Comments on Sens Chirp: Elliott to Start

If the Ottawa Senators fan didn't criticize the te...

2009-11-16T11:33:41.934-05:00

If the Ottawa Senators fan didn't criticize the team for losses, and attendance didn't go down when the team was slumping... we'd be the Montreal Canadians or the Toronto Maple Leafs; a pair of brutal teams with no incentive to spend money to make the team better.

The fans are the reason Management has to make changes when the team is doing poorly. The Leaf fans and the Canadian fans will sell out all their games regardless of how the team does.. hence the reason they suck and will continue to suck until the fans decide to take a stand and force management to ACTUALLY make an effort to put a Stanley Cup Contending team together

Thank you

Dizzle 4 shizzle

hey man nobody chokes better then us , lol we do a...

2009-11-16T10:26:27.534-05:00

hey man nobody chokes better then us , lol we do a dam good job at it too, so dont u forget that :)

I'm sure everyone agrees that the Sens D is lackin...

2009-11-16T08:31:30.883-05:00

I'm sure everyone agrees that the Sens D is lacking depth & Murray must make a trade.

But have some of you forgotten that this team has played almost every game this season WITHOUT either Kuba or Volchenkov ?

Hopefully by the 25 game mark, we'll see how good this team can be since we can finally sit an underachieving D-man like Picard/Lee/Campoli.

HQ, I don't think Anheim can compete, without Pron...

2009-11-15T23:22:29.782-05:00

HQ, I don't think Anheim can compete, without Pronger. They are in last place in the west without him. He was pretty important playing big minutes and key situations he was at least as important as Volchie is to us, top 1-2 defensemen. Instead the Ducks decide to rebuild, with the exception of Pitsburgh and Detriot, most teams after winning or going to the finals end up in this position Edmonton, Tampa and Carolina all come to mind. With Volchie's game, he will start to show his age, particularly if Murray gives him term at which point moving him maybe difficult, if injuries have slowed him down. The Sens shot total is deceptive, mainly perimeter shots with no one in the slot to take advantage of the rebounds. Look at the number of games where the Sens only scored one goal this season, you can't credit the goalie everytime. This team as-is can squeak in the playoffs but beat teams like pittsburgh and philly in a 7 game series, I don't think so. Murray entered the last 2 seasons with a shopping list, usually involving key deficines ie top 6 forward, PMD the results speak for them selves. Murray simply can't afford to overpay at the dealine, the cupboard is fairly empty at Bingo, and Murray for the most part, hasn't wasted 1st round draft picks(the exception being San Jose's for Campoli, ouch) I would like to see this team with a war chest of talent, where the team still wins when one or two players get injured. When Spezza went down our offense disappeared, even with Spezza in the line up goals are still hard to come by. When Volchie went down, our weak D really started to show along with the PK, we had been taking a lot of dumb penalties before but our PK had hidden the extent of the problem, combined with a light shedule. With the Sens cap space issues entering a biding war for top tier talent such as Kolchuk, isn't an option, drafting them is our only option look at how quickly Kane,Tavares and Duchene have made an impact, last seasons winning streak a Season end cost us. With Murray's track record of resigning everyone I don't doubt a Volchie extension is on the way. Unlike Kelly, Heatley and Emery at least Volchie will earn everyone penny.

As much as I hate to say it we all know the way th...

2009-11-15T22:57:12.434-05:00

As much as I hate to say it we all know the way this season is going to end, we will be battling if we play well for the bottom spot of the playoffs, and if we get in we will not make it to far, with that said I would rather a rebuild the problem with the senators is the core they run the team and don’t make it easy on new comers that can help this team this was always the problem. Time to rebuild Murray stay part of the team but not the GM more as an adviser teams are looking to fine tune their teams I love Alif but he would not be able to help this team 2 yrs down the road I sure we can get them 2 first rounder’s from Boston and this way he could retire with a cup or a very good shoot at one, trade Neil, Kelly Phipps Ruutu all of them over 25 yrs old, trade for young players and draft picks in 2 years we would have a great team again we would have to start now only because we have something to offer now. Lets do this stay away from the home games then they will have no choice… it hurts but it works… go sens 2012

re: derrick bang on about Ruutu. he definitely nee...

2009-11-15T22:45:11.500-05:00

re: derrick
bang on about Ruutu. he definitely needs to be put on the third line. hell i'd even put him in cheechoo's place once in a while. no offense at all to cheechoo because he is an amazing guy. but ruutu has some sweet hands. clouston needs to use him on a line where he is compelled to not do just troublemaking (haha ok maybe sometimes because its just priceless) and use his hands!!

I maintain that the reason we lost the game is bec...

2009-11-15T21:27:00.080-05:00

I maintain that the reason we lost the game is because of poor coaching decisions.

Regin, Foligno, Neil, Picard and Campoli do not constitute a second PP unit, in fact, I wouldn't consider them a 5th PP unit. That group was out two or three times and did not even manage to cycle the puck in the offensive zone.

Add the too many men on the ice penalty at a crucial time and immediately after the Matt Carkner penalty, and you end up with a tired crew going into OT.

It's a miracle we didn't lose in regulation or even in OT, but all and all, the effort was there (except #27 of course). And I agree with the whoever said we need to generate better quality shots and more traffic. That's always been an issue with Ottawa and it's definitely the reason WE didn't score.

The opportunity lost on the PP in OT could be attributed to:

1) Lack of practice on the PP
2) Henrik Lundqvist
3) Good ol' Senators lack of confidence in key times. No one chokes like us!

Thanks Mat, glad I can count on your vote.

2009-11-15T20:23:27.049-05:00

Thanks Mat, glad I can count on your vote.

mikep: no the sens should not trade volchenkov. i ...

2009-11-15T18:55:16.390-05:00

mikep: no the sens should not trade volchenkov. i would much rather ship phillips out. but neither of them should go unless sens prospects in the next 2-3 years absolutely outplay them.

ducks trading pronger is different. they have the pieces to compensate for him and plus they are still competetive without him. he was a big piece of their team, but not the piece the team was built around.

i dont see why it is wrong to expect this team to make the playoffs. i thought thats what Bryan Murray was himself expecting out of this group? didn't he say that once he was done and over with heatley? i remember him saying that was his expectation. he certainly wouldnt be talking about adding to the forward core at this point if that wasn't his expectation.

re: against the rangers: again, take the domination with a grain of salt guys. its a game they should have won in regulation. blame campoli or blame the PP. take your pick. that game was the sens to win and they did not elevate their game enough to win it. 36 shots is all great and sundry, but 1 goal to show for it doesn't cut it. not to mention, the ranger's defence looked suspect all game, they were missing their defensive centermen in dubinsky and drury.

again, i see the campoli mistake, the PP not working out, and bad decision making in the OT (re:kovalev), and the OT PP as the main reasons we lost the game. that game should have been over in the 2nd when they had the 5on3 and the 5on4 back to back.

the lack of urgency that plagues this team at key points in a game is contagious over the years unfortunately.

All Kovies problem is he's not playing with a cent...

2009-11-15T18:25:10.465-05:00

All Kovies problem is he's not playing with a centre he has chemistry with. Fish is playing great but doesnt think the game @ Kovie's level.

I'd like to see (barring getting another centre via trade):

CheeChoo Spezza Kovalev

Michalek Fish Alfie

Foligno Regin Ruutu

Dono Kelly Neil

as our forward group.

Ruutu deserves the thhird line minutes @ the moment..he's having a wonderful year, and is a smart positional player who'd work well with Regin...he has more finish (no pun intended) than Neil does, which is also a bonus.

Dave, I can assure you I am not a troll, I am a Se...

2009-11-15T17:03:33.571-05:00

Dave, I can assure you I am not a troll, I am a Sens fan. My argument, is as follows the Sens cannot compete at the elite level currently. The Sens should rebuild. The Sens are spending almost to the cap yet they are not a top tier team, rebuilding requires you give up valuable assets to obtain youth for the future this is why trading Volchie could help pave the way to a rebuild. Look what the Ducks got for Pronger!

Against the Philly, Rangers, Altanta, Pittsburgh, Tampa and Jersey(unless you include the gift Brian Lee got) the Sens scored only one goal. Our D prospects include D-men like Cowen(great potential shut down) and Karlson (great offensive upside). Our future offensive stars are non-exsistent. Our current offensive stars include an aging Alfie, Spezza and Michalek. The Sens need to replenish their offense for the future. Volchie is great, but he plays a high-milage game, in a few years he could become like Jason Smith. I want the Sens to win but I would prefer a cup down the road then the a single playoffs series now.

its not hard to figure out dude 6-2-2 with volchen...

2009-11-15T17:02:46.821-05:00

its not hard to figure out dude 6-2-2 with volchenkov in the line-up...see where im going with this??

Thank you for the reality check hq, Some of these...

2009-11-15T17:00:35.105-05:00

Thank you for the reality check hq,

Some of these people need to take the Sens Pom Poms out of their eyes and see things for what they really are!

Fire that prick Murray, he's responsible for this mess. The teams sucks!

I printed this post, if the Sens make the playoffs, I will pour some salt on it and eat it....

BeJamin is 100% correct. Sorry to say that to the ...

2009-11-15T16:56:44.122-05:00

BeJamin is 100% correct. Sorry to say that to the nay' sayers. Ottawa DOMINATED most parts of the game. I don't even have to list the ways we out played them, as BeJamin already has done that. Coming onto these discussions feels like I'm signing into a Leafs/Sens board that is woven together. EVERY GOD DAMN GAME, COMPLAIN... COMPLAIN... COMPLAIN! Let me just remind everyone one more time.

WE... ARE... NOT... EXPECTED... TO... MAKE... THE... PLAYOFFS!

We are 2nd in the division and have played less games than Boston, Montreal and Toronto. Since when is everyone expecting us to go all the way this year. Your incompetence and ignorance is quite annoying. It boggles my mind to even wonder how you all think the shit that you write on here. "Trade A-Train?" Yeah, that'll solve our defensive problems. Trading away THE best shot blocker in the NHL. One of the best Defensive minded defenceman in the NHL. TO SOLVE OUR D ISSUES?!

My God...

bejamin: all your points are correct, but again. i...

2009-11-15T16:20:54.890-05:00

bejamin: all your points are correct, but again. i don't think lundqvist was all that great.

they created tons of chances yea, but i dont get why clouston who can see this can obviously be a better product on ice doesnt make it so. he should put cheechoo back with spezza. he should alfie back with kovalev. and i dont know...but he needs to do something about campoli/picard costing us wins. the rangers simply do NOT. I REPEAT DO NOT WIN THAT GAME if the campoli gaffe doesnt happen. Brian Lee's goal was a back breaker for them and then we got a 5on4 leading to 5on3 leading to 5on4 again. but Campoli's gaffe was just as much of a backbreaker for us as it was for them. we completely wasted our PP once that happened.

again, they fix their 5on5 stupidities and their pk, but then their PP goes bust.

and im not just saying this because i want to put the sens down or i want to bitch about a close game that we lost. you can see other teams' games and you can compare. at most our forwards get quality (but no A-quality) second chances, and after that the puck somehow finds its way to the neutral zone. our D has ZERO skill in keeping the puck in the zone. Maybe Kuba and Phillips are good at it, but Picard and Campoli are like butter on ice when they are on the blue line and the puck comes at them. also, there is very less slot presence from our forwards.

then im going to repeat, let alone disagreeing with clouston's line choices, his ingame decisions arent that spectacular either. FOR EXAMPLE: no kovalev in the OT, let alone the OT PP. just dont see why why why. the guy is a game changer on the PP. put him out there let him work his magic. alfie just kept putting mini dents in that monster staal. that is not how you seal a team. you look at what brent sutter did with the leafs when they were charging at calgary last nightm and you will see what im talking about. he knew he had to seal the leafs ASAP or the game would be done. and he overused iginla on the PP to get it done.

i guess the frustration that me and most of the ppl complaining here have is that when it was 6-2-2 you could see major positives and very very small negatives. but since then its been a downward spiral and the positives seemed to be at a bare minimum and the negatives are too many. is it because the sens have slowed down getting their chemistry together and other teams are faster at adapting? i dont know. but i find it hard to pin all the troubles on volchenkov being out. a team should be resilient enough to survive the injury of one defensive defenseman. sure he is a big part of our D but i dont see how missing him brings our scoring down or how it should.

puzzling.

Andre I think you have to understand fans get frus...

2009-11-15T15:54:13.984-05:00

Andre I think you have to understand fans get frustrated with Kovalev because he would be unreal if he actually worked his tail off.

However I haven't been mad about his play at all. He is what he is. He's a guy who plays the game with his skill and his head. The only time he uses his feet is when he has the puck or when he's kicking it to his stick. This is what you get with him. I'm happy to have another elite level finisher on our top-6 and a guy that dramatically improves our 5 on 3 and PP.

I think if people accept him for the style of player that he is and encourage him to do his best by cheering him on we'll benefit more than if we chirp him. Also for those who think he doesn't care, he slammed the door of the Sens bench when he was taken off the 4 on 3 in overtime after a hardworking half-shift. He wants to be the difference, he just wants to do it his way. Plain and simple.

Ottawa was TERRIBLE last night, how can anyone def...

2009-11-15T15:03:57.243-05:00

Ottawa was TERRIBLE last night, how can anyone defend that game??? there is NO WAY this team is making the playoffs...maybe they will be good next year, but definitely not this year.

Wtf was with Alffy teeing off on Rangers when Kuba...

2009-11-15T13:53:42.901-05:00

Wtf was with Alffy teeing off on Rangers when Kuba is wide open in OT that is something I would expect from Campoli but not Alffy where is the hockey sens to steal monday night footballs line Common MAN !!

How could you say they didn't play well? They domi...

2009-11-15T13:45:13.841-05:00

How could you say they didn't play well? They dominated the Rangers but yes, Lundqvist is an elite goaltender. We didn't run into a hot goalie, we ran into an always outstanding goaltender (Pavelec was a hot goalie).

ALL HAIL THE GREAT ANDRE!! Prophet and demi-god se...

2009-11-15T13:34:54.466-05:00

ALL HAIL THE GREAT ANDRE!! Prophet and demi-god sent from the heavens to educate us on "all that is hockey"...

Since YOU confirm I know nothing about hockey, from now on I will love Kovalev unconditionally and without question.

Thank you for showing me the way O great one.

p.s. Let me know when you plan on starting your political career, I'll distribute flyers for you.

Sorry Anon 12:38pm. Scoring Chances - Ottawa had ...

2009-11-15T13:34:11.701-05:00

Sorry Anon 12:38pm.

Scoring Chances - Ottawa had at least twice as many, maybe three times as many.

Shots - Until the refs gave the Rangers three PP's in the last 10 minutes of the game we were out-shooting them 29-12.

Battles - We won the majority by far.

Face-Offs - We won 70% in the second period and something like 60% throughout the game.

Net Presence - We had far more net presence and traffic in front of the net than the NYR all night long. A good 10 pucks bounced through traffic a half foot wide of the posts. Plenty of jam plays in the crease by Spezza and crew.

We may not have created as many A-Quality scoring chances as I'd like but we did dominate the Rangers. I have been lobbying to no end for the Cheechoo - Alfie swap so we can get back to two lines of threat. That will help that situation. As will the return of A-Train to balance the D pairings.

I can understand your point about getting lots of shots without having a high number of A-Quality scoring chances to match. It's accurate enough. We did however create a lot more than the other team last night. That's domination.

BTW, the sens didn't play well and Lundqvist didn'...

2009-11-15T12:38:22.736-05:00

BTW, the sens didn't play well and Lundqvist didn't steal anything...the sens just dont know how to get proper traffic and set themselves up for better chances...

They didnt do it against the rangers, but often they will get 30-40 shots a game and people will say "we ran into a hot goalie" when in fact we just made him look good most of the time with traffic-less shots and distance shots, which a goalie will save 98% of the time.

Sometimes I wonder what you guys are actually watching out there...such homers...

maybe they should try volchenkov on the PP along w...

2009-11-15T11:05:35.496-05:00

maybe they should try volchenkov on the PP along with kuba. ofcourse then the margin of error at the point position goes to zero, but volchenkov does have a heavy shot. the only other thing is that his shots aren't accurate either sometimes. but im sure they can fix that in practice.

i take some of my negative comments back. but all around, the level of play needs to go up. it needs to get more uptempo, more intense, more dominating. they just need to pile on the shots. more and more and more shots.

and they need to get a PP specialist, may it be a coach or a specialist PMD. please and thank you. also, kelly again, needs to go, campoli should be sat/scratched/waived instantly. and call either of Karlsson or Derek Smith.

i dont get something really. Campoli is no good. Picard mostly suffers from laziness and just lack of intensity at times, but he isnt as bad as campoli is trust me. Campoli is just a faster pylon. they should really give Karlsson that spot and let the kid grow in the NHL or give it to Derek Smith. btw Karlsson has 7 assists in 8 games down there. not too bad.

HQ the Rangers won the game in a shoot-out. Shoot-...

2009-11-15T11:01:16.686-05:00

HQ the Rangers won the game in a shoot-out. Shoot-outs are crap-shoots. They have lots of forward depth. Drury has been lousy the past 3 years and Duby is a 40-50 point player at best. Prospal is actually their #1 center by the way. He plays with Gaborik every shift. He's the #1 Center on that team. Yes they were short a couple depth forwards. Ottawa was short its best shut-down guy and shot-blocker. Screws up all of our D pairings. I'd say that's about an equal loss on both sides.

We owned them because they barely had a scoring chance for most of the game. We were out-shooting them 29-12 until the refs decided to give them 5 power-plays in the second half of the game, and 3 in the last ten minutes of the third. They also ignored two solid hits from behind, cross-checks on the numbers during that time.

We were far and away the better team. If they didn't have that big ogre in net we would have won 3-4 to 1. We created a hell of a lot more scoring chances than they did. I don't know what game you were watching, but we dominated them for 95% of the game including killing off every single one of their 5 PP's.

They were awful the last 2-3 games, like the whole team they had the flu. Last night was a lot more like the hard-working team we had been used to seeing when they were 6-2-2.

Kovalev is dishing out awesome passes that no one ...

2009-11-15T09:30:55.021-05:00

Kovalev is dishing out awesome passes that no one is finishing. Alfie needs to play with Kovalev. Shows that you don't have to be a north southplayer to be effective. I don't get all the fans that are whining about him. Actually, I do. Ottawa hockey fans don't know nearly as much about hockey as they think they do. The majority of them, when they hear a complaint from someone, they just keep repeating it to pretend they know what they are talking about. Its the same thing with politics in this city, people have an opinion about everything but when you ask them what the actual issues are, they're clueless.

Was at the game and this time I decided to focus on Cheechoo when he was on the ice. The guys works hard. He should be on a line with Donnovan and Kelly and that line should be getting 2nd and 3rd line ice time. I bet there would be some chemistry there.