WC08: More Sens to world championships

Two more Sens players have been added to their respective national team's rosters, Christoph Schubert (Germany) and Martin Gerber (Switzerland). Both of them have played for their teams in the 2002 and 2006 winter olympics, Schubert's been to four world championships, and Gerber's been to five.

Apparently Gerber didn't play enough during the regular season and playoffs, he had to go and play some extra games in the world championships. Team Canada fans probably remember when he shut out Canada 2-0 in the 2006 Olympics. As for Schubert, it will be interesting to see whether Uwe Krupp, head coach of the German team, plays on the top line as well as the the top defensive pairing, and gets 40 minutes of ice time per game.

Also going to the tournament are Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, both for Team Canada. No other players have been announced to date, to my knowledge.

Brunnstrom Watch: Day one

Fabian Brunnstrom. The Swedish phenom. You may recognize his name. He's been called the next Daniel Alfredsson by The Hockey News. And he might be coming to the Senators.

A lot of sources had him all but confirmed to sign with the Vancouver Canucks, as reported by CBC's Scott Morrison. But, with the firing of former Canucks GM Dave Nonis, that deal is filled with uncertainty (reports indicate he's put off accepting an offer from Vancouver). Morrison said that the other front-runners in the Brunnstrom Sweepstakes are the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks. And some have mentioned the Senators as a possibility, as well, and what better place for the next Daniel Alfredsson than the home of the current Daniel Alfredsson?

According to The Fourth Period blog, who cited the Ottawa Sun (how did I miss that story?), Sens GM Bryan Murray made a pitch for Brunnstrom demonstrating the benefits playing for the Sens organization would bring. According to this story by Slam! Sports, though, Brunnstrom is looking for whichever situation gives him the best opportunity to break in right away, meaning the terrible, terrible Toronto Maple Leafs could be the front-runners.

The last time the Sens semi-committed to giving a player a spot without a tryout was the Alexei Kaigorodov experiment, and that failed miserably. (For those who don't remember, Kaigs was rumoured to be the Sens long-anticipated second-line centre, until he wasn't good enough, got sent to the farm team, refused to report, went back to Russia, and bashed the Sens coaching staff to Russian media for not giving him a shot. Not a great start.)

Although Brunnstrom started strongly, he fizzled as the season went on. Do we want to run the risk of making the same mistake we made with Kaigorodov again? Can we afford not to try, in case he really is as good as Alfredsson? I guess we have to put our faith in Murray to figure out if Brunnstrom is as good as people seem to think.

Here is what THN has to say about Brunnstrom:

"He's the first of a lot of players from Europe you're going to see in this situation," said the [anonymous] assistant GM. "It used to be you waited for European players. Lots of times you would draft them and keep them over there for four or five years to see how they develop. Well, you can't do that anymore."

Brunnstrom, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound forward, is a classic late bloomer. Last season he was playing First Division in Sweden, which is two steps under the Elite League and was a star at that level, which prompted Farjestad to sign him this season. He skates very well and his three goals and 13 points in 21 games are probably not a clear indication of how good he is offensively.

For anyone interested, here is a sampling of some highlights, courtesy of YouTube (as linked from THN):

Time will tell. We'll try and keep you posted on the developments as they come about.

WC08: Heatley, Spezza head to World Championships

Turns out Steve Yzerman brought a few Sens players in to play on the Canadian World Championships in Halifax/Quebec City, and they're not slouches: Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza were named to the roster. (I guess Spezza's knee injury wasn't or isn't too serious.)

Seriously, though, this team is stacked. Here's the roster:

Goal: Mathieu Garon, Pascal Leclaire, Cam Ward

Defence: Jay Bouwmeester, Brent Burns, Dan Hamhuis, Ed Jovanovski, Duncan Keith, Steve Staios

Forwards: Jason Chimera, Shane Doan, Ryan Getzlaf, Dany Heatley, Chris Kunitz, Jamal Mayers, Rick Nash, Derek Roy, Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza, Martin St. Louis, Eric Staal, Jonathan Toews, Ray Whitney

Why the hell isn't Chris Phillips on his way? Maybe he said no. But if Ryan Getzlaf is headed, you've got to expect Chris Pronger was invited, he must have said no, too.

I was looking for the other team rosters, but was unable to see more Sens players who've been named. I imagine that if they're feeling up to it: Martin Gerber (Switzerland), Daniel Alfredsson (Sweden), Christoph Schubert (Germany), Andrej Meszaros (Slovakia), and Anton Volchenkov (Russia). Playing in the tournament can be good or bad (hopefully no one pulls a Dominik Hasek and gets injured), but it'll be fun to be able to watch some Sens players playing into May again this year.

Spezza on competition committee

The Sens' Jason Spezza was recently elected to the NHL's five-player competition committee. Will no-look drop passes be made mandatory?

Other witty quips welcome in the comments.

Report Card on Sens Defence

2 Luke Richardson
Peter says:

• C+
• Started the year strongly, highlighted by a one-punch knockout against Brandon Dubinsky. As the year went on, however, his speed (or slowness) became a factor, and he was scratched for the playoffs. His leadership may have been good, but it didn't help the team.
• Won't be back for next season.

Ben says:

• B+
• Did everything expected of his this year and more. Played significant minutes for an old guy, but according to the playoffs, didn't bring the leadership needed.
  

4 Chris Phillips
Peter says:

• A-
• The Big Rig played the way he plays. Reasonable physically, and pretty good at shutting guys down. He looked good with Anton Volchenkov at the start of the year, and once Mike Commodore started playign well he looked good with Phillips. His leadership will be counted on for next year.
• At only $3.5M, he's a bargain.

Ben says:

• B
  
• Definitely a bargain, but did not have nearly the impact that he did last year in the playoffs. This could be because he didn't play with Volchenkov as much.

6 Wade Redden
Peter says:

• F
• Terrible. You could probably count the number of good games he had on one hand. Maybe even the number of good plays he made on one hand. If Redden really wanted to be back with this team next year, he sure didn't show it in his play.
• Won't be back next year.

Ben say:

• 'Nuff said.
  

14 Andrej Meszaros
Peter says:

• C+
• Started poorly, but played pretty well once Bryan Murray stepped back behind the bench. He had a decent playoff. His puck-moving and powerplay abilities are even more valuable on the Sens since they've lost Tom Preissing, Joe Corvo, and--in all likelihood--Wade Redden over the course of two years.
  
• He's got too much potential to give away. Unless he's traded for a rarer commodity (part of a package for a franchise goaltender, say), the Sens should try and re-sign him for $2.5-3M, if they can.

Ben says:

• C+
  
• We should have expected more from Meszaros this year, and he didn't really deliver. An underwhelming season, but hopefully the exception in his Sens career.
  

24 Anton Volchenkov
Peter says:

• A+
• Amazing. The man is an absolute warrior.
• Maybe the best deal in the league at $2.5M per year.
  

Ben says:

• A
  
• I would almost give him our #1 defender spot at this moment. Not because he's great, but others did not play as well. Can't fault him for that.

44 Mike Commodore
Peter says:

• C+
• Commodore looked terrible when he first got here, but once he started learning the system he looked better. Although he can be slow, a full year under whatever system the Sens employ next year would be beneficial, and he's a pretty solid playoff player.
• If he'll sign for $2M or less, I'd like to see him around for another year.
  

Ben says:

• D+
• Looked slow throughout the regular season and the playoffs. Did not really make an impact on the team. We didn't even see much of a hair or beard 'fro. It would be a risk to keep him around, but not nearly a Hasek-level risk. I say do it.

55 Brian Lee
Peter says:

• B-
• The General played well in the few months with the team. He's really benefited from his time in Binghamton, and I'm only expecting better play for next season. He may even step into the top-four, if everything goes his way.
• Still on his rookie contract.

Ben says:

• A+
• Although he resembles a zombie, I must say that Lee is the great hope for the Senators' defensive corps. No one could have asked more of Lee this year. He showed Redden how Redden used to play.
  

Goalies in Ottawa: A history of mediocrity

James Duthie wrote an interesting piece for the Ottawa Citizen last week about the Sens' historical problems with goaltenders, notably finding someone who can steal games for the team in the playoffs.

In it, Duthie goes over a list of goaltenders that the Sens could have drafted, which is an excercise in futility. If you look at the list of 'could-have-beens', you'll be left with 29 teams that missed a diamond in the rough, and you'll spend days, weeks, or months examining it. The fact of the matter is that judging goaltending talent is not an easy task, especially when the players are at the young age of only 17 or 18.

Examining a list of recent goaltending prospects the Sens have drafted, you can see that the team has not properly assessed, or at least addressed, its most glaring weakness:

1. 2006 (5): Ryan Daniels
2. 2004 (3): Jeff Glass
3. 2003 (9): Brian Elliott
4. 2001 (4): Ray Emery
5. 1999 (2): Simon Lajeunesse
6. 1999 (6): Martin Prusek
7. 1998 (1): Mathieu Chouinard
8. 1997 (2): Jani Hurme
9. 1994 (4): Bryan Masotta
10. 1994 (9): Frederic Cassivi
11. 1993 (3): Patrick Charbonneau
12. 1993 (9): Tony Kvalevog
13. 1992 (11): Petter Ronnquist
    

Maybe Glass or Elliott are going to be great NHL goaltenders. But they certainly aren't there yet. There is a glaring need in the Senators front office, and that is a department to focus on addressing the biggest need for the Senators: goaltending.

Any Goaltending Department the Senators set up should include one or more scouts for the sole purpose of assessing the talent of goaltending prospects, and making judgements on them. Not only undrafted prospects, but also individuals playing on other teams who haven't been given the opportunity to develop properly.

Secondly, there is a need for goaltending coaches. Not only for the NHL squad, but also--and maybe more importantly--for the Binghamton team. Ron Low may have been a good goaltending coach, but he failed to show his abilities. As for Eli Wilson, the gong show surrounding how he was brought in--seemingly on the whim of Emery--really makes me wonder how effective or appropriate it was to have him in the organization. Well-respected former goaltenders who've made a successful transition into coaching are certainly rare, but the Senators need to find a way to have their goaltending prospects developed into true NHL players, and to keep them at the top of their game.

In his search for a head coach, maybe Bryan Murray should look for someone who's friendly with a good goalie coach. And maybe Eugene Melnyk or Roy Mlakar should recruit for the formation of a Goaltending Department.

Emery good as done in Ottawa

According to a report on TSN.ca:

According to Ottawa Senators General Manager and head coach Bryan Murray, Ray Emery's tenure in the Nation's capital is likely over.

The Senator's top brass met with the media Friday to wrap up what turned out to be a disappointing season. When the subject of Emery was raised, Murray made his position clear.

"My plan is not to have him back," Murray told reporters.

Team owner Eugene Melnyk, who was part of the press conference refused to comment on the Emery situation.

It wasn't difficult to predict that one of Emery or Martin Gerber wouldn't be back for 2008-09, and Murray's choice to go with Gerber in the playoffs showed which goalie was his preference. Not to suggest that Emery isn't skilled, but he's run out of chances with the Senators.

Hopefully the Sens can trade Emery rather than having to buy him out, because say what you will about his off-ice behaviour, he's still an athletic young goaltender with a lot of potential. Another team will certainly take a chance on him if he becomes a free agent; every GM in the league probably has an idea on how to tame an unruly player.

How did this become about Emery?!

Just a quick post here to make absolutely clear that everyone talking about how Ray Emery is somehow to blame for the Sens early playoff exit is absolute insanity.

The man hasn't played a game since February, and he hasn't made a peep since then. On Tuesday, no one wanted to talk to him. On Thursday, he's TSN.ca's lead story. It makes no sense! Sure everyone is talking about the crappy end to the season, BUT WHY AREN'T THEY TALKING TO THE GOALIE THAT WAS IN NET?!

"Hey, uhhh.... Gerber... how come you didn't win more games? ...was it Ray Emery's fault?"

Sorry. The logic doesn't follow.

A short piece at the end of the CTV national news cast even profiled him as some sort of distraction. And guess who they talked to as an expert... Bruce Garrioch.

I'm not sure if my partner in blogging Peter will agree to this, but I am THIS close to putting Garrioch on notice.