We here at the ccfr are not the type to ignore the more popular ebbs and flows of the internet. As a faithful service to our reader(s) we present the opening weekend in patronizing, pidgin English form. preeze enjoy:
This is it. It’s been a long summer of existential dread, self-doubt and humbling insecurity; meaningless interactions with loved ones about what color to paint the bathroom and playing games with children we can barely bring ourselves to love; reading stories about Ilya Kovalchuk and CBA politics that look like they were written by an escaped gorilla on the back of a napkin; thinking about taking up model ship building and working on that spy novel while fantasizing about all that dead weight we’re gonna shave off the cap next off season and whether we should go after Brad Richards.
It all comes down to this: back-to-back games, Friday and Saturday night, as the Sens open their season against the pathetically boring Buffalo Sabres and the hated Leaves, who stabbed all of our eyeballs last night with yet another 45-minute opening ceremony designed to celebrate their putrid history.
I have 9 beers in my fridge (Mill Street Organic and St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat. REAL MAN’S BEERS.) and my television isn’t HD and this will be the greatest night. Remember the lockout? How the hell did we survive that?
Conrad to James, Peter
Ok then. Predicated by a Puck Daddy post about which Canadian team is most likely to bring the Cup home, TheCCFR’s BACKHANDED OPINION ABOUT THE OTHER CANADIAN TEAMS.
Add potential captions in the comments. The first person to win 100 of these contests gets their name entered in a draw to answer a skill testing question.
James to Pete, Conrad
The 2010-2010 Preview in Review.
Ahhh the smell of preseason (Axe Cooling Gel?). A chance for the National Hockey League’s bright young prospects and future stars to shine, future busts to shine and then later NOT shine, olde tymey vets to play like they are avoiding potential injury and then get criticized for it, and for players whose roster spots are secure to shake off the rust and have runs taken at them and be injured by the goons of tomorrow.
I suppose that point #1 is that preseason was a little too long for my liking. I personally don’t like the idea of putting our vets out there, in back-to-back games in some cases, with the future Steve Downey’s of the world in “Durr, hey coach, watch me! Ima do dis killing!” mode. Not when we have a bunch of guys North of 33 on our roster. It’s not just about putting the Old Uncle Pennybagses of the team at risk, in fact those guys were smartly underplayed, buts it’s more the Fisher’s getting drilled head first into the boards that worries me. It’s the pressure of icing a good lineup for a home game with runs being taken a plenty. It’s not just about Sens like Neil taking a stick blade to the taint, it’s anyone really. How about Cammelleri getting headhunted? So pissed was the feisty-but-typically-gentlemanly Cam, he went straight two hander Bobby Clarke to the ankles of Neiderrider. Bad Craziness. Hockey’s an intense sport where fights in a chippy practice between teammates are common and you are literally allowed to punch a guy in the face as many times as you can before your or his knee touches the ice…but…this preseason just seemed plain risky after a while. Thoughts?
On a related note: Overall, it was a bit of a myth that there were roster spots open this year but with the GDP of Equatorial Guinea coming off the books next year and the showing of many up and comers last month I look forward to the future.
Today, I’m going to put myself out there and admit I straddled a stiff upper lip “who cares these games are meaningless” view and a “holy shit I cant ignore how terrible Leclaire looks tonight” sky is falling attitude.
So what, if anything, did we take out of the preseason? A few points after the jump (WINK, Conrad ….I don’t know what I’m doing)
Add potential captions in the comments. The first person to win 100 of these contests gets their name entered in a draw to answer a skill testing question.
Conrad to James, peter
The season begins a week from Friday. Let’s all talk about the things we most want to see from the Senators 2010-2011 March to Glory.
Add potential captions in the comments. The first person to win 100 of these contests gets their name entered in a draw to answer a skill testing question.
Open call to all The Cory Clouston Fashion Review readers: what Ottawa Senators would you consider taking in your Kia Sorento Quizno’s Hockey Ecstasy Zone Coke Yahoo Hotdog Pool?
Of course there are a lot of factors to weigh in your fantasy pool: Is it a cap league? How many people are there? Is it one of those pick-a-line-a-week pools and are the Sens playing Buffalo? What’s your draft position? Are you playing with a bunch of East Coasters who have never heard of the Nashville Predators and would rather draft Chris Drury than Pekke Rinne? Is that Ovechkin kid available?
Since the days of the pizza line, the Sens haven’t really represented fantasy gold. They get goal scoring by committee. A lot of their players are expensive. Their goaltending ranges from ‘needs work’ to ‘total abomination.’ But there are still some players to keep your eye on, especially when they get hot. And there’s some value for those of you in a cap league who don’t want to pick up expensive, enigmatic wingers like a mini Glen Sather.
The takers (first few rounds)
Spezza: Guaranteed to score 60-70 points, has a ceiling of around 100. These are the guys you want throughout your top 6. I wouldn’t take him in the 1st round, but he’s exactly the type of guy – like Brad Richards – you focus on getting in the 2nd or 3rd while everyone else is geeking out defensemen with a ceiling of 40 points because they’re thinking too much like a real-life GM. Take him unless it’s a cap league, in which case his $8M might seem a bit much.
Karlsson: His ceiling is a bit of an unkown right now, but the Sens will lean heavily on him and his game showed tremendous upside at the end of last year. It’s not unreasonable to compare him to Enstrom in Atlanta, who scored 50 points last year. Take him, especially if you’re in a cap league – he’s cheap.
Alfie: He’s consistent in every category: powerplay, +/-, points, goals, shots on net. His numbers may continue to decline overall, but consistency is just as valuable in a pool as end-of-year totals. If he’s playing, and the Senators score, he was probably in on it.
Gonchar: like Karlsson, the Sens’ entire gameplan this year seems to center on getting the puck to the point and on net. Gonchar is central to this. He’s an injury risk, and his cap hit isn’t tiny, but he’s the kind of PP specialist that can make up the backbone of your fantasy D.
The take a flyer-on ’ems (later rounds)
Fisher: A good year last year means you’re getting a 50 point player who heats up sometimes. His cap hit is disproportionate, as he’s paid for a lot of intangibles, but picking up Fisher in a later round could be a steal.
Michalek: if he can stay healthy he’ll be a 25 goal scorer / 50-60 point guy. Especially with Gonchar getting the puck on net and Michalek parked out front. He’s inconsistent, though not terribly expensive for someone with this much upside.
Regin: He’s cheap ($1M) and will be getting boatloads of icetime this year. He’s not likely to score more than 50 points, but these are the type of young guys of which you should be trying to get as many of as you can in the later rounds.
Foligno: like Regin, he warrants some attention. Might go undrafted, but would make a nice waiver wire pickup if he keeps playing like he is in the preseason. The problem with Foligno is that you have no idea where he’ll end up. 15-20 minutes a night in the top six? Or 10 minute third liner in a shutdown / energy / agitating role? He also won’t get a ton of PP time.
Neil / Ruutu: These two clowns are valued, believe it or not, because of how rare it is for an agitator to actually be able to score about 10 goals and play a less-than abhorrent two-way game. They both get some PP/PK time, too. Might be a good late, late round pickup.
Skip ’em
Brian Elliott / Pascal Leclaire: as much because you won’t know who’s starting from one game to the next as because they’re not great at the whole goaltending thing. Might become best friends halfway through the season in Binghamton when Ottawa is rolling a Robin Lehner / Mike Brodeur tandem.
Kovalev: the equivalent of putting $50 on red. Opposite of Alfie re: consistency. You’ll regret not having him when he shows up and scores six points, but you may as well buy a lottery ticket.
Welcome To Your Karlsson Years 