While his fight on Saturday night stole all the headlines, the fact is Lehner has been lights out early this season. He has been the BSens MVP through the first handful of games and looks like a guy eager to silence the doubters that popped up last season.
The organization's plan was to have Lehner play and dominate for a full season at the AHL level but if he continues to play as well as he has, he’s going to make it more and more difficult to keep him in the minor leagues.
This is where again, the NHL lockout actually benefits the Senators in terms of player development. If the league ends up missing an entire season, Lehner has a chance to mature and develop his game in the AHL without fans and perhaps Lehner himself feeling as though he’s being held back from an NHL job he may in fact be ready for.
Head Coach Luke Richardson indicated yesterday that Ben Bishop has a throat infection that has kept him off the ice. He could return as early as this weekend.
- How bout the start Sens prospect Mikael Wikstrand is having in Sweden? Drafted 196th overall, the Swedish defenceman is really making a name for himself in the second tier of the Swedish Elite League. Wikstrand has racked up seven goals and 10 points in just 14 games with Mora and was just named to Sweden’s roster for the under-20 World Championships.
- Still little in the way of progress on the labour front and now only a couple days from the deadline to get in a full 82 game season. Late last night, the NHLPA requested a meeting with the league only to have that request declined on the grounds that the Union was unwilling to discuss the league’s most recent proposal. Real constructive, fellas. What a joke.
- The CBA uncertainty really hits home for Senators fans when it comes to the future of Captain Daniel Alfredsson. Preparing to play his last season in the NHL, Alfredsson is clearly frustrated with the ongoing lockout and yesterday, openly questioned whether or not he would return to the NHL for an abbreviated season. I think I speak for a large number of Sens fans when I say if this stupid lockout deprives us of Alfie’s last season, I’ll have a real hard time forgiving the National Hockey League.
And the NHLPA, it's not like they are blameless.
Very true. Was thinking about them as a package deal with that statement but yea, NHLPA definitely deserves their share of the blame.
Is it really that unreasonable what the Union offered? 50/50 on all future contracts but honor the ones already signed..
To me the fact the NHL dismissed this proposal so quickly shows they never intended to fully honor those contracts...
To me they(NHLPA) have the bigger blame of the 2, the NHL made a serious offer to get things moving and the NHLPA replied with 3 lame offers.
Hope it does not get to that option !!
What other options do you see, there is no work around. Fehr will not give in to Bettman and vice versa.
They wont get together and agree on a CBA just to get some games in. They are not that type of people, they dont care about fans, they know fans will ALWAYS comeback. They each wanna win, its about pride now.
@ Tookie,
Although I somewhat agree with your analogy, but PRIDE will
have to go out the door . Many players remember the 2004-2005 lockout, and even though some players were not in the NHL at that time, they will turn on Fehr after missing 3 pay periods.
I still feel they will get a deal done later than sooner .
Now that they are getting somewhat closer ( 50/50 split ) fire both of their asses, selct 3 reps from both sides, lock them in a room like a jury, and they cannot come out until the verdict or a decision is made.
Full 82 game season is back on!
Honestly, who do they think they are?
I will never be as big of a fan of the NHL as I was last year and previous years. I will ALWAYS remember this feeling that I currently have.
I know this is unrealistic and too far fetched, BUT imagine, if/when the NHL comes back, that for the very first home game in EVERY Canadian city the fans boycotted and didn't go???
All 7 areas empty.
A goal is scored, silence.
A save is made, silence.
A bad call, silence.
The list could go on.
How much of a gut check would that be for all these gutless egomaniacs involved???
I know this will never happen, but I really urge everyone to consider it.
Everywhere.
Haha I really should start cookin' some up to help pass the time.
Owner Mr.Yang is tired of losing $20 million a year !!
is that an Eklund I see before me
yes Tookie for Eklund! Sorry Tooks that one is below the belt. I take it back :)
This. If this causes Alfie to retire I will give up on the NHL for awhile.
I don't think the lock out will cause Alfie to retire, I think that was going to happen in April-June 2013 anyway but it is robbing us of knowing we are seeing his last season and the opportunity for a fitting farewell - and that pisses me off.
It would be sad to see Alfie lose his final season like this, especially with the way he came back so strong last year! I sure hope this is not the case, but the same thing happened last lockout to so many popular veterans. It's a stench that never quite goes away. The NHL needs to get their act in gear!
As I said a couple of weeks ago. If there is a season long lock-out, Ben Bishop has played his last game for the Ottawa Senators.
I don't agree and let me start by saying that I'm not on any side here. I'm just observing two tight ass negotiators do their best to re-package what the other doesn't want to hear in ways that gets favourable public opinion for them.
To say that the NHL proposal was best, and that it offers 50/50 is an illusion the same way that the proposals from the NHLPA, also IN support a 50/50 split is a lie. Particularly the 3rd proposal which asks owners to honour the contracts they signed.
In both cases you end up with a situation where the 50/50 split is difered to later years. Owners are asking players for rollback and escrow and a "make whole" provision which holds revenue sharing in the first year and makes future NHLers responsible for paying the hold back incured as a result. That's total BS if you ask me.
The players on the other hand are asking that owners honour the contracts they have signed which would give players a little over the 50% split for a few years from revenue sharing needed to cover those contracts, and would go down yearly as a number of contracts would expire. They would ultimately hit the 50/50 split 2 or 3 years later. Its coniving as well but at least you force the owners to "legally" fullful their contractual obligations.
To me, the 3rd proposal from the NHLPA makes the most sense as a starting point from an economic standpoint. Owners can blame themselves for signing ridiculous contracts.
Actually, I think Anderson would be traded before Lehner and Bishop. Andy is great but we have to transition to the youth and giving Lehner and Bishop time next season would be the best thing for their development. If we miss the whole season I'd expect Anderson being traded for picks and prospects.
That should definitely be the case, unless they decide to trade Anderson instead and keep Bishop as a backup.
i don't think the players or the owners deserve full pay this year, they both need to learn a lesson.
if there is 82 games they don't lose anything, only the fans lost out.
if games are lost then they both lose and as hard as it is to say its better is games are lost so they don't do this to us again in the future.
if a 60 game season is a go then they both lose something and that will affect their wallets. i think they would both learn to not use the fans as a bargaining chip.
they both need to respect the fans nexttime and get a deal done before the season starts.
right now i feel used and abused, me and my wife had planned to spend our anniversary in ottawa and catch a sens game, we had planned it since last year, our date had come and gone, we missed a great visit to ottawa and missed the sens. we made other plans and they were last minute in hope that the lockout wouldn't happen.
anderson should not be traded at any point, a veteran goalie will teach learner how to deal with things, anderson is solid and he came at a reasonably low price, i hope he stays and finishes his career here. lehner and anderson would be a great tandem to have.
Woulda been a cake walk
maybe they could have gotten Andrew Raycroft back...from his rookie season..lol.
I think Fehr told the players stick it out.. I will get you the same deal I did for the MLBPA. Point is.. the NHL is not the MLB and will never be.
I sincerely hope we have not seen the last of Alfie.. We as fans need to do the proper good-bye to a great leader and a great man and a great player. Don't deprive us of this Bettman & Fehr..
Show the fans that you care about the good of the NHL and get back to the table with serious negotiations. You have already lost fans -- and revenue.. let this drag on you are going to lose a lot more.
WELLLLLL - they could outbid the Leafaroos for Luongo.
"According to sources Don Fehr has convinced the players the longer they remain firm, the better the deal will be down the road #NHLPA"
https://twitter.com/andystrickland/status/261173200686288897
"On Tuesday's conf. call Don fehr explained to the players that the deal got better in 2004 the longer the lockout went. "
https://twitter.com/andystrickland/status/261173643244097538
+++++++++++++++
Is this the death knell for the 2012/13 season? If they follow this they are fools. The NHL is not MLB with infinite wealth. It is a gate driven league paid for by fans who will leave and never come back. That 3.2 billion dollar revenue is gone. They will be lucky if they split 2 billion.
This will be settled near end of 2012, or earlier !
Ya damn that Don Fehr for doing his job with the players best interest in mind. I shake my fist at him!
I really think the Brooklyn arena will be night and day compared to the crap they have now. So many more fans to choose from too. Great announcement for hockey in North America as a whole!
The Brooklyn area seats 14,500 fans.. but then again I don't think the Islanders get close to that many fans in their building.
Anderson should just accept the backup job when he easily has 3-7 more years of a career left? Or are you saying Lehner should spend those years as Anderson's backup? Or they just split the games? Either way, 1 person or both lose out in this scenario. Only fans and coaches think having 2 staring goalies is a good situation, most goalies get sick of it within a year and it often affects their performance negatively.
Ya, they only had 13,191 average last year and the old arena only holds a bit more at 16,250. The smaller confines might actually make it feel homier for them. Can only hope I guess, it would be nice to see Tavares have some good teams during his career.
The players did. They started from the newly proposed 50/50 split. But instead of a 50/50 split that was skewed in favour of the NHL, they proposed a 50/50 that was favourable to the players, while questionning the accountability and transparency for the contracts that were previously signed.
Don't forget that Bettman played the 82 game season "card" as a way to tip public opinion in their favour masking the illusion of what was truly presented.
Fehr did everything right amidst the spin, and the counter proposal(s) were brilliant, strategically speaking.
The 2 sides are closer than they were a few weeks ago folks. They continue to spin messages in the media to apply pressure on either side. But they are getting there.
** lack of maturity. my bad...
I said tandem, play the hot hand try to equalize things and have 2 goalies that can steal you games, its a win, win.
vancouver doesnt realize that when they trade luongo they have the possibility of falling right out of the playoff race.
I believe the smartest way to build a team is to have 2 goalies that could play, they will push each other to be better, look waht happened to miller, without biron buffalo went to shit, i believe boston will not be such a strong team without the thomas rask tandem.
it takes a team to win including 2 goalies. we could afford both lehner and anderson for about the same cap hit as luongo. and i would rather have anderson and lehner anyday.
It's a good move - closer to the Big Apple and has direct access via their metro.
Don't know about the 25 year lease without having played any games there, I guess time will tell.
Also, anybody else heard that Eugene is silently selling the team?
The players on the other hand recieve a paycheque, and like anyone else, get to rely on it arriving. The vast majority of NHL players are not making the 5 or 10 million, they are making 1 to 2 million or less, and for a short period of time. They have mortgages and car payments relative to their incomes and need those paycheques.
It is only a matter of time before members of the NHLPA start to turn on Fehr. He is getting paid and they are not.
The best thing Bettman could do would be to say if a deal is not approved by November 15th, the season is officialy canceled.
Fehr would have so much heat on him by the players it would be laughable. Do you think Ovechkin or Kovalchuk will lend money to the third and fourth liners on their teams if the season is cancelled?
The players have no ground to stand on, I think 50/50 is going to look pretty good by March when the Mercedes gets repoed
Do not get into a financial battle with Billionaires
We all know this affect eevry NHL'er but be realistic, the 3rd and 4th liners dont have much push when it comes to this. They can be easily replaced by AHL'ers/FA's. The big guns run the League and if Fehr told them to hunker down, they can definitely afford it. Plus most of them are playing elsewhere and dont mind going a full year with no NHL.
Like I said before its not even about playing hockey anymore or the fans or the players...its about Bettman vs Fehr...
In an email to the Ottawa Citizen, Melnyk made it quite clear he has no intentions of selling his NHL franchise. “I will never sell the Senators. Not a chance.”
http://www.senatorsextra.com/main/melnyk-i-will-never-sell-the-senators
The guys that run the show are just playing hockey elsewhere while being paid for a quasi vacation...
Just a matter of time before animosity begins to rear it's ugly head and wedge a divide between the poor players and the wealthy.
yup when all else fails, and Maple Loser fans are getting bored of the blabering by MacLean and Kypreos, what better way of getting them back interested and listening to their spewage than by bringing up difficulties of keeping a team in Ottawa...HAHAHA HA, its been over 20 years of successful playoff hockey, and a Stanley Cup final. whereas in the center of the universe, there is still a rumour of Toronto finally getting an NHL team... truth is that market really does deserve a LEGIT NHL team,
Suck on it Kypreos!!!
So true, there really cannot be any denying that he is one of our best fans, and one of the best owners in the league,
How many do you think would have stuck with Bryan Murray after the whole Heatley, Kovalev, Kuba, Gonchar signings, the writing was on the wall, and he went and extended his contract, proving to all that he believes in his GM, and in hindsight with the gem selections in the draft, what a great call!
we are fortunate to have Eugene as our owner.
Praise the Euge!!!
I think BM can be excused for any of those things. Heatley did have some very productive years. Kovalev was a bust, but BM missed out on July 1st free agency because Heatley didn't waive his no trade clause to go to Edmonton. Kuba and Gonchar are league veterans and have both played well for Ottawa. They might not have lived up to their contracts, but every team has a couple of guys like that. I'd rather see a veteran like Gonchar overpaid than an unproven talent like Jeff Finger get paid too much.
In BM I trust.
Sandy is the passive-aggress ive female version of Tookie.
Maybe Rogers & Bell are selling the Leafs? LOL. Imagine buying into a 'cash cow' and the first year you own it - there is a lockout that could run the entire season.
Rogers just posted an $8M LOSS on the MLSE ownership after only 3 months.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/24/new-leafs-co-owners-rogers-reports-quarterly-loss-on-mlse/
BAAAH - not even close
Tookie isn't a hockey fan.
It's going to be a long winter. Sadly at this point in time the backwards negotiations are about to begin. NHL will cancel more games, come in with a lower offer, that will eventually have the players put the cap back on the table. It could take months till we're this close to a resolution again. So sad for this great sport!
Last lockout there was a lot of talk of starting a new league. I wonder if that suggestion will surface again.
I'm with the owners on this one - Boo F-ing hoo if poor Ryan Suter and Zach Parise will have to each give back 7 million on their 100 million dollar contracts. I say we take up a collection so that they can afford their electricity bills. Its a real joke - these clowns are out of touch with what real human beings have to go through.
I would boycott! I love hockey but the greed that the players have is appalling and they need to stop acting like spoiled preschoolers. Tons of people are solely blaming Bettman for all this mess just because he's Bettman and blatanly ignoring the avarice on the other side. A boycott would force both sides to realize that even though they're world-class businessmen and athletes, it's US, THE FANS that give them mansions and Maseratis and that they should stop acting as if they are opressed. Let's boycott and get pure for-the-love-of -the-game hockey back! Anyway, that's my rant.
The only ones who will go to the games are the die hards. Dallas, Columbus, phoenix, etc are toast. Those fans won't be coming back. I heard Dallas is still suffering from the 04 lockout to the count of 4k empty seats a night...down from sellouts.
Players won't accept a pay cut of 7% to play in front of the fans that have made them into millionaires but they are totally okay with taking a pay cut of 35% to play in front of fans overseas that have never put a dime into their pocket?
It's insulting! This whole thing about "it's a matter of principal" is a load of shit!
If these players cared about principals;
they'd never hit free agency because they'd feel indebted to the team and fans that supported them through the start of their career,
they'd take less to give their team more flexibility to bring in more talent and
they sure as shit wouldn't bolt at the first sign of a lockout while their team mates that are less talented are left here in North America holding the bag
Clearly these kids need a fundamental lesson on math, ethics and common sense
Little did we know but this is what phoenix has been doing since the last lockout, we just assumed they had no fans but they've been boycotting the NHL since ;) haha