During last night's Memorial Cup semi-final Eugene Melnyk made this television appearance during one of the intermissions and threw out June 10th as potential date for when we can expect a new Senators head coach to be in place. As unnerving as it is for those in the anti-Cameron camp to hear that the Mississauga bench boss has The Euge's vote and support, the possibility still exists that Bryan Murray could somehow talk the Senators owner out of the idea.

Now that's not to discredit what Cameron's done in his career. Aside from superficially judging his track record in "big games", my familiarity with Cameron's coaching style is limited and it would be unfair for me to comment on whether or not he is the best fit for Ottawa. So while Cameron does have his detractors, overage defenceman Marc Cantin did have some positive things to say about his coach, “He’s probably going to get some bad attention in the media, because of the world junior stuff,” said Cantin, the 21-year-old rock-solid defenceman who was named the tournament’s most sportsmanlike player. “But I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s an unbelievable coach. There’s a reason why he was the coach of Team Canada. There’s a reason why he’s going to coach in the NHL.”

For me personally, I'm not as uncomfortable with the possibility of a Cameron hire as I am with seeing this as an extension of The Euge's influence over the hockey ops decision making. As fans, we've already grown accustomed to his purported influence over matters like the Alexei Kovalev signing or the decision to inherit a lesser return so that Mike Fisher could go to Nashville. In consideration of how ill advised these moves have been, whether Melnyk decides to reward Cameron's loyalty is going to be an intriguing development to watch.

To end the Cameron blurb on a positive note: at least Don Brennan can save some time by re-using his Ottawa Race Weekend headline in the event that Cameron does get hired.

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According to the Sporting News, Dean Lombardi dropped this bombshell on Dustin Penner:

“Dustin is at the crossroads of his career,” Lombardi wrote in an email to Sporting News. “He can choose to use his athletic ability to either become a dominant power forward in the National Hockey League or be a dominant number four hitter for the El Cid Lounge in a men’s softball league — the choice is his.”

Not only is that a hilarious quote, it's even more hilarious that it came from the same management team that proverbially thumped its chest for doing the due diligence on Dany Heatley. Who could ever forget the way in which the Kings publicly denounced the reputation of a player who wasn't a part of their organization and consequentially lowered his market value?

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So it's been awhile since we've published one of these but Ben from Omaha sent us a drunk rant that's worthy of a post itself. I highly encourage everyone to send us emails/tweets/comments whenever the opportunity presents itself.

I have posted Ben's email below in its entirety but have broken it up a bit to input my own comments (which will be in bold). Here we go...

Hey guys, I'm wanting to ask a question about defense. There is so much talk about drafting an offensive player this year at least it seems to be from what i get from you guys.

I wouldn't necessarily say that this is the case. When talking with Sam Cosentino on Episode 43 of The 6th Sens Podcast, I explicitly said that I was intrigued at the possibility of moving the Nashville pick up to draft a physical defensive defenceman and mentioned Duncan Siemens as an example. I think most of the intrigue around selecting some gifted and toolsy offensive talent is because the organization has a slew of forward depth that projects as third or fourth line guys. Sure, maybe one or two of the prospects in Ottawa's current collection of prospects can pan out and develop into first or second line player -- names like Butler, Silfverberg and Peterssen stand out -- but there are no assurances and there isn't as much pedigree.

My thoughts are that defense is always disrespected  by our organization. we have let go of Chara over Redden we let go of Meszaros we let Volchenckov go. should we maybe draft defensive players? Karlsson really isnt that good when you look at his numbers, i mean he had a productive year offensively on a bad team. He is small and weak on the puck, i think Brian Lee is stronger on the puck than he is and that does not say alot. he can move the puck I cannot deny that but he also had numerous turnovers that were horrible. I have grown up playing soccer here in Omaha under the mentality that offense wins games but defense ins championships and as much as i try to disagree with that, i cant dent that it is true. bottom line; is this something we should be looking at or do you think that offense is what we need.

Was defence disrespected by the Senators organization? I don't think so. Did they make some heinously egregious player personnel decisions and err in their asset manegement? You fucking bet.

Did the organization's mistreatment of Marian Hossa cause Chara to think twice about re-signing? Or was it the local media's perception that Chara's broken wrist and poor play against a smaller and faster Buffalo Sabres meant that he wasn't built for the obstructionless "new NHL" that pressured the team into retaining Redden - a valuable member of the community - instead? Or maybe as Jason York once insinuated, Chara simply looked at the likes of Alfie, Fisher, Phillips and Redden and saw obstacles that blocked his desire to take on a bigger leadership role?

Meh. (Don't get me wrong. It. Fucking. Sucked.) It was probably a combination of all three factors but ultimately, I've moved on. Every Sens fan should get over this already. I'd even argue that the Andrej Meszaros mishandling was perhaps a bigger kick in the nuts than the Chara decision because the organization failed to maximize on his value. As one of the youngest players on a Senators team that had been a perennial playoff contender, Tampa overvalued his worth and was threatening to offer sheet Meszaros. As such, one would have assumed that Tampa Bay's own first round pick would have been the centerpiece of any trade negotiations. However, Ottawa's management team talked itself into taking the lesser of Tampa's first round picks (the acquired San Jose first rounder that projected as a late pick) if it meant that the team could receive NHL-ready talent in Filip Kuba and Alexandre Picard.

The decision to let Volchenkov go made sense after the cost/benefit analysis was done. With a ton of mileage on his body, it wasn't prudent to give max dollars and term to a defensive shot-blocking defenceman who couldn't move the puck. But naturally, the Senators organization overlooked the same criteria before signing Chris Phillips - an older player with more mileage. Was it a hypocritical move designed to keep a career Senator player and good community guy in the fold? That's for you to decide.

I think what we've seen is a philisophical shift in how the Senators value their defencemen. Judging by the signings, trades and drafts, it's somewhat obvious that management values puck possession and a quick transition game that starts with puck movement from the back end.

also i still cannot login to this fuckin website. i love the website and podcast but the iphone app is pretty weak.

My apologies...

let me know what you think is the best draft pick we can have.

The first overall pick. No one remembers number two.

living where i live i dont get the news you do but i see every game and sometimes my thoughts are completely different than yours the biggest is Nick Folingo, i think that we need to keep him and work with him he to me is easily a 2nd line center depending who is in  front of him.

Maybe you're right. Maybe he could turn into a second line player. Personally, I think the odds are against him and it'd be smarter to parlay him (in a package that nets a player who has more offensive upside) while people, like yourself, still think that he has that second line potential.

oh yeah im also a little drunk listeing to the most recent podcast typing dont diss the misspellings you dirty motherfuckers!

Thanks for plugging the podcast. Do we sound better when you're drunk?

In refrence to college hocket here in the states there are 2 players on Bemidji state that i would love to have on the Senators, Jamie Macqueen and Matt Read, i dont know if you will any access to check them out but i saw them play many time this season and they are solid, the both have awesome hands and can skate very well, offensivly they, to me woulf be better than Butler.

I'm unfamiliar with either player but if any NHL team signs either player, I urge you to email back and I will give you due credit. But better than Butler? I doubt it. Even if they were better hockey players, they couldn't be better than Butler on the principle that neither have Butler's awesome Mayor Quimby'esque Massachusetts accent.

Again guys let me know what you think because living in Omaha and being a huge fan of the Sens I go off what i see in games and the internet and you and we seem to have headds and tails on opinions sometimes these are some points that I would like you to tell me your thoughts on. last thing; i dont care if it is a re-building year i want the cup every year.

Contention in sports is cyclical. Accept it and you'll be better for it.

Sorry last thing, i was watching the Vancouver Sharks series and couldnt help but wonder what if..... what if Dany Heatly came back. would he? would he be accepted? would he?  and if he did do you think he would pay back the Euge the bonus he got by holding out. just thoughts?

Dany can't bring himself to shave his terrible hair. I doubt he could bring himself to come back and play in Ottawa. (Especially now that he's in a comfortable warm-weather locale where he can play in relative anonymity.) In regards to the Euge's bonus, I think a user on Hfboards or Hfbroads put it best (and I'm paraphrasing here), "To pay Heatley's bonus, Eugene should have emptied a dump-truck filled with pennies onto his Kelowna lawn."

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Now that Dany Heatley and his San Jose Sharks have been eliminated from this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, it's become vogue around the nation's capital to grab a shovel and heap excrement on the two-time 50 goal scorer. And after the manner in which Dany left town, who could blame us? Most Senators fans would need some aggressive form of electroshock therapy to refrain from using each and every opportunity to poke fun at Heatley's expense.

The latest trend though is that many seem to be revisiting the Heatley trade itself and are questioning whether or not the Senators actually won the trade. In an entertaining read over at Senators Extra, James Gordon came to the conclusion that maybe this trade wasn’t the clear San Jose victory we once thought it was.

Rather then pen some new article that looks at the Heatley trade now, let's revisit what I wrote on the day that Dany Heatley's trade request was leaked to TSN. The article entitled Oh Dany Boy was published on June 9th, 2009 and I've posted it again below but with footnotes.
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Like any other Senators fan who has spent some time browsing around the interwebs or listening to pundits describe this year's NHL Entry Draft, there doesn't seem to be that much of a separation in talent between the projected top few picks and the players who may be available when Ottawa selects sixth.

Looking at Ottawa's potential pick from a needs perspective, with all apologies to Nick Foligno and Peter Regin, this organization lacks some high-ceiling top six talent and probably will draft a forward. (Maybe Jakob Silfverberg can do his part to fill that void. Time will tell.) Assuming that the team selects whomever is left over from Landeskog, Huberdeau, Couturier or Strome, I'm not really too concerned or bothered by the consequences. In some ways, this draft is somewhat reminiscent of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft that featured a glut of defencemen - Zach Bogosian, Luke Schenn, Alex Pietrangelo and Tyler Myers - who were projected to go once Stamkos and Doughty were off the board. And much like a few of the forwards in this year's crop, there was much uncertainty as to the order in which these players would be selected. Case in point: check out Hockey Prospectus' Top 100 NHL Draft Prospects List. (Note: Joining us on the next podcast will be Hockey Prospectus' Corey Pronman.)

As we've seen, of the defencemen drafted early in the first round round -- Bogosian (3rd) and Schenn (5th) -- stepped into the league right away as 18-year olds for the 2008-09 campaign, Myers (12th) followed suit for the next season and Pietrangelo (4th) didn't become a regular until 2010-11. Ironically, one could probably even make the argument that Myers has one of the highest ceilings out of these aforementioned young blueliners. So while it is fun to pay attention to the various prognostications, I think it's important to trust the process and management to come up with a player who can put help this team in the future - regardless of whether it's one, two or three seasons down the road.

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Between the NHL playoffs, the Calder and Memorial Cups and Bryan Murray's recent signings, we've somehow managed to put together enough material for another podcast episode. Joining us on the program this week to talk about playoff hockey and his Off-Season Game Plan for the Ottawa Senators is TSN's Scott Cullen. You can check out Scott's game plan here and I highly recommend that you follow him on Twitter as well - @TSNScottCullen.

As always, you can subscribe/download/stream the episode or check out the entire catalogue of episodes from Itunes. You can also download the file by right-clicking and saving this file or 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.

Note: In the editing process, recognized that I said the 2009 draft class when referencing the year that Doughty/Bogosian/Schenn/Pietrangelo. It was 2008's class, not '09's.

Tracklist: The Black Keys Tighten Up; Bass Drum of Death Young Pros; The Replacements Someone Take The Wheel; and The Megaphonic Thrift Candy Sin.

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UPDATE: According to Capgeek, Greening's 3-year deal comes at a cap hit of $816.667k per season and Smith's 2-year deal comes in at $700k per season.

Bryan Murray and the Senators organization announced this afternoon that forwards Zach Smith and Colin Greening have signed contract extensions that will keep both players in Senators jerseys for the foreseeable future. It's been a busy 24 hours Smith's hands. Besides putting his name on a new contract, he used them to set up Ryan Keller's game winning/series clinching OT goal that sent Binghamton to the Calder Cup Finals.

While the financial details have not been released yet, Greening was in the last year of his entry-level deal that paid him $850k at the NHL level and Smith's paid him $583.333k. Although I don't anticipate seeing either player earn a significant raise, both were rewarded with one-way contracts that will ensure a NHL salary and that their days of shuttling between Binghamton and Ottawa are over.

With a long list of impending RFAs -- Bobby Butler, Roman Wick, Erik Condra, Ryan Potulny, Cody Bass, Kaspars Daugavins and Geoff Kinrade -- Murray made two of his more obvious offseason decisions. Both players have not only been vital to the Binghamton Senators' Calder Cup push, they played some significant roles for Ottawa down the stretch. In 24 games with the parent club, Greening showed some surprising offensive flair while playing alongside Jason Spezza - tallying 6 goals and 7 assists -- and was one of the few players who had a positive plus/minus rating by the end of the season. Conversely, in Smith's 55 games played, he excelled as more of an energy guy -- racking up 120 PIMs and 129 hits -- who displayed some modest offensive upside (4 goals, 5 assists).

As easy as it will to watch the organization purge itself of some lethargic veteran shitbags and get caught and excited about watching young players like Greening and Smith excel at the NHL level, their success does have a cautionary tale. Like some of the other aforementioned players that Bryan Murray will have to eventually re-sign this summer, due to the infancy of their NHL careers, neither Smith (23) or Greening (25) are as young as you may have been led to believe. As such, from a development standpoint, one has to wonder how much more room for growth and improvement both players can actually have. (Note: this age factor is why I'm absolutely ecstatic to see the success that Binghamton is having. It's one thing for that organization to have sustained success featuring a veteran laden lineup and some fringe prospects and it's another to see success while its two high-profile teenage prospects - Cowen and Lehner - flourish in their roles.)

Listening to Bryan Murray talk about today's signings, the organization seems optimistic that both players can continue to improve and contribute. I can only hope that fans can temper their expectations based off this year's small sample size of success.

You can listen to Murray comment below:



Memorial Cup Draft Eligible Prospects

Before I forget, for all of those junior hockey fans who will watch the 2011 Mastercard Memorial Cup, I put together a small list of draft eligible players who people should keep an eye on. Based off of Central Scouting's recent report, here's the list:

#	Player	Team	League	Birthdate	Height	Weight	POS	Sh.	GP	G	A	P	PIM
3	HUBERDEAU, JONATHAN	SAINT JOHN	QMJHL	04-Jun-1993	6' 1.25"	170	C	L	67	43	62	105	88
5	BEAULIEU, NATHAN	SAINT JOHN	QMJHL	05-Dec-1992	6' 1.75"	174	D	L	65	12	33	45	52
15	PHILLIPS, ZACK	SAINT JOHN	QMJHL	28-Oct-1992	6' 1.0"	178	C	R	67	38	57	95	16
20	JURCO, TOMAS	SAINT JOHN	QMJHL	28-Dec-1992	6' 2.0"	187	RW	L	60	32	25	56	17
44	OKE, SCOTT	SAINT JOHN	QMJHL	16-Mar-1993	6' 2.5"	185	LW	R	54	5	5	10	15
47	TESINK, RYAN	SAINT JOHN	QMJHL	21-May-1993	5' 11.0"	157	C	L	59	8	27	35	38
53	PERCY, STUART	ST. MIKE’S	OHL	18-May-1993	6' 0.5"	186	D	L	64	4	29	33	50
63	CRAMAROSSA, JOSEPH	ST. MIKE’S	OHL	26-Oct-1992	6' 0.25"	188	C	L	59	12	20	32	101
84	FRITSCH, ANDREW	OWEN SOUND	OHL	24-Mar-1993	6' 0.0"	187	RW	R	60	28	35	63	18
87	CUTTING, KEEVIN	OWEN SOUND	OHL	22-Sep-1992	6' 1.25"	180	D	L	68	2	14	16	61
92	BOURRET, GABRIEL	SAINT JOHN	QMJHL	09-Oct-1992	6' 0.0"	173	D	R	63	8	25	33	72
94	KELLY, AIDAN	SAINT JOHN	QMJHL	15-Feb-1993	6' 1.25"	190	C	L	49		4	10	22
121	DEMELO, DYLAN	ST. MIKE’S	OHL	01-May-1993	6' 0.0"	196	D	R	67	3	24	27	70
124	CAMERON, JASON	SAINT JOHN	QMJHL	05-Mar-1993	5' 10.75"	170	C	L	46	3	4	7	22
170	NEIBRANDT, JOHNATHAN	KOOTENAY	WHL	09-Oct-1992	6' 4.75"	187	D	L	65	1	4	5	42
188	DIRK, JAGGER	KOOTENAY	WHL	04-May-1993	6' 0.0"	180	D	L	71	5	15	20	46

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With a roster that’s largely comprised of relatively young unknowns, I used to think that it would be prudent for the Senators to use Twitter as a marketing/promotional tool that could introduce these players to the public and give the fans an opportunity to get to know them and associate with them on some broader level.

Unfortunately the social networking tool is not without a few negative tradeoffs that have given me grounds to revisit my original stance...

Sporadic is the word that best characterizes the accounts of more than a few particular players. For others, their messages are bland and demonstrate an inability or unwillingness to engage or respond to their fans in an entertaining way. And then there’s the most recent fad that involves players re-tweeting (RT) the messages of the fans that pull at the heartstrings of their favourite players in hopes that their message will be read and re-tweeted. Naturally, the phenomenon is made systemically worse when the successful re-tweets only encourage others to try and get in on the RT action.

Yesterday it got so bad that I sarcastically tweeted, “So my dog has leprosy and can no longer walk to the vet on her own, can I get a RT?”

It was at that time that I had an epiphany – why not create a list of cynical tweets that could be sent to the real Twitter accounts of the NHL community? Collaborating with Tim, we used Joe Yerdon's already comprised list of players featured on Twitter in conjunction with Twitter's search function and put together this piece.

Without further ado...

 

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With a bevy of picks in the first few rounds, every Senators fans' eyes are looking forward towards the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in Minnesota. For a few weeks now, we've been promising some interviews with individuals who have their thumbs on the pulse of how this draft could shake out so hopefully this episode will satiate your thirst for prospect knowledge.

Joining us on the program this week are Rogers Sportsnet's junior hockey analyst Sam Cosentino and Gus Katsaros the pro scouting coordinator for McKeen's Hockey. Starting on Friday night, you can catch Sam on Sportsnet throughout the 2011 Mastercard Memorial Cup and you can read Gus' work over at McKeen's Hockey. If you have Twitter, I'd highly recommend giving Gus (@katshockey) a follow as well.

And as a special treat for Tim and for anyone who's been a fan of the Canadian punk scene, closing out the podcast is Tim's interview with D.O.A.'s Joe Keithley that tackles the Canucks playoff run, Sudden Death Records and an old Soul Asylum video. We highly recommend giving Joe a follow on Twitter (@DOAJoe) and checking out the two must-have limited edition re-releases of Hardcore 81 on blue wax and Something Better Change on translucent green wax. You can also pre-order Joe's new book Talk - Action = 0: An Illustrated History of D.O.A. off of Amazon.

As always, you can subscribe/download/stream the episode or check out the entire catalogue of episodes from Itunes. You can also download the file by right-clicking and saving this file or 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.

Tracklist: The Rural Alberta Advantage Stamp; Fu Manchu Hell On Wheels; Elton John Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting; The Hanson Brothers The Hockey Song; and Golden Dogs Darkroom.

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After publishing my thoughts on a hypothetical Rick Nash trade scenario proposed by one of our Twitter followers, another follower (@mothballsuitor) asked us today whether San Jose Sharks forward Devin Setoguchi is worth acquiring.

If you're familiar with our podcasts and written work, you've inevitably heard or read about our takes on the type(s) of player that Bryan Murray should be targeting in the offseason. If you haven't, I'll reiterate our point of view: with a lack of top six forward talent in the system, it might be within Ottawa's best interests to look into inexpensive, young players that have pedigree and may have struggled or underachieved in their roles elsewhere. In the past, I've thrown out names like TJ Oshie and Kyle Turris before but I suppose Setoguchi is another similar player who fits the criteria.

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