James

We need to make a post Stat…this image is too good to waste…which we sort of have to pick up our game with lately…

Did you watch the game last night? I saw a tiny bit…watched the high lights…love how every goal Bobby B has scored

this year has been different. Shows he’s not a one trick pony…last night’s was by far his nicest yet

The Mark Messier classic off wing far side top cheese special! 

Its still early obviously a bit early to tell but maybe Ottawa has a cheap top six winger on their hands with versitile finish.

Conrad

That picture is a thing of beauty.

I watched a little bit of last night’s game, but I’ll be honest with you: I was pretty bored watching Atlanta’s annual shitting-of-the-bed. There was a time they were fourth in the conference. Fourth! They’ve got some nice pieces in place. They’re spending money. And now they can’t buy a win, even against the second last-place team in the league. I really am rooting for Atlanta. They deserve some playoffs, even if only by fluke, and once again they’re nowhere close. Makes me depressed to think about how a team can have that many high draft picks and not just luck into a good team eventually. Makes me worry about our rebuild.

Butler’s goal was indeed pretty, though, and I’m excited to watch him score at least 20 next year. Unless he ends up being this year’s Peter Regin – promising end to the season leads to dull thud in year to come. I don’t think that’ll happen though. He’s got a natural goal-scorer’s hands, and now that his confidence is up he’s buzzing the net, finding open spaces. He looks like a threat out there.

If Butler, Regin and Foligno all play up to our hopes, and we still have Spezza, Alfie and Michalek, and we pick up a top six forward via trade, and we draft another top sixer in the top five this year…hey, this team don’t stink! Also interesting will be if any of the young kids stick with the big club next year. Greening and Condra have looked good. I could stand to see them get bottom six minutes. Also watch for Lessard to finally get through that Dostoevsky book he’s been working on.

…so what I was doing instead of watching all of the game last night was playing Be a GM mode in NHL 2010 (always be one year behind, that’s what I say). I inserted the worst team in the game – Italy’s national team, of course – into the NHL and am starting a rebuild from scratch. Pretty addictive. And the Italian jerseys are beautiful.

Pete

Ugh, Conrad please don’t remind me of the high hopes we had for Foligno and Regin. I thought you were feeling pessimistic about the rebuild? I believe this is going to be the up and down rollercoaster ride that will be the next three years. The terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles!

Meanwhile, Craig Anderson is pricing himself out of our plans. Brian Murray’s got one more big decision before he rides off into the sunset to his spot on Melnyk’s pharma company’s board of directors. I’m not sure we want to spend a large chunk of our cap space for someone to keep the net warm for Lehner. I know there’s been talk of Jimmy Howard money, but I’m thinking Neimi’s new deal will be the bench mark. (Even though that’s crazy)

I’m having people over to watch the game tonight. If you guys can make it out to the heart of the darkest part of the suburbs you are more than welcome

James

What am I the Barack Obama campaign of rebuild talk?

I was a bit resistant to the idea of a rebuild for a while b/c it is a gamble for sure. I mean lest we forget that Ottawa’s bottom 6 depth was the talk of the league all the way back in 2009-2010. Before I was of the mind that the team really just needed a goaltender, to kidnap Volchenkov back, and a top 6 forward that could right the ship. That it was just a matter of ditching your Cheechoos, Kovalazes and so forth top get cap space…That’s not how it panned out but perhaps that’s maybe how Murray was thinking a the time too, what with all those playoff push rentals. It’s easy for us to complain but hey, I suppose the team WAS making the playoffs, flawed as it was. Regardless, I must say it’s a real testament to the accelerated state of the drafting and prospect pool to show how Murray could jettison a bunch of those stalwart guys and the team has undeniably improved or at least kept steady. Does the team look like shit against Vancouver? Yeah, Vancouver is also pretty much the best team going. Rebuild is still scary at times, every move so critical to the future. Seems like for every Chicago there is a Florida that just cant get it together. Speaking of getting it together, I’m not as frowny face about Foligno now, he’s really improved the last while. Regin was getting into a groove too before his injury. I think it might have done a lot of good to have a lot of the guys have it off their mind that they are no longer trade bait and are part of the rebuild. Phillips has looked strikingly better of late. Call me glassy eyed but the turn around could be quicker than the other examples that we tend to work off of. Do we get a Crosby rebuild? No. Does anyone get a Crosby rebuild? Few do. Yeah Murray’s not perfect but he’s a pretty good general manager who has drafted par excellence the past couple of seasons and maybe we are starting to see some dividends of that good work now that guys are getting the shot they weren’t before with all the vets in the way. Butler has been a prime example of seeing what a guy can do if he has space to play top 6 and not bottom. Ottawa also has the advantage of not having a cheap skate owner (RIP Islanders). Melnyk definitely seems to have the guts to go for it but also the smarts to suck it up and know when to pull the plug and refocus.

I’ve said it a million times but we are goddamn spoiled in this city, getting a rebuild after missing the playoffs twice in more than a decade? A fan base super bummed out after signing a defenseman who has been a minus player something like twice in his whole career? If Ottawa picks Larsen we’ll have a log jam of highly skilled young defensement? Team’s been terrible but sometimes I cant help but think we have some “good problems.” Were going to get a lotto pick, we’ve got some pretty ridiculous defensemen ready to break into the league next season, a promising goalie prospect, retained veteran leadership and there are plans to aquire a top six forward…I don’t know, maybe it’s the getting rid of Kovalev and Elliot talking but I’ve seen teams in way worse shape moving forward. Edmonton has some fantastic young guys up front but literally nothing going on from the blueline back and it will be a while to build that up. That’s where a successful team is born if you ask me.

Conrad

That was pretty inspired, James, and actually made me feel a bit better! I’m not inclined to disagree with any of that. And I’m definitely happy that the team went into rebuild mode. I think Murray’s done a reasonably good job as GM. When the team was competitive, he traded for more resources to push them on. When the team wasn’t, he traded for picks. He’s had less luck on the UFA market, but that’s always a crap shoot for a small market. And most of all, Heatley screwed him. So I’m not mad at him so much as subjecting myself to the wild insecurities and anxieties that come of a team entering into No Man’s Land. Tis’ scary! But yeah, the team is pretty lucky to have an owner who blindly pays out, to have had the kind of skill it’s had for so long that it didn’t have to rely on 2-1 wins like it does now, and that Murray knew enough to start rebuilding the back end from day one. This team won’t be so bad.

If there’s one thing that NHL 10 has taught me, it’s never draft Italians.

James

Sorry i didnt use the term “Dog Garbage” several times. I did vow to turn myself into blogger jail for crimes against people’s eyes if Butler scored in yesterday’s Lame Day Preview. I guess Bobby B, who reads the CCFR every single day, really wants me put away by scoring such a beaut.

About not drafting Italians, I say listen to your dreams and draft Tom Waits into your top six.

Conrad

Thought I’d add it to this thread that Gabriel Landeskog and the Kitchener Rangers are playing the Ottawa 67s this Sunday at 2pm, and come of us CCFRers will be there. Any readers who want to drop by, I look like an angry tire with muscly arms. Come say hi.

Speaking of Landeskog, here’s an awesome article about him, the Sens scouting efforts post-deadline, and how he’s actually kinda an Ottawa fan. Well worth the read.

James

Wow…now i REALLY want to see Landeskog play

btw i am not even half way through this amazing Lehner interview and hes already referred to how he hopes Ottawa retains Craig Anderson so he can HUNT HIM LIKE GAME. This kid is going to be the best interview in the NHL soon.

Marc

I watched the game in the form of a TSN highlight and they looked great in that 40 second clip. I remember the days when this team couldn’t win a game to save their lives without the Captain in the lineup. So on that front, I’m impressed by how the Sens have stepped up in his abscence and how they have become Spezzmatic.

I agree with James on the spoiled brat syndrome in Otown. The naysayers will have a full on bitch fest for the next couple years. So let’s get together and bitch slap some patience into these bitches. I still believe that team has an awesome foundation so I’ll be positive until they have a 20 game losing streak next year.

Not ready to jump on the Anderson/Butler/any roster player with more hustle than Kovalev bandwagon just yet. They’ve all been playing great lately. But I still feel that we should all wait and see how this nets out. To me, Anderson isn’t worth more than what he’s making right now. Let hope Murray or the incumbent see it the same way.