When fans looked at this November road trip, it looked like it had potential to be a make or break point in the Sens season. The team had dropped four straight and was staring at a six game road trip that matched them up against some tough opposition. To their credit, the Sens rallied from a rough outing in Buffalo and played some excellent hockey in Toronto and Western Canada.
Ottawa has picked up seven of eight points since the Buffalo game and have kept themselves in the mix in the East.
The rest comes at a good time for the Sens as they have played as many games as any team in the NHL.
While the Sens may be quiet at the NHL level, their prospects continue to rip it up in leagues across North America and Europe. The latest version of the Sens Prospect Report is out and you can check that out here.
With a few days between games, don’t forget to vote for Daniel Alfredsson and the rest of the Ottawa Senators for the NHL All Star Game. There was a good initial push from Sens fans but we need to keep it up if we are going to vote the Captain into the starting line up. I have an educated hunch that he will likely be involved anyway but lets not leave it to chance.
VoteAlfie!
_______________________________________________________________________
Last week, SensChirp readers named Chris Kelly as the most Underrated Senator of the last twenty years. Certainly hard to argue with that choice as Kelly continues to be a strong player in this league, now wearing an A with the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Today we look at a far less flattering category. The most overrated Sen of the last twenty years. Some good candidates over the past couple decades but in the end there was one player that ran away with the title.
Drafted first overall in 1993, Alexandre Daigle was supposed to be the next big thing. Despite putting together a solid rookie season (20 goals, 51 points) Daigle never seemed to meet the lofty expectations placed on him after he put up 137 points in just 53 games in his final season with Victoriaville of the QMJHL.
In 616 games at the NHL level, Daigle racked up 327 point but never reached superstar status as a pro. For that reason, 41% of SensChirp readers selected Alexandre Daigle as the most overrated Senator of the last twenty years.
Honourable mention to Alex Kovalev (11%) and Dany Heatley (10%).
MOST OVERRATED
Alexandre Daigle- 25
Alex Kovalev- 7
Dany Heatley-6
Mike Fisher-3
Radek Bonk-3
Brian Lee-2
Martin Gerber- 2
Pascal Leclaire-2
Ray Emery- 2
Wade Redden-1
Brandon Bochenski- 1
Craig Anderson- 1
Dominik Hasek-1
Jakub Klepis-1
John Muckler-1
Josh Hennessey-1
Mike Comrie-1
Ah good question. Just the one vote for Wade.
Agreed. Votes for Redden, Anderson and Hasek certainly jump out as being more personal than anything.
Can't wait to see the next batch in a Sens uniform.
SC - who will get a chance at next year's lineup?
Great questions. Going to be a lot of guys pushing. Borowiecki, Silfverberg are both ready. Zibanejad should push again next year. Stone is close.
The absolute latest on this, from a quality contact, is that there is still one signature missing before they can move ahead. Still time to get it done but nothing finalized yet.
Regarding those trucks, I was told awhile back that they organization had started the process of HD wiring (that can't be the technical term). Perhaps that could have something to do with the trucks.
Agreed.
Emery with 2 votes along with Le Glass + Gerber? Really? He may have had a rock star persona but he could still outplay Gerber, AND Leclaire, AND Anderson. And this is a guy who backstopped us to the finals as a sophomore NHL goalie.
in terms of overrated you could look at as overrated in terms of what it cost us to acquire (Bondra fits the bill there)
Overrated in terms of salary (Kovalev takes the cake here)
Overrated in terms of hype (Clearly its Daigle)
If you combine everything and ask who was overrated when you consider hype, salary and acquisition price may I suggest Tom Barasso?
Short stay, played OK, but we lost Tugnutt and Laukenen solid NHLers, all for nothing really since we lost anyways
Hon mention to: Gerber (one good year equalled fairly sizeable contract, held our Number 1 job basically for 2/3 years and was really never good)
2005/2006 - 82 gp, 50 g and 103 pts
2006/2007 - 82 gp, 50 g and 105 pts
2007/2008 - 71 gp, 41 g and 82 pts
2008/2009 - 82 gp, 39 g and 71 pts
Let's not let our hatred for the guy change what he did when he was wearing a Sens jersey. He was everything but overrated as a Senator.
Good idea. Two horse race I think!
He was what he was ( numbers above prove it ), but without Spezza ans Alfredsson, those numbers would have been much lower. His last 2 years in San Jose were even lower.
In 20 games with Wild, he has 5 goals and 7 assists, on track for 20 goals and 28 assists = 48 points ??
Will not make it as player in All Star Game next January.
Heatley and Yashin... lol
Funny, I thought we were talking about most overrated Senator, meaning anything Heatley has done since leaving Ottawa doesn't factor into the conversation.
Sure he fed off of Alfie and Spezza. All three of them benefited from each other, forming the most dominant line in hockey. Alfie's and Spezza's numbers would have been much lower without Heatley too.
The point remains the same, we was never overrated when playing in Ottawa.
Agree with you on this, but well overpaid and self-centred !
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/13429/hockeys_future_organization_rankings_fall2011110/
How do you think DaCosta would do against Crosby IF he plays 2nd line centre on Friday? All I can say is YIKES.
This comes from a friend of mine who is one of the sens accountants.
Believe as much or as little of it as you wish.
With all the money that SBP brings in as revenue, why would they lease a scoreboard, instead of buying it outright ??
As you mentioned, important signature still missing. Still sounds fairly promising.
I'm thinking of a player who enjoys an undeservedly good reputation that's not actually borne out by his play. Daigle certainly doesn't fit that definition - overhyped, certainly.
That said, even though I think he fits the bill - my vote for Fisher was totally personal.
Pretty rare in this city where people are always hard on players that don't produce. Fisher is an interesting choice though and seem to fit based on your definition. His reputation had a lot to do with the type of guy he was away from the ice too although I think that's an important part of being a pro hockey player.
Gets a little tricky with different fans having their own opinion on what makes someone overrated. Certainly makes for an interesting debate.
i don't know
spreads costs over a number of years rather than a massive outlay in one fiscal period or a lease with an option to buy at a later date as the ASG is close by orbecause there is a more radical overhaul planned and this is a short term measure to cover the ASG and the immediate future or they are looking at scrapping SBP in 2016 and moving to a permanent outside rink on the rideau canal
or none of the above - but for whatever reason, it's being leased
That's a terrifying thought right there. I don't like how any of our centers match-up against Crosby and Malkin, I don't think many teams do lol
Maclean is smart enough though to do his best to avoid an unfavorable match-up like Da Costa against Sid or Gino. Pittsburgh has last change but I'm sure we're going to see the line of Winnie Alfie and either Michalek or Foligno match-up against one of their top two lines and the Spezza line against the other.
Da Costa needs to spend some time on the fourth line or in the press box, or even better, in Bingo.
have to agree and my vote was one of the Gerber votes.
the only reason he played was b/c of his contract, which was given after one good year.
he was not an NHL level goalie, and the fact that he never really played after he was gone only proved it.
Had we had decent goalie when he was here, and we had a very strong team, we would have been a different team, and for that I say he was the most overrated.
They do see a lot of revenue with concerts and the All Star game this year especially, but Melnyk lost money last year. Hard to convince a business man like himself to shell out large amounts of money for a scoreboard when he lost money last year and SBP's attendance has seen one of the largest drops in the league in the last 5 years or so.
Although, that new scoreboard is needed. The old one is an embarrassment and has to be one of the worst in the league.
I heard one of the reasons they were delaying is that they were waiting for new technology... Maybe the lease is such if that new technology comes out in the next several years... then they can just go buy a new one and just 'return' the one they leased? Does what I wrote make any sense?
What????
non of this makes any sense to me.
2007 we were in the finals and the next year league leaders in attendance.
Today we may not be league leaders, but we are still up there in league attendance.
like to know where this losing $$$ comes from
pretty hard to "return" a big scoreboard like that. Especially with the time it takes to build/install them each time. You really need a break in the schedule to carry out such an installation I'm thinking.
There's much more that goes into it. The physical installation, testing, training of the operators on it (im guessing it wont use the same control hardware either).
yes, and maybe tax purposes... which could also explain the "Losing money" argument.
BIG difference between attendance and revenue from attendance. Ottawa gives away tonnes of tickets in order to fill seats. I saw an article a year or so ago that had ottawa in the top 3 in ticket sales drops in recent years. I don't have the exact stats, but heres an article from 2009
http://www.faceoff.com/story.html?id=16077a1c-1b1e-4af8-b207-a4a53b1e20e7
non of this makes any sense to me.
like to know where this losing $$$ comes from
Melnyk has stated numerous times that the Ottawa Senators need to get to the playoffs to break even. Player salaries count for 60 or 70 million a year. That is a huge initial outlay. Add to that all the equuipment provided to each player at no cost to the individual themselves. For instance each stick used is $300. I wonder how many sticks each player uses per season. 300 bucks might not seem much but these are the cost the general public don't take into account. Plus there are all the salaries of the people who work at SBP unconnected to the actual hockey team.
This is why players get sent up/down. The days that The Daug spent getting his teeth fixed, the sens saved $3000 a day because he had been sent down. The outlay for a mjor sport franchise are massive.
But then we'll have a log jam at forward?
I'm sure Murray will kick the tires on Okposo. He is a budding power forward on a crap team. When he plays with Tavares he produces, but they have really juggled their lines a la Clouston this year.
Whether you like Crosby or not... you have to be amazed by what he can do.
What a time for the Pens to have a completely healthly lineup.
Sens have 1 centreman who can compete with Malkin, Crosby, Staal in the faceoffs - a lot of inexperience down the centre for the Sens... outside of Winchester... YIKES... I hope Anderson is better come Friday and absolutely can stand on his head.... or it could get somewhat Ugly. Still cheer for my Sens but right now they don't have the experience to compete with the forwards in the top 6 of the Pens...
Goal and an assist for Crosby.
Chirp.. do a poll.. how long will it take Sid to be at the top of the scoring race.. 2 pts in 1 period so far.
Took Crosby in the SensChirp pool. Finally time to get rewarded for the bold first round selection!
Sir, thanks for the Puemple update - much appreciated.
He is simply amazing to watch, and has 2 goals and 2 assists
in a 5-0 score, near the end of the game.
It would not be surprising, to see him after missing 20 games, and surpass all the players, and win the scoring championship at the end of the season.
Truly an elite hockey superstar !!
They're just that good, to be completely honest.
This upcoming match up should be a real stern test for us. We'll really need to come out flying and make it a play-off like atmosphere if we even want to stand a chance. Anderson, Karlsson, Michalek will have to be playing lights out..
Unreal!
yup saw that...nice win last week by the way, i got killed...
crosby is just unreal
No, Hax, he did not at all.
Got rocked on one of his first shifts, and they laid (or at least tried their best to) the body on him all night. He didn't shy away from the physical aspect of the game. He was in the corners and (half the game) in front of the net banging away.
Also you will be pleased to know that the refs weren't giving him any preferential treatment. He drew a penalty, maybe two, but deserved. It wasn't a case of 'go near Crosby and you serve two mintues.'
Best player in the league by a mile
Will win the scoring titie
Proud he is Canadian and thank goodness he is on our Olympic roster
I used the spare time to watch a Kids in the Hall DVD.
Daigle, Kovalev and ultimately Heatley are of the latter type.
Peter Bondra would be of the former type.
Perhaps there's even a third type where circumstances / luck never worked out. Hasek, Leclaire and, last year, Kuba fall into that category.
Wow bryan murray just might look like a genious with that trade if mark stone plays in the bigs like hes playin in the whl. Also excited about shane prince. This kid might be sick in the near future. Cant wait for the world juniors man.
How the heck did we get this guy in the 6th round? I keep hearing how his skating is crap, but if he's that good to be leading the WHL in points I'm sure some team would have grabbed at least with a 2nd or 3rd...
Is his skating really that bad, that he would drop that many rounds? Or is he just a freak that caught fire the past 2 years?
apparently he was ranked in the top 50 heading into his draft year but as mentioned above got injured and didnt play alot so he fell off everyones radar.
same deal with peumple and cowen to a lesser extent
What do you mean by this ??
in the spirit of accountability I admit that I thumbed down your comment.
if you are really concerned about who is upping and downng your comments you probably have nothing else to worry about and I therefore hate and envy your contentment.
Ditto.
I gave that one a thumbs up :)
Kramer's production surprises me, the fact that he leads the team in PIMs doesn't
Yes this is extremely scary...whoever the 2nd line or 1st line centre is, will get humiliated by Crosby.
if only wishing made it so
every so often there is a player (not just in hockey) who just has that something extra and special about him and stuff just "happens" around him. Crosby is such a player. David Beckham is another. In Beckham's case he was never as elite as Crosby is, but stuff just happened.
With Crosby it's things like this comeback and the fact that basically all he did at the Winter Olympics was score the most important goal in Canadian Olympic history.
Yes it is but like I said before, in juniors, lots of things come into play, rink size, slower tempo, weaker competition. Stone is showing that he can excel vs WHL caliber players but he didnt show much at Dev camp and in pre-season where the players we're his equals.
I guess the best measuring stick will be on the big stage at the WJC...
you know they are our next opponents right?
He's not much of a cry baby anymore. It was his first game back in almost a year. People have good reason to talk about it and get excited about it. He didn't disappoint, he had 4 pts in 16 minutes of ice time and easily could have had 6, 7 or even 8 points on the night.
The NHL is a complete joke for Crosby. A lot of people consider him one of the best players to ever play and he's only 24. I consider him the best. What he's able to do in this era of the NHL is remarkable. The game is so much faster than it used to be. Players are bigger and stronger. The goaltenders are huge and way more talented than they used to be. The defensive schemes teams play are far more advanced than they ever were back in Gretzkys day.
I'm simply in awe of Sidney Crosby and I'm proud he's Canadian.
Looks like Chirp is the only "thumbs up" vote you got !
No accountability ( thumbs down) is leading 7-1
Truth is he probably doesnt...
Friday Nov 25th is our next game kingalfredsson, and its against, guess who...Crosby and the Pens...
God forbid we talk about the best player in the game.
it's 7-0 chirp was clearly talking about thumbing up my post, i only get my validation through the approval of SC - personally I'd like to lose the thumbs up/down option completely
Wtf obviously I know that you dumbass Tookie. I watch every game and have been watching for the pasted 5 years
My thumbs up was for the reply. See this is what happens when everyone has to explain every thumbs up or thumbs down. Mass confusion! :)
I disagree. I think somebody should hit Crosby early and hit him hard. I don't want anybody on the team to cheap shot him though and I don't think they will but you have to get into Crosby's face.
God knows giving him time and space isn't the answer and we don't have any body who can outmatch him from a talent perspective. We do however have the players who can outmatch him physically, if they can catch him.
The biggest part of what you said was "if they can catch him". He's so elusive, such a difficult player to hit cleanly anyway lol. I hope we play him hard too, I don't think anyone will cheap shot this guy agian.
You should have said The Apostle instead of "that one"
in your thumbs up . I took it the other way !
He is too strong and fast
Here is a question, who is our best defencive specialist on the team?
Phillips?
Smith?
We are in trouble
Who in the league could defend against Crosby?
Pronger?
Webber?
Datsuyk?
Also, very impressed with Prince, Peumpel, Noesen, Pageau and Silfverberg. Does anyone know what the injury status is like for Pageau and Silfverberg?
I have to say it, what's going on with Zibanejad? One point in 6 games? I know the SEL isn't a highly offensive league but that's not what we expect from a 6th overall pick.
I really hope he was the right choice for that pick.
And on the flip side, to do what Stone is doing in the WHL at almost a goal a game, and 2 points per game is outstanding...d espite what Tookie says.
He is playing in one of the best leagues among his age group and peers, and is tearing it up,
And he was excellent at the WJ camp, and player of the game vs Russia...what more can the guy be doing? Amazing
Saw Prince on Sunday, wow, I think I like him even more than Toffoli right now who was an earlier pick then he.
Zibanejad, despite your concerns, showed as a far superior talent to Stone in the preseason. Not only did he put up more points but he was a far more effective player defensively. He's also a full year younger than Stone. The kid is a top notch skater and he's going to be just fine. If it takes until he's 20 for everything to click for him that's fine with me. I'd like to see him getting a few more points in the SEL as well but it's hard to know what to think of his numbers without knowing his situation. Is he playing big minutes? Is he coming back from an injury? Does he get PP time, etc?
Also there are areas where he suffers in direct comparison to Ovechkin. Crosby is much more controlled than Ovechkin, and rarely says anything of interest in interviews (partly because he has to be so careful as there are hundreds of journalists waiting for him to slip up). Ovechkin has an exuberance, flair and unpredictabilit y that Crosby doesn't have.
So even though I can see why people don't like him it's imposible to rationally ignore the guy's talent.
That being said I do hope he trips going out onto the ice for the warm-up on Friday, twists his ankle and is out of the game. With any luck he'll take Malkin and Letang out with him at the same time.
Who knows if his success will translate to the NHL, only time will tell.
With kuba reach and size (even though he is not physical) he can take up the passing lanes, and karlsson is probably one of the only defenders in the legaue that could match crosbys skill and speed (although not physical again), but karlsson should be able to keep Crosby to the outside, and if he drives karlsson normally is in the right position with his stick
then you have kuba blocking passing lanes
Put spezza and michalek and greening out there as well. greening is a beast and spezza is our leader, its on him to take that responsibility
EEEEEEEYORE !
I agree putting Karlsson on Crosby, sounds like a death wish but its actually our best bet, also putting Spezza on Crosby = not good, learn from that mistake, dont do it again.
Smith's line is probably gonna get Crosby, tough task but doable...
Why go get another Filatov when you already have....Filatov ...
To Coach Paul, ya play Zack on Crosby...Staal will play Spezza so you move Winchster between Alfie and Foligno and tell him to play the game of his life!
WInchester tipped that in to his own net. Auld was not at fault, he was brilliant. got us one the point.
don't like the idea of Berfors, whoever picks him up will be his 5th team since 2007. There has to be a reason he's continually being jettisoned.
Alfi is 1st for all forwards
Spezza is 2nd
Michalek 4th
Karlsson ranks 1st for defencemen
Gonchar 8th
Keep on voting, lets get Kessel out of the top 3!!!
Amazing! Hard work is paying off. Keep up the good work Sens fans!
Hopefully it's not because all the Sens fans have already used all 30 votes, and there are still many more to come. Great to see our boys at the top of the voting!
Do you mean Niclas Bergfors?
More surprising? That Cory Crawford and Howard are not even on the ballot and howard is not top 10
Haha nope. Entirely different player that I just have a really good feeling about. Currently playing pick up hockey at the rink by my house- wicked slap shot but he can't skate backwards. He's a work-in-progres s but he really has potential......
Yes, I meant Bergfors.
Darren Dreger
The Kyle Turris saga is about to end. Turris is and the Coyotes expected to announce a 2 year agreement this week. Trade still prime optio
Pens are actually very good on the ice as well. Just the Sens luck to get them when they have been completely healthy. A real eye-opening stat I heard the other day.. that this is just the 3rd game in 2 yrs (I believe).. that all of Crosby, Malkin & Staal have been playing at the same time. Their depth down the middle is downright scary... after Spezza... Sens are lacking in experience at the centre position.
Sens are in tough... it all falls to Anderson and the defense to keep it respectable on Friday.
Karlsson at 147,468, 1st in D
Alfie 131,774, 1st in FW
Spezza 117,899, 3rd in FW
Michalek 108,247, 4th in FW
Wow, have Ottawa fans all used their 30 votes or are there still some to come?
bahahaha...love the sarcasm
The team he is playing on apparently is not that good. Do you think that may be part of his problem of not putting up points?
Brassard
Turris
Gagner
Not saying any are an upgrade over regin at this point (i'd say those 3 have more potential though, and may be able to stay healthier)
They're also all young enough to fit in with the rebuild
The Sedins could only hope to be the dominant player that Sidney is... I love and support my Sens with everything I have.. but I think they could be in real trouble on Friday.
Crosby is a team player and a good leader -- a good captain. He plays well with his linemates. He appears to also be pretty humble... his comment yesterday on that he appreciates playing in the NHL.
Ovey appears to be a selfish player. He wants to do it all. Does not use his linemates in plays. I don't think he is a very good choice for captain. A captain is a leader and a team player... I think Ovey is just trying to be a one-man show. Don't get me wrong... he has a lot of skill... but this is a team sport.
I would not expect Bylsma to bench Crosby at the end of a game when they are down by one goal they way Boudreau benched Ovey. That kinda says it all.
After saying he did not want to play for the Coyotes and wanted to be traded.... how can he be welcome in that locker room? Would be a pretty dicey situation.
As for the second line center I think one guy that would be worth while getting and is starting to play really well (on pace for 51 points) Is Martin Hanzal.
The guy has mega size and is growing out of the "growing" pains (literally most likely haha) A lot of players of his size that a while to develop and at only 24 years of age this kid has solid 2nd line center potential
He is already good defensively, his point totals have been decent and rising, he hits and fights and uses all 6'6'' to his advantage.
Pheonix needs scoring and depth defense. I'm not a GM but you would think that phoenix would have some interest in de costa, regin (love this guy but to much injury) , lee, wiercioch, 2nd? 3rd? round picks, Filatov Anyways just a name im throwing out there (i dont want turris)
Was Daug called up as an injury replacment for Regin? So when Regin comes back into the lineup Daug has to be sent down? If the Sens decide to keep him up... does he have to clear some kind of waivers? Don't think he would clear... some team would take him...
It would be a shame if he had to go back to Bingo... he has played so well, especially defensively...
i second that. we need anderson more than ever this game. and im talking to the anderson from the last 10 games of last year.
Bruins mtl hate isnt only on the ICE
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded%26v%3D03Nh5TtIpug
thats not just verses the bruins. havs fans are like that in general.
Not exactly a fair fight. One guy looks like he's getting punched from both sides when a third vclown starts kicking him. Hopefully they get banned for life, because it's scum like them that turn people off from attending games. You should be able to support your team in another city without getting your head kicked in.
i like you better now...
and good point, I certainly have more pressing issues but this is a great place to procrastinate.
I agree 100 percent ..
So for those who are thinking the Sens are for real with 22 points and sitting in 9th in the East, your then saying the same should be for the Wild 8-2 in their last 10 and sitting at #1 in the West with 27 points.
Think about that...
good point Tyrannt
Some big tough guys there... two or three on one. Throw their asses in jail. Totally disgusting. With the price of tickets in the lower bowl in Mtl... I thought most of those people would be well-to-do so to speak.
These are a bunch of punks. There were women & children at that game probably in the general area. This must have been brewing for some time.... why did someone not alert an usher before hand?
If the Habs organization is a decent one.. these punks should be banned for life.
Agree... you should be able to cheer a team in a visting building without getting beat up. But then again... these fans try to burn down their city if they lose in the playoffs. I hear Philly is the same way.
Depends on what you mean by "for real" - if you mean are they a team that will likely be on the outside looking in, with regards to the play-offs, then yes, they are for real.
If you mean, are they are better than most of us thought, then, again, they are for real.
Are they, for real, a team then can expect to go 3 out of 5 on most road trips....not so much...
Create as many accounts as you can, ive made 25 so far lol
www.nhl.com/vote
Daniel Alfredsson 131774
Phil Kessel 128390
Jason Spezza 117899
Milan Michalek 108247
One problem... Toronto's population out number's Ottawa by about 3 - 1.
THATS WHY WE HAVE TO MAKE EXTRA ACOUNTS!...
C'MON GUYS LETS DO THIS
Let's not panic here guys, alfie and karlsson are killing it.
4+1 = 5