Reviews of yesterday's game at the rookie tournament, Hartsburg's plan for the team as well as his plan to split up the big line, a few thoughts on emerging rookie Kudelka, and Fisher getting noticed around the league.
A few reviews of yesterday's rookie tournament game against the Maple Leafs, from the Ottawa Sun and the Ottawa Senators' website. It was rather impressive to see our guys come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the game, and they were working a lot better in their roles, looking more like teammates than individuals competing for roster spots. You can see my previous entry for a lengthy look at the game's events.
An Ottawa Sun story on Hartsburg's vision for the team and the way he wants to see them play. Like a good boss would, he made the effort to contact the players over the summer, not to tell them exactly what he wants from them, but to talk about his expectations, and also to hear what their feelings were on the past season and their goals for the season ahead. Everyone will be asked to play to their role, but there will be an increased focus on defensive awareness and on working as a team, both simple ideas, but effective and essential ones nonetheless.
Another Ottawa Sun article has word that indeed the big line will be split up this season. He suggests that he'll keep Heatley and Spezza together at first, but that they will have to find other combinations that work, with my hope being we get an opportunity to see Spezza with neither Alfie nor Heatley on his wings, to see him really prove that he doesn't need players earning as much as him to be worth what he makes. Alfie might wind up with Fisher, but Fisher should also be expected to contribute as a solid two-way player regardless. I like hearing that Hartsburg has expectations from all our players, regardless of who they have to work with, since they need to be adaptable. His plan for three scoring lines with one hate-to-play-against line would seem to imitate the successful plan of champions past, and I hope the players really buy into it this year.
The Ottawa Citizen has a nice little special look at the hopes for prospect Tomas Kudelka. It sounds as though Binghamton coach Clouston and Tim Murray both agree that he has potential, but that one of the bigger adjustments for him will be to adapt to the increased skill and especially pressure of the AHL and eventually the NHL. I hope to see him continue his solid play at today's tournament in an hour, and with any luck see him stand out among the blueliners, no easy task this tournament though.
Finally, an NHL.com story about some of the toughest guys at both ends of the ice brings us Fisher. You don't hear two-way player if you're a Sens fan without thinking of Mike, and there's plenty of good reason for that. Hopefully he's all healed up from his season-ending injury, and I would not be at all surprised to see him sporting an 'A' on his jersey this season, with all the ability to live up to that responsibility.
Showing posts with label Hartsburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hartsburg. Show all posts
Monday, September 15, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Sens Keep Growing - Updated
The craziest idea, evaluating Jesse Winchester's potential, new head coach Craig Hartsburg's vision for the team, and Jason Spezza ready to grow.
Updated - A few stories from the Sens website.
The Ottawa Sun reports that several sources have confirmed that Brian Murray has been making pitches to Sundin to join the Ottawa Senators. With about $5 million in cap space, and more than enough forwards eager to play, the Sens would have to move a forward or two in order to make room for Sundin and his salary. Only Vermette or Kelly on their own could be moved to get the roughly $7 million we'd need, but on good two- and four- year deals, it would be a foolish move. More likely might be to move someone like Neil, whom I keep hearing has some value to other teams and with Ruutu and Bass potentially less value to us, and then we could see another small forward salary tagged on, hopefully gaining us a good prospect and/or pick, since we don't want to recrowd the forward ranks.
Wait, did I just suggest that this might even be possible? Clearly I am as sick as I have been the past couple days. Sundin will not be in a Sens jersey. As much as I love hearing from the Sun that League Execs think Melnyk would love the signing as a knife to the heart of Leafs Nation, and I too would love it, it's just not in the cards. Wait until he decides he even wants to play, and until some of the other teams in the running have dropped out, and then there's enough room for you on the crazy train. Yes, I realize that $5 million is enough to sign him later on in the season, which is how long his decision is rumoured to take, but you should know how I feel about that.
Today the Ottawa Citizen's Ken Warren wants to remind us that we shouldn't forget about Jesse Winchester's potential. The NHL rookie (well, ok, he does have one game with the Sens under his belt) was passed over in the OHL and NHL drafts, but the Sens signed him among interest from many other teams late last season, arguably due to the fact that he finished his three years in college with 38 goals and 72 assists.
Indeed I will look for that potential as well, when I hope to take in two or three of the rookie squad's games this weekend. I do wonder how easily the winger might adjust, as Warren sugests, to being a winger alongside Fisher or Spezza. No, not because he's a rookie, but because even as much as we see Spezza as a passing machine, Winchester's assists make up a greater total of his point production than even Spezza. Going 8-29--37 in his last season should highlight this quite effectively. Nonetheless, I do believe he can and will contribute to our scoring, I'm just curious to see how long it will take for him to find his chemistry and his place.
The Ottawa Citizen's Ken Warren also writes today about Craig Hartsburg's vision for this drastically different Ottawa Senators team. He sees the potential of both our star players, and the effectiveness of our role players. While he's eager to leave the party image of last year's team behind, he doesn't want to baby the team; Hartsburg wants to treat the team like men, and have them approach the game as men. Hartsburg observes that while all Cup winning teams have plenty of skill, they don't make the leap until the team finds the proper chemistry, trust, and character becomes a part of themselves, and the team as a whole. It would indeed explain the drastic turnaround between the last two playoff series between the Pens and the Sens, as the Pens had a very similarly talented roster in both, only they were able to find greater strength and draw on it the second time around. If Hartsburg can practice what he preaches, this will indeed be a season and team worth watching and cheering for.
From TSN, we hear that Jason Spezza is ready to be the all-around player the Ottawa Senators so desperately want to see in him. He talks about the stigma you face between being an offensive powerhouse, and the point where you break through as an all-around star player, and indeed the fans and media have made him feel it throughout his short tenure with the team. Hartsburg says he wants to put Spezza in new situations, draw out new areas of his game, and says that Spezza is excited at the challenge. While it will take a while to see what happens with Spezza this year, I'm sure the change in attitude towards Ray Emery between the last two seasons and his maturity's non-development might have hit home with him, and at the moment he's saying all the right things. If you watch the video clip by Brent Wallace of this same story, you'll learn that he's even finally switching to composite sticks, while keeping his wooden ones on hand, just in case. I'm sure we're all eager to see what this combination of attitude, pressure, and equipment change can draw out of our star center, and this season has waited long enough to start already.
The Ottawa Senators website has a trio of stories today, dealing with Hartsburg's readiness to start the season, a look at the rookies who want to challenge for roster spots, and Richardson's goal to play another NHL season. Very similar stories to the previous ones, stressing Hartsburg's desire for accountability (hopefully fewer stupid penalties and no look passes), the odds that Foligno, Lee, Bass, and Winchester all have a good shot at making the team (which means what for guys like Zubov and Nikulin, who have a ton of desire but temptations to play in the KHL?), and mention of Richardson's desire to play another NHL season. He has been invited to training camp, but with only two potentially open spots, and Lee, Picard, Bell, Schubert, and Richardson all challenging for them, it will be anything but easy for Luke to make the cut. He appears to have been offered some sort of coaching position, but you have to wonder if he might not go somewhere else where there's room. Or, whether there's some chance that there might be room for him, but that's a long, long shot.
Updated - A few stories from the Sens website.
The Ottawa Sun reports that several sources have confirmed that Brian Murray has been making pitches to Sundin to join the Ottawa Senators. With about $5 million in cap space, and more than enough forwards eager to play, the Sens would have to move a forward or two in order to make room for Sundin and his salary. Only Vermette or Kelly on their own could be moved to get the roughly $7 million we'd need, but on good two- and four- year deals, it would be a foolish move. More likely might be to move someone like Neil, whom I keep hearing has some value to other teams and with Ruutu and Bass potentially less value to us, and then we could see another small forward salary tagged on, hopefully gaining us a good prospect and/or pick, since we don't want to recrowd the forward ranks.
Wait, did I just suggest that this might even be possible? Clearly I am as sick as I have been the past couple days. Sundin will not be in a Sens jersey. As much as I love hearing from the Sun that League Execs think Melnyk would love the signing as a knife to the heart of Leafs Nation, and I too would love it, it's just not in the cards. Wait until he decides he even wants to play, and until some of the other teams in the running have dropped out, and then there's enough room for you on the crazy train. Yes, I realize that $5 million is enough to sign him later on in the season, which is how long his decision is rumoured to take, but you should know how I feel about that.
Today the Ottawa Citizen's Ken Warren wants to remind us that we shouldn't forget about Jesse Winchester's potential. The NHL rookie (well, ok, he does have one game with the Sens under his belt) was passed over in the OHL and NHL drafts, but the Sens signed him among interest from many other teams late last season, arguably due to the fact that he finished his three years in college with 38 goals and 72 assists.
Indeed I will look for that potential as well, when I hope to take in two or three of the rookie squad's games this weekend. I do wonder how easily the winger might adjust, as Warren sugests, to being a winger alongside Fisher or Spezza. No, not because he's a rookie, but because even as much as we see Spezza as a passing machine, Winchester's assists make up a greater total of his point production than even Spezza. Going 8-29--37 in his last season should highlight this quite effectively. Nonetheless, I do believe he can and will contribute to our scoring, I'm just curious to see how long it will take for him to find his chemistry and his place.
The Ottawa Citizen's Ken Warren also writes today about Craig Hartsburg's vision for this drastically different Ottawa Senators team. He sees the potential of both our star players, and the effectiveness of our role players. While he's eager to leave the party image of last year's team behind, he doesn't want to baby the team; Hartsburg wants to treat the team like men, and have them approach the game as men. Hartsburg observes that while all Cup winning teams have plenty of skill, they don't make the leap until the team finds the proper chemistry, trust, and character becomes a part of themselves, and the team as a whole. It would indeed explain the drastic turnaround between the last two playoff series between the Pens and the Sens, as the Pens had a very similarly talented roster in both, only they were able to find greater strength and draw on it the second time around. If Hartsburg can practice what he preaches, this will indeed be a season and team worth watching and cheering for.
From TSN, we hear that Jason Spezza is ready to be the all-around player the Ottawa Senators so desperately want to see in him. He talks about the stigma you face between being an offensive powerhouse, and the point where you break through as an all-around star player, and indeed the fans and media have made him feel it throughout his short tenure with the team. Hartsburg says he wants to put Spezza in new situations, draw out new areas of his game, and says that Spezza is excited at the challenge. While it will take a while to see what happens with Spezza this year, I'm sure the change in attitude towards Ray Emery between the last two seasons and his maturity's non-development might have hit home with him, and at the moment he's saying all the right things. If you watch the video clip by Brent Wallace of this same story, you'll learn that he's even finally switching to composite sticks, while keeping his wooden ones on hand, just in case. I'm sure we're all eager to see what this combination of attitude, pressure, and equipment change can draw out of our star center, and this season has waited long enough to start already.
The Ottawa Senators website has a trio of stories today, dealing with Hartsburg's readiness to start the season, a look at the rookies who want to challenge for roster spots, and Richardson's goal to play another NHL season. Very similar stories to the previous ones, stressing Hartsburg's desire for accountability (hopefully fewer stupid penalties and no look passes), the odds that Foligno, Lee, Bass, and Winchester all have a good shot at making the team (which means what for guys like Zubov and Nikulin, who have a ton of desire but temptations to play in the KHL?), and mention of Richardson's desire to play another NHL season. He has been invited to training camp, but with only two potentially open spots, and Lee, Picard, Bell, Schubert, and Richardson all challenging for them, it will be anything but easy for Luke to make the cut. He appears to have been offered some sort of coaching position, but you have to wonder if he might not go somewhere else where there's room. Or, whether there's some chance that there might be room for him, but that's a long, long shot.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Coaching Confidence
A couple days ago, KK pointed me to an ESPN article that ranked the NHL coaches. It's no surprise that the success he's achieved in leading the Red Wings has Mike Babcock (who received his first NHL coaching job from Brian Murray) ranked first among the 'Elite'.
But where does our new head coach, Craig Hartsburg, rank among the 30 teams? It's obvious that his jumping around and inability to hold onto various head and assistant coaching positions around the league would not lead ESPN to rank him among 'The Proven'. Despite this upcoming season being his first back in the NHL for a while, I would say that his 184-184-69-6 record as a head coach with Chicago (95-98) and Anaheim (98-01), his 257-231-74-10 record as an assistant coach with the Minnesota North Stars (89-90) and the Philadelphia Flyers (90-94, 02-04), and his 226-125-23-23 record as an OHL head coach with the Guelph Storm (94-95) and the Soo Greyhounds (01-02, 04-08) would have at least made me consider him a 'Jury's Still Out' candidate.
Instead, Craig Hartsburg is labeled 'Suspect', in need of proving people wrong. I think he's done just that. It was while coaching him at the Soo that Hartsburg got Emery to really shine, just as Murray got him to shine the year before his fallout under Paddock. As an overall coach, he helped Canada achieve three straight golds at the World Juniors; as an assistant coach in 2006, and as head coach in both 2007 and 2008.
He has also convinced Curtis Hunt to leave the WHL, where his coaching record stands at 209-171-23-29 with the Moose Jaw Warriors (02-04) and the Regina Pats (04-08). Hunt was Hartsburg's assistant coach for both the 2007 and 2008 World Junior golds, in addition to being assistant coach for other Canadian tourneys involving our younger players. Considering that neither of these men has ever given up, that they have been able to get excellent results from their teams of youth both in their respective leagues and on the international stage, and considering it's a year that the Sens need their younger players and rookies to step up, I couldn't imagine a better team to take on the job.
But where does our new head coach, Craig Hartsburg, rank among the 30 teams? It's obvious that his jumping around and inability to hold onto various head and assistant coaching positions around the league would not lead ESPN to rank him among 'The Proven'. Despite this upcoming season being his first back in the NHL for a while, I would say that his 184-184-69-6 record as a head coach with Chicago (95-98) and Anaheim (98-01), his 257-231-74-10 record as an assistant coach with the Minnesota North Stars (89-90) and the Philadelphia Flyers (90-94, 02-04), and his 226-125-23-23 record as an OHL head coach with the Guelph Storm (94-95) and the Soo Greyhounds (01-02, 04-08) would have at least made me consider him a 'Jury's Still Out' candidate.
Instead, Craig Hartsburg is labeled 'Suspect', in need of proving people wrong. I think he's done just that. It was while coaching him at the Soo that Hartsburg got Emery to really shine, just as Murray got him to shine the year before his fallout under Paddock. As an overall coach, he helped Canada achieve three straight golds at the World Juniors; as an assistant coach in 2006, and as head coach in both 2007 and 2008.
He has also convinced Curtis Hunt to leave the WHL, where his coaching record stands at 209-171-23-29 with the Moose Jaw Warriors (02-04) and the Regina Pats (04-08). Hunt was Hartsburg's assistant coach for both the 2007 and 2008 World Junior golds, in addition to being assistant coach for other Canadian tourneys involving our younger players. Considering that neither of these men has ever given up, that they have been able to get excellent results from their teams of youth both in their respective leagues and on the international stage, and considering it's a year that the Sens need their younger players and rookies to step up, I couldn't imagine a better team to take on the job.
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