For many hockey fans and members of the media, last night's game changed the way that they have perceived the Senators. There's a definite 'holy shit these guys are for real' attitude that is starting to permeate the news and the social media reactions. Having said that, with Ottawa in the thick of the playoff hunt, the importance of each of this team's final 39 games cannot be understated. For the first time in a long time, it feels like every coaching decision and lineup decision has significant far reaching ramifications.
Keeping this in mind, it is going to be interesting watching Paul MacLean monitor Craig Anderson's workload moving forward. Having played in 40 of the team's 45 games this season, Anderson's on an unsustainable pace. Not only has Anderson only played in more than 70 games once, this season's 40 games already represent the second most number of games that he's played in during one season. Yet, with Ottawa in the thick of the playoff hunt, playing Anderson has become somewhat of a necessity thanks to presence of a backup goaltender who cannot be relied upon to win games. no comments
This afternoon the NHL revealed the roster for the 2012 All-Star Game in Ottawa and there are more than a few things that are noteworthy:
1) In addition to the four Senators players who were voted into the starting lineup by the fans, forward Colin Greening was selected as one of twelve rookies to participate in the event's festivities.
2) Teemu Selanne and Niklas Lidstrom were not selected for the game. Cue the hysteria. (Note: Pierre Lebrun confirmed that Selanne informed his GM that he would politely decline the invitation if selected.)
3) Three former Senators -- Chara, Hossa, and Brian Elliott -- were selected for the game. Sorry fans, with Mikko Koivu representing the Minnesota Wild, there will be no Dany Heatley. Playing in an All-Star Game shouldn't be a big adjustment for Elliott. I'm pretty sure that he's used to giving up a lot of goals while playing behind a group that's playing some terrible defensive hockey. I just hope for his sake that these stimuli don't cause him breakdown and relapse. If anything, the Bruce Garrioch and Elliott reunion could prove to be the most entertaining subplot of the entire All-Star Game weekend.
4) Some influential hockey internet personalities like Greg Wyshynski were pushing for Alfredsson and Selanne to be the respective captains for the game. With Selanne declining to participate, finding an alternative should be interesting. For unintentional comedy purposes and to further the mystique of the Battle of Ontario, I hope that the league elects to name Kessel or Phaneuf instead.
5) Glad Capitals defenceman Dennis Wideman made the cut. Mind you, I'm in favor of anything that allows him him to relive this fantastic shootout effort:
Barring an injury, this is the roster that we can expect to see (note: I've bolded the names of the Senators and All-Star starters voted in):
ForwardsCorey Perry, Anaheim Ducks
Tyler Seguin, Boston Bruins
Jason Pominville, Buffalo Sabres
Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild
John Tavares, New York Islanders
Marian Gaborik, New York Rangers
Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
Milan Michalek, Ottawa Senators
Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators
Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks
Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
Phil Kessel, Toronto Maple Leafs
Joffrey Lupul, Toronto Maple Leafs
Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
Brian Campbell, Florida Panthers
Ryan Suter, Nashville Predators
Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
Dan Girardi, New York Rangers
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia Flyers
Keith Yandle, Phoenix Coyotes
Dion Phaneuf, Toronto Maple Leafs
Alex Edler, Vancouver Canucks
Dennis Wideman, Washington Capitals
Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets
Goaltenders
Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins
Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings
Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Brian Elliott, St. Louis Blues
12 Rookies
Luke Adam, Buffalo Sabres
Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes
Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche
Ryan Johansen, Columbus Blue Jackets
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton Oilers
Craig Smith, Nashville Predators
Adam Henrique, New Jersey Devils
Adam Larsson, New Jersey Devils
Colin Greening, Ottawa Senators
Sean Couturier, Philadelphia Flyers
Matt Read, Philadelphia Flyers
Cody Hodgson, Vancouver Canucks
The All-Star Fantasy Draft will take place at the Casino Lac Leamy on Thursday, January 26th at 8pm. The NHL Skills Competition takes place on Saturday, January 28th at 7pm and the All-Star Game itself takes place on Sunday, January 29th at 4pm. no comments
With the number of third period comebacks that the Senators have mounted when trailing after two periods, I thought the only people in Ottawa who fretted a deadline were the team’s beat writers. I was wrong.
According to Pierre Lebrun, after having a conversation with Bryan Murray this morning, the Senators’ GM indicated that he would be willing to make additions to his team.
Per ESPN:
"Yes, if we continue to get wins over the next month or so, you want to give your players the best chance you can," Murray said.
The overall plan hasn’t changed, this is still about long-term stability and building through youth. The Senators have more young players that will push for jobs next season, including world junior championship hero Mike Zibanejad.
But, if there’s something that can help the team that won’t cost too much before Feb. 27, the Senators might jump at it.
"I'd be wrong if I didn't think that some of these older guys on our team didn't deserve a chance to be helped going into the playoffs, if that's where we end up,'' Murray said.
Murray likes his blueline and said if he adds anything before the deadline, it’ll be up front.
"We’d probably be looking for a forward," Murray said.
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the first highlighted statement reflective of the same logic that preceded last season’s decision to rebuild? no comments
If you frequent these parts of the Interwebs often, you probably came across a post last week that mentioned the bittersweet nature of four Ottawa Senators being voted into the NHL All-Star Game. If you missed it, the context of the article was simple: while it's great to see the Senators fan base mobilize and accomplish something that it had set to do, the fact that Alfie was voted into the starting lineup essentially means that the All-Star Game will be used as a platform to eulogize his legacy with the Ottawa Senators.
Prior to going on CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning today (to listen to the interview, the audio is archived on the right-hand side of the page), I talked with my fellow Sens panelist off-air about the team's direction as it approaches the trade deadline. As the discussion bridged on what to do with some of the team's veterans, the topic of the looming expiration of the NHL's current CBA arose. Having used more than 2,000 words to break down the factors that will likely be on Bryan Murray’s mind when he weighs the decision to buy, sell or stand pat at the NHL trade deadline, the one factor that I didn’t consider in great detail was the possibility that my fellow panelist brought up in our conversation. If the NHL and NHLPA can’t come to a timely agreement on a new CBA, how big of an influence will this be on Alfie’s decision to retire or play beyond this season?
The knock on Ottawa coming into this season was the familiar refrain, “Where are the goals going to come from?”
Fourty-three games into the regular season, the answer is improbably simple: from the third period. After another come-from-behind victory in yesterday afternoon’s game, the Senators not only lead the league with six wins when trailing after two periods, they’re also the highest scoring third period team. It has helped to vault them into sole possession of fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
To head coach Paul MacLean’s credit, he’s pulling all of the right strings and this goes beyond simply electing to keep Alex Auld sitting at the end of his bench.
During one of the Hockey Central panel’s discussions last week, upon the announcement that Jason Spezza was named to the All-Star Game, one of the experts (I can’t remember which one) mentioned that Jason was having a bit of a bounce back season from last year. Admittedly, this was less of a baiting comment than TSN talking head Darren Dutchyntntntsn saying at the time that, “Jason Spezza is having a fine season so long as you don’t look at his plus/minus” or the Fan 590’s Greg Brady not listing Erik Karlsson amongst his top 10 picks if the 2008 NHL Entry Draft was redone today. (As an aside, at the time of Dutchy’s comment, Spezza was the benefactor of Ottawa’s goaltenders combining for a save percentage of .899 when he was on the ice. I guess some baiting Toronto media types just can’t help themselves when it was announced that four Ottawa Senators will comprise one-third of the 2012 All-Star Game’s starting lineup.)
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