Fairly rare occasion but I wasn't able to take in the game tonight.
But from what I've heard McElhinney was surprisingly good (at times brilliant) and the Sens got goals from the two most offensively talented players in the line up. Spezza scored the first goal and the suddenly top line sniper Bobby Butler scored the game winner.
Like I said, I actually didn't watch tonight's game. Went down to the Civic Centre to observe another top ranked prospect take on the 67's. Having had the opportunity to see Landeskog and Strome first hand, I can say my preference is absolutely Gabriel Landeskog.
Ryan Strome did score twice, including the OT winner for the Ice Dogs but at times he was fairly invisible. Definitely a skilled hockey player but he didn't dominate the game like I was hoping he would. Even though Landeskog was held off the score sheet last Sunday, he had a certain presence on the ice.
Something I did not get from Ryan Strome tonight despite the two goal night.
With tonight's win over Tampa Bay, Ottawa is now just one point back of the 28th place Avalanche.
I know I've mentioned it before but I wanted to thank you all for your patience as we transfer to the new site. I encourage you all to keep sharing your feedback in the comment section and in the feedback thread in the forum.
I'm confident we can get this site to a point where all readers can enjoy it.
Thanks for your help!
Really happy to see Sens young guns starting to play well together. Maybe all we needed was to get rid of some underperforming vets and install some NHL quality goaltending.
BTW, have been watching coverage of Japanese earthquake and tsunami on JapanTV (channel 829 on Rogers - free for now). Truly terrifying situation. As much as I love hockey, watching the coverage puts Sens challenges in perspective. Pray for the people of Japan.
Look, they're not going to move themselves out of the draft lottery. They would have to SIGNIFICANTLY outplay New Jersey and Atlanta to do that.
The lottery this year is almost definitely going to be Edmonton, Ottawa, Colorado, NY Islanders, Florida. That means the worst Ottawa is going to be picking is 5th overall.
Based on what I have read, that means they'll get one of Larsson, Landeskog, Nugent-Hopkins, Couturier, or Strome.
I'd much rather see them win games, because that's more fun to watch.
Isn't it amazing what a little goaltending can do though. You almost have to wonder where the team would be if they had a goalie all year that was simply stopping the ones he was supposed to. The team was never as bad as their record suggested. Glad for the win.
When we needed to win during the season, we sucked and lost those games. Now that we need to lose, we start winning games. And hey, it looks like we'll be picking in the top 5 so I'm happy for that... *knock on wood*
and of course, the play of backup "Place Holder" Curtis McElhinney, showed us why he is a valuable asset to have in goal. He was selected as the 1st Star, in his first game with the Senators. Now we know what he is, and I see no problem in starting Anderson for a few more games.
Amazing how we went from lousy goaltending, to superb goalies and we are playing inspired hockey with a bunch of young rookies!
"what happened to the Avs?
Nothing has happened to the Av's. I hate to say it, but this is pretty much the team we had last year as well....the difference being last year we had a goalie that stole us game after game when we certainly didn't deserve it. When we got in a scoring slump...he choked the other team to death single handedly until a lucky bounce got us the win. We were out shot in the vast majority of the games last year and yet we won a bunch of them anyway. That was a goalie standing on his head. During the playoffs...we were so outclassed it was pathetic...but our goalie allowed us to be defeated with a bit of pride left.
Again, we don't know what was going on behind the scenes...but I do know that without Andy last year...we would have finished pretty close to where we are now. So the short answer...what happened to the Av's? Kroenke bought an NFL team and needed the Av's salary money elsewhere."
For me, the winning record is starting to get a bit too long to be just chance. So what gives? Were the prospects buried in Binghamton that much better than thought? Were the guys we shipped out a bigger drag than we thought? Did playing Alfie, Fish, and Mich while they were injured darg the team down to that level?
If Murray had targeted Anderson for an off season aquisition, wouldn't it have benefited the team more to wait until July 1st?
Our draft pick would be solid #1 without the goalie swap and Anderson has increased his asking price with his play in Ottawa.
Looking forward to next year when I can watch games without the mixed feelings of knowing a win jeopardizes our future.
Good
- Strome's puck movement is crazy good. He handles that puck so well -- great puck carrier with amazing hands.
- Responsible defensively. He made some really good defensive plays including a lifted stick in the 2nd period that prevented what, I assume, could have been a sure goal. He's got a quick stick and had some decent takeaways and was causing trouble in the neutral zone all game.
- Great skating. He's fast and he's got a good first step. He's mobile.
- Surprisingly good in the corners. He's not very thick, and not overly tall, so I expected him to get pushed around a lot more. He only really got pinned against the boards once that I saw.
- Faceoffs were great. I didn't exactly count down to the exact number, but he lost 5 faceoffs all night and he took at least 15. I was really surprised. Quick stick.
- Insane shot. Laser shot. I can't say enough about his shot. His wrister is decent (my seat was right near where they were warming up) but he's a straight snipeshow with his slapper.
- Created good opportunities with passing. Great vision and hockey IQ moving around into great spaces and always following the play (defensively and offensively)
Negatives
- Nothing. HAHA JUST KIDDING
- He did make a defensive gaff on the second goal. I don't think it was really his fault, but he didn't get to the open man fast enough to prevent the goal. He could have been better.
- A couple picked off passes. They looked smooth but just ended up getting caught on sticks.
- Smallish. He's not overly tall (around 6' I'd say) and he looks kind of on the thin side. I guessed 185 before but I'd say it's closer to 170 - 175. He didn't really get bullied around, but I could see that happening.
- At points didn't really get much of a chance to get involved in the game.
He's got shifty skating. He kept the defence guessing and I think I saw him lose the puck once the entire night when he was carrying it. He really handles the puck well and avoids checks well. I remember one play in particular when the puck was dumped in and he was chasing it but a defender was in front of him where he was zig-zagging side to side and the defender was trying to cut him off but couldn't, Strome ended up getting the puck bringing it around behind the net and then passing it in front for a scoring opportunity.
I think Ottawa, through the years they've been a contender, has always made average goalies look better, largely due to their defensive lineups in the past. Look at Elliot last year with the 11 game winning streak. Or Lalime's entire time here.
It's nice that we are seeing goalies that can steal a game for you with a young inexperienced group in front of them.
Just a massive open ice hit. Looked perfectly clean to me. Just a case of Prince having his head down in the wrong part of the ice I think.
Did you see it?
Go Sens GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Chirp your new site Rocks
Fantastic write up and far more detailed than anything I've provided. Not sure if it was because I was less distracted on Sunday but I just felt like Landeskog and more of a presence out there.
Hard to argue with anything you have said though. The kid definitely has an unbelievable shot.
That sounds positive, but my sense from what you write is that it is positive that all the positives might get erased in the NHL when he plays against larger, meaner, more aggressive opponents. What is your feeling on this?
Chirp, is this maybe part of the reason for your more negative take?
That's exactly it. With Strome, I felt like he was the best player among kids. With Landeskog he just seemed to be on another level.
Keep in mind you can go back and edit a post if you want!
This goes back to what a lot of people were sayig earlier, our core of veterans didn't respect the coach and weren't listening to him. That was the major reason the core needed to change, we had Paddock, Hartsburg and Clouston apparently losing the team - it can't always be the coach.
Now with a hungry team, playing for the coach and playing together (and with hardly any team pressure as well) we are seeing positive results. Maybe the future isn't as bleak as we thought and maybe, just maybe Clouston IS the guy to take a young team forward.
Also I don't think the space allowed for comments is ,ong enough, anything more than three short paragraphs and you have to split your comment. That is generally OK because obviously most comments should be things like "we hate leafs" but when there is a proper discussion going in the comment threads it isn't enough.
Bobby Butler was "invisible" last night, and then he scored the game winner... Heck, the entire team was pretty much invisible, its pretty much the new strategy:
"don't do anything for long enough, and the other team will forget about us"
Thanks for the feedback. A few people have mentioned that issue about where the comments page refreshes. Will try and get that fixed up.
Pop out comments is SICK! Gotta fix the Grey on Grey comment box. and make the whole section a bit wider and it will be perfect (the wider the comments, the more you can fit on one page)
Great work so far SC!
As for the game tonight, as much as I'd like a top 3 pick, it's great to see the competitiveness of the team lately. Assuming we can sign Anderson, next season will be an interesting one as we watch these young kids develop.
See I feel like it's the opposite. Landeskog is already filled out and is a man amongst boys. Strome is still very small and raw -- remember he's the youngest of the top prospects (he'll still be 17 when he's drafted!) He's probably 170lbs at best...when he fills out completely I think it will make it easier on him.
I think he's just as good if not better than the 'big 4' and I think he'll be the best player out of the draft once he fills out. I really hope Ottawa picks him...I know you said our scouts were high on him. We're in desperate need of a 2nd line C and it's a lot harder to get a really talented C than a winger IMO.
Lando would definitely be my 2nd choice though.
The Avs will have the last laugh when they get the #1 pick thanks to Elliott.
Murray messed up bigtime by putting our draft pick in the hands of two UFA goalies playing for contracts.
Why was it necessary to replace it with this Kansas City Whore House version of hfboards.com ?
Would love to see a mobile version as well. Chirp, do you still have RSS feeds available? I'm not getting anything anymore since the new site. Not a big issue but I enjoyed it on my blackberry.
All the elements of the original site are still there. The new bells and whistles are all optional. Was designed specifically so that those that preferred the old site would still have the same experience.
My concern is only that he continues to impress and is not available when Sens draft 4th or 5th.
I hope you're not planning on defending yourself against every negative comment made. Save yourself the energy, in 2 months, nobody will remember the old SC.
Go Sens Go!
chirp:
http://www.senschirp.ca/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=category&task=category&id=15&Itemid=13&format=feed
yost:
http://www.senschirp.ca/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=category&task=category&id=28&Itemid=29&format=feed
so i guess you could add both
Love the popups, now if you can remove the pages on comments and list all + fix comment box to be white instead of grey
Sens winning is giving me an ulcer!
Watched Landeskog last night on Sportsnet, he's pretty strong on the puck eh?
but i would like a mobile version
very slow with my browser on my crackberry!!
thanks chirp for everything u do
I believe there is a mobile version. I've been forced to use my iPod since the new launch and have only been able to use the mobile version. Maybe it is just not BB friendly.
Still can't login this version Chirp, or access the forums from this version.
Didn't say he wont be an impact player. Was just speaking in comparison to Landeskog. Important to keep in mind it was just one game too.
Maybe add the popup link at the bottom of the article with the comments too
I was also at the civic center... it appears the strome cracking 100 and 101 points isn't all that...
I agree, the Landeskog was a better player tha Strome.
Cheers,
If there ever was a team to tank, it has to be the avs, they started out looking like a playoff contender and then make some crazy trades and don't win in like 8 weeks?
Why is Elliott playing so much? Is he their #1 right now?
Ya know, I read that and was like WTF?!
Yeah in hindsight maybe 'chrip should have allowed people to pre-register or something.
anyone can change their name on here tho, I think avatars might be the best addition to determine who the real * is.
Long time reader and fan of the site. The new site looks great too! You do a fantastic job. It's always awesome when you can get up to date stuff about the Sens. I love reading comments from real hockey fans too, and not that crap from people writing on other boards (like TSN). Those boards always seem to turn towards Leafs, no matter the article topic.
Great effort again by the team. I always have mixed emotions about a win with this many games and where we are in the standings. Some have mentioned it's not that bad though because we shouldn't play ourselves out of top 5 and all those picks are good this year.
Keep up the good work Chirp! Also, warm welcome to Yost. Never read your stuff, but I've heard good things.
When I am not logged in I see avatards in the popup comments section. When I log in I don't see the avatards. Just an FYI. Oh and I seem to be typing blind. Grey on grey.
Fish has only put up 1 point in like his past ten, and a first round pick is definitely going to be more of an asset to us.
Yea that grey on grey will have to be changed. Thanks for pointing that out.
We need the Predators to lose. Go Avs!
I agree. I think he's going to be the best player out of the draft (admittedly on limited data, but by comparison I definitely think he'll be better than Landeskog.)
Just something about Landeskog that I prefer I guess.
How is it that you were more impressed with Landeskog over Strome, and Strome had 2 goals and Gabriel didn't have any points?
Just curious to know: what does Landeskog have that Strome doesn't have?
Both great prospects though and like I said before, my dream scenario on draft day is finding a way to grab both of them.
What do you think/know about Hurburdeau?
Darkhorse of the draft. This kid is good.
You can't seriously be suggesting we make an assessment based on one game from each player in the last 2 weeks?
In no way would I spin Chirps tires. Of course I am right :)
Avatard was spelled incorrectly on porpoise
Hope they find their way in the new site !!