samsonov? How the hell do you guys STILL think that Leclaire is the guy?
Do I think Elliott is the long term answer for the Sens? No. Will he win us a cup? Probably not.
But I KNOW that Leclaire is a bum, a goaltender with no fundamentals or positioning that has rode 1 good season and a top 15 draft tag to Ottawa, and if we're lucky we'll be able to offload him to ANYONE for ANYTHING in the offseason.
We all did not think Clouston made a mistake. I think he made a great change and Elliott actually gave us a chance out there.
SM - Elliott may not have single handedly won us any games during our win streak, but he also didn't lose any. I can think of at least 5 games this year where Leclaire single-handedly ruined our chances of a win.
Last night and the last time we played Carolina
12/23/09 vs the Pens (6g on 24shots)
10/22/09 vs NSH(6g on 37 shots)
1/3/10 in a Win vs Phi where we won 7-4. Leclaire gave up 3 goals on 10 shots. If our team didnt play so well and Elliott hadn't come in and stopped 10 of 11, we lose that game.
Name one he's stolen. Maybe Montreal 10/17/09.
So we're supposed to put up with 4-5 CRAP efforts because he can steal one (not that we've seen him do so) every now and then? WTF kind of logic is that.
Give me Elliott 10 time out of 10, you take leclaire, and I'll win 7 of those 10 games.
Elliott deserves some friggin respect, he's come all the way through the organization and played his ass of for him. The fact that many of you would rather back a guy who's played 29 games for us TOTAL and throw Elliott under the bus is appalling. I truly wish you were not Ottawa Senators fans, and I mean that.
Go Sens Go.
Anon 2:45.
In marking your work I noticed a typo. B-
Hey Rizzo, why do you HATE Leclaire so much? did he sleep with a family member of yours or something?
Ive never seen so much hatred for a player who has only played 25 games in a SENS uniform.. dont be so closed-minded. The team fell apart yesterday, Elliott came in and did a good job.. How come you arent blasting Elliott for the NYR game, and praising Leclaire for coming in and holding the fort??
Im not telling you who to cheer for, but you need to take it easy.. he is an Ottawa Senator, and when he is between the pipes, or riding the bench, you cheer for him.. FINAL.. Cheer for the logo in the front, not the name on the back!
Im a Leclaire supporter, but I cheer for the logo on the front first, and if Elliott gets us the wins, then lets go with him..
Rizzo,
Yeah, because giving a goalie 6:23 to get his game back after concussion problems then yanking him because of poor defensive coverage is justifiable.
Leclaire, Leclaire, Leclaire, in nhl 2004 on the ps2 you had such potential!
And it always worked out!
Why can't you be more like your videogame counterpart from 6 years ago???
LEHNER / ELLIOT ARE THE SENS FUTURE LECLAIRE IS DONE !!!
I'd call up LEHNER of a tryout like the leafs did with kadri and if he can back up Elliot ..lose Leclaire and use the money to resign Atrain and Folingo and pick up another player or 2 in the off season ..
BRING CHEECHOO BACK
Le claire needs to go-he has never proven anything and is a 3.7 million dollar drain.
call up cheechoo and smith for the leafs.
tell the players straight out, loose against the leafs, bag skate for two hours sunday.
Greatwhite said,
Chris k is a leclair supporter and a spezza hater... Great points but reality is that elliot is our starter and spezza is our guy for the next 5 years ... He must be a habs or leafs fan for sure.
Ok, all the comments about Leclaire being lost and send him to the back and shoot him or whatever; come on ladies!!!
The guy has been screwed over by injuries all year. When he gets some playing time, he'll hit his stride and gain his confidence back. You don't just lead the league in shutouts one year for a poor defensive team like Columbus and not be a good goalie. Some of the comments on here are so shortsighted it's not funny.
Give the guy a chance.
-Mark
I agreed on pulling Leclaire early, but not because I think Elliot is the #1. I agreed on pulling him because Clouston's job is to win games, and the best way to win last night was to send a message to the team and try to stop some of the bleeding. It wasn't about Leclaire's confidence it was about trying to salvage two points.
Now we know why we sucked last night.... we should be fine going forward in that case
Even if we lose a couple games, we have a hero on our team to cheer for...
http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1267823260083RA21
GO SENS GO!!
Teebs
leclaire needed a train wreck game so when all was lost he could finally relax and concentrate on his game... we didn't say boo while elliott was having a rough game for about 6 games but then again, the team didn't show up for him then either.
Hey there Bejamin,
You make solid statements, and I agree with you that Elliott has played 10 times better than Leclaire,but my argument was not that Leclaire has been our #1, hell he has trouble being #2 !
The point of my argument is all about our Head Coach who is "Trigger Happy" when it involves the performance of a goalie.
He not only yanks Leclaire too early, but does the same with Elliott. This is what got us into a dive in early Jan., and is doing the same thing right now .
Leclaire needs to be in 4-5 games ,starting with the Leafs on Saturday .
What I do not want to see is Elliott starting,and getting pulled early, should the Leafs score 2 quick goals. If like you say ,he is our "go to guy", then leave him in, even if score goes to 4-0 Toronto !
Other than that, Cory Clouston is the best Head Coach the Senators have had, since Jacques Martin !
Robert Cyr
Greatwhite,
So I make good points, Im a Spezza hater, and im probably a Leafs or Habs fan eh?
Since I know you in person, I wont bother justifying you point, I will just punch you in the face when i see you, haha.. BTW, havent you only been a SENS fan for 3 years, and youre 30 yrs old?
I'll admit I cheered for the Habs, but now they are the team i hate the most, moreso than the Leafs..
Anyways, Greatwhite is messed up.. it probably took him 1 hour to type up those 2 lines he wrote..
GO SENS! haha, malaka
I hope Carkner pounds Orr tomorrow night....
Elloitt seems to have a way longer leash. Im hoping pascal can find himself soon, but why doesnt clouston give him more room to play himself out of bad situations. As soon as leclaire lets a goal in he has to be reattled knowing Clouston has his boy Elliott ready to take over.
Good post Rizzo. It gets a little too tough in the end. But that could be one of the best posts you have made.
Were do I stand
I thought it was extremely pre mature. At the time. But by the time the first period ended, I got it. If Leclaire stayed in, who knows. But I get it. Clouston knows how solid Elliot is. He isn`t Bias. He just knows where he gets the effort. Elliot was great.
I got into it with you Rizzo about this before. I liked Hax`s thought on how Leclaire only ever playing behind a poor playing Senators. Its kinda Ture too. But your right now Rizzo. Elliot has gotta be the go to. I was bummed when Leclaire got pulled early but then I saw Elliot make saves that could have made it 4 - 0 in the first 12 minutes if Lecaire stayed in.
Sick of people loading up the hate for Clouston after he makes one questionable move. Which in my opinion worked out the best any decision at that moment could have. Clouston is the reason we are bitching we are going to lose our 3rd spot in the east. Stop It. Ripe whom every you want fairweather fans. Just leave Double C outta it.
Lastly, you can really tell a ignorant hockey fan when they talk about how Ottawa couldn`t even beat the bottom feeding Carolina Hurricanes. I Gamble on Hockey alot and I have won alot of Money on Carolina this year. The team we played last night was some where along the lines of the Conference Finalists of last year. We Complain about injury. They have had it just as hard as us and are finally healthy. They know they have lost it this year. But they also know they are just as good as any team in the league right now.
I hate Toronto and I hate Burke. But I actually agree with the Kessel and Phaneuf deals. He has his work out out for him still. But he had absolutely nothing to work with and now he has something. My point is Toronto isn`t the greatest right now. But also are not as bad as people make them out to be. We definatley have our work cut out for us tomorrow. PLEASE SBP fans! PLEASE counter the Alfie BOO. It really does effect him.
In Clouston We Trust.
And Lets get it DONE!
And keep your head up boys. Dion knows he has an oppertunity in his first Ottawa game to make every Toronto fan buy his jersey if he levels someone in that game.
PS. Chris K is on to something with the comment on Leclaires pads. They are the nicest looking pads in the League. But I could believe they work against him. Look at the Fluery pad change. Price sucked in the Browns and Turco is getting kicked outta Dallas for his Gold ones. Something to definatley address over the Summer if we are planning on playing Leclaire next year.
Is it too early for the Sens to be worrying about losing their playoff spot?... No
As fast as we moved up the standings, the fall is even faster. Need to sweep the Leafs this week (or else)
TM
WOW Thank you SO MUCH
Teebs!
no we dont boo elliott as he is our man , and his softies are learning experiences.... leclaire makes big dollars to not let in softies....something you have to do when you make huge money-SAVE THE PUCK!!!!
all you have to do is count s hots here guys...even the games weve won with leclaire , he lets in 2-3 goals on his first 10 shots ALWAYS
ELLIOTT is our #1 accept it guys!!!
we cant be mad at clouston for pulling leclaire.... heck i bet if not for lehner, brian murray himself regrets bringing in this compo-case
there is a point where just blind optimism looks more like unknowlegeable idicoy time to call a spade a spade around here.
You want the starting job ? Pissed you have been riding the pine for the past 20 games ? well you go in there and battle and find a way to not give up 2 goals 6 mins into the game and earn back some trust from your coach and teammates.
totally unrelated, but i figured that SC you might know this. What ever happened to Peter Shaefer? Has he retired or is he playing in Europe?
totally unrelated, but i figured that SC you might know this. What ever happened to Peter Shaefer? Has he retired or is he playing in Europe?
alright!!!! lets call up zack smith and fucking kick some make belief ass!!!!
GO SENS GO!!GO SENS GOO!! GOOO SENSS GOOOOOO!!!!!!
Man, if aything, this blog provides constant moments of hilarity! Well done JustSaying.
The Leafs ended our streak last meeting...let's hope the Sens can START their next streak with a win Saturday night. GO SENS GO!
The Sens don't give Lee any chance to succeed. They put him in there, and what do they do? Stick him on the left side, which he's never played in college or the AHL. Carkner has been way more brutal than Lee.
Screw Brodeur, Leclaire and Elliot. Put Andrew Ladd in nets!
Andrew Ladd for Prime Minister
You people want to get rid of leclaire after what his season has been like so far??? This guy does have the pedigree to be very good, at least I believe so. Dont give me the he played a 1-2-2 system in Columbus and thats why his numberes were padded. That supposed system didnt get the Jackets in the playoffs so it couldnt have helped that team too much now could it??? I guess thats why Marty Brodeurs stats are padded too???? (Sarcasm) Come on people. I am leclaire supporter and it tells me that if some fans want to pull the plug right now then your judging this year on the low number of games hes played. A tender needs consistent time in net. He has had long breaks with injury etc. I will agree that if Elliott is still better in the next dozen games then we have to stick with him, but if Pascal can be that pedigree he is than it would benifit us a lot more come playoffs. JUST MY OPINION, THANKS!
Sent a rebuttal comment to Bejamin
hours ago, and guess you have been busy, and not overlooking SensChirp for those hours .
This has been the most contoversial topic on SensChirp in a long time, and I enjoy having a tirade with some of your posters !
BTW Cory Clouston was interviewed on CTV Ottawa,and really must have felt the heat , because he backed Leclaire, and said he believed in Pascal Leclaire.
Bet he starts Leclaire on Sat vs the Leafs !!
Robert Cyr
LOL Teebs, good work! didn't know about that viral video thing til now.
Andrew Ladd scored tonight! We should have got him
When will the Sens give Mike Brodeur a shot?
did anyone notice that Cheechoo is an Assistant Captain in Bingo.
Good for him to get back on track down there and hopefully be back up here next year,
Bashing Leclaire is just plain stupid. If he gets his game back all the bashing will stop, i recall him stealing a few games this season before going down to injury at the start. He is a great goalie and sens fans wonder why we have the rep that we do about bashing our players. give the guy a freaking chance he is just getting back into the rhythm. I hope he proves all the haters wrong. As for Cheechoo I agree call him up we are much better off with him in the lineup! after all look at our record without him! POINTS DONT SAY IT ALL MURRAY!!!!!!!
Just say the SportsNet bit on Andrew Ladd. Guy seems like a douchebag to me.
Bunch of pussies!
Play through the sickness, it'll put some hair on your chests!
The comments on this string are the best I've read. As far as arm chair GM's, that's what you guys are. The only point I would make is that as far as seeing and feeling what is actually going on in the locker room or on the ice. there is really no way you could measure that. So your opinions about who is hot, working hard or done are full of hot air. Stats are only one element to measure...really take your chair to the next level and go see a practice, then bring that back to the board. Cheechoo by the way will come back in a big way. It's been done too many times in the past. He's just past 30, still a good 5-7 years left in that horse. The team that uses him will reap the rewards.
I don't hate Leclaire. Please read my post: I hate the fans that back this guy over a Ottawa prospect-through the ranks- guy like elliott. All he does is play his heart out every game and still people call for leclaire.
But you know what, I don't need you on my side. Clouston, in the Ottawa Sun, said “They’re saves that we need our goaltender to make. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been pulled.” Obviously I'm on the same page. If I trusted Leclaire at all, I'd back him. To me, playing 28-29 games doesn't make someone a sen. As a Sens fan of over a decade, it just hurts seeing us back a guy like this over a guy who leaves everything on the ice game after game in Elliott. I'll take that heart over any "athleticism" advantage Leclaire offers.
I just want to see the Sens win. Elliott will help us now, Lehner in a few years. Don't take cheap shots at me if you disagree, I'm out here because I love the sens. You won't find many fans willing to fly up to ottawa 3 games a year to go to games, and I never miss a game on TV or when they play here in Pittsburgh. Most, if not all, of the regulars know that anything I say, I truly say because I love this team, and I always will.
Hope that clears it up, let's leave the personal stuff out from now on eh? Let's just focus on...
GO SENS GO
I'm tired of hearing the excuses of broken defensive coverage. So, does this mean that anytime this occurs the goalie is off the hook for the goal. His job is to stop the puck and this includes in particular, when there is a coverage breakdown. Is this not his job? He looked terrible the other night, so did the team but the excuses have to stop. If this was Gerber everyone would be burying him, but Leclaire - who at this point has worse numbers then Gerber - has been awful this year. Stop the puck and stop the excuses, please.
Right on Rizzo!
I'm from Montreal and make a few trips down myself to support my Sens!
I agree with you 100%!
All together now......
Go Sens Go! Beat those freakin Leafs tonight
SC, no one seems to know the answer so maybe you do. What are the implications involved to sending Leclaire down for conditioning vs having to clear waivers to go down?
Amen Rizzo!
BTW Harry, thanks for the post. I appreciate it. This is definitely something that gets e fired up, but in the end...what's important is that, whoever fans support individually, the only thing that matters is that we all want to see the Sens win.
within 2 weeks the sens will be in seventh, but will still definitely make the playoffs.
pg
Who is talking about stealing a game?
I'd be happy if Leclaire would just show up for once.
I am glad Clouston yanked him last game. Perform or sit. This is pro sports.
is leclaire starting tonight ??
is leclaire starting tonight ??
Rizzo,
Nobody's 'picking' Leclaire over Elliot, but Leclaire needs to be in net despite some poor play. He's never going to get back to his potential by riding the pine or playing in the AHL. His game needs to improve at the NHL level and there's now way that can happen if he gets pulled less than 7 minutes into a game. That will just make him play worse next time, and everyone will blame him for that too I guess,,,,
Leclaire needs to play. Sens can't risk him getting into games right now with only a 6 point lead over 7th place.. and 10 points up on 8th. Send him to Bingo for a conditioning stint -- if they can -- for about 5 or 6 games. Bring up Brodeur or Holt (who has the better average) to backup Elliott.
That's the only way to get Leclaire playing and to get his confidence back.
How can campoli and sutton be a better pair? nobody has seen them together?
campoli was a waste of a first round pick!!!!!!!!!
Carkner is going nowhere!!!!!
should have kept vermette and sent kelly in his place.............................
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