One of the things the coaching staff will be watching for during the preseason will be how guys like Jared Cowen and David Rundblad adjust to the NHL game. Well through one preseason game, advantage Jared Cowen.
While Rundblad looked nervous at times during his first preseason tilt, Cowen was best Senator on the ice. He was physical, he handled the puck well and contributed at both ends of the ice.
The two goals and the fight are a great way to get noticed in the preseason. Lot of time to go but he looks like a lock to make the team this year.
While it's normal to watch the rookies a little closer in preseason, this was an excellent first showing from Erik Karlsson. His puck possession game was in mid-season form and was among the best players on the ice for either team. That is a great sign for this team moving forward.
Liked the game of Nikita Filatov too. Contributed to the offence with a couple assists and showed good speed in his first game as a Senator.
It obviously wasn't all good news as Patrick Wiercioch had a game to forget. He had a handful of awful giveaways and just didn't seem to have his skating legs from the get go. He is a longshot to make the team to begin with but efforts like the one he had tonight certainly wont help his cause.
Michalek left the game with an injury late in the third period. According to Garrioch, MacLean indicated that he blocked a shot and should be fine.
The Sens now head home to play their first home game against the defending Stanely Cup Champion Boston Bruins.
Ahhh didn't see this coming....*roll s eyes*
No Michalek left the game when he was hitted by a shot, maybe you and chirp didn't noticed !
Sweet 100 bucks richer this friday lol
utube link?
Hope he's fine and its just a bruise
I give the advantage to Regin over Z so far for 2nd line center so far... but hey it's only 1 game.. :)
http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/2011-12_nhl_rule_changes/
Seriously, my thoughts , I thought he looked bad, when this guy is not scoring he's not really doing anything else seriously .. shoted the puck wide on a 3 on 1 early in the game too ..
2 goals and he fought Dion Phaneuf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0fjgWJ8-WM
The referees looked lousy but I thought the announcers were the worst I have ever heard. Still, it was fun to watch hockey again. I'm going to the game tomorrow and I'm looking forward to see what changes have occurred.
Also thought that Stone had a bad game as well. He tried like hell, but couldn't stay on his feet.
Lehner was all over the place. He didn't have a strong showing at all. Auld looked much sharper and calmer.
The good:
Rundblad was nervous and shaky at times, but you can see he will Karlsson x 2 in the future. Maybe even later on this year.
Karlsson is sick. Michalek has found his feet. Filiatov will be a great player for the sens. Cowen is 5x better than I thought he would be - he is a stud out there.
It is good for them to lose, now they can see where they need to get better and the best part is it is just a warm up game, nothing on the line.
If they lose every pre season game and then get it together for regular season it is all good.
If we have to give some games these are the ones.
seriously Lassard Conboy Konopka Neil and we expected to be an offencive force, Karlsson Michalek were our only decent vets on the ice.
I was very impressed with Cowen, he seemed to be in the middle of everything, scoring goales and laying a few on Phaneuf's chin. I don't recall a bad play from him all evening. That's a great way to start the pre-season if your looking for a starting role. Personally, I think he's already nailed it.
Filatov was very quick and his hockey sense was impressive. Not very defensive, but I don't think we expected to see that anyway. I wanted to see more offensive drive to the net, but he did more play making which was a surprise. Leave this kid on the 1st line for now and let him continue to build his confidence.
Hats off to Karlsson who looked like a leader out there. Hard to believe he's 21 starting in only his 3rd season. So much skill it's sick.
Scary that Kuba, is starting where he left off last year, all indications point to another terrible game. He was in semi retirement last year, and I think he will be in full bore retirement this year. We have way too many up & coming d-men that deserve to be here in Ottawa, to tolerate Kuba for another year.
Cowen, Lee, Gyrba, Rundblad, Carkner and ever Wiercoch all deserve the ice time over Kuba. Please cut our losses, and give these kids the break that they deserve! Plain an simple he cannot make our top 7 D-men so get rid of him.
A talented scoring forward who is capable of creating offensive chances for himself and his linemates. Possesses excellent skating ability and a very quick top gear. An above average puckhandler, but is not as effective in traffic and this is something that he has been working and improving over the past season. Hasn’t yet filled in his 6’0 frame, though has gained about 7-10 pounds of bulk over the past season. Does not have a strong physical presence and will likely continue developing and becoming more capable of handling physical pressure, but will not likely ever be able to dish it out at the same level due to his size limitations. Has a very dangerous wrist shot and very soft hands – capable of making very precise passes. Defensively tries to help, but is marginal in his own zone, preferring to break out into an offensive rush. Overall a very talented forward who continues to improve every year and doesn’t hesitate to take on challenges.
I streamed the game online last night and what I saw of Filatov was impressive - this kid has some serious wheels. He played on the PP, created chances, cycled the puck well, and from what I saw had pretty good vision on the ice. He looks a bit small though -isn't the biggest of players but had pretty good puck control. It could be interesting to see how he performs the 82 game stretch of the season with all the bumps and knocks.
Overall he kind of reminded me of a rookie Martin Havlat - that explosive speed, good passing skills and vision. The jury is still out to see if he has the same offensive skill as Havlat, but I found similarities.
My opinion:
I think filatov/spezza/ butler will work. spezza has a preference as playmaker, but he's got finish and can easily bury a good pass. (from watching 1 game), it seems that Filatov is the same...and Butler is pure finish. So 2 playmaker that have a good shot/finish + 1 Sniper, i'd give it a try as it has potential to work. Will it be the best 1st line in the NHL? no lol, but I don't see a much better combo in our current roster.
Just make sure that they're paired up with Cowen + ??? (Philips?) to cover the back end.
Not sure I agree with Spezza, Filatov, and Butler. Someone has to go into the corners and dig out a puck once and a while. All three are strong on the offense, but none of those three like the corners, and both Filatov and Spezza will both like the puck.
Keep Alfie with Spezza and a plugger, and see if Regin and Filatov can play together, IMO.
I haven't seen anything from him that warrants all the expectations.
Hope I am wrong.
I disagree, he can be a sniper, and proved it on a few hi-lite reel goals.
I think Johne, said it best, in that he will have to elevate his game to play with those two and if he does, it could be a lot of fun to watch them.
no problems here on firefox 6.1
Haven't noticed anything either. If you provide a little more information about what is going wrong, including what browser you are using, we may be able to help.
Thanks for your patience.
already, what could they possibly have seen in a few days of camp that would warrant cuts.
Hope that none of them are our future top prospects
Android and ie 9 on the PC.
this isn't a development camp, this is 'are you NHL ready? if you're not, you're cut' camp.
yes I hear you Johne,
but I trust that this will be the younger Peumpel, Pageau, type of kids, and not the Wiercoch, Gyrba type. I will extremely disappointed, if they get rid of these type d-men and keep the one who really should be cut ie Kuba!
I don't want to sound negative, but I'm fighting the same fears. He found some early chemestry, which is good, but I REALLY hope he keeps developping into a top 6 forward. I think expectations are very high (too high?) for him from a lot of fans. Expectations will have to be lowerd a bit for such a young player, or many will be left a little dissapointed (see Regin's last year). But I'm hoping to see a high flying, highly skilled Filatov/Spezza/ Butler line provide some great entertainment during "rebuilding" season.
Gotta look forward to something right?
On my wifi network, I get the back in business post and related comments. On 3G, I get the latest post. Going to reset router, but did the development team mess up the cache control settings on the site?
that is precisely my point, these kids are very good and deserve a real shot...keeping Kuba b/c he is paid 4 Mil is a double wrong
Just looked at the old post and it appears chirp himself has been sent to the old pages now too :)
My Wiercioch bust comments are more based on what I saw with his play last season and not having improved.
Wiercioch upside is still there, but he definitely needs a season or three to work on his game at the AHL level with big minutes. He wasn't expected to make the Sens this year, not sure why that makes him a bust?
Gryba is a nice player, but may not get a true chance until there are more injuries or Gonchar/Phillip s contract expires.
Haven't checked IE8 today yet.
I hear you Johne. On and off this forum however a lot of Sens fans are really bashing some of the rookies this morning.
- many have the pressure of high expectations this season
- Game #1 of exhibition
- new coach
- Home opener against the assholes at the ACC...
Let's just show a little patience throughout pre-season. Give the players time to reflect after last night and let the coaches set them on a corrective course before throwing any of the kids under the bus.
I expect big improvements for all players in their second game tomorrow. :)
I totally agree, they are prospects, give them time to develop and it's pre-season FFS
Wiercioch is 21, there's no way he's been given every chance, he's just getting to where he should be. Most D don't reach NHL level until their mid 20s, give the kid a break.
I think you expected a bit too much too fast with him. He's the same age as Karlsson and definitely never expected to have that level of skill, so just give him time. You can't deem a prospect a bust before they've even reached their 25th bday, considering most players' prime is around 27.
I know we all want instant success from all our prospects, but that rarely happens and when it does it's normally because that player is pretty special.
Cmon, give the kid a chance, he is only 22 (or so years old, he has all the mechanics, he just had one bad game. How about Kuba who has had 82 plus bad games!!!
But I must admit I agree with you on Phillips, too many good young kids going down, and we keep Kuba and Philips... doesnt add up.
it's going to be a long season with some significant heart ache. One pre-season game means sfa regarding a players development....
Clearly the cuts will be the no brainers, guys that will be logging big minutes in bingo and/or have a high pedigree will be kept around longer including Gryba and Wiercioch.
i predict the following cuts:
Matej Machovsky, Brian Stewart. Josh Godfrey, Tim Conboy, Bobby Raymond, Darren Kramer,Jean-Gab riel Pageau and Wacey Hamilton
Steve_Lloyd: Lessard with a ridiculous blindside run at Filatov on half wall in scrimmage. Filatov down and off for evaluation. #Sens
Please tell me this is April Fools Day. Are you f**king kidding me?
no we know why the cuts are coming today bye Francis!... Lessard why couldn't you do that yesterday vs the OTHER TEAM...you meathead!!!
next he'll give spezza a ooncussion and break alfie's back.
I know that they want to make an impression, but he had that chance last night, did he even drop them?
Taking out your own stars is not a good way to impress the team... now had he hit Kuba :)
Hahaha.
Glad Filatov will be okay. Frig many of us have been hoping he can crack and contribute on the first line... whew.
Back to the Brandon Wheat Kings... #bittersweet. Loved all the boys in ottawa fans were great.. Can't wait to start up in Moose Jaw!!!!
on a more current note.......wtf was lessard thinking?
wb, lessard just trying to make headlines since he cant make the team.
Thanks for the list Rushrlz. Stone definitely made his time count this year, look forward to seeing Culek, Noesen and Puempel do the same at next year's camp.
If anybody honestly expected any of these guys to get close to making the team from this camp they are delusional.
Who expected them to make the team?
1. NICKELBACK! (Burn it to the Ground) — 3,243 votes
2. Black Keys (Howlin’ For You) — 1,345
3. The White Stripes (Seven Nation Army Remix) — 613
4. Britney Spears (Till the World Ends) — 306
5. The Whip (Locksley) — 75
The pisser about this, Leafs fans caught wind of this and started a tweet about having people log in and vote for Nickelback. You can read more about this on Senatorsextra.
That really sucks...
Talk about working your ass off to turn your life around after his whole prison stint.
http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/6995494/mike-danton-uses-prison-skills-save-teammate
Even if he doesn't live-up to his billing. At least he would've in the NHL for period of time something you and rest of the dumb prospect bashers (which is breaking rule #1 of the rebuliding guide.)