Roundtable of Death: Round Deuce Edition

Posted on May 13, 2013 by worsteverything

VARADA SAYS:

Okee doke: so how do we beat the Pens?

Before their series against the Islanders closed out, my hope was that if Ottawa was going to meet Pittsburg we’d benefit from a Fleury meltdown and be able to steal a game or two. Unfortunately for us, that meltdown came early, the Islanders got to steal those games, and the Pens were able to turn to Vokoun–which is exactly why they signed him. They never had a 1B option when they had their meltdown against the Flyers. Now they’ve made the switch, and things are humming.

Still, it seems to me that Ottawa’s best chance is to learn from what the Islanders did, and what the Flyers did last year, and try to get under the Pens’ skin. It worked against what should have been a more skilled team in Montreal. Ottawa’s advantage is that they have a very good penalty kill–they can play with an edge, pay the price in the box, and probably come out of it unscathed. In the long run maybe you throw a few of their bigger pieces off their game.

The problems are that they aren’t going to get into Byslma’s head the way they did with Therrien; there’s isn’t a destabilizing force like PK Subban on that roster; Vokoun is playing better than Price did, even if Price has the higher ceiling; and that defence is big enough to keep Ottawa players outside of the greasy goal area where they pay their bills.

In short: get ready for a lot of previews that say “if Anderson plays out of his mind…but probably Penguins in six.” This series is going to be an all out war, and it will probably be Ottawa escalating it there. That’s their best chance of winning.

What say you?JAMES SAYS:

*Super cool turntable scratching* Hey now youre a cool guy it’s the playoffs get paiiiiiiiid (we get paid so much $$$$$$$$$$ to write this!)

Well, the big bad Pengus are coming to town SOON! At the time of this writing tickets are going on sale in 32 minutes and there’s no schedule up on the team’s official website. IT’S A VERY ORGANIZED TIME TO BE ALIVE!

Okay, I’d like to preface this, as I always do, by taking an impressive leather bound book off of this custom built mahogany shelf and opening it to the case of The People vs. Horse Races. Pretty much every pundit is going to pick the Penguins to take this one because ‘nem Penjins b more better.’ Okay, awesome. A couple of weeks ago I heard some hockey analysts discussing if Toronto would manage to steal even one win from stalwart Boston and despite being stomped in a couple of games it’s anyone’s series with the Bruins looking like the ones on their heels. Now, admittedly, I don’t like Toronto, a little too “I hate everything about them” for my taste, but I must say, that match up is as cut and dried on paper as Ottawa-Pittsburgh, and when you compare paper to reality I don’t know why the New York Rangers don’t win the Stanley Cup every year. All that stuff said, if Ottawa were the underdogs last series they are some sort of undersloth this time around.

The last series was quite helpful to Ottawa in that the plucky Islanders exposed the speed issues that Pittsburgh has as a team. Especially now with Latendresse riding the pine, speed is not something that Ottawa lacks themselves. It’s rough to see Weapon X Erik Karlsson operating at “normal” speed but there still things about his game that remain strong like, I don’t know, his ability to deke out an entire fucking team or his patience and ability to hang onto the puck. To me this series is going to fall largely on the shoulders of the youthful exuberance: the Zibanejads, Silfverbergs Pageaus and Conachers. Tall order (sorry Cory, JGP) for a bunch of rookies, you bet, but with Pittsburgh clocking in as the NHL’s oldest team (29.5 avg. age) and Ottawa the youngest (avg. age 26) it would be foolish not to think that MacLean will be using sprightliness as a strategy. If you have wheels, use them.

While on the subject of age, it will also be on Ottawa to make this a very, very grueling experience for The Old Man Iginalas of the world. Ottawa has the tools to punish in Neil, Smith, Cowen, Gryba, Methot and for the love of god I hope Greening. Even Phillips is a pretty tough customer when it’s post season time. The greatest challenge of course is that Pittsburgh boasts some of the world’s most talented forwards…which is uhh nice for them.

This series will, as every hockey game ever has, come down to goaltending.

I feel it important to point out that the Islanders did not exactly get world class goaltending in their series. Evgeni Nabokov (the Alexei Kovalev of goaltenders if you ask me) gave up a putrid 24 goals in 6 games. I’m very much hoping we get a little bit better of a performance from Craig Anderson. Also, speaking of goaltending, I would like you to please put on your rant proof goggles now:

Why u heff be mad is just Tomas Vokoun! I love how going into the series the storyline as you mentioned above is all, “Oh no how will we survive now that Pittsburgh’s #1 overall pick, Stanley Cup winning, Olympic Gold Medalist, former all star goaltender has been benched and we have to face Mighty Tomas Vokoun! He who was the Washington Capitals 3^rd string goalie LAST YEAR and was acquired for a seventh round draft pick! He who previous to this series rocked a 3 and 8 playoff record on the defense-first Predators. Am I the only one who forgot this guy was even in the NHL when Pittsburgh traded for him last year?

Goaltenders being the strange beasts they are I must admit, there’s nothing to say Vokoun isn’t capable of Jaroslav Halaking them to the promised land. It could happen. Pittsburgh is playing better in front of him. It just seems funny to me that not even a week after watching a team that “has trouble scoring” positively break Carey Price and then capable backup Peter Budaj’s respective spirits I’m not going act like Pittsburgh’s goaltending problems are in the past because Vokoun beat the Islanders twice.

What do you think shitty Jerry Seinfeld joke-device?
“What is the deal with Jason Spezza?” *canned laughter* *canned throwing a chair at my head*

One minute you have MacLean saying “He still a long way(s) away” the next you go on the Sens website and the top story is “SPEZZA PRACTICES!!!” What’s a girl to do? Spezza is a whole mess of questions. The most obvious is, “How ready is he?” Others include, “Even if 100% healthy can he just step in and play playoff level hockey after not playing since January?” or “If Spezza comes back this team suddenly has a ton of talented centres…who moves where?” Seems like the more we know the less we know with this here caper. Only one way to get to the bottom of it.

VARADA SEES THAT AND RAISES A…

You know how I’m hesitant to compare myself to world class athletes? Okay, well I am, and I have to say, as a person who just had a minor, minor back injury himself and spent the better part of a fucking week getting back to a place where I couldn’t get myself a granola bar without a ten-point strategy plan, I will say that 1) my empathy meter is off the charts for Spezz, and 2) a back injury is not the kind of thing that you can play through. It’s not the most horrific of injuries–it’s no “stick in the eyeball” or “blade through the achilles heel” that are so much the rage these days–but when you think about it…it’s your fucking back. That thing is like 45% of your body, and it holds you upright. You don’t know how much you depend on it to do everything until you have an injury. I wish I had filmed myself trying to put on socks this morning. It would be the saddest, funniest, then saddest 45 minute long Youtube video in the world.

All that to say that I’ll believe Spezza(‘s back) is back when I see it. Dudes in the NHL are usually, what, about 200lbs? And they tend to lean on you a bit. While skating pretty hard. The guy had back surgery. I don’t want to get into a Hasek-like arrangement where all 1.2 million people in the Ottawa Valley start reducing health care to the question of whether or not player X is being a wuss.

I’ve gotta ask: what do you think about MacLean’s magical mystery tour of lineup decisions in the last round? Scratching Concher for Matt Kassian; playing Benoit over Wiercioch; benching Latty; confining Jim O’Brien to one of those spinning mirrors from the Superman movies. So far his bag-of-acid methodology seems to be working (see: “you’ve had a terrible game, Conacher – get in there!” resulting in scoring the tying goal with 26 seconds left). But at some point you have to ask just what the hell if going on, right?

BUT THEN JAMES HAS TO GO AND BE ALL:

Yeah, it’s weird. I heard Shawn Simpson talk about this stuff the other week on that local series of ads with the occasional radio show on it. He said, fans will always be bewildered by coaching decisions because you’ll never know how that team works behind the scenes unless you’re on it. Case in point I suppose would be, how are you gunna bench Latendresse indefinitely against his former team and not even give him 4th line minutes for a guy who is SOMEHOW ACTUALLY SLOWER THAN HIM?!?!? Then at the end of the day, Kassian 2 assists in the deciding game. I don’t get ranty again here but Gui is going to head into this off season as the Street Cred Peter Regin like, “Yeah, my coach didn’t feel I had enough fire against my former team in the playoffs and benched me for a goon who ended up having more points than me….anyway, I would like to talk to you about what I bring to your team for the price of $2,000,000 per season!”
Just to build on what you’re saying about Spezza…yeah, the last thing in the world I’d ever want is for him to be rushed. Maybe it’s just a media circus but seeing the Sens organization hype it up too was interesting. Considering he’d be playing up against Malkin or Crosby there’s not going to be a lot of wiggle room for him to “feel it out.” I have to admit I’m very confused about the whole thing…which I’m guessing is the point.

On one hand, guy just started skating with the team a couple of days ago but on the other the scenario is very similar to the Karlsson one we saw. He went from “unable to do any workouts standing up” to leading the team stretches and playing in a little over a week. The only thing keeping me from being super nervous about this whole thing is that Spezza had his surgery 4 and a half months ago and that does seem like a good while to recover (source Dr. Mario, Scientologist). I find Spezza to be a player where you can really tell when he’s playing hurt (which is often). Last example of such a time was I believe in a playoff against the Pens when he just couldnt match Crosby and was booed by a small but audible habs fan-esque contingent at SBP. We need this guy and I dont want to give idiots, nor Pittsburgh for that matter, ammo if he’s not ready to go.

Round()table of Death: Motherfucking KARLSSON edition

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Varada

Varada

Okay, first thing’s first: we know this is a miraculous feat of healing for Erik Karlsson, and that we should obviously worship him and purchase an(other) Erik Karlsson jersey as soon as possible, but let’s take a solid minute to recognize the brilliant work of Senators team doctor, Dr. Chow, who performed the surgery on Karlsson’s achilles.

I work in health care policy, and so I know how little we celebrate the successes of health care providers; these days we talk more frequently how much they cost and what happens when they fuck up. But Dr. Chow clearly deserves our gratitude and applause here. Go ahead. Stand up from your desk and applaud. I’ll wait.

(*beat*)

Dr. Chow is one of Canada’s top orthopaedic surgeons, and one you might be familiar with from his own harrowing survival story. He’s already one of the most respected practitioners in his field, but that success hasn’t been, y’know, real success until now, as we bestow upon him The Welcome To Your Karlsson Years Prize for Excellence in the Field of Orthopaedic Surgery (Sports and Exercise, Heel Related).

Congratulations, Dr. Chow! If Ottawa makes it out of the first round thanks to Karlsson’s contributions, I’m going to make sure I refer all of my friends to you, no matter how small or trivial their symptoms!

Now, as for Karlsson: what do we expect from him? Well, considering weexpected him to regress a little from his Norris-winning season and he was leading the league in shots and defensemen in points when he was hurt, and weexpected six freaking months of rehab and he did it in two, I can say you should take your expectations and perhaps…how do I say this diplomatically…shove them as far up your ass as you can?

In the last month or so we’ve gone from “Karlsson is still hanging around the rink, encouraging his teammates – what a guy!” to “Holy shit, Karlsson is skating” to “KARLSSON IS SKATING IN FULL EQUIPMENT” to “Karlsson…is leading stretches…in practice (hyperventilating)…and he’s not wearing a no contact jersey…(throws up all over self).”

Which is to say, I expect that he will single-handedly lead the Senators to the Cup while dabbling in research that leads to a cure for Type 2 diabetes. At the very least he will clearly play his ass off, and even if he’s not 100% at least he’s an upgrade on, you know, Benoit or Gryba or whoever whose name I just forgot because OH MY GOD IMAGINE IF KARLSSON ELIMINATES THE PENGUINS FROM THE POST-SEASON.

James

Varada, ladies and gentlemen. Please picture me as Mr. James Carville at the 1:45 mark

Okay, I must admit I do have SOME response. I believe it was Franklin Delano Zizek who said, “Who shall inherit the blogs? The insufferable.”

One would think I would be pretty used to ‘injury watch’ what with being a fan of Jason “Two 80+ game seasons in 9 years” Spezza and having sat through Pascal “The Angel of Death” LeClaire for however long that was. Heck, remember when there was all that hoopla (copyright) about Daniel Alfredsson being too soft to be team captain because of his injury problems? LOL, I’m just going to blindly blame the Ottawa Sun for starting that whole thing.

Anyway, like Cowen before him, with Karlsson’s progress I find myself “mother dropping her only child off at a paintball themed birthday party” level cautious about my beautiful, beautiful babies. My expectations for Cowen in his return in Carolina, as outlined in my JDP, were: Take a glorified twirl on the ice, make sure everything feels normal and play a Borowieckian 12 minutes without getting hurt. What happens? This MF lays a hit that ends Jeff Skinner’s season, holds it down in 2 fights and plays great in the nearly 20 minutes that he clocks. Okay…so…I don’t know anything about anything (THANKS FOR READING, MOM!)

When it comes to Karlsson…I guess as you outlined above all bets are off. I feel like Ottawa making the post season and stretching the series out to seven games or even making the second round THEN you see Erik Karlsson is borderline unrealistic to me. Maybe it’s the fact that a friend of mine tore his Achilles playing soccer in JANUARY and even with regular rehab his foot flops around like a fish that Jessie Winchester is taking a #sicinstagram of in his boat somewhere in Muskoka. Now, does my friend have some of rehabilitation specialists working with him on a daily basis? Of course not he’s a normal person. Erik Karlsson is clearly a not that so I’m at a loss as to what to expect. If he came back Monday and scored a million frigging goals all over Matt Cooke’s stupid FACE I wouldn’t put it past him. If Ottawa had to run through the playoffs until June to get one game out of him that would be the goodest of problemz. If he’s not 100% and still plays I don’t know if the sky is necessarily falling. Teemu S. said he came back early and he didn’t die. I’m no Dr. Chow in terms of expertise or handsomeness, but something tells me that the fact that his Achilles injury was a laceration from a skate blade and not a 100% tear from a strain it was a bit easier to repair. Well, that and EK’s obviously ridiculous commitment to his rehab exercises.

You had me at “expected to make a complete recovery” …actually I’m only happy if he comes back tomorrow and in his first game back overtakes PK Subban for the scoring lead among defenders and forces the NHL to melt down the Masterton and Norris trophies and mold them into the 5 HOUR ENERGY XXXTREME RECOVERAWESOME DOT COM GO DADDDY AWARD

Roundtable of Death: The Passion of the Distaste for Peter Regin

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Varada

James

So after Tuesday’s undeserved and tide-turning face off penalty (ITS A GREAT PENALTY!!!) we can officially conclude that Peter Regin is straight up bad luck at this point, right? …Let’s retire the number 13 while we’re at it.

Imagine you’re Jim O’Brien, getting scratched game after game for a guy who has 3 assists on the year. Don’t get me wrong: despite a strong start, JOB isn’t exactly burning down the house with his 6 points and minus three, but what the hell is up with a supposed “skill guy” like Regin who hasn’t put up a point in weeks not getting an extended stay in the press box?

The nail in the coffin for me here is fucking MATT KASSIAN has more goals than him. The debate whether Regin is a top six *puts on giant novelty Mickey Mouse glove and does hand wanking motion* or a bottom six player is now over. 3 points and a minus rating with two and a half weeks left in the season shows you’re barely an NHL player. I know his stock was high as recently as the beginning of last season, and hey he looked good early on, but for me, when he went that one season with only 3 goals in 55 games he became more or less expendable. You can just go out on the free market and buy better production than that on the cheap. Or even better, if you’re the Ottawa Senators you’re in the position to just cut him loose and give one of your many depth players a try. Stephane DaCosta came up and put up a goal and an assist in less than 10 games. Is he NHL ready? I don’t know but again the greater question is, is Regin at this point? Could a Hugh Jessiman or Mark Stone not do what Regin is doing?

People didn’t give a FUCK when Bobby Butler was waived, or to a lesser extent when Foligno was traded. Foligno could hit hard, play centetr or wing, and he put up nearly 50 points last year! Butler spent much of last year in the box and still put up 6 goals and 10 assists, was a +8 and people were ready to burn that guy’s house down. What I’m saying is, Ottawa has parted ways with more productive players (and quicker) for less.

I wonder what the strategy is here? Is MacLean trying to light a serious fire under O’Brien until he gets to that Reginesque point of charging into his office and demanding to play? When Regin did it it was awesome. Full credit he was on fire in that game against Montreal and pretty much won it for Ottawa. The thing is it seems he can’t do that for more than one game in a row. Remember when Bobby Butler did the same thing vs. Calgary last year? Neither do I!

At 26 Peter Regin is still quite young and YES HE WAS GREAT IN THAT ONE PLAYOFF SERIES but that was in 2010. With the injuries this team has suffered this season I could see why Ottawa might want to keep the waivers to a minimum, but why he was kept over Daugavins is baffling to me. At least Dogman was durable. And that’s the other thing: If you like me believe Regin is a bottom six player at best, watching him get knocked about like a pinata game after game is not exactly endearing for a PK lunch pail guy. O’Brien has the wheels, a degree of touch and PK skills like Regin but with more durability and a modicum of toughness. As a fan, I expect to see JOB in against Philly on Thursday.

Much like Butler before him, I hope Regin can turn it around and wish him success but as per my feelings toward The Ballad of Bobby B last year, I’d much rather see him try to find his way somewhere else.

Varada

It seems to be like there are at least two tiers of expectations against which to assess Peter Regin’s putrid, awful, unwatchable season. The first expectation is that he’s a cheap depth guy, best suited to playing on the 3rd or 4th line, who won’t lose you hockey games. If that’s the case I can’t really disagree, though like you say James: it’s not like those guys aren’t plentiful in the NHL. Ottawa can swing a little bit more for the fences with its depth guys. It’s not like Regin is tough, agitates, or has much offensive upside these days.

The second set of expectations, and easiest to consider a failure, is that Regin is a number 1-2 centerman with puck possession skills ideal for Paul MacLean’s system. This has been pretty thoroughly disproved at this point.

Sometimes it was Regin starting the game as the team’s number one center when Spezza was hurt only to find himself on the fourth line so fast he would get whiplash (in favor of Smith for chrissake). Sometimes he’d be a supplementary winger. In any case, there’s something far more disturbing than his never becoming a top six player (which, ok let’s admit, is hard to do).

Check out these Relative Corsi ratings:

2008-2009 GP 11 RC 13.3

2009-2010 GP 75 RC 18.9

2010-2011 GP 55 RC 8.4

2011-2012 GP 10 RC 0.8

2012-2013 GP 27 RC -0.7

Now, that’s not all that bad – even the negative rating is near even, which means Regin is usually pushing the puck in the right direction, even playing with terrible, terrible linemates, and though never getting much in the way of point production. What’s more disturbing is the trend. That’s a good body of work right there, enough that sample size starts to get mitigated a little bit. As Regin has struggled through injuries, his effectiveness has seemed to slip, and is heading steadily southward. You might assume it’s his natural progression down the lineup into a marginal role, and his Time on Ice p/ 60 minutes has decreased, but only from between 11-12 minutes a night to about nine minutes this year. When he was having those great Corsi seasons, he was only enjoying two more minutes a night, at most. He also only started in the offensive zone about 7% more of the time.

In other words: not that much has changed about how Regin is being played, but he’s still getting worse. He’s not as terrible as I first thought, but he’s experiencing his worst season as a professional, and he’s trending downward. Why take a risk on that sort of player when you’re organization is stuffed with depth guys?

Of course there’s also his point production, which with his number of games played puts him in the arena of Tim Jackman, Tim Brent, and Ryan Reaves. Some of those guys only play about six minutes a night. Clearly this is disappointing for anyone expecting him to be 20 goal guy (<– actual prediction!)

It’s not that he’s a terrible fourth liner. It’s just that we don’t want him to be a fourth liner. At 26 he’s in what’s supposed to be his prime. He might rebound, sure, and his underlying numbers are enough that you can see why management would spend only $800k to bring him back for a year. But the years of monster Corsi possession now seem to be behind him.

I’d hate to see him rebound elsewhere. On the other hand, it just seems like a warm body in the lineup right now. I’d rather give that ice time to Mark Stone, Shane Prince, or Mike Hoffman and let them develop in the NHL.

Roundtable of Death: Which pending UFAs should BryMurr bring back? / spending other people’s money

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Varada

Varada

Daniel Alfredsson

Look, I think he’s lost a step. He’s missing wide open nets, giving the puck away, trying to beat younger men one-on-one with that puck-the-puck-off-the-boards-then-climb-over-the-guy thing he does but it’s not working anymore…he’s just not looking elite out there. He also still plays 20 minutes a night, on the penalty kill and the power play, in all crucial situations, and carries himself like a consummate professional. The tangibles and intangibles are ridiculous, and I fear this team’s post-Alfie experience. Obviously I’d resign him, and I’d even do so at a premium to make up for the fact that he only made $1MM salary this year–half of which he lost to the lockout. That’s right, Alfie made $500,000 this year. If he’ll have us for another year, we should have him.

Guillaume Latendresse

Like you said in an earlier post, James, we’re starting to see what this guy can go. He looks like a legit top-six forward, even with is sluggish skating, and if he’s willing to take another bonus-heavy contract to mitigate the fact that he’ll spend most of the season injured, I think why not? It can’t cost the team much more than what they’re paying now. If anything, he can be had for cheaper.

Peter Regin

Apologies to Steven, who loves this man for reasons I cannot understand, but Regin is fast becoming the new Jesse Winchester: a guy who will get to say he played in the NHL for a bit, and for a brief, brilliant moment, was placed on the first line with some real stars. I’d be curious even to see if Regin gets picked up by another club.

Sergei Gonchar

I think we all knew when I proposed this article that this is basically what I was talking about. Gonchar’s looked awesome for pretty much the first time since he was signed, making the kind of simple, intuitive plays that you expect from a veteran. If he wants to play another year in the NHL – and I think this year is demonstrating that he’s able – someone will sign him. If he doesn’t want to play for the Islanders or Panthers, though, he should consider taking a one year extension along with Alfie. Ottawa is still 1-3 years away from having to extend their rookies to big money contracts, so they can afford Gonchar. And if this year is any indication, depth-especially on the back-end- is king. The other reason? Look at the UFA market for d-men. Who else are you going to sign if you need to? 38 year old Roman Hamerlik?

Mike Lundin

He never really got his chance in Ottawa due to his own injuries, but when he has played he’s been slotted on a lower pairing. Not a great thing when you consider that your ice time is being given to young AHLers like Gryba and Wiercioch. Lundin should probably be a casualty of the depth chart, even if he’s cheap as hell. Also, look at his CORSI numbers: he hasn’t been driving puck possession, which is a problem when you’re supposed to be a hybrid puck-mover.

Andre Benoit

You feel for Beniot, too, because he’s an older, career AHLer who’s finally found a club who will play him. He’s cheap, he’s effective, and he’s playing MacLean’s system well. Look at his CORSI relative to Lundin’s: he’s playing well. I would re-sign Benoit, especially if he’ll accept a two-way contract, though if he’s earned the right to demand anything at this point it’s probably a one-way contract and a chance to play a full season. Not sure if he’ll survive camp, but there are worse things than occasionally scratching a guy who only makes $650k a year.

Ben Bishop

Ah, the other key question. Much like Ottawa’s defensive depth has been a savior, so too has been having three outstanding goaltenders. I know Bishop is the natural player to be moved – he’s 26, and he’s at the height of his value, but he’s also a restricted free agent without a ton of leverage. I like Andy a lot, but who can you get more for on the trade market? Andy was playing Vezina hockey earlier, and makes far more money. I’d rather see Bishop re-signed and the reins handed to he and Lehner.

James

Daniel Alfredsson

Alfie gimme ooone more chaaaaace. I agree Alfie’s game has diminished a little but my observation is that’s only noticeable some games, not all. With certain stretches of the season’s compressed schedule often serving up as many as 4 games a week, it’s not crazy to see him look a bit gassed some games. Asking a 40 year old, even of Alfie’s fitness and ability level, to play as many minutes as 23 year old Kyle Turris is a model I can’t believe is working. I accept some speed bumps here and there. Hiccups aside, Papa Alfie looks a little older but all things considered, only a little. I think he comes back next year and for the love of Jesus Murphy hope he gets to play reduced minutes in an 82 game season. Team has all sorts of cap space and you know he wont even ask for much salary. Lastly, if the team does end up getting two clearly defined lines going next season, I don’t think its crazy to think he could play till 41. Bibi hear our prayer.

Bill Lantendresse

Given the avalanche of injuries (including his own) exposing the importance of depth I think Ottawa could use all the top six players they could get next year. Frankly, Milan Michalek freaks my shit out at this point. We’re looking at 15 games service from him this year. He’s a Spezza type guy where it looks like some time missed is basically a guarantee but the skill is worth hanging on to. Anyway, Lantendresse ain’t exactly Tony Starks or anything either but he’s a left winger who’s fast proving he’s still a top six player and at this stage of his comeback I think can still be had on the cheap. As for his lack of foot speed, I’ll be concerned as soon as I see it as a factor that hurts the team. As long as he keeps doing his thing in the crease I think he’s got a style of play that’s really working. Besides Ottawa’s seen success in the past with one if not the slowest top six left winger in the league (Heatley, Danii). Say yes to the Latendresse. I’d give him a year or two at the same 2MM rate.

Peter Regin

I put one of my trademark smartass polls on twitter this weekend asking who would score goal numero uno of the season first: Peter Regin or Eric Gryba. A lot of people replied that it would be “hilarious” if Gryba did. Not so sure how hilarious that ended up being when it actually happened. As Ottawa fans that have followed Regin’s career we know his game has its strong points and lot of potential but Im sick of watching Daugavins and Obrien get scratched for this guy. After watching him get batted around like a ball of yarn against Tampa on Saturday I think he’s played himself off the team…and with only 3 assists and a -2 rating in 23 games, he could find himself in the KHL next year.

Sergei Gonchar

This one is really tough because I don’t know how smart it is to re-sign Gonchar. I also just doubt it will happen on Gonchar’s side of the table. I think it’s pretty safe to say he’s going to want 2 years and a good amount of money. You have to love his play. He’s kept this team alive on the back end in King K’s absence. HE LEADS THE TEAM IN POINTS FOR GOD’S SAKE. But let’s please all of us remember that as young as Sergei is playing he will be 39 in 19 days. Going with the extremely reasonable assumption that it will take 2 years to get him to sign in Ottawa again, don’t come running to me when you’re ripping your hair out at watching a 41 year old Gonchar on the back end. I think instead we acknowledge Sergei played a huge role in keeping the season alive, we let him know we should have told him we loved him more and let him sign that overpriced one year deal that he will only sign in Pittsburgh (who I HAAAATE btw). I wish I could Freaky Friday Gonchar and Phillips’ contracts.

Frozen Dinner Mike Lundin

Sorry Homer, I am just your memory. I cannot provide you with any new information at this time. I think Borowiecki gets his shot next year and bumps Lundin. Boro is young, tough and if you ask me has a bit of an underrated pass. I sincerely hope Lundin lands a job somewhere but I think it’s time for more of the kids who can likely play a comparable game to get some experience.

Andre Benoit

I would definitely love if Ottawa gave this guy a long term 2 way deal. Like, make him the indefinite captain of the Binghamton Senators a la Denis Hamel before him. People have their issues with him but like with Gryba, these guys were given a pretty unreasonable amount of responsibility. Benoit has a very heavy shot for and doesn’t get manhandled too bad for a small defender. A guy I’d love the Sens to have on speed dial for a call up. If he can get a one way from another team though, that’s great for him.

Ben Bishop

I think he’s done a great job but I’m not about to say I want to see him play over Craig Anderson. I know I’ve long been of the “let Lehner spend a few years in the AHL whats the rush?” opinion. But my opinion’s changing here. If one goalie has to be moved I am actually quite comfortable with the idea of Lehner being an NHL back up. The last couple of games have shown some shades of RAWbin Lehner but I think he could handle the backup role well, even excel being eased into the league. With Anderson’s injury, Lehner hasn’t exactly been given the easy teams in his starts. Gotta love the rookie as the go-to starter against Boston. In a perfect world I would keep all three (doi I want all the toys!) but if that’s not feasible Anderson and Lehner are the guys I hang onto. Ottawa finally has a goaltender who’s putting up Vezina numbers I’m not about to say ‘move the guy.’ Please send Bishop as far away geographically as possible and to a team that plays with extra large nets. Les Numeros:

Craig Anderson	15	22	1.49	459	.952	2	8	4	2	884	58:58
Robin Lehner	8	17	2.05	283	.940	0	3	1	4	497	62:14
Ben Bishop	10	25	2.62	318	.921	0	6	4	0	573	57:19

Hey, How Are We Criticizing the Ottawa Senators These Days and Further Can We?

Posted on March 13, 2013 by worsteverything

You know, just your average situation where you have kind of a whatevs AHL career and then you become a possession animal and the backbone of an NHL club….

JAMES SAYS:

Hey, Varada *holds for 2 full minutes of applause* I don’t know if you noticed but this season has been an absolute whirl of wind for the team that we like, the Ottawa Senators (.com). Heh heh heh ahhhh…just…sharing the laughter and love, you know? And by laughter and love I mean, I actually found myself getting a warm feeling deep inside when I read a tweet from Wayne Scanlan saying how Erik Karlsson was seen limping around SBP with TWO shoes on instead of one shoe and one cast. I caught myself feeling so happy that I immediately took a personal inventory in an attempt to find out what personal void I am filling with all this hockey stu—I mean, I was regular, emotionally stable person amount of happy…moving forward…

What I’m saying is the NHL season just to start with on paper is upside down. 40 odd games, something like 60 points and you’re in the playoffs, day is night and vegetables are poison.

Factor in the Sens and it gets no less weird. Let’s do a quick test, which of these things made you more excited as a fan this season: That Ottawa went on a perfect five game homestand or the news that Craig Anderson’s ankle injury wasn’t as severe as it first appeared? Jakob Silfverberg going 3 for 3 in his first 3 shootout attempts or news that Jason Spezza’s return could be as few as 2 to 3 weeks from now? I’d compare something to hearing word that Erik Karlsson will make a full recovery from his injury but I know how we all feel about that one.

The point I’m trying to make is, as last year was defined greatly by the career years a healthy line up helped afford, this year is defined by the injuries that have clouded what expectations for a team like this should be.

Up until recently Ottawa has had rookie Eric Gryba playing on the top defensive pairing. I know right? That prospect so hyped that he was called up after Beniot, Wiercioch and Borowiecki had all been given a shot. I’m not trying to put Gyba down here I’m just trying to illustrate how when you look up the team’s player stats and see that Gryba’s got the second lowest plus/minus rating on the team (-5) it’s hard not to react like, “Yeah, well they are playing Eric Gryba for over 20 minutes a game so…”

Watching a team’s top line blow a guy who at this point has 12 NHL games under his belt doesn’t make me angry as a fan so much as the fact that that situation is even happening illuminates how deep over their head the team is in it this year.

Although icing a 3^rd of a lineup made up of rookies is pretty unprecedented for this club it’s not that simple when it comes to judging it though. It’s not like this team doesn’t have its share of experienced NHLers making up the other two thirds of the line up.
Where do you fall on this whole thing? Are you a “Go easy on Turris, he’s playing in a role he’s not ready and/or cut out for” kind of guy or “Bro you didn’t score a goal for like 2 goddamn months, I’ve had it with you!” kind of guy? Let’s talk: Are you throwing the patio furniture you call a living room through the window when the Sens cant muster a goal on the powerplay or are you just blown away that its almost mid-March and they are not in last place / actually in the hunt?

VARADA SAYS:

Well, anyway I cut it, I can’t be disappointed with the 2013 Ottawa Senators (RIP fall 2012, which never happened in my books). You know how much more money the Philadelphia Flyers are spending on players right now when you take into account Spezza, Karlsson, Anderson and Michalek injuries? Almost FORTY MILLION DOLLARS. That’s a whole other low budget hockey team. That’s the equivalent of taking Ottawa and then saying, “here’s St. Louis, think you could use them?” It’s not only making me so proud of this team’s work ethic (how crushed would you or I have been to have lost the way they lost against Toronto last week? Not these guys. Up and at them), it’s making me rethink my whole attitude toward player motivation and development.

I know that Eric Condra and Colin Greening will never be 35 goal guys. How much does a 35 goal guy cost you? $4MM-$5MM? How much does Greening cost? A bag of potatoes (that can’t be sent down to the AHL)? Each of these guys is playing like they know the next game could be their last. Why on earth would someone like, say, Dallas, trade for Eric Cole for “stability” when you could have hungry, hard working kids play their hearts out for you night in and night out?

Which, don’t get me wrong, doesn’t mean they aren’t infuriating. We need to get bailed out every single night by a goaltender, and we’re basically one Steve Mason away from being Columbus. (Maybe more to the point: Bobrovsky plays lights out, Columbus starts looking like a real hockey team for the first team maybe every? Philly looks terrible and is going to miss the playoffs?) In any case, here’s a list of disappointments that I feel like I can’t complain about for all of the reasons above but here goes anyway:

1) Alfredsson has really lost of step. I don’t mean “he’s sluggish because he’s played 48 minutes tonight, all on the penalty kill” step-loss. Like, boneheaded giveaways, terrible passing, 0/5 on the shootout step-loss. It’s weird to see: humbling, existential even. TIME RAVAGES US ALL. (Still one of our best players, btw.)

2) Regin may not, actually, be an NHL player. There, I said it. Nice guy, strong on the puck, but officially cursed. I feel like every team in the league might think he could be an NHL player in the ideal situation, but there is literally no team in the league that wants a guy who isn’t quite skilled enough to be top six and isn’t quite rough enough to be bottom six.

3) I accept that there are pretty much no options after Turris (Z. Smith?) so what are you gonna do: NOT play him as your top line center? But you’ve gotta think this organization is really high on Turris to basically hand him the season in his second year as a Senator. I also wonder if Kyle “Phoenix-didn’t-give-me-playing-time” Turris is now Kyle “HOLY SHIT STOP KILLING ME” Turris. Pretty amazing that he’s not a minus player this year.

4) A running joke between you and I for a few years now has been “Who is the new Antoine Vermette?”, meaning, a guy who pulls off about twelve sick, amazing moves on his way to the net–all predicated on hard work and just fucking going for it–finds himself wide open with the goalie sprawling out of position, and then fans on the shot. It was Foligno for a while. The 2013 edition? Literally every single forward on this team. OTTAWA IS LEADING THE LEAGUE IN SHOTS PER GAME. (also second worst in the league in shots against, ahem.)

JAMES RUDELY CUTS IN:

I think what might be most surprising to me with this whole thing is how the media are not climbing over each other to try to bask in the glory of Paul MacLean’s moustache. I know I really harp on how Ottawa is one of the most fronted on teams but aside from the odd 20 second video entitled something like “Gitt’n-R-Done” on TSN’s website, I find MacLean’s amazing coaching was actually more of a discussion last year. I’m not saying the media needs to talk about this more, the second thing I harp about endlessly is how I like the Sens in the underdog role. I dont know if you all remember but the high expectations Sens teams of the past…not exactly great under pressure back in those days. Anyway, I’m just saying, if it were all kinds of other teams doing what Ottawa is doing they would be all over it. But in the mean time congratulations go out to Bruce Boudreau for somehow managing to get Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan to play well. Remarkable!

Should Ottawa Make a Play for My Favorite Character on HBO’s Oz?

Posted on February 19, 2013 by worsteverything

Varada and James have a brief friendly chat about the prospect of Ottawa getting their disgusting little mitts on contract holdout Ryan O’Reilly. Come away with us!

Varada says:
I know I wrote just the other day that I don’t think Ottawa should trade for anyone, but then I didn’t think a guy like O’Reilly was available. When I think about “replacing Spezza,” I guess I was thinking of going after a similar guy–veteran, in his prime, high-priced–and that’s not who I think Ottawa should be going after. O’Reilly, on the other hand, fits the rebuild pretty damn well. He’s a centerman, 22, shoots left, and has already pretty much proven himself in the NHL. Much like last year’s Kyle Turris trade, this seems like a great fit.

TSN reported that Colorado would look for a roster player and a top prospect in return. In terms of top prospects, Ottawa has plenty to spare, especially if they’re bringing in a center. While I wouldn’t really want to part with Zibanejad or Stone, I wonder if the Avs could be swayed by Noesen, Puempel, or even Ceci. It’s the “roster player” part where I get stuck. Who on Ottawa’s roster could you see the team parting with? Da Costa? It’s not like they’re going to trade for Phillips or Gonchar.

James says:

Interesting as O’Reilly crossed my mind in the last thread but my opinion differs on acquiring him in the spirit of the rebuild. As you pointed out, this would be similar to the Kyle Turris trade but for me Ottawa already made this trade when they acquired Turris. Though I do quite like O’Reilly’s age, I think that the acquisition of this player has to be the long term kind (hence the contract holdout). I’m not sure if Spezza needs to be replaced like this quite just yet. Yes, he is 29 years old but I simply dont think the rebuild will take so long that he will no longer be relevant as player by the time Ottawa finds itself in the “contender” conversation. I recognize that I am an almost frustrating defender of Spezza but it’s simply because I firmly believe that Spezza’s skill set is rare like Mr. Clean with hair. O’Reilly is a very good player and his career best 55 points in 81 games last season is good. Kyle Turris good. Spezza has 621 points in 611 NHL games as well as 51 points in 53 playoff games. Is he a perfect player? No but that kind of production is something I don’t see the need to give away injuries problems and all. If, say, by the time Ottawa starts becoming a contender if Spezza is no longer a first line caliber centreman, that’s a pretty dynamite 2nd line pivot to have much like how Alfredsson is still a pretty fantastic 2nd line player even at age 40. The Sens have been an organization that values career players and I think that Spezza should be one as he has certainly delivered on his pedigree for 9 seasons now. Keep Spezza and I think he’ll give the team 1000 points eventually. Turris will likely be that important 55-60 per year guy.

Further the fact that Colorado wants a top prospect for O’Reilly is proof to me that the Av’s are willing to gamble that O’Reilly can be replaced by a top prospect. Maybe I’m a conservative with this but i think if Spezza is replaced it’s by a marquee FA of comparable quality that you have to pay through the nose for (IE Some other team’s Jason Spezza). That or…this is all a bunch of media hype and it just gets worked out between the two sides a la PK Subban was our generation’s Ryan O’Reilly.

I’m like a broken record with this but take into consideration all the bitching that went down / kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind of still goes down about giving up David Rundblad and a second for Kyle Turris. I dont think a week goes by without someone talking about him in a Sens blog (that isnt ours) comment section or on twitter or something. Turris has stepped right into the top 6 and played well and people still talk about Rundblad like he’s the one who got away. There’s little doubt that Rundblad will be a good player and we got one in return which is great. As Sens fans we know how much it sucks when it doesn’t work out. Where iz you going with this one James? We’ll put simply, I dont see the need to give up a roster player AND a prospect to be able to give Ryan O’Reilly his next contract as I think with the wealth of prospects that the organization currently holds we will soon discover we have our own O”Reilly that we had to surrender nothing beyond what we’ve already surrendered for the pick in the first place (Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly). I’m a quantity man when it comes to drafting and I think that’s something Ottawa should hang onto. It’s the Jason Spezzas of the world that are so hard to find so dont give them up when you dont have to.

Roundtable of Death: “We’re Alive! We’re Ali…(gunshot)” edition

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Varada

Varada

It’s Friday, which means work isn’t going to get much out of me today. What, I work in health care, it’s not important.

So what should we talk about? How about Ottawa’s defense? Are you a fan of going out and signing, say, a Chris Campoli on the cheap, or are you excited to see what these young Binghamton Boys can do?

I looked at the UFAs, and there aren’t really any I’m interested in beyond Campoli, who is still young and we know can play 15 minutes a night. The problem is that with Cowen out we don’t really need depth, we need a top pairing guy, and there isn’t really one of those available. Also remember that Ottawa traded it’s second round pick this year for Ben Bishop, which means that if we’re getting into trading for a defenseman it will be the kind you can get with a later pick (meaning probably not as good as Campoli) or the kind you have to give up a first rounder or a prospect for, which isn’t preferable. This team shouldn’t really be in a “going for it” mentality, but should be patient.

I’ve written on the blog about how if there’s a season where Ottawa sort of stinks it up, I don’t mind it being this one considering it’s shortened and next year’s draft is deep. Maybe it also puts Ottawa in a selling mood and we get some picks for expiring contracts like Gonchar, Regin, maybe Latendresse if he has a decent season. I won’t say Alfie because I know how people will react…but Alfie so he can win a goddamned cup already. I’m not saying let’s go out and tank on purpose, just that if the capricious gods are going to be total dicks, then this is the year I’d like to cash that in. In which case, I’m all for giving the youngins some development time in the NHL. They’re tearing up the A, some of them already have a championship in that league; I think it would be valuable to give them some NHL time against the big boys, let them get acclimatized while expectations are lower.

Another thing we could talk about: holy bejeezus take a look at next season’s UFAs. I’m so excited for this. No longer do we have crazy 15 year deals being handed out – every team with the cap space can basically offer the same “league max” deal of 7 years and the maximum salary, and it’s up to the players to go where they want. They can’t all live in New York, which means they start looking at who is up and coming, and that’s us. I scrolled about halfway down the page and was still finding guys that I would love to see on our team. If Alfie retires, Ottawa isn’t going to have any trouble finding a high-end forward to take his place (though no one can take his place).

James

I agree that outside an offer sheet for PK Subban or Michael Del Zotto *uses Canadarm to make appropriate sized hand wanking motion* there’s no one available out there who’d really make the D corps drastically better. An offer sheet seems totally out of the question for the sole reason of what are you realistically going to offer Subban or Del Zotto that MTL or NY wont match? These guys aren’t Shea Weber go-all-in guys. You’d basically just waste time helping another team write the contract for them. I’ve checked that list of UFA’s twice now (RESEARCH). I suppose I wouldn’t think it was a grievous error to toss your Foster or Campoli type guy a 1-year contract bone as, hey, they can play some NHL minutes but Ottawa’s admittedly weak and Cowen-less D keeps bringing me back to one question: Are we rebuilding or are we rebuilding?

This Mike Lundin injury is not like Cowen’s: a broken finger is a few weeks out I’d estimate. He’ll be back in a month probably. I’m not saying he’s the saviour by any means but he’s a signed NHL player is he not? I for one am in favour of giving Borowiecki and Wiercioch a try. Gamble? Definitely. Who the hell is going to flat out guarantee that two guys who’ve played 10 NHL games (which is more than a fifth of the season this year!) wont look out of place? But to me they aren’t the craziest options either. Wiercioch is in his 3^rd year in Bingo and playing great. Borowiecki, or Bonerweicki if you hear Tim Murray talk about him, is also in his 3^rd campaign. He was also an AHL all star last year which is quite an accomplishment when you’re a shut down D man. Paul MacLean said something that mirrors my thinking the other day, that yes, they are inexperienced but everyone has to start their NHL career at some point. Amen Pappy. Given the circumstances, I’ve been looking at it like, “Yeah, the Sens D is a little fucked this year.” It will be interesting to see this play out given that the topic du jour is that Ottawa’s goaltending is the team’s biggest strength. Tenders will be put to the test especially if there’s two Binghamton boys in the mix. If you’ve been following the BSens you know that they have been outshot nearly every game…even when they win.

One plausible and interesting trade idea that Silver Sevens’ Peter Raaymakers (WHO I MET A GUY WHO MET HIM ONCE) brought up with me via an autograph he was faxing me was potentially trading Sergei Gonchar to Evegeniburgh Malkguins for the Right Honourable Paul Martin. Martin’s game would probably be more useful to the Sens this year then Gonchar’s but do the two years he has left on his contract muck up the rebuild once Cowen does come back? Since no one out there improves the D short term I say take the loss and try out some Baby Sens.

I’ve already gone on the record (IMPORTANT) in saying that I don’t think this is a playoff team this year. I’m not going to pretend I know jack shit about this years draft being deep or shallow but a high pick is a high pick and is always a bonus in a rough year in the standings. I expect this team to still be a high scoring team with a porous defence and improved goaltending with Bishop. Could go either way.

To address your point about the UFA list for this summer I think it looks pretty good. I don’t know if I’m quite as happy in the pants about it as you though I am for sure super hyped on Corey Perry being potentially available. The 2014 crop looks really scrumtralecent. According to Capgeek.tv the Senators will have $35, 580, 833 in cap space so my advice would continue being patient and offer Malkin $35, 580, 833* for seven years.

*It’s funny because that’s an actual yearly salary for a player in other sports, in fact this kind of payday WHICH IS PART OF A FUCKING JOKE BY THE WAY, would barely put him in the top 15 highest paid athletes. The more you knowish.

Roundtable of Death: Life Edition

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Varada

Varada

Figure we haven’t done one of these in….nine years? Let’s talk why not?

1) How do you feel about hockey now that it’s back? On a scale of one to ten, one being you’ve sworn hockey off and ten being that you’re so excited that you’re sitting in a Sens jersey (and nothing else) right now counting the minutes until the opening game, how are you feeling?

2) Predictions for the Sens’ season?

3) Breakout player this season / player who’ll find himself in the doghouse at season’s end.

4) What you’re most excited to see.

MINE ANSWORDS:

1) I’m at about a four. This lockout seriously dampened my enthusiasm for hockey, and obviously the NHL in particular. That’s not just the lockout’s fault, it’s a combination of the 67s stinking this year and playing way out in Kanata (anyone watched any 67s games? I’m not so bandwagony that I’ll only watch competitors but MAN is that some stinky hockey. At one point they were outshot 22-6), the AHL not knowing how to capitalize on a lockout and continuing to offer shitty feeds behind pay walls, and international tournaments taking place in Mad Max-like dystopias in the middle of a leper colony in the Prussian Empire. This isn’t helped along by the fact that I realized that when I have 57% of my life back due to no hockey I get to work on other things. I read books. I learned some French. I caught up with friends whose idea of fun doesn’t include going to a bad Irish Pub every two days to spend $75 on beer over a four hour period.

I’ll still catch games on television, but I’m not lining up for tickets, not buying much in the way of merch, not even really interested in nitpicking through every little development (Chris Neil likes chili; what effect will this have on his possession game?). Paradoxically, I will continue to be a part of a hockey blog. Democracy, not meritocracy, ladies and gentlemints.

2) I think we have some regression in store, helped along by the lack of mister 20-minutes-a-night Kuba, Cowen and Lundin’s injuries, Phillips, Gonchar and Alfie all being one year older, Michalek’s shooting percentage coming back down to earth, Karlsson probably not leading all defencemen in scoring by 20 points, and that we pretty much lucked out in not missing Spezza or Michalek or Alfie to injuries that much last year. I don’t think we’ll see a bottoming out, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find us just on the outside of the bubble looking in. I wrote earlier how if there was a year that the Sens were going to go futile on us, it may as well be this one, when I’m used to no hockey and we’d only have to live with about 50 games of sucking. Then again, wackier things have happened in a shortened season. Craig Anderson might just win the Rocket Richard trophy.

3) I feel like Turris is the natural answer to the breakout player question, though I’ve never been a huge champion of the kid and I’m skeptical still. I think he’ll do just fine as a 2nd line center, but breaking out, turning heads, stealing hearts? I dunno. Maybe. I think I’ll go with Jakub Silfverberg, who I think may be a part of the Calder conversation, thus increasing the “Is Jakub the reincarnation of the not-yet-dead-Alfie?’ chatter. As for the player in the doghouse, I’d say either Phillips or Neil, both of whom I think should have moved on a couple of seasons ago during the purge. Phillips is a serviceable second pairing guy, and obviously he’s a veteran with a great history in the city, but at $3MM per I don’t know if having both he and Marc Methot around battling for the not-quite-good-enough-to-play-with-Karlsson spot sets my world on fire. Neil gets a bit of a pass because Carkner and Konoptka are gone and as hockey savant Don Brennan will tell you, you need someone on your team who if he wasn’t playing hockey would probably be in jail. Neil will fight people, so…we need him? Veteran, pump-up guy, history in the city, blah blah blah. But his possession numbers are brutal. He also takes more penalties than he draws, making the whole ‘pest’ element a bit of a wash. I don’t know if I care much for yet another season of Neil scoring, what, 20 points?

Holy shit, I completely forgot that this team signed Peter Regin. He might pleasantly surprise.

4) I’m most excited for the Robin Lehner / Ben Bishop tandem era to start in Ottawa. I love both of these guys so goddamned much, and think they’re destined for a spirited competition for the starting role before Lehner goes crazy once and for all and poisons Bishop’s soup. I love Andy, but I think he gets left behind starting next season, with this season being the start of a saga that will be rivaled only by that part in Game of Thrones where someone brutally murders someone else and then there’s a soft core sex scene.

James

1) I feel pretty good actually. I’ve spent my time in my ‘being bent out of shape about everything’ phase (which if you follow our twitter –whiiiiich according to our number of followers you likely don’t – was admittedly pretty intense for a while) but for the last few weeks I’ve been in a place where I just wanted a definitive answer. It wouldn’t have been all that crushing if there was no hockey as the idea of no season felt quite normal after three months of there being no season. If there was indeed to be hockey, great, because I love NHL hockey and am glad to see that Alfie didn’t have to retire like that.

One thing that was tough to deal with for me was watching Erik Karlsson tear it up in another team’s uniform. It’s been quite some time since Ottawa had a young player who was a force and to see him using those skills on another team (THAT LITERALLY DRESS LIKE CLOWNS) was really irritating for me. Particularly after having had locked him down with a new contract in the off season. Welcome Back To Our Karlsson Years (oh boy, did you miss how awful I am).

If I were to give it an out-of-10 rating I would say I am actually at about a 7 at this point. Probably a 7.5 in two weeks time when the season starts. But like Varada pointed out, I was 10/10 excited pre-lockout and that dulled considerably. Life went on. Now the NHL’s coming back and I’m up for some hockey, why not. My performance expectations are pretty low and I think it will be fun to see how it all plays out for better or worse. I’ll likely be in the cheap seats at the home opener…alone.

2) I predict an entertaining and competitive season that falls just short of a playoff berth. I am not quite as cautiously pessimistic about every element of the team as tends to be convention in these discussions. Last season was educational like that. Sure a lot of things went right but credit where it’s due. Suffice to say, defence has people legitimately pretty worried. People talk about Gonchar like he’s the worst player on the team but will no one give him credit for putting up 37 points in 74 games last season? I get that he makes too much money but he’s been playing and playing well overseas and I think that’s promising. Cowen and Kuba will be missed but I don’t know if a Methot-Karlsson, Phillips-Gonchar top four and a Borowecki – Wiercioch / Benoit / eventually Lundin as bottom pairing will necessarily destroy the team. Methot is clearly the wild card as who is an authority on anything Blue Jackets related. What I see is a Norris winner paired with what’s supposed to be a fast shut down guy, two past their prime but still very serviceable guys and, yes, a green 3^rd pairing but at least it’s the third pairing. Sub standard overall but could potentially get the job done. I could be wrong but remember, as of right now, our divisional rivals in Montreal, Toronto and Buffalo have not improved hence my prediction of competitiveness and entertainment. That said, given the sword of Damocles that is injury, the team’s competitiveness could unravel quickly. There will be little room for error in this short, half assed season and it would be foolish to think that Ottawa’s game will be free of such error. I give Ottawa an up and down, fun to watch 10^thplace in the East finish.

3) Breakout season: NikitaFilatov.com Just………joking. Turris is the logical answer but after putting up 29 points in 49 games with Ottawa combined with his handsome new contract to me Turris done broke out already. He will continue to be a solid top 6 contributor and put up a similar rate of numbers, I think. My true breakout prediction goes to Jakub Silfverberg. Anyone who has witnessed his post-getting used to the North American game majesty in Binghamton knows he looks like a guy playing in a league below his skill level. I don’t expect him to dominate but I think he will crack the top 6, possibly top 3 and stick for the short season. I think if Colin Greening could quietly have a 17 goal rookie season hanging on the first line I am confident that Silfverberg will be able to perform similarly. Unlike Greening though fans will actually notice how impressive that is. A silfver lining (ugh, booooo, me) of the lockout is that Jakub got to adjust his game away from the scrutiny of the Ottawa Sun comment section types and will arrive at camp in a better mindset than if he was just thrown into the pool back in October. I think essentially it’s like Silfverberg has had a 3 month training camp and will hopefully be able to capitalize on that warm up this season. I’m trying to think of what constitutes a break out season in 48 games, hmmm…I guess 9 or 10 goals.

Goat of the year in the Year of the Goat: Have we simply entered an age where Phillips is just basically permanently on the fans’ bad side? Since he signed that deal after a brutal campaign on a brutal team fans seemed to have decided to just hate the guy. Damned if you do damned if you don’t. Like Kuba before him: “Play a good game, go unnoticed, play a bad game and get torn apart.” I predict Big Rig will take on Kubinian amounts of blame this season. He’s not the same guy he used to be but, like Gonchar, in my opinion, he’s not exactly losing the team games but not winning them either. With a weaker D squad look for Philips to be run out of town when the going gets tough. That was basically the case last year and that was on a playoff team.

4) I am excited about two things and they are quite divergent. First, just could not be more excited to see Erik Karlsson play again. Norris win and point avalanche definitely a contributor but not necessarily the sole reason for excitement. With Kuba gone and if Methot indeed pairs with him we should expect a lower rate of production from EK but goddamn do I miss how fun it is to watch that kid skate like the wind and launch bombs from the point. Though I didn’t get to watch him play, his point totals indicate that he didn’t seem to miss a step in Finland and how can you not be pumped to watch the team’s best young player. The second (and admittedly very, very weird) thing I’m excited about seeing is what Guillaume Latendresse is. This guy is a mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in an awful goatee. Case in point, I didn’t even know he spent the vast majority of last season injured (ALREADY EXCITING!!!). I have no idea what to expect. Aside from tearing it up for a while after being traded to Minnesota from the Habs this guy has always seemed to have a rep as a guy with good top 6 potential who couldn’t really put it together. From what I gather, this is his last kick at the can in terms of being re-signed in the NHL. I like the idea of him being in direct competition with Peter Regin who from what I gather is being given his last kick at the can in terms of being re-signed in the NHL. Am I expecting something huge from I already hate spelling his first name Latendresse? No, I am just very interested to see how that story line plays out. Look for him to become a goat if things don’t pan out.

JAMES ON!

Roundtable of Life: Return of the King Edition

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Varada

James:

THANK YOU BIBI *CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP* THANK YOU BIBI *CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP*

C’mon, if we could get that “OOO AH SILFVERBERG!” thing going…

She’s letting Alfie baaaaaaaaack, YEAHP.

Many felt they’d already connected the tea leaves on the wall but the mere facts that Daniel Alfredsson was taking so long without word and that he himself seemed so unsure about a return the whole process was starting to get to me. I must admit though, you kind of knew after all that playoff stick smashery and water bottle squishery that Alfie wuddnt gunna go out like that.

Here we are, August’s eve and The Captain comes through again.

To clarify, what I mean by “comes through” is that I feel the exact same way I did about the pre-rebuild idea of him going to a contender at the deadline; that he owes we subjects of Senatorville absolutely bologna. He has done more then his share and can basically do whatever the frig he wants at this point. On the other side, he is my favourite hockey player ever and I WILL TAKE THIS OUTCOME, SIR.

There are of course other very interesting implications that come with the Return of the King. First and foremost, going into the season, the Sens top six does not rely as heavily on Guillaume Fucking Latendresse being a thing anymore (can you tell he and I are off to a great start? I’m sorry but when you play your way off the Minnesota Wild…Prove me wrong, Gui!) so that’s great. Additionally we get to see more of that more of that Turris/Alfie chemistry that we were all getting super into. The other interesting thing I cant help but think here is, what are realistic expectations for Alfredsson at this point? With the exception of a season WHERE HE COULDN’T FEEL HIS LEG, the guy has given us nothing other than superhuman output in his mid to late thirties. Remember all the smack talk during the Rick Nash sweepstakes about Nash being just around his peak and that it’s all down hill from here on out? Yeah, how about Alfie matching his point output at age 39…in 7 fewer games AND finshed a +18 to Nash’s -19!

“But James”, you’d say, “That’s not fair! Nash was on a terrible team!” And then I’d say, “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t realize the Sens were such an elite team that they were picked to come in last in the East.” OKAY, OKAY, STOP FIGHTING PRETEND YOU AND ME! What I’m trying to say is Daniel Alfredsson is an old man (well, he’s 16 years younger than me but you know what I mean) who can, when healthy, apparently still play like a young top 6 with the instincts of a cagey vet. He scored 27 goals last year but goddamn is it really fair to expect a repeat anywhere near that from a guy who’ll turn 40 in December? What if he’s slowed a step and finds most of his time spent on the third line? Is that insulting to the captain? Do you have to keep him top six out of respect or is he happy to kill penalties at this point?

Judging by that season where Alfie had to shut it down due to injury, even with his speed greatly diminished he is such a clever possession player that he can find different avenues to be an effective part of the team’s offense. I suppose the easy way out is at this point, like mentioned above, Alfredsson sets his own expectations and we chant his name accordingly. What I would LOVELOVELOVELOVE to see this year is someone on the squad, clearly step up and make me less nervous about the season following this one. I don’t care if it’s Peter Regin besting the hell out of his up to now rather unimpressive career stats (look the guy up, not very good for a supposed top six player), Latendresse regaining his previous around 30 points at best touch (uhh, why did we trade Nick Foligno and pick up a guy with injury problems again? Oh yeah, terrible defence, okay), OR one of the cherubs in Binghamton showing that yes, they are developing quite nicely. If Silfverberg makes the team (book it), I will not put the same lofty-ish expectations on an NHL rookie. But should the likes of Greening, Latendresse, Regin, Michalek, etc fail to take the pressure off of Alfie, expect the Captain to try to do it all himself, not to mention the subsequent way too harsh a spotlight that will be placed on young Jakob to be the new team savior should things go south.

Having watched Alfie his whole career its not him I’m worried about. He’s been playing well above his level for quite some time. What I’m worried about is that the time for a lot of the other players vying for a top 6 role playing below their expected level is fast running out.

Varada

We’ll have to wait one more year to see just how unbelievably, scarily important Alfredsson is to this team. Case in point: Alfie had the best CORSI, Relative CORSI, and QOC rating of any Senator over 30 games played last season. At 39 years old. Better than Jason Spezza. Better than Norris winning Erik Karlsson. He can put up points, but it’s his unparalleled play without the puck that makes him an indispensible leader to a team full of rookies. If there’s hope of making the playoffs again this year, Alfie is where that hope starts.

Another amazing thing about him is how productive he’s been compared to other like-aged individuals. Look at Mike Modano’s ridiculous dalliance with Detroit. Mats Sundin looked like a boat anchor in Vancouver. Keith Tckachuk basically retired and then kept playing anyway. It doesn’t seem like a stretch to say that Alfredsson seems like he can produce not only this season, but past it. He probably wants to raise his kids or something, but just sayin’: he hasn’t even hit the play-on-the-fourth-line, be-a-good-guy-in-the-room, ten-minutes-a-night phase of his career. If he produced at this level and was a UFA five years younger he would have been one of the most sought after players in the league this summer. Are you seeing what Shane Doan is asking for?

I want to take this moment to obviously celebrate dude’s ascendency to royalty status, and the fact that if he ran for mayor he’d probably win with 98% of the vote. But can I raise an ugly, if intriguing question? Given that this is absolutely, positively the last season he’ll play, does the team entertain a trade if it’s well out of the playoffs? I mean, we have this discussion every year so feel free to just pour Tang on your keyboard now if you don’t wanna hear it. But considering this is really, really, super-gosh honestly THE LAST YEAR…now does he want to go to a contender and try to win that Cup? If he’s earned the right to do anything, certainly that has to be on the long-list of possibilities.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to another year of chanting Alfie every time the clock reaches 11:11, and of seeing this guy come over the boards during every crucial power play and penalty kill. I have a lot of doubts about next season, but know is that his final NHL game is gonna be a tear jerker.

Roundtable of Death – Draft Edition

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Varada

Varada

I’m torn about the Cody Ceci pick, which is to say that I’m not totally pumped, but I’m on board for now.

Obviously snagging the second highest scoring defenseman in the OHL, who is already man-sized (copyright PJ Harvey) at 6’1, 205 lbs, and was forecast to go in the top ten, is a huge plus. It may actually qualify as a steal. Ottawa didn’t need to give up assets to trade up. They got a hometown boy. All these things are awesome things.

Of my two outstanding doubts, which I guess are healthy to have when we’re talking drafting 18 years olds, the first is outlined in my previous post and expanded on with typical rigor by Tyler Dellow over here. The gist is that defensemen are less likely to become elite than forwards because their development is more difficult to predict, and as such it makes more sense to use valuable first round picks on forwards and more late-round picks on defensemen. Obviously this didn’t bear out this year, with 257 defensemen selected in the first 15 picks.

The second doubt comes from having left skilled Teuvo Teravainen on the board. I have no more detailed analysis than that, only that Teravainen seemed like the most skilled forward left at 15th, and I wonder if it makes sense to use first rounders on forwards. Having said that, Ottawa drafted Karlsson and Cowen with valuable first rounders, and, here’s the latest from the House of Small Sample Sizes: those decisions seem to be working out well.

Other random thoughts: Ottawa drafted not one, but TWO goaltenders, the last of which is from the QMJHL, which James and I were just joking doesn’t produce a lot of great goaltenders, hence the 5th round picks who have scored a point-and-a-half per game in that league. Also Chris Driedger, who I know nothing about but whose numbers look terrible, but hey it’s goaltending. Nobody knows anything. Malcolm Subban got drafted in the first round, fer Chrissake, and I’ve only ever seen that guy allow goals in bunches.

Who else had a tingle to see Filip Forsberg fall to 11th? Would have been incredible to trade up to get him, though without any 2nd round picks that would have been hard to do.

Finally, on the trade front, it seems a lot less likely that Ottawa would be involved for any of the stars on the block – Nash or Ryan – without that 15th overall pick to throw in the package. That’s probably a good thing.

James

First off, I know we just signed our domain name to a lucrative 7 year contract but does anyone want to change the name of the blog to, “I’m Not Totally Pumped But I’m On Board For Now Dot Com”? I just feel that really gives the reader an idea of what it is we do here.

Yeah, I don’t know, all due respect, I’m not ready to buy into this 20 minute old theory of ‘don’t waste your first round pick on a defenseman’ that’s been going around lately. If only because of the Sens last two defensemen taken in the first round. Maybe I’m too hands off with the draft because of the many Wiccan ceremonies that have to be held in order to take someone. I missed the entire first round because the movie Labyrinth was on television which I mistook for the draft. The calculation of the percentage of picks that “work out” (hard to define in and of itself) depends on way too many things that, I feel, do factor in, to name a few: Organizational incompetence (Call it the Calgary Factor), player attitude (Filatov Factor), reaction to pressure/bring rushed to perform (Schenn Factor), ever changing respective team needs/trends (ajghraseb factor) and a liberal sprinkling of some straight up bullshit (Datsyuk Factor…seriously, fuck you Detroit…FUCK. You.). I guess what I’m saying is, I never feel more out of my element than at the draft. Case in point, flash back…

TV: “We have a trade to announce….the Ottawa Senators exchange the sixteenth overall pick for 2009 17^th overall pick David Rundblad of Skelleftea of Elitserien”
Me: “Cooooool…..I have no idea what’s happening” *takes sip of Zima*”

TV: “and the Ottawa Senators take Mika Zibanejad of the SEL…Zibanejad had 9 goals in 27 games for Djurgardens last season”
Me: “Cooooooool….I have no idea if that’s good” *takes sip of Zima*

Not even on TV at this point: “and the Ottawa Senators take Mark Stone of the Brandon Wheat Kings with the 178^th overall pick. He had 106 points in 71 games second only to first overall pick, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins”
Me: Makes sense. *Portal to the lower forth dimension begins to open on my living room floor*

I like stories. I’m saying, I’m totally fine with Cody Ceci. In fact seems like a logical pick. For all the panic going on in the Sensphere about the future of the blueline I can’t be at all mad at the Sens for making a big investment in it this year (as they did drafting King K and …. Count…Cowen…). I’m especially comfortable with the pick considering that Murray n’ Murray took 3 forwards in the first round alone a year ago. I don’t know why Teravainen dropped so many spots. You know what else I don’t know? Very much about him! I figure Ottawa’s scouts do and I wish the Blackhawks nothing but less success than the Senators in future endeavors!

On a personal note, because of his time with the 67s I’ve had the pleasure of watching Cody Ceci really come into his own at the OHL level which is exciting. I have a lot of respect for the OHL game and think it is a great finishing school for young players before they are draft eligible.

As for drafting two goalies, man, Dorion was not bluffing about that, eh? I see this as Ottawa potentially hedging their bets as we are currently seeing in the NHL trend report that goalie is the new puck moving defenseman (i.e. inflated value). One thing I do know is that I’m glad that Ottawa did not take Malcolm Subban. Look, PK Subban is a very engaging, handsome young man and a good hockey player so naturally his brother is a very good goaltender that I’ve never seen play a good game against the 67s. I could eat my words but for now I’m relieved that the Sens didn’t take him.

Final thought: Happiest part of draft weekend. Not trading a bunch of stuff for Rick Nash. Being bummed out at the idea of acquiring Rick Nash is kind of hilarious but I’d rather the Sens just take their time with the Rebuild. I am way more comfortable with a Kyle Turris type move. Young, cheap skill on the upswing of their career.

Varada

Yeah, I totally hear what you’re saying about how the draft is so riddled with exceptions that it can’t make much sense to be disappointed to be picking a top player with a top pick. I guess from a statistical point of view there are a whole bunch of collar-tugging anxieties – how many OHL defensemen have worked out for the Sens? (6th Sens looked at this. Not many.) How many defensemen in the first round turn into regular NHLers? (Not elite, just actual players who contribute at some level. Again, not many.) And so on. But if this team was going to take a defenseman, I’m glad it’s this one. I mean, it’s kept me from having to do a great deal of background reading about, uhhhhh…Jacob Trouba? Or Slater Koekkek, who is also an OHL defenseman, and who Tampa took five spots higher than Ceci.

I’m coming around to the idea of Rick Nash, but like you were saying when we were drinking beers in an art house basement yesterday while waiting for our friend’s experimental film festival to start (actual thing that happened!): let’s get in on this Bobby Ryan action first.

Pete

There was an experimental film festival and I wasn’t invited? You go now!

Jk, arty playboys, I’m so boned with work and moving and junk that getting this reply out is a minor miracle.

Some rando thoughts on the draft. One, the 24 hours sports news cycle puts way more creedence into the draft than it actually merits. Did you know baseball only recently started televising their amateur draft? And by recently I mean this year, on the MLB network. ESPN or Fox Sports Net wouldn’t touch it. Two, the quality of this draft was definitely on the flaccid side of exciting. The few fleeting moments I did watch were frought with analysts trying to spin the dirt off it like a basketball that rolled into a puddle (sports similies, get your sports similies!)

That being said, I was surprised there wasn’t more wheeling and dealing. A defense heavy flavor usually indicates that gm’s decide this is the year they shore up the substance and take fliers on flash with less frequency. You’d think there’d be a propensity for moving picks. Nope, strange.

Now to the sens…uh, this draft really didn’t really register with yours truly, I like the Ceci pick because it plays well in Peoria (uh I mean Nepean) he’s got decent size and can skate so why not throw the loeb cookie club a bone and take the kid. Side note: Missed Ottawa Citizen sports headline opportunity “Finally!” (Cece Peniston ref there for the non gospel crowd) Two forwards in the whole bunch?

Last thought, I feel like someone should get Scott Howson’s office number, call him up asking who he’d like to recieve (regardless of team) in exchange for Nash. While he runs down the Joey Crabb’s and Nick Schultz’s of the league rip a huge fart (fake or real, not picky) into the phone and hang up. Get over yourself Scott, you’re not lacing em up and you’re not winning this deal. Your star has sabotaged any leverage.

(microphone drop, exeunt)

Category Archives: Roundtable of Death

Roundtable of Death: Round Deuce Edition

Round()table of Death: Motherfucking KARLSSON edition

Roundtable of Death: The Passion of the Distaste for Peter Regin

Roundtable of Death: Which pending UFAs should BryMurr bring back? / spending other people’s money

Hey, How Are We Criticizing the Ottawa Senators These Days and Further Can We?

Should Ottawa Make a Play for My Favorite Character on HBO’s Oz?

Roundtable of Death: “We’re Alive! We’re Ali…(gunshot)” edition

Roundtable of Death: Life Edition

Roundtable of Life: Return of the King Edition

Roundtable of Death – Draft Edition

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