Preview, fo' realz: Sens v. Habs, Jan. 17, 2009

Ottawa hasn't won three games in a row all season.

Montréal is 8-2 in their last ten games.

Ottawa has a relatively full lineup, with the exception of Anton Volchenkov.

Much of Montréal's recent tear has been without Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay, Chris Higgins, or Carey Price.

Ottawa is 13th in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 13-21-6, for 36 points.

Montréal is 4th in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 26-11-6, for 58 points.

But still, Brian Elliott is playing! And Ottawa has looked alright in the last two games, both wins with Elliott playing pretty well, and primary and secondary scoring contributing.

A friend of mine, Wassim, who happens to be a Habs fan (hey, nobody's perfect... ), is so confident that Montréal will win the game tonight that he's offered to personally send $1 Canadian to each and every Ottawa Senators player who scores tonight if the Sens win.

I hope Ottawa wins 1,000,000-0 tonight. Take that, Wassim!

Preview: Sens v. Habs, Jan. 15, 2009

This is what it's all about, guys. We've all witnessed the No Habs No! Campaign take flight since it was launched waaay back on November 23 with a letter to Blake Wheeler of the Boston Bruins. Since then, ten hand-written letters--and ten US dollars--have been sent out to nine players (Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils has scored two game-winning goals against Montréal, and is the current hero of the campaign).

The campaign has received over CAD $30 in donations (don't think I'm profiting, though; postage isn't cheap). The Facebook page has over 130 supporters. The Swag Shop... well... it exists, although sales haven't been brisk. (Or existent.) The blog has received many comments on No Habs No! posts.

We've been interviewed by Yahoo's Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski, who The Hockey News dubbed the 100th-most influential person in hockey. Wyshynshki even launched the No Habs No! Award, "Given to the commenter who best insults the otherwise inspired and charming Senators fans campaign to send money and fan letters to players that beat the Canadiens" (the winner was the classic, "One look at that stationery and handwriting and it's safe to guess his return address includes a cell block reference.") Other bloggers have mentioned the campaign, as well. Habs fans have hated me (and random ones hunted me down on Facebook to make sure in knew how they felt about their team: "GO HAABBBBSSSSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! 24 STANLEY CUPS BABY!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YOU"). We were news on a few fan forums--including some friendlies on HFBoards who changed their avatars to the official logo. Apparently we were discussed on a Montréal radio station.

But now it's for real. The Ottawa Senators have their opportunity to not only be the first Canadian team to score a game-winner against the Canadiens, but they've got the added incentive of a mint condition out-of-circulation Canadian one dollar bill.

Will Jason Spezza continue lighting things up? Will Dany Heatley blast one past Baby Jaro? Will Daniel Alfredsson score a short-handed goal with five minutes left in the second period that serves to be the game-winning goal? Will Dean McAmmond keep his goal-scoring streak alive?

Time will tell, Sens fans. Time will tell.

No Habs No: Zdeno Chara

This letter will be sent to Zdeno Chara in recognition of his two-goal effort (including the game-winning goal) against the Montréal Canadiens on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009. It's dedicated to Cornelius Hardenburgh:


Recently, I was asked to provide the Habs' record since the No Habs No! Campaign started. Since the inauguration, they are 14-6-4, not including tonight's game-in-progress against Nashville (Montréal is, unfortunately, winning). There was, however, a point in mid-December that the Habs were a dismal 1-3-1 (3 of a possible 15 points), and I attribute that exclusively to the No Habs No! Campaign.

There are still many ways you can support the campaign:

• Join the 130+ fans on our Facebook page.
  
• Donate some amount via PayPal to sensarmyblog@gmail.com.
• Visit our swag shop (Be the first on your block, or in the world, to own a No Habs No! t-shirt!).
• Express support and solidarity by commenting on the blog.
  

Gerber: Why a conditioning stint?

As Ben reported, Martin Gerber has been assigned to a two-week conditioning stint in the AHL. Is that just a polite way of saying that he's not only played himself out of starting, but right out of the NHL? I think that it might be a little something more than that.

According to Binghamton Senators beat writer Michael Sharp, Sens GM Bryan Murray said the following about the decision to send Gerber to the AHL:

"The plan is to get him playing again," Murray said. "Obviously we take Brian Elliott out of Binghamton, it affected them. It gives him a chance to be important on the team. Obviously to get ice time. And then we will do what we have to. If we have to put him on waivers at some point, because there's no trade value or interest, we can do that. And then we'll decide on the loan based after that."

Gerber's trade value is negative right now. We'd probably have to throw something else in the mix to dump his contract, and receive next to nothing in return. There are, however, teams that may be interested in acquiring his services for some asset, if Gerber dominates in the AHL. If The Gerber Effect rings true, then he should be good in the AHL; he's got nothing to lose.

Gerber sent to AHL

TSN is reporting that oft-ridiculed and oft-deservingly-so goalie Martin Gerber has been assigned to the AHL for a 2-week conditioning stint.

With Brian Elliot performing capably in his two starts with the team, this is surely the end of Martin Gerber's time in Ottawa, at least, symbolically.

We'll save the 'good riddance?' point/counter-point for another day. For now, we dance.

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.

Daniel Alfredsson on Twitter?

I know what you're thinking: It can't be. Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson can't possibly have a Twitter account he uses to give fans his thoughts periodically, can he?

Well, probably not, but it looks like someone (I guess maybe Alfie himself) has assumed his personality on the real-time short messaging service. And it's pretty funny, too, you can get a glimpse into what Alfie thinks when he's going into games, like when he said he had "a good feeling" going into last night's game against Carolina:

"Alright, back. Sorry about the silence. It's weird, but I'm excited for tonight's game against Carolina; I have a good feeling."
--4:05 PM Jan 13th from web

Or you can find out what he thinks about after a loss ("Murraysburg", I assume, meaning some abomination fusion of Bryan Murray and Craig Hartsburg):

"I feel like crap. Fans and teammates, sorry about that giveaway last night. Murraysburg, sorry it may have cost you your jobs."
--9:45 AM Jan 9th from web

Or you can find out what he thinks about the team's current state:

"To everyone who thinks firing Murraysburg will solve our problems: It won't. I don't know how to solve them, but it goes far beyond that."
--9:49 AM Jan 8th from web

"Gah... I know fans are frustrated, but trust me, we're all just as frustrated. It's really disconcerting playing hard but losing anyway."
--4:04 PM Dec 29th, 2008 from web

Or what he does with his free time:

"Always nice to win to end a year. I'll be ringing in 2009 with some Guitar Hero: World Tour with some friends and family."
--2:58 PM Dec 31st, 2008 from web

"Listening to Abba's Christmas album, and going to bed with my "upper body injury" making me pretty uncomfortable."
--8:24 PM Dec 21st, 2008 from web

Whether or not it's actually Alfie on Twitter, it's pretty funny to read. Sort of like the Shaquille O'Neal Twitter, or the Stephen Harper Twitter.

Bizarro Senators: Sens 5, 'Canes 1

It's funny, almost a year ago to the day from today's 5-1 victory over Carolina, I described an uncannily unusual win by the Ottawa Senators as reminiscent of the Bizarro World in Superman. When I saw Chris Neil control the puck to make a play to Antoine Vermette, who actually scored a goal, while Dany Heatley was wreaking havoc in front of the Hurricanes net, I thought: Who are these people, what have they done with the Senators, and how can I get them to stick around for the second half of the season?

So we saw Heatley score his first goal in nine games (bizarre), we saw Dean McAmmond score his first goal in 22 games which was only his second of the season (bizarrer), we saw Vermette score his second goal and third and fourth points in the last three games (bizarrer-er, considering his season so far), we saw Mike Fisher score his first goal in 20 games and fourth of the season after not panicking with an empty net in front of him (bizarrer-er-er), and then we saw Chris Phillips score his fourth goal in the last ten games (bizarrest). But I'm not complaining.

We also saw some of the most promising reasoned, on-the-fly coaching from Craig Hartsburg going into and during the game. Upon noticing the unsuccessful perimeter play when the CASH Line is together on the powerplay, he bumped Heatley down to the second unit and shifted Fisher to forward on the first unit. For the first unit, it meant that Fisher trashed it up in front of the net while Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson set up plays with the defencemen. For the second unit, it meant Heatley was put in a position of leadership and trusted to be a powerplay quarterback, something he did very well. I'm thinking of one moment in particular, after Brian Lee rushed a shot from the point, Heatley went back and let him know that he can settle it down a bit before firing the puck on net. Although the Sens weren't credited with a powerplay goal, Vermette and Fisher's goals were both shortly after and a direct result of solid powerplay work. The Sens had 14 powerplay shots-on-goal in the end, and had control of the puck in the offensive zone for most of their powerplay time.

The other demonstration of good coaching came on the penalty kill. After Fisher lost his coverage of Joe Corvo--the 'Canes most lethal offensive weapon on the powerplay when left unchecked--on Carolina's second powerplay, they adapted: On the next Sens' penalty kill, McAmmond covered Corvo like RDS would cover Vincent Lecavalier buying a house in Montréal. For the rest of the game, Corvo was covered similarly, and that--combined with, no doubt, the boos raining down on him hurting his feelings--turned him into a non-threat for the rest of the game. (Although he did provide a great screen of 'Canes netminder Cam Ward on Phillips' goal.)

In nets, Brian Elliott sealed the fate of Martin Gerber. He only faced 24 shots, but he did have to make some terrific saves, and the one goal Ells allowed would have went in on just about any goaltender in the NHL. He outplayed one-time Conn Smythe winner Ward, and might just do well with another 41 games in the NHL this season (plus playoffs)--as long as the team in front of him keeps up their effort level.

The Senators, however, weren't perfect. Spezza had two giveaways, and Heatley had one, too, although he didn't get tabbed for it on the scoresheet, and as a team Ottawa had 10 giveaways to Carolina's four. The difference tonight, though, was that the team used hard work to make up for mistakes they made. Good players have always and will always make mistakes; they are acceptable when those same players use hard work and good backchecking to make sure that the opposition doesn't capitalize on their mistakes. Spezza's M.O. is blind passes, which work sometimes and don't work other times; as long as he gets back to help out, though, the successful ones will seem to outnumber the unsuccessful ones.

All in all, a really great game for the Senators; one of, if not the best game of the season so far. All four lines saw plenty of ice time (Shean Donovan had the least at 8:51, the only skater under 10 minutes, largely because he doesn't see special-teams time), all but two of Ottawa's skaters were on the plus side of the +/- ledger (Jason Smith and Nick Foligno were both even), the CASH Line had four points while secondary scorers combined for the other eight, and the big three also had 18 shots as the Sens heavily outshot their opponents 40-24 and outscored them by a much more impressive margin. With the second half of the season set to start on Saturday against the Montréal Canadiens Wednesday against the Atlanta Thrashers, we've been reminded of what this team can do when they're playing with the right attitude. Although it's not likely at all, it sure would be nice to see the Senators finish out the season with some great effort towards making a push for the playoffs, even if it means we miss out on the John Tavares/Victor Hedman sweepstakes.

Bizarro Superman