While the BSens were not at their best through the first two periods, Robin Lehner was sharp and held his team in the game.
Great start to the season for Lehner who looks like a motivated goalie to start the season. With Ben Bishop now in Bingo, it should be entertaining to watch those two guys push each other during the lockout.
Binghamton now gets set for their first away contest of the season when they visit the Rochester Americans tomorrow night. Keep an eye on the comment section for any streams of that one.
- Meanwhile in Switzerland, it was another strong performance for Sens forward Jason Spezza as he racked up 4 assists in a 6-5 Raperswill win over the weekend. Spezza now has 9 points through 8 games. Go here to check out highlights from the game this past weekend.
- Kyle Turris made his debut in Finland over the weekend and had an empty-net goal while skating on the team’s top line. He followed that up with a two assist performance in a 5-4 Karpat win over the weekend. You can see highlights from his most recent game here.
- Erik Karlsson scored over the weekend and now has 6 points through 8 games with Jokerit in the Finnish Elite League. No shortage of ice time for the reigning Norris Trophy winner either as he’s apparently logging more than 25 minutes per game. You can see highlights from his last game here.
Aebischer is terrible
This is the year Lehner proves himself ready for the full time jump to the NHL. Not so much the play, but the attitude and the consistency.
Murray trades Bishop.
So Ottawa is going trade the young guy that could continue to challenge Lehner providing Ottawa with a solid backup. Which means Ottawa keeps their 30+ year old starter who is forced to back up a twenty-two year old?
I think if Lehner steps up to become the starter it will be Anderson that is shipped out of town. Either way having three great goaltenders is an excellent problem to have.
Is Anderson actually playing anywhere ?
Will get very rusty very fast if not.
Third on the depth chart by Christmas ?
Will we all watch hockey ... yes! Will we all fork out money for tickets and merchandise...I m thinking thats not something you should take for granted. Bettman talks about the "great fans" that allowed the league to flourish after the last lockout...he (and the owners) are friggin morons if they think that it will simply work out that way again.
These are different times. People are tighter with money...and pissed off customers will clutch their wallets more.
On another note...has there been any news of any network picking up AHL games in leiu of NHL ones? Would have loved to catch the BSens wins on the weekend.
I don't expect we'll see a goalie trade anytime soon. Lehner will continue to gain ground in the minors up until the time BM thinks he's ready for the backup role in Ottawa. BB was sent there to get a game in now and again. Right now Lehner has the team and I think Bishop knows it. If Lehner has a bad game, Bishop will get a start. It's going to be a good push for both of them.
If a trade does happen, it won't be Lehner. I had said from the beginning, if we absolutely needed to trade a goalie (don't see why we would) Anderson is the most accomplished and would bring us more bang for the buck. What will the Sens do, who knows.
I don't think you can consider what Ottawa did last year in regards to Spezza's wing, a waste of time. Especially in the situation we were in. Greening went on to have a great season in his first year in the league, that really built his confidence. If you put Greening into any situation now, I think you'll see that move was beneficial across the board.
Would I like to see a true star winger on our team on the 1st line? Hell Yeah. But right now there isn't a star winger we can land who is willing to come here without depleting our prospects. We've tried, been in the mix, but no deal. Beyond trying to find the perfect fit internally, be it Silf, or someone else, we don't have much else to go on.
Anderson got a part time job making sandwhiches at DiRienzos. He's practicing other important "skills"...
Silfverberg will be the perfect right winger for Spezza some day. Remember, Murray did try to get Nash and Ryan as his wingman, but nothing was doing.
Went to the 67s game yesterday .... Ceci had an assist and helped get the ball rolling after they were down 2-0. Puempel was pretty invisible but they shut him down pretty well. Graovac and Fielding were incredible - Minnesota has a true steal in Graovac.
Good post. Agree totally.
LOL... Love DiRienzo's... the boys don't even ask me for my order, they just know... love them... The samosas are also terrific... so too is the canoli
I think Lehner does at least one year as a back-up to Anderson.
Bishop has a 1 year deal and won't wish to sign another if he has to compete for a back-up role.
I don't think Murray goes into a season with two goalies that are unproven at the NHL level and Bishop is on a cheap contract which will make him attractive for other teams as a trade option.
In a trade scenario I think Bishop conceivably gets us more than Anderson.
It's not that I don't like Bishop, it's that I like Lehner more and Bishop has more value to the Senantors in a years time as a trade option.
It's Bishop's unproven NHL factor that makes me think he would get us less in return in a trade, than Anderson. I see your point though, hard to consider BM giving the green light to a Bishop/Lehner as our 1A/1B type of role in Ottawa. Anderson would be the logical choice to keep as our true starter.
This is one reason why I'm happy I'm not the GM, having to make a decision like this, when it's required. lol
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Andy isn't our Goalie last year, we don't make the playoffs.
I love how fans are so quick to overlook Andy. I understand people are looking towards the future etc.
But let's not take for granted what we already have, a legit number 1 goalie.
Last I remember reading was that Rick Dipietro was the only NHL goaltender playing in Europe.. (other than those that may be in the AHL). It appears it's harder for goalies to find work during a lockout...
I disagree. I'm not saying Andy is not a good starter, he absolutely is, but he is not a game breaker on the level of the elite goalies. Any average starting NHL goalie would have had the Sens in the playoffs last year.
Let's stop acting like this guy is up for a Vezina every year. Just because we're used to the Gerber's of the world doesn't make a regular starting goalie great!
I can think of 10 games where we won because of Andy.
That's the difference from being a playoff team and not a playoff team.
Keep us updated. Did Borowiecki or Claesson get hurt in their little tussles? Maybe?
This.
Anderson wasn't Hasek or Roy out there, but he was as steady as we've had in a number of years, if not ever...
10? I wouldn't put the number that high, but an average nhl goalie would win you 5-10 games in a season. So as I said, we'd still be in the playoffs with any average nhl goalie.
This is the most accurate statement I can agree with, up until the ever part. I think everyone is forgetting how poorly he played in the first part of last year. Can you guys please go look at his stats over the whole year, they're not as good as you are claiming or seem to be remembering:
October 10 3.66 .881
November 11 3.27 .903
December 13 2.87 .907
January 14 2.24 .933
February 8 2.39 .932
March 4 3.29 .915
April 3 2.01 .937
Don't think there is an injury. When Blood was sent down last week they indicated he would likely back up this week.
I think the argument tends to go both ways when it comes to Anderson, some say he has it, some say he doesn't. Does he have the pedigree to win games? Yes and he's done it before. But is he consistent like other elite NHL goalies? I guess it depends how you look at it.
In his NHL career, he's only surpassed 20 wins twice. But both of them were 30+ win seasons and both times he played 60+ games, which are the only two season's he's ever been played to that degree as a starter. Take into account that both times he did this, he was part of a team who forecasters said had no business making the playoffs and did, with a lot of it being based on his performance.
But then you can argue he was also defeated in the first round both times, even with some stellar play on his part. Is this his fault, we can't say it is, but we can't say it isn't either. He doesn't have a great post season record, even at the Jr Level.
So you have to determine which side your on when looking at it. Does he not get the recognition simply because he hasn't had a true starting role long enough with one club to prove himself, or can you consider what he's done with his amount of time enough to reward him credit?
As a Fan he's been nothing but great since arriving in Ottawa and we should all be super happy we have such a fierce competitor between the pipes for us. I expect he'll continue where he left off when the NHL gets underway again and I look forward to cheering him on.
I have to assume he was scouted by BM's guys. If that's the case, they obviously saw something special in his abilities. Maybe it's the fact he's 6'5, some sites say 6'6, but that can't be it.
Something inside me says Ottawa saw potential to succeed beyond a depth role in Bingo. He scored 27 goals in 67 games last year and also had 108 PIMs. If he repeats those types of numbers this year, it's possible he could find himself in an Ottawa Jersey sooner rather than later. Maybe a 3rd or 4th line role with a scoring touch.
Honestly, if the kid can pot goals, why not a shot on Spezza's wing from time to time or even PP time standing in front of the goalie. Looking at his stats I think he's done that before. lol
@ Sensation,
I agree that at the start, Anderson was not in his groove,
but we had many problems on our defense: Kuba, Phillips,
Gonchar, were really stinking out the team. Also, we had
a rookie defenceman David Rundblad, who was making mistake after mistake, until traded for Kyle Turris.
So, it was not necessarily the fault of Craig Anderson,
who to me won a lot of games throuhout the whole season !
Take away a few blowout games in October when they were getting used to new coaches and a new system.. his average may have been a lot better...
Lots of new "voices" generating good hockey talk.
The posts-too-often crowd seem to have taken their agendas and moved on.
I for one DO NOT MISS THEM.
Definitely true, and I hope when this season starts we can see him perform up to his full potential in a system he and the majority of the team now know. If he can become more consistent from start to finish of the season, his trade value will be pretty nice once Lehner is finally ready.
THIS !
Anderson has one thing that I think a lot of people take for granted. He has the ability to STEP UP
Sure you could say he was average in the regular season and any goalie could have taken us to the playoffs. I don't disagree.
But once the playoffs started it was really tough to tell who the "average starting goalie" was and who the MVP/vezina candidate was... wouldn't you agree?
A goalie who can get in the zone and go on a tear like that is anything but average, and when I watch Andy play in those games, I just know he has a Stanley cup run in him. He can get in the zone and stay there for 16-28 games. Its in him and that's a fact (remember when we first acquired him)
I can say the same about lehner (see Calder cup run), but Bishop? Who the hell knows?? Nobody in the entire league!
And that's exactly why Anderson has not even come close to playing his last game as a senator, Regardless of how our other goalies play in the AHL (lol) this season
He is no "elite" goalie but he's very much better than average.
Like someone said...he can get on a serious role and that's very valueble. One of the reasons the sens were so fun to watch last year was him. He rarely gave up a deflating goal. And almost always came up with big saves after bad turn overs by our youngsters. How many times did he save Karlssons ass after he got caught dangling in the d-zone as the last man?
You could def make the argument he's the best goalie we've ever had. At the very least, the most dependable.
As for Lehner...well he's def got a higher ceiling but he has to win that job first. And he also has another job to win before that too.
Bishop was prob the best goalie in the A for 2 years, which won him a backup role with us. If Lehner can go on a tear this year and prove he's at a higher level day in and day out then Bishop then he'll have won the backup job. Once that happens it'll most likely take a full year of stellar backup play and an awesome camp the following year to win the starting job. Or best case scenerio would be Bishop gets injured and he gets called up and Anderson shits the bed for a few games. The Lehner would get his shot. If he happened to eat it up, he would have the coaches trust to be the starter. And eventually force Murray to trade his 3.5million dollar backup.
Until any of these scenerios play out, Anderson is our starter and we have 2 very talented and eager backups fighting it out. I for one love that situation. So why rush things?
If he can put up solid numbers this year while playing his checker role to perfection I could definetly see him with the big club next year. At the very least be one of the 1st callups when injuries happen.
I for one think he has all the tools to play in the nhl. Probably why he got drafted in the 1st round. I think that kind of screwd him over because the expectations were that with his size and skills hed come in and put on serious numbers right away. But I don't think he's that type of player. I think he could essentially be another Greening type of guy where he's best suited on the 3rd or 4th line but can easily slide into just about any position and perform adamently for a few games when needed.
I would personally love to see his beastness along side Neil some day. That would be a couple guys the opposition would hate to go against.
Oooh the dreams...
Whoops thats tomorrow...
The NHL has hired a Market Research firm (Luntz Global) to conduct some focus groups about the fans perspective on the lockout.
Info was leaked out that its main purpose was to find a way to sway the fans back in favor of the league instead of the PA. Most people believe the league shouldn't be in a strike when the league revenues are at an all-time high. They, I guess want to find a way to get the fans to think otherwise.
Clearly this happens with every business in the world. Its just regular PR. But its interesting to see the league is at least a little nervous about what may happen to their fan base once they get back into action.
I personally think this is a good sign as the league should be scared. They keep bringing up how the players are loosing more money by not agreeing to their deal as they would if they agreed to take a double digit pay cut. What they don't seem to ever bring up is how much their revenue figures will shrink after this is all said and done. I would love that 3.3billion dollars to turn into something like 2.3 billion.
I'm pretty sure they are fealing the heat
I am on the players side...
Its quite simple really. The league should not be forcing a pay cut when revenues are consistently rising. If they were going down or even just steady then yes, it would be understandable.
Like Fehr says over and over. In a cap world, at the end of every CBA the league will force the players to take a reduction in salary. No matter what the revenue firgures are. It simply shouldn't be that way.
I personally believe the players are trying to fix a broken system while the league is for some reason only trying to do patch work. If the players cave in again, it will only lead to another strike next CBA negotiation as the league will once again try to ask for a pay cut.
I'm not saying to take the cap out as its clearly a positive for the league as a whole however the current system has major issues. These issues need to be fixed for good. Not just another pay cut so the league will be happy for a couple years until they once again decide the players are being compensated too much
I for one am most certainly NOT on the players side of this lockout. I feel the players are being disingenuous at best and outright morally reprehensible at worst in their dealings with the league, and mostly, with their dealings with the fans.
In my notorious blog The McCabe Chronicles I have examined the NHLPA's statements and fact checked their arguments and I have uncovered the truth behind their rhetoric.
http://themccabechronicles.blogspot.ca/2012/09/the-nhlpa-plays-fast-and-lose-with-math.html?spref=tw
Ultimately, I hope people find enjoyment in all the other hockey leagues. I know I will.
I thought in the last offer on Sept 12th -- the NHL agreed to leave what is HRR the same as in the last CBA? Or did I hear that wrong. I thought the whole issue is who gets what percentage?
You could be right but to my knowledge, they only came to consensus on last years HRR not the HRR going forward. There are still some questions on what to include and not include. For example the 50 million given by the city of Glendale to the NHL to cover the operating costs of the arena the last 2 years. Since revenue sharing was used to cover those costs (with player salaries held in escrow), what % goes back to them?
If there was agreement, I feel like we would have gotten those details in the news by now.
Just yesterday, I saw the last proposals from both sides,
which were the first and only proposals on the table.
NHL Offer :
6 year deal.
Players start with 49% and fall to 47%
Union Offer:
5 year deal.
Players start with 54% and fall to 52%
Someone needs to blink first, and offer a counter proposal
today at the meeting,with Bettman-Daly vs Fehr-Fehr
Get the negotiations moving forward !!