Lawrence Nycholat was recalled to the Sens today, to face the New York Rangers, one of his former teams. Nycholat has done well for the baby Sens, racking up 23 points in 31 games, good for second place on the team scoring charts.
The question remains though: who will Nycholat be replacing? Most likely bet would be Luke Richardson. Last night against the Hawks, Luke's age showed, as he was often outraced and outbattled for the puck. Bringing in the much more energetic Nycholat should help to keep the Rangers large scoring depth at bay, and hopefully we might get some additional scoring chances from him.
The only other possibilities would be that he is replacing Shubert, whose stick seemed to constantly repel the puck last night, or Mezaros, should his hurting foot finally put an end to his Ironman streak, so close to 200 games as it is.
Update 4:12pm - It turns out that he will be replacing Joe Corvo, who has a possibly strained groin.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Sens Age Shows Against Young Hawks
Tonight, the Sens lost 4-3 in overtime in their one and only meeting this season against the Chicago Blackhawks. The game was exciting from end to end, even from the highest row in the arena, with the standing room crowd behind yelling loudly. For all the smooth moves at both ends of the ice, countless chances hit crossbars and posts, or trickled just wide of the net (including another Chris Neil from behind the net wraparound, nearly identical to the one he missed against Atlanta.)
The best work of the game, once again, came from the top line. Heatley scored two very nice goals, and Spezza and Alfie helping to set up good chances and keep the Hawks at bay. McAmmond's lovely outwait-the-goalie shorthanded goal and assist on Heatley's second goal make him the best surprise of the game.
The Hawks, however, outworked the Sens on countless occasions. For long stretches, the Sens looked like they did around this time last year, slow and clumsy. The young Jonathan Toews would score the OT winner with help from Patrick Sharp, who took the puck from Chris Phillips right in front of Emery. Many of the Young Bloods gave plenty in this outing, and the win was certainly fully earned.
The disappointments from the Sens were many. Chris Neil took two very bad and unnecessary penalties, and the second one lead to the game-tying goal at the start of the third. Meszaros once again showed us all why pinching is a bad idea nine times out of ten. By far the worst performance came from Emery. Some would say that he did well, making key saves, but all of those came from very easy to handle shots. At least two of the four goals were successful because of Emery's lack of lateral speed. His quick glove and stick hands have shown us many great saves, and the quick-twitch muscles, typical of boxers (of which he is a huge fan) help to make his upper-body a tough nut to crack. However, boxing rarely focuses at all on any legwork or speed, and it always shows in his side-to-side movement. Hopefully Emery can begin to understand this vital weakness and fix it, before he is completely usurped by the Darth Gerber. Hopefully though, our defensive end work can tighten up, and we will see the Sens bounce back tomorrow against the low-scoring Rangers.
At least there was the satisfaction that we were beat by Khabibulin, who has a Stanley Cup ring, and not ex-Sen Lalime. We can also be proud that we kept Havlat off the scoresheet. He rewarded us by reminding us why we traded him, leaving the game in the second period with a sore groin.
The best work of the game, once again, came from the top line. Heatley scored two very nice goals, and Spezza and Alfie helping to set up good chances and keep the Hawks at bay. McAmmond's lovely outwait-the-goalie shorthanded goal and assist on Heatley's second goal make him the best surprise of the game.
The Hawks, however, outworked the Sens on countless occasions. For long stretches, the Sens looked like they did around this time last year, slow and clumsy. The young Jonathan Toews would score the OT winner with help from Patrick Sharp, who took the puck from Chris Phillips right in front of Emery. Many of the Young Bloods gave plenty in this outing, and the win was certainly fully earned.
The disappointments from the Sens were many. Chris Neil took two very bad and unnecessary penalties, and the second one lead to the game-tying goal at the start of the third. Meszaros once again showed us all why pinching is a bad idea nine times out of ten. By far the worst performance came from Emery. Some would say that he did well, making key saves, but all of those came from very easy to handle shots. At least two of the four goals were successful because of Emery's lack of lateral speed. His quick glove and stick hands have shown us many great saves, and the quick-twitch muscles, typical of boxers (of which he is a huge fan) help to make his upper-body a tough nut to crack. However, boxing rarely focuses at all on any legwork or speed, and it always shows in his side-to-side movement. Hopefully Emery can begin to understand this vital weakness and fix it, before he is completely usurped by the Darth Gerber. Hopefully though, our defensive end work can tighten up, and we will see the Sens bounce back tomorrow against the low-scoring Rangers.
At least there was the satisfaction that we were beat by Khabibulin, who has a Stanley Cup ring, and not ex-Sen Lalime. We can also be proud that we kept Havlat off the scoresheet. He rewarded us by reminding us why we traded him, leaving the game in the second period with a sore groin.
Friday, December 7, 2007
The Mounting Snore Threat
First off, for anyone who ever came here to read my little blog, sorry for no posts in 2 months. University is harder than a Volchenkov hip-check, and I've only now found time to think about taking a side pause.
When I do pause to think of the NHL, I look at the headlines and statements from high-ranking officials and hear that growth is the name of the game. We want to reach more homes in the US, so we should be on ESPN. We want to generate excitement abroad, so we should start more seasons with more games and teams playing overseas, and play for the IIHF's Victoria Cup.
But when I look behind them at the game we're peddling, I see it slowly being eroded. Hockey is by far the fastest paced sport in North America, and one of the top major sports worldwide. This is starting to change though. Fans in Toronto cheered earlier in the season, when their Leafs were finally able to beat the Sens, 3-0, in their fourth matchup this season. Despite the win, though, one would have to wonder what there was to cheer about, or even to show up and watch.
The game was highlighted by a tight trap by Toronto, leading to most of the game being puck, sometimes with player, enters Leaf territory, puck gets sent back out. On the other end would be puck goes into Sens territory, occasionally followed by a single Leaf, and eventually maybe a second. While it worked, it was about the dullest hockey around. Leafs management knows that fans want wins, and they are rabid and carefree enough to not care how they come.
Is that so wise though? The Isles beat the Sens later on in their losing stretch using a similarly tight and dull trap game. Looking into the stands, the announced 9,000 or so for attendance was all but an admitted farce. Even the Devils - who have captured the Cup and contended very well for many years, and who feature great veterans, exciting youngsters, and one of the game's greatest goaltenders - could not manage to fill their new arena just one game into its hockey lifetime, getting just over 13,000 fans for a 6-1 win in October over the Lightning.
The sportswriters are quick to suggest that lower scoring is what's taking the game down. However most would agree that 3-0 for the Leafs should have been exciting... only it was a snore. The most exciting game I've seen this season, and perhaps ever, was a 3-1 Sens victory over Montreal. Countless scoring chances, hard hits, end-to-end rushes, it was an edge of your seat thriller. All that excitement despite the fact that it only featured one goal in the first 55 minutes (interestingly coming at 11:11 of the first on the day before Remembrance Day), and the last goal being an empty-netter.
This goes to show you that exciting hockey is about just that - exciting hockey. The trap is not that, nor are the now ever-expanding teams who allow scant few shots on goal per game because of blocking, shooting lane sabotage, and crafty sticks. Not all bad things, but when it means that you only see just north of 20 shots in a game, and most of them being poor chances affected by the brick wall defensive play, it just destroys the game. The surprising Isles pay for it with their poor support. New Jersey is only now paying penance for their style, despite their success with it. Sadly, should Toronto push it even further, it will destroy the league even more.
Should Toronto take up the game of bore and trap hockey, it will sadly go unpunished. Their legions of fans clamor only for victory. That may suit Toronto well now, but what of the rest of the League? When a less-than-rabid fan tunes in for or attends a game featuring the Leafs 'playing' this kind of hockey - or worse, attempts to turn others onto the game by treating them to a game against the 'pinnacle of popularity in the league' - you will never win a fan over, and instead just turn them away. It would be the same in UFC or football. Nobody would be turned onto the sports if fighters only used a single-blow to end the match, and it became a trial of luck to see who would land it first. Nobody would tune into the Superbowl either, if the teams mounted a strategy that merely pushed the line forward 10 yards each down, holding back their opponents, and then on the last down attempted a field goal.
That is the problem facing us today, the real threat of boring hockey. Toronto may think that winning at any cost is what is best, but even they will feel it eventually. Boring hockey could cause league shrinkage, which would likely lead to fewer games for them to make money off of, or seasons of 10 visits from the Sens, which fans are saying even now is not what they want.
This is no easy problem though. Most fixes suggested so far don't tackle the heart of the issue. Decreasing goalie equipment or increasing net size only makes more of those badly blocked poor shots go in, and the latter would upset countless dedicated to the purity of the game. Tackling the boring play requires more than that, and simple rule changes would have difficulty in tackling the snore-fest slowly inching across the league. Real answers are needed, or else we may lose our game forever, Leafs fans be damned.
When I do pause to think of the NHL, I look at the headlines and statements from high-ranking officials and hear that growth is the name of the game. We want to reach more homes in the US, so we should be on ESPN. We want to generate excitement abroad, so we should start more seasons with more games and teams playing overseas, and play for the IIHF's Victoria Cup.
But when I look behind them at the game we're peddling, I see it slowly being eroded. Hockey is by far the fastest paced sport in North America, and one of the top major sports worldwide. This is starting to change though. Fans in Toronto cheered earlier in the season, when their Leafs were finally able to beat the Sens, 3-0, in their fourth matchup this season. Despite the win, though, one would have to wonder what there was to cheer about, or even to show up and watch.
The game was highlighted by a tight trap by Toronto, leading to most of the game being puck, sometimes with player, enters Leaf territory, puck gets sent back out. On the other end would be puck goes into Sens territory, occasionally followed by a single Leaf, and eventually maybe a second. While it worked, it was about the dullest hockey around. Leafs management knows that fans want wins, and they are rabid and carefree enough to not care how they come.
Is that so wise though? The Isles beat the Sens later on in their losing stretch using a similarly tight and dull trap game. Looking into the stands, the announced 9,000 or so for attendance was all but an admitted farce. Even the Devils - who have captured the Cup and contended very well for many years, and who feature great veterans, exciting youngsters, and one of the game's greatest goaltenders - could not manage to fill their new arena just one game into its hockey lifetime, getting just over 13,000 fans for a 6-1 win in October over the Lightning.
The sportswriters are quick to suggest that lower scoring is what's taking the game down. However most would agree that 3-0 for the Leafs should have been exciting... only it was a snore. The most exciting game I've seen this season, and perhaps ever, was a 3-1 Sens victory over Montreal. Countless scoring chances, hard hits, end-to-end rushes, it was an edge of your seat thriller. All that excitement despite the fact that it only featured one goal in the first 55 minutes (interestingly coming at 11:11 of the first on the day before Remembrance Day), and the last goal being an empty-netter.
This goes to show you that exciting hockey is about just that - exciting hockey. The trap is not that, nor are the now ever-expanding teams who allow scant few shots on goal per game because of blocking, shooting lane sabotage, and crafty sticks. Not all bad things, but when it means that you only see just north of 20 shots in a game, and most of them being poor chances affected by the brick wall defensive play, it just destroys the game. The surprising Isles pay for it with their poor support. New Jersey is only now paying penance for their style, despite their success with it. Sadly, should Toronto push it even further, it will destroy the league even more.
Should Toronto take up the game of bore and trap hockey, it will sadly go unpunished. Their legions of fans clamor only for victory. That may suit Toronto well now, but what of the rest of the League? When a less-than-rabid fan tunes in for or attends a game featuring the Leafs 'playing' this kind of hockey - or worse, attempts to turn others onto the game by treating them to a game against the 'pinnacle of popularity in the league' - you will never win a fan over, and instead just turn them away. It would be the same in UFC or football. Nobody would be turned onto the sports if fighters only used a single-blow to end the match, and it became a trial of luck to see who would land it first. Nobody would tune into the Superbowl either, if the teams mounted a strategy that merely pushed the line forward 10 yards each down, holding back their opponents, and then on the last down attempted a field goal.
That is the problem facing us today, the real threat of boring hockey. Toronto may think that winning at any cost is what is best, but even they will feel it eventually. Boring hockey could cause league shrinkage, which would likely lead to fewer games for them to make money off of, or seasons of 10 visits from the Sens, which fans are saying even now is not what they want.
This is no easy problem though. Most fixes suggested so far don't tackle the heart of the issue. Decreasing goalie equipment or increasing net size only makes more of those badly blocked poor shots go in, and the latter would upset countless dedicated to the purity of the game. Tackling the boring play requires more than that, and simple rule changes would have difficulty in tackling the snore-fest slowly inching across the league. Real answers are needed, or else we may lose our game forever, Leafs fans be damned.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Sens Open the Season Right
Before today's game began, the Ottawa Senators took some time to celebrate how far they had come in their past 14 seasons. Ten straight playoff appearances, capped by last year's run up to the Stanley Cup Final. At Scotiabank Place, proudly they raised the Sens' first Eastern Conference banner. If you talk to many of the New Jersey Devils, they'll tell you that it was unbelievable that it didn't come a few years back, when they narrowly knocked us off in game seven of the third round, easily going on to win the Cup.
Now the Sens look primed to take it all the way this season. While not looking like the team that mastered Crosby, Brodeur, and the stacked Sabres in the last playoffs, the Sens have now pulled out two straight wins against the Leafs. Wednesday night in Toronto there was plenty of drama, with Redden getting into two fights, and the Sens trailing in the third. After signing his new deal, Heatley proved Murray's wisdom by scoring the tying goal late in the third, and blitzing in another goal to seal a 4-3 come from behind victory.
In tonight's game, there were a few more scuffles, although Redden didn't wind up in another pair of fights like at the ACC. There was far more nail-biting moments in goal. Steen had a goal waved off when review showed that Blake tore in on Gerber, and in the goal-cam, you can clearly see that the body he layed on Gerber altered the key butterfly stop, lifting up his right leg completely, and providing a perfect view of Steen poking in the puck under it. Later on, review during a commercial break showed that what looked like an amazing pad save by Toskala on Heatley's powerplay shot in fact only kicked the puck out after clearly and fully crossing into the net, finally stopping the Sens' powerplay drought. It was a penalty filled night, with Toronto racking up 26 PIM and Ottawa 20.
While not a flawless game, Ottawa did a great job of stopping many Toronto entries into their zone, quickly clearing the puck out. They were also flawless on the PK, which would have otherwise been their downfall. While the Sens took their victories, fitting of their Eastern Conference banner from last season, they were not entirely cruel to the Leafs. Toronto was allowed to move on with a single point from Wednesday's OT loss, and as a gift to Sundin, he was able to score his 389th goal as a Leaf, tying him for first for career goals by a Leaf player. My favourite moments of the game often involved watching Toskala drift out of the net, only to make it back just in time for some great saves. I believe Toronto fans might borrow from Detroit fans in cheering "STAY IN THE F#%$ING NET!!!" at Tosky.
Tonight's victory was also fitting, in that Ottawa's top paid talent all racked up a pair of points: Alfie scored two goals, including the game-winner, Heatley scored a goal and an assist, and both Spezza and Redden tallied a pair of assists, with Eaves adding the final assist. Maybe there is hope for Redden after all, although his fights from Wednesday and his penalties from tonight, including one for unsportsmanlike conduct, leave a bit more to be desired. Hopefully the hard work from tonight leads to a great game Saturday against the Rangers, who crushed Florida tonight, 5-2, and hopefully there will be fewer giveaways as well.
Now the Sens look primed to take it all the way this season. While not looking like the team that mastered Crosby, Brodeur, and the stacked Sabres in the last playoffs, the Sens have now pulled out two straight wins against the Leafs. Wednesday night in Toronto there was plenty of drama, with Redden getting into two fights, and the Sens trailing in the third. After signing his new deal, Heatley proved Murray's wisdom by scoring the tying goal late in the third, and blitzing in another goal to seal a 4-3 come from behind victory.
In tonight's game, there were a few more scuffles, although Redden didn't wind up in another pair of fights like at the ACC. There was far more nail-biting moments in goal. Steen had a goal waved off when review showed that Blake tore in on Gerber, and in the goal-cam, you can clearly see that the body he layed on Gerber altered the key butterfly stop, lifting up his right leg completely, and providing a perfect view of Steen poking in the puck under it. Later on, review during a commercial break showed that what looked like an amazing pad save by Toskala on Heatley's powerplay shot in fact only kicked the puck out after clearly and fully crossing into the net, finally stopping the Sens' powerplay drought. It was a penalty filled night, with Toronto racking up 26 PIM and Ottawa 20.
While not a flawless game, Ottawa did a great job of stopping many Toronto entries into their zone, quickly clearing the puck out. They were also flawless on the PK, which would have otherwise been their downfall. While the Sens took their victories, fitting of their Eastern Conference banner from last season, they were not entirely cruel to the Leafs. Toronto was allowed to move on with a single point from Wednesday's OT loss, and as a gift to Sundin, he was able to score his 389th goal as a Leaf, tying him for first for career goals by a Leaf player. My favourite moments of the game often involved watching Toskala drift out of the net, only to make it back just in time for some great saves. I believe Toronto fans might borrow from Detroit fans in cheering "STAY IN THE F#%$ING NET!!!" at Tosky.
Tonight's victory was also fitting, in that Ottawa's top paid talent all racked up a pair of points: Alfie scored two goals, including the game-winner, Heatley scored a goal and an assist, and both Spezza and Redden tallied a pair of assists, with Eaves adding the final assist. Maybe there is hope for Redden after all, although his fights from Wednesday and his penalties from tonight, including one for unsportsmanlike conduct, leave a bit more to be desired. Hopefully the hard work from tonight leads to a great game Saturday against the Rangers, who crushed Florida tonight, 5-2, and hopefully there will be fewer giveaways as well.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Sens Lock Up Heatley
The Sens announced the re-signing of Dany Heatley today, ensuring that the Heater will keep the scoreboard scorching for many seasons to come. With the unofficial deadline of signing before the new season starts, tonight against the Leafs, Heatley and the Sens closed the deal, signing a new 6-year extension. The cap average is be 7.5 million, putting Heatley in line with the Flames' Iginla and the Sharks' Thornton, who signed for 7 and 7.2 million extensions, over five and three years, respectively, and in the form of a 10-8-8-8-6-5 million front loaded contract, similar to that of Philadelphia's Daniel Briere.
The new deal now puts Heatley in place as the Senator signed for the longest, one year past recently re-signed Mike Fisher, keeping him in the capital until the end of the 2013-14 season. Heatley has produced a whopping 100 goals and 108 assists for 208 points, while playing in each of the past two season's 164 games. Heater's also tallied 10-24--34, playing in all 30 playoff games over the past two seasons.
The new contract leaves roughly 15 million dollars worth of space under next year's cap, with 11 out of 21 players under contract for that season. While it has been disputed whether Heatley or Spezza should be re-signed first, I agree with the decision made by Muckler and Melnyk to lock up Heater.
To compare, Heatley's totals have increased over his two years with the team, he's played in all 164 games, he's been given penalty kill responsibilities, and before being paired with Spezza he scored 80 goals and 180 points in 190 games over three seasons with the Thrashers. Spezza's totals have dipped over his two years with Heater, he's averaged only 67.5 games over those years, he's not able to be used in any situation with much success outside of offense, and before Heatley, he only scored 29 goals and 76 points in 111 games over two seasons with the Sens. Heatley has more than proved himself to be a champion and thrive in any situation, and rightfully he is the one that has been signed first.
With only 15 million (plus any cap increase) to spend, Spezza may very well leave the nation's capital. But at least if he does, unlike with Heatley, we will likely get fine RFA compensation in return. Hopefully though, we can drop some extra goaltending salary, gain some more cap room, and lock down the last piece of our top line.
The new deal now puts Heatley in place as the Senator signed for the longest, one year past recently re-signed Mike Fisher, keeping him in the capital until the end of the 2013-14 season. Heatley has produced a whopping 100 goals and 108 assists for 208 points, while playing in each of the past two season's 164 games. Heater's also tallied 10-24--34, playing in all 30 playoff games over the past two seasons.
The new contract leaves roughly 15 million dollars worth of space under next year's cap, with 11 out of 21 players under contract for that season. While it has been disputed whether Heatley or Spezza should be re-signed first, I agree with the decision made by Muckler and Melnyk to lock up Heater.
To compare, Heatley's totals have increased over his two years with the team, he's played in all 164 games, he's been given penalty kill responsibilities, and before being paired with Spezza he scored 80 goals and 180 points in 190 games over three seasons with the Thrashers. Spezza's totals have dipped over his two years with Heater, he's averaged only 67.5 games over those years, he's not able to be used in any situation with much success outside of offense, and before Heatley, he only scored 29 goals and 76 points in 111 games over two seasons with the Sens. Heatley has more than proved himself to be a champion and thrive in any situation, and rightfully he is the one that has been signed first.
With only 15 million (plus any cap increase) to spend, Spezza may very well leave the nation's capital. But at least if he does, unlike with Heatley, we will likely get fine RFA compensation in return. Hopefully though, we can drop some extra goaltending salary, gain some more cap room, and lock down the last piece of our top line.
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