Through two games, there is plenty to like about the way the BSens are playing. They all seem to be on the same page and have looked strong in all three zones.
A few things that stood out for me last night.
- The play of Robin Lehner- Through two games, fans have to be impressed with what they've seen from Robin Lehner. The Binghamton broadcast crew made frequent mention of it last night but it's clear that Lehner is making a conscious effort to rely on his positioning more often. There is far less "guessing" to his game early on this season and the result is a goalie that is making all the saves he should make and able to control his rebounds with ease.
- Hoffman on another level- Again, it's a ridiculously small sample size but I have been extremely impressed by the game of Mike Hoffman. There were times in tonight's game where his speed and puck possession skills appeared to be on a higher level than any other player on the ice. Zibanejad/Silfverberg/Stone are the three names mostly commonly mentioned as guys that could crack the big club but you'd be wrong to rule Hoffman out. He appeared in one game last season and is extremely likely to get another chance at the NHL roster this season.
- Strong team play- Like the two points outlined above, you want to take this observation with a grain of salt but there has been a lot to like about the team play and structured approach by this Binghamton team under Luke Richardson. Tonight in particular, Bingo did a great job of limiting scoring chances and actually made life fairly easy for Lehner. Rochester had a line up that included the likes of Hodgson, Foligno and Adam and did a fantastic job shutting them down. While the entire defence core looked strong, I particularly liked the play of Jared Cowen (2pts) and Eric Gryba.
Binghamton now returns home for two home games this weekend. On Friday they play host to the Hershey Bears and on Saturday the Syracuse Crunch come to town.
The BSens continue to provide an excellent distraction for fans hungry for the return of the NHL. There was a ton of optimism yesterday after the NHL submitted a new proposal but there is clearly still work to be done. The NHL and NHLPA are expected to discuss some of the details of the proposal in a call today which will likely be followed up with a new proposal from the players.
Hopefully the two sides can build on the momentum generated yesterday afternoon.
Remind anyone of anyone?
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=643570&navid=DL|NHL|home
The b-sens have a great team effort!
Cody Ceci 10 points in 9 games 2g 8a
3rd in scoring by a defenseman but played 2 less games than leader( hamilton) and one point behind!
http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=407542
I said it yesterday, 50/50 looks good but there's so many more issues. People who think the revenue split is the only thing that matters and everything else can be figured out in a matter of hours are mistaken.
5 year contract maximum is a HUGE point. And if the players want to eliminate that, the the owners are going to take back some of the revenue they offered.
The 'make whole'program seems flawed and if the PA wants to change it then guess what? The owners are going to reach back into the revenues and take more.
I'm usually a pretty positive person but everybody whose like "oh the players just HAVE to accept this" are nuts
And he is only playing 3rd or 4th line minutes and is playing very well.
So again I say that if this lockout drags on much longer, we will have Zibby, Stone, Silfver, all battling for positions, and then add the players that start off really well into that boat as well, Hoffman DD etc.
If I were Condra, Greening, Daug, Regin, I would be concerned as there is clearly way too many forwards to start the year in Ottawa,
obviously a nice problem to have :)
Completely agreed! And though we all agree somewhere around 50/50 is where the split should end, the players will want that phased in. Still a lot to be negotiated.
I think the NHL messed up by releasing the details as it clearly shows that the offer is not as good as fans perceived it to be when it was announced yesterday. PR battle back to being a lose lose again.
Mud Bruneteau ?
I think most people yesterday were happy that there was progress made on the league side of things, and simply wanted to express that the NHLPA should "work" with this offer. The NHLPA is getting a bad rep as they seem to not want to budge whatsoever.
Nick Kypreos @RealKyper
#NHLPA Fehr told players yesterdday " I advise you not to take #NHL deal" Interesting where he goes from here. Now the hired gun goes to work.
They seem to have a few issues with this....
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=407542
The question is now... do the NHLPA come right back with an offer themselves... or do we wait a month for them to get around to it.. like they did last time.
I think the point people were trying to make yesterday is this has put the players in a precarious circumstance and fans opinion is swaying towards the owners. We are going to be less than sympathetic if the players push the envelope past the point of being reasonable. Further to that, if the players come back overly aggressive, the owners will tell them to screw themselves and let this ride for an extended period of time.
Owners currently have the popular vote!
I love that several of players pretend to have a clue what they are talking about..
Stick to what you know...hit the gym
This whole posturing thing drives me nuts...I understand it, as a "just get it done" kind of guy I just can't stand reading about it, it's infuriating (I know I could try not to read about it...but let's face it, it's everywhere you look).
Following the AHL is where I find my sanity out of all this, if anything they have made a new AHL fan out of me. Early in the season we are tied for 1st, Lehner is near the top of the charts for goalies...can't wait for Friday!!! :)
Patrick I am completely with you on all this, we can speculate all we want, but the reality is the season lies in the hands of Fehr and the players right now, for the owners to come out of nowhere with this significant offer right now, is done only to try and save the season and to appease NBC, and save face with the fans. If the players try to hard ball after this, I can almost guarentee you we will lose this season. The NHL will turn their focus to the NBC contract and how to repair that deal with the season lost. Lets see where these players would be willing to sign after losing 12 cheques and a season and not just one cheque. I can assure you they will be lucky to get this deal after a lost season... IMO
sandy1 not = Sandy
Even though he has less points than Stone and Silver, I have been more impressed with Zibby than those two, it looks like he's more comfortable in the A and is creating his own chances and creating his space through his speed and physicality while the other two are having trouble finding space and time to get their shots off, even more impressive how good he is defensively and is only 19 compared to 22 year olds
I read 7/57 is about 12.2%.. that's where that came from. I assumed it was 7% as well.
Another point I read.. is that the NHL put the offer public so the players could see what the offer was from the NHL perspective rather than rely on Fehr's version. More or less are they saying they don't trust that Fehr will give the Union the proper info?
100% agree. I have had very little opportunity in seeing Silf and Stone play except in the few NHL playoff games last year. I was very excited to see them play in the A. I am still impressed with them (very good players), but like you, it is zibby who looks extremly capable. Defensively, playmaking abilities, strong on the puck, and not afraid to shoot...loved what I've seen of him in the 3-4 games I've seen him play (including pre-season).
I was knocked off my feet with silf the 1st pre-season game I saw him play in...but he seems to have disapeared a little ever since (I'm hoping it's adjusting to a new league/coach/sy stem/team mates/start of season/etc..).
Zibby on the other hand is very noticeable every time he is on the ice. I was wondering why he was in all the trade rumors this summer...glad we still have him.
Even in world juniors last year, he did not lead the team in goals, but he was dangerous on the ice every shift, taking loads of shots from anywhere on the ice. He led the tournament I believe in the shots per game department.
He is doing the samething in for binghamton senators right now, despite not scoring goals in the last 2 games, he has had chances. Yesterday he had a shorthanded opportunity in in the first, then he got robbed in the second period by a glove. Once again he is leading the team in the shots per game department.
From what I've observed goal scorers like Ovechkin, stamkos, Neal they take alot of shots.
I think once Zibanejad figures out how to finish on his shots properly, he can become a pure goal scorer for Ottawa. I want Binghamton to place him along the boards on the pp rather than in front of the net, because he has a wicked one timer he can utilize on pp's.
Read the comments yesterday, several were saying the players have to accept it. Not putting words into anyone's mouth as I agreed with those that are saying this is a point to work off of in negotiations.
The view that this came out of nowhere and was the league making a huge concession in the process when it was the PA's turn, is complete bull to me though. Both sides have been talking and working at it, the last NHL offer was a joke and a timebomb.
At this point both sides will move forward and try to work something out based off this offer, but again, the players are pretty firm in their stance of wanting the contracts they signed to stand as is, and I still don't disagree with that stance. I don't agree with it completely either as I think they will have to have some concessions there too. Give and take right, and now both sides are actually starting to do that.
The guys on the wrong end of the stick in Ottawa right now are Daugavins and O'Brien. Condra won't go anywhere because of his hockey sense and Greening has proven that he can play well anywhere. They'll give Regin another chance and of course Latendresse is there. At most I could only see two forward spots opening up at a time, and if I was a guessing man, those would be Hoffman and Silfverberg (or Zibanejad, but they may choose to wait on that).
Speaking of putting words into peoples mouths...
I never singled out the SC posters, I happen to read comments on tsn, HB (from multiple bloggers), NHL, ottawasun and have many friends on fb and twitter.
The majority of comments were as I stated. You should take your own advice, friend
FAN !!!
Via THN's Jason Kay:
There’s strong speculation the NHL could announce two expansion teams for Canada once CBA deal struck: Quebec & Toronto. More in Oct. 29 THN
I'm so confused by these posts. Is it really Eklund stopping by to share the latest? Or just a big Eklund supporter?
Anyway, thanks for the update...
either way I think it's safe to assume that nothing new or unique is going to be in them.
I guess if it is they need to find people who have something to read everyday like here on SENSCHIRP.
maybe it's Yost but he's terrfied of giving his real name after the fiasco of last year and the general slamming he sometimes gets in here
Im sorry but the players are spoiled and greedy
HUH ? Imminent EXPANSION to TWO Canadian cities is new to me.
Sounds to me that this is what people have been saying all along as a comeback by the NHLPA. Nothing surpiring in the "rumored" counter proposal. As accomodations and private transportation, players already get private rooms if they are 10 year veterans and/or 600 games played.
Quebec ? OK
The Toronto Twins/Toads/Tow ers ? BLAHHH !
It's time to bring the Hamilton Tigers back into the NHL.
new to you and new are not the same thing
he's quoting The Hockey News therefore it is neither new or unique
so they want better FREE hotel rooms?
if the owners keep getting left on the hook for more and more travel related expenses isn't it fair to expect them they wan't a larger % of what is left
i have a friend who used to work for the Senators finance department and the amount of free stuff that the players get from the organisation is absolutely staggering.
of course that is on top of their salary which I don't think anybody here would mind receiving.
Whatever, Captain Nitpicker !
First mention of it that I'd seen in the 5 or 6 hockey sites that I follow.
actually i'm a non commissioned nitpicker, but am looking for promotion
I believe veteran players or those who have played a certain amount of games.. get their own hotel room anyway.
If they want private transportation. .. let them pay for it.
This is getting ridiculous.
Heard on the radio this morning.. each paycheck Kovalchuk gets is for about 870,000.
Well surprises me... I didn't think they would do that..
We shall see... anything else than 50-50 -- the meeting stops pretty quickly..
Four proposals?? So the NHL gets their pick?
http://video.senators.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=769&id=188488
All include 50/50 rev sharing in some capacity. I imagine it means they all evenually lead to that, over time. Excellent news
Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
Fan named Barry Murphy told Bettman that as a fan he feels disrespected and neglected...wha t are you going to do show us you care about us?
Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
Bettman: we're "going to get a deal done." Was an interesting, respectful exchange.
======================
Let's hope we can take him at his word..
interesting that Tim Murray said of David Dziurzynski; "we expect we will eventually see him up here."
If that happens, great story!