Let me start out this piece by stating that we at the site love getting emails from our readers. Whether it’s encouragement, PhotoShopped images, a crack at MLSE’s expense or ideas for blogs, the emails from readers help turn a mundane offseason into one that can be very droll.
Below are two emails that the website has received in the last 24 hours…
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In his most recent article for The Hockey News, Adam Proteau posed a question or two that each of the NHL’s 30 organizations will have to answer during the 2011-12 campaign.
Some questions are fair. Some are crafted with the intent to spur laughter. Others, like the one directed to the Ottawa Senators, is emblematic of the Toronto media’s fascination with Daniel Alfredsson’s future in a Senators jersey.
He wrote...
Can the rebuilding Sens really expect to challenge for a playoff spot with a second line that would be stellar if it were in the American League? If not, can Daniel Alfredsson maintain his always-classy veneer or instead look to be moved late in the year for a Ray Bourque-like shot at a championship?
Umm... seriously? Playoffs!??! Trading Alfie? For reals?
Not to begrudge Proteau, but anyone who has a thumb on the pulse of the Senators knows that: a) management and ownership have reiterated that the captain will not be traded; and b) this team seems prepared to give a number of players who struggled last season every opportunity to develop into marketable assets.
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As mentioned briefly yesterday, netminder Patrick Lalime announced his retirement from hockey to join RDS as an analyst. Like with any other player who leaves the game, Lalime's decision spurred many a discussion about his tenure with the Ottawa Senatros.
From a superficial standpoint, Lalime was synonymous with three things: 1) his Marvin the Martian helmet design; 2) the two goals that Joe Nieuwendyk scored against him during the first period of Game 7 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals versus the Toronto Maple Leafs; and 3) during the national anthems, he made a habit of closing his eyes and swaying to the music like a hippie at a Phish concert.
If I had to describe Lalime, the first point that I would make was that he was never an elite goalie in the NHL. Perhaps to put it more accurately, he was the Eastern Conference’s equivalent to Chris Osgood. His personal numbers greatly benefitted from playing behind a strong Senators squad. Make no mistake, for a small market team like Ottawa, Lalime was a cost-efficient alternative for an organization that could never afford to compliment their strong ensemble up front in the pre-cap era.
Interestingly, as I sifted through the Hockey-Reference.com archives to compare Lalime's statistics against my own subjective memory, I noticed that Lalime had the third best career goals against average (1.765) and save percentage (.9264) in NHL playoff history.
Was my memory deceiving me? Was Lalime really this good?
I delved into Lalime's playoff numbers and this is what I found... no comments
I have to admit, it’s a foreign feeling that accompanies putting Daniel Alfredsson anywhere on the depth chart that isn’t the right-wing slot alongside Jason Spezza on Ottawa’s first line.
Had you told me last summer that Alfie would likely be starting the 2011-12 season on the team’s second line, I probably would have scoffed at the suggestion. However, injuries besetting the captain combined with Bobby Butler’s emergence as a young, intriguing scoring threat during the second half of last season point to a situation that should see Alfredsson play in a reduced offensive role starting next fall.
Suspending all beliefs that Spezza can turn Butler into a modern of Bob Kudelski, even if Butler’s rate of production resembles anything close to what it was last season, it would be an incredible boon for the organization. As mentioned on the latest podcast episode and as Scott Cullen illustrated in a piece yesterday on TSN, the secret of Butler's success can largely be attributed to his efficient even strength goal production.
In the 36 games that he played in Ottawa last season, Butler scored 9 of his 10 goals at even strength. His shooting percentage was a respectable 13.7% but he did finish tied for 27th in the NHL in even strength goal production per 60 minutes of ice-time (1.14 ESG/60). At that rate, over the course of a full campaign, Butler might be good for 20-25 even strength goals.
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The offseason carries on but for whatever reason, the material keeps coming. Thanks to the onset of the offseason prognostications and analyses, we're back in the studios to discuss the latest developments and talk with Shane Prince - the Ottawa 67s star forward and Senators 2011 2nd round pick (61st overall).
Thanks again to Shane for coming on the show.
As always, you can subscribe/download/stream the episode or entire catalogue of episodes from Itunes. Or you can download the file by right-clicking and saving this file. Or you can simply stream the episode below.
If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please leave us some feedback in the comment thread below. Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoy the show.
Here is the tracklist for the show: White Wires Did You Forget My Name; The Jam News of the World; Soul Asylum Somebody to Shove; and Sweet Apple Do You Remember.no comments
According to a report out of Sweden, Mika Zibanejad has indicated that if doesn’t crack the Ottawa Senators lineup out of training camp, the AHL will not be an option for him.
In what loosely translates to, "I don't want to play in the AHL. If I'm not in the NHL, Djurgården is the best - and only - option." (Hat tip to @steffeG for the find and translation.)
One has to wonder whether or not Jakob Silfverberg’s expressed desires to play one more season in the SEL has weighed on Mika’s thoughts.
One Twitter follower (@Robert_Bochert) asked us whether we can attribute Zibanejad's comments to "just being a kid".
I wouldn't necessarily chalk it up to immaturity or some veiled threat that it’s Ottawa or bust. Like the aforementioned Silfverberg, I’m confident that Zibanejad exhibits some degree of loyalty towards his SEL club. Of course when the alternative to playing in the SEL is a long season filled with long bus rides, short rests between games and possibly bunking with Francis Lessard, it’s difficult to argue with his decision. (Note: Thanks to our readers for passing along the Being Francis Lessard blog link to us. With that and the Cory Clouston Fashion Review, there are two new and quality additions to the Senators blogosphere that people should check out regularly.)
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It took me a while to put my finger on it. I could sense a change but I wasn't quite sure how to identify it. I knew it was something I had not felt since my preteen years when the Senators were just a young pup fresh from the litter. The Senators were runts in a league of purebreds but they were now our runts and I would support them through thick and thin. I now had a hometown team and the men who wore the red, black and white quickly became my heroes. Gone were the sporting allegiances handed down from my father, who was also quick to convert, and in were new faces of the men who represented my city. I grew up cheering for a team of castaways, underdogs and guys who never gave up. It took a lot of guts to play for those Senators teams in the early 90's. I gravitated towards the lunch pail players, guys who tried their best to make up for whatever deficiency in skill with hard work and being a good teammate. Darren Rumble, Darcy Loewen and Mike Peluso were my favourite players. They remained that way for years.
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As one of Ottawa’s few remaining RFAs, it was only a matter of time before Bobby Butler joined the likes of Zach Smith, Colin Greening and Erik Condra and inked a one-way contract of his own.
I’m rehashing a bit here but Butler’s contract negotiations were never really in question. Bryan Murray had already quelled any concerns by stating that if the Senators and Butler could not agree on the terms of a negotiated extension, Butler would accept the team’s qualifying offer.
So here we are…
The Senators have announced that the 24-year old Butler has agreed to a 2-year, one-way contract and he’ll likely be given every opportunity to play alongside Jason Spezza on the team’s first line. In 36 games for the Senators last year, Butler had some offensive success putting up 11 goals and 10 assists.
There’s no question that Butler has a NHL-release but he needs to take advantage of it. The problem with Butler is that, unlike some of the aforementioned forwards who’ve graduated from Binghamton, if Butler isn’t contributing offensively, he’s not contributing in other facets of the game.
With a +/- of -16 in those 36 games played, Butler was well on pace to eclipse Nick Foligno and Daniel Alfredsson for the worst mark (-19) on the team amongst forwards. (Note: keep in mind that Butler played the bulk of his games towards the end of the season when the team was actually winning games and getting good goaltending. With a per game pace of -0.444, had Butler played a full 82-game schedule, he would have ended up with a -36 rating.)
This two year contract will provide a good window of opportunity for him to prove his worth. By then, other prospects should be biting at his heels and the organization should have some semblance for whether or not they want to move forward with or without him.
Update: 12:36pm
Looking at Butler's +/-, his actual -16 isn't as offensive as I was led to believe and is a bit misleading. In his first 8 game sample size (4 games in December and 4 in January during two separate recalls), Butler was a horrifically bad -9.
That being said, I still maintain that Butler's play away from the puck needs some refinement.
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The dog days of summer – a time when our hockey appetites cannot be wetted by news that Cody Bass has moved on or that Chris Neil has been appointed as the new honorary chair of Roger’s House or that Mike McKenna is taking pictures with ugly Senators garb at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Sure, I can laugh hysterically at Stan Fischler referring to the newest Maple Leaf, Tim Connolly, as Syracuse’s gift to the NHL but even that doesn’t last for long.
(Sigh.)
It’s times like this when the mind starts to wander and think of hockey inanities. For example, just this morning I was wondering whether or not the employees of Rogers Sportsnet and HNIC ever fuck with Doug MacLean or Mike Milbury at the office.
Do these employees go into work each day hoping that they'll be able to trade food like a couple of kids on the playground to test these failed GMs' negotiation skills?
I could envision the conversations going something along these lines:
“Hey Milbury, I'll give you cup of yogurt for that Fruit Rollup, Sprite and that can of peaches. Sorry? No, my thumb isn't strategically placed over the expiration date.
No I won’t let you see it!
{...}
What? You’ll still do the deal? Great!”
Fortunately, there was this afternoon's announcement that Mika Zibanejad had inked a 3-year entry-level contract with the organization. A 1.9M$ annual caphit (bonuses included) per Sweden's Aftonbladet.
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During our most recent podcast interview, Tim asked Mika Zibanejad about the details surrounding his Swedish Elite League (SEL) contract and whether or not there was an NHL imposed deadline that an entry-level contract would have to be signed by thereby allowing him to play in the NHL season.
To his credit, Mika admitted he wasn't familiar with the particulars of his SEL deal but thanks to a blog post written Tom Gulitti earlier today that discusses the situation involving the New Jersey Devils and Swedish defensive prospect Adam Larsson, we now have some clarity regarding the negotiations.
From Gulitti's Fire & Ice:
According to the transfer agreement the NHL has with European teams through the IIHF, if Larsson, who was selected fourth overall last month, is not signed before 5 p.m., Friday, the Devils would have to pay his Swedish Elite League team, Skelleftea, $100,000 to be able to sign him before 5 p.m. Aug. 15. If he is not signed before 5 p.m. on Aug. 15, Larsson would have to fulfill the remaining year on his contract with Skelleftea.
So there you have it. Bryan Murray has to sign Zibanejad to an ELC before 5:00 pm this Friday or else they are faced one of two consequences:
1) They would have to pay a $100,000 fee to Djurgarden so that they can negotiate with Zibanejad until August 15th; or
2) If they cannot come to agree to terms by this week's deadline or by Friday, August 15th, Zibanejad will be spending the next season in the SEL.
Fin.
UPDATE @ 5:30 pm:
Thanks to steffeG (@steffeG) for pointing out that in accordance with the NHL/SEL transfer agreement, the $100,000 fee would be paid on top of the $225,000 that is always posted for SEL players when they sign their first NHL contract.
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