The Senators missed a chance to close out the top seeded Rangers on Monday night but have another opportunity on Thursday night.
While heading back to Madison Square Garden may seem like a daunting assignment, the Sens have played some of their best games under the bright lights of Broadway and have won two of three in that building in this series.
Important to remember that the Sens are still the number eight seed so all the pressure will be squarely on the shoulders of the top team in the East.
The Senators were on the ice for practice today at Scotiabank Place and will depart for New York City later this afternoon. Couple players absent from practice today including Matt Carkner and Zenon Konopka who both took maintenance days. With Carkner not available, the Sens called on Mark Borowiecki from the Black Aces group.
If Carkner can not play, Borowiecki is definitely an option for Game 7 and will travel with the team to New York.
The NHL finally announced the time of tomorrow's deciding game and as expected, it will be a 7:00 PM start. For fans looking for somewhere to watch the game, SBP will be opening their doors to Sens fans at 6:00 PM.
While the Senators get set for the biggest game of their season, I am busy packing my bags for New York City to represent Sens Army at Madison Square Garden. Going to brave the overnight Greyhound from Ottawa to New York and arrive in the Big Apple early tomorrow morning.
I'll do my best to update the site while I'm gone but if you notice the Game Day post isn't up at it's usual time, that's why! In the meantime, follow me on Twitter @SensChirp for updates throughout my trip.
GO SENS GO!
Lol, good luck Chirp!
Wow, my idea of challenges has really sparked some conversation and VERY good ideas, I like where it's going. Maybe Chirps new website exposure will be viewed by the right people and something will catch on, I hope.
The majority of the challenges will be related to goals, but not all of them. Some would be related to potential game changers, like 5 on 3 PK situations or 4 minute penalties. There are a lot of options and tweeking that would need to be done, but following what the NFL did would be a great start.
Chirp... you are a legend... good for you my friend
Henrik Lundqvist, Jonathan Quick, and Pekka Rinne are the 2011-12 nominees. Both Lundqvist and Quick will no doubt be the front runners after regular season play and stats, with the dark horse being Rinne.
This year I think the winner will come down to how these guys perform in the playoffs, not just regular season. Quick has been a standout and knocked off the beast known as the Canucks, has the 2nd best GAA of goalies still in the playoffs and best save %. But you can't undervalue Rinne who almost single handedly beat Detroit. While Lundqvist is playing great against Ottawa, he hasn't matched either Quick or Rinne thus far. I personally think Nashville will be the team who advances in the West and because of that, he'll land his 1st ever Vezina.
Alfie.
Votes are already cast on a point system (ie 1st 2nd 3rd place votes)
Announcing the nominees is simply a formality, as the NHL already knows who won, since all votes have already been casted. There is no second round of voting
How expensive were tickets?!? Would you mind letting us know what tickets are going for on the street before you head in?
I'm assuming you have wifi in the cafe? stream cbc.ca to your cafe
The best experience I've had is sitting 2 rows back from the Sens bench at MSG last year. Wearing my Sens heritage sweater. Cheering every goal the Sens scored as the players celebrated a couple feet away from me. Having all the Rangers fans booing me every time I got up to cheer. The group behind me asking me if my grandma knit the sweater for me; asking if it was flammable...eve n suggesting that we should all find out after the game. The one thing I will say about NY fans of any sport, they are passionate about their teams...which makes it even better when you are in there house cheering on another team beating there asses. I wish I was there to join you as we celebrate the Sens moving on to round 2. ENJOY!!!
Book Friday off work - check
Buy the girlfriend theather tickets for Thursday night- check
Hossa - czech - no wait, slovak
Stock beer fridge - check and check
AND it's still only 2pm Wednesday... shiiiiiiiit.
Awesome! *thumbs up*
haha sucker... I didn't have to buy the gf anything... She knows my Sens come first hahah
I just looked at ticketmaster, and the cheapest tickets sold for $40 each (before tax, service charge, etc.)... but it's sold out
Ticket-exchange is listing $282 per 400-level ticket!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150750967524477&set=a.75761324476.72614.5800809476&type=1&theater
I'm guessing they are only expecting people for the 100 level...
And event details:
http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=629579
Right, but will you get laid on Thursday?
Tip: always pretend the girlfriend comes first.
PS - Oral helps.
excruciating isn't it...I played model husband yesterday and am doing it today to butter her up to watch the game tomorrow...even had to sit through a chick flick...excruci ating...the price to be paid for playoff hockey lol.
Yeah theres no way we fill the place up on a road game, even when other team have done it. Now if only SBP was downtown like most Canadian cities, bunch of tools!
Eugene has himself and six guys from the Security Staff...Chirp, you will be "Johnny Seven", one man SENs' Army!
SENs in Six!
that was what has always puzzled me...I will not pretend I understand the dynamics of Ottawa, but why wasn't an arena put downtown like any of the other markets? from what I gather from you guys is that driving out to kanata for game day is a huge pain in the butt..maybe moreso driving home after the game is done.
This is one of the many things I don't understand about women. When we watch hockey, we couldn't care less if they sit there with us... or, if we do care, we'd like prefer they were somewhere else, especially if they don't like or care for hockey or the Sens.
But when they watch something we don't care about (e.g. a chick flick) they somehow think its better if we sit with them through it... shared pain?
Ever buy real estate?
Not saying it doesn't suck or that it couldn't work downtown but the land deal they got in Farnata was dirt cheap. Otherwise Bryden may have moved the team long before Uncle Eugene saved the day.
Buy them anything??? are you nuts, dont spoil them... I have not seen my wife since the playoffs started!!!
Please Sens lets get to the next round... we have never gotten along so well :)
WHHOOOHOOOO!!! Go Sens Go!
Your answer is here: http://www.eqjournal.org/?p=261
Sure it costs more to get land downtown but the income from a downtown arena that has all transportation accessable to it is money...
I have no doubt they would have been even more successfull if the arena was downtown instead of nowheresville.. ..
I didn't say (and don't believe) it can't work downtown (though the hipsters in the Glebe would make it their business to make it not work).
Just answering your question - they didn't have the cash to build a stadium downtown so they built one in Kanata (and bought a bunch of extra land they later resold to car dealerships etc as I understand it).
Hopefully in the not-too-distant future they'll be able to build a new arena downtown. (Though I live in Kanata so can't complain too much).
Based on the article (http://www.eqjournal.org/?p=261) it wasn't an option to build the arena downtown.
Lebretton flats wasn't made available by NCC.
Landsdowne couldn't support the people flow on buses or cars.
Erik Karlsson only has one point in this series -- a goal scored in Game 2 -- and the defenseman admitted the matchup has been frustrating for him at times.
"[It's been] a little bit [frustrating]," Karlsson said. "[The Rangers] are a good team and that's why they won the Eastern Conference. They've got really good goaltending and it's been tough for us. But I think we've done a good job in what we've [accomplished] so far. Obviously I want to do things offensively, but if I have to do something else to help the team win, whether it's throwing hits, blocking shots or playing [well] defensively, you do what you have to. Offensively, right now, it's tough."
Added MacLean: "I don't think [Erik] needs to do more. We just need [Karlsson] to be [Karlsson]. When [Erik] skates, that's obviously when he's at his best. He hasn't skated the way that we needed him to skate, and on [Thursday] we need him to use his skill as a skater to create offense. He's going to be a target on our team and he has to come up with ways to counteract that."
1. This marks 7th time that matchup between a No. 1 seed & a #8 seed has needed a Game 7. The road team has won 4 of the 6 previous Game 7 meetings. Here's a look at how the #8 seed has fared:
2011: #8 CHI loses to VAN 2-1
2010: #8 MON beats WASH 2-1
2008: #8 BOS loses to MONT 5-0
2000: #8 SJS beats STL 3-1
1999: #8 PITT beats NJD 4-2
1994: #8 SJS beats DET 3-2
2. Now you must be thinking that Rangers have momentum after winning Game 6 & heading back to MSG for Game 7. On 2 other occasions a #1 seed staved off elimination by winning a Game 6 against a #8 seed. But in both those instances, the #1 seed went on to lose Game 7.
1999: SJS vs. STL -- Lost 6-2 in Game 6, won 3-1 in Game 7
1994: SJS vs. DET -- Lost 7-1 in Game 6, won 3-2 in Game 7
3. You'll also notice from the first statistic that Canadian teams have never lost a Game 7 in a series involving the one vs. eight matchup.
2011: Vancouver beats Chicago
2010: Montreal beats Washington
2008: Montreal beats Boston
4. The Sens have now played every Atlantic Division opponent in the playoffs. In each instance, Ottawa came out the winner in the first-ever meeting -- all of which happened in the first round:
1998: vs. New Jersey -- Ottawa wins 4-2
2002: vs. Philadelphia -- Ottawa wins 4-1
2003: vs. NY Islanders -- Ottawa wins 4-1
2007: vs. Pittsburgh -- Ottawa wins 4-1
2012: vs. NY Rangers -- TBD
5.Game 7 of series will be played on April 26 and the Sens have never lost a playoff game on this date, going a perfect 3-0:
Apr 26, 2007: 5-4 win at NJD
Apr 26, 2002: 2-1 OT win at PHIL
Apr 26, 1998: 2-1 win vs. NJD
6.Lundqvist - who has to battle the Sports Illustrated jinx has a 2-5 record when facing elimination and he's never won back-to-back games in this situation:
definitely shared pain...and when its over...then they ask what we thought, and if we have a smarta** answer, then we get the cold shoulder and told we are an a**hole or the like, same thing we usually get if they are watching the game with us, and they are talking during the play (which that is what intermissions are for by the way), we are a**holes for asking them to be quiet. can never win.
Thanks Ian Mendes.
You're joking right?
I mean I get out pretty fast but that's because I know which of the 10 parking spots you need to grab to be able to avoid waiting in the lot for an hour or two.
the after game ritual of going home would be the only thing I don't mind not dealing with by being 2 provinces away and watching the game on tv...the commentators suck..but mute works for that...not paying $5 for a beer is alright too
Can't say I share your pain...My better half enjoys sports...Althou gh not as passionate a Sens fan as I am she will watch and cheer along with me...I can sit and watch live or on TV my other favorite sports team almost any night I want...so I have it real good!
As for tomorrow night...I truly believe that the boys will be alright no matter who is in or not in the line-up they have surprised all year so why not tomorrow too! I think the whole Alfie thing is over blown...he has shown his team that he is in it 110% and that everyone else needs to be at the same commitment level.
The big cities have arenas downtown.. but they have subways that move a lot of people very fast.
A lot of the streets downtown are one way and one lane. Lebreton Flats had the room.. but can you imagine trying to get out of there by car -- so far from the highway... it would be a nightmare. You would have to bus it.. Can you imagine approx 18,000 people trying to catch a bus?
Light rail first, downtown arena second.
To track 20,000 fans you'd have to call it heavy rail.
A friend emailed it to me this morning. Thought it was pretty interesting stuff :)
Team to host ‘Sens in 7 Red Rally’ in association with CBC Sports
OTTAWA – The Ottawa Senators announced today that Scotiabank Place will open its doors to fans on Thursday, April 26, for an opportunity to watch CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada high-definition broadcast of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final, when the Senators take on the New York Rangers at 7 p.m. Doors to Scotiabank Place will open at 6 p.m.
The Bell HD screen — with 2,170 square feet of viewing space — will be lowered to enhance sightlines for fans and to better the game experience. Bert’s, the official Sens Army headquarters, will open at 5 p.m. The TEAM 1200 will broadcast the Senators’ pre-game show live from inside the Gate 1 entrance to Scotiabank Place.
On the Red Zone party plaza, fans will be able “join the Senators bench” for a photo, courtesy of MBNA, while Spartacat, the Senators’ ambassador of fun, will be on hand to greet fans and give away Senators prizes. Fans entering Scotiabank Place will get cheer cards courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen and thundersticks courtesy of Scotiabank. The Sens Store will have a one-day sale for fans in attendance, with all regular-priced merchandise being sold at 30 per cent off. There will also be prize giveaways for fans during breaks in the CBC broadcast of the game.
Parking and admission to Scotiabank Place on Thursday, April 26, is free, but fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item as a donation to the Ottawa Food Bank.
Scotiabank Place will be open until the end of the game. Visit www.ottawasenators.com for more details.
Very interesting - it's from a column Mendes posted on Sportsnet.ca though - not sure if you were aware.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2012/04/24/ottawa_senators_rangers_nhl_stanley_cup_playoffs_game_7/
Paul MacLean says Konopka & Carkner - who didn't skate today - just took maintenance days today.
He's like the @thescore twitter feed. Always hours late on "breaking news"
Thank God for beer!
I won't get laid Thursday probably. But if the Sens win... it's as good as...
there is always friday morning
Except Vancouver lost in 5 games not 7???
When was Van's game 7? Did I miss it?
Game 6 was Gillis presser and game 7 (when they lost) was when Luongo came out saying he will wiave his no trade clause
only explanations I can come up with
Damn I tried to edit it quick enough. You guys are way too quick. One of those type before you actually think things...
Ah. Like when you picked your username.
zing!
(only kidding choppy)
Kinda, but that actually worked out. Similar to Senschirp but has my nickname instead of chirp. Definately not as knowledgable as Chirp when it comes to the sens though.
And Im guessing very hairy sideburns???
Let's go Caps - phase of operation play Florida in round 2 starts tonight!
Though I've got all this Obama-related material to chirp Thomas with I almost hope they win so we play Boston.
Haha nope, just a mix of my first and last name. Simple as that.
LOL
Wasn't a crap post but you certainly left yourself open for getting chirped - but that's the point of the site is it not?
Go Caps/Cats/Sens GO!
Also - some props from the NHL:
NHL @NHL
Coach Paul MacLean has transformed @NHL_Sens in first season behind the bench. Story: http://bit.ly/IfF29w #NYROtt #StanleyCup
Trust me there are many worse posts than that one... try coming on here during the 3rd period when the Sens are losing... you won't get that chance again until maybe the second round :)
Go Sens Go!!!
if konopka is out, o'brien has been good on faceoffs, also foligno could be the 3rd or 4th center if needed.
could see both butler and silfverberg or silfverberg/sto ne make the lineup if kono is a nogo.
carkner was a bit disapointing last game since the rangers lost their toughness of boyle, almost 2 delay of game penalties that may have led the refs to let the NYR delay of game call go.
Will Boro be the answer? gilroy seems to soft and coughs the puck up when pressured by an incoming hit.
rumors will fly, how's it going to pan out?
This season has been great i don't want it to end! October seems too far away for next season even though we will have some great young talents coming in.
Go Sens!
PM is the man
Ian Mendes @ian_mendes
Craig Anderson career at MSG: 8-1-0 record with a 1.42 GAA and .957 save pct
They had the choice of downtown or kanata. They went with Kanata to help the area with population and business to grow more in the west end... Didn't really work from what I saw. It's was more Orleans that BOOM in business's And houses. Anyways if it was going downtown. It's was sepose to be where the new civil museum is beside the bridge that connects Gatineau and Ottawa.
I personally would love seen in downtown. Cause I'm sure we wouldn't have trouble feeling the place every game. Now people don't go cause its to far...
Just posting my 2 cents. Lol
Have to admit that picturing aerial shots of our rink in that location would be sweet. Could pan over to the Parliament buildings and across the river etc.
Would have been sweet. Let the war museum crowd drive out to Kanata LOL.
Oh what a great site this would have been for an arena! http://pic.twitter.com/jBYGD1lQ
What I really want to see is the return of Butler. Never thought I'd say that, because I had him pegged as someone who wouldn't be able to handle the physical nature and immense intensity of the playoffs.
He certainly proved me wrong and showed a lot of heart and (who'da thunk it?) grit. Also not afraid to shoot a lot and really wants the puck on his stick.
Anyone else out there (as exciting as dressing Silfverberg or Stone would be) pining for Butler?
Not saying I'm pining but would feel good with him out there. He did show plenty of jump in the games he played.
He's in my lineup if it's my call (which thankfully it is not).
Nice posts! I believe the asking price for war-museum-area real estate was exceptionally high, so they tried to open their franchise up to the Ottawa Valley, which if I'm not mistaken, is about twice the population (albeit scattered) of "Ottawa Proper".
It definitely worked to a small extent, but Quebecers felt rightfully excluded. Speaking of excluded; WALK-UP GAMEDAY ATTENDANCE, not to mention loss of potential downtown atmosphere.
ANYWAY, really hope they realise the mistake and build downtown when they need to replace the "Palladium"
I think that's often the typical growth path for small market teams:
1. Get a franchise by any means necessary (lie about population growth, tax breaks etc if you have to).
2. Take any arena you can get, be it a way-too-small-a nd-too-old junior arena or a too-far-away "real" arena.
3. Build a loyal fan base despite the imperfect arena and/or location.
4. When the time is right, make a pitch for govt help in building a new arena - state of the art, central, proper access for fans, better ability to host non-hockey events etc.
We're well into #3 - just need #4 to kick in.
here's a video of silfverberg and teammates wearing their golden helmets as well as using gold spay paint to cover their upper bodies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk34nZvS9TY
either way here are 2 videos of them. Seems as though they have a bit of a bromance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTU7aC-rJl8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcuRgwshnuE&feature=endscreen&NR=1
From what I remember was that lebteton flats was way too
Much money and or that they wanted to keep that land as a greenspace. Look at it now tho right?
So the original owner had land in kanata and was able to build there. Since I live in kanata yaay lol
Really deflated after monday's loss - but slowly getting pumped for tomorrow. Just hope that the refs don't have it in for us. I really don't trust the refs or Bettman(Buttman )for that matter.
Anyhoo GO SENS GO!
I like those lines. Protects Stone 5 on 5 and keeps him fresh for the power play. I like Alfie with Smith and Neil to make room for him as well.
71-19-11
09-07-60
14-15-16
22-42-25
Turris - Spezza - Alfie
Michalek - Foligno - Stone
Greening - Smith - Neil
Konopka - O'Brien - Butler
With Butler and Stone switching up based on play.
PP line-ups:
Unit one:
Michalek-Spezza-Stone
Alfie-Karlsson
Unit two:
Foligno-Turris-Butler
Kuba-Gonchar
While I'm not sure he needs it or even that it's a good idea, I take a certain amount of comfort from knowing both Smith and Neil are out there with Neil. If Neil was a LW I'd have had him playing with Alfie most of his career - nobody would jump in front of a bullet faster for Alfie than Neiler would.
Dean Brown on PxP, YesWeCan posters adorning the shrine, cheering for the team in white and red against the B's at home ... just one thing missing.
Tomorrow is about heart. Who wants it more?
We need Kenopka and Neil to continue causing havoc in front of Lundqvist. We need tight defense. We need a disciplined game and we need shitloads of pucks at the Rangers net.
Do all this and we have 4 more games.
Good luck Sens. Do us proud.
This city needs it right now...
Nick Foligno has a 77% rating on the dot - tops among those with more than 10 faceoffs
Zenon Konopka has a 70% rating ... AND is top 40 in faceoffs taken (25th in FOW overall)
Michalek is +4 - good enough for 10th in the playoffs (not including tonight's game).
Got a question about life, #Sens or International bus travel? Send it my way with the hash tag #SCinNYC Should help pass the time!
http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2012/4/25/2975779/braden-holtby-rich-peverley-gif
Just proved its not only us who gets horrible officials
On the contrary, what it proves is that refs in OTHER games will attempt to screw with Sens fans.
LOL
Hahahah Touche
Ill be going to watch at scotiabank!
NOW IT'S OUR TURN!!! GO SENS GO!!!
in the west we have: 8 over 1 - 2 over 7 - 3 over 6 - and 4 over 5
in the east so far we have: 5 over 4 - 7 over 2 - I would say the favorites in the 6 vs 3 would be jersey ....which means the mirror image would be 1 over 8 :(
but this is prolly just results of my brain trying to scare the crap out of myself
Greening-Spezza-Michalek
Foligno-Turris-Alfredsson
Neil-Konopka-Condra
Stone-O'Brien-Smith
Karlsson-Kuba
Cowen-Gonchar
Carkner-Phillips
Anderson
Bishop
I also think Daniel Alfredsson is going to be a man on a mission in game 7, I really think the team is reflecting on his actions and it is making them think that this could possibly be his last year and they want to do him proud. I think Alfie nets the game winner tomorrow night and that he will be the 1st star in the game.
He had a tough year with the injury and just never found his game. He will have a bounce back year, hell he might even make the team out of camp still. He is still up there on the depth chart on defense for sure.
Florida is going to beat Jersey and we are going to play them in round 2
(Semi joke)
I also love that Maclean benched Spezza and Alfie...It shows the whole team that nobody is above the team and anyone can be disciplined. I anticipate both guys are going to come out on absolute fire tonight too.
How many people are planning to head to Scotiabank Place for the game?
Saw it on twitter and it made me laugh.
"tsn_wally: Erik Karlsson, Shea Weber and Zdeno Chara are the Norris Trophy Finalists. #NHLAwards #Sens"
When I drive to Ottawa to see a game, I can't help but see the value in having SBP where it is. It's right off the highway 20 minutes out of the city, and I also see Kanata growing immensely. It may not have been the smartest decision at the time, but I can only see Kanata and Ottawa growing much larger in the future.
I can understand parking problems I guess, but the location seems like a good thing from my perspective.
If you look at some positive trends, the Sens series game results have been identical to the Capitals-Bruins series. And I just read that the Sens are 3-0 when playing on April 26.
Man, 7pm is going to take forever to get here.
My advice to Neil is this...just like he for the first part of game 6...turn and laugh at the Ranger goons who are trying to get him to take a penalty...don't let them take the momentum from us! Play tough but smart...
Look for the things that got us this far to get us through this last game and in to the next round!
Not for me, just finished my night shift and halfway done my Marley's Mellow Mood drink. Should be out like a light within the hour and waking up at game time. :)
I've taken the late Megabus to Buffalo Airport. It's only 3 hours, with free wifi, but it's still devastating. Not nearly as devastating as the 10 hour greyhound bus from Windsor to Ottawa, but devastating nonetheless.
I'm super cranked up for this game. I've been close to vomitting since yesterday.
Go Sens GO!
#sens Erik Karlsson, Shea Weber, and Zdeno Chara are your Norris finalists. #nhl #PHWA
OOPS - someone beat me to it
Spent some time in Boston this season and spoke with a guy there who claimed (and seemed) to know the inner team well. He said that they can't wait to unload Thomas and turn the team over to Rask. Thomas is Tea Party (extreme right wing - makes Limbaugh look like Woody Harrelson) and his views are *not* cool in the room.
Guy could be full of crap but seemed to know what he was talking about.
I think they will def look into it for sure, Rask is more than capable of handling the #1 spot. Thomas is never consistant from year to year.
I was laying in bed last night and i drifted off to sleep and I had a dream that we where beating the Rangers 2-1 but I woke up kind of sad, but I cheered up when I realized that it was only a dream, because I know we can beat New York by way more than that.
Anyone catch the reference? ;)
I watched about half the series, and that Ward guy was easily one of the most consistently dangerous guys on the Caps. A lot of "where the f**k did this guy come from?" going on. Good on him.
Funny, as that was his 1st goal of the series...He's not that good and plays 3rd/4th line minutes but seems to show up more in the playoffs, he's been with WSH for the past 2-3 years now.
Agreed, mind you those thoguhts simply should be from this season.
He was deadly last year in the playoffs for nashville, and was one of the biggest reason the Caps sprung for him on July 1st. I think he had a couple of gwg last year for the preds, including 7 goals in 12 games
kudos to you for the Varsity Blues reference lol...the only thing I can still think of in that movie is the stripper teacher and the whip cream bikini.
After reading this post......Your name is quite fitting
Boston is in the same situation Vancouver is/was. Rask has been and still is the teams future #1. But you can't deny what Thomas has done. He was never expected to peform at the level he did and that alone is the reason why they continue to roll with him. I think Thomas (even being out in 1st series this year) will still be considered the #1 next year, but it'll be his to lose. You'll see Rask play more games around 30+ for the first time (like Schneider in Van this year) and by season end, going into playoffs, Rask will earn the #1. It'll almost be identical to what happened in Van this year.
The best part about this whole thing, Toronto gave away Rask in exchange for Raycroft, lol. I still laugh at that move, dumb, dumb, dumb!!!
Correctdion - Rask has played more than 30 before, 45 in 09-10 but that situation was due to an off year for Thomas and they were still considering Rask too young to be the true starter.
Which would be awful news for the Cancuks IMO
Clearly Luongo probably wants to go to TB. His short list may also include Toronto, Florida, NYI perhaps (irony galore)
But if your TB who have lots of high end forwards, why would you spring for a 10 year contract when you could get Tim Thomas for probably cheaper on a 1 year deal that expires, leaving your books open for future moves?
Thomas to TB makes most sense, and Luongo will be stuck having to go to a bottom feeding team, which will hurt Van City chances of moving him
Stripper teachers rock, but I DO love me a Whipped Cream Bikini!!!
I know isnt it great, point still stands tho, Ward is nothing new.
@CraigAnderson41
@kyleturris
@ECondra
@Jimmy_OB
@M_Stoner16
@jwinch18
especially of the ali larter variety...yowza
Believe it.
It's not all about the scoreboard Tooks. You'd hear his name a lot during play, creating a lot of chances, clutch goal and a couple assists, tied Semin in pts. Not too shabby for a low scoring series. :cP
Tookie's assessment was right on. Ward is not that much of a standout player but perfectly suited for the playoffs. And he does play on the 3rd/4th line and has most of his career.
I have many friends and even family that cheer for Boston (if you can believe it). I kept my mouth shut, didn't say a word after Washington ended that series. I'm a big believer in karma, what you say will come back to bite you. So with me staying quiet and not throwing in into the faces of people I know, I hope Karma is good to me. :)
I think he meant you didn't know this was Ward's first year in Washington. He had a great playoff performance for Nashville last year. I think he scored 8-10 goals in two playoff rounds.
yeah, I read that this morning that Toronto is one of the teams he would waive his no trade for....as one poster put it if he does land in Toronto at least he won't have to worry about cracking in the post-season like he did in Vancouver.....L OL!!!
He may have said he shows up more in the playoffs, but he also said he's played for the caps for 2-3 years now lol did you just start watching hockey this year Tookie?
You guys are funny. Luongo could easily bring the Lafs into contention, imagine him with them this year, before the collapse (due to goaltending) they would of had 8th or better for sure. But then Lu chokes in playoffs
No I dont follow 3rd/4th liners, could really care less where he played before and what he does really. Point still stands he aint good or new.
No chance Boston moves Thomas within the division, so if the leafs have a chance at making a "big splash" between the pipes, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Luongo.
Yeah it would probably be a good move for them and should immediately put them into contention. Long contract like that though and all the pressure in the Big Stinky Smoke, and it could also turn out to be another long-term disaster.
LOL - Now THAT's the tookie we all know.
Never admit to being wrong, just justify any mistakes as not caring.
Tookie: Grass is purple.
Other person: Um, no it's green.
Tookie: Oh who cares? I never look down anyway.
You forgot to sign your post:
"Regards, the player expert sitting in 92nd out of 103 players in the playoff pool.
Here is some free advice, Ward has more points than over half your pool roster and only costs 3M, you should take him the next round. Haha!
Regarding your statement "I don't follow 3rd/4th liners"....that one statement alone shows that, contrary to what I have always thought, maybe your current name really does describe you perfectly.
7 OTT players - Condra, Greening, Butler, Borowiecki, Smith, Daugavins, O'Brien - won road Game 7 in first round of '11 #CalderCup Playoffs
13pts in 12 games last year including 7 goals.
Washignton targetted him just like they did Brouwer for one simple reason...Last night type of performance.
Sure he may be a 3/4th line type of player, but looking at Ottawa where would we be in this series if we didn't have smith/neil type players cramming the net and generating offense
You don't plan defenses around these guys, but if you treat them like you think "aint nothing new no need to concern myself" then you will get burnt
Thats ridiculous that they are all on our roster now, mind you only 5 of them will actually play, maybe only 4.
I really want to see Smith have a good game, I feel like offensively he has been M.I.A since like January. early in the seaosn he was bringing it every night..now he seems to have gone back to his old ways of weak penalties, solid Pk work and generally little impact on the game. He needs to bring it tonight
I said before the start of the pool that I die with the Pens, well it happened. Oh well. Move on.
And it seems we all agree, Ward aint new nor good.
Who said anything about 3rd/4th liners not making an impact in the playoffs? maybe you should learn how to read first and then get back to me.
But incase you cant even do that, let me educate you...We were taking about Ward, 1 player, who plays 3rd/4th line minutes all season and seems to elevate his game in the playoffs but has yet to win anything, therefore not much of an impact.
Its like saying Karlsson is an impact player, well we sure could use just a tiny bit of his impact anyday now...
he needs to start munching on some of that cheesecake Turris was eating earlier in the series..or something anyway...we need our best to be their best, everyone agrees there I am sure...Spezz... MM9...Alfie...K arls...Andy...w e live or die by their performance.
I think the Sens need to take a step back from Stone and Silfverberg, atleast for this Game 7. They each have a game under their belt, and perhaps a chance for more if we slay the Rangers tonight, but for atleast tonight, I'd like to see the Sens stick with a more seasoned NHLer. They haven't been shining stars at all this year, but I think Butler or Daugs should draw in tonight instead of Stone or Silf. Even if either one of them doesnt get a single point, I think they have both played enough games this year to know MacLeans system more so than 1 or 2 rookies (Stone and Silf). Who knows, maybe one of Daugs or Butler could be a hero tonight, but I'd be just happy with either of them playing smart 2 way hockey.
P.s. I agree (at this point) with Tookies suggestions that Greening should play again on that top line. We have experimented at times with different plugs on that top Spez/MM9 line, but why not go with what has worked at times this year, and thats with Greening. Hes responsible, 2way and gives Spez/MM9 more room on the ice. Plus I think hed give it 110% tonight if given that opportunity on the top line, something he hasnt seen this whole series. What the hell...give it a shot.
110% with you on this. Even I had to re-read my own post about Greening but hell, its whats been working the best all year. Go back to it!
And how would you, honestly, rate Spezza's performance?
I'm not trying to be argumentitve. I am really curious to see if you think he has performed well...
Dismal? Nobody in the playoffs has more SOG than Karlsson. Can he be better? Sure he can and we need him to have his best game yet. But "dismal"? Wrong.
Well, like it or not he is leading our team with 5pts in 6 games, I think he's done well with what he's been given (MM9, Condra, Butler, Stone, Silf) not exactly top of the mill stuff...
but some of you are sounding like leaf fans, seriously...
Do you think toronto has the assets to make a trade for luongo or Thomas? Don't think so unless they are giving up a top prospect and 3-5 first rounders since they have no players of value to trade. If the leafs try this they will get soaked.
Their fan some s are misled by bad media who claim to know everything about hockey and call themselves "experts".
Edmonton has assets to aquire these types of high end players and they will most likely be front runners as both boston and vancouver would like to get some high end talent.
These teams are not just going to give away their starting goalie, they will get a large return.
The minute Luongo leaves, Schneider can hold them ransom. Key points to know
-Schneider is a RFA this year
-He qualifies for UFA status after 1 more year
-Due to his age/GP, the Canucks cannot qualify him until July 5th
-Why is that important? Because teams now have 4 days to offer sheet him
-If he holds out for lots of money, then he could simply accept his qualifying offer and become a UFA next year
Should be interesting
Shots? Shots? I can get shots on net too, its easy, its the quality of shots that count and out of thos 31 shots, maybe 4-5 are of quality.
Can you really say Karlsson has been playing well, compared to regular season or just compared to how well we know he can play.....he's been dismal dude, not skating up, not controlling the PP, no game flow control, no takeaways. His offensive game just vanished. His 1 goal was a fluke.
So my lineup would be:
Turris - Spezza - Alfie
Michalek - Foligno - Butler
Greening - Smith - Neil
Konopka - O'Brien - Daugavins
With Turris, Michalek and Foligno switching back to their usual spots if it's not working early with Foligno at centre.
PP line-ups:
Unit one:
Michalek-Spezza-Butler
Alfie-Karlsson
Unit two:
Foligno-Turris-Neil
Kuba-Gonchar
Of course, in Paulrus we trust though.
GO SENS GO !! The better team TONIGHT is off to round 2. Where is that "Miracle" speech by that kid on utube .... haha
LOL.....yeah. It took someone else saying it for me to realize it wasn't just me who is annoyed by those commercials. And your right....its just a glorified chicken nugget.
Holy shit buddy, you're really in top form today 'ain't ya'?
Read all the words in my post please. I said he can be better and we need him to be better.
What I'm saying is he has been far from dismal.
And no, you could not get a shot on goal if you were inserted for Karlsson. Especially if you got the attention he's getting.
Contrary to popular belief I think the Leafs actually have enough assets to give up to acquire Luongo. If Burke does do it, then he goes back against his re-build once again tho
Reimer(to back up schneider), Kadri and a prospect I think would be enough in my mind. Burke may even force Vancouver to take a contract back as well
Vancouver won't give Luongo away but they also can't expect a huge return given he has 10 years left and is giving a short list
Ok, fair enough, but I would say that the stats are misleading because I think he has been just ok. Maybe it's because I have beem more and more impressed with his game this year, as compared to previous, but I'm still waiting to be impressed in thse playoffs. I would say that MacLean concurs. having said all that, I'm anticipating a big game from him tonight - they need it...
Sens have their game-day skate around now I believe so we should know soon (or might I guess - Paulrus likely won't confirm/deny).
I think he needs to be able to skate at full speed though (for him). If he's slower than usual then I say go with Gilroy (yikes).
I hate those commercials so much! They are played way too often too! They say in the commercial that they are just made with chicken breast.
Considering the stories that have been made about the NYR shot blocking, and how everyone is getting frustrated that Spezza isn't shooting enough, or getting enough pucks through, the fact KArlsson has consistently eben able to get shots on net shows he is still generating. We need more body presence and be quickler on rebounds where Mcdonagh and Girardi are clearing everythig away
Karlsson has used his speed all series, and although he has little points, I think it also must be noted how effective he has been against Gaborik and isolating his speed. Gaborik 0 goals for a reason
It's his hair cut! Ever since he cut that shag back he has lost a tiny bit of magic.
Having said that, they're stars because they're supposed to be able to rise above that and still produce. I would say that none of those 4 have any reason to hang their heads about this series so far, but all four are capable of doing more. And we need them to do more tonight.
It would help if we could get the secondary scoring guys to draw more attention to themselves from those checking lines and top pairings though. Guys like Smith, Foligno and Turris can help take a bit of heat off the big four so they can have their best game tonight.
Go Sens Go!
Fair enough - I read too much into your "I don't follow 3/4th liners" statement. I took it as you showing a lack of respect for what the grinders bring to a championship team.
Did you think they would come from genetically modified chickens without bones? That would be just sad! Hahaha.
Agreed. It sounds like if Chicago is interested, he can go there. Crawford lost that series for them...
SPL
Nah that was just tookie's way of saying "oops I didn't realize he was traded recently but I don't want to admit that so I'll say something else to make it seem like it's beneath me to care about role players".
The human recycling bin Healy said that maybe EK65 is like Samson and lost all of his power when he got his hair cut off. Good god I hate that guys guts.
There's no way toronto gets one of the top rated goalies in the league for 2 guys that cant be regulars on the worst team in team in the nhl. Don't matter how many years lou contract is, a team can trade for him and trade him again in 5 years. His contract is a cheater kind and the cap hit is reasonable, i can see price getting 7 mil/year this year.
Teams will pay to get loungo or thomas, don't fool yourself like a leaf fan.
I knew it was chicken breast, but I wouldn't put it past a restaurant chain. I've heard terrible things about the KFC birds.
Does anybody know why on nhl.com and other sites people are calling the rangers "rags"? At first I thought it was a typo then it popped up a lot.
Spezza is not practicing this morning, but he'll play tonight. Konopka's status is a little more unclear; he's not skating this morning.
If Kono can't go that's actually a pretty big loss. He's the kind of role player who seems to shine in the post season.
He's not going to win or lose the game for us, but if he can't go it puts some extra pressure on the other guys to win more draws.
Aint gunna happen lol. In perspective
Gillis Trading Luongo to Toronto for a 2nd round pick is a better deal for him than trading Luongo to Chicago for a 1st
(I know more involved just example)
Ok maybe your right here, about me getting a shot on net at the NHL level on Defense (especially since I play FW), would be interesting to say the least tho. I think Alfie wouldnt be the only one getting boo'ed on home ice
But what I'm saying is Karlsson is all offense, if he doesnt produce points we more than often lose. He's not controlling the game flow like he should and isnt skating well either, and his passes are way off the mark, again very uncharacteristi c. He's either hurt or too hesitant.
1pt in 6 games in unacceptable for the top offensive defenceman in the league by far!
It's like calling the Leafs the laffs or the Bruins the ruins or the Sens the snores.
Kenopka not playing would be a loss....somewha t. Id be happy if he didn't play actually
This series has been rough, but watching Maclean play Kenopka over 15 minutes last game almost made me puke. Sure he wins faceoffs, but come on now. This is game 7 and unless we really need a defensive zone draw, let the game carry itself out, and roll your top 3 lines that can all put the puck in the net (which means inserting 2 of stone/silferber g/butler)
All offense? Have you watched any of the games? He's been downright dominant in his own end. I lost count of how many times he's stolen the puck on the backcheck or angled a guy to the corner etc. Think back to Game 3 when he and Anderson were the only reasons why it wasn't 5-0 late in the game.
Look, I agree that he needs to figure a way to get more involved on the score sheet, but to say he's not contributing is just wrong.
Ahhh Ok! Thanks. Also, sens are called the snores? That's quite opposite to what they have been playing like. Very entertaining team. Cardiac Kids don't make me snore.
Also, Matt Carkner is not out there this morning.
Hard to get line combos w/ guys missing, but I'm suspecting that Silverberg plays again tonight. Stone's status may depend on Konopka.
Without question Karlsson has played his best hockey of the season in his own end. He has been great overall, IMO The only thing he hasnt done is get points.
"Snores" goes back to the Jacques Martin days when it was (sadly) quite accurate on many nights.
From the interviews I've seen/read the past few days with Karlsson and MacLean I'm thinking the message Paulrus is giving to Karlsson is something like:
"Great play in your own end kid, always knew you could do it. But how about you save most of that great defensive energy for AFTER you get us up by a goal or two like old times okay?"
Really this is yet another case where I see Karlsson's development following a similar path to Spezza (though EK seems to be fast-tracking most of it).
Spezza sort of went too far the other way in the Pitt series a couple of years ago and tried (with some success) to shut down Crosby. He played great and came closer than most could to actually keeping Crosby contained. But his offensive game suffered too much for it.
(Not saying Crosby didn't end up killing us anyway - but Spezza sure made it tougher on him.)
That makes sense. He was very defensive minded and even made Fla and Mtl more boring as well. I really do enjoy Mcstache's methods of creating flow and speed in the game. He sure did learn a lot from Det and Babs.
Agree 100%, Everytime I see that clip of Crosby circling the net with Spezza chasing him makes me angry. Everyone says how Crosby chewed Spezza up on that play. Spezza played it great. Crosby fell and got a pass off he never should have gotten (help defense anyone???) and then a seeing eye shot from the point goes in (really Elliott??)
Anyways Karlsson has been great this series IMO but a nice PPg or PPA tonight will go a long way
He isn't the only one guilty of that, one of the biggest areas that they will need to improve. I'll post some more detailed thoughts in the game day post. Yay Game Day!
Yeah when Phillips, Kuba and Cowen all have more SOG than Gonchar (and EK does too of course - 25 more in fact) that's not a great sign.
Though I do think it's better to get a shot off that *might* get through than to simply blast it into the forward's shin guards. When you're Cowen maybe you just let it rip but Gonchar I trust a bit more to wait for a seam that he can hit.
FWIW: Matt Gilroy left the ice before Mark Borowiecki today.
Not sure what that means actually since if BoroCop was playing he might want to get a little extra work in anyway. And if Gilroy was playing he might want to save some energy for the game.
Dammit - what tine is it? 7pm yet???
Its not surprising that Gonchar has limited SOG. A new thing in these playoffs is seeing Ottawa play an umbrella PP, which basically is gonchar in the middle with Karlsson and Spezza on either side of him. We have neil/greening/s mith standing in front of the net. and Alfie off the half wall.
So Gonchar is responsible to feed either Spezza or Karlsson for the one timer. If he just throws it on net for the sake of SOG then we generally will have just one man there for the rebound, since I'm sure Alfie is prepared to be moving for the spezza/EK one timer etc
Gonchar has probably been one of our best dmen this series
With Chirp in NYC today not sure we'll get a game-day post.
Though I'd assume he'd find a way to get one up for us.
And usually thats how games are won, so far Karlsson hasnt played up to par on the offensive. Nobody here can justify 1pt in 6 games for a guy who had 70+ in reg season as a D.
Maybe Hax nailed it when he said he is wasting too much energy on D, when he should be focused on offense.
As for shutting down Gabby, I think he does it to himself, 2 and 3 pts respectively in the last 2 years the Rangers made the playoffs...I'll go as far as saying I could shut down Gabby...ok maybe not but you get the message.
Also, did anyone hear on TEam 1200 this morning when they announced who the refs were going to be for tonight. I didnt hear it, but my buddy said he thought they said Dan O'Halloran and Marc Joanette.
Anyone hear different?
True games are won by scoring goals but you can also say games are lost by giving up goals.
I agree that I'd rather Karlsson score 2 and give up 1 than score 0 and give up 0 though.
I think he's figuring it out and will find a way to contribute more on offense tonight without completely abandoning his own end.
Tonight's referees are Brad Watson and Dan O'Halloran.
This game might come down to which one of these two play to their potential tonight...Karls son or Gaborik? They are each game-breakers who have not yet done so.
Doesnt make a diff if we lose, Miguel will still say we lost cuz of refs...
Watch us get the first penalty and all hell will break lose.
Watson has reffed for 5 Sens games this year. Weve gone 3-2 in those games.
Dan O'Halloran on the other hand has reffed 7 of our games (including 1 playoff game). W are 2-5 with him.
Guess we couldnt get Vanmassenhoven (5-1), Dave Jackson (4-1), or Chris Lee (5-0) in there. Our "winning-ist" refs....if there is such a think.
Wishful thinking. GSG!
Curiosity sakes whats our record with peel and o'rourke
GO SENS GO
God I hope they don't put Gilroy in....although I suppose with the possibility of Silfverberg and Stone playing up front the likelihood of us also throwing a rookie D into the mix is unlikely at best?? Or is it?? Had you told me before the season that 2 of our rookies would play their first games of their NHL careers in the first round of the playoffs.
I hate that O'Halloran is one of the refs. He may redeem himself though. I will give him a chance at that. If not, we'll have to find his car and slash the tires or something to get him back for the bad calls he will likely call tonight.
Who cares who the refs is, because quite frankly the players don't care. They will play their game and the rags will play theirs. Yes the refs can make bad calls but if the game comes down to a bad call, then we clearly didn't play our best game, cause with our team rolling (andie all the way through to spezz) we should be able to beat the rags.
O'Halloran we are 2-5. Peel we are 2-4.
Games that BOTH refs were together are a 3-2 L in Phoenix back on Jan 24th, and a 4-3 W at home against Columbus on Oct 22.
I agree with you on the fact the if everybody is rolling we can beat the opposition and the refs. However, it is something completely different when you have the feeling of dropping your pants and bending over after a few of the regular season games that some of the refs had called. That western road trip really made me frustrated and second guess their ability to call a fair game. I just hope it isn't an obvious one way favortism for one of the teams.
That would be quite interesting to see.
I have no idea where you guys are finding this ref info. Neat to see.
They also need to play a strong defensive game & that means every player including you Spezza has to play a 200' game tonight. Anderson has to play his best game tonight.
Go Sens Go.
i have to agree dont know where to find it but it is nice to read
I'm just assuming lots of research. you could probably find a list of games the referees have been in and then check the box scores on nhl.com
or I know at the bottom of every box score lists the refs name, so clicking through each one..really long to do
icysurfas may have a better way lol
word
Sorry....though t you said O'Halloran.
O'Rourke and Peel have only reffed 1 game together against the Sens, and it was Jan 23rd, a 4-1 loss to the LA Kings. Some of you might remember the officiating duo in that game.
TSN, "Canada's Sports Leader" has their main story set to the FLA/NJD game... with Ottawa being 3rd behind the Norris nominations...
http://tsn.ca/nhl/
Ahhh... the love!
It would almost be bad luck if TSN suddenly backed the Sens.
From a marketing and business stand point this actually does make sense, and this coming from someone who always argues about tsn toronto love affair
TSN is a business that covers sports and want ratings. They aren't responsible to cover "canadian sports"
Their broadcast tongiht is NJD vs FLA so it makes complete and utter sense that they would be pumping that game up
Thats exactly it. I took one slow morning at work after the all-star break and checked the NHL boxscore for every single Sens game, and then just kept updating it till the end of the year. Just made a list of each ref that played in those games and did up a comparison sheet of our wins and losses in those games.
If anyone wants to see the "ref" sheets I did up for the whole season, send your email to me and I'll forward you the word docs.
Im not Rainman or anything....jus t took the time to write it all down one day. It all started because I was curious which games O'Rourke had reffed, and then took it too the next step.
I highly doubt they are. They are worried about much more important things like how to play their own game against the "rags". You see what I did there using that term...
That's well appreciated dedication. Way to go Icy!