So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye.

It was pretty much academic that Christoph Schubert was not going to make the team this year, wasn't it? Unless you're a proven vetereran of a certain calibre, nobody should take a roster position for granted in the cap era. Now I am a Christoph Schubert fan. I like the kid. But he basically did nothing this training camp to impress.

The writing had to be on the wall for this organization following a playoff-less spring that there would be open competition in camp for a number of spots. It should not have come as a surprise to anyone. So Christoph, you have a right to feel bitter - nobody knows what you're feeling inside but you, but you were two steps behind this pre-season.

This will be my last post for the Sens Army Blog. As much as I have enjoyed contributing the occasional gristle for the readers to chew on, I have to give it up to focus on recovering from some recent health issues. I hope all the fans out there in the Sens Army enjoy the season to come. May our lads bounce back and turn some heads this year. Really looking forward to the first full season of the Cory Clouston era.

All the best,

Pletch

Is that a mini-stick in your pocket or are you just happy to see us?

You've let your imagination run amok again Ottawa. Depth has not been one of the Senators' strong points for the past couple of season, but moderately talented, inexperienced players do not take the place of experienced NHL regulars. (I think I said as much in the last post.)

So while you're drooling that Matt Carkner (why did I not hear of this amazing talent before this season?!) may take the place of Chris "heart and soul" Kelly and his $2.1 million contract, try to remember why he was offered that contract. Kelly is an excellent penalty killer, an occasional scorer, and a solid defensive forward.

I'm not sure exactly what kind of return you're expecting to get for the likes of Christoph Schubert and Chris Kelly, but it's a fact that 4th round picks can't kill penalties or score goals. Hell, even Carkner probably won't.

So before you go throwing the baby out with the bathwater, try to remember that baby is pretty good at hockey. And your bathwater is inexperienced at penalty killing at an NHL level.

....so there!

Send Karlsson to Bingo (and the D lineup)

First, the disclaimers so I don't get slammed in the comments: I didn't take into account who plays left or right (they don't even do that in the Sens program anymore), and it's a bit of wishful thinking, and what I've heard in the newspaper.

Basically, I can't imagine this any other way. I know that Erik Karlsson is The Great Blond Hope, and probably the Ottawa Senators best prospect since Jason Spezza, but from what I've seen of his defensive skill, he's just not ready to take on the towering, powerful forwards of the NHL.

To be completely fair, I do think he's capable of getting 30 points in the NHL this season, but the cons outweigh the pros for now. Even compared to the not-terribly-large Brian Lee, Karlsson is small. Lee also has parts of two NHL seasons under his belt, and weighs 25 pound more than Alfie's babysitter. He's the better choice for this year's squad.

I've had sweet, sweet (non-sexual!) dreams of General Lee and King Karlsson throwing the puck along the blueline on the Sens power-play. Dancing between slower defenders, and setting up one-timers for Dany Heatley Jonathan Cheechoo. But I don't think this is the season to make it happen.

Karlsson is a better puck-handler than Lee (though Lee is no slouch), but the defensive aspects of his game need work. Perhaps when he was paired with towering defender Victor Hedman, he was able to get away with certain defensive lapses against smaller competition, but that won't be the case this season. Karlsson need the AHL experience to gain some grit, put on pounds, and delay his rookie season.

Alex Picard, for example, was not born in 1990, is 6' 2" and 225 pounds, and will pick up 25 points this season. It's a crowded blueline roster, and there's no harm in giving the NHL contracts a chance to prove themselves before making room for the rookies.

I think the rest of the lineup is a gimme. Except for Christoph Schubert, who has been on the trading block for all of last season.

Miscellaneous observations from Saturday night:

Thanks to SBP for making free wireless internet available during games, it's great for twitter during the games (and I took full advantage in case you didn't notice).

Are the NHL refs now wearing strange NFL-style stripes? It sure looked like it to me.

And man! Is Ryan Shannon ever small! I didn't really notice until Saturday's game. He looks like a leftover from the intermission Timbits game.

The Rumour Mill: Trading Neil, Kuba, Schubert, giving Gerber

A couple of stories in the Ottawa Sun today regarding moves that the Senators may be doing prior to the NHL Trade Deadline on next Wednesday, March 4, 2009.

First off, contrary to the thoughts of those who saw the Mike Comrie acquisition as the actions of a buyer, GM Bryan Murray has announced that his asking price for the team's tradeables are draft picks and prospects.

According to the story, Chris Neil is looking for a 127% raise over the $1.1M he's making this season, and is apparently asking for a deal in the $2.5M range. The Senators are apparently offering him $1.5, but Murray has likely decided he can't fit Neil at $2M+ into his long-term plans or a deal would be done by now. Also in the story, however, was an interesting note suggesting that Neil wouldn't mind going to a team with a chance to make a run for the cup--which would certainly include the San Jose Sharks and the Detroit Red Wings, who have both been rumoured to have interest in Neil (as has the Edmonton Oilers). It would be a shame if the career Senators was traded for sentimental reasons, but he certainly had an off-season last year, and this year--despite increased physical effectiveness--his offensive numbers leave a lot to be desired (2G, 4A, 6P, -12).

The Sens' biggest payoff, though, could come from a deal involving Filip Kuba. He's the team's highest-scoring defenceman with 28 points (1G, 27A), and is on pace for a career-high 40 points. He's making $3M this season, and looking for a raise to $4M, according to the Sun. Assuming Ottawa is not able to re-sign Kuba, he should bring a decent return; at least the second- and third-round picks that Mathieu Schneider was worth, and it's certainly possible he'd be worth a package including a first-rounder or a pretty good prospect.

With Dean McAmmond already dealt (*sniff*), that leaves one final pending UFA: Martin Gerber. According to another Sun story, Murray has said he's heard of a few teams interested in Gerber, and will likely be putting him on re-entry waivers to dump half of his remaining salary. The Calgary Flames and Buffalo Sabres are apparently two interested teams. How hilarious would it be if the Sabres made a run for the cup with Gerber and Patrick Lalime as their two goaltenders?

Oh yeah, and we're still waiting on the apparently inevitable trade of Christoph Schubert. The guy hasn't played in more than twenty days, I hope it's not Ottawa's side that's holding out on this trade.

The Rumour Mill: So many defencemen...

Although secondary scoring has long been seen as a priority for the Senators, it was generally agreed that a more pressing need going into this season was for a puck-moving defenceman. Although the Senators have a few possible elite puck-movers, they're not there yet, so that need still hasn't been addressed. As it stands now, the Senators are moving into next year with the following corps of defencemen, any of whom has a decent chance to make the Sens' roster:

1. Filip Kuba
2. Chris Phillips
3. Anton Volchenkov
4. Chris Campoli
5. Brian Lee
6. Jason Smith
7. Alex Picard
8. Brendan Bell
9. Christoph Schubert
10. Mattias Karlsson
11. Erik Karlsson
12. Patrick Wiercioch

There are some notes to make here, obviously: The acquisition of Chris Campoli seems to indicate the team will move away from Filip Kuba, hopefully by trade although he may simply walk in the off-season--it seems unlikely that Bryan Murray will re-sign him at the higher salary he will likely demand. Brendan Bell is also a free agent at the end of this season, and--although his contract has been positive for the Senators--he may look to sign somewhere else if he'd get a better shot on their NHL squad. Mattias Karlsson has had an all-star season in the AHL this year, but he may not be NHL ready yet. Finally, although the hopes are high for both Erik Karlsson and Patrick Wiercioch, it's unexpected they'll make the NHL roster next season, and will likely need a year in the AHL before making the big leagues.

That leaves three virtual locks as defensive defenceman on the Sens' blue line next season--Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, and Jason Smith--and four lesser puck-moving defencemen battling for the other three spots--Campoli, Brian Lee, Alex Picard, and Christoph Schubert. But four good puck-movers doesn't make up for the lack of one elite puck-mover.

And even with those four, trade rumours have the Sens looking to pick up more offensively-oriented middle-road defencemen. Bruce Garrioch today said that Schubert is all but traded (about time), with Edmonton and Tampa Bay both interested, and the asking price for the Oilers set at young defenceman Ladislav Smid--yet another young, mobile defencemen not expected to be a top-pairing player. And Eklund (am I actually reporting this?) said today that Vancouver is looking at Antoine Vermette still, and the Sens are asking for--you guessed it--a defenceman in return.

I expect Ottawa to take a good run at finding an elite puck-mover in the off-season, though. They've got both Martin Gerber and Kuba coming off the books for next year, offering $6.7M (before re-signing Brian Elliott) to spend on an overdue replacement. That might not be enough for someone like Jay Bouwmeester, but he sure would look good on a first pairing with Campoli, if you ask me.

Musical roster spots: McAmmond, Bell sit out

Reports from the Ottawa Citizen indicate that veteran forward Dean McAmmond and offensive defenceman Brendan Bell will take their turns sitting out of the Ottawa Senators lineup as the Sens play the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight.

In their place will be defenceman-cum-forward Christoph Schubert and Alex Picard, respectively.

Coach Craig Hartsburg said that neither Bell nor McAmmond played well against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, and so they were pulled out for tonight's game.

Anyone getting the feeling these are starting to get a bit arbitrary? Is this Hartsburg bringing about accountability, by scratching the team's lesser-lite players (Jason Smith, Schubert, Picard, Bell, McAmmond... who's next?)?

Maybe Hartsburg's decision will be astute. We'll see tonight.

Smith in, Picard out

After being benched last game, defenceman Jason Smith will draw back into the lineup tonight against St. Louis while Alex Picard will be the odd man out, according to the Ottawa Sun. Sitting Smith didn't make the team any better last game, so we'll see tonight if bringing him back in will bring about a better effort from the team.


In the story, Picard said he wasn't surprised by the decision. I'm not particularly surprised, either, although the timing seems strange after Picard scored the Sens' only goal last night. Looks like the audition of Brendan Bell and Brian Lee continues for the time being, but I expect one of them to be reassigned to Binghamton somewhat soon--perhaps after this mini-road trip.


Apparently there were concerns with Dean McAmmond not having practiced with the team, but the same Sun story said that Christoph Schubert will be scratched once again, meaning McAmmond and rookie Peter Regin will still be in the lineup. I'd like to see the line of Mike Fisher, Nick Foligno, and Chris Neil reunited, and put Regin with McAmmond and Jarkko Ruutu. It matches one line of size and another line of speed, and they'd do well with roughly equal ice time on the night.

Schubert and Smith scratched against New Jersey

According to the Ottawa Sun, both Jason Smith and Christoph Schubert are going to sit out tonight's game in favour of younger, more offensively-minded teammates. With tonight's game coming against the young and speedy New Jersey Devils, it looks like coach Craig Hartsburg is trying to fight fire with fire.

Although Schubert is probably used to the whole benching thing, Smith was visibly disappointed, the story said:

"Obviously surprised and disappointed," said Smith, who was clearly frustrated after today's morning skate. "You become a player in this game to play games and to help a team have success."

With Android Volchenkov returning to the lineup, Smith was benched in favour of (relative) youngsters Alex Picard, Brian Lee, and Brendan Bell, all of whom have significantly more offensive upside than the wily veteran. Hartsburg's mentality, the story said, was that the d-corps needed to balance the defensive defencemen (Chris Phillips, Volchenkov, and to an extent Filip Kuba) with the more offensive ones. (Can I take a moment to gloat about predicting there could be a reasonable chance Smith would sit out yesterday? Kthanx.)

Although Smith is justified in his frustration, at least he knows he won't be missing too much time. At $2.6M, he's making too much money to sit on the sidelines for an extended period, and the Senators will have to decide soon which of Bell or Lee will be sent back down to Binghamton. The B-Sens need as much defensive help as they can get to keep their playoff hopes in good standing. (In other news, Martin Gerber will be assigned to Binghamton to [hopefully] help out their goaltending situation. Good luck to him; honestly, I wish him the best.)

Schubert, on the other hand, has little reassurance. The Senators went out of their way to re-call Peter Regin from Binghamton today, which is why Schubert is sitting. He is, once again, left to wonder not only about his place on this team, but his place in the league in general. Schubert definitely has a lot to think about in this off-season, and a lot to discuss with GM Bryan Murray (if he's not talking to him already). (I'll also note that I correctly predicted Schubert would be the odd man out with Regin called up, thank you very much.)

Here's my next prediction: Regin won't be up here for too long unless the Sens make a trade (involving a forward) soon, and one of Lee or Bell (likely Bell, as unfair as it may be) will be assigned to Binghamton after tonight's game/test or within the week.

Regin re-recalled from Bingo

After a good showing in his NHL debut, the Senators have brought Danish phenom (can we call him that yet?) Peter Regin back from Binghamton.

It seems like a bit of an unusual move, considering two players (Chris Neil and Android Volchenkov) will both be returning fro minjury tonight, but Bryan Murray has said that he's interested in finding out what, exactly, his minor-league prospects have to offer in the big leagues.

With Regin drawing in, there will be a scratch on forward. It might be Christoph Schubert, who wants to play defence anyway, so he seems somewhat likely. Regin might also look good alondside Dean McAmmond and Jarkko Ruutu on an exciting and speedy fourth line. Or maybe there's been an injury that I haven't heard about yet.

We will see soon enough. It's nice to see Regin getting rewarded with another shot in the bigs, though.

Volchenkov's back, and the defence shuffle

Reports abound that Android Volchenkov's shoulder malfunction has been resolved, so he should be back in the Sens lineup on Tuesday against the Devils after missing Ottawa's last eight games.

As a result, there's a bit of a log jam at defence: You can be sure that Volchenkov won't be a healthy scratch, and Chris Phillips and Filip Kuba will both definitely be in the lineup. As Shean Donovan's skills competition-induced injury will likely keep him out for the whole week, Christoph Schubert is expected to suit up as a forward, meaning that one of Brian Lee, Alex Picard, Jason Smith, or Brendan Bell will be a healthy scratch for the game.

It seems doubtful that Lee will be, as he was practicing today in his regular pairing with Phillips, and the two have been playing well together. A good point was raised by Jason York on the Team 1200 this afternoon: Since the quality of Lee's competition has gone up, so has his play and his consistency. With him playing so well, and such high expectations for his development, it would likely be a step backward to bench him or send him to Binghamton right now.

The most likely candidate to be scratched, at first glance, is Bell. He's been scratched a few times recently, including three of the last four games. However, Bell scored the game-winning goal against Washington a week ago, and has three goals in his last five games played (two on the powerplay). With the Senators looking for mobility and offence from the back end, Bell could continue to be a pretty good second-powerplay-unit defenceman.

Then there's Picard. He's had an up-and-down season, but he's still leading Senators defencemen in goals scored with five. He hasn't scored a goal in 11 games, though, and doesn't even have a point in nine. All despite an average ice time of around 17-19 minutes played, usually including some powerplay time. It's an easy time to send a message to Picard that more is expected of him, but benching him is not a long-term solution: He's on a one-way contract, unlike Lee or Bell.

Finally, the possibility exists of Smith riding the press-box-pine for a night. Although it's pretty bad that he's only got one point (albeit a game-winning goal) on the year, that's not the chief reason he could be benched, and it's not why he was signed. Scratching Smith would be a tactical decision based on the speed of the Senators' opponents Tuesday, the Devils, and Smith's difficulty in keeping up with smaller, speedier players. Again, Smith wasn't signed to his contract to blow anyone out of the water; all he's got to do is play smart, positional hockey, lay a hit when it's available, kill a penalty when it's necessary, and speak up to or for his teammates. Scratching him wouldn't be a long-term solution, because a dog as old as Smith won't likely learn new tricks.

Ideally, I think that Picard could use a rest in the press box for one night or so, until the Sens decide whether to send Bell or Lee down to Binghamton. In the end, though, one of those two guys on two-way contracts will be don in Binghamton relatively soon. The Senators' don't need to be spending more money than they need to be spending at this point in the season.

Surviving the second: Sens 3, Caps 2

On the post-game show, Dean Brown suggested that the Sens' biggest challenge over the last few games has been surviving their own play in the second period. Again tonight, they had dominant first and third periods, but bombed in the second. If not for Brian Elliott stopping 17 of 19 shots in that second period, including plenty of decent scoring chances, this game would have been all Capitals.

But Elliott was there. And Dany Heatley's two first-period powerplay goals were enough to give the Senators the lead they needed to stay in the game until Brendan Bell could score another powerplay goal to give the Sens the win over Washington, 3-2. Ottawa's powerplay was a very impressive 3-6 on the night.

On the night, Heatley played like the superstar he's paid to play like. His 'demotion' (although I shudder to call it that) to the second powerplay unit has given the Senators two powerful units, and as a matter of fact, Heatley's line--with Antoine Vermette and (tonight) Nick Foligno (it had been Chris Neil in previous games, but he was out with the flu)--was and has been more dangerous than the first unit of Mike Fisher, Jason Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson. Heatley's first goal was a pretty passing play, with Vermette dishing the puck through a few opposition players to Filip Kuba at the point, who set Heatley up perfectly. The second was a bit of luck, as it bounced off a Capitals defender, but they all count--and, don't look now, but with four goals in the last two games, Heatley has 23 on the year and is on pace for almost 42 on the season.

Vermette looked solid on the night, as well; he's one of the Senators who has gone back to what had worked for him in the past, and--surprise!--it's working for him again. He assisted on all three goals, and had a couple shots and a couple of takeaways, to boot. On the topic of streaks, Vermette has ten points (2G, 8A) in the last ten games, the same number of points he had in the first 35 games of the season. It's nice to see, as a fan of the team that's now finding ways to win and after watching him work so hard to start the year without much in the way of results.

Bell scored the winner on the powerplay with less than two minutes remaining, and it was a huge goal. Somehow, Bell's already got a goal song ("Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward), despite only having four goals on the season; I guess that's cool. He had four shots on the night, as well, but was often caught in the defensive zone with partner Jason Smith, unable to clear the puck cleanly. It didn't cost the Sens on the scoreboard, but it was still pretty unnerving to watch.

With Anton Volchenkov suffering a shoulder malfunction, Kuba was given the unenviable assignment of containing Alexander Ovechkin. It seemed like a pretty risky decision by coach Craig Hartsburg, but Kuba's mobility and reach were enough to contain AO as much as AO can be contained, as only two of Ovie's six shots were even-strength opportunities. Kuba, as mentioned, also had an assist, three shots on net, and three blocked shots, and was once again a very solid powerplay quarterback.

I'm pretty sure I've realized why Christoph Schubert doesn't like playing forward: Tonight, with Schubert starting as a forward, he only played 6:14; that includes 1:15 of penalty-killing time as a defenceman, which means Schubert played less than five minutes as a forward. In those five minutes, though, he played effectively as a forward; his line with Dean McAmmond and Jarkko Ruutu was a lot of fun to watch for those five minutes. He can take more than five minutes as a forward, but hopefully he'll deal with it, because he's always fun to watch out there bangin' bodies on forward.

I've also got to mention Peter Regin, who looked surprisingly comfortable in his first NHL game. Of all the Senators prospects who have played their first NHL games in the past couple of seasons (Foligno, Cody Bass, Jesse Winchester, Ilya Zubov, Alex Nikulin, Brian Lee, and probably others I'm forgetting), I'd say Regin was the most effective and the most comfortable in the first game--with the exception of Elliott in his first game last season (but goaltenders always seem the exception). He was a little light on is skates, but he played over 10 minutes, had one takeaway and one blocked shot, and just buzzed in the offensive zone. He warrants another opportunity, if not next game then in the near future.

With the All-Star Game in Montréal on Sunday, Jan. 25, the Sens have the week off, and don't play again until next Tuesday when they host the New Jersey Devils. It will be a break for every Senator except Heatley, who has looked like an All-Star in the recent half-dozen games. Although the timing of the break is not optimal, hopefully Ottawa can carry the momentum of seven of a possible eight points in the last four games into the post-All-Star season.

Now, to write a letter to Richard Peverley of the Atlanta Thrashers, newest hero of the No Habs No! Campaign...

Two in a row: Sens 3, Thrashers 2

Here is a bullet listing of positive signs from tonight's game:

• Ottawa gave up the first goal, but still won in regulation (second time of the year).
• Ottawa came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits and won in regulation.
• Christoph Schubert hit the net three times, including some solid shots, and (according to the score sheet) had no shots blocked.
• Daniel Alfredsson massacred a net with his sickening shot, after a terrific pass from checker-cum-playmaker Mike Fisher (who got the puck from playmaker-cum-checker Jason Spezza).
• The Senators were outshot 32-31, but still won the game.
• Spezza also scored a goal (two-point night) and is now 23rd in the league in goals with 18.
• Ottawa was 2-for-5 on the powerplay.
• Filip Kuba got his second assist in as many games since returning from injury, and looked darn good.
• Dean McAmmond scored his second goal in as many games, and led the team (tied with Fisher) with four shots in just 10:53 of ice time.
• Jarkko Ruutu had his first point (an assist) in 8 games, and first since returning from serving his suspension for biting someone.
• No Senator had less than 10:08 in ice time (Ruutu).
  
• A goaltender, Brian Elliott, actually made some big saves, including game-savers late in the game (although he was shaky at times, including Atlanta's second goal).

That is all. Lazy, I know.

No-trick pony: Rangers 2, Sens 0

Another loss. Another ugly loss. Maybe they didn't play that badly, but they paid for their mistakes, and the Ottawa Senators didn't take advantage of mistakes the New York Rangers make. So the resulting 2-0 loss should be no surprise.

Still, despite his first NHL loss, you've got to give Brian Elliott credit. He came into the game looking extremely confident, and made plenty of big saves--none bigger than a breakaway save he made in the third period. I'm not sure if he should want to stay in Ottawa, considering the shit he'll get here compared to the All-Star start he'd get in the AHL, but Bruce Garrioch is under the impression that the Sens are on the verge of waiving Martin Gerber, so Elliott might be up here for a while.

(In another strange development, the Senators seem to be closely linked with All-Star goaltenders everywhere: Elliot was voted to be the started in the AHL's all-star game, and Ray Emery might have been the best goaltender in the Continental Hockey League's all-star game last night. It's too bad we don't have an NHL all-star.)

I'll also give Filip Kuba credit for his play in his return to the Sens lineup. He got a bum rap in the Sun for some of his board work, but Kuba had good defensive coverage and a definite positive effect on offensive zone pressure. Too bad he can't score goals. Still, he pinched in to help out a few times, and was good at getting back into position quickly.

Rough game for Jesse Winchester. He had one shift with two terrible giveaways, and didn't look solid on the night. For Winnie to get success, he needs to get back to the simple, reliable play he was executing earlier in the season. Come to think of it, a lot of Senators could use to simplify their game significantly.

It really is a shame that Christoph Schubert doesn't want to play forward. He's about ten times more effective as a forward, as evidenced by his team-high four hits last night. And even when he takes a shot and has it blocked--as happens extremely often with Schubert--at least he's not the last line of defence before the opposition gets a breakaway. Stick with forward, Schubert, you're better at it, and Ottawa's better for it.

Pre-game: Sens v. Leafs, Jan. 3, 2009

The Sens haven't lost a game since last year! Let's run with that, alright? Yeah, that works.

With Anton Volchenkov and Jesse Winchester both returning from their respective injuries, Ilya Zubov was sent back to Binghamton, and I'm betting Christoph Schubert will be scratched tonight. Zubov did well when he was in Ottawa, but I think he's still got some work to do on getting his decision-making speed up to NHL standards before he becomes an everyday scorer. His defensive awareness was better than anticipated, though, and he's got a place on the team in the future. As for Schubert, he was improved in the recent games, but Brian Lee has been better.

The forward lines, according to TSN, will look like this to start the game:

Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Foligno - Fisher - Neil
Vermette - Kelly - Ruutu
Donovan - McAmmond - Winchester

And, assuming Schubert is scratched, the d-pairing will probably look like this:

Phillips - Volchenkov
Bell - Picard
Smith - Lee

And Martin Gerber will get the start in nets. No comment. Okay, comment. I'm not sure how he earned the starting role, but he's got it now. For the time being.

As for other headlines, the Ottawa Sun is reporting that GM Bryan Murray is looking at trading the first-round pick acquired from Tampa Bay (which was San Jose's originally) for some immediate help for the team. Apparently the players on the roster have a low market value, which I find hard to believe.

And finally, James Mirtle from Around the Rink has Daniel Alfredsson ranked fourth on his Selke Watch of the league's top defensive forwards. His measure is based on the quality of competition players usually play against, and the goals against they are on the ice for. Three Minnesota Wild forwards are ahead of Alfie on the list. Although Alfredsson definitely deserves consideration for the award, it's not going to be based on statistics.

Sens Flame out: Flames 6, Sens 3

Losing a two-goal lead was obviously pretty frustrating, but it was even more frustrating when you have to listen to Greg Millen Craig Simpson and Jim Hughson host a Calgary Flames love-in (especially for Dion Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla) all night long. Maybe I was just a little bit short because of the result, but did anyone else notice an obvious passion from CBCs commentators for Calgary?

Whatever. No scoring in the first. Two goals early in the second, the first with a slapshot from Chris Phillips at the point (with two goals in two consecutive losses for him, is this the end of the "Phillips mojo"?), and the second after some solid board work from Dany Heatley (I'm as surprised as you are) to free up the puck for Jason Spezza to take a shot (!) high blocker side.

After those goals, though, the Flames brought it to the Sens, and the roster holes left by Anton Volchenkov and Filip Kuba on defence were abundantly clear. Some defensive foibles and the Flames had three goals in 2:07, and the Sens were behind. On defence, it was obvious the Sens were going to have problems without the aforementioned stalwarts, who are arguably the Sens' two most consistent d-men so far this season. As good as Brian Lee has played since his recall, he played 25:18 on the night. I'll give him credit for how clean his game was, but that's just a sign of how desperate the Sens were on defence on the night.

Cody Bass tried to spark the Sens late in the first by dropping the gloves with Eric Nystrom, but he just injured his shoulder and left the game. It seems unlikely that he'll be back, but--as unfortunate as his injury is--I think Ilya Zubov (who was a healthy scratch against the Flames) will offer more of what the Sens need.

People will lay plenty of blame on Spezza for Rene Bourque's second goal of the game, but I don't think it's necessary to crap on him. As Kelly Hrudey pointed out, this wasn't a blind errant pass; Spezza simply lost control of the puck, and actually slid face-first to try and block the shot afterwards. It's shitty that it happened, but it wasn't the kind of stupid mistake that people usually rag Spezza for.

Then Alex Picard scored his fifth goal of the season to tie the game. (Five goals, by the way, ranks Picard higher than Mike Fisher, Antoine Vermette, Chris Kelly, Chris Neil, and Jarkko Ruutu in goals scored this season.) One thing about Picard's goal, that you can say about most of his goals this season: Instead of looking for a perfect pass or a howitzer slapshot, he simply focussed on getting the puck on the net. Christoph Schubert could learn a thing or two from the kid, because a slapshot isn't much use if you fan on it or miss the net.

Did anyone else see Daniel Alfredsson throw some lumber towards Phaneuf after the Flames' neanderthal jumped at a Sens player in the corner (I think it was Nick Foligno)? Maybe, after getting the cold shoulder from his teammates, Alfie's trying to lead by example.

Not much else to say, really. The Sens are scoring some goals now, but they've lost the defensive responsibility that was their strong suit at the start of the season. If I've got to choose between a 2-1 loss or a 6-3 loss, I think I'll go with the latter, so maybe it's better this way.

I'm not sure when the roster freeze thaws, but Bryan Murray is sure to be making plenty of phone calls in preparation for that day. We've all heard how difficult it is to make a trade in the salary cap era, but the roster right now simply isn't working as a whole, no matter how hard the individual components might be working.

New lines released: Bass up, Lee down, Zubov out

According to Sportsnet, the Sens have released line combinations for the Sens' game Friday against the New Jersey Devils:

Vermette - Fisher - Alfredsson
Foligno - Kelly - Heatley
Ruutu - Spezza - Neil
Schubert - Bass - Donovan

According to the same report, Ilya Zubov will not be making the trip because his work visa has expired (how does a professional hockey team let that happen?), Jesse Winchester has an upper-body injury and didn't travel with the team, either, and Dean McAmmond is close to returning after a bout with pneumonia that has kept him out of the lineup for nine games. Which is why Christoph Schubert is dressing as a forward, and why Cody Bass was recalled from Binghamton.

I get that there are people who don't like the way Jason Spezza plays. But he's not a third-line player. He's been playing harder then I remember ever having seen him play before, but maybe this is just a sign for him to wake up and start generating--and capitalizing on--his own scoring chances. But playing him with Chris Neil? That's just not fair. Jarkko Ruutu can at least receive a pass, but I don't understand the idea behind putting Spezza with a couple guys who can hardly finish plays at all. If he is going to succeed, he's got to keep it simple: Send the puck to the front of the net, and hope that--if it doesn't go in on his shot or a deflection--Neil and Ruutu are right there to hammer home some garbage.

On defence, Anton Volchenkov is back from his injury. I guess they had to special-order some replacement pieces from Russia or something, because the robot had missed two games with his lower-body injury. As a result, Brian Lee is back to Binghamton after a solid two-game stint with the O-Sens.

I guess we'll see how it all works out. Hopefully one of the lines steps up and scores a freakin' goal.

Line shuffling

CASH Line stays together, everything else is different. Ryan Shannon is back in the lineup. Dean McAmmond is still injured. Chris Neil's rehab is progressing, and he might be good to go on Saturday. Christoph Schubert will play defence because Alex Picard is still out. Alex Auld is starting again.

The lines are almost all different:

Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson

Vermette-Fisher-Donovan

Winchester-Kelly-Foligno

Ruutu-Bass-Shannon

McAmmond out, Schubert might be in

According to Sportsnet Dean McAmmond won't be playing tonight because of a cold. Must be a bad cold... but it's not expected to be a long-term injury, so D-Mac's day-to-day. Since Ryan Shannon hasn't yet been cleared to play after his concussion, Christoph Schubert might draw into the lineup as a forward, even though coach Craig Hartsburg said he wanted to avoid doing so.

We have spoken! Again!

Once again, Sens Army,we have spoken. And there aren't many big surprises in the results of the most recent poll; more than half (51 per cent) of voters think the first player GM Bryan Murray should try to trade are Antoine Vermette and Christoph Schubert. I'm sure it's no coincidence that those two are part of the package that Murray is rumoured as offering in a package to upgrade the Sens d-corps, including being offered for Jay Bouwmeester, according to the Ottawa Sun.

About Vermette, and interesting article was on the Bleacher Report on the weekend, suggesting that the centre-cum-winger is unlikely to achieve the potential he's believed by some to have in Ottawa, and will need a change of scenery to get there. Although at times we've seen him show great speed, and at other times he's got great moves, and other times he can actually put the puck on the net, he never seems able to use all of his skills at once. He's like a Swiss Army knife; he's got scissors, a blade, and a fish scaler, but God help you if you're looking for all three at once.

In third place on the vote is Mike Fisher. This is likely due to the recently-penned high contract that Fisher hasn't come close to earning yet, but it might be too soon to say he can't produce at all. Or maybe it's not, he's had plenty of opportunities to prove himself as a second-line centre, but can't consistently produce offensively.

And there were a bunch of voters who selected 'Other'; who would you have voted for, if not someone on the list?

Fisher and Shannon close to return

According to reports in the Ottawa Sun, both Mike Fisher (knee) and Ryan Shannon (concussion) were back skating today, and one or both could be ready to go for the game on Thursday. Which is good, because Ottawa is short one forward with Ilya Zubov being re-assigned to Binghamton and coach Craig Hartsburg apparently reluctant to use Christoph Schubert as a forward.

According to TSN.ca, Fisher was projected to return in mid-December. If he rushes this injury and re-aggravates (or worsens) it, it's bad news bears. Given his history with injury problems, the last thing the Sens need is for him to play on an unhealed knee and push it into a chronic problem.

If both are ready to return, I'd venture to guess that Shannon would be reassigned to Binghamton. Cody Bass, who was called up last week, has played well as a fourth-liner, and Bingo needs all the scoring help they can get.

No word on Chris Neil, who was projected to have a shorter rehab time from his arthroscopic knee surgery (listed as 'day-to-day' on TSN.ca) than Fisher.