GM Bryan Murray made an appearance on Hockey Central's radio program this afternoon. Here's a brief transcript of what was said:
Q: What do you have to do to get into the top 8 this season?”
BM: "Play a lot better than we did last year. We weren’t very good. We had an awful season. Nothing good happened almost from the drop of the puck at the start of the season until the end. So we got a few more young kids into the lineup so hopefully we have more energy and play a lot more responsible and get good goaltending. If we doall of that, we’ll have a chance."
Q: How was your summer? It doesn’t sound like it was very good. You sound kind of cranky today.
BM: "It was a great summer. It was unbelievable. I didn’t have any issues with players wanting to leave. I didn’t have to spend a lot of money on free agents. It was just a summer that we kind of got ready for training camp and we tried to convince some of our young guys to try and work hard to be ready for the start of this. We ran a development camp for our drafts and it was very good."
Q: What are some of the expectations for some of the young guys, like a Rundblad?
BM: "Well, they’re young. Obviously coming from Sweden will be a little different. He’s a bit of a risk… taker with the puck but he has great awareness, head and hands. I think it’s a matter of how well he’ll adapt to the way that we play in the NHL but he’s a good sized young man that can skate very well and looks like he can defend in a decent fashion. He can come in and play in our top 6 I believe. It means I we have to do something with one defenceman maybe but he certainly has a chance for that to happen."
no commentsOn yesterday’s Hockey Central broadcast on The Fan 590,
For the record, Capgeek.com estimated that the Senators payroll last season was approximately $56,364,378. That's a pretty hefty accumulated sum that approached the NHL's cap ceiling of $59.4 million. So while MacLean is correct in asserting that Ottawa has trimmed their payroll during this 'rebuild', it's not as significant as he'd lead you to believe. Ottawa's current payroll is listed at $51,845,834. Keeping in mind that not everyone listed on Capgeek's roster will crack the opening day lineup, a player with a relatively high cap hit like Stephane Da Costa may start the season in Binghamton. In any case, barring some significant change, the Senators will likely have payroll savings of $4 to $6 million.
In other words, sweet fucking math MacLean.
Thankfully Kypreos had the wherewithal to interject MacLean's overly simplistic diatribe but even that moment of bliss was shortlived. (I know it's my fault. It's Kypreos. I should have known better.) “And rumblings is whether or not Eugene Melnyk is in the running for the long run too, ” Kypreos chimed in.
Seriously?
How fucking ridiculous is it for these two to speculate and suggest that because the hockey organization may be losing money and is in the process of a rebuild that it immediately equates to a fly by night owner. While it may be true that the Senators organization lost money, without knowing how much money Ottawa Sports and Entertainment made or lost last season, it's irresponsible to fan the flames.
It's the kind of out-of-town conjecture that plays itself to the TO market.
To hear the full Hockey Central episode (note: discussion turns to the Senators at the 12:30 mark), you can listen below:
no comments
Thanks to the annual rookie tournament it’s become commonplace for fans to indulge in prospect porn and collectively go bat shit crazy with each Ottawa goal.
Me?
As fun as it's been watching most of the team’s young prospects for the first few times, I realize that it’s only a bit of a reprieve and as such, have tried to keep the bigger picture in mind.
Mind you, after what’s been described by the Globe and Mail as Ottawa’s "uninterrupted downward spiral", who can blame fans for getting a little jacked up? Until recently the team’s draft record and player development left something to be desired and left fans yearning for the days from the Marshall Johnston era. (What? You don’t believe me? Just listen to any Bryan or Tim Murray interview that touches on how the system has been stockpiled. They’ve been more than happy to point that when they inherited the front office the cupboard was more barren than a Leafs trophy case post ‘67.) no comments
During a media scrum this afternoon, Bryan Murray was posed the question by a reporter, “What does (Mika) Zibanejad have to do to stick around?”
His response?
“I don’t know that he has to be the second line center or not. He just has to see if he can be one of the twelve best forwards. If that be the case, it’s a big step. He played in the (Swedish) Elite League against men. We’d like to think that our league is better. That our team is better than it was last year by a margin and for a young guy to play on it, he just has to be able to compete every day and hopefully develops along the way. We don’t want to retard his development by putting him a position in which he doesn’t get a lot of ice-time.” no comments
'Quest for the Cup'?
It seems like just the other when the Ottawa Citizen's Mark Sutcliffe wrote an article detailing how the Senators marketing department was on the same page as the hockey ops people - promoting the rebuild movement and Ottawa's youth. (Oh wait, it was just the other day!)
LOUD CROWD UPDATE: Apparently the advertisement that adorns the top of this piece is not the up-to-date version. To find the correct advertisement, follow this link.
New SBP Banner
Thanks to Bryan Murray's busy month that led up to last year's trade deadline that saw Mike Fisher and Alexei Kovalev head out of town, the banner adorning ScotiaBank Place's main gate wound up being pretty barren by the time the wheeling and dealing was done. Well, for those who wanted something new or for those who weren't particularly enamoured by the 14'x14' glamour shot that captured Chris Phillips' gelled male-pattern baldness coif, you're in luck! A new banner commemorating the team's 20th Anniversary season has been put up. (Note: that's not Alexei Yashin on the right. That's Laurie Boshchman, the captain from the team's inaugural 1992-93 season.)
Going GIF
Thanks to Twitter follower (@5up) for following up on our request for a GIF that captures a hilarious dance sequence shown during the YouTube video that showcases Steve Duchesne's infamous goal that launched the Senators into their first playoff appearance. To check out the GIF, follow this link.
Peter Regin Hurt?
The Ottawa Sun is reporting (hat tip to Sens Chirp for the link) that during an informal workout this afternoon on the Bell Sensplex turf, Peter Regin suffered what looks to be a high ankle injury. While there is no news on the severity of the injury itself, the fact that he hurt it while playing soccer bodes well. There stands a good chance that he was only feigning the injury. As Twitter follower @JamesMullins put it, "A quick shot from one of those magic spray cans should fix him up."
Joking aside, hopefully it's nothing more than a minor sprain. As one of the few Senators vets who has to take advantage of the internal competition for the vacant second line center minutes, he needs to be healthy in camp to have a shot at proving his worth.
In the meantime while Regin is recovering, I'll try* not to write any more articles advocating the acquisition of Kyle Turris. (* emphasis on try.)
Adam Proteau Dislikes Ottawa's Projected Second Line
In his latest article for The Hockey News, Proteau writes:
Other than the presumptive first line of Jason Spezza centering Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek, Ottawa’s forward group is a giant mystery. THN’S depth chart shows the second line as Peter Regin between Nick Foligno and Bobby Butler – and if that’s the way it plays out as the year begins, it could be a very long season in Canada’s capital city.
This season is designed to be one of evaluation and player development so that important player personnel decisions can be made.Proteau is right when he says that it could be a long season filled some losing but I'm comfortable with that (and I hope I'm not alone in saying that) so long as important questions like "Can either of Foligno or Regin be second line players?" are answered.
SenatorsExtra.com Poll Question
Over at the Ottawa Citizen's subsidiary sports site, James Gordon posed the question, "If the Senators invited Alexandre Daigle back to participate in 20th anniversary celebrations, would you a) cheer for him? b) boo him? c) act indifferent?
Pavol Demitra Left His Mark on Senators
In a fantastic read, Ken Warren examines 'the one who got away' from the Senators organization. My favorite part of the article is the story that the left-winger scored on 10 straight shootout attempts at the end of practice in Charlottetown, then skated to centre ice, stripped off a healthy share of his equipment, raised his arms and yelled, “What am I doing here?” It was a good question.
Does Anyone Know Someone Who Has a Rachunek or Demitra Senators Jersey?
One of our devoted readers is looking to acquire one and in return, he is offering tickets or a donation to a charity of the owner's choice. If you have one and are interested in talking trade, email us and we'll put the two of you in touch.
no comments
Photo courtesy of SovSport
In what's become a summer of tragic human loss, news outlets have caught onto the latest story in which a chartered plane carrying the KHL's Yaroslavl Lokomotiv hockey team crashed on the Volga River northeast of Moscow.
According to CTV news bulletin, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry says a passenger jet carrying a local hockey team has crashed while taking off in western Russia, killing 36 people. It says at least one person has survived but is injured.
Yahoo! Sports' Dmitri Chesnokov added some clarity through translation Tweeting (@dchesnokov), SovSport is reporting that the lone survivor (at this point) is a crew member. No news about any survivors from #Lokomotiv.
And...
The plane carrying Lokomotiv crashed only 2km from the runway; caught fire, broke off in two.
Among those on board were three players with Ottawa Senators connections - Karel Rachunek, Pavol Demitra and Vitaly Anikeyenko (drafted 70th overall, 2005). Former Red Wings assistant coach Brad McCrimmon was also on the plane. If you'll remember, Paul MacLean's former colleague left the Red Wings during the summer to pursue a head coaching position.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends and members of the hockey community who were affected by this tragedy.
Update:
Matt Keator, Pavol Demitra's agent, has confirmed to the Globe and Mail that Demitra was one of the players killed in the crash.
Apologies for the overkill. It's just a little weird when a thought Nichols and I were kicking around on Monday night seemed to inch towards reality 24 hours later. This could be much ado about nothing, and for all I know Turris could be re-signed by the end of the week. But in the interest of laying bare what craven vultures we are at 6thsens, here's a few more scraps to pick over. no comments
