On all three pairings there were question marks.
Erik Karlsson is Erik Karlsson. He racked up three points in Winnipeg and was actually better on Monday night against the Panthers despite not picking up any points. While the first pairing featured the defending Norris Trophy winner, there were questions about how newcomer Marc Methot would fit as a defense partner. Through two games, the reviews on Methot have been nothing but positive. His physical play has been good and his puck handling a pleasant surprise.
That pairing appears to be here to stay.
The second duo of Chris Phillips and Sergei Gonchar provides a ton of experience, but how they would adjust to the hit the ground running environment you get from a shortened season was a cause for concern. So far, so good I'd say. Clearly Gonchar has benefited from his time in the KHL and while there have been signs of rust from Phillips, he has given the team some quality minutes.
The third pairing was also a bit of an unknown heading into the season.
Patrick Wiercioch and Andre Benoit had looked good as a pair in Binghamton, but could they sustain that at the NHL level? Again, the initial reviews have been positive. Andre Benoit has been good on the attack and in his own end and has displayed an element of quickness I really didn't expect.
In Wiercioch, the Sens have a guy who can take a regular shift at even strength, and pitch in on the power play, as he did on Monday night, setting up Kyle Turris for the game's first goal.
Extremely small sample size, but Paul MacLean has to like what he's seen from his defenceman so far. Here are the average time on ice numbers through the first couple games.
Karlsson- 26:14
Gonchar-23:35
Methot- 22:50
Phillips- 20:45
Benoit- 14:18
Wiercioch- 12:27
The strong start means there isn't that same urgency for Bryan Murray to make a move which helps them avoid a "panic" move. Now obviously the Jets and Panthers aren't exactly offensive powerhouses and there are bigger tests ahead but you have to like the play of the defence core so far.
- The Ottawa Senators have scored eight goals through the first couple games and besides Zack Smith, Peter Regin, Erik Condra and Chris Phillips, every skater has registered a point. That kind of balanced scoring is going to be critical to this team's success.
- The Sens held one last practice before leaving the icy cold weather behind as they visit sunny Florida for back to back games on Thursday and Friday night. No changes in the forward combinations other than Peter Regin shifting to centre, while Jim O'Brien moved to the wing. Same pairings on defence.
- Some good news from the farm as Mika Zibanejad is healthy and scoring for the Binghamton Senators. Zibanejad has scored goals in three straight games.
In order so far it's been (for me anyway) Karlsson, Methot, WireCock, Gonchar, Benoit and Phillips. Lundin might find it hard to get a regular spot when he returns although the contract situation migt force Murray's hand. More than likely we carry 7 dmen all year to cover for bumps and bruises this shortened season will undoubtedly bring.
One great development is that WireCock has shown he's ready to be a full time NHLer.
I hope that continues in Florida, to get them warmed up for bigger and better teams.
If you think about it they kind of have our cast aways kuba and Floatelev.
We owned Floatalev last game, that was nice to see.
When we sweep Florida it is another 4 points, what team the 4 points come from is irrelevant.
Wow just tried the edit button, it was so hard to see to retype before, fantastic improvement .
I guess when Lundin returns Benoit becomes the 7th d & Boroweicki is returned to Bingo since he doesn't have to go through waivers but Benoit would. Before that though I would like to see Gryba brought up to see how he would do in the NHL.
IMHO I think that Gryba in a senators uniform is just about done. Unless he shits the bed at the allstar game he will be pulled off the waiver wire in September IF he gets sent down to Bingo.
Its too bad that the organization just didnt see eye to eye with him. He has been very good fo the bsens. From what I have heard his trade value will be little because of the pending waiver issue.
Post #7, Go Turris!
Karlsson ranked at #1 for fantasy draft defensmen. :)
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=652019&navid=nhl:topheads
Lupul broke his arm; give them time, the leaves always fall...
I was looking at the upcoming games and noticed that the Sens/Pens on Sunday is only offered on CI in regular def'n - not in HD. Is it on SNET-E in HD?
Pisses me off to pay for Center Ice and not get all games in HD...
Most providers have a free preview of CI right now. If you get SNET-E they have 34 of the games this season so I wouldn't go spending the $$
I'm in Toronto (ugh!) so all Sens games on SNET-E are blacked out... hence CI.
Ahhh shitty, I was just editing it realizing you probably get CI cause you are out of the region
Did you get the florida game on CI on Monday? I'm in Barrie and got the SN-E feed on CI
I think Murray is thinking longer term. i.e. the "top 4" in his mind are Karlsson, Cowen, Methot and whatever guy he can bring in. Gonchar is gone by the summer or sooner and Phillips is a bottom pairing guy that can play heavier minutes when needed (and in the playoffs).
Really have two spots to fill: replace Gonchar and find the fourth piece of our top four. One of those slots might be Wiercioch and the other might easily be another guy in the system - but it doesn't hurt to add someone now then decide later who the "extra" guy is.
Aside from being made of Danish Glass, I love watching that kid play, hopefully he finds that scoring touch he showed us a few years ago soon.
Anyone else feeling an Aflie point-splosion tonight?
Yes. And the FLA & TBL games are on CI in HD. The PENS games is on CI on Sunday, but only in reg def'n. That's what I'm confused about. Was wondering if the game just wasn't on in HD... but it sounds like it is.
Look on your TV schedule for Sunday and see if the CI game for the PENS is in HD...
lets put things into perspective, these two first games were not against the league powerhorses, and secondley Andy more than bailed them out at times in both those games.
First pairing is top notch level in the league.
Methot is Methodical, in his first touches on the puck, and once he gets the puck to EK with space... look out, it goes from our end to their end in a blink.
PW and AB have more than held their own with sheltered minutes, as 5-6.
Our 3-4 pairing will prove to be our achillies heel against stronger opponents. Again never thought I would be saying this but Gonchar has been carrying Phillips in the first two games. Some may say its rust, but if I have to be honest Phillips play has been "rusty" for over 2 years, and with age, and lack of playing, he is more than struggling to keep up.
Kind of like what was happenning to Jason Smith when he could no longer keep up, or Luke Richardson.
Yes we all love the Big Rig, but he either has to dramatically pick up his game, or the coaches will have to manage his minutes to around the 10 minutes per game mark.
It is not right to have Gyrba at 24 proving his keep in the AHL, and arguably better than Phillips, stay down.
this again IMHO
Florida was a solid game but can't get too carried away against a team that struggles against montreal as well
We need help on defense.
Benoit has been great and I am a supporter, but if he is not in our long term plans then he is the guy coming out should we pick up another dman in a trade, also we still have to give Lundin a fair shake when he comes back
Karlsson-Methot
Gonchar-Weircoch
Lundin-Phillips
Load phillips with PK time and minimize his 5 on 5
Gonchar can and has played well 5 on 5 on the pp and on the pk. He is really our only dman that does all 3 very well. Karlsson is starting to play PK but he will never be relied on heavily in that regard
We lose gonchar this year (I'd consider re-signing him but I just don't see him doing so)
So next year we are left with:
karlsson
phillips
methot
cowen (replaces gonchars every minute type dman)
weircoch
Add in gryba and borocop as well as a push from ceci and I think we are looking pretty good
If Lundin struggles then I say we look for help, but if anything I think Murray will look for an expiring contract and servicable
options who I think Murray will actually target with trade and should be available:
Mark Streit
Ian White(should detroit continue to struggle)
Lad Smid (should he not be resigned early)
These guys would be top 4 for remainder of year and more than likely would walk next year opening up room for Cowen/Ceci/Gryba/Boro
Personally I'm in favor of pursuing Mark Streit. He's a solid vet who can qb a pp
Karlsson-Methot
Streit-Weircoch
Gonchar-Phillips (Shutdown pair)
PP1: Gonchar-Karlsson
PP2: Streit-Weircoch
PK1: Gonchar-Phillips
PK2: Methot-Streit
PK3: Karlsson+methot /phillips/gonch ar
His minutes on ice will continue to be limited with the occasional ask to step up and play a bigger role if players are out.
I always felt his latest deal was a year too long, although there is something to be said for an experienced hand on a, generally, inexperienced blueline -which is what we might have next year if Gonchar retires or goes elsewhere.
What happened to the "Scroll To Top Of The Page" option at the bottom of the page ??
Good question. I use that a lot too. I'll have it put back. Thanks!
There is a "back to top" a little less obvious but right under (and to the right) of the "Latest From" article links
Hey DejaSens - I'm a CI guy in TO as well. Where are you checking the CI schedule? They used to have a menu on Channel 451 (or 452... can't remember) but now its gone for me at least. Also, when I use the guide function, all the games show up as "Centre Ice" or something like that. So the game itself is not listed (IE: it doesn't say "Ottawa vs Florida" it just says "NHL Centre Ice").
I'm with Rogers. Effing Rogers.
So... where are you checking?
This is how I would like to see our defence next season, big, tough, mobile & with a lot of fire power from the backend. While a couple of them are still quite young they are good enough & will learn to be better.
Methot - Karlsson
Cowen - Ceci
Wiercioch - Gryba/Phillips
Boroweicki would still be the first callup & hopefully Benoit would sign again with the Bingo Sens, they could use his mentoring down there.
This could very well be that year that a team with lots of depth could make alot of noise down the stretch. For the Senators, I believe I see it.
For all the high end talent that teams like Chicago, Vancouver, Philly, Pitts, and Rangers (to name a few) have, what can they turn too when superstars start getting burned out and injured?
Maintenance days are going to be key down the stretch, and I have alot of confidence that the Sens have enough quality guys in the org to step in when needed. They arent superstars, but they dont have to be. MacLeans system seems to preach puck possession and 60 (full) minutes of skating. Our depth players even in Bingo (if needed) can do this for us down the stretch when needed and it won't hurt us. From the looks of it, Richardson has got the B-Sens skating and working much the same Mac's got the Sens playing. The conditioning and familiarity should be there, and this has got to give us an edge when we need to fill (inevitable) holes in our lineup.
Will be VERY interesting to see how ALL teams are playing after 25-30 games under their belt in only 7 more weeks. If the Sens keep playing with all lines rolling and a balanced attack all year, then we are in for a damn treat!
Maybe getting ahead of myself. For now, we got 3 games in the next 4 days. That should be a nice first test of our conditioning and depth (crosses fingers). Especially with the Penguins at the end of it.
GSG!
At the end of this year Gryba will have 3 pro seasons and not 80 nhl games so I believe he would not be waiver exempt at the beginning of the next season. This is how the Islanders claimed Brian Strait off WS Penguins.If Gryba goes to camp in the fall and he gets sent down I think he will be gone. So if doesn't get a good look this year I think he will be gone WITHOUT any compensation to the n
Claiming team in the lowest standing this year.