One of our devoted Twitter followers (@Robert_Lennox) posed the question to us yesterday, Rundblad, 2011 Sens first, 2011 Sens second and Michalek for Nash. Nash and Spezza in Ottawa. Value is there would you consider?
The reasoning behind Robert's suggestion was straightforward: the team needs a top winger to play with Spezz. If Nash were available I'd entertain an asking price. weve seen what we can do with 1 line. Sometimes the market doesn't wait. If you have the chance to do it you do it when you can. Don't wait and hope for down the road. There isn't necessarily a market now, but I wouldn't say "no because the timing is wrong" I'd say yes gimme Nash and Spezza!
Like Robert, I'm sure many of you have noticed how well Jason Spezza has fared in the tournament - in 7 games played; Jason had 4 goals and 3 assists. Albeit, I think this is a classic case of Rick Nash Sydrome - a phenomenon that makes one long for a particular player or players because a member of your favourite is having some significant individual success now that he's surrounded by some legitimate talent. And although it seems unlikely that the Columbus Blue Jackets would ever consider trading the only feather in Doug MacLean's cap, I'll entertain this discussion because there's nothing like some hypothetical rosterbation to pass the time.
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Had I not paid exorbitant gas prices to fill up my gas tank or spent the better part of last night in the Queensway Carleton ER waiting room, Scott Cullen's suggestion that Daniel Alfredsson be put on the trade block would otherwise be the craziest thing I've seen this week.
While I was waiting at the hospital, some 20-something walked up to the registry and had the following exchange with the nurse behind the desk:
Nurse: Do you need to see a doctor?
Guy: Yeah, I was stabbed.
Nurse: With what?
Guy: I don't know, some guy did it.
Guy? Judging by where he was wounded - in the area of the leg just below the knee - it looked like he was attacked by a dwarf or a hobbit from the fellowship of the ring.I digress...
So TSN's Scott Cullen wrote that Alfie should be on the trade market as part of his off-season game plan for the Ottawa Senators. Under normal circumstances, with Ottawa being a rebuilding team, it would make sense for the organization to listen to any inquiries involving a veteran player who likely won't be around by the time the team is ready to contend for a Stanley Cup. But, (and this is a big but) this is Daniel Alfredsson that we're talking about here. The face. The icon. A man who made wearing a JOFA helmet fashionable and has spent his entire career playing for the Senators. With The Euge coming out on the Fan 590 and reiterating that he will never be dealt, there's not much else that needs to be said.
While I can understand the principle of Cullen's suggestion, it's not even like Alfie's trade value would be that high right now. Having played only 54 games the season before, based off of what I've heard from a few sources, there's absolutely no certainty that the 38-year old captain will even be able to play next season.
Unlike some other Ottawa-centric blogs like Sens Chirp that have focused on Sens specific stuff or whether Carrie Underwood still had her virginity when she married Mike Fisher, it's not too often that this blog partakes in spreading rumo(u)rs. Besides joking that Sens Chirp is really Glenn Kulka or correctly asserting that Jared Cowen would make his NHL debut against the Tampa Lightning on April 8th, 2010, I've shied away from posting them. That's not to say that we don't get our share of emails from people claiming to have some inside knowledge of the Senators circle, we do. It's just that as often is the case, it's difficult to separate the BS from the stuff that's worth a damn. (Note: Of course, it doesn't I mean, if we had to characterize the Murray regime, one of things that you could say is that most of his deals -- Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, etc. -- have come out of left field and surprised the hell out of us.)
So take it for what it's worth but from two completely different sources, I've heard that it's not so much of a bone issue as it is a muscle/nerve problem that causes him significant discomfort. According to one source, Alfie can't even walk down a flight of stairs without losing feeling in his leg.
Quick Hits:
- Jonathan Huberdeau's Saint John Sea Dogs won game five of the the QJMHL finals last night taking a 3-1 series lead over the Gatineau Olympiques. According to Wayne Scanlan, Bryan Murray was in attendance and because the game almost went into a third overtime, he definitely had an extended look at Huberdeau - a player who might be available when the Senators make their sixth overall selection.
- One of the interesting statistics that Scott Cullen mentioned his aforementioned piece detailed how Jesse Winchester's shooting percentage of 2.9% over the last three seasons is third-worst among all NHL forwards to have played at least 100 games (ahead of only the Penguins' Craig Adams and Rangers' Derek Boogaard) in that time.
- Sens Chirp and the RSU have collaborated with Ultimate Tours to provide Sens fans with another opportunity to catch the Binghamton Senators play in their Eastern Conference Final against the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday, May 21st. If you're interested, you can reserve your seat by clicking this link.
Thanks to Nashville's loss last night, as others (here and here) have pointed out, the order of Ottawa's draft selections has essentially been finalized. In addition to their 6th overall selection, the acquired Nashville first rounder slots in at the 21st spot and the conditional compensation gives the Senators Nashville's 3rd round pick in 2012. Interestingly, the fetched return is identical to what the Maple Leafs received from the Flyers for Kris Versteeg. Maybe it could have been more (angrily shaking fist at Melnyk), but as Kurtis Blow once said, these are the breaks.
For the savvy asset management conscious Senators fans (bless all of you), once the Predators made the playoffs, the ideal scenario played itself out for Ottawa- the Preds won one round so the Senators received an additional draft pick and since Nashville lost in the second round, it prevented the aforementioned 1st rounder from devaluing itself too much. And as an added bonus for Kiss FM listeners, the loss ultimately caused Carrie Underwood to shed some tears.
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With the Binghamton Senators series against the Charlotte Checkers not starting until Thursday night, the next few days should be fascinating to watch unfold. Maybe Radek Bonk can join Twitter and we can all pretend to get excited that another Senators third liner uses the social networking tool. (Wait, Radek Bonk has joined Twitter! Or is this the same person who once suited up for the Senators? How many Radek Bonks can there be in the world? Why are his tweets protected? Did he take Jacques Martin's philosophy on protecting leads and apply them to Twitter? Argh!)
Anyways, here's some stuff that is floating around the Interwebs during this offseason lull...
International Tournament News
Alright, I'll make a confession here - I think the IIHF World Championship Tournament is useless. I don't understand why anyone would care about a tournament that doesn't feature the best players that the world has to offer. Despite what Ovechkin tweets, it's more of an exercise in NHL guilt by European players, "Sorry for not playing in my domestic league. Here are 6 games worth of international service to remind you that I'm still a national."
Why would I want to watch the best players that the worst NHL teams have to offer? It's bad enough that I have to suffer from Rick Nash Syndrome while watching Ottawa's best player, Jason Spezza, thrive whiled surrounded by talent on Canada's first line but Milan Michalek should have spent the offseason in a protective bubble instead of suffering an injury at the hands of Russia's Yegveni Artyukhin.
Here's a video of the hit:
According to an IIHF press release, the directorate chairman of the 2011 IIHF World Championship, IIHF President René Fasel, called on Monday at noon for the disciplinary panel to review the hit and upon further review the disciplinary panel decided not to issue any further supplementary disciplinary action.
Fasel and the panel may not have consulted with Colin Campbell but as Puck Daddy's Sean Leahy pointed out via Twitter, they just proved even panels (sans Fasel) make just as bad decisions as solitary decision-markers.
Next Coach?
Eric McCarthy of the Journal Pioneer tackled the predictable and lazy rumo(u)rs that Dave Cameron might be the next head coach of the Ottawa Senators:
The script to what happens after the Memorial Cup still hasn’t been written, but some sports writers and commentators are suggesting Cameron is worthy of consideration as the Ottawa Senators’ next head coach. The NHL team fired Cory Clouston immediately following the Senators’ final regular-season game on April 9.
Cameron, who was mentioned as a possible replacement even before Clouston received his pink slip, is taking it all in stride. He said a few reporters have asked him about the possibility of an Ottawa coaching job being added to his resumé.
For now, he insists, the OHL final, this weekend’s OHL draft and then the Memorial Cup are his immediate priorities.
“The hockey world is a rumour world and, certainly, with my connection and having worked with Mr. Melnyk here in Toronto and in Binghamton, your name gets added to the rumour thing,” Cameron said.
Eugene Melnyk owns both the Ottawa Senators and the Majors.
“I don’t want it to be a distraction for my team,” he said of the rumour mill. “Moving forward here, they have a lot at stake, so I’ve avoided it or downplayed it as best I can.
“But I’m no different than the players. I aspire to get to the National Hockey League. That’s always been a dream of mine as a coach, but it’s a hard league to get to. There are only 30 of those jobs in the world, and there are a lot of good coaches out there applying for them.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to get there, but at the end of the day I’m up to my neck here in some real good hockey and I’ll address that one when my season is over.”
Call it a gut instinct but a Cameron hire doesn't seem plausible because it just seems too convenient.
Anti-Avery Comments
In the last week, Sean Avery's advocacy ad for Human Rights Campaign's "New Yorkers for Marriage Equality Campaign" was released. If you haven't read Greg Wyshynski's take on Avery's advocacy, you should. He hit the nail on the head over at Puck Daddy...
Now, Avery is one of the most divisive players in the NHL because of his antics, and frequently called one of its most hated players. Rangers blog Blue Line Station worries that Avery's endorsement will somehow be used against him by critics: "You can bank on other fans trying to find a way to make this an example of him being 'classless.'" But that's a stretch.
First off, his is not the dissenting opinion nationally. The latest polls show a majority of Americans in favor of same-sex marriage, and that momentum has been building for the last year. It's also a winning issue in New York: HRC cites a Siena Research Institute poll finding 58-percent support for same-sex marriage, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo expects a bill that legalizes it to pass.
Secondly, it's inspiring to see an NHL player have an actual on-the-record opinion on something beyond frivolity. Hate the player, hate his politics … how many fans are going to sit there and condemn Avery for doing this? For speaking out? Isn't it nice to know at least some of these guys give a damn about something?
Granted, this is good business for Avery, too. They're his politics, but they're also part of his brand: Fashion, restaurants, whatever sort of commentary he enters into after his playing days. To say something off the cuff is different than a calculated effort to endorse a movement, at least for someone as well-known as Avery.
While Avery's actions have earned him some praise in the hockey community, one entity spoke out against what Avery stands for. Todd Reynolds of Uptown Sports Management, an agency that represents Professional Hockey players such as Andrew Brunette, Cody McCormick, Chris Neil, Mike Fisher and Carlo Colaiacovo, used the company's Twitter account to post the following:
Ignoring freedom of speech and the archaic viewpoint that is being taken, it's mind boggling that someone could lack the foresight to understand the implications of using the company's account to endorse a personal opinion that may not be reflective of the company's views or that of its clients.
According to its website, Uptown Sports Management claims to have spent more than twenty-five years representing clients with professionalism, honesty and integrity, and a commitment to integrity and representing players and their families 'the right way'.
I don't know what their idea of the right way is, but using such a public medium to convey an opinion that could offend people or their clients is shaping up to be a PR nightmare. After I passed the tweet along to Wyshynski and the story took on a life of its own, it eventually prompted a Reynolds appearance on TSN Radio 1050 and these follow up tweets:
To clarify. This is not hatred or bigotry towards gays. It is not intolerance in any way shape or form. I believe we are all equal...
But I believe in the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. This is my personal viewpoint. I Do not hate anyone.
From his radio appearance (via Puck Daddy):"... If Mike Fisher or any other client of ours agrees or disagrees, is of no consequence. Nor should they feel the need to comment on it. But I feel Sean Avery or any other player can comment on one side of the discussion ... why can I not comment on it as well?"
And this hilarious follow up in the National Post with Don Reynolds, Todd's father:“It’s sad. I mean, my personal position is that I do not support gay marriage, and I think it’s wrong, as well. It’s not politically correct to, I guess, give your opinion about a thing like that. It’s politically correct on the other side, for people to say, ‘sure, I support gay marriage.’ But the majority, I think, of Canadians would say that they don’t agree with gay marriage – that man and woman were created to be married, not man and man or man and horse, you know?”
In fairness to Don, I agree - you shouldn't be allowed to marry a horse. However, the ignorance of Todd's actions have put Uptown's clients in a precarious position. Sadly, if they refuse comment, they're inadvertently going to be painted with the same brush that now stains the company's reputation.
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Shortly before I left on vacation, Eugene Melnyk publicly demonstrated his loyalty towards Bryan Murray by announcing that his general manager inked an extension that will keep the Shawville native with the Senators for the next three years. While it may not have been the house cleaning that Jeffrey Simpson or other like-minded fans had envisioned a few short months ago, the Senators were quick to dismiss Cory Clouston, the bulk of the coaching staff, the VP of communications and the director of player services.
Were the firings warranted?
It depends on who you ask. Without being privy to the inside information and reasoning behind some of the decisions, it’s tough to formulate an educated opinion. However, if you asked former assistant coach Greg Carvel for his unbiased opinion...
"Since we traded (goalie) Brian Elliott away (Feb. 18), we had the No. 1 PK in the NHL," said Carvel. "We were over 90%, which is phenomenal. I don't feel like the media would ever write that story ... look at Ottawa's PK, they're tops in the league since this date, and they're doing it with young kids.
"Obviously, goaltending was the biggest part of it," added Carvel, who also gave credit to the work of Ryan Shannon, Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson, who he says is a "tremendous" penalty killer. But again, it just felt like when Brian Elliott was in the net, the whole team struggled. When Craig Anderson was in the net, the team did pretty well. That provided confidence for the whole group, whereas with Elliott there was almost no confidence because any and every shot had the possibility of going in."
On the same day that I received The Extra 2% as a belated birthday gift from my girlfriend, I had never been so conflicted. On one hand, she had picked up a book that I had asked for. And on the other, she later expressed how neat it was that The Tea Party, a shitty Canadian prog-rock band, might be reuniting. While I'll keep bugging her about some of her musical tastes, I have to admit, The Extra 2% is a pretty damned good read.
Authored by Jonah Keri, a Montreal born sportswriter who has written for FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, Bloomberg Sports, SI and ESPN, The Extra 2% is a New York Times bestseller that examines how the Tampa Bay Rays' infrastructure adopted Wall Street practices and philosophies and used them to operate their franchise. The result was a dramatic turnaround that saw the small market Rays make the ascent up the AL East standings and prevail over the Yankees and Red Sox in two of the past three seasons.
While reading Keri's book, there were a number of instances when I paused for reflection and drew parallels to the situation here with the Ottawa Senators. Too often I asked questions like, "I wonder if the are the Senators doing this?" or "Why aren't the Senators doing this?". The parallels that can be drawn and discussed when reading this book are countless.
Joining us on the podcast this week is Jonah Keri and with Tim, we discuss Jonah's book and some of these parallels. We also talk about the Montreal Canadiens, the introduction of sabermetrics in hockey and running long distances to catch the beginning of a drum solo. Thanks again to Jonah for coming on the podcast, we had a blast having you on.
For any of you who are a baseball fans or who love analysing the business and player personnel aspect of sports, you're going to enjoy reading this book. I highly recommend it. You can read more about Jonah and listen to his podcasts on his website. You can also follow Jonah on Twitter at @jonahkeri and you can order The Extra 2% from Amazon and Chapters. The Extra 2% is also available as an E-book via Kindle, Nook, or iBook.
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: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Last Days; The Teenagers The Streets of Paris; and The Idle Hands Socialite Death Squad.
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Let's face it: since Ottawa's regular season has ended, with the exception of what's going on in Binghamton right now, there's been sweet fuck all to discuss 'round these parts of late...
... Until now. Well, sort of. In his latest Dreger Report, TSN's Darren Dreger takes a look at the NHL's coaching carousel and mentions Pete DeBoer as a possible candidate for the vacant Senators head coaching position:
There are also some rumblings the Ottawa Senators have renewed interest in Peter DeBoer - who's currently an assistant coach with Team Canada at the World Hockey Championship.
So yeah, there it is. After some digging, it appears as though the rumblings originated as early as April 10th when Sun Media's Chris Stevenson tweeted:
The #panthers canned Pete DeBoer. He was favoured to get the #senators job before going to Florida. Gotta be a candidate for the #sens now.
Which prompted this short follow up tweet from Stevenson's colleague Steve Simmons:
If I'm Bryan Murray, I hire DeBoer today as coach of the Senators. DeBoer can coach. FLA had NO players to win with.
As much as it pains to do, I can't help it. I find myself nodding in agreement with what Simmons had to say. Please don't think less of me. Hear me out!!!
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When the Ottawa Senators regular season ended on April 9th and the AHL playoff eligible players were returned to Binghamton for their postseason push, I have to admit, unlike some other Sens fans, I wasn't too caught up with their playoff push. Don't get me wrong, it's important for the development of the young players to play in some meaningful games and have some success early in their professional careers. However, it's not like I was ever really concerned with the compete level of players like Erik Condra, Zavh Smith, Bobby Butler or Colin Greening since none of whom -- with the possible exception of Butler -- are ever expected to be frontline players for the Ottawa Senators. It didn't help that Ottawa's best prospect on the Bingo roster was relegated to backup duties behind Barry Brust, however, when the B-Sens were down 3-1 in their first round series against Manchester, my attitude changed completely.
Since that time, Lehner's put together a 5-game winning streak that capped the first round comeback over the Monarchs and staked Bingo to a 2-0 series lead in their second round matchup against Portland. Although Lehner and the B-Sens lost game three, the development, experience and success that the "goaltender of the future" is having right now is indispensable and impressive considering that injuries have contributed to a precariously thin blueline.
It's in light of these injuries that I look at the Spokane Chiefs WHL playoff status and wonder what's in store for Senators prospect Jared Cowen. Down by a margin of 3 games to 2, the Chiefs could be eliminated from the WHL Western Conference Finals tonight with a loss to the Portland Winterhawks.
It's been quite the season for Cowen and his Chiefs, a team that was picked by pundits to finish near the bottom of the standings.
“We were picked to be last and look where we are now,” offered defenseman Jared Cowen. “People didn’t think we were going to be very good, and none of us really forgot that all year.
“We’ve kept it in the back of our heads, even now.”
[...]
“I’d like to think I’m the kind of player who elevates his game at playoff time,” he said. “I guess every player does. There’s no excuses to play bad, for sure, if you’re that much closer to winning it all. I’ve won before and I want to do it again, for the rest of the guys who haven’t.” ~ Jared Cowen via The Spokesman Review
How do you like that nails quote from Cowen that exemplifies the kind of leadership that Ottawa brass loves? Not only has he noticeably elevated his game in the playoffs, he sounds like he's the kind of guy who's "good in the room". Regardless of tonight's outcome, it sounds like Cowen's development is headed in the right direction... however, I'd love to see this blue-chipper get the opportunity to play in some meaningful professional games and address one of Bingo's weaknesses.More Bloggy Goodness
Expect a podcast and article to be posted sometime in the next 24 hours.
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It's been a few weeks since we posted our podcast. Since that time, Bryan Murray's received an extension, Cory Clouston's and the rest of the coaching staff had their fate decided and Eugene Melnyk has revealed some more embarrassing quotes. Tim and I hit on all of these topics and throw in a few Francis Lessard barbs for good measure.
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 Flaming Lips The Wand; and BOAT Forever in Armitron.
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