August is a quiet month to begin with. Add in the CBA uncertainty and you know there will be a serious shortage of Sens news this month.
With that in mind, I'll open it up to the readers again for this week's Chirp of the Week. This time Chad, a SensChirp regular, shares his selections for the All Time Ottawa Senators team. Some controversial selection that should make for quality discussion in today's comment section.
All Time Sens Teams
With the CBA talks seemingly no closer to a resolution, the summer has the potential to drag on and on without hockey. At the end of August every year, I long for any tidbit of news I can use. It may be for hockey pools, discussion, or just filling my brain with useless hockey info to counter attack any diss to my beloved Sens.
I last chirped about Daniel Alfredsson’s successor, and it provided some great debate. I’d like to take a stab at another topic, so that us diehards have something to talk about.
I decided to write about the All-time Sens team. Personally, I think most spots are slam dunks in my opinion. I think some of the numbers and stats speak for themselves. That being said, I missed Chris Neil as a potential Captain before in my last post, so I’m sure everyone will find some holes in my logic this time. Bring it on!
1st Team
Centre – Jason Spezza
Right Wing – Daniel Alfredsson
Left Wing – Dany Heatley
Defenceman – Zdeno Chara
Defenceman – Chris Phillips
Goaltender – Patrick Lalime
Okay. Don’t freak out. There are a couple of names there that may not be all that intuitive – notably, Heatley, Phillips and Lalime. Realistically, Heatley was very productive during his time in Ottawa. Not only did he put up great individual numbers, he helped us reach the 2007 Stanley Cup finals. I really think he deserves that spot.
Now for Lalime. Again, I will let the numbers do the talking. His 1.77 GAA and .926 save percentage in the playoffs is tops amongst our goalies (Prusek only played one game). His 30 shutouts in the regular season is also tops. I’m going to stick with the positives as a couple of bad goals shouldn’t tarnish a great career in Ottawa.
I chose Phillips on a different basis. Call me inconsistent, but Phillips has had a knack for getting us some big goals. In addition, his playoff performances are usually a step above what he does in the regular season, and all he does in the regular season is be rock solid. Granted, he is no longer logging in top pairing minutes, but during many of his 1025 games he did. He’s worthy of the nomination.
2nd Team
Centre – Alexei Yashin
Right Wing – Marian Hossa
Left Wing – Shawn McEachern
Defenceman – Wade Redden
Defenceman – Erik Karlsson
Goaltender – Ray Emery
This is where things get a little more interesting. There is a mix of hatred, disappointment, surprise and confusion contained in this list. For this one, I’m going to try a bit more detail on each.
Yashin – Love him or hate him, he had some very good years in Ottawa. I’m glad it’s not us that is still paying this guy. It was his production that allowed us to get such a great return. Spezza, Chara and Bill Muckalt were all awesome. Well, 2 for 3 isn’t bad.
Marian Hossa – Martin Havlat is the next top contender for this spot. I just thought that Hossa was a more complete player.
Shawn McEachern – Beyond Heatley, there hasn’t been much strength on the left wing for Ottawa. This is not meant to disrespect McEachern, but there are better players not making my 1st or 2nd all-time Sens team than him.
Wade Redden – Redden was a stud. Emphasis on the “was”. There shouldn’t be any doubt as to his contributions while he was here.
Erik Karlsson – I’d like to see him put together one more solid season before promoting him up to the 1st team. It would be nice for him to create some playoff memories similar to those provided by Phillips for me.
Ray Emery – This is the guy that got us to the finals. I’m a big Tugnutt fan, and I think Anderson can bump him soon. It’s just that I respect the memories (or lack thereof) of 2007.
What are your teams?
- If you have a topic you'd like to see featured here on the website, I encourage you to send your Chirp of the Week to me via email at senschirp@hotmail.com.
