With Sens fans looking for a way to pass the time this week, there is a Twitter movement underway to get Erik Karlsson on the cover of NHL 13. EA Sports is leaving the decision up to fans this year and both Jason Spezza and the 21 year old defenceman are in the running. Head here to cast your ballot.
And while we're on the topic of fan led initiatives, an idea that started on HFBoards and spread like wildfire on Twitter is really starting to gain traction. At the next Sens home game on Tuesday night, fans will salute the Captain Daniel Alfredsson with a countdown then an "Alfie" chant that kicks off at 11:11 of each period. Even if you can't make the game, join the Facebook Event page here and spread the word!
Speaking of Daniel Alfredsson, a contact recently suggested to me that while Alfie has not yet made up his mind, most people seem to think he is leaning towards another season. Considering the way the year has gone for him personally and for the entire hockey team, can you really blame him?
Here is how the standings look after tonight's action.
Bruins 94 (4)- @Nyi, @Nyr, PIT, @Ott, BUF
Panthers 90 (5)-@Clb, @Det, WPG, @Wsh, CAR
Devils 94 (4)- @Car, NYI, @Det, OTT
Senators 88 (5)- @Phi, @Nyi, CAR, BOS, @Nj
Capitals 86 (4)- MTL, @Tbl, FLA, @Nyr
Sabres 86 (5)- PIT, @Tor, TOR, @Phi, @Bos
- While it was another quiet day for the Senators at the NHL level, the organization's prospects continue to shine. Mika Zibanejad scored two goals in a 4-2 Djurgarden victory. One goal came on an apparently wicked wrister and the other on a one-timer. Zibanejad made headlines by celebrating one of his goals by "Tebowing".
I can really see how that's gonna end up... Sens in 8th after tomorrow's game?
Sens have the tiebreaker. Would still be in 7th even with a Buffalo win.
they won't be in 8th...the sens hold the tie breaker with the sabres.
Edit: beat me to it Senschirp. :)
Tuesday's game is my last of the season from my 20th Anniversary ticket pack. I never in a million years thought I'd be as entertained as I have been and be in the drivers seat for a shot in the playoffs. At 11:11 each period, I can't wait to pay our captain the respect he deserves and show my gratitude for the most fun I have had watching hockey in some time. Thank you Sens!
EXACTLY! Although, they have 2 more than we do which sucks...
Fortunately for us, the Sens beat the league's bias and they are still in contention.
Go Sens go. All hail MacLean's miracle mustache.
A win saturday in regulation and it will be just 1 more!
In other news, I saw Kyle Turris at the bank yesterday. He's much taller than I expected, looked bigger than 6'1" if you asked me. Drives a nice escalde too, lol.
that the Sens need to win 3 of next 5 games to qualify for the playoffs.
The game on Saturday, at 1PM in Philly, is truly the game
the team should strive to win, in order to continue their
win streak, and remain confident ! Losing simply puts more pressure to not lose, and destroys the confidence in remaining 4 games .
Should the Sens win both weekend games, they will be riding with much less pressure, and would need just 1 more win
in last 3 games, according to Murray's wishes !!
Hope we win all remaining 5 games, to end on a high note, going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 11 !!
GO SENS GO !!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are in a great spot for a team expected to bottom feed.
Teams are chasing us, all we have to do is keep the pedal down and not let up.
If we were behind we would have to rely on other teams loss not just our play.
Like others said the Sens destiny is in their own hands.
GO SENS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!
I don't think this really matters anymore. Washington has the next tie breaker (they have 6 points head-head against Ottawas' 3 in their 4 games) so Ottawa would need to pass Washington in ROW for this tie breaker to mean anything
For this to happen Ottawa would have to win 3 more games in Regulation/OT and Washington would have to win there final 4 games ALL in a shootout for ROW to benefit Ottawa here (assuming Ottawa were to lose the other 2 games they have, otherwise they would be ahead of Washinton).... I think I have a better chance driving down to the states and winning there 500 million dollar lottery then ROW benefiting Ottawa with respect to Washington.
That doesn't secure anything. We need three wins.
They are talking about the ROW (Regulation and overtime wins) which is the first tie breaker if teams end the season the same about of point. You through away shoot out wins and the team with more wins in reg/OT gets the higher seed. In Ottawa's case Washington wins this tie breaker if they both end the season with say 92 points. In the case of Buffalo or even Florida Ottawa has this tie breaker. So since Washington won in a shoot out people were mildly happy because it might have affected tie breaker, which it will in only a small case.
I don't think anyone believes just two more wins will get us anything, most are saying 3 or 4 minimum but everyone obviously wants 5 wins, lol. We can sit and talk about it all day long, but in the end, we just have to watch and cheer on our Sens as they play the next 5 games. Man being a Sens fan has been fantastic this year, so many things to be excited about. :)
As for ROW, if Ottawa wins all the games it doesn't matter. But if they only win enough to tie and those wins are gained in a regulation + OT win, we could possibly end up with the same ROW as Washington, but like someone pointed out, odds are not good on that, unless the Caps only win in SO.
One benefit of this nerve wracking playoff chase, I don't think I've ever watched as much non-Senators hockey as I have the past two weeks.
Yeah we need to pile on some wins. 4 points this weekend would be sweeeeet.
Boston and Shittsburg have really been shitting the bed lately. Are they just resting their laurels a bit no urgency for positioning? Are the making adjustments to their systems to prep them for the playoffs? Or are they maybe starting to flounder a bit at the worst possible time?
Man.. is it tomorrow yet?!
Yeah I know, I was just looking for a silver lining... Sens just have to keep winning! I am hoping Philly will be playoff preservation mode now that they have clinched and won't push too hard. And I hope they give Bryzgalov one more game to rest his heel.
so every time washington or buffalo don't get a pt or win that number drops to 6/5 (washington) or 7/6 (buffalo)
Everytime we win that number drops by 2 or 1 (OTL)
So lets say pittsburgh beats buffalo tomorrow and we lose in oT to Philly, our magic number over Buffalo will be 5. If washington lose to montreal and we beat philly our magic number would be 3
Put it this way, if we win 2 of our remaining games, and washington lose 2/4 in regulation we clinch
Theoretically, Winnipeg can catch us too, if they win all 5 remaining and we lose all 5.
But if we do lose all 5, I suppose both Wash and Buff will pass us too and it will be a moot point.
Quite reassured that Florida is also still in picture, as we win tiebreak with them too. Hope Columbus wins tonight.
Edit: I see it as a four way battle - Florida, Ott, Buff and Wash and 3 out of 4 make it in.
4 point w/e, no OT/shootouts and we'll be very happy.
The batlle is a 3 way scenario Sens - Caps -Sabres.
If we lose to Flyers and Bruins, can we still qualify, say
Washington wins last 4 games creating a tie at 94 points ?
So many possibilities makes this very scary !!
Florida and washington play next week. If Ottawa can pull even with Florida and have the tie breaker then one of them will lose next week.
3. Florida – 90pts
7. Ottawa - 88pts
8. Buffalo – 86pts
9. Washington – 86pts
Florida – 5 games left
Last 10: 6-1-3
@ CLB
@ DET
Vs. WIN
@ WAS
Vs. CAR
Ottawa – 5 games left
Last 10: 5-3-2
@ PHI
@ NYI
Vs. CAR
Vs. BOS
@ NJ
Bufallo – 5 games left
Last 10: 7-1-2
Vs. PIT
@ TOR
Vs. TOR
@ PHI
@ BOS
Washington – 4 games left
Last 10: 5-3-2
Vs. MTL
@ TB
VS. FLO
@ NYR
Way too close for comfort, everyone has a higher "last 10 game" pace than Ottawa but WSH and WSH has the easiest schedule down the stretch.
thanks for copy and pasting, in a longer format, what senschirp posted in his blog? Oh wait you added last 10 games!!!
Watch the games, cheer our team on, see where we sit at the end of the month.
Hopefully it is in the top 8. Enjoy the rest of the roller coaster season!
Actually we only need three wins and an OT loss to guarantee a playoff spot
Sorry didnt bother reading SC's post, figured nothing of value would be in a post called "Lenghty layoff continues"...
Anyways he had the Devils, Bruins in there, not I, its a 3 way race for the last 2 spots.
Magic number is 7 as I mentioned before. Any combination of Sens points or washington missed pts that equals 7 gets us in
Haha hey!
There is also a comment in there about Alfie leaning towards another season. Can't believe that isn't being discussed.
Maybe nobody is reading the post :(
To be honest I thought at this point that was assumed lol. I know it could be his last, but Mendez had an interview with him over a month ago about how much fun he is having etc etc
Well he said 50% was already committed (his part) the other part is decided by Mrs. Alfie and the family. I'm only guessing but if family wants him home, then its home it will be, Alfie is big on family, and being an NHL player doesnt give you much family time.
Always with the glass half empty outlook eh Tookie. I think if Alfie can still play at a fairly high level, which he has proven this year that he can, then he will be back next season.
I'd be very surprised if he wasn't back for AT LEAST one more season. He's looked totally re-energized by this season and he isn't showing many signs of old age. Obviously he's slowing down a bit but he's still by far our second best forward on the team and our undisputed leader.
As much fun as it looks like he's having this year, next year has the potential to be even better. With the possibility of a solid free agent pick up this offseason and the potential for two skilled young swedes coming over in Zibanejad and Silfverberg to replace a couple of our 3rd/4th line pluggers, this team could make some real noise and I don't think Alfie wants to miss out on that.
I dont think you understand, its not that he can or cannot play at a high level, it has nothing to do with that. At his age, he's already missed out on alot of his kids time. I'm pretty sure he puts family first but who knows, maybe his family wants him to play more.
Not sure I would put him as 2nd best player, he's a 4th (or tied for 3rd) for me, behind Spezza, Karlsson and Anderson.
When you say a 3 way race between FLA, WAS, OTT, BUF... I'm confused... MATH IS HARD!
Wouldn't that be a 4 way race for the last 3 spots?
NYR 112
BOS 100
FLO 98
PIT 107
PHI 105
NJD 98
OTT 94
BUF 94
(Wash 91)
Leafs now projected for last in the east - dammit.
I don't think you understand Tookie. He has the rest of his life to spend with his family. One more year of hockey isn't the end of the world.
Also, I said second best forward, not second best player. I'm not surprised you didn't pick up on that though.
Next season is along time away. We have all summer to talk about Alfie's potential retirement.
I heard from my guy in the "biz" that Burke is considering trading is 1st pick in this year's draft for the rights to Lindros and future considerations. ..
How you come up with this shit never ceases to amaze me. Selanne and Chelios must really hate their families.
Its not too hard, OTT, WSH, BUF battle for the last 2 spots, 7th and 8th. Florida to me are safe, especially with their play of late, they are on fire!
Not true, please read my previous posts. we need a combination of 7 points. 3 wins and an OTL, or 3 wins and a was OTL or 3 wins and a was L or 2 wins and 2 Was L
So 3 wins is pretty much a lock (since Buffalo would have to get 9 of 10 and Washington win out). But 2 wins could easily do it as well.
As for Alfie, Tookie is right that family is very important to him, but I can't see him retiring "early". The fact that he signed a contract means something to him and when you factor in that A) the teams wants him back, B) he can still play at a level he can live with and C) he's clearly having fun - I just can't see him walking away.
Nor can I see his family asking him to - one more year of watching an entire city treat Alfie like God won't hurt them.
Easy to say when you're a fan of the player/team and not part of his family, but I will be shocked if he actually retires.
Well said, and I never said he wasnt coming back either, chill out people, I know your all strung out but come on now.
I'm just stating the facts that he hasnt made a decision yet and alot of factors go into it, its no lock that he comes back, just like it isnt a lock that we make the playoff and that it isnt a lock that Karlsson wins the Norris. Like most people think...
What about Canadian Boy Ray Whitney at 40 forcing his family to live in Phoenix of all places. And we all know Roloson is holding his family hostage in TBay..and so on and so on
LOL... oh man...
Did you guys not watch the Alfie special intro before the All Star Game, interviews with him, his wife, all saying how special it would be if this season went well for him that he could play again next season?
People have short memories. If Alfie is physically fit and able to contribute, there is no doubt in my mind he'll be suiting up next season.
Is it tomorrow yet so we can talk about game day stuff instead? :cP
From Mendes: "Sens record this season when having 3+ days between games: 1-4-1. When they play Flyers tomorrow, will have 4 days rest."
Combine that with, if memory serves correctly is not a stellar afternoon record, tomorrow will be nerve wracking yesiree.
Take with grain of salt as I'm sure 2 of those games include game after xmas(habs) and game after all-star break (hardly a break for our guys). As well I think we had a long break that included us travelling out west in there as well.
If our boys can't get motivated to show up and play a physically demanding 1st period in a critical game vs the flyers that could impact our final week of the season then....we have to revisit this sunday
These guys spend pretty much their entire lives from puberty or earlier just about living at the rink/gym. Heck it's hard for a lot of people to adjust to retiring from a boring desk job at 65 - imagine retiring from one of the coolest jobs on earth at 40, let alone the fact that being a pro athlete consumes more of your daily life than any desk job does.
The last thing I would ever want is to see Alfie turn into Brett Favre or Pete Rose. If he does choose to walk away after this year it will be sad but much better than if he comes back for the wrong reasons and his heart is not in it.
With this in doubt, all the more reason to praise Alfie while we can. Heck, it may even give the boys a bit more motivation to win now "for Alfie".
http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2011/03/brief-history-of-nhl-suspensions.html
Yeah its gonna be intense! I'm renovating the house so would be a good excuse to bust a wall if they lose :)
That being said, I won't be able to hide my disappointment should we finish 9th.
Here's to closing the season strong!
GO SENS GO!
As for Alfie, 1 more year please!! And then off to Sweden where we shall have him cloned!!
They win out, finish 21st overall and then Calgary wins the lottery pushing the Leafs to the 11th overall pick in the draft!
Just to make sure I got this straight, all the mainstream (read Toronto centric) media predicted Ottawa would finish last or 2nd last in the conference and Toronto would make the playoffs. We're now 5 games left in the season and these are the standings:
7 Ottawa
.
.
.
13 NY Islanders
14 Toronto
15 Montréal
And Montreal is only 3 points back with a game in hand. Gotta love when everything works out according to plan!
GO SENS GO!!!
I actually wasn't referring to your comment...sever al people commented that 3 wins will do it.
Here is a list of all the NHL teams, and the cost of beer (oz indicated) - best prices to worst…
Colorado Avalance - $6.25 (24oz) : $0.26 per oz
New York Rangers - $7.50 (24oz) : $0.31 per oz
Buffalo Sabres - $5.00 (16oz) : $0.31 per oz
Washington Capitals - $7.50 (24oz) : $0.31 per oz
Minnesota Wild - $6.75 (20oz) : $0.34 per oz
Carolina Hurricanes - $5.75 (16oz) : $0.36 per oz
Dallas Stars - $6.00 (16oz) : $0.38 per oz
San Jose Sharks - $6.25 (16oz) : $0.39 per oz
Chicago Blackhawks - $7.75 (20oz) : $0.39 per oz
Los Angeles Kings - $8.00 (20oz) : $0.40 per oz
Ottawa Senators - $5.72 (14oz) : $0.41 per oz
Tampa Bay Lightning - $5.00 (12oz) : $0.42 per oz
St Louis Blues - $5.00 (12oz) : $0.42 per oz
Pittsburgh Penguins - $5.00 (12oz) : $0.42 per oz
Anaheim Ducks - $7.00 (16oz) : $0.44 per oz
Vancouver Canucks - $6.96 (16oz) : $0.44 per oz
Winnipeg Jets - $6.96 (16oz) $0.44 per oz
Toronto Maple Leafs - $7.21 (16oz) : $0.45 per oz
New York Islanders - $7.25 (16oz) : $0.45 per oz
Boston Bruins - $7.25 (16oz) : $0.45 per oz
Calgary Flames - $5.68 (12oz) : $0.47 per oz
Philadelphia Flyers - $7.50 (16oz) : $0.47 per oz
New Jersey Devils - $7.75 (16oz) : $0.48 per oz
Edmonton Oilers - $7.70 (16oz) : $0.48 per oz
Detroit Red Wings - $6.00 (12oz) : $0.50 per oz
Phoenix Coyotes - $8.00 (16oz) $0.50 per oz
Florida Panthers - $8.00 (16oz) : $0.50 per oz
Columbus Blue Jackets - $6.75 (12oz) : $0.56 per oz
Nashville Predators - $6.75 (12oz) : $0.56 per oz
Montreal Canadiens - $9.94 (16oz) : $0.62 per oz
Murray (and most others) aren't saying that 3 wins guarantees anything - just that it will likely take 3 wins to stay ahead of the bubble teams. I happen to think 5 points will do it or even 4.
Anyone in grade 3 can tell you we need 7 points (as of today) to guarantee a clinch. Less if/when other teams lose in the remaining games.
Canadian teams prices are converted to US dollars. Heres the article if anyone wants to see more...
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/drink-it-up-puck-daddys-nhl-beer-cost-index-for-2011-122011-12-nhl-beer-cost-index?urn=nhl,wp16535
It was like an infomercial to sell Pierre as next GM
of the Habs.
So pretty much the same as when he was rumored to be coming to Ottawa? Where he whored himself out on radio/TV?
Guy is such a whore.
So heres the plan....watch Sens game @ 1pm, get right sauced during the afternoon and into the evening so that I can muster the drunken energy to (shakes head) "cheer" for the Habs and Lafs in their games. (threw up a little bit right there).
Going to have a mean headache Sunday...but hopefully it will all be worth it if everyone wins and looses like we need them too.
p.s. If I get drunk and cheer for the Lafs and Habs tomorrow night, and they both loose, Im going to have to kill a lamb or something. Not sure why...but the hockey gods will need something for my sins.
Yeah hate this guy...no wonder no team wants this guy as GM or coach.
Guy would do wonders for Montreal. He knows players and the game inside and out.
THE HART - Evgeni Malkin (Steven Stamkos, Claude Giroux)
Guy who should get a lovely parting gift: Jason Spezza. Has there been a more criticized offensive star this generation? It's time to just appreciate Spezza for what he is; a ridiculously skilled points machine who has been clutch all season, and has matured into a terrific leader for the surprise team of the East.
THE NORRIS - Erik Karlsson (Shea Weber, Zdeno Chara)
Guy who should get a ribbon: Alex Pietrangelo. Ottawa boy Darren Pang got his hometown all riled up recently when he suggested Pietrangelo might deserve the Norris over Karlsson. I'd vote Karlsson with Weber second, but Panger is right that the Blues' emerging superstar hasn't gotten nearly enough recognition. He's worthy of being a finalist, but likely won't be.
THE ADAMS - Ken Hitchcock (John Tortorella, Paul MacLean)
We dont NEED other teams to win or lose, what we do NEED is for the Sens to keep winning. Once you start relying on other teams to get in, then your not deserving.
Just admit it, you like to cheer for Habs and Leafs.
Yeah, like him or hate him, I agree with RUSHRLZ. They need someone to beable to speak to the media and know the game.
SPL
Awesome post bro. You forgot about waking up Sunday with a dull thud where your brain used to be and having to START ALL OVER AGAIN for our Sunday tilt!
You get to kill a lamb, Tookie gets to smash down some walls... jeez I need something to decimate too, unless of course everything goes swimmingly this weekend,. :)
The last 10 doesn't mean anything to me. It's not because Buffalo has won a lot lately that they can't drop 3 games in a row. Why do people only assume the Sens will lose a few games in a row? Anything is possible and we are very much advantaged over Buffalo and Washington right now. We're 2 points in front of Washington with a game in hand. We're 2 points in front of Buffalo and have tiebreaker priority. Seriously, anything can happen but something good will - a lot - more than likely happen.
Nerves are natural. We have seen this team be giant-killing underdogs since the start of the season and have also seen our squad struggle almost inexplicably through certain stretches.
Four days with no Sens means extra attention on all the team chasing us, and they've been piling up wins.
I'm positive everything will work out great, but until will clinch will continue to have that feeling of nervous excitement.
24 hours from now...
We need 7 points - either on our own or some of those can be "lost points" for Washington or Buffalo.
Bryan isn't slipping - he was projected what he thought it would take to get into the playoffs as 94 points. Which is a bit higher than I'd put it but that's typically about where the cut is every year.
You have been in a playoff race "Ya don't project the minimum to tie...you project the minimun to qualify comfortable!"
Note: This is a funny season the bad teams in the east are really bad and this screws around with the number of points needed!
OLD HORSE - BEATEN - DEAD !
Murray wasn't saying it would take 3 wins out of our last 5 to tie - he said he felt the Sens need to win 3 out of 5 to make the playoffs. I don't get why this is so hard to understand.
He wasn't saying 3 wins would guarantee anything.
He wasn't saying 3 wins to tie.
He wasn't saying less than 3 wins would mean we didn't make it.
He said he felt we needed 3 wins out of our last five to make the playoffs.
Quoting madpajamma:
I expect Alfie to finish out his current contract (play next year) but I doubt he'll sign another new deal. He's a freak of nature and all but he can't expect to keep up his current level of play beyond next season.
The worst team in the East this year already has as many points as the last place team did at the end of last season, and is on pace to tie or beat the total for the year before. They are also well ahead of the 08-09 pace and have already eclipsed that by 11 points. If you want to make a statement that the bad team is really bad this year, you have to look in the West. Not sure where you get your stats.
its canucnik he fabricates stuff all the time. don't pay attention to him, he is just searching attention, since he is jealous Tookie(yesterda y) and zipzaprap (wednesday) got it all this week
Senators GM Bryan Murray believes it will take 94 pts to make playoffs -- that means winning 3 of final 5 games.
Assuming Warren's source is solid that seems pretty simple to me. Murray feels the cut is at 94 points.
Lol so Murray can do math then since Washington is maxed out at 94 points lol (also makes sense considering our magic number is 7, putting us at 95 points and 1 above Washington max)
I'm also assuming Warren's "source" is the nhl.com standings.
Sorry Tooks...Im not biting. Im sure most readers got the jist of my post, all in good fun.
Well true and when I saw it I wondered about that number for the same reason. Have to assume Murray's position is to leave little to chance.
Would assume Warren got the quote from Murray in a scrum or interview though - he's not going to put words in his mouth (since he doesn't work for the Sun).
2011 9th place 91 pts (CAR)
2010 9th place 87 pts (NYR)
2009 9th place 93 pts (FLO)
2008 9th place 92 pts (CAR)
2007 9th place 91 pts (TOR)
2006 9th place 90 pts (TOR)
So 94 is a safe bet historically.
Buffalo lose in regulation to pittsburgh
ottawa win (philly)
Buffalo lose in regulation to Toronto (hahaha unlikely)
Ottawa win (isles)
and at this point we clinch! oh and if wash lose sat also our magic number would be 1 for 7th place
Ya even I'm getting tired of scoreboard hoping/wishing/ watching
Sorry to completely destroy your "point" but this season is on pace to see the non-playoff teams in the East with about 575 points total - only one shy of 2007-08 which had the highest total post-lockout. And Washington projects to 91 points in 9th - just about exactly the average for 9th place Eastern teams since the lockout.
Thanks for playing!
can't be
Lengthy Lay-off Lingers Longer, Leaf Losers Limp to Links
We are less than 24 hours from puck drop... can't we have our game day post now?
Sheer poetry. *wipes a tear from his eye*
LOL - I was thinking the same when I noticed a new post up (not game-day though). I have that happen at least once a week where I think the boards have gone dead only to realize everyone else is on the new post that I have failed to notice.