Round Two Prediction Time

So: on to Round Two.

I did make some round one predictions, albeit elsewhere:

...and albeit incorrectly, but I did make them.

My round two prediction: I think that the Penguins may have problems, but overall the gap between their offence and our defense is greater than the gap between our offence and their defense.  I think this series is Pittsburgh's to lose, and they'll make a mighty effort to do just that -- but in the end will come up short.

Pittsburgh in six.

Jerk Them Knees

So, in evidence that trading Ben Bishop was a bad idea, I offer you this single data point:

• Ben Bishop debuts for Tampa with a shutout; and
• Robin Lehner coughs up two goals in twelve seconds enroute to a 4-2 loss.

Since this is the Internet, we can therefore extrapolate the rest of their careers from tonight and conclude that Bishop is the greatest goalie to ever play the game, and Lehner is a pinball machine.

I jest.

Sort of.

(Update: Here's an article which calmly compares the Bishop-Lehner situation to that of Chara and Redden.  I think he's on to something, and this deal will be talked about for the next couple years at least as both goalies move through the next phase of their careers.)

Shipping Bishop

And while we're on the topic of writing knee-jerk, poorly thought out headscratcher blog posts about deadline-day trades:

I'll call it right now: trading Ben Bishop is a mistake.  I know we can't keep three goalies on the team, and Anderson's return is supposedly imminent (and lets hope he's really healthy when he comes back, ankles in goalies can be tricky things) -- but I'm not sold on Lehner.  I don't think he's the man.  When he plays things are wild and exciting and he gets lit up like a pinball machine. He's one of those players who thinks his balls click together when he walks around*. I just don't have a good feeling for him.

Bishop I thought had much more upside potential.  He was more quiet, more professional, more just-get-the-job-done.  I don't think his potential will be realized terribly well in Tampa, where he'll suffer from the same problem that Ottawa goalies have had -- that being, playing behind a terrible team -- but of the two, I'd rather of kept him.

I don't even care about this rookie-of-the-year candidate we got back in exchange right now.

I will go on record as admitting that I wasn't a fan of the Runblad-for-Turris trade, and overall that worked out quite nicely.

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*: and we've played that game before, a certain Mr. Ray Emery.

Siri Likes The Senators

Proof that Siri is an Ottawa Senators fan:

You've probably already seen this, but I think it is hilarious.

Blah

Who would have thought that the worst part of post-lockout hockey would be the officiating?

Frankly between the circus-clown officiating and the lack of conditioning and polish of these teams, I find I'm just not that interested in hockey right now.

I mean, I went to the home opener, and what resulted from that? It was fun and all, but the most noteworthy reaction I had was the fact that I paid $5 for a fountain drink that was all carbonation. So I went and found a vendor selling pop by the bottle, and paid her $5 for a 600mL bottle of pop. So I ended up paying $10 for a bottle of pop.

Hockey? Yeah, there was some hockey. And the good guys won, which was good.

But overall I don't feel the need to vent about the officiating because frankly I'm just not watching. For some reason I just don't care.

...other than that, I got nothing.

(Update: This article talks about the new definition of interference, which explains some of the calls which would be ordinarily stupid.  Personally I look for normal service to resume well before the playoffs.)

Hockey is back!...

Hooray, hockey is back! I kept the afternoon clear, made sure the were the requisite number of snacks, and had the drinks on ice. 3PM came around and I got on the sweater, flipped the channel to CBC, and settled in for the afternoon.

And you know what?

Meh, that's what.

Maybe it was the fact that the broadcast started at three, while the puck was dropped at 3:35. Maybe it was having to watch the LA Kings Stanley Cup love fest. (Which they have totally earned, by the way, I just don't want to have to sit through it myself.) Maybe it was having to watch the Jets introducing their team to the home crowd.

Maybe it was the early goal given up by the Senators. (Totally not Anderson's fault, by the way. We knew this defence would give up goals, and that is what they did on this one. And the two posts in the first.)

But put it all together and I wasn't engaged.

Hockey is back, I'm just not sure I care yet.

Which isn't good news for Monday, because I have a ticket in section 109 for the home opener.

(Also, free beer at the home opener. Not sure this is a good idea. In fact I think it is a terrible idea. But since I don't drink I'm not exactly an unbiased commentator on that part.)

Random thoughts from today's game (which are totally worth half what you paid for them):

• Is it just me, or were the senators unable to hold on to their sticks? Seems like everyone was dropping them.
• First penalty call of the night: legit. But only if the officials keep calling penny-ante stuff like that. Which I don't ink they will.
• Kind nice to see goalie give up some soft goals for Turris and Michalek. Remember a couple of years ago when the Senators threw over 50 shots at him and he shut them out?
• Only real difference between the Jets and Senators tonight: Ottawa did a better job of capitalizing on Jets errors. Other than that, the game was as bad as I thought it was going to be. Wait a month for everyone to shake off the lock-out rust and the game will be much better to watch.

2012-2013 Preview

Screen-grab from Facebook, because I'm lazy.

My prediction: no playoffs, but no lottery position either (if there even still is such a thing in the new CBA world).

Update: nobody pointed out that I should have written "2012-2013". Stupid new year.

Amnesty Targets History

So I lost the good fight on amnesty clauses -- I guess it was too attractive a dumb idea to not get tapped. Teams will get two amnesty buyouts each -- one this year and one next.

Which brings us to this article listing potential amnesty targets for each team.

What gets me is that if you read down the list, it reads like a whos-who of Ottawa Senators history:

• Marian Hossa in Chicago
• Anton Volchenkov in New Jersey
• Alexi Yashin in Brooklyn New York
• Wade Reddin in the other New York
• Dany Heatley in Minnesota
• Martin Havlat in San Jose

I suspect if you look at it, you'll see more Senators alumni on that list than any other team.

Man, those glory days were something, eh?

And really, who on today's roster is going to attract the same kind of reminiscing?  Spezza?  Yes.  Karlsson?  Absolutely.  Alfredsson?  Without a doubt.  And after that?... does anyone seriously think we are going to be remembering the glory days of Colin Greening?

It was fun while it lasted.  Now we're just trying to not be Toronto.

Of All Time

Here's a list of the Top 10 Worst NHL Logos Of All Time.  That's right: of all time.

And look who's in 7th?

Text:

The Ottawa Senators had a perfectly good logo when they debuted in 1992. Then they came up with their first third jersey in 1997. And it had this multi-colored mark on the front. And we all asked, "why?" Turning the guy's head to make the logo more three-dimensional takes the logo to a weird place. And it just looks bad. The Sens thought they fixed the problem in 2007 by adding bolder lines and sharper corners. But they didn't. Long live the 2D head.

(looks up at the top right of this post) Long live the 2D head indeed.

While I agree that the 2D logo is superior, I'm not sure this qualifies as one of the top 10 all time. The 3D look never warmed me, for some reason I prefer the old* logo.

And I don't think the Jet's current logo deserves to be on that list either, even if my initial reaction was less than complementary. (Why is that jet bombing a curling rink?)

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*= as opposed to the "classic logo", which is the barbershop-O. Which still looks like a zero to me, as in "how many stanley cups has your team won?"

Calling Time

I almost hope, for Daniel Alfredsson's sake, that there's no hockey this year.

Lots of people have been writing that Alfredsson's return for another victory lap is good for the Senators. That to go out after missing a season due to a lockout is, somehow, a diminishment of his accomplishments over his career with Ottawa.

My argument is: there's almost no better way to go out.

Alfredsson came off a frankly disappointing 2010-2011 campaign, playing hurt and eventually missing time due to an injury. He seemed slow and couldn't produce the way he had in previous years.

And then...

And then he roared back in 2011-2012. He looked like the leader of previous years, giving maximum efforts at both ends of the ice. The whole All-Star weekend was frankly an Alfie love-in. And he was instrumental in dragging a "rebuilding" team, one which was expected to miss the playoffs, to fighting the #1 East seed in a winner-take-all 1st round game 7.

Short of Stanley Cup glory, is there really any higher note to go out on?

Alfredsson risks becoming another Micheal Schumacher, who doesn't quite know when to quit and gets embarrassed by younger, stronger players.

Alfredsson's career is one that will leave him with respect up and down the league. Failing to call time on it at an appropriate moment is very risky to his legacy.

Ottawa Fans Out West?

So last week I was in Drumheller for a family function, and I had occasion to go to the Walmart there.  And just for fun I walked through the sporting-goods section to look at the hockey stuff.

What  I found was interesting.  They had the predictable pile of Flames shirts, a bunch of Vancouver shirts, one Edmonton shirt... and a half dozen Ottawa Senators shirts.

In Drumheller.

Fascinating.

(Also no Toronto or Montreal shirts, which was more predictable.  It was the presence of the Ottawa shirts I found interesting.)

How To Tell It Is Summer

Slow days make for silly hockey article titles:

Now while they both might be true, their juxtaposition is rather amusing to me.

Prelude to Game Seven

Well that was interesting -- the Senators jumped out to an early lead and held on until "penalty trouble" in the second.

I'm not so sure about it being "penalty trouble".  That's not to say that any of the official's calls were not justified, I think they were.  I just think that the officials showed a distinct lack of interest in calling similar offences when they were committed by New York.

The End Of Pittsburgh's Season

And Neil's goal in the dying seconds of the game -- well while he probably kicked it in, I'd say that there wasn't conclusive evidence on the tape, so the war room couldn't over-ride the call on the ice.  When the official spoke after the call and his mike was dead, I'm like: "Nobody cares what you have to say buddy, just point at the center of the ice."  And he did.

I think that dying goal gives momentum to Ottawa going into New York for game 7.  New York has to know that Ottawa is capable of beating them in their own rink and has done so before.  I still think it is possible for Ottawa to come out of this as the series winner.

Make no mistake about it, I don't think the Senators have pushed this series to seven games -- I think New York pushed it to seven games.  Ottawa has been the superior team for long, long periods of time in the games I have watched -- it is just that A) they have not been better than Lundquist and B) the Rangers have been better enough.

Roll on Thursday.

(I added the picture there because it made me laugh.)

Cardiac Kids: Playoffs Edition

Wow!  That was fun, wasn't it?  When Michalek ripped that goal in the 2nd, it was just such a relief after a total lack of scoring in game 1.  Even through the TV I could see that the rink just exploded in relief that scoring on home ice was actually going to be possible.

And coming after giving up two easy goals, well lots of other teams would have just given up.  But for whatever reason this team wants to play from behind, and so they are still in this series even though they've never led in regulation.

The second goal was similarly epic, coming after Spezza went off after a scary blow to the head.

Ottawa was the better team for long periods of play last night, with only Lundqvist's heroics keeping New York in the game.  It looked to be a game of inches as the puck slid slowly and gracefully just wide of the post at least twice, where Ottawa wasn't going to get the lucky breaks.

I wouldn't say that game was fun -- but it sure was a relief.

And with that win the boys have bought another home game for Mr. Melnyk, helping to ensure that the team doesn't slip into the red this year.

Game 5 is in New York on Saturday, and Game 6 is TBA but should be Monday.

Round 1: NYR(1) vs OTT(8)

Even though Ottawa has beat the Rangers in the regular season, I think overall the Rangers are the better team.  They have more depth, more skill.  That's not to say that Ottawa won't put up a stiff fight -- I'm sure the Rangers will have to work for their wins, and at the end of the series they'll know they were in a series with a serious team.

My call: Rangers in 6, or maybe Ottawa in 7.

Comedy

Brand new goalie!  Best Goalie not in the NHL*! Plays really well!  Savior of the present, builder of the future!

Right?  Suddenly:

Bishop Sidelined for At Least a Week

Sources say Ottawa Senators goaltender Ben Bishop will be sidelined for at least a week after injuring his groin over the weekend.

Ha ha, you thought it would be different this time?  It isn't just that this town hates goalies -- it's that this town really hates goalies.

Tune in next week when Craig Anderson hurts himself again, and we go into the playoffs backed by Alex Auld and Robin Lehner.

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* ...at least until we traded for him.  Yes.

Refs Steal Another Point

So really the only thing I want to say about the Buffalo-Ottawa game last night is: that disallowed goal was bogus. The refs waved it off as no goal, and the war room didn't over-ride "because the whistle blew before the puck crossed the line". Which is crap. HNIC replayed the sequence, and once could clearly see the puck go in, and then out again before the sound of the whistle came across.

"Interesting" was the HNIC commentator's view, but he didn't follow up on that.

"Interesting" meaning "That statement is totally contradicted by the evidence we've just examined", maybe. The only way you come to a conclusion like that is by buying into the whole "intent to blow" theory that says that the play is dead when the ref decides to blow the whistle, not necessarily when he blows it.

So yeah not to say that the Senators wouldn't have blown another goal lead, but frankly it would be unlikely. So I think Buffalo basically stole two points last night. Ottawa was compensated by being permitted one. That's more important to Buffalo at this point in the season than it is to Ottawa, but it is still bogus.

Bad officiating aside it was a reasonably entertaining game.

• Karlsson's now one goal shy of the franchise record for goals in a single season by a defenseman. HNIC says's he's now got 69 points in 69 games -- that's a defenseman producing at a point-per-game scoring rate. We're all just hoping this isn't merely a career year and that he'll continue to grow, because the last thing you want to do is over pay for declining production.  One good goal from the slot, and one billiards goal off the back of Buffalo goalie's shoulder -- shouldn't have worked, but he's clearly got the magic touch these days.
• Spezza's looking tentative with the puck at times, but he's still attempting -- and frequently achieving -- those outrageous dangles that I love to watch.  Still magically showing up in almost the right place at the right time to get the rebound or the cross-ice pass.

Torn

So I am, as the title above says, a bit torn.

Torn because the Chicago Blackhawks came in here and while I figured they would be beatable, the demonstration they left on the ice suggests that tonight they were by far the better team. They were faster, more aggressive, tighter, looser, everything-er.

Frankly the only reason the score wasn't run up was Lehner.

That's not to say this was a bad outing for the Senators. No, the fact that they could live with -- more or less -- a demonstrably better team reflects well on them. For a first year rebuild team, this was an exceptionally good game. They lost, yes, but it wasn't a blow-out and while I felt they were running around in their own end a bit much -- as well as the neutral zone and frankly the offensive zone -- they never really stopped trying. They looked like a young team, but they never gave up.

I think with the ongoing implosion that is going on behind them in the standings (see also Toronto) the first round of playoffs is a lock for the Senators at this point. Beyond that, anything can happen. And again, for a first-year rebuild team, that's an outstanding achievement. Even if it is more of a condemnation of how mediocre the east really is.

The ever-present danger here is that the Senators won't be able to continue to build on this momentum, that management might decide to go back to trying to "tweak" the team into contention.

So I'm continuing to enjoy the games I manage to catch. I'm just not sure I'm optimistic about the long-term.

In other news:

• Good on Ray Emery to get his career back on track. The boy can play, and as long as he focuses on that, he'll continue to do just fine. I don't know why he was run out of Ottawa, but he's clearly got his act together in Chicago.
• Also nice to see ex-Sen Antoine Vermette get some attention through the game.
• Hossa still looked dangerous at times, but he kind of came across as a faded star -- someone capable of occasional flashes of his former brilliance, but not a regular super star. Sort of like -- and it pains me to say this -- how Daniel Alfredsson might look next year.

Under The Bus With You

I don't understand, I really don't.

Auld ends up being in goal when the vastly better Boston Bruins come in to town and, horror of horrors, manage to beat the inferior Ottawa Senators. And somehow that's Auld's fault, and he should be banished forthwith for failing to steal a game against the better team.

Really?

For once I actually watched the game. I wanted to watch it so much, I watched it in french while I was in Montreal this weekend. Thank god the Canadiens were not playing or I wouldn't have gotten to see it. I even manage to watch the whole game, even sticking it out when it was 4-1 with ten to go.

Frankly the only goal I blame Auld for was that weak one -- Marchande's one in the first. The rest of them I blame on the rest of the team for A) poor defensive coverage and B) only turning the offense on in the last quarter of the third period.

You want to talk about defensive coverage? Fine, let's talk shots on goal:

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
BOS	13	16	9	38
OTT	9	6	15	30

...I don't wanna talk about it any more.

And about the last period: look, guys, these games are 60 minutes long, not five. It's fun and all watching the heart-attack-inducing last gasp desperation plays and all, but this is about winning, not trying really hard.

So in summary, yes, Auld was the losing goaltender. But no, he wasn't the problem. The problem is a little further up the ice, and the sooner we recognize that and start dealing with it, the sooner we can start having a honest discussion about goaltending.

A Cut Above

Craig Anderson cuts his hand making dinner after last night's whooping of the Washington Capitals.

...you can't make this stuff up, can you.

The team has been pretty lucky, injury-wise, so far this season. Michalek was out with a concussion, and both Phillips and Gonchar spent some time on the injury list. But if there is one player who has been single-handedly carrying this team so far this season, it's Erik Karlsson. No wait, I mean Craig Anderson.

Look at last night. Craig Anderson stopped 33 of 35 shots on goal. The two Washington goalies combined to stop 19 of 25 (with one empty-netter at the end of the game). So yes, "Mister" Anderson was the man last night. But let's review: Ottawa gave up 35 shots on goal. Unless the goalie is the man, the end result could have been much, much uglier.

With all respect to Alex "back from the goalie graveyard" Auld*, the problem in Ottawa has not yet settled down to something you could call weak goaltending. Even if Auld is only average, it is going to get ugly. If he's merely human, we'll probably get the opportunity to watch "Goalie Of The Future" Lehner get lit up like a pinball machine a couple of times again.

This team has got to play better in front of their goalies. Only then can we start appreciating** how good the goaltending we have actually is.

As far as the standings go, however, I feel pretty good. The only teams with genuine chances to catch Ottawa are Toronto, Winnipeg, and Washington, and I think the gap that Ottawa has now will permit them to retain a place in the playoffs by playing only .500 hockey through Anderson's absence. It pains me to say it, but Toronto isn't as bad as the last-10 makes them look, while I think Winnipeg's last-10 numbers of 5-4-1 are probably a bit above where they should be.

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* = stupid nickname, I know, but what you going to do?

** = although it is nice to watch Toronto demonstrate that they are no better than Ottawa at refraining from fitting goalies under the bus at the first sign of trouble.