But as the Sens demonstrated on Wednesday night, they are more than capable of competing without their Captain.
For the third straight game, the Sens seemed to take the play to the Rangers and they'll be looking for more of the same in Game 5. Something that Sens have not been able to do yet in this series is lead a hockey game. It has been well documented over the past couple days but with their two wins coming in overtime, the Senators have actually never held a lead in this series.
Obviously they would love to score the first goal tonight and force the Rangers to play catch up.
On the Rangers side of things, you have to think we'll see their best effort of the series. They are the top seed in the East and must be feeling the heat after the Senators overtime victory in Game 4, a game in which they blew a two goal lead. They have to be better tonight.
With both Alfredsson and Winchester unavailable for Game 5, MacLean has been forced to shuffle his line up a little bit.
World Junior Star and blue chip prospect Mark Stone appears as though he will draw into the line up. While MacLean would not confirm the line up change, a tweet from Ian Mendes indicated that Stone sounded like a guy that expects to play. Talk about being thrown into the fire. Fascinated to see how Stone looks in his NHL debut.
Here is how the Sens are expected to line up.
Michalek-Spezza-Butler
Condra-Turris-Foligno
Greening-Smith-Neil
Stone-O'Brien-Konopka
Kuba-Karlsson
Phillips-Carkner
Cowen-Gonchar
Craig Anderson gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM with the game available on CBC.
GO SENS GO!
I think you start him there and then work him in as the game moves along. Also there to help the power play obviously.
Believe they called it an upper body injury. Suffered during Game 4.
Game is 7 pm start time
Of course, I knew that! Thanks for the heads up. Would hate for anyone to miss the first half hour because SensChirp told 'em so.
Cant wait for this one. What a great reward to watch amazing sens hockey after my last exam of university. WOOOOO GO SENS GO. light em up stoner
This league is a joke. The only time the league hands down huge suspensions are when the player in question are worthless. As seen when Neal was only suspended for one game. While Torres deserves this type of suspension, we will see the league go back to $2500 fines when it comes to a big name. Nothing changes.
Ihope thats the case as stone is a top 6 fwd and wont be able to do anything if they don't give him a chance and do the same thing they did in peterssons debut earlier this season
Where was the suspension to Weber on Zetterberg, and Malkin on grossman, and how the hell did Neal only get one game for head hunting Couturier and Giroux. Shanahan is such a joke.
Lets kick some Ranger ass tonight with authority.
GO SENS GO
I don't think we should be questioning Maclean for putting Stone on the 4th line. Mac is the main reason why we are where we are right now. He's an outstanding coach and the man knows what he is doing.
I'm rooting hard for Stone to prove me and all the other skeptics wrong tonight.
Go Sens GO!
Can't wait to see Stone play. He is a future goal scorer for the Sens.
GO SENS GO
HE has the ability, just needs the desire/heart. He needs to play like Winchester, O'Brien, even Butler. Balls-to-the-wall.
If Spezza can get fired up, we can definitely beat the Rangers and make some other teams notice.
Think I heard he was wearing 60 yesterday. Not sure though.
This season has already been a monumental success.
GO SENS GO
Alfie was skating in Ottawa todsy, good news but who knows.
We're 0-2 in the playoffs for games that I've worn my Karlsson jersey. I think it's bad luck.
No.
Hagelin comes back on Monday.. I hope he is a better man that Boyle..
If Chicago used Saad -- then the Sens can use Stone. He has experience under pressure in the WJC...
A win tonight would be awesome... get it done boys.. for Alfie.. for the family.
Man I am even more pumped for this game now.
I can see Mark Stone playing well with O'Brien and on the powerplay. Depending on how he performs, Maclean will make the adjustment.
GO SENS GO!!
SENs in Six!
im just so fascinated how we have so much prospect depth that we are using a 6th rounder right now rather than some first or 2nd round guy from past couple years, although i know it may be because they arent available either. but you get my point.
I can see why 25 games suspension is such abomination. Hell I agree he deserved it.
It's just speculation but it could be the league's way of waking up repeat offenders such as torres, and letting them know that they have to change their style of reckless hitting (Im not talking good hard hits, but just stupid reckless hits). it seems to have worked with Mtt Cooke, the guy has revolutionized his own game. The NHL is really trying to do this.
On many occassions I have been against what the league has done. The weber on zetterberg incident still disgusts me. I'm pretty sure the league will forget all about it when it comes down to handing out the NOrris...and give it to that monster. whatever...
the point I am making is that this just could be the league's way to shorten the amount life-threatenin g injuries by punishing repeat offenders strictly, no matter how valuable they are to their own team.
It's something that not many teams have the luxury of doing. The fact that he is playing just goes to show how deep our prospect pool is up front. The thing I do like about Stone is not only does he have the offensive capability like many prospects do, [absolutely dummying the WHL again this year], but he has the size to compete right away. This chance isn't something you would give right away to say Prince our Pumpuel. Mark Stone is a big boy who knows how to use his size and shouldn't get bounced around which is why he is playing. The fact that he beat out Mike Hoffman who was Bingo's best player says a lot too. Obviously Mac believes in the kid.
Can't wait to see him play. Another 6th round gem.
Totally agree that the 4th line is a great place for him to start. We need to remember that the players on this team have led us this far. The players might resent Stone being gifted a top 6 role... If he earns his shot through hard work on the 4th line I'm sure they'll welcome his promotion.
Daren Millard Best of luck to @bdnwheatkings @M_Stoner16 in his #nhl debut tonight for the senators in game 5 vs NYR. #snplayoffs
Looks like its written in Stone, he will play lol
Apparently another concussion. Why he didn't fly with the team. Same with Alfie. Not good to fly when concussed.
Not sure I agree Chirp. Kenopka and O'brien are "cycle down low" kind of guys. Doesn't play up to Stone's assets.
Turris and Foligno can actually hold on to the puck in the offensive zone and create space, allowing players like Stone to park themselves in the slot to receive a pass. Kind of like Huberdeau and Strome at the world juniors. Those guys just buzzed around the offensive zone while he battled in front.
@mat, stone is actually very good on the cycle and working the boards.
I think the goal is that they arent putting stone in straight to the 2nd line and telling him that they are expecting big things from him to add more pressure, the pressure of debuting in the playoffs in NYC is enough. They are putting him in on the 4th line and just telling him to go out there and "do his thing" and play like he always has and not try and do to much, and then will put him on the powerplay with some really skilled players and more open ice. If all goes well and he's into the game and they can see the nerves have worn off a bit then they will work him up the depth chart.
St-Louis Chicken and Ribs on Elgin. But get there early. Like real early....
Hopefully. Cause often top 6 prospects are given their start on a fourth line with players who just aren't a catalyst for top 6 type players and all that ends up happening is 6-8 min of "safe" ice time in the whole game...
Lets hope he gets the nerves settled quickly and gets top 6 opportunities. That's where he'll strive no doubt!
And lets hope he creates enough of a distraction for the blue shits (i meant to write shirts but I thought it looked ok like that) for Spezza to start getting going as well.
So PUMPED!!! Get this thing going already!!!!
Go SENS!!!
I second St Louis Wings, but once again get there early. It's not that big and fills up more than a couple of hours before the game. My second choice is usually Hooley's and you'll have better luck finding a spot there. But really go anywhere but Maclaren's unless you want to pay 20+$ for a pitcher (excluding coors/bud for 17-18$) and 7+$ for a pint. The service is also terrible there. You'll get served/refills 3-4 times at the other places before the waiters come back a second time at Maclaren's. The big tvs aren't worth it.
100% agree! im fine with wherever they start him as long as long as he gets PP time, if he doesnt get time on the PP i'll be speechless! but heres to hoping the team plays awesome and stone has a great debut and we come out on top!
GO SENS GO!!
GO SENS GO!
all the pressure is on the rangers tonight, we can breathe.
go sens go.
Yeah thanks guys. St Louis is usually the go to place but like you guys said it fills up really early and I don't think I can get there before 6 or 630. Hooley's and Mclaren's are plan b and c for sure. I have no idea how good the food would be there though.
awsome!
Go Sens!
Hard to disagree with Paul putting him in after all everything he's done this year has turned to gold but it is certainly a risk and every time the rangers get a chance to expose it they will. The thought of Z and stone on the ice the same time against the Richards line will be a major cause for concern.
1st NHL game being in the playoffs right out of juniors.
Hope he scores tonight, not much chance but it would be great, talk of the league if he does.
literally every stat website has him at a different size. sens have him at 6'2 188.
whl.ca have him at 6'3 196.
hockeydb at 6'3 200
wikipedia 6'3 200
hockeyfuture 6'2 188
however the "weigh ins" usualy happen pre season but i also have heard hes north of 210.
either way we can conclude the last of our worries about him is his strength/size
He's had a great junior career but not a lick of NHL time.
Pretty ballsy to throw him on the 2nd line right away, and mess with a team that has been clicking well all year with basically this roster (scratch Butler for Alfie obvy).
They have been in control for long stretches of hockey games, and are looking for a little bit more net presence and punch on the PP.
That said, I do agree with many other posters. There is a reason why BMurr and Mac are GM's and Coaches and we are fans on SensChirp comment boxes. I trust MacLean's judgement. Whatever role he puts Stone in, will probably be the right one at this point in time.
http://media.shootitlive.com/aftonbladet%2F512/Ja7a52H2jfOOSfm8Jdf87fnvZbU_1200.jpg
He also mentioned he's a real humble and hard-working kid.
For Zibanejad, he mentioned that his only problem was that too many people patted him on the back and told him he was really good. He did say though that Zibby had the potential to be really good if and when he learns to play in the gritty areas and doesn't keep playing on the outside. Based on what we've seen of him so far, I don't expect that this will be a problem for him. He also doesn't strike me as the kind of kid who thinks he's better than everyone else. Personally, I think he'll figure things out sooner than people expect and will turn out to be another star.
The future looks bright for sure.
On a darker note, Johansson also said that, before this injury, Alfredsson was almost certainly going to play next year, but now, he's not sure.
yep thats why ive been talking about this guy literally since pre season. I read an article which had a poll asking all the SEL goaltenders and some players , who has the best shot in the league. over 90% said silfverberg, the other 10% included names like zibanejad and a few other SEL veterans. and even the great foppa was talking about silfver, and the interviewer was telling him that some players compare silfver to him. and forsberg humbly replied and said silfver is a great player and has one of the most incredible shots hes ever seen, compared it to stamkos' shot.
That has been my fear since moments after watching him fall to the ice holding his head. Like I mentioned in another post, he mentioned how disturbing it was to not be able to play with his kids without having headaches and being dizzy during his last concussion and with getting another one so soon thereafter one would have to think he would have to choose his family and mental health over one more year much to the dismay of the fans.
What a shame it would be though. Growing up my favorite players were Ray Bourque and Cam Neely. Having to watch Ray after leaving his career NHL team win his cup somewhere else and Neely finally getting the chance to hoist the cup last year as a member of management with the B's, my biggest hope was to not have to see Alfie go either of those routes to win his. Now its looking more like he will be holding it ala Neely's method.
Here's to the boys making one hell of an impossible run this year so he can still skate onto the ice to hoist it!!
saying sens will lose 2-1???????????? ??????
I wonder what Number# Mark Stone will wear? then again if he is just being inserted to fill a void and be a hopeful success it'll probably be a random number instead of 16 or 61.
Good Luck tonight! 420 was yesterday but tonight where getting Stone'd!
Here I am I thought Yost was a Sensfan :S...
He wore 60 in pre-season
cheers
bell media app always works, team 1200. stream it on your phone, tablet or computer at http://www.team1200.com/default.asp
he's in!
GO SENS GO WOO!
GO STONE!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's where Mark Stone belongs people. On the top line
Guy's gonna put up big numbers for the Sens in the future. What a gem.
to spezza
-
Has Gonchar been wearing the 'A' before this? I thought it was Neil wearing the extra A while Alfie was out.
use a canadian proxy and go to cbc.ca
http://firstrowsports.net/
this will work for em in australia... i watched games from this site when i was in egypt
search firstrowsports on google... dont have the exact address.
or there is a few above
http://www.firstrowsports.eu/watch/120316/3/watch-new-york-rangers-vs-ottawa-senators.html i am watching it now in NZ
lol
spezza was protecting karlsson and took a shot himeself before returning the favor
We all know refs only get retaliators. It's a known fact for years. He should know better.
Didn't take long for him to make an impact and jump up to the top line! He has to be on top of the world right now...I KNOW I AM!!! GO SENS GO!!!!!!!!
Best road period I've seen us play since our 7 game win streak!
I vote for incompetence. No way the NHL refs are smart enough to put together a conspiracy.
Very good point.
NY has a great television audience and a large market team the NHL, their sponsors and networks involved all reap benefits of Large market teams, just look at the boxscore's... should we have 4 penalties and they have 1? their penalty on a night of fair reffs would have just the NYR player in the box. instead they give neil a penalty too for getting his head turnbuckled. did you see last games box scores? we are not the dirty team but we are getting penalized like one.
The nhl makes money on large markets teams and the conspiricy would be for the refs to influence the game so that team would win... there's the conspiricy!
Let's focus on Michalek sucking balls as usual
Might as well be whenever Healy speaks.
It isn't going well, however, I think that Rangers PK has something to do with it. Their shot blocking is ridiculous!
Guy has lost it.
I just came back from work at the start of the third and from that point to now i saw at least 3 of those no call. Was the rest of the game like that^
jesus, they pass it around then someone shoots a terrible shot out of frustration
We better not lose this game
this is hilarious lol just read this as that penalty gets called.....
Excellent penalty kill.
Zenon Konopka has been outstanding tonight. I'm blown away.
2-0
monday night at home will be epic
..I think Bryan Murray shit his pants there
"and Ottawa looks like they are going to take a 2-0 lead, heading home"
then he realizes what he says and keeps repeating it's a 3-2 lead in the series. I counted at least 3 times...
1. Michalek
2. Gonchar
3. Foligno
I still gotta get a laugh in
plus give credit to the defense they let him see all of the pucks.
Shut the fuck up.
At least he caught himself 1 out of 4 times after mixing up Gonchar and Karlson! lol
not with that kind of goaltending. philly and pitts cannot win the stanley cup by allowing 5 goals per game.
You're a fucking tool and not even close to a real fan. All you sound like is a giant douchebag who got cut by his Jr. B squad. Seriously fuck off back to Leaf nation we don't need you loser.
basically the last 3games of the year including game 1 of playoffs. i didnt shave. we lost all game. game 2 i shaved = we win. game 3 no shave and no win. game 4 we were down in 1st and i completly forgot to shave. so i shaved just before the 2nd period and we pulled out a W. tonight i got home late, about 5minutes into the game and realised sens werent off to that great of a start. realised it must be my fault. i go shave, during my shaving process we score and we pull out another W!
proud to be the anti playoff beard right now
I would have thought we would have potted a few more goals this game, but what an incredibly gutsy win!
Anderson! Spezza! Stone! Neiler!
#BelieveIT
Haha... That's the same as my Sens hat...
When I wore it we lost, when I forgot it, we won. Then game 4 I got mad after the second goal and threw it across the room and bingo... no more Ranger goals since. It is still in the same spot where I threw it the other day.
Amazing effort by Anderson especially.
SO PUMPED!!
GO SENS GO!!!
For game 1 i wore my sens jersey they lost.
Game two i decided to go with the unlucky boxer's i thought it was a fluke.
Game 3 i went to SBP wore the jersy no boxer's lost.
Game 4 dint wear the jersy only the boxer's won.
Tonight went with the boxer's again and voila.
So from now i only wear my boxer's for the game!
LOL ive been doin this to,
game 1- All decked out in sens gear and drank multiple beer throughout the game
game 2- no sens gear just my sens socks and just 3 beer before the game
game 3- no sens gear just the socks but again drank beer all game long
so then game 4 went back to no sens gear just my sens socks and just 3 beer before the game
and again in game 5!
and now I am enjoying LOTS OF BEER!!!
GO SENS GO!!!!
we get silfverberg tomorrow, stone has his 1st game under his belt with a point to boot,so we have lots of talent available to make a deep run.
They also showed it and there was no leaving the feet, it was 0.25 seconds after the puck was gone, and the head contact only came because Boyle's head was down.
If there is any type of suspension on this it will be a clear piece of evidence that the league wants the Rangers to win this for revenue purposes.
Ok, So I have these Sens socks that I would often wear throughout the year on game night and I'd fill up my Sens carry coffee cup with ice water and more often than not, we'd win with this combination. Well, I wore the socks for game 1 and 3, we lost them both...Haven't worn them since! lol Weird stuff...
Now, please tell me you watched them on back to back games, right!? lol
hello karma!
how is it neil's fault. intent clearly wasnt there, after the hit you can see neil show some concern by taping boyle's back.
i see this hit like the staal on spezza earlier this series. was spezz's fault for pointing his head downwards. thats all.
clean as a whistle
Wrong and wrong.
why does EVERY one keep thinking neil is a repeat offender? this isnt the first time i hear a non-sens fan or in this case a coach think of neil as a dirty player with a history of suspensions etc.
only repeat offender in this argument is torts!
side note. heres a look at the hit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obT7dtdXefc
Torts had shortened his bench to about ten guys in the third...him and that arsehole Healy should go for a beer and tell each other how good they are...
SENs in Six!
cant spend his night telling us how bad we are
have to play with his gerbil instead
Chris Neil has NEVER been suspended in the NHL.
He walks "the" line but almost never crosses it.
The difference between CBC and NBC is that NBC sticks to positive remarks on both sides. Healy chooses to focus on the negatives.
Btw: they likened Karl to lidstrom during the postgame....you know, the one where cherry was calling Anderson Davidson?
Not da woist leed in hawkey tonight.
darren dreger said it: Chris Neil is not a repeat offender. I believe his last dose of discipline was in 2003. $1000 fine. #TSN
and i think that was from the line brawl?
mitchell do some research bud, there's no game tomorrow. its on monday
This season couldn't get any better. A win Monday would be the cherry on top.
A possible second round with the Panthers? I'll take that!
I mean next game
That is all.
Good night.
Konopka leads all players in the playoffs with a 34-13 wins/losses, and a 72.3% success rate.
Not a bad secret weapon if you ask me. Awesome job Special K!
I'm happy Spezza was finally able to score, and that the Sens were able to cling to their one goal lead for most of the game in order to win. Well done!
As for the Neil hit on Boyle, it's downright offensive for Tortorella to compare it to Torres' reckless hit on Hossa. It was a good, solid, clean bodycheck. Tortorella's claims in the press conference after the game were blatantly false.
1) The point of contact wasn't the player's (Boyle) head.
2) The contact was not late.
3) The player (Neil) does not have a history of suspensions.
(He was fined $1000 in 2003 for being involved in an altercation from the bench.)
Anyways, if you want a good laugh, check out the Twitter postings regarding Chris Neil. There are quite a few Rangers fans out there that are uneducated in regards to hockey.
Michalek-Spezza-Stone
Silfverberg-Turris-Alfredson
Foligno-Smith-Neil
Greening-O'brien-Konopka
top six spare-hoffman, da costa, petersson, zibanejad
bottom six spare-daugavins , condra, klinkhammer
Fonzie say something that's not true???? Impossible.
LOL
Go Sens Go
A. you left out butler all together even from the spares lol
B. I'd really like to keep Bobby in the lineup...I think hes looked great since coming in...he hasnt finished but hes looked good
I think unless Alfies okay to go.. leave the lineup the way it was tonight no reason to fix something that's not broken
I will root against that man for the rest of my life. What a low life.
I would really like an explanation on that one. The difference in height between Torres and Hossa is 1 inch. Torres has been suspended multiple times.. Neil has never been suspended.
The difference in height between Neil (6ft1) and Boyle (6ft7) is 6 inches.. plus about another 6 inches from top of head to the shoulder to hit Boyle in the head. So show me in that replay how Neil jumps a foot to hit Boyle in the head
Tortorella makes no mention of the spearing of Neil. Or the hitting from behind on Smith. Or the knee on knee on Neil.
Tortorella is a hypocrite. Definitely not the same hit. Will it be reviewed? Yes If it was so bad why did Boyle not go to the quite room right away...
Can hardly wait until Monday... win it then boys.. don't let it go back to NY.
Mr Tortorella.. have you ever heard of Karma? Well that's the payback....
He's trying to convince the league it's more than it was. Everyone looks at this sort of hit differently depending on what colour jersey you like to wear. He's comparing it to Torres because that's very emotive, everybody hated that hit and he's trying to stir shit up.
I look at this hit more in line with the Staal hit on Spezza in Game 4. Boyle is 6'7, how the hell is Neil meant to hit him in the head without using a stepladder anyway? Neil didn't leave his feet and if the head was hit it was one of two things - either it was incidental contact after hitting the body or Boyle was partly bent over. In actuality it was a combination of both of those things.
The league will probably look at it and it will be passed off as a legit hockey hit. That being said I don't think it's out of the realms of possibility that Neil gets a game.
Jason Spezza 7,000,000
Milan Michalek 4,500,000
Mika Zibanejad 2,000,000
Kyle Turris 1,500,000
Daniel Alfredsson 5,000,000
Erik Condra 1,000,000
Nick Foligno 2,000,000
Jacob Silfverberg 1,000,000
Colin Greening 1,000,000
Zack Smith 1,000,0000
Chris Neil 2,000,000
Extra: Bobby Butler 1,000,000
Zenon Konopka 1,000,000
Filip Kuba 3,000,000
Erik Karlsson 5,000,000
Chris Phillips 3,000,000
Sergei Gonchar 5,500,000
Jared Cowen 1,500,000
Patrick Wiercioch 1,000,000
Extra: Matt Carkner 1,000,000
Craig Anderson 3,500,000
Ben Bishop 1,000,000
that's rediculous
If that was a suspenable hit, just get rid of hitting in the game completely because basically what the league is saying is that " we'll suspend people just cause we feel like it.". This hit did not fit the bill of a suspension and for fot torts to spend the amount of time on the hit over discussing his team's inability to beat us? tells us that he has officially given up on his team......that' s good news for us!!!
I like Chris Neil hitting clean and hard but when you have a guy cold, blind and completely vulnerable why can't you go just 6" lower and hit him in the ribs and chest...bust 'im up a little...the guy is 6'7" tall. As for Boyle...live by the sword...die by the sword!
Great points, he's worth his contract for those stats alone and that IS the reason he was signed, it's no fluke, he has been known to be one of the best faceoff men in the league. And guys like this normally don't get noticed enough until it really counts. He is a keeper for sure, it's just too bad people don't see it during the regular season.
Torts is just angry because they lost, he'll say whatever he thinks may get some media attention, and of something happened to be reviewed (it shouldn't be) then he did his job. The hit was clean and Neil does not have a history of illegal hitting, so we have nothing to worry about.
Couldn't be happier that Andy was rewarded this shutout. He has been lights out and after suffering a 1 - 0 many of us had that sour taste in our mouth, but this was exactly the outcome we needed. If the pressure wasn't already on the Rangers, then it surely is now.
If we pick up Monday where we left off tonight, this series will be completed at home, in 6 which I predicted (same as many of you).
Go Sens Go!!!
It was actually a good non call not even worthy of a penalty let alone suspension.
I can't fathom how they could even explain a suspension.
Just a distraction from the fact the Rangers got their ass handed to them by an 8th seed team like others have said.
http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=1173789
What whiny little morons. This is the one thing that I find really amusing about hockey. There will always be loads of fans on both sides of every game that think the refs have a conspiracy against them. Just hilarious.
As for the shots on goal, the Rangers may have had 41 but I can only remember 2 or 3 great saves by Andy. I would like to see the scoring chances because my guess is the Sens had better chances than the Rangers. Andy made the saves that had to be made and in years past we didn't have this type of goaltending. Sens kept it simple and frustrated the Rangers all night. You could tell with the last couple of Ranger pp's they tried to go 1 on 4. It was great.
There's so much to say about it but I'll leave it at this: Boyle's punching bag routine on Karlsson has so far been the turning point in this series...in the Sens favour.
Cast your mind back 10 years and just let that sink in.
I sort of agree and disagree at the same time. Boyle's punching bag lit the fuse for the turning point(s) which were Carkner's retribution for what Boyle did and the subsequent 5 minute kill.
I frankly fail to see how even if we lose the next two games by 40 goals each how it fits into the definition of choking.....god damn idiots.
Tell them to shut up on the golf course, people are playing hockey here ;)
Boyle's actions leads to Mclean inserting Konopka(and Carkner). It's Konopka's unexpected 70+% in the face off circle that is the unexpected positive consequence of the decision, which has really helped out our Sens exiting our defensive zone. The added grit, while more obvious, doesn't hurt either.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2012/04/21/neil_boyle_hit_snators_rangers_game5/
GO SENS GO!
Awesome! Even though we all agree that even if we lose the next two it's not a "choke" for a total underdog to lose the series this statement is so hilarious!
Quoting Cy Denneny:
Kono's faceoffs are *not* unexpected. His resume has always been "great faceoff guy, plenty of grit, good character". 70% is high end of course and absolutely not taking anything away from him - but what he's doing now is exactly why I thought (months ago) that we'd be able to trade him at the deadline for a second rounder.
I still think that Murray signed him initially for that purpose - have a good guy for the regular season who'd be valuable at the deadline. If we had finished 13th like most people thought Konopka, Kuba and Carkner all would have been traded at the deadline.
I fully expect Murray to sigh a couple of similar guys to 1-year deals this summer if he can. Guys who will help the team next season but have value at the deadline (if we're sellers).
(Unless there's no extra spots for that - i.e. if the team is pretty much full with "rebuild" guys.
I wouldn't mind seeing another 1 year deal for Konopka either, although his playoff play might actually make him more difficult to sign for the simple reason we might have competition for his signature.
We already have 9 forwards on 1 way deals for next year and Foligno, Winchester, Konopka, Regin, Daugavins and O'Brien looking for new deals. I think Regin will be gone, but with those numbers and the likelihood that Zbad, Stone and Silfverburg (at least) getting significant NHL time there doesn`t seem to be room for all of them.
I don`t think it is out of the realms of possibility that some of the lower end of the forwards, Butler for example, get moved on.
This year has been more than I had ever expected and it`s not over yet, b ut we shouldn`t forget the fact we are still rebuilding and we are going to have to part ways with some people we`d like to see kept.