Karlsson Mailbag
The day before Erik Karlsson was demoted to Binghamton, I had urged the readers to send in some emails regarding what to do with Karlsson. A number of readers responded to the call, here's what they had to say (my responses will be in bold):
Who do we have on the back end that can clap an accurate shot on the net like Karlsson? No one on the back end has the skills Karlsson does. Regarding size, he's managing and will continue to get better.
Murray will keep him here... I mean if we keep a guy like Randy Robitaille around for an entire season (who was useless). ~ Dylan
Murray will keep him here... I mean if we keep a guy like Randy Robitaille around for an entire season (who was useless). ~ Dylan
Ah, the Randy Robitaille defence. Why didn't I think of this? The possibilities for employing this strategy are endless. Alexandre Picard was -4 in one game? Big deal. If you can sit through a season of Randy Robitaille, you can endure this. Brilliant.
Sending him down (wherever) does do something more important though. It gets Lee up, Campoli playing with Kuba, and Picard stays up. Campoli with Kuba will excell, increasing his trade value. Karlsson will not outperform he, Lee or Picard this year, but likely will next year. So send him down to increase Campoli's trade value, then trade him. Let Lee and Picard battle for spot #6, then trade one of them. Campoli and Lee/Picard together, for example, would likely bring some good returns in the summer if they had decent years in the NHL this year. Then next year you get whatever returns they yield, and get Karlsson to replace Campoli as an upgrade, and Cowen to replace Lee/Picard as an upgrade. The defence next year looks like this:
Philips/Volch - Yowzaa!
Kuba/Karlsson - Woohooo!!
Cowen/Carkner - Holy sweet love of God!!
7th: Picard/Lee (who cares)
Murray could make those Campoli & Lee/picard trades yield some good offensive prospects or be part of a deal that brings in a wicked-awesome 2nd line centre. And still we would have Leclair/Elliot in net. This is a Cup contender for sure. I am so excited thinking about this that I could shit my pants. ~ Tim M.
I don't know if the city of Ottawa is ready yet for Brian Lee v.3.0. Has anyone's trade value been hurt more than Lee's in the past few years? I've always been a bit of Bryan Murray apologist, but one of the things that I've been critical of has been his regime's willingness to move some players when their value has been at its peak. Names like Schubert, Emery, Zubov, Kuba and Neil at last year's trade deadline and now possibly Lee are a few examples of guys who Ottawa didn't maximize value on. (Note: I don't think it's fair to list Alexandre Picard in this group because he was hurt for the bulk of last season and I don't think it's fair to gauge his play under Craig Hartsburg.)
I'm so excited thinking about this that I could shit my pants. Granted, that defence that you listed looks good on paper. However, it's important to keep in mind that Karlsson and Cowen will be rookies next season. Lauding them as a Cup contender might be just a tad premature.
I say keep him in Ottawa.
I would very much like to see how he does with Kuba, and I don't think the SEL will do much for him at this point. He might as well tough it out now. He has gotten better each game, and once he has a guy like Kuba at his side, he should be able to take bigger steps.
Plus I don't want to see Brennan or any of the other deadbeats over at the Ottawa Sun get something right. ~ Alan
Sens fans would rather see Karlsson stay up, just so that they can stick it to the Sun's journalists? Ladies and gentleman, your Ottawa Sun.
Karlsson should stay with the big club so long as he’s playing better than the available options. Right now, I think he is. With Kuba coming back, I draw up the Sens D-depth chart as follows:
1-3) Phillips/Volchenkov/Kuba (no need to argue about what order they go in)
4) Carkner
5) Campoli
6) Karlsson
7) Lee (based on pre-season as I haven't seen any Bingo games)
8) Picard
I’m not big on the need to coddle young players’ development, meaning, if Karlsson falls out of the top 6 send him to Bingo. If Picard or Lee start ripping it up, Karlsson hits the busses. To me, sending Karlsson down is giving Picard extra slack, if anyone should get more rope it's the hot-shot prospect. If it's a money move than it is what it is, but from a hockey stand point, don't like the move. ~ Isaac
Karlsson seems like he's victim of circumstance to a certain extent. When Filip Kuba went down with an injury, Karlsson was forced to play with Campoli. Did he outplay Campoli? It's subjective. But one of the things that Campoli did have over Karlsson was his one-way contract. Considering it's come to light that as long as Karlsson has played less than 10 games with the parent club, he'll be able to adjust to the North American game in Binghamton without losing a year off of his entry-level deal. It's a win-win scenario for Sens fans and because of the likelihood that Cowen and Karlsson are pencilled into next year's lineup, I'm already looking foward to the 2010-2011 season.
Mike Toth Is Gone From Sportsnet
Sportscaster Mike Toth has been let go by Rogers Sportsnet. The Saskatchewan native - who earlier had worked at TSN - has been a featured host for Sportsnet's Connected newscasts, but lately had been spending more time doing radio with The FAN 590 (also owned by Rogers) and posting to Sportsnet.ca. A network spokesman confirmed Tuesday that the veteran sportscaster had not had his contract renewed this week but declined further comment.
Which is a tactical way of saying we'd rather not answer more questions about Toth's . . . ahem, on-air adventures with candour. This past summer, for instance, the 46-year-old opined on The FAN 590 in the wake of the incident involving ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews, “This is going to sound harsh, but be that as it may, here it comes: There are no female sportscasters that I can think of that have more knowledge than their male counterparts.”
The comment unleashed a minor torrent about the suitability of female sports reporters and about Toth himself - never a shrinking violet. Toth eventually brought colleague Evanka Osmak on his radio show to balance the story, but continued to assert the superiority of male sportscasters. Toth was also suspended in 2007 by Sportsnet for a confrontation with a producer and some pointed on-air comments about the new direction of the network. Usual Suspects attempted to contact Toth for comment but had received no reply. ~ Bruce Dowbiggin, The Globe And Mail
Are you sure he wasn't released because of his bold prediction that the Leafs would make the postseason this year?
Game Prediction
Senators 4, Panthers 2
How do you pick against an Ottawa team that’s coming off back-to-back collapses and is set to play a lowly Panthers squad. While it was the loss of Jay Bouwmeester to free agency that stole many headlines this summer, who would have thought that the loss of Craig Anderson would have had as much of an impact? Right now, he’s the early favourite for the Vezina and Hart trophies. With the loss of a key defenceman and goaltender, it’s only appropriate that the Panthers have unfortunately lost their best forward, David Booth, to injury. Wednesday’s match up-also features the return of defenceman Filip Kuba. With Erik Karlsson’s subsequent demotion, everyone can now focus on the fact that the other guy in the Heatley deal, hasn’t registered a goal yet. Suffice it to say, I’m pretty confident that the Sens will win. But at the same time, I feel badly for the Panthers since my biggest concern going into the game isn’t their talent, it’s the condition of the ice.
To view the rest of the panel's predictions, click here.
Battle of the Sens Prospects
Cowen vs Karlsson
2009 IIHF World Junior Championships
In Saskatchewan
Murray also said he told Karlsson that he'll let him join the Swedish team for this year's IIHF world junior championship, if he wants to go and the team wants him. That tournament is to be played in Saskatoon and Regina. ~ Allen Panzeri, The National Post
Some may be disappointed in the news that Karlsson was sent down, but holy-fucking shit yes! What a boner inducing tournament this will be to watch!
2009 Bloguin Awards
Apparently we were nominated for best hockey blog. I'd be pretty happy, if it weren't for the fact that SLC from Five For Smiting was egregiously omitted from the list of nominees.
Voting commences tomorrow, so please vote for us and vote often. (Because we value things like non-tangible Internet awards.)Follow the link.
Also, it's too bad that Colin Jeffrey's BeLeaf website joined Bloguin recently. I'm sure he would have been a shoo-in for The Belinda Stronach Award for biggest turncoat or the Award for relying upon the use of the first person plural. Make sure you show him some love Sens fans.
Website Tweaking
Attention Readers:
I've done some minor tweaking to the website to help make it a comprehensive source of information and discussion regarding your favorite hockey team.
Here are some of the changes that I've made:
- On the top menu, you will notice that there's a new Menu heading called Stats, Standings and Roster -- From this menu, you can click and access Ottawa and Binghamton's statistics, roster and standings without having to leave The 6th Sens website.
- Under the About menu heading, I've posted a link to our Twitter account and have moved our Email Us link to its own top menu heading.
- By using the Email Us link, you'll be able to use our website to email us directly without having to go to manually open your personal email. I can't stress enough that I'm trying to build a good forum for discussion here, so I can't encourage you guys enough to email me with your thoughts, suggestions, ideas, opinions, trade scenarios, anti-Leaf sentiments, whatever.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
and I can make a mailbag feature a weekly/bi-weekly event to look forward to.
- I've moved the Search function to the right-hand side of the website. The feature is self-explanatory, if you want to search the site's history or comments for a term/player, just type that term into the text box and click enter.
- I've made some recent additions to the The 6th Sens website directory on the right-hand side of the page. Apparently, I've maxed out the number of Senators websites that I can list. In other words, if you want your site listed in the future, you'll have to meet some criteria (talent, frequently updated, etc.). If you can prove that, I may have to bump someone else from the list via some friendly competition.
- In regards to the comments after pieces, I've noticed that people aren't responding as frequently as they used to at our old website. Anyways, to clarify matters -- You do not need to register at Bloguin to leave a comment. You can still leave anonymous comments that protect your identity, so have at it.
Also, if you have any suggestions, concerns or suggestions, please don't hesistate to fire us an email.
Thanks.
Seen Karlsson?
When Steven Stamkos was drafted first overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2008, he had the weight of the organization on his shoulders. Even though he was drafted by Tampa, everything that he did following the draft was under the microscope. Not only had the Lightning centered a marketing campaign around the young forward, he made the team's roster out of training camp and because he was the number one pick, he was expected to contribute immediately. When he didn't, pundits like Pierre Maguire were quick to shit on the Lightning organization and describe their concern for how his situation could stunt his development. He should be returned to junior so that he can play at the World Juniors. And no, just because TSN owns the broadcast rights do I have any selfish reasons for wanting to see him there.
Of course it didn't help matters that the Tampa organization was in a bit of a clusterfuck. Quarrelling owners, Barry Melrose brought his mullet back behind the bench, only to be fired just 16 games into the season. For hockey fans, watching these events unfold were like watching that Rob Scuderi hit on Jason Chimera. It was ugly, but it was just something that you couldn't take your eyes off of.
So when Melrose was fired, assistant coach, Rick Tocchet was given the reigns. One of the first things that he did was change the way the organization had handled Steven Stamkos' development. Instead of playing in back-to-back games, Tocchet would make Stamkos a healthy scratch for the second game and encourage the 18-year old to do two things: One, work on his strength and conditioning in the gym; And two, to study and take notes from the pressbox so that he could learn the NHL game.
"At times I definitely saw myself being pushed around or not winning as many battles that I'd like to win," Stamkos said. "It's a big difference coming from junior (and) playing against men now. It's a big adjustment, but in the second half I worked with our strength and conditioning coach. We got a program going and I got stronger and faster.
"Sometimes I have to realize that I'm still young and still growing into my body and I still have years in front of me. You don't want to go too fast. It's a gradual process, but I needed to get stronger to play in this League." ~ Steven Stamkos, via NHL.com
It seems like a pretty straightforward formula -- Time at Gym = Increased Strength = Increased Confidence = An Edge That Professional Athletes Need
"The work paid off. In junior you could get by on your skill, but here there are so many skill players and you have to have a combination of things to be a successful player. You don't realize that coming in, but I definitely realize that now."
The similarities between Karlsson and Stamkos are striking. Both were criticized for their size and strength and defensive shortcomings and...
...as I write this, Erik Karlsson has just been sent to Binghamton of the AHL. Not that surprising really. Even though I felt that Karlsson had outplayed Campoli, his contract situation and the return of Filip Kuba from injury means that moving him to Bingo is an easier move for the organization at this time. Conversely, it also reflects the organization's belief that at some point this season, Karlsson's going to be able to help the Big Club, otherwise they wouldn't burn a year off of his entry-level contract. (Editor's note: As a commenter named Josh alluded to, this isn't true. Because of Karlsson's status as a junior aged European, a year on his entry-level deal will not be burnt if he plays professionally with Bingo. Provided he doesn't play in 10 games with his parent club, everything's fine. Nikita Filatov's a perfect example of this. Even though he played 39 games in the AHL last year, his 3-year entry-level deal is still in its infancy.)
Hopefully, Karlsson can get an increased workload and adapt to the North American style.
Hit me up with your thoughts in the comment thread.
Mailbag
Give me your opinion of the Erik Karlsson situation.
To have your opinion published here on The 6th Sens, use the contact form found under the About menu heading or just email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Get them in quick.
no commentsTheo Fleury Book Excerpts Regarding the Senators
I purged these from Ken Campbell's piece over at The Hockey News. Here are two pieces of information that are interesting..
On Alexander Daigle: “What a beauty, that guy. He had all the tools, but no tool box to go with it. Dumb as a post – he didn’t get it.”
On former Rangers coach John Muckler: “I don’t know how guys like him keep getting jobs over and over again.”
