As you've no doubt seen, the Ottawa Senators signed Fredrik Claesson,who was selected in the fifth round (126 overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, to a three-year entry-level contract. The Senators reported that Claesson will come over to North America for next season, and will likely suit up for the Binghamton Senators.

Claesson, if you don't recall, was ranked 23 in our listing of the Senators' top 25 players under 25 years of age.

Claesson played alongside Mika Zibanejad in Djurgardens this season, his second full season in the SEL, and finished with 7P (1G, 6A) in 47GP for the now-relegated team. The fact that his team will no longer be playing in Sweden's top league probably explains part of his reasoning for wanting to come to North America this season, as Nichols pointed out. He plays a mostly defensive game, and assistant GM Tim Murray said that his skating and mobility improved this season--although there's ample room for further improvement.

Claesson will be one of three rookie AHLers on what will be a very green blue line in Bingo, along with Chris Wideman and Ben Blood--the most experienced defenders on the B-Sens right now are third-year pros Patrick Wiercioch and Eric Gryba, plus second-year pro Mark Borowiecki (although BoroCop got a head start by playing with the team through the 2011 Calder Cup playoffs), and possibly the as-yet-unsigned Bobby Raymond, who spent parts of the last two seasons with Bingo and who the Sens' brass are apparently quite keen on. Don't be surprised if the Sens bring in some more AHL experience on the back-end next season, pushing one of Claesson, Wideman, or Blood to spend some of the season with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL.

Links after the jump

Continue reading this post »

The whole animals-onto-the-ice gimmick started in 1952 when Detroit Red Wings faithful "honoured" their team by throwing octopods onto the ice during the playoffs. Apparently there was one game in 1995 when 36 octopi were sacrificed to the hockey gods.

The some San Jose Sharks thought it would make sense to kill their namesake and throw them on the ice--including, once, a shark with an octopus in its mouth. In Boston, lobster. In New Jersey, a fish. In Edmonton, steaks. In Vancouver, salmon. In Anaheim, a dead duck. Now, it's fans the Nashville Predators who partake, tossing catfish onto the ice during games (so that ice girls retrieve them, sometimes with pizzazz).

Personally, I'm thankful all of these teams are now out of the playoffs, because throwing dead animals onto the ice is ridiculous. Yeah, it's supposed to be fun, and something that the fanbases of these teams pride themselves on, but it's just an absurd and disrespectful waste of life. Many shark species are endangered (although not the leopard shark, which was tossed in the first San Jose shark-toss), but that's not why I care; catfish are far from endangered in any measure, and I'm no more in favour of them being thrown onto the ice. Where does it end? How about a dead coyote in Phoenix? A dead St. Bernard in Colorado? A dead cougar in Florida? It's just a stupid tradition that needs to end, because killing an animal for a couple of seconds of snickering before it's tossed in the garbage is a terrible waste.

I could go on about the cruelty, hubris, ignorance, and stupidity with which humans treat non-human animals ad nauseum, but I'll restrain myself. If only the idiots tossing dead animals onto the ice could restrain themselves, too.

Links after the jump

Continue reading this post »

This year was a vindication for Filip Kuba, who bounced back from consecutive injury-plagued seasons with a very impressive performance this year. He played much of the year alongside Erik Karlsson--allowing the third-year blueliner to put up Norris Trophy-calibre numbers--and was also a huge part of the team's penalty kill. He was an important complementary player on the team, and something that seemed laughable before the season began became more appealing as the year went on: The idea of re-signing the unrestricted free agent.

I was on boat with that idea for much of the second half of the season, but once the playoffs began, I jumped off and swam to shore. Kuba's a good regular season defenceman, but his post-season performance showed me that he doesn't have what it takes to succeed in the playoffs. He showed no "extra gear" once the second season began, and his lack of physicality becomes more concerning in the playoffs. I harbour no ill will towards Kuba, and appreciate his time here, but I think it's time for the Senators to move on.

If the team does move on, though, they'll need to bring in someone with experience to play top-four minutes. Luckily, in this off-season, there will be plenty of options. First and foremost are the two premiere free agent defencemen, both out of Nashville, and even though I feel silly even mentioning the minute possibility they'd sign with the Sens, it's still a possibility that one of Shea Weber or Ryan Suter could be lured to Ottawa.

Even after those two, the free agent pool remains attractive. Matt Carle will likely be the consolation prize for bidders who lose out on Weber and Suter, but if Ottawa can get in on the bidding early they may be able to get pen to paper on a reasonable deal.

Those three are blue line leaders, but there are a good number of supporting blueliners out there. I regularly return to Pavel Kubina, and I maintain that he'd be a good fit in Ottawa (despite his lacklustre playoff performance for the Philadelphia Flyers). Michal Rozsival, Dennis Wideman, and Barret Jackman could also serve well as top- or second-pairing defencemen with special-teams specialties. And there's a fourth group that would include Hal Gill, Carlo Colaiacovo, and Greg Zanon, all of whom could play meaningful minutes within the Senators' defence corps. Ideally, I'd like to see the Senators sign two of the players listed above, who would round out a D corps that already includes Karlsson, Jared Cowen, Sergei Gonchar, and Chris Phillips. Re-signing Matt Carkner as a capable seventh defender would give the Senators a strong group on the back-end.

Filip Kuba has played two good seasons with the Senators, and two pretty awful ones. He's been integral to the team's fate in the regular season (whether good or bad), but doesn't seem to have an extra gear for playoff time. He'll find interest in the free agent market, and his next team may very well be pleased with his contributions, but I think it's time for the Senators to move on from Filip Kuba and look in another direction.

Links after the jump

Continue reading this post »

The top name on our rundown of the top 25 Ottawa Senators players under 25 should surprise no one: Erik Karlsson isn't just the best young player on the team, he's flat-out the team's best player. Period.

It's really hard to know what to say about Karlsson that hasn't already been said. He's 21 years old, and was a team leader in his third pro season. He was the linchpin of Ottawa's offence, and was integral to the team's surprising success this season. His 78P this season tied him for tenth in overall scoring, and was 25P more than the next-highest-scoring defenceman.

Karlsson's career trajectory has been a ridiculously steep one. Due in large part to his small stature, Karlsson wasn't selected until 15th overall in the 2008 NHL entry draft--but the Sens wanted him badly, and traded up to ensure they'd get him in the Ottawa organization. Not everyone was on board with the pick, and his ten-point season with Frolunda the following year didn't immediately inspire much confidence.

Confidence was something Karlsson had in spades, though, so eff all that. He turned pro over here the following season, scored two assists in his first 10 games with Ottawa, and was demoted to Binghamton... where he proceeded to notch 11A in 11GP before being recalled to Ottawa barely a month after his demotion. He slowly gained comfort in the NHL through the midst of the season, and lit it up in the latter part of 2009-10, scoring 12P (4G, 8A) in the final ten regular season games plus another six points (1G, 5A) in six playoff games.

Continue reading this post »

After a quick detour around this choice last weekend, here we are at the Senators' third-best player under 25 years of age: Jakob Silfverberg.

Of all the entry drafts in Ottawa Senators history, the 2009 one might end up as the team's most important. You've already seen three players from that draft class on this Top 25 list (Mike Hoffman, Robin Lehner, and Jared Cowen), and Silfverberg, selected in the second round (39 overall) of that draft, makes it an even four. And though he has less North American pro experience than any of the others, expectations on Silfverberg are about as high as they've been for a forward prospect in a long time.

It's easy to see why expectations for Silfverberg are so high. His career in the Swedish Elite League progressed steadily to this season, in which Silfverberg finished second in league scoring, was named the regular season MVP, the playoff MVP, and set a new league record for playoff scoring with 13 goals (surpassing Daniel Alfredsson's previous record of 12) while leading his Brynäs IF squad to the league championship title. Suffice to describe it as a good season for the young winger.

Continue reading this post »

When the Ottawa Senators drafted Mika Zibanejad this past summer, it left quite a few people scratching their heads considering the prospects who remained available. Some were downright angry. The success of Sean Couturier, drafted just two spots after Zibanejad, with the Philadelphia Flyers this season doesn't help matters. But Zibanejad is big, fast, skilled, and (barely) 19 years old. There's plenty of time ahead for him.

After starting this past year in Ottawa, Zibanejad didn't look ready for full-time NHL duty. He was sent back to Sweden to play with Djurgårdens IF hockey club in Stockholm. He struggled there, at first, but--after an impressive showing at the World Junior Championships--picked up as the season went on and finished on a strong note. It seems like a virtual certainty that he'll be playing with the Sens next season, either at his natural centre position or converted to the wing.

Continue reading this post »

In a fairly broad and mostly uneventful conference call that was published online yesterday, Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk touched on everything from the Rink of Dreams to the Senate Reform and everything in between. One of the most interesting points of his came during the discussion of a potential contract extension for Erik Karlsson, where Melnyk commented on the future budgets of his team:

"Look, we can't spend toe-to-toe anymore with the highest- and the biggest-market teams, so all we can offer is opportunity to some of these players. That's the opportunity to be part of a great organization with a shot. There's no question that we have put the foundation in place to be a very competitive team and, if we had the right pieces together, an extremely competitive team. If you want to be a part of that, then our doors are open.

"That's what we have to sell. We have the environment, we have the fanbase, [and] we can pay you, but it has to be within our reasonable budgets.That's all we can do."

It's an interesting development. Notice that Melnyk says they can't spend as much as other teams "anymore;" although the Senators have never been at the top of the league in terms of payroll, they have been near the top at times, most notably in 2009-10 when the Sens were the sixth-highest-salaried team. Even last year Ottawa went into the season precariously close to the salary cap, but it came down a fair bit as the team moved players out of town towards the trade deadline.

When Melnyk came in, he seemed extremely excited, and was more than ready to write some cheques if it meant keeping players like Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza in town, or (more recently) to bring (former) stars like Alex Kovalev and Sergei Gonchar into the fold. Considering the fact that only one of those four signings has worked out as well as was hoped, it's hard to blame Melnyk for souring on that sort of thing.

This season, Ottawa had the fifth-lowest payroll in the league. Personally, I'm not upset with that, at least not at first glance. The best days of this franchise came when there was a focus on drafting and sound asset management during the middle of the 2000s, and a return to that would be welcome.

That's easy to say now, though, with the team flush with young players on entry-level deals. If none of our current prospects pan out into elite top-line players, it won't be easy for Melnyk or any fans to hold back during free agency. If those prospects do pan out, it's going to be hard choosing some to keep and others to trade away for future assets in order to guarantee the continued presence of good young players in the system. It's a constant balancing act and the hardest part of it all is is avoiding the myopic mistakes that plague so many managers around the league.

Check out Melnyk's full call after the fold

Continue reading this post »

Robin Lehner (click here for pronunciation) is the best goaltending prospect the Senators have had in years--and maybe in the history of the modern franchise. He's big, he's athletic, he's competitive, and his martial-artist dad forged his steely resolve by launching 100-mile-per-hour pucks at him while he was still in elementary school. So he's got the makings of a starting goaltender in the NHL.

But his mercurial nature and competitive spirit have also been somewhat problematic. He's been inconsistent at best in the AHL, and has a career 25-30 record with the Binghamton Senators. Because he wants to play against the best in the world, he seems to have trouble motivating himself for the daily grind in the minor leagues. And he definitely has a hard time controlling his emotions: Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C. So he plays with an edge.

Still, Lehner can win when it matters. He showed as much in 2011, when the Binghamton Senators sneaked into the playoffs and were on the brink of elimination before Lehner stepped in and led them to the Calder Cup Championship, winning the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP in the process. So he can win.

Continue reading this post »

... not with a Entry Draft lottery, but with a hard-fought playoff loss.

This was a tough series for a lot of Ottawa Senators, including Daniel Alfredsson in particular. But this summer will be filled with ink (both virtual and physical) spent discussing Alfredsson's potential retirement in advance of the 2012-13 series, so I'm not going to discuss that right now. (I don't really want to face the possibility anyway.) I'm going to discuss the player who seemed most affected of all by the loss: Craig Anderson.

After the game, Anderson was obviously emotional. He immediately stormed off the ice after the final buzzer, perhaps to compose himself, before returning to the ice for final handshakes. He looked on the verge of tears while in the lineup, and it's hard to blame him: He was the Senators' best player in the series, and may very well have been the best player from either team.

That's not to take anything away from Henrik Lundqvist, but the Rangers' defence gave him a lot more support than the Senators' defence was capable of giving Anderson. Andy was left defending against far more odd-man rushes than Lundy, and the Rangers seemed to have more genuine scoring chances despite having less possession time. Once again, Anderson was his team's hero in the playoffs, but once again his team couldn't advance.

That must be hard to take. He has a nine-year NHL career under his belt, but has only made the playoffs twice. In each of those post-season appearances, he was his team's top performer, but couldn't advance to the second round. It's easy to see why he'd be a little upset after the loss.

On the bright side, he's signed with Ottawa for another three years, and this team should only get better as the young players in the system gain more experience. So, keep your chin up, Andy.

Links after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

All we asked for was a good, honest effort, and we got that from the Ottawa Senators in this game. It was hard-fought right to the end, but Ottawa's comeback effort ultimately came up short and they fell 2-1 to the New York Rangers in the seventh and decisive game.

The Rangers brought it early against the Sens, opening up a 4-1 shot margin on Ottawa by the three-minute mark in the game. The Sens bounced back from outshot New York 9-4 in the final minutes, including three shots on a powerplay, but Henrik Lundqvist was there.

Ottawa carried their momentum into the second period, firing four shots at Lundqvist before the Rangers got their first of the period. The Rangers made the most of that first one, though: After Nick Foligno failed to move the puck up the ice and Jared Cowen made a poor decision to pinch, the Rangers worked a three-on-one on Sergei Gonchar and Marc Staal finished off a perfect pass from Ryan Callahan. Five minutes later, Dan Girardi pinched in, too, and the Rangers were all of a sudden up 2-0.

Then the man stepped up. I'm not going to mention what this might have been for Daniel Alfredsson because we're all thinking it, but Alfie played like a man who wanted to leave everything he had on the ice, and he probably put most of it into the one-timer he fired past Lundqvist.

But New York fought through the goal and carried most of the momentum through the middle frame, outshooting Ottawa 12-8 in it.

The third period was insane. The Rangers opened up the period by outshooting the Sens 8-1 by the seven-minute mark, but then the Sens took over. New York hunkered down to preserve their lead, smothering Ottawa as much as possible and leaving the Sens to work the boards while congesting the middle of the ice. Ottawa got their chances, especially in the waning minutes of the game, but the Rangers defence combined with the choppy ice and a bouncy puck limited the potency of those chances. After coming close a half-dozen times or more, the Sens kept pushing, but couldn't even the score. The season ended, not with a whimper, but with some damn hard work.

That's the way it's been all season, though. This has been a lovable team with a never-say-die attitude who rise up just when you think they're down and out. It was a rebuilding year, and the team's young players learned a lot about what it takes to win in this league. The 2011-12 season seems like it marked a turning point for the Senators in much the same way the 1996-97 season did, with one difference: These Senators have a lot more skill to build with. The future is bright.

Continue reading this post »

Today's good omen: The following story is 100% true.

As I'm sure was the case with many Senators fans after Monday night's game, I was left rather disappointed. The team didn't have their best effort, the captain was supremely frustrated, the coach was downright fuming about the game, and 20,500 people--myself included--streamed out of the game much less happy than they would have been had the results been reversed. Not all was lost, as the team still had one more shot at moving on (and had already greatly surpassed expectations), but pretty much everyone in the stands brought their A-game hoping to see handshakes after 60 minutes.

With that slight disappointment in mind, I went to bed shortly after I got home. The TV in my bedroom is on my side of the bed, so I typically tune into whatever late game is on, set the sleep timer to turn the set off in a half hour or so, and doze off watching whatever game is on. On Monday night, I jealously watched the Phoenix Coyotes eliminate the Chicago Blackhawks in their six games.

The last thing I remember from that game was seeing the handshakes on the TV, and I think after that moment I dozed off into a deep sleep. In the night, I had one of my recurring dreams: I'm at a childhood birthday party in the Kanata Leisure Centre's wave pool, splashing around with my friends. Over time, my friends--and everyone else--disappears from the pool, and I'm left alone there when suddenly a whirlpool forms and drags me to the bottom of the pool. It's not that I'm drowning; I don't feel myself gasping for breath, I'm simply casually dragged along underwater. A current takes me through a maze of tile-lined waterways when, normally, I come face-to-face with the skeleton of a plesiosaur that says inane meaningless words.

This dream, however, was different. It began the same, but instead of coming face-to-face with the skeleton of a plesiosaur, there before me at the bottom of the wave pool was Daniel Alfredsson himself, in full equipment, and he appeared completely dry. Alfredsson proceeded to discuss the circumstances about his apparent flip-out from Monday evening, in which he terrified Colin Greening by repeatedly smashing his stick against the boards.

"It wasn't frustration. It was necessary. That stick needed to snap in half in order to reveal something to one chosen fan. That chosen fan, Peter, is you."

Alfredsson then directed me to get up, get in my car, and drive to the loading docks at Scotiabank Place. When I arrived, Alfredsson said, I would quickly and easily find what I was looking for.

So I did. I got up, put on some black garments, drove to the 'Bank, and pulled around to the loading dock. When I got there, I looked around, and didn't immediately see anything--but then, noticed what seemed to be some seemingly bioluminescent aura emanating from a the trash compactor just inside the still-open loading dock door.

I sneaked in, narrowly avoiding some of the operations staff still milling about getting things in order, and went into the garbage room where I was amazed to see Alfredsson's Easton Stealth stick, with a crack in the shaft and a busted blade, just sitting right there. I peered over my shoulder, saw the coast was clear, and grabbed it and ducked back outside. I knew then what to do: Apply a bit of pressure, snap the shaft in two, and something would happen.

Something happened.

Continue reading this post »

Ottawa's most highly-anticipated international arrival in nearly a year is in the city now, and he's expected to make his NHL debut tonight: Jakob Silfverberg will be in the lineup for the Ottawa Senators as they look to eliminate the New York Rangers from the Stanley Cup Finals.

No pressure, kid. (Sound familiar?)

Actually, there is a fair bit of pressure, but Silfverberg came out of the Swedish Elite League playoff pressure-cooker looking like a million bucks, so there's reason to believe he'll be fine. He'll also be joined in the lineup by countryman Daniel Alfredsson, as good a mentor as a young Swedish forward could ask for (assuming Alfredsson isn't sour about Silfverberg breaking his SEL playoff scoring record, of course).

Still, although he's been through the SEL playoffs, the NHL post-season is a vastly different animal. In the words of The 6th Sens' Stefan G:son, Silfverberg might "struggle to adjust going from the low-tempo SEL to the intensity of an NHL playoff game." Adrenaline will surely be flowing, but it can only take someone so far.

Some were calling the possibility of dressing Silfverberg a "pretty terrible idea," while others tried quelling the flames burning ever-higher with expectations of the Swedish league MVP. But he's in, and that news is blowing up the Twitter machine.

So what can we expect from the Swedish phenom? Well, he's got a wicked shot, so hopefully he'll be making Henrik Lundqvist's life miserable (or at least the lives of the defencemen blocking shots in front of Lundqvist). He was alongside Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek in the morning line rushes, so he'll likely be given an early opportunity on the team's top line, but Paul MacLean won't be hesitate to bump him down if it looks like Silfverberg is overwhelmed by the intensity at Scotiabank Place and the pressure of the game.

One thing I expect: Scotiabank Place will absolutely have to mount an 'Oh, ah, Silfverberg! Say oh, ah, Silfverberg' chant at least once during the game.

Continue reading this post »

How does this feel, folks?

It was a tense game, and probably wasn't the Ottawa Senators best effort, but some clutch performances got them through it with a 2-0 win over the New York Rangers and a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals series.

Ottawa got their best start of the series when Mark Stone sent Jason Spezza in alone on Henrik Lundqvist, and Spezza beat Lundy five-hole to give Ottawa their first lead to work with in the playoffs. The Rangers were awarded four consecutive powerplays in the period, two before Spezza's goal and two after, but New York couldn't gain much against the Sens penalty killers, and, when they could, Craig Anderson was there.

Anderson's near-omnipresence was a recurring theme in the game. He was outstanding. But more on that later...

In the second, the powerplays evened out as Ottawa had three opportunities with the man-advantage, but couldn't muster much. Neither team had their powerplays going in the game, but it (luckily) didn't hurt Ottawa nearly as much as it did New York thanks to their early lead.

The final frame was a tight-checking affair, but the Rangers brought it: They fired 15 shots at Anderson in the third, but once again he was up to the task and kept things under control. Spezza scored his second of the game into an empty net, salting away the game and putting Ottawa within one win of advancing to the second round.

Few people saw this happening before the season started.

Let's talk about goaltending, as it's been the biggest feature of this series so far. Seeing Anderson go head-to-head with probable Vezina Trophy winner and come out looking great is remarkable. Especially since Ottawa's defence hasn't been nearly as supportive of their goaltender as New York's has been. That's not to suggest any shortcoming on Lundqvist's part, but more to demonstrate just how impressive Anderson has been so far. Speaking of Andy...

Sens Hero: Craig Anderson
Remember how Lundqvist stole game three for the Rangers? Anderson replied tonight by stealing game five for the Sens. He stopped all 41 shots he faced to record his second career playoff shutout and setting a franchise record for most saves made in a playoff shutout. He was especially important in the first period, containing the Rangers' early-game surge and helping kill off two Rangers powerplays, keeping the game scoreless until Ottawa's offensive guns could do their work. His calm demeanour helped keep the whole Sens team under wraps, and gave them the confidence necessary to get the lead and keep it. He's stepped things up, and has been the go-to guy for the Sens.

Continue reading this post »

In their first four games, the Ottawa Senators have scored eight goals on New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist--on 142 shots so far. They haven't come easy: Before last night's games, the Senators have had more shots blocked (96) than any other team, and they had missed the net more than any other team (69 times). Eight goals on 299 shots towards the opposition's net equals a 2.7 per cent efficiency rating.

Basically, goals have been hard to come by. Any shots that aren't blocked by Rangers defenders--including Dan Girardi, who leads the league with 22 blocked shots, and Ryan McDonagh, who's third in the league with 13--have to find their way through the best goaltender in the league in Lundqvist. But somehow, eight different Senators have managed to get the puck through all that, so it makes sense to look at how they've done it.

Below are highlights of each goal the Senators have scored so far, along with a brief description and a "category." At the bottom, I'll share conclusions on what have proven to be the most effective ways for the Sens to score. You might not be too surprised by the findings, but hey, the post is worth it just to re-live the goals we've seen so far in the Sens' playoff run.

Continue reading this post »

After capping off a historic season by winning the Swedish Elite League playoffs and raising the Le Mat Trophy above his head, Ottawa Senators prospect Jakob Silfverberg appears ready to hop on a place and join the Sens in Ottawa.

During the season, Silfverberg scored 54P (24G, 30A) in 49GP and was named the league's MVP--a feat he followed up by earning playoff MVP honours, as well. He had 20P (13G, 7A) in 17 playoff games, his 13 goals surpassing the record set in 2005 by none other than Daniel Alfredsson.

Another interesting Sens connection is the fact that Silfverberg and former Ottawa winger Andreas Dackell were co-captains on the championship Brynäs team, and lifted the SEL championship trophy together. (H/T SteffeG)

According to Le Droit's Sylvain St. Laurent, an unnamed source from the Sens said that Silfverberg could arrive in Ottawa as soon as two days from now.

Although Silfverberg will likely join the Senators and at least tag along for the ride, it's hard to imagine what kind of emotional state he'll be in when he arrives--he must be elated right now, considering how much he's won, and coming down from that high in time to play on Saturday seems highly unlikely (even in the event that Jesse Winchester isn't available to play).

However, there's reason to believe that, should the Senators need a boost for Game Six, Silfverberg could probably fill in. He's been playing intense playoff hockey in one of the world's best leagues for the last few weeks, so his competitiveness won't be lacking. Getting used to the different ice size and style of play in North America would be a challenge, but not one that Silfverberg would likely shy away from tackling.

The Ottawa Senators might have lost game three to the New York Rangers by a 1-0 score, but they can walk away with some solace: They were the better team for the majority of the game. They were stymied at every turn by an all-world goaltending talent and paid for one of few defensive zone errors they made to lose the game, but there are ample positives to pull from the game--even if the biggest negative was the most important, the final score.

In a tight-checking first period, the Rangers came out strong and gained the momentum with an early powerplay, but Ottawa re-gained it when Marc Staal was assessed a chintzy even-up call. The Sens had a second powerplay later in the frame, and finished with a 12-8 edge in shots and a substantial margin in possession time.

The second was a reversal of stakes, with the Rangers carrying the play and getting the better chances (even though the Sens still outshot them by a 13-8 margin). New York benefited from two powerplays in the middle frame, but couldn't get anything past a quite remarkable Craig Anderson. Ottawa found themselves running around more in the second, but managed to hold their opponents off.

Ottawa stepped things up even further in the third, carrying much of the play and getting a whole whack of scoring chances--only to be stymied time and again by Henrik Lundqvist. At the 7:35 mark of the final period, all-time Sens Killer Brian Boyle scored his third goal in as many games to put Ottawa down by one. After that, New York mostly clamped down and tried to contain the Sens, and--thanks in large part to Lundqvist's heroics--they were able to.

All game long, the Senators were looking for someone to break through and make something happen. Kyle Turris had opportunities, and so did some of the team's bottom-six forwards, but Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek were both suffering offensively. Although Daniel Alfredsson's presence might not have changed the final result, the Senators looked like a team that missed their captain.

Ottawa now finds themselves down 2-1 in the series, and--as Ian Mendes tweeted after the game--they've never won a series in which they've lost game three. But these Sens are a resilient bunch, and you can be sure Paul MacLean will have them back and ready to go on Wednesday night for game four.

Sens Killer: Brian Boyle
He's doing his job, and I hate him for it. Finishing checks, making opponents uncomfortable, and scoring goals. Ottawa can't find a way to contain the guy, but they'd better.

Continue reading this post »

File this under "curious."

The NHL just fined point-per-game player Zenon Konopka $2500 for chirping Brian Boyle during an interview before Saturday night's game between the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers. I assume Konopka informed Boyle that he was going to fight someone, although he may have used colourful language. The take-home message here for me, though, is that a little pre-game chirping is tantamount to grabbing and smashing another player's face into the glass.

It's hard to get too upset about this in isolation, because $2500 is fairly insignificant to someone who takes home $700,000 a year, but given the fact that it's equal to the fine assessed to Shea Weber for his indiscretion in dealing with Henrik Zetterberg, it's laughable.

(Here's my guess: The Sens pass a hat around their dressing room before tonight's game, and raise the $2500 to pay for Konopka's fine.)

The Senators were also fined $10,000 for his conduct. Which is similarly mind-boggling, but it raises one very interesting question: How much are the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers going to pay for their nonsense last night?

Twitter was blowing up today that Daniel Alfredsson was feeling better and could potentially suit up for the Ottawa Senators in tonight's game against the New York Rangers.

Rangers fans were upset about this news--not because Alfredsson may be healthier than initially thought (they're not completely heartless, after all), but mostly because they felt that Carl Hagelin's three-game suspension was based heavily on the result of the hit rather than the hit itself. The rest of us, though, are hoping that Alfie's healthy enough to play, and not risking his health unduly rushing back.

Criticisms immediately followed these reports, suggesting that the Senators were milking the injury or engaging in despicable gamesmanship in order to increase a potential suspension for Hagelin. This is folly for two reasons. First, at the time of the injury, the team was down 1-0, and the game later went in to overtime; ergo, the Senators would have benefited more from Alfredsson's return than any potential suspension (if as suspension were to be handed down, which was far from guaranteed) to Hagelin. Second of -ly, Alfredsson wouldn't accept instruction to sit out if he didn't believe it was a good idea; this is the same competitive player who played through ligament tears, jaw fractures, and all sorts of other injuries (all of which, it should be noted, are significantly different in nature than a brain injury); if he was able to return to the game, he would have.

They also forget the nature of injury disclosure in the NHL playoffs. The terms "upper-body injury" and "lower-body injury" were invented for the playoffs, because teams don't want to reveal what's bothering their players. Although i hope it's not the case and that Alfie is indeed close to returning, it's entirely possible that the Senators are overstating Alfredsson's proximity to a return in order to keep the Rangers guessing. It happened throughout the playoffs last season with Sidney Crosby.

We'll find out what the real story is a little before 7 p.m. tonight for game three of the series.

Continue reading this post »

"On the bench right before, I said to Colin and Smitty, I go, 'Why can't it be us? Our line go out and get a goal?' And on the next shift, we went out and we were able to score."

-Chris Neil, after scoring the overtime game-winner in game two.

Chris Neil didn't have a letter on his sweater last game, but he certainly played like a captain in game two of the Ottawa Senators' series against the New York Rangers on Saturday night.

In fact, all season long Neil's been stepping up for the Senators and filling in as a team leader. He's done it in the few games where he's been an official associate captain, but he hasn't needed a letter to make his statements. He's embraced his role mentoring the team's younger players, and it seems to have added some energy to his game--energy Neil has been lacking for much of the last few seasons.

His leadership by example through this season and post-season so far likely shouldn't surprise us, though. Chris Neil has always been proud to be an Ottawa Senator, and has literally bled for his team and his teammates.

Continue reading this post »

Shortly after announcing a three-game suspension for Carl Hagelin for his elbow to the head of Daniel Alfredsson, the NHL also announced a one-game suspension to Matt Carkner for jumping Brian Boyle, an unwilling combatant during an altercation on Saturday night.

In his explanation, Brendan Shanahan cited the fact that Carkner was the aggressor, that Boyle wasn't injured, and that Carkner had a rap sheet before the incident.

On the play, Carkner was assessed a two-minute instigator penalty, five minutes for fighting, and a game misconduct.

Continue reading this post »

The NHL has just announced that Carl Hagelin of the New York Rangers was suspended three games for his hit to the head on Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson.

"As the video shows" (below the fold), Brendan Shanahan took three key points into consideration: Alfredsson was injured on the play and did not return to the game, this was an elbow to the head, and Hagelin had no history with the department of supplementary discipline.

Hagelin was assessed a five-minute major on the play, which the Senators scored on.

Continue reading this post »

There will be disagreement on the conduct of the Ottawa Senators in Game Two of their Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series against the New York Rangers. Some--especially Rangers fans--will not like it one bit. Others--especially Senators fans--will, at least mostly, like it. After seeing so many Senators teams fail to step up physically in the playoffs through much of Jacques Martin's tenure, it's nice to see the team make a statement. More importantly, though, their conduct paid off. It wasn't pretty, but that doesn't matter: The series is tied at one and the teams are flying to Ottawa with a best-of-five series ahead of them.

Typically, I'm not a big fan of fighting in the NHL. I think it's usually a waste of energy, and it's not something that should come into a game that's refereed fairly. When the game isn't refereed fairly, though, players feel they have to take things into their own hands. Vigilantism isn't an optimal solution, but when sanctioned powers fail to exact justice, things will boil over.

Things boiled over on Saturday.

After the Rangers were virtually rewarded for Brian Boyle punching Erik Karlsson in the head on Thursday (coincidental penalties took the much more dangerous Karlsson off the ice while Ottawa was on the powerplay), the Senators felt they needed to make a statement. To do so, Paul MacLean beefed up his lineup by inserting 12' 4" and 446 pounds, in the form of Matt Carkner and Zenon Konopka.

Even if you didn't watch the game, you know what ensued.

Continue reading this post »

Last February, the Ottawa Senators traded Chris Kelly for a second-round draft pick. Last night, he scored the the game-winning goal for the Boston Bruins. In overtime.

In 2006, the Sens traded Martin Havlat to the Chicago Blackhawks for a package of players. Last night, he scored the game-winning goal for the San Jose Sharks. In double-overtime.

In 2009, the Sens traded Antoine Vermette for Pascal Leclaire and a second-rounder (Robin Lehner). Last night, he scored the game-winning goal for the Phoenix Coyotes.

It's tough to moan too much about these trades at this point in history, but my goodness... couldn't they have put some of that clutch offence on the board during those past Senators playoff disappointments?

Tomorrow night, some more Ottawa Senators draft picks will hopefully score game-winning goals. And those should be against the New York Rangers.

Links after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

It's finally here, folks.

The Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers will be facing off in Game One of their Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series this evening, and it's ridiculous how excited I am to watch playoff hockey again. (Anyone else with me here?) I can't imagine how painful it would be to have to wait, say, seven years or more between playoff games...

Anyway, the Senators enter the game at full health (Peter Regin aside), as Chris Neil is slated as likely to start the game despite his recent injury. The Rangers have been missing Mats Zuccarello and Steve Eminger for a while now, and Henrik Lundqvist recently had a "swollen right forearm," but they should be in pretty good shape health-wise, too. We've previewed the series to no end, and there are plenty of previews linked below, so I won't go into too much detail here; however, let's just make some ridiculous predictions: What do you think the score will be tonight?

Outside of the Sens series, what was the biggest story for you last night? The Kings' surprising 4-2 win over the Canucks? The Flyers' remarkable comeback against the Penguins? Shea Weber's neanderthal-esque head-smashing of Henrik Zetterberg? There was no shortage of excitement last night, that's for sure.

For the links today, I've done something a little bit different--playoff edition, I suppose. Let me know what you think of it in the comments section.

Continue reading this post »

As Nichols mentioned on The 6th Sens, Saturday should have marked a celebration for Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk: Three buyouts finally came off the books, totaling just under $2.43M in cap space (and real money, too). Neither of Jonathan Cheechoo or Ray Emery are being paid by the Senators anymore, and the team has also finished paying off the previous contract for Daniel Alfredsson (Nichols has more on that curious contract set up on his site, so read it if you'd like details).

Now, $2.43M isn't chump change; only three forwards on Ottawa's roster made more than that this season. It's a decent amount that could be used to net a good depth forward or an upgrade on the blue line, and, in either case, a player with experience could be had. It's basically found money for Sens GM Bryan Murray, assuming Melnyk is interested in spending as much next season as he has this one. So where should it be spent?

Continue reading this post »

Mamma mia! Can you believe that Nick Foligno is on this list?

Considering he's played the better part of five seasons with the Senators--only six player from his draft class have played more NHL games than Foligno--it's hard to believe that Foligno's still under 25 years old. But he is.

Over the course of his five-year career, Foligno has steadily improved his offensive output, and set a career high this season with 47P (15G, 32A), good for fifth on the team in scoring despite playing mostly third-line minutes. He's got amazing hands and a good nose for the net, every once in a while showing an amazing pass, terrific commitment to a play, or absolutely ridiculous dangles--plus he can hit and, when necessary, he'll drop the gloves.

What more could you ask for?

Continue reading this post »

(Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.)

Three games and three losses in the final week of the regular season, but few people got to bent out of shape about it--most in the city were just jubilant about the Senators' surprising playoff berth. It's never good to enter the playoffs on a three-game losing streak, but it seemed like the team let their intensity lag once they'd clinched their playoff spot. Hopefully they can turn it back on for game one, or else the Sens will get worked by the Rangers.

Biggest gains: Matt Gilroy
In the first game of the week, Gilroy had a chance to show what he could do in the playoffs--and blew it. Then he drew back into the lineup in the season's final game, and definitely made his mark: He put up two points, and his speed and offensive support nearly gave Erik Karlsson a run for his money. Gilroy might not be in the lineup for Game One against the Rangers, but he definitely matches up better against New York than the Bruins.

Biggest losses: Erik Karlsson
It seemed like Karlsson might have been the most affected by the meaningless games--only one assist in the week--but considering how well he's been playing all season, that probably shouldn't be surprising. He showed an ability to dial it up in his first taste of the post-season, and the Senators will need him to follow suit this time around if they're to have any chance of making waves.

(read on for the full rundown...)

Continue reading this post »

The NHL released the schedule for the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs this afternoon, and the Ottawa Senators will start their series against the New York Rangers this Thursday. The first game in Ottawa will be Monday, April 16, and the whole series will be broadcast on the CBC.

Below if the full series schedule:

SERIES A	TIME (ET)	#1 VS. #8	NETWORKS
THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2012	7 P.M.	OTTAWA AT NY RANGERS	NHL NETWORK, CBC
SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2012	7 P.M.	OTTAWA AT NY RANGERS	NBC SPORTS NETWORK, CBC
MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2012	7:30 P.M.	NY RANGERS AT OTTAWA	CBC, CNBC
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012	7:30 P.M.	NY RANGERS AT OTTAWA	CBC, CNBC
*SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2012	7 P.M.	OTTAWA AT NY RANGERS	NBC SPORTS NETWORK, CBC
*MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012	TBD	NY RANGERS AT OTTAWA	TBD
*THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012	TBD	OTTAWA AT NY RANGERS	TBD

To read the league-wide playoff schedule, click here.