As the NHL and Rbk release the new updated uniforms for the NHL this year, we'll provide a link to the NHL shop page and a preview of the new look. Here's the new clothing choice for discriminating Ottawa Senator fans.
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Senators shop page.
Showing posts with label Ottawa Senators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ottawa Senators. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Brodeur provides the Devils right hand
The New Jersey Devils clawed their way back from the abyss on Saturday night, having squandered a 2-0 lead and having given the majority of the momentum to the Ottawa Senators, the Devils still managed to take away a double over time victory.
A win which tied the best of seven series at two a piece with games three and four heading for Ottawa and promises at least one more home date for the residents of the Meadowlands swamps.
For the most part the game was played on the terms of the Senators, a fast skating game which ignored the trap as best it could.The Senators must have felt that time was to be on their side, as they peppered Devil goaltender Martin Brodeur with shots from the second period on, coming close on a number of occasions to ending the game and perhaps the Devils season.
Instead, Brodeur playing masterfully continued to provide his team mates with opportunities to stay with the Senators and hopefully gain a lucky bounce.
At the other end of the rink, the Sens Ray Emery played a solid game as well, however two of the Devil goals he may wish to have had back. Especially a dying second goal in the first period that gave the Devils a two to nothing lead, that goal which proved to be a tad controversial came about as the last ticks of the clock were counting down, though in the Ottawa dressing room they’re wondering what the result might have been if the timer had started the clock at the same instant as the puck drop. But before they launch a judicial inquiry into the missing ticks of the clock a better question might be what the defence was thinking, when they allowed a number of Devils to have free range in front of the Senators net.
Still, the opportunity for victory was there for most of the third and the following over times, the Senators controlled the play and had more than enough chances to put the game away. Only Brodeur, featuring all new goal tending equipment stood in their way and he loomed large on Saturday.
The hero of the night was Jamie Langenbrunner, who took advantage of an Ottawa miscue in the neutral zone and streak down the ice to score the winning goal midway through the second over time frame.
For the Senators it’s time to regroup and prepare for game three back home, frustrated by a win that got away from them on Saturday, they will have to put it all behind them and concentrated on taking down the Devils at Scotiabank Place. The job of moving to the next round just got a little more difficult with the loss, allowing the Devils to gain a life in the playoff run is always a dangerous ting, especially when their all star and one day hall of fame bound goaltender plays as though he still has much to prove.
A win which tied the best of seven series at two a piece with games three and four heading for Ottawa and promises at least one more home date for the residents of the Meadowlands swamps.
For the most part the game was played on the terms of the Senators, a fast skating game which ignored the trap as best it could.The Senators must have felt that time was to be on their side, as they peppered Devil goaltender Martin Brodeur with shots from the second period on, coming close on a number of occasions to ending the game and perhaps the Devils season.
Instead, Brodeur playing masterfully continued to provide his team mates with opportunities to stay with the Senators and hopefully gain a lucky bounce.
At the other end of the rink, the Sens Ray Emery played a solid game as well, however two of the Devil goals he may wish to have had back. Especially a dying second goal in the first period that gave the Devils a two to nothing lead, that goal which proved to be a tad controversial came about as the last ticks of the clock were counting down, though in the Ottawa dressing room they’re wondering what the result might have been if the timer had started the clock at the same instant as the puck drop. But before they launch a judicial inquiry into the missing ticks of the clock a better question might be what the defence was thinking, when they allowed a number of Devils to have free range in front of the Senators net.
Still, the opportunity for victory was there for most of the third and the following over times, the Senators controlled the play and had more than enough chances to put the game away. Only Brodeur, featuring all new goal tending equipment stood in their way and he loomed large on Saturday.
The hero of the night was Jamie Langenbrunner, who took advantage of an Ottawa miscue in the neutral zone and streak down the ice to score the winning goal midway through the second over time frame.
For the Senators it’s time to regroup and prepare for game three back home, frustrated by a win that got away from them on Saturday, they will have to put it all behind them and concentrated on taking down the Devils at Scotiabank Place. The job of moving to the next round just got a little more difficult with the loss, allowing the Devils to gain a life in the playoff run is always a dangerous ting, especially when their all star and one day hall of fame bound goaltender plays as though he still has much to prove.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Not that there’s any pressure or anything…
The Ottawa Senators head into Wednesday night’s debut on the playoff scene with an elephant in the room, on the pages and in the air.
The lack of success from the Sens at playoff time has brought out a larger than usual group of nay sayers, who don’t want to get their hopes up too high, only to see them dashed once again.
Past playoff eliminations at the hands of the Leafs and Sabres (to name but a famous few) has made for a rather worried lot in the nation’s capital. Leaving Sens Coach Bryan Murray to take the offensive against the nabobs of negativity, that are flooding the city with the end may be nighs again.
Using some colourful language, which can be found on any TSN or Sportsnet sportscast, Murray suggested that the inclinations of the negative nellies aren’t correct. One particular article in the Ottawa Citizen seems to have caught the fancy of many in Ottawa, especially for those weak of heart at playoff time.
With Pittsburgh on the way for Wednesday’s game, there are some in Ottawa that seem to fear a repeat of past Ottawa meltdowns, which has seen the Sens only advance past the second round of the playoffs only once in the last ten years that they’ve qualified for post season action.
Each year brings different circumstance, a different combination of players and a different approach to the playoffs. This year the Sens didn’t make the mad dash for first place in the East, struggles early in the season posed to be problematic as the team found ways to lose games and in some instances never seemed to be in them.
At one point early in the season, the panic truly set in around Ottawa, the talk shows full of contributors calling for a house cleaning, offering up their solutions to the “problems in the dressing room and front office.”
Team owner Eugene Melnyk didn’t pay much heed at the time and since Christmas the Sens have been one of the most consistent teams in the league, providing a solid effort night after night.
There’s always the chance of an upset and the Pens have been a most remarkable squad this season, but with 15 players in the line up that have never seen a playoff game in the NHL before, it seems unlikely that this will be the break out year. (Next year maybe).
While there may be some pitfalls in this years post season play, this team has all the ingredients to make a long run into the final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The players seem to be on the same page, anxious to get to work and prove their critics wrong once and for all. Affixing the choker’s label to them before even one game has been played seems rather foolish.
Now should the Sens flame out in the first round, then all bets are off and we suspect that there won't be enough brooms in Ottawa to clean out the dressing room and management offices fast enough. But there's a lot of hockey to go before that might have to be addressed and frankly the evidence provided by this years Sens doesn't really indicate problems on the horizon.
Now should the Sens flame out in the first round, then all bets are off and we suspect that there won't be enough brooms in Ottawa to clean out the dressing room and management offices fast enough. But there's a lot of hockey to go before that might have to be addressed and frankly the evidence provided by this years Sens doesn't really indicate problems on the horizon.
Perhaps those inclined to suggest that the team is done before game one might wish to exchange places, or correspondences with Leaf, Hab or Oiler fans, all of whom have some spare time on their hands and might be ready for an exchange of letters and ideas about team performance.
For those Sens fans with the negative vibes, nervous as they are, the words of Pogo may be profound here.
“We have met the enemy and... he is us”
Friday, December 01, 2006
Sens begin to regain form
They’ve stopped wringing their hands in Ottawa, the on line petition to remove the tandem of Muckler and Murray has probably seen the last of the hits and instead of wondering what’s wrong with the Senators, fans are instead recounting the scoring stats of a suddenly resurgent hockey team.
Quietly and with little fanfare, the Sens have climbed back above the .500 mark, with a number of convincing wins over the last couple of weeks. The latest victory was a 6-0 drubbing Wednesday night, of their former coach Jacques Martin and his Florida Panthers. The win improves the Sens record on the season to 13-12- 1 and marks the sixth win in the last seven games, putting to rest the horrid start of the season and the accompanying panic that seemed to greet it.
The game was a strong reminder to the Scotiabank Place crowd of just how dominant the Sens can be when they are on their game. They controlled the play of the game from the drop of the puck to the final horn at the end of the game. In between they featured the talents of Dany Heatley who has brought his game back to a level that the fans are more familiar with. Heatley scored two goals and picked up an assist in the 6-0 shutout, other markers for Ottawa were Andrej Meszaros and Chris Kelly who each had a goal and an assist. Mike Fisher, picked up a shorthanded goal, and Antoine Vermette rounded out the Sens scoring. Ray Emery was in the nets again for the Sens, stopping all 31 Panther shots and securing the first shut out of the Season for the Sens, and the fourth of his career.
The on ice success should go a long way to settling down the panic stricken faithful of the capital, who had many strange ideas to make the team better including trading away their captain.
Now with the Senators back on the winning track, perhaps all of that disruptive chatter can come to an end. It was only a matter of time before a talented squad like Ottawa got things back together. Now begins the climb back up the Eastern Conference ladder towards a spot that Ottawa fans are more comfortable with.
Quietly and with little fanfare, the Sens have climbed back above the .500 mark, with a number of convincing wins over the last couple of weeks. The latest victory was a 6-0 drubbing Wednesday night, of their former coach Jacques Martin and his Florida Panthers. The win improves the Sens record on the season to 13-12- 1 and marks the sixth win in the last seven games, putting to rest the horrid start of the season and the accompanying panic that seemed to greet it.
The game was a strong reminder to the Scotiabank Place crowd of just how dominant the Sens can be when they are on their game. They controlled the play of the game from the drop of the puck to the final horn at the end of the game. In between they featured the talents of Dany Heatley who has brought his game back to a level that the fans are more familiar with. Heatley scored two goals and picked up an assist in the 6-0 shutout, other markers for Ottawa were Andrej Meszaros and Chris Kelly who each had a goal and an assist. Mike Fisher, picked up a shorthanded goal, and Antoine Vermette rounded out the Sens scoring. Ray Emery was in the nets again for the Sens, stopping all 31 Panther shots and securing the first shut out of the Season for the Sens, and the fourth of his career.
The on ice success should go a long way to settling down the panic stricken faithful of the capital, who had many strange ideas to make the team better including trading away their captain.
Now with the Senators back on the winning track, perhaps all of that disruptive chatter can come to an end. It was only a matter of time before a talented squad like Ottawa got things back together. Now begins the climb back up the Eastern Conference ladder towards a spot that Ottawa fans are more comfortable with.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
The intoxicating spell of speculation
If you were watching the sports channels this week or listening to the talk radio channels the impression you have of Eugene Melnyk is that of a guy sitting deep in the bowels of Scotiabank Place, sharpening an axe, a knife and a scythe.
All day yesterday we were breathlessly told of inside information that had it that Melnyk had dispatched his trusted hatchet man to Buffalo, ready to bring down the sword upon the head of John Muckler and maybe Bryan Murray for good measure.
All in all, a fine bit of drama worthy of a Hitchcock movie or a Stephen King novel, all that was missing was for a black hooded executive to wander down to the Sens dressing room crook his finger and select a lucky candidate for execution. And all of it wild speculation that was knocked down by Roy Mlakar, who might possibly have an idea as to what Mr. Melnyk's mindset might be.
Granted the Sens are off to a rather horrid start, and we’re sure that on his Caribbean beach, Mr. Melnyk is probably a tad concerned for the state of his hockey team’s fortunes these days, but without someone of value to replace the two most mentioned possible casualties, we’re not sure that there is much to the story.
Certainly Mr. Muckler will have a lot to answer for if things don’t improve in pretty fast order, the mishandling of the Zdeno Chara situation and the apparently giant leap of faith regarding the skills of Martin Gerber will have Muckler on the list of those for the high jump for a while yet.
However, if Melnyk really does wish to throw his GM and coach to the wolves, we wonder who exactly is there out there to replace them. Philadelphia hasn’t been able to find anyone that wanted that job when it became available with the resignation of Bob Clarke.
Ken Hitchcock may be the answer but is he any better a coach than Murray at the moment, he couldn’t get the Flyers to respond to his ministrations, so who thinks the Sens would suddenly catch the fever.
Columbus recently fired their coach Gerard Callant, with Doug McLean now waiting to see what the owners decide next, he must be wondering about his fate. He said that that the Columbus ownership expected to have a name for consideration shortly, so if they’ve become hands on operators now, one wonders what they may need McLean for.
The other high profile candidate out there at the moment is Pat Quinn, but somehow we don’t see him setting up shop with the Sens, though it would add even more interest to those Leaf /Sens match ups.
Same with the perennial candidate Mike Keenan, while it may be tempting to have someone go to Ottawa ready to kick butt and take names, the current line up there doesn’t seem the kind of group that would do well under Keenan, Do the people of Ottawa want to go through what the fans of the Canucks did a number of years ago, we don’t think they want that…
In short it’s a very short list of candidates, with no one really jumping out at you that could turn a team around. The last big name that held that cache was Brian Burke when he was let go by the Canucks, and the success of the Ducks shows how a timely change of direction can turn things around. But there’s no Brian Burke sitting back there at the moment waiting for a call.
Instead it’s going to be a case of having to be patient, as painful that seems to be for Ottawa fans. The best remedy to a bad situation is winning, the Sens got back on track last night in Buffalo. And with the light of day today, the cautiously quiet Mr. Melnyk was advising everyone to calm down.
Muckler will have to make a few moves in the personnel department in order to shake things up a bit, but gutting the team and the management in the middle of the season seems like a pointless exercise that would probably cause more problems than it would solve.
But, the concept sure does keep the talking heads of radio and TV busy, something we’re sure will continue on as long as the Sens have some struggles on the ice. It comes with being the biggest goldfish in the little bowl.
All day yesterday we were breathlessly told of inside information that had it that Melnyk had dispatched his trusted hatchet man to Buffalo, ready to bring down the sword upon the head of John Muckler and maybe Bryan Murray for good measure.
All in all, a fine bit of drama worthy of a Hitchcock movie or a Stephen King novel, all that was missing was for a black hooded executive to wander down to the Sens dressing room crook his finger and select a lucky candidate for execution. And all of it wild speculation that was knocked down by Roy Mlakar, who might possibly have an idea as to what Mr. Melnyk's mindset might be.
Granted the Sens are off to a rather horrid start, and we’re sure that on his Caribbean beach, Mr. Melnyk is probably a tad concerned for the state of his hockey team’s fortunes these days, but without someone of value to replace the two most mentioned possible casualties, we’re not sure that there is much to the story.
Certainly Mr. Muckler will have a lot to answer for if things don’t improve in pretty fast order, the mishandling of the Zdeno Chara situation and the apparently giant leap of faith regarding the skills of Martin Gerber will have Muckler on the list of those for the high jump for a while yet.
However, if Melnyk really does wish to throw his GM and coach to the wolves, we wonder who exactly is there out there to replace them. Philadelphia hasn’t been able to find anyone that wanted that job when it became available with the resignation of Bob Clarke.
Ken Hitchcock may be the answer but is he any better a coach than Murray at the moment, he couldn’t get the Flyers to respond to his ministrations, so who thinks the Sens would suddenly catch the fever.
Columbus recently fired their coach Gerard Callant, with Doug McLean now waiting to see what the owners decide next, he must be wondering about his fate. He said that that the Columbus ownership expected to have a name for consideration shortly, so if they’ve become hands on operators now, one wonders what they may need McLean for.
The other high profile candidate out there at the moment is Pat Quinn, but somehow we don’t see him setting up shop with the Sens, though it would add even more interest to those Leaf /Sens match ups.
Same with the perennial candidate Mike Keenan, while it may be tempting to have someone go to Ottawa ready to kick butt and take names, the current line up there doesn’t seem the kind of group that would do well under Keenan, Do the people of Ottawa want to go through what the fans of the Canucks did a number of years ago, we don’t think they want that…
In short it’s a very short list of candidates, with no one really jumping out at you that could turn a team around. The last big name that held that cache was Brian Burke when he was let go by the Canucks, and the success of the Ducks shows how a timely change of direction can turn things around. But there’s no Brian Burke sitting back there at the moment waiting for a call.
Instead it’s going to be a case of having to be patient, as painful that seems to be for Ottawa fans. The best remedy to a bad situation is winning, the Sens got back on track last night in Buffalo. And with the light of day today, the cautiously quiet Mr. Melnyk was advising everyone to calm down.
Muckler will have to make a few moves in the personnel department in order to shake things up a bit, but gutting the team and the management in the middle of the season seems like a pointless exercise that would probably cause more problems than it would solve.
But, the concept sure does keep the talking heads of radio and TV busy, something we’re sure will continue on as long as the Sens have some struggles on the ice. It comes with being the biggest goldfish in the little bowl.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Staggering Senators face many questions
The downward direction of the Ottawa Senators these days is beginning to leave the realm of what’s wrong with the team, to what’s wrong with the management?
The Sens who have suffered some pretty embarrassing losses over the last couple of weeks are quickly becoming the Britney Spears of NHL Hockey teams; everyone is watching them and expecting the worse.
The latest bit of trouble for the Sens came on Monday with smack down at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, which had followed a loss to the Boston Bruins. Two games that last season would have been considered a relatively easy four point weekend, this year they were further proof that things are going terribly awry in the nation’s capital.
With Wade Redden now sitting out until his troubled groin heals itself and Martin Gerber providing the detractors lots of ammunition, the key players of the off season are suddenly not providing what they were supposed to. A fact not lost on a pretty astute hockey audience in Ottawa who remember that it was the machinations of John Muckler that brought Gerber to the capital, increased Reddens pay package and lost a lynch pin of the defence in Zdeno Chara.
While most will give Muckler the benefit of the doubt on the Redden signing, he is still one of the better defencemen to have pulled on an Ottawa jersey in the teams history, the Gerber acquisition is getting harder and harder to defend. The former Carolina goaltender is a past proven performer, but for whatever reason this season he has had troubles finishing the games in a positive environment. He seems to regularly give up an easy goal that inevitably leads to a third period collapse and a frustrating loss for a team that plays well for two periods and then somehow loses their edge.
The howls for heads is reaching a fevered pitch in the Capital, Wednesday’s game with Buffalo a Rubicon of sorts for John Muckler if the media heads are to be believed. TSN dedicated a good portion of the intermission on their Tuesday night game to the question of Ottawa, the suggestion is that Eugene Melnyk will instruct President Roy Mlakar to do something drastic to shake up his underperforming squad.
The Globe and Mail’s Tim Wharnsby examined the staggering Sens situation and the possible outcome for the careers of Bryan Murray and John Muckler.
Pressure mounts on Sens' coach, GM
Ottawa suffers seventh loss in eight games
TIM WHARNSBY
HOCKEY REPORTER
OTTAWA -- Bryan Murray is not worried about losing his job, even though the next 24 hours should be anxious and curious times for the Ottawa Senators' coach and his general manager, John Muckler.
Moments after his team was beaten for the seventh time in eight games, this time 6-3 by the Montreal Canadiens before a capacity crowd of 20,051 at Scotiabank Place last night, Murray was asked how much longer his team's funk can persist before he becomes concerned about losing his job.
"I'm not worried about my job as much as I'm trying to get these kids to play better hockey," Murray said. "We have a talented group that knows they can play better."
That talented group, which is off to a miserable 6-10-1 start, has struggled mightily in many areas of the game. Some nights, it's poor goaltending. Other games, it's mistakes in its own end. Other nights, the special teams have stumbled.
Senators president Roy Mlakar gave Murray and Muckler a vote of confidence last week, but in the time between last night's game and Ottawa's next game, in Buffalo against the Sabres tomorrow, the heat will be turned up to a full boil on Murray and Muckler.
Mlakar has been seen around the team more often lately. After the defeat last night, however, he was seen sauntering down the hall away from the Senators' dressing room and didn't look like a boss ready to clean house.
The Senators are 12th among the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League, and their docket does not become easier in the next seven days. They will play four games against divisional leaders -- the Sabres twice, the New Jersey Devils and the Minnesota Wild.
"None of these are easier for us right now the way we're playing," Murray said.
What went wrong for the Senators last night is that they were unable to take advantage of three-power play opportunities in the first period and instead gave up a short-handed goal to Montreal defenceman Mike Komisarek.
Although the Canadiens gave up three power-play goals in their worst outing of the season last Saturday in a 5-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Habs have the third best penalty-killing unit in the league. They have not only scored seven short-handed goals this season, but also have allowed only 12 goals while killing penalties.
"Our power play has been the biggest difference between this year and last year," said Murray, whose team has only two wins in eight games at home.
After tying the score on a late opening-period goal from Denis Hamel, the Senators played right into the hands of a patient Montreal team that employed a passive 1-2-2 fore-check system.
The Senators began turning the puck over far too often. As a result, an unguarded Radek Bonk was able to redirect an Alexander Perezhogin shot for a 2-1 lead, and the Senators gave their opponents two power plays early in the third period when they were trying to recover from mistakes.
Montreal rookie Guillaume Latendresse, 19, made the Senators pay with two man-advantage goals 31 seconds apart. Since the youngster replaced injured Chris Higgins on Montreal's first line three games ago, he has checked in with three goals and four points.
"I feel really comfortable," Latendresse said. "[New linemates] Saku [Koivu] and Rydie [Michael Ryder] have helped me a lot and that has given me a lot of confidence."
The Senators' power play finally clicked with goals from Patrick Eaves and Antoine Vermette later in the third period to put the Senators one goal behind, 4-3, but Mike Johnson scored from a bad angle and Alexei Kovalev added an empty-netter for Montreal.
Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber played a strong game, especially in the second period, and could be faulted only for the Johnson goal with 2 minutes 25 seconds remaining.
"Poor Martin," Murray said. "He gave up five goals and gave us a chance to win the game."
The Sens who have suffered some pretty embarrassing losses over the last couple of weeks are quickly becoming the Britney Spears of NHL Hockey teams; everyone is watching them and expecting the worse.
The latest bit of trouble for the Sens came on Monday with smack down at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, which had followed a loss to the Boston Bruins. Two games that last season would have been considered a relatively easy four point weekend, this year they were further proof that things are going terribly awry in the nation’s capital.
With Wade Redden now sitting out until his troubled groin heals itself and Martin Gerber providing the detractors lots of ammunition, the key players of the off season are suddenly not providing what they were supposed to. A fact not lost on a pretty astute hockey audience in Ottawa who remember that it was the machinations of John Muckler that brought Gerber to the capital, increased Reddens pay package and lost a lynch pin of the defence in Zdeno Chara.
While most will give Muckler the benefit of the doubt on the Redden signing, he is still one of the better defencemen to have pulled on an Ottawa jersey in the teams history, the Gerber acquisition is getting harder and harder to defend. The former Carolina goaltender is a past proven performer, but for whatever reason this season he has had troubles finishing the games in a positive environment. He seems to regularly give up an easy goal that inevitably leads to a third period collapse and a frustrating loss for a team that plays well for two periods and then somehow loses their edge.
The howls for heads is reaching a fevered pitch in the Capital, Wednesday’s game with Buffalo a Rubicon of sorts for John Muckler if the media heads are to be believed. TSN dedicated a good portion of the intermission on their Tuesday night game to the question of Ottawa, the suggestion is that Eugene Melnyk will instruct President Roy Mlakar to do something drastic to shake up his underperforming squad.
The Globe and Mail’s Tim Wharnsby examined the staggering Sens situation and the possible outcome for the careers of Bryan Murray and John Muckler.
Pressure mounts on Sens' coach, GM
Ottawa suffers seventh loss in eight games
TIM WHARNSBY
HOCKEY REPORTER
OTTAWA -- Bryan Murray is not worried about losing his job, even though the next 24 hours should be anxious and curious times for the Ottawa Senators' coach and his general manager, John Muckler.
Moments after his team was beaten for the seventh time in eight games, this time 6-3 by the Montreal Canadiens before a capacity crowd of 20,051 at Scotiabank Place last night, Murray was asked how much longer his team's funk can persist before he becomes concerned about losing his job.
"I'm not worried about my job as much as I'm trying to get these kids to play better hockey," Murray said. "We have a talented group that knows they can play better."
That talented group, which is off to a miserable 6-10-1 start, has struggled mightily in many areas of the game. Some nights, it's poor goaltending. Other games, it's mistakes in its own end. Other nights, the special teams have stumbled.
Senators president Roy Mlakar gave Murray and Muckler a vote of confidence last week, but in the time between last night's game and Ottawa's next game, in Buffalo against the Sabres tomorrow, the heat will be turned up to a full boil on Murray and Muckler.
Mlakar has been seen around the team more often lately. After the defeat last night, however, he was seen sauntering down the hall away from the Senators' dressing room and didn't look like a boss ready to clean house.
The Senators are 12th among the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League, and their docket does not become easier in the next seven days. They will play four games against divisional leaders -- the Sabres twice, the New Jersey Devils and the Minnesota Wild.
"None of these are easier for us right now the way we're playing," Murray said.
What went wrong for the Senators last night is that they were unable to take advantage of three-power play opportunities in the first period and instead gave up a short-handed goal to Montreal defenceman Mike Komisarek.
Although the Canadiens gave up three power-play goals in their worst outing of the season last Saturday in a 5-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Habs have the third best penalty-killing unit in the league. They have not only scored seven short-handed goals this season, but also have allowed only 12 goals while killing penalties.
"Our power play has been the biggest difference between this year and last year," said Murray, whose team has only two wins in eight games at home.
After tying the score on a late opening-period goal from Denis Hamel, the Senators played right into the hands of a patient Montreal team that employed a passive 1-2-2 fore-check system.
The Senators began turning the puck over far too often. As a result, an unguarded Radek Bonk was able to redirect an Alexander Perezhogin shot for a 2-1 lead, and the Senators gave their opponents two power plays early in the third period when they were trying to recover from mistakes.
Montreal rookie Guillaume Latendresse, 19, made the Senators pay with two man-advantage goals 31 seconds apart. Since the youngster replaced injured Chris Higgins on Montreal's first line three games ago, he has checked in with three goals and four points.
"I feel really comfortable," Latendresse said. "[New linemates] Saku [Koivu] and Rydie [Michael Ryder] have helped me a lot and that has given me a lot of confidence."
The Senators' power play finally clicked with goals from Patrick Eaves and Antoine Vermette later in the third period to put the Senators one goal behind, 4-3, but Mike Johnson scored from a bad angle and Alexei Kovalev added an empty-netter for Montreal.
Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber played a strong game, especially in the second period, and could be faulted only for the Johnson goal with 2 minutes 25 seconds remaining.
"Poor Martin," Murray said. "He gave up five goals and gave us a chance to win the game."
Thursday, November 09, 2006
It’s turning into very a hot road trip for the Sens, but not in the best way
Going into the game Wednesday night, the calls were already getting loud from a segment of the Senator faithful for John Muckler and Brian Murray to be relieved of their duties. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, after yet another third period implosion and yet another lost game that should never have been in doubt.
A website called Fire Muckler.ca has popped up on the internet allowing Sens fans to vent and purge their pain with a vote, to keep or get rid of GM John Muckler. So far (as of midnight on Wednesday night) the pain of defeat is taking its toll, over 70% of the 677 votes cast have said its time for a new face and a new mind in the GM’s office.
Wednesday night the Sens did no favours for their management team, featuring another disturbing night of poor third period play, surrendering the lead and allowing the Atlanta Thrashers to come back and snatch a 5-4 victory that shouldn’t have been their for the taking. These Senators are in a mess and show no signs of finding a way out of it anytime soon
And while Roy Mlakar keeps his head and doesn’t call for Muckler and Murray’s, it is getting to be a worrisome trend that this Senator team is following. They play a decent enough game for the first two periods, only to open the gates in the third and surrender without much of a fight.
Thirteen games into a new season and they are holding some pretty unfamiliar territory that of the lower reaches of the Eastern Conference. For a team that many suggested was a strong candidate for a Stanley Cup run, they wouldn’t even make the playoffs with their record or play of late.
Their captain is under pressure for underperforming, a highly touted rookie is rebelling over the prospect of time on the farm. And most importantly the main off season move of bringing in an experienced goal tender isn’t working out as planned.
In fact the Gerber gambit does not seem to be paying off at all for Muckler. Over the off season, the Sens GM. balked at paying Zdeno Chara a larger salary, preferring instead to bring in a more seasoned goaltender in the form of Gerber. The only problem has been a tendency of the seasoned one, to surrender goals by the basket late in a game costing the team valuable points and positioning.
While Gerber has not been sharp at times, the blame can’t sit squarely with him. There is a problem defensively on this team, which once was its strength with the big four of Redden, Phillips, Chara and Meszaros.
With Chara leaving for Boston, the hole his absence left seems to grow bigger with each successive loss. If one move in the past summer comes back to haunt Muckler, it will be his ham handed handling of the Chara situation. Combine that with the less than rewarding play of Gerber and you can see how the anti Muckler vote has reached 70%.
Trades are demanded by the followers of the Senators, but it's not as easy as all that anymore. Most of the bargaining chips were moved around in the last couple of years, salary cap concerns and an underperforming line up don't give Muckler much in the way of trade bait at the moment.
In the end, it will be up to the players to pull out of the tail spin they seem intent on going through. Time will tell if the tandem of Muckler and Murray are there when they come out from the other side of this slide. But they can’t like what they seen, for the moment their players aren’t doing much to help them keep their jobs.
A website called Fire Muckler.ca has popped up on the internet allowing Sens fans to vent and purge their pain with a vote, to keep or get rid of GM John Muckler. So far (as of midnight on Wednesday night) the pain of defeat is taking its toll, over 70% of the 677 votes cast have said its time for a new face and a new mind in the GM’s office.
Wednesday night the Sens did no favours for their management team, featuring another disturbing night of poor third period play, surrendering the lead and allowing the Atlanta Thrashers to come back and snatch a 5-4 victory that shouldn’t have been their for the taking. These Senators are in a mess and show no signs of finding a way out of it anytime soon
And while Roy Mlakar keeps his head and doesn’t call for Muckler and Murray’s, it is getting to be a worrisome trend that this Senator team is following. They play a decent enough game for the first two periods, only to open the gates in the third and surrender without much of a fight.
Thirteen games into a new season and they are holding some pretty unfamiliar territory that of the lower reaches of the Eastern Conference. For a team that many suggested was a strong candidate for a Stanley Cup run, they wouldn’t even make the playoffs with their record or play of late.
Their captain is under pressure for underperforming, a highly touted rookie is rebelling over the prospect of time on the farm. And most importantly the main off season move of bringing in an experienced goal tender isn’t working out as planned.
In fact the Gerber gambit does not seem to be paying off at all for Muckler. Over the off season, the Sens GM. balked at paying Zdeno Chara a larger salary, preferring instead to bring in a more seasoned goaltender in the form of Gerber. The only problem has been a tendency of the seasoned one, to surrender goals by the basket late in a game costing the team valuable points and positioning.
While Gerber has not been sharp at times, the blame can’t sit squarely with him. There is a problem defensively on this team, which once was its strength with the big four of Redden, Phillips, Chara and Meszaros.
With Chara leaving for Boston, the hole his absence left seems to grow bigger with each successive loss. If one move in the past summer comes back to haunt Muckler, it will be his ham handed handling of the Chara situation. Combine that with the less than rewarding play of Gerber and you can see how the anti Muckler vote has reached 70%.
Trades are demanded by the followers of the Senators, but it's not as easy as all that anymore. Most of the bargaining chips were moved around in the last couple of years, salary cap concerns and an underperforming line up don't give Muckler much in the way of trade bait at the moment.
In the end, it will be up to the players to pull out of the tail spin they seem intent on going through. Time will tell if the tandem of Muckler and Murray are there when they come out from the other side of this slide. But they can’t like what they seen, for the moment their players aren’t doing much to help them keep their jobs.
Friday, October 20, 2006
If the playoffs started today…
Well ok, it really means nothing at this early a date in the NHL season. But still a slow start from the Ottawa Senators has the hometown faithful in a rather foul mood of late.
Last night, Jason Spezza felt the wrath of the Scotiabank sociopaths, as he was mercilessly booed at times whenever he touched the puck or appeared on the ice. And while an untimely give away by Spezza proved costly to the Sens, It appears to be a rather unfair judgment by the crowd, since he’s surely not the only underperforming Senator in the house these days.
Spezza who is reported by TSN to be feeling some ill effects from off season back injury took an ear full from the crowd and his coach on Thursday. But he must wonder if perhaps some of his team mates might deserve a few catcalls as well, as the Sens dropped yet another home game, this time to the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 2-1.
Part of the problem for Sens fans seems to be the fact that former Sens are making a big impression on their new clubs while the team they left behind struggles to regain the form of less than a year ago.
Two names come to mind when Sens fans look at the where are they now club, Martin Havlat who is making the Chicago Black Hawks look like a viable product once again and of course Big Zed, Zedeno Chara who so impressed his new club they made him the captain. God help John Muckler if Alexi Yashin suddenly finds some passion for the game and begins to score goals!
Much of the trouble this year so far could rest with Muckler’s handling of the off season roster moves. A scenario that was well researched and reviewed by the Ottawa Sun’s Don Brennan.
Given a chance to try and keep Chara under contract and in a Sens uniform, Muckler instead let him move on to Boston, preferring to spend that money on a goal tender that may or may not have really been needed. Muckler took a fair amount of that Chara dividend and brought in Martin Gerber as the main game day goaltender at a rather handsome salary level, despite the fact that he had been deemed expendable in Carolina.
This of course had the dual effect of letting Chara get away and treating former back up Ray Emery as some kind of unreliable pylon in the back end, despite the fact that Emery played some pretty decent hockey down the stretch after the Dom Hasek debacle. Finding a less expensive goal tender to back up Emery might have been a better move, allowing the Sens to keep a main anchor to their defence and maybe unearth another blue liner or mid range forward to help share the load.
All of which is water under the Bank Street Bridge now, where the Sens go from this point could very well determine the future of both John Muckler and Brian Murray, who suddenly seem to be dinosaurs of a very different era.
Six games in is obviously a little early to be pounding on the panic button and it’s better to stink at the start and shine at the end. But with what seems so far to be a lack of interest and effort on the behalf of this crop of Sens, the possibility of changes is always present.
The problem is this is a team that has already let a few too many blue chip prospects and actual established players get away. Past mistakes that come back to haunt the Sens every time somebody picks up a stats sheet and compares the success of those that left, with those that remain.
Last night, Jason Spezza felt the wrath of the Scotiabank sociopaths, as he was mercilessly booed at times whenever he touched the puck or appeared on the ice. And while an untimely give away by Spezza proved costly to the Sens, It appears to be a rather unfair judgment by the crowd, since he’s surely not the only underperforming Senator in the house these days.
Spezza who is reported by TSN to be feeling some ill effects from off season back injury took an ear full from the crowd and his coach on Thursday. But he must wonder if perhaps some of his team mates might deserve a few catcalls as well, as the Sens dropped yet another home game, this time to the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 2-1.
Part of the problem for Sens fans seems to be the fact that former Sens are making a big impression on their new clubs while the team they left behind struggles to regain the form of less than a year ago.
Two names come to mind when Sens fans look at the where are they now club, Martin Havlat who is making the Chicago Black Hawks look like a viable product once again and of course Big Zed, Zedeno Chara who so impressed his new club they made him the captain. God help John Muckler if Alexi Yashin suddenly finds some passion for the game and begins to score goals!
Much of the trouble this year so far could rest with Muckler’s handling of the off season roster moves. A scenario that was well researched and reviewed by the Ottawa Sun’s Don Brennan.
Given a chance to try and keep Chara under contract and in a Sens uniform, Muckler instead let him move on to Boston, preferring to spend that money on a goal tender that may or may not have really been needed. Muckler took a fair amount of that Chara dividend and brought in Martin Gerber as the main game day goaltender at a rather handsome salary level, despite the fact that he had been deemed expendable in Carolina.
This of course had the dual effect of letting Chara get away and treating former back up Ray Emery as some kind of unreliable pylon in the back end, despite the fact that Emery played some pretty decent hockey down the stretch after the Dom Hasek debacle. Finding a less expensive goal tender to back up Emery might have been a better move, allowing the Sens to keep a main anchor to their defence and maybe unearth another blue liner or mid range forward to help share the load.
All of which is water under the Bank Street Bridge now, where the Sens go from this point could very well determine the future of both John Muckler and Brian Murray, who suddenly seem to be dinosaurs of a very different era.
Six games in is obviously a little early to be pounding on the panic button and it’s better to stink at the start and shine at the end. But with what seems so far to be a lack of interest and effort on the behalf of this crop of Sens, the possibility of changes is always present.
The problem is this is a team that has already let a few too many blue chip prospects and actual established players get away. Past mistakes that come back to haunt the Sens every time somebody picks up a stats sheet and compares the success of those that left, with those that remain.
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