James Day Preview: The Heritage Classic Preview

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fonzie JDP

Hey there!

So I’m going to address the elephunk in room right away. Last night’s come from behind win and this morning’s unveiling of the Heritage Classic jersey have overshadowed a much greater concern surrounding the team. I’m speaking of course about Bobby Ryan’s NOW LEGENDARY slow start. Let’s be the seriousness: Despite the team’s struggles it has been so awesome to be reminded of what it’s like to have someone on the team who lights a mup every other game. Like Karlsson before him guy has silencioed his haterz critics with performance. Now’s the part where I have to say this: I sincerely hope the Senators can make him part of their future so I can buy all the Ryan jerseys.
MacArthur / Turris / Ryan 4evR!

Ottawa U So Cray-Zay! 
I’ve been thinking about it and I want to take a minute to clarify some puzzling action that took place last night after some bizarre strategy was employed by Paul MacLean and his boys. Just a theory but I think I’ve figured it out: Instead of using the power play as an opportunity to remain hemmed in their own zone to work on unsuccessful attempts to move the puck through neutral ice, the Senators players fanned out in an umbrella-like formation in the attacking zone and cycled the puck to one another waiting for the most opportune time to shoot.
I know, I know, it sounds crazy but the rapid (successful!) passing forced lateral movement from the opposing defenders slyly taking advantage of the fact that the one of the Capitals’ players was serving a penalty and the team had to play shorthanded for two Earth minutes.
It was an uncomfortable departure from the team’s at this point all too predictable go to play of springing Chris Phillips so he can go one on one with the goaltender and unleash a top shelf blast over the glove hand (can we talk about how nice that goal was?). Unconventional as it was awesome to see creativity lead to success!

Againderson? *Applies for job as Ottawa Sun headline writer* 
In a bit of a confusing move, Paul MacLean has chosen to start Craig Anderson for the second game in as many nights. I mean it worked with Robin Leh–. I don’t know why he is doing this. I didn’t even think Anderson looked particularly good last night despite winning. Our beloved Steven (maker of today’s delightful image – Torts looks like Fonzie!) brought up something telling about Andy’s play before the game started last night. He said, “Let’s see if Anderson can stop the first 10 shots of the game. He never seems to be able to do it.” I think his 3rd goal against was on shot 11. Eep.
I’ve mentioned numerous times in this still young season that falling behind early is not just on the goalie and that the problem is mostly in the defense but Steve makes a great point. Ya gotta stop those first ten shots. I’m going to be keeping track tonight for sure. Play along at home!
Roberto Luongo who is an unpredictable rollercoaster of emotions gets the start for Vancouver. Still, he has 10 wins on the year so, haters to the left I guess? Fun Fact: Luongo boasts the league lead in “Hair I’d least like to touch.”

A Brief Note on Erik Karlsson: 

Look how beautiful the pass is too. That’s how he do even when a 230 pound dude is about to collide with him. Special Little Guy.

Jared Cowen Slipped on Some Butterscotch and Fell into the Pressbox
After finally getting around to reading letters, emails and tweets from fans Paul MacLean has decided to healthy scratch Jared Cowen for the first time this season. He is also taking out frequent scratch Patrick Wiercioch. I thought  Wiercioch was alright last night personally but never the less one game does not excuse the message here. At the start of the year, after each of them signed a new multi year deal. Jared and Patrick were supposed to be the team’s second line pair. So far they’ve seen many partners in attempts to get them going and now they will be partnered up in the press box.
Like goaltenders, good defenders take time to develop and both of these guys are very young. They share less than 200 NHL games of experience between the two of them. Still though, frustration with Cowen has been pretty understandable. It’s tough to watch a 6 foot 5 defenseman get bossed around almost nightly. Especially when you add the weight of a new 4 year deal he sat out to get that pays him more than both Marc Methot and Chris Phillips oh and his top 10 draft pedigree. Personally I don’t expect Cowen to turn it around overnight, in fact, I don’t know what to expect period from him right now. One thing I do know is that the Coach has been perplexing in his patience with Cowen and that patience has finally run out. Eric Gryba and Mark Borowiecki (who, if you ask me….ASK ME! has been out-Cowening Cowen since his call up) draw in.

Remember that whole Fortress Scotiabank thing last year?
Yeah, a huge reason the Sens made the post season was because of how hard they were to beat at home. With a pathetic 4 wins on home ice so far this season, Ottawa needs to start learning to win in Ottawa…Also, y’know, could be a good way to boost ticket sales. Tonight would be a pretty cool time to start taking back the Tire (sorry).
As November draws to a close, looking ahead to December 11 of the team’s 15 games will be played at the Tires.com Arena. That’s a make or break schedule. If they can’t take the lion’s share of those games it wont matter if the team doesn’t make the playoffs because they wont deserve to be there anyway.
The fact that they played last night is no excuse for not taking this one. I mean it hasn’t stopped a lot of teams from beating us this season. Skilled as Vancouver tends to be this is a team that has won only one regulation game in the past two weeks. I would typically never describe an Ottawa-Vancouver game as totally winnable but you guys this game is totally winnable.

Get into it: 

James Day Preview: The Capital Gains Classic

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Sun Media JDP

Welcome!

Can you believe this rain today! Holy macaroni art! MOVING! ON!

Ladies, this team is CONFUSING! Am. I. Rite. Ladies?
Uhhhhhhhhhhh…I guess Ottawa has a good chance at winning this one because Washington is pretty good? There’s been precious little in the way of a pattern emerging on the season though I guess it could be argued that the Sens have tended to bring it a little harder against quality opponents.
Down side: Getting fed by teams like the frigging Hurricanes.
Tonight projects to be a Showdown at the .500ish Coral with two teams that have no problem putting the puck in the net and I’m just going to assume the Caps D also stinks ( iGRACIAS POR LEER!) and relies on a hot goaltender to keep their heads above water.
Luckily for the Senators Paul MacLean will allow Spezza to play with Zibanejad and Michalek on his wings for another game. With a little time I think this trio can start racking up some points and we could actually have TWO lines! No promises! Just glad to see the captain get a little time with linemates. Comes the games, comes the chemistry!
Oh good Alexander Ovechkin is on pace for 73 goals. Key to victoriousness: Cover him.
World’s greatest Sex Machine Clarke MacArthur has 5 points in his last 4 games and has climbed into the team’s top 5 in points. Man, if he can start getting goals on the regular? Dayum! I know it’s been a weird season so far but there’s some stuff you have to love about this team. The MacArthur – Turris – Ryan line.

A Thought on Defense
Uh oh…really painted myself into a corner with that heading…mmmmm….uhh…thought…thouuuuught….c’mon James…Oh, I know:

Tonight’s Starting Goaltenderrrr: EMOTIONS! 
Craig Anderson will square off tonight against anti fighting advocate Braden Holtby. Paul MacLean is trying to avoid a goaltending controversy by continuously deferring to Andy,  which I get, but it is starting to get kind of weird because of the team’s overall performance and constant back to backs he is switching back and forth between his two netminders every other game. One thing is clear, the team’s gotta play better in front of Anderson. This isn’t to let Andy off the hook either, he’s gotta play better behind the team too.
I hate to say it but I feel like the team doesn’t trust Anderson as much as Lehner right now. Or maybe Andy can’t save the team’s bacon as consistently as Lehnny. Regardless, we’ve been over how the lack of defense is what is killing any momentum surrounding the team. As such, for Ottawa to have a chance of winning the goaltender pretty much has to allow the team to get away with some complete bullshit.
No better example of what’s been going wrong than Heatley’s goal (his league leading 4th of the season) in the last game Anderson played against the Wild. Karlsson weak as a newborn chinchilla on the play but hot mess that does not excuse Andy from letting the puck trickle through the wickets slower than Heater backchecks. Defense falters, goaltender falters, Back status: Broken. Unrealistically good goaltending saved Ottawa’s season last year. Feels ridiculous to say it but they need a good stretch of it to get this thing back on track.

HEYYYYYYYY Colin Greening as Zero Points in 18 Games Which Is Funny Because That’s The Exact Amount of Games It Took Mike Hoffman To Score 24 Points. 
As a fan of Erik Condra, I know full well that a player’s value isn’t necessarily predicated on the amount of points they score or even hitting wide open nets. I still feel it also important to note, however, that THERE IS SOME VALUE BASED ON HOW MANY POINTS YOU SCORE.
Fresh off a new contract, guy is about to go a quarter season without a point. OOF. Speaking of value I know Murray’s been shopping Greening and likely doesn’t want him in the pressbox but goddamn in Milburyless world it’s not like you can hide a player behind stats that bad. It’s frustrating as a fan to know that there is a guy who is clearly Sriracha hot right now AND plays the same position just sitting there in the minors. It’s not like Greening is a top six player (at least not this game) give a guy who’s tearing up the AHL a chance and let CG check it out from upstairs. I don’t know, I’m just a garbage man from Garbage Island, I don’t know garbage about garbage. Now go out there Colin Greening and HAVE SOME FUN! HAHAHAAAA…fun…..but seriously score a fucking goal.

Knews and Knotes: 
Mark Borowiecki has been practicing but will sit out tonight’s game after receiving the dirtiest hit I’ve seen this season from SUPERSTAR winger and Olympic hopeful, Kevin Westgarth (0G, 0A).
Counting the game he was knocked out of, should Borowiecki miss an additional game he will miss more time than Westgarth will on his two game suspension.
I know it’s old hat to talk about this stuff but this league needs to seriously step it up suspension wise before someone gets paralyzed or worse. It’s not because Boro plays for Ottawa either. It could have been Claude Lemieux of all people getting hit and I’d feel the same way. There’s no place for a hit like that and everyone knows it. It’s not going to change the game for the worse to make players think twice about hitting a guy in such a vulnerable spot. LET’S PUT OUR GOOD CANADIAN BOYS AT RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY BECAUSE JUST WIN BABY. PLAYERS KNOW WHEN THEY STEP ON THE ICE THAT THEY’LL BE CHECKED HEAD AND NECK FIRST INTO THE BOARDS WHEN THEY ARE ON ALL FOURS AND EVERYTHINK LIKE THAT LET’S GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Two games does not send enough of a message. Get well soon, Borocop.

ENJOY THE GAME! 

Taking a look at the new Rogers broadcast deal

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This is an Ottawa Senators fan blog, so we usually stay away from league-wide business developments (unless it’s a lockout and there’s nothing else to write about). But this seems too important to me, and that it will affect Ottawa, along with every other market in the league.

If you haven’t read about it, here’s the story: The NHL and Rogers reached a 12-year broadcast deal worth $5.2 billion that gives Rogers, under their Sportsnet suite of channels, exclusive national rights to all NHL broadcasts, across all platforms. Rogers will sublicense out some Saturday night games to CBC so they can continue their iconic Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts.

My initial gut reaction is that TSN has set the standard for hockey broadcasting in Canada, and it’s a shame to see them rewarded for all their hard work by being frozen out of the hockey picture altogether. I would argue that hockey is the commodity it is in Canada, in part, because of TSN’s effective campaigns to amp up and market international tournaments, league-wide events like trade deadline day and the free agent ‘frenzy,’ and just the general excellent of their broadcasts. Sportsnet’s quality, in my mind, has been lower.

And more importantly, without competition from TSN, it’s hard to see how Sportsnet has any incentive to improve their product now. CBC has always seemed like the fuddy duddy of the bunch, running embarrassing sketches with Don Cherry dressed as the Phantom of the Opera and giving airtime to brute personalities over respected analysts (Elliotte Friedman being the exception), so they probably won’t be the ones driving Sportsnet to new heights. If anything, the low quality broadcasts of Sportsnet will stagnate over time as Rogers tries to control costs and maximize profit on this massive, up-front investment. (In fact, they pay $150 million up front in the deal.)

While this sucks for TSN, and the consumer, I think the bigger story is the consolidation of media services under one umbrella. Rogers now owns a massive chunk of the television and telecom infrastructure and contracts in Canada, is part owner of the Leafs, and has exclusive broadcast rights for hockey. Those who follow media and telecom in Canada will tell you that when the distributors of content also own the content, that’s usually bad news for consumers, who end up paying more for less choice.

I can see the appeal for the league and, frankly, the short term appeal for a poor team like Ottawa. They get a massive infusion of cash to be shared among the league’s teams (hopefully Melnyk doesn’t have to sell any more of his prize horses now), and they partner with a provider who is ideally situated to deliver their content across an array of devices. People are increasingly watching media wherever they are, on tablets and phones as well as televisions. Rogers is in the position to provide those services. Bell, who owns TSN, must have made a less compelling case. Really, the writing should have been on the wall as soon as Rogers became part owner of the Leafs (along with Bell) that market consolidation was coming, and we’d all have to sign lifetime deals with either Rogers or Bell to keep watching hockey. This is good for the league, even if that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for the fans. Make no mistake, this is unprecedented centralization in the Canadian market, and less competition has always meant higher prices and less choice.

I’m hoping that Rogers proves me wrong, but then I’ve been an off-and-on Rogers customer for years – purely because of lack of choice – and they’ve let me down countless times before. We could see more specialty channels requiring additional payments to watch games in your market; additional charges for access across devices; obligations to sign contracts to gain access to the content you want; and a whole lot more Leafs.

I won’t turn this into a blog complaining about the telcos because we’ll be here all day, but Canada has tried to diversify its media and telecom landscape for decades – and it just got that much smaller. I’ll miss TSN, but more than that, I’ll miss a stable of quality broadcasters driving each other to deliver better quality broadcasts, more original content, and better access.

A Prescription for the Next 58 Games

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I think it goes without saying that this year’s version of the Ottawa Senators is an infuriatingly inconsistent mess. As of today, their playoff probability sits a smidge over 25%. With absolutely everyone in their conference outside of Florida and Buffalo capable of playing at least .500 hockey, Ottawa needs to go 31-21-6 to have even odds of making the post-season. Bryan Murray is faced with some tough decisions. With that in mind, and knowing that he reads this blog religiously, I’ve come up with a plan to fix the Ottawa Senators.

1: Accept your situation

The Ottawa Senators can’t be fixed. Thanks for reading!

Seriously though, this season is just about in the bucket. While it’s possible that they can play at a better than .500 rate for large stretches of the season, they’ll need to play that way consistently, and have Montreal, Detroit, and/or Tampa falter significantly. It’s possible, given that Detroit has looked inconsistent (and almost missed the playoffs last year), Tampa is missing Stamkos and is due for some regression as they’re eighth in the league in PDO (luck), and Montreal is ninth in that regard and barely a bubble team. Ottawa’s own PDO is average (almost exactly 1000, or 15th in the league), so it’s possible that they could take a run. But we should recognize and acknowledge how tough of a spot we’re in at the moment, and set a date at which it’s time to make the painful but necessary moves for the future.

Having said that…

2: Don’t read too much into a lost season

There will be plenty of people who don’t watch a whole lot of Senators hockey but who are expected to produce thousands and thousands of words about the league. They will survey the standings, look at the lineup, and make a pronouncement about the state and direction of the franchise that is largely disconnected from reality. None will use trend analysis, or even drill down to individual players. For example, I don’t know how many non-Sens writers I currently see attributing the team’s poor start to losing Alfredsson (currently hurt) and Gonchar (currently terrible). These same people picked Ottawa to finish dead last the year after they finished fifth last, and who picked Ottawa to be a dark horse contender this year. Don’t trust polemics. This team needs minor adjustments at best. There’s a big difference between accepting a lost season and blowing it up.

3: Hand leadership over to the young core

Taking the As from Phillips and Neil doesn’t have to be a disgrace. It can be a symbolic gesture about the future and direction of this team. Ottawa is filled with players on very affordable deals. For a poor team like Ottawa, it needs to have these guys outperforming their contracts. Having your team living and dying for the crest, which is what happened for most of last year, is the only way to get value and performance out of this motley crew. Karlsson is an obvious candidate, given he’s on the ice for half the damn game anyway. Handing the other A over to a young player you hope will start to play better, like Colin Greening, is a cheap and easy thing to do, and not much of a stretch given his character role. The team can be anything the young players want it to be, but they need to lead to make it so.

In any case, it can’t be much worse than having take-way-more-penalties-than-I-draw / lord-of-the-offside Chris Neil as your role model. What, is Neil going to stop playing the way he plays if you take away his A? If he did, what would he have left to offer?

4: There’s not as much dead weight as you think

Outside of Milan Michalek, who isn’t playing anywhere close to the value of his $6MM base salary, or Chris Neil, who is just annoying, most of the players are on affordable deals, or their shortcomings are more than made up for in other areas. (Spezza is a -8, but almost a point-per-game player, yet again.) While the temptation might be there to make a deal, I’d hesitate to part with anyone like Cowen, Phillips, Greening, or Concacher, who have shown flashes of what they can do, and the financial risk of keeping them is low. This team’s survival is based entirely on achieving value. To that end, I’d much rather have Chris Phillips on an even cheaper deal than he’s on now than the 2nd round pick in a weak draft that we could get for him at the deadline.

5: Figure out your own barn

Ottawa’s home record is especially bad at 4-6-2, and could be due for an uptick. Ottawa plays 11 of its 16 December games at home. If Ottawa is not at least a game or two over .500 by Christmas, it should seriously consider building for next year. If there’s going to be a turnaround, it has to take place in the intimidating and spectacular farmer’s fields of Kanata.

When you think about it, so much of the Senators’ problems are tied up in their play at Canadian Tire Centre. They play terribly, ticket sales slow, management can’t put money into the roster…I know it doesn’t happen quite so quickly, but winning a couple of those friggin’ afternoon games would go a long way towards selling hope to the fans. Also: when given the opportunity to play the Edmonton Oilers at home, those are two points you have to take.

6a: Build a compelling case for 2015’s free agents

If Ottawa bombs out this year, even without its first round pick, it’s not the end of the world. They’ll bring back a young core of Karlsson, Turris, Zibanejad, Lehner, and Cowen, and their star players are around for another year. The year after that, however, has apocalyptic potential—full rebuild potential. We could lose Spezza, Ryan, MacArthur, Methot, and Anderson. Say what you will about their performance this year, but there aren’t many teams who can lose three top six forwards, a top four defenseman, and a veteran starting goaltender and not take a big step back. We don’t have the depth on the farm to replace those guys, and they aren’t in the free agent pool.

To get these guys re-signed means communicating early and often that whatever struggles the team is encountering now are temporary, and when next year rolls around the team will be ready to make changes, spend money on free agents, and be aggressive when it comes to winning. If I have one takeaway from watching a lot of terrible Senators hockey this year, it’s that this team would be even less fun to watch without Bobby Ryan.

6b: Or, actually, a little bit of extended rebuilding wouldn’t be all that bad either

This is what I would imagine to be an unpopular alternative to re-signing all of our best players and magically getting good again. We could accept our young core as the future, let all or most of our stars walk, pick up another potential superstar in the draft, and try to re-open the window of contention in 2016. Karlsson is signed through 2019 (sucker), Zibanejad is starting to come into his own at only 20 years old and will be firmly in his prime by then, and Lehner is the real deal. Add to that a Connor McDavid (a guy can dream, can’t he?) and some key free agent signings, and perhaps Ottawa is in a better spot than it would be in its current incarnation as a bubble team that hopes to go on a streak in the playoffs.

7: Decide what kind of team this is supposed to be

And I don’t mean “hard working” or “pesky.” Yes, you should try to score goals when you’re down late in the game. Yes, you should outwork your opponents. This is a strategy adhered to by every single team in the NHL (except maybe Florida). But is this the up tempo puck possession team we’ve all been conditioned to think it is? If so, why is our only other puck moving defensemen outside of Karlsson the unstoppable Wiercioch / Corvo ensemble? For the former  there is no evidence of being a capable top four defender, and the latter is a seventh defenseman making less than a million per. On the other hand, if this is a defensively staunch team, as the numbers implied last year, then why were they so heavily outshot and having to depend on Craig Anderson’s career season?

Ottawa has a lot of well-rounded utility guys in the lineup, but they aren’t particularly good at any one aspect of the game. You don’t have to be one or the other, but it helps to know where on the spectrum of risk and playing style you fall.

8: Whatever you decide to do, let the fans in on it

Uncertainty breeds fatigue. It’s not the team’s fault that there are several media outlets and about 2000 blogs covering every move the Sens make in breathless fashion, but it certainly gets exhausting to read about the daily ins and outs of a mediocre hockey club. What gets people on board is a vision for the future. Are we going for it in 2014? Are we continuing our rebuild? Is the team broke or what, and if it is, what are the plans to remedy that? When Bryan Murray retires I imagine there’ll be plenty of speculation about the direction of the franchise, and this can be a healthy discussion.

More than anything, I think that people like to follow a good story. Years of being a bubble team doesn’t have any sense of forward momentum, of progress. Give us something to look forward to.

Round Table of Death: Good Times? Great Times Edition.

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Photo of the Sens taken in the third period

Photo of the Sens taken in the third period

James:
Hi Varada, how’s goi– let’s cut to the chase here:I love the Ottawa Senators, you love the Ottawa Senators…something seems kinda wrong with the Senators! Let’s make Coach and General Manager masks using these popsicle sticks, this construction paper, paste and left handed scissors. Try not to cut yourself with the scissors! It’s still only November!  Follow along at home!
Question: Do you think we should see see Cody Cheechee? 
JAMES SAYS: 
There continues to be a lot of talk about the need for / possibility of Murray making a trade. I don’t know about you Eddy, but I’m not confident that Murray can make some kind of miracle swap in mid-ish November. Who knows maybe he can pull off another Foligno for Methot home run but prices will be high right now and if it means sacrificing more prospects I think that’s a bit short sighted for a team that despite being pretty bad most nights is still on the bubble of 8th in the East.
With Ottawa’s transition game in a shit state, Wiercioch and Corvo battling for the high score for Plants vs. Zombies 2 instead of a roster spot and J. Cowen….frankly starting to look like our own Luke Schenn, maybe the right move is to call up Ceci even for a cup of coffee.
Given the way Luke Richardson has been talking about him and his mouth watering (sorry, disgusting) 13 points in 15 games, I wonder if given a brief call up with sheltered minutes if Ceci can’t provide a bit of a spark. Clearly Wiercioch and Corvo are leaving all the transition and PP work to Karlsson maybe easy minutes could provide a bit of spark and remind Wiercioch in particular that there are other guys hunting to take his place. What do you think?

VARADA SAYS:

I’m not necessarily against giving Ceci a few games for the sake of his development, but I don’t think he’s going to be a solution for Ottawa. Weak, puck moving defensemen we have a few of.
You know, after the way the team lost last night — that Heatley goal…*throws up in bag of Wonderbread* — and then the way they just let Koivu walk in through four defenders, I really expected MacLean to light the team up in his post-game presser. But he had positive things to say, and I don’t think he’s wrong. Weird things happen over the course of a season. Sometimes you get massively outshot and your goaltender steals the game. Sometimes, as in last night, you outshoot and outchance the opponent but you don’t bury your chances. If you look at the aggregate, Ottawa is getting better in some places, and worse in others. The places where they’re getting worse — the penalty kill, Anderson’s goaltending — are not going to be fixed by Ceci.
Having said that, I completely agree that there is no magic trade waiting to happen. You need to 1) find a team who is also looking to trade, 2) has something useful to give you, 3) is asking a reasonable price, and 4) doesn’t want you to take on money. Looking at Capgeek I see….hmmm….nobody. Somebody the Florida Panthers have scratched five games in a row? Sign me up!
I am losing patience though. Concacher, Spezza and Michalek are not producing at all, the entire bottom six is friggin’ invisible most nights (remember Colin Greening? RIP) and Anderson didn’t regress to league average. He regressed to the league bottom.
Mostly I just don’t understand the mental state of this team. They fight back to tie the game last night, have the puck in the attacking zone, and then make a soft play, give the puck away, and stand aside to be scored on with a couple of minutes left. Where’s the urgency? I hate to say it, but it seems to be a coaching issue more than anything.

Next Question: What’s the long game here?

VARADA SAYS:
I think we need to be the most concerned about next season. Yes, this team has some young debt. It can build around Karlsson, Turris, Zibanejad, Lehner, I guess you have to say Cowen even though he’s terrible, ditto Concacher, ditto Wiercioch, and maybe you’ve got Ceci and Puempel coming up pretty soon. But with potential to lose Michalek, Spezza, Ryan, Methot, Anderson, Phillips, and MacArthur all in the next two seasons…welp, Ottawa doesn’t have that kind of depth.

When players are asked what they look for in a potential destination, they overwhelming say they want to go somewhere where they can win. And for that the team needs to be a little bit more aggressive, and usually that means with its money. Looking out beyond 2014, where do you see this team heading? Are you concerned about a mass exodus? Do you think this team can establish itself as a competitive presence in the next two years?
JAMES SAYS: 
I think you might be being a bit grim on the “potential to lose Michalek, Spezza, Ryan, Methot, Anderson, Phillips, and MacArthur” thing. I, for starters I would be completely fine with losing almost half those guys without even thinking about it. Good luck in future whatevers: Michalek, Anderson and Phillips. Now Spezza I’m actually on the fence about right now because: Emotions. If he at age 32 had been playing like he’s been playing so far this season over those two years and demanded more than his current $7MM? That would actually be a hard signing for any organization to justify I think. Too early to call how that one’s going to play out. 


Anderson I wouldn’t necessarily welcome losing but push came to shove I’m totally willing to hang onto Lehner if the organization had to choose. Like you said, you gotta build around him not Anderson. 

Phillips I am worried the organization wont have the guts to let go of but I don’t even want to see what that guy’s play will look like in a year or two. C’mon bro I was at Big Rig on the weekend and it was PAAAAAACKED, please become a restaurateur or consultant or something for the good of the team. 

Michalek is a good player but at this point he makes me feel like A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOOD PLAYERS and we could have what he brings for much cheaper. I mean let’s face it the guy has been getting 3rd line time this season. That is not a 6MM dollar player. Its a no brainer to let him go. That doesn’t solve the hole in the top 6 but neither does Milo. Happy trails. 

Marc Methot WHO MAKES LESS THAN JARED COWEN BY THE FUCKING WAY, is due for a raise but from a source who’s close to him … I’m actually not joking about that, he apparently has no plans of leaving Ottawa and wants to stay for the long haul. So, whatever that’s worth, maybe he will take somewhat of a cap friendly deal? 

Hopefully the organization is smart and actually hangs on to MacArthur unlike pretty much every other team he’s played for. His contract is so hilariously reasonable that I just wish they’d have given him more term in the first place. 

The biggest thing for me is keeping Ryan in the fold. I know we’ve only had him for a sprinkle over a quarter season but damn. He’s a keeper. Plus we don’t have a forward close to his caliber being developed. You have to buy these tyoe of players most of the time. Lord have mercy with this constant Philadelphia  Flyers connection stuff. He’s still ours for another year goddamn it! I’m holding out hope that the Flyers are too much of a cap nightmare to obtain him. Someone needs to convince Melnyk to put Bobby Ryan on his credit card or something because I think what he’ll do for the team is worth the money. 
Losing Michalek, Anderson, Corvo and Praise Be To Jah, Lion of Judah, for He makes all things Possible, Chris Philliips, that’s what, 12 Million dollars in savings right there?Hopefully playing on such an amazing line with Turris and MacAurthur, with Erik Karlsson, who despite criticism is still clipping along at a point per game, moving the puck to him and (please) improved overall team play will be enough to keep Ryan around.
 As for Spezza sucking up the budget, again, that one is a toss up. Maybe he might have to make that right of passage as an Ottawa Senators captain must: and make a team-friendly deal lest ye be banished to a better team 😉
Terrifying potential Curveball: Kyle Turris, who incidentally has become the team’s no.1 centre and may very well continue to be, realizes he’s become the lowest paid top line pivot in the league and wants to renegotiate his contract. RUH ROWWWWW. This is why I only like to be pretend GM!

DAT VARADA THO: 
I mean, the scary thing is that all of these contracts are interconnected. If one of these bigger pending free agents decides to bolt (and don’t even act like it won’t be to A) the Rangers, or B) Philly, because hockey players just can’t fucking help themselves. They all want to be rich 20-somethings in a big American city), and the team doesn’t indicate that it will replace, perhaps even BUILD with that cap space, well then they might also decide to go. I don’t think any of these players are particularly easy to replace, especially on the free market. We’ve been pretty lucky to have internal options of late. I don’t know what happens when we don’t anymore.

Anyway, this team still has the horses to turn it around, and I think they’re only a piece or two away from moving from a bubble team to making some actual noise. I do think the team is trying to trade Anderson – there are a lot of scouts at each of their games, and they’ve been playing Anderson an awful lot even though Lehner is pretty clearly the better goaltender, at least at the moment. Between Anderson and Michalek, they have some intriguing assets to unload, though again, I can’t imagine who has the money and the cap space.
BUT, BUT, BUT JAMES THO: 
Well, speaking of interconnectedness, what I’m afraid of is all these little, bad and hard to trade contracts (Greening, Cowen, Greening, Wiercioch, Greening, Greening, Greening,) adding up to prevent a good big contract (Ryan) from getting done down the road. My admittedly wide eyed hope is that the current budget’s purpose is for saving up for two years from now. Surely Murray has started calculating for this…aaaand surely Melnyk does not remember this conversation if it happened. As for the big city thing, definitely a lot of players want that but the cap has changed whether or not it’s possible to sign whoever to a degree thank god. Remember when you could literally trade players for money? Also, I think in a way we’re fortunate to like a league made up of quiet country boys who kind of don’t give a fuck. This is why the issue of ‘what Bobby Ryan wants’ is a mystery to me. He has those Philly connections but also, literally lives in the middle of a field in Idaho in the off season. Like you said, getting back on track and building a winner is what’s key. People love the beach and Miami’s a really cool spot but i don’t see any quality players running toward Florida right now.

Pains day preview: the Ottawa James’ Out of Office Message vs Minnesota North Chuds

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Dear readers I have some bad news.  James did not show up to the WTYKY office this morning.  Apparently he has gone on an emotional walkabout to sort out his feelings concerning the Senators’ performance of late in an attempt to turn his trepidation into #fearless(ness) #pesky(ness) fuel that he can use to light our hearts’ brains every game day. (except on weekends) Please wish James (@wtyky) a speedy enlightening or perhaps submit ideas for the WTYKY power animal to perhaps avoid future crisis’ of vision.

Target Time

Writing is not my thing.  I make pictures (tries to insert joke, sprains ankle), but I will say this.  I generally don’t like these hyptastic revenge matches especially when it’s in the spirit of avenging a teammate’s injury.  “Why’s that Steve(n)?  Is it Steve or Steven?  I don’t know, he doesn’t write much.”  Well because these games tend to trend towards the dumbest penalties in the planetarium category rather than the goalapalooza dinner and buffet happy hour (steals James’ bit: CHECK).  However, given Ottawa’s recent run of play, if revenge on the C.H.U.D. collective of Ottawa’s recent history inspires the Sens to get the bats going, SO BE IT.  Granted one is a past-his-prime $3.8 million per point pylon and the other is potentially career ending piece of human garbage (emotional).  I think that the Sens should let the fans dish out the hate and emotion and in return they can turn this team inside out.

Keys to success TOUGH LOVE EDITION:

1) pretend like you paid attention to the X’s and O’s instead of posting fake Jim O’Brien tweets.

2) play like a team that deserves to win from the puck drop, not after going down two goals in the first, feeling sorry for yourself in the second and finally getting it together in the third to tie it and lose in the shootout.

3) Anderson has to stop the first ten shots

Also James left this on his desk

scan0001

Enjoy the game everyone.  I miss you James

Fourteen consecutive games (Ed note: if by consecutive you mean not in a row)

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That’s how many games in a row Ottawa has given up the first goal. (Ed note: I got this stat from TSN’s game notes, but they scored first against the Panthers a few games ago. If I’ve learned anything from Rob Ford, you apologize and move on without actually changing anything, no matter how big the mistake.)

Let that sink in. Remind yourself that they’ve only played 21 games in the season, which means almost 70% of the time Ottawa will allow the first goal. That in itself is pretty disparaging, and also makes for less than entertaining hockey. But doing it 14 times in a row is…wow. Just wow. It’s almost an accomplishment. You’d have to try to do that. You’d think a shot would accidentally go in first at some point.

And for it to not really be the fault of goaltending is what makes this problem particularly infuriating. The team’s penalty kill will be good…until it isn’t anymore. (It’s down to 20th in the league after a short stint of being the best.) Their goaltending will be good overall…but the team will still be scored on in the first couple minutes of a game. The team will dominate the cycle…and then dump the puck back into their own end. Their defensive coverage will go from keyed in to completely out-of-synch in the course of a single shift. It’s absolutely dumbfounding to watch.

I’m not calling for the coach or GM’s head or anything, but you have to think this is either a system problem, or that Murray simply hasn’t given MacLean the horses to run an up-tempo puck possession team. Wiercioch and Cowen clearly haven’t worked out as planned. Karlsson can’t do it all. The team is just constantly pinned in their own end.

In any case, the team’s playoff probability went from about 60% two games ago, thanks in part to Montreal and Detroit also struggling, to 35% now. These things turn around quickly, but as James said in his last JDP: Ottawa is going to want these losses at home to Columbus and Edmonton back in the spring when they’re four points out of a wild card spot and have to play the Blackhawks and the Penguins.

We’re only a quarter of the way into the season, and I feel as if Murray has a move to shake this team up pending, but as has been mentioned on plenty of other blogs, the team is getting above average goaltending and has a good shooting percentage. If either of those stats regress even a little bit, this isn’t going to be a team trying to keep its head above water. It will be a team trying to stay out of the bottom five in a year when it doesn’t even have its first round pick. It’s already 10th last in the league.

It’s not as if Murray doesn’t have a few choices. Michalek and Phillips are on expiring deals (though the latter has a NMC until Jan. 1, after which he can pick 10 teams to which he cannot be traded). Conacher has been disappointing, though if he was traded now it would be selling pretty low on a player who at this time last year was being talked about as a dark horse Calder candidate. And of course we keep hearing about Anderson being on the block, though I can’t imagine anyone giving up what the Sens need for an underperforming goaltender at a time when there are still free agent goalies sitting around playing NHL 14.

All of this to say that the team is damned lucky to be sitting at 8-9-4 through this point of the year. They’re a short winning streak and a moribund Montreal stretch away from being back in the picture. But there’s something really disturbing about that 14 game streak. It says everything you need to know about this year’s Ottawa Senators. If last year they were pesky, this year they’ve become very, very accommodating.

James Day Preview: Ottawa Lehnators Visit The Blerg Street Bullshitties

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JDP ott vs phillie

WELCOME 2 ALL  that haven’t given up on the team!

Coming off another shart of an effort against the POWERHOUSE Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa heads off to the friendly confines of whatever soulless name of the arena the Flyers play in is…I’m going to guess…mmm.. Tushies.com Wet Wipes Centre.
As I’ve brought up before, the vibe surrounding the team is…grim.

When the NHL schedule was released and I saw that the Sens would start the majority of October not only on the road but on a Western swing I thought it was weird but that it could be worse. I don’t know if you noticed but Ottawa tends to do terribly on these trips.
I figured, “Might as well get it out of the way, work some kinks out away from home.” Well, much of the trip was admittedly ugly and it was under far more scrutiny than usual as they were the first games of this much anticipated season but I thought returning with a .500 record was actually likely a better result than they’d typically come back with.
When the team returned to the Acadian Tires Arena, I looked ahead on the schedule to see what games I might get tickets to and was alarmed to find out that the Senators would have matinee games every weekend they were home in November and well into December. “But James,” you might rudely cut in, “Aren’t a lot of those games against bottom feeder teams?”
Well, first off do not look me in the eyes..EVER, Secondly you are forbidden from addressing me by my Government Name and third, it doesn’t matter if the team is bad, Dear Reader, as, if you thought the Senators are bad on Western road trips you should see them play a matinee game. Am I making excuses? No. These are home games against a bunch of Tomato Can opponents, you have to win those! How you gonna tell me the goddamn Edmonton Oilers are going to travel here and play in the afternoon and steal away a win? The Stars too? Now the BJs? Terrible.
In my view, Ottawa has sharted away 3 of the 6 easier points in November that they will likely want in the Spring time. The loss to the Blue Jackets really punctuated their blown opportunities this season.
Tonight is no exception as an opportunity for victory as Ottawa faces off against the mindbendingly disappointing Philadelphia Flyers. Seriously, you think Ottawa is disappointing you? I can still catch myself talking about the Sens run to the cup final like it wasn’t the same year Celine Dion released her LEGENDARY album Taking Chances (Translation: it was a WHILE ago!). Look at these fucking guys they made the final just 3 seasons ago and in since time have:
– Released a handful of goalies (BTW one of whom is the reining Vezina winner, another merely won the Stanley Cup AND Jennings but at least they only have to pay Ilya Bryzgalov until the year 2020 for less than 100 games of service!),
-Have fired their coach
-Lost their Captain to career ending injury
– Replaced their captain with an exciting young player who is tied for scoring with Mark Borowiecki
– Made idiotic trades (James Van Riemsdyk for Magic Beans Luke Schenn)
– Seen top end prospects flop around (Sean Couturier 0G, 4A in in 19 games)
– Made some clumsy looking FA signings to supposedly core players (I’m looking at you offensive powerhouse Mark Streit – 0 goals, 6 assists AKA Chris Phillips stat line – but at least he’s only signed until he’s 39)
….Oh, and perhaps most important of all…they are spending to the cap while doing it.
I’m not going to throw glass in stone a;dfkljsdf; as some of these very problems have happened to the Senators since their cup run but at least Ottawa struggles as a budget team not yet finished their rebuild. They are actually supposed to be mediocre. Philadelphia are supposed to be contenders….and they are 2 points ahead of Florida.

WOW. Well we’ve had lots and lots and lots and lots of fun so far!

Good News: Robin Lehner is starting
Bad News: UFC 666 Lehner v. Emery Has Been Postponed. 
No disrespect to the rare unicorn that is defeating the Boston Bruins but after a bit of a steamrolling the boys could use the cold unforgiving stability that The Dark One provides in net. Maybe I’m reading too much into this (after promising not to! THANKS FOR READING!) but I’m a little concerned about the team playing differently in front of Lehner than Anderson. We’ve seen it before when the boys don’t trust one goalie as much as the other. But considering that Andy still has a .904 save percentage I think it’s more likely that goaltending isn’t straight up stealing the team wins constantly like it was last year. Still, with only 1 win and a 4.16 goal against average in his past 6 games Anderson is struggling pretty mightily of late. It will be up to Lehner tonight to continue to show the organization and more importantly the team that he is ready to step in and let them get away with all kinds of bologna so they can concentrate on just passing it to Bobby Ryan (key to victory).
Steve Mason starts for Philadelphia and has a .968 save percentage in his last two starts which ..is…nice for him. 

HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Colin Greening Has Zero Points In 14 Games! 
Oy vey. But at least he’s only signed for the next three years…starting next year. I’d accept that kind of production from Erik Condra (who’s back and good too!) but bro, you played on the first line a couple years ago! Chip one in here and there huh? I’m not trying to say he belongs up in the top six but this point drought is unacceptable no matter where you play (save for Kassian who plays Fruit Ninja on the bench). I think Murray bought a bit high on Greening after a beastly playoff performance. I don’t know about you Eddy, but I have no clue why this guy hasn’t found himself in Bruce Garrioch’s Twitter Blocking Lounge (Press Box) more.
On the subject of healthy scratches, another owner of a fresh new 3 year deal, Patrick Wiercioch finds himself taking a seat again. Whew. This is getting ugly. Bro looked amazing during preseason and I am ready to hand him the Brandon Bochenski Award for Biggest Preseason Tease! I’ve heard rumours that Bryan Murray is sniffing around for a puck moving defender…which is all kinds of insane considering the team has Erik Karlsson, Patrick Wiercioch and Joe Corvo. Well, that and they have been terrible defensively and would be better served by a puck stopping defenseman. Don’t listen to me though I’m just a garbage man from Garbage Island that’s maaaaade of garbage.
Cory Conacher will get another game on Spezza’s wing tonight. You seriously have to hope he’s going to put one up soon. Murray gave up a starting goaltender for him. You can do it CC!

A note on this Michalek-Havlat Trade Rumor (via RESPECTED NHL INSIDER Donii Brennan): 
I’m a Sens fan, I miss Martin Havlat six ways from Sunday (THATS OVER FIVE WAYS FROM SUNDAY!) but am I alone in thinking that it seems like all kinds of idiotic to say “Let’s get rid of the injury plagued Milan Michalek for Martin Havlat”? Say what you will about Milo’s robot knees but he’s played more than twice the games Havlat has this year.  Also Havlat’s been a healthy scratch this alreadt this season (albeit on a firing on all cylinders Sharks squad), oh and he has another year left on his deal. I think Havlat’s great and all but I would be very surprised to see it go down…stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill…wouldn’t kick that trade out of bed as we’ve all seen what Havlat can do…buuuuuuuut…risky as fuck…ugh this thing is a roller coaster of emojis…plus it came from an Ottawa Sun writer so you KNOW it’s only a matter of time until it happens (JJJJJJJJ/////////////////////KKKKKKK)…thoughts?

What Reason are you going to tell us that this game is important THIS time James? 
Again, with the looking into my eyes and referring to me by my Government Name. Anyway, it’s important because even though Ottawa got a couple of monkeys off the old back both in beating Tim Thomas as well as beating the Boston Bruins but the fact remains that they’ve put up two of their worst games of the month in the past week. That’s a balance I think we’d all like to see stop A$AP. With a game tomorrow against Minnesota (Exciting news: Dany Heatley will have his number retired by the Wild this year … wait ‘retiring your number’ is when they team buys you out right?) and another back to back against Detroit and Carolina on the weekend, Ottawa could use two points of padding as well as some confidence going into a tough situation.  I think Lehner gives the team a great chance to win but again, he’s not the one who needs to improve.

WIN THIS ONE FOR THE BACK TO BACK BACK TO BACKS! GO SENS! 

James Day Preview: The Boringstain Bears visit The Ottawa Senagoats

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That Bear slipped in some butterscotch!

That Bear slipped in some butterscotch…or no wait I guess it slipped on some ice…not as funny but you come to this website for the straight facts and that’s what we’re going to give you…anyway, what am I talking about oh right, hockey sports!

Hi everyone,

Well, first off, thank The Creationistor that there was a three day layoff in between a humiliating loss to the Flyers and tonight’s tilt against the Bruins. That way we each and every last one of us had time to come together in the brother and sisterhood of friends and freak the fuck out over everything to do with the team. It has been, to quote Satan His/Herself, “A whirl of wind.”
Is it just me or has the vibe surrounding this season been AMC’s The Killing Season 2 level dark? As a person who follows hockey as an escape from the day in day out ratking eat ratking daily flogging where you just wish Flanders was dead this has been a less than fun opening quarter. Things were looking up, Ottawa hadn’t actually had a regulation loss yet in the month of November then one blowout loss (that was admittedly a complete chore to watch) and…
– Spezza is a failure.
– Anderson is garbage.
– Let’s hold something Jared Cowen cares about for ranson until he plays better
– Coaching is all wrong.
– Team needs to make an emergency trade.
– No one goes to games.
– It places the lotion into the basket

THIS:

Maybe this is my shit. Maybe it’s all me and I just (definitely) spend too much time on Twitter. Look baby I can change my garbagy ways (I totally cannot by the way so ladies/human beings, form a line).
That loss was awful. This season isn’t going quite according to plan and maybe it’s the Alfie departure talking but do things really seem THAT fucked? Where people are calling for the Jack Adams winning coach’s head?
Spezza’s possession numbers are very very bad but lucky the fans who’s struggling captain has 16 points in 17 games while he figures his shit out! I mean think about it. Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux scored just his first goal OF THE SEASON less than a week ago. And he’s getting paid more than Spezza and is signed until the year 2058. Could we even stomach something like that? Not to make excuses…actually whatever, making excuses a little bit, I think Spezza is playing hurt. As an die hard Ottawa Senators fan, I feel I have a lot of experience watching him play hurt. A groin injury is one of those annoyingly perfect injuries to frustrate everyone. You can stretch it out enough between games that you are fit enough to play…but you probably shouldnt cuz that thing is going to mess your game up two shifts in and as we all know a Spezza who must cut corners is the most annoying Spezza of all. I kind of just wish he’d sit a couple and not be a hero. Turris is already holding it DI-DOWN as top centre…take a load off. Let someone else turn the puck over for a few games and get well soon!
Here’s what I’m saying, Ottawa just played probably it’s worst game of the season, but honestly, the team is not an unmitigated disaster.
Here’s some good: 
– They are producing quite well offensively
– They have a 2nd line that is clicking to the point that they are now the 1st line
– They have one of the better penalty kills in the league (handy for all the penalties they take!)
– They are getting .900+ goaltending from both goalies (one of whom has been straight up outstanding..it’s a secret which one it is!)
– Karlsson’s career did not end praise be to The Lion of Judah for He makes all things possible. He’s looking faster and faster each game. The more he heals the more he can break open games.
– Despite struggling mightily out of the gate the team is still sitting at .500
Here’s what’s bad: 
– Despite uncharacteristically good goal production I am not kidding the power play looks like a goddamn penalty kill most of the time. I’m no Rt. Hon. William Lyon Mackenzie Hockeycoachingskillz but that is ri-goddamn-diculous.
– The defense has been killing this team’s chances a lot of nights.
– Oy with these LINE COMBINATIONS can we not give guys more than a shift to try and gel?
– The team is .500 and they are better than that.

In short, the defense as a unit, an inept power play and a lack of chemistry have been what’s ailing the team. This is not unfixable. Hey I’m confused too. This was a defensively strong team less than a year ago and now its a defensively weak team. Part of me thinks the drop off is because this is actually NOT the team we saw last year and it is still learning to play together. I’m not ready to pack it in. Look at the standings. There are teams that are for REAL-real at the “fire the entire coaching staff, fire the GM, oh uh we are Infinity years deep into our rebuild and we are still in last so I know let’s look at trading a player that we just tanked an entire season to pick 1st overall LESS THAN 17 MONTHS AGO” level of fucked. Ottawa is not that. They got their asses deservedly kicked because they put up an uninspired effort…That was a full team loss and there’s no specific person to blame nor is there one miracle move Bryan Murray could make to cure that.
James?
Yes, dear?
Could you shut the Christ up and move on?
Sounds great!

HEYYYYY Michael Zibanderhands is on the fourth line b/c “<insert literally any word here> probs” 
I actually quite like Derek Grant. He’s been a quietly solid player for Ottawa and a  valuable penalty killer. Matt Kassian is a human man who is paid to occasionally play the coolest sport on wheels, NHL hockey(.com)…Hmmmm, we have a goon and penalty killing call up…you know what this line could use? A sixth overall pick who has put up good numbers this season. This preview has been all about venting THANKS FOR READING! I honest to God I hope this line gets one shift and that Spezza gets to play with Zibanejad for I don’t know, how abouuuut MORE THAN 5 MINUTES? Like I said earlier I think Spezza’s in rough shape right now and if you’re not going to break ups the 16-7-9 line *wipes forehead in relief* can you at least give him the big, strong, fast guy with a great shot who’s actually scored some goals this year? Asking for a ghost. Maybe this punishment stuff will work on him? Like when he was returned from Bingo and put up points immediately. And it is punnishment, let’s not pretend having to play with Kassian while trying to work your way back into the top six isn’t.

Craig Anderson is getting the start.
I see what MacLean is doing here. He doesn’t want to break Anderson’s brain after what happened on Tuesday. I’m not saying I’m into it…I get it. Weird after Lehner got nearly every game against Boston last season. But the coach feels the need to through him to into the Bear filled pool rather than give him the Sunday game against Columbus. Let’s hope the Bruins don’t know about wrap arounds! Don’t worry they wont try that, that would be way too interesting to watch and interesting ain’t Beantown’s game.
No word on who Boston is starting. Chad Johnson (broiest name ever?) was in net last night for the Brewins so that might mean that we see Ttuukkaa Rraasskk tonight…which doesn’t really matter seeing as Claude Julien makes his whole frigging team play like the goalie anyway.
Boston is just the perfect team for Ottawa to play coming off of a game where they were shut out (SARCASM!). On a more positive note if they can beat Boston that would probably be their biggest victory since their win over Detroit back in what feels like the early 1700’s now.

So we’ve had lots and lots and lots and lots of fun together on this #Friday game preview! If Ottawa has any chance of winning this (or any other) game, the D is really going to have to get its bologna 2-geth-r. My guess is MacLean is going to have the team tighten up and hang back while Boston tightens up and hangs back…SHOULD BE A BARRRRRRRNNNNNNNN BURNERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

WTYKY Mic’d Up to Robin Lehner’s Mind:

James Day Preview: Ottawa Hosts the Paul Holmgren’s a Performance Artist

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Win this one for Deaner!

Win this one for Deaner!

Hi everyone

I have an announcement to make:
For the first time in my 56 years as an Ottawa Senators fan a goaltending controversy is abrewin and I am…really excited about it.
Before I get into why, let me preface this by saying, I think emotions are a little heightened surrounding this whole storyline as, yes, Robin Lehner has just won three games in a row and has looked superb in those wins, but two were against bottom dwelling teams (Columbus, Florida City) and one respectable team in Montreal (hand wanking motion).
Have I thought that Lehner has looked better than Anderson has this year? Yeah, I have. Still, it is so early….so goddamn early in the season. What if Anderson won his next 3 straight starts? After all he’s already won 3 straight starts this season (a string against Phoenix, New Jersey and Detroit last month). Oh, but that’s exactly what’s exciting about it. To say that less than one and a half months and fewer than 20 games of hockey has warranted a full blown goalie controversy is pretty excessive to me. Will that stop it from happening? From what I can tell on the Sensphere today, the wheels are in motion my friends and I actually welcome it.
Unlike Senators goaltending controversies of years past, this one features TWO REALLY GOOD GOALTENDERS! Nothing wrong with a little healthy competition. Anderson is getting the start tonight, he plays out of his mind the next little while and solidifies his position as no.1 starter fine with me. Lehner continues to shine in his opportunities and steals Andy’s job? Also works for me! As for the calls to trade Anderson, I wouldn’t count on it any time soon. I think Anderson’s recent injury, to say nothing of his injury last year that caused him to miss 18 games, does little more than legitimize the need to have two very good goaltenders. Especially if you have a team as prone to giving up shots as the Senators are this year. I mean we were just one successful Brendan (has anyone named their kid Brandon in the past 20 years btw) Gallagher goalie run away form Nathan Lawson starting in net for a team that can give up up to 50 shots to the New York Islanders.
I believe that Lehner is the future netminder of the organization but I believe for the time being the organization needs to take advantage of getting their two awesome goaltenders to duel over who is more awesome. Hoping Craig Anderson can start making it interesting tonight.

OH GOOOOOOOOOD Everyone’s Favorite Hockey Player Steve Downie Is Back! 
Steven Aloysius Downie (.com) first captured the imagination of hockey fans everywhere when he led the OHL in number of teammate’s teeth knocked out after crosschecking an unsuspecting Akim Aliu who, again, was on his motherfucking team, in the face. Oh but that was during a practice. Not a game! Not a game. We sittin here talkin about practice. After making the All Mandatory Professional Counselling team, Downie showed what he was saving for a real PRE-SEASON game where he tried to give Dean McAmmond brain damage with a brutal hit to the head that knocked him unconscious, again, IN A FUCKING PRESEASON GAME. Downie’s heart and soul earned him the NHL’s prestigious L’il Sociopath Achievement Award which includes a 20 game suspension!
Listen, I want to keep going on this rant but his accomplishments would take up too much of this preview and I am just so excited to talk about what Steve Downie’s return could mean for Ottawa’s star player’s unsuspecting heads! There have been rumors that Downie has softened over the past couple of seasons. There is evidence to support this alarming trend in his game. Downie’s last suspension was only a pathetic one gamer, his last fine a measly $2,500! What’s worse is his torrid scoring streak of late (1G, 6A) does nothing but perpetuate his new identity as a finesse player. His 7 points are good for 4th on the Flyers (his fourth team in 6 seasons always a sign of a quality guy). Coming in HOTTT and straight into the fire of Philly’s scoring race, Downie sits jsut one point back from captain Claude Giroux and perennial All Star Vincent Lecavalier’s team leading 8 points, If Downie could apply his LEGENDARY focus he could potentially surpass Giroux and perhaps usurp his Olympic roster spot. One thing is for sure, Karma is on his side! Sorry that was all just a big set up to point out that the team lead for scoring on the Flyers is three way tie for 8 points. By the By, Kyle Turris has 9 points in his last 6 games because Salary Cap.

God, what else?
I still think Ottawa has only had a few truly dominant looking wins so far this year. I went to the Panthers game on the weekend…little more tentative a win than I’d have like to have seen against not just the Florida Panthers but the Florida Panthers that just sacked their entire coaching staff. Still a win’s a win and a win against Tim Thomas is the greatest love of all. Not so easy without Boston’s defense holding off all that socialized healthcare now eh Timmy?
Tonight’s a big game for Ottawa’s defense. With power play specialist / bottom pairing defenseman (normal hockey stuff) Chris Phillips sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Joe Corvo will draw into the lineup. After a benching in Saturday’s game Erik Karlsson will have a bit to prove to the coach in regard to his play in Ottawa’s zone. You’re not going to meet a bigger fan of EK than me and rescue dogs but his shift that lead to one of Florida’s goals was a real stinker. I acutally think Karlsson can defend quite well but so far this season he’s really lacked in that area. Anyway, I don’t mind Erik Karlsson with something to prove. Hoping for more solid play from call up Mark Borowiecki, who is also tied in scoring with Claude Giroux, who will see more time on the second pairing with Marc Methot.
Other welcome news is that Jason Spezza will start the game between Milan Michalek and Cory Conacher who both aren’t Chris Neil, which is nice. Also nice is that Flyers coach Craig Berube will likely mistake the Spezza line for the Sens top line and match his best players up against it. Would really love to see Conacher get a goal tonight! He’s been a good soldier so far this season and I hope he can take advantage of some increased ice time.
All joking aside the Flyers should not be taken lightly. As a cap team they have a number of quality players in their lineup and it could come together at any moment. What’s that? UGH, just when I type “all joking aside” I learn that Steve Mason is starting. That’s it, I can’t go on. Enjoy the game everyone…and seriously boys…beat the GD Flyers huh?