You can't keep a good town down

Thanks to my opportunistic father, whose faith in the Ottawa Senators truly springs eternal, I was in a packed Scotiabank Place for Saturday night's game.

Of course, we came away disappointed, but while the Penguins were jumping all over each other like a bunch of... silly penguins... I was clapping for the Senators, and I meant it. Lead by their injury-riddled captain, the Sens to raised their sticks to the crowd in a classy sign of appreciation that is rarely seen in professional sports.

There was something about this season that seemed so meddling, and at the same time, so transitory. The team is on its way to a new structure and spirit, and this was just the season in which the larva was still building its cocoon. Is the team tougher now than it was in 2001? Hells yes. Is it a better team? Ummm.... no.

Did we learn anything from this series? Well, it only takes one game for many Ottawa Senators fans to jump off, then back on, the bandwagon, that's for sure - myself included. After the Penguins beat up the Sens in that seven-goal period two of game four, I didn't give the Sens a chance. They were cooked.

But then, like a chicken finger that you leave in the fridge for too long, the Senators uncooked themselves with much stronger efforts in games five and six. And that earned them only one thing: respect. This post would be much different had the Sens gone quietly into the night after game five, but they didn't. So they get a little respect.

I do wish the Sens' coaching staff had more faith in Pascal Leclaire, but I can understand Cory Clouston's predicament. If not for that astonishing winning streak in the middle of the season, the Sens would have been fighting for the eighth spot rather than sitting quietly in fifth. Undoubtedly, the Senators needed Brian Elliott to get them into the playoffs. Hard to fault Clouston for that.

It feels good to put some hockey thoughts on the net after a long absence. Recent events have re-sparked my passion, and I hope to share more thoughts with you during the summer.

Cheers, Sens fans. You can't keep a good town down.

Faceless Senators make Emery look good

After work today, I went to the local LCBO and picked up eight tall boys to drink this weekend.

The beer for tonight's game against the Flyers is Holsten Maibock 7.0%.

Sports writers are going to struggle for angles on this one (so I bet they'll go with either 'Leclaire inconsistent' or 'Ray Emery shows Sens what they're missing' for lack of better option). The Senators have been entirely faceless tonight.

I can't think of one outstanding player who took the game into his hands. Usually, it's someone like Daniel Alfredsson or Jason Spezza who just says 'Fine, I'll do it'. But tonight, with those two shut down, it's up to some other players to step up.

Mike Fisher had done his part in the second period. Alex Kovalev? Jonathan Cheechoo? Milan Michalek? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Somebody had to step up to win this game for the Senators... but no one did. That's a product of a lack of aggression and creativity.

Much of that goes to Cory Clouston. TSN (as much as I hate to admit it) did a great job of illustrating how the Senators were sitting back for the whole game. Last season, Clouston was known for making the Sens a more aggressive team. Tonight? Nada.

Oh man. Starting to feel that beer. The label was right. Strong.

The easy way out would be to blame Pascal Leclaire. Though I'm certainly not impressed with his performance, if the Senators had not lost this game 5-1, they would have lost it 2-1. No offence, no wins. It's simple.

Still... I'm going to have to put this somewhere in the yellow-to-red for the Pascal Leclaire Advisory System. Tonight's game is unsettling.

Tip of the Hat:

• Beer. Just in general.
• TSN producers.
• Ray Emery - yeah, take that Sens.
  

Wag of the Finger:

• Trapezoids; other so-called 'bad angles'.
  
• Logos that almost look like a "P", but with feathers.
• Photoshop -- should be more beer-user-friendly.
  

Win over Habs most important yet

Saturday night's 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens was undoubtedly the Ottawa Senators' most important win of the season so far.

Put all the 'Alex Kovalev returns to Montreal' storylines to the side for one moment (they never mattered much anyway) and let's look at the stats and players behind the victory.

This was the Senators first win over a team that qualified for the playoffs last season. Losses to Pittsburgh and New York kept the Sens out of the playoff picture for the moment, but this win will boost the expectations of players and observers slightly. Where do the Sens fit into the Eastern Conference rankings now? Let's wait and see if they can beat New Jersey or Philadelphia in early November.

The Senators swept the game's three stars, and with good cause. The first star was Pascal Leclaire. In the first intermission, Daniel Alfredsson commented to CBC that there was a large shift in team mentality with Chuck in net, and this game was a perfect example. When the Sens were holding on to a 2-1 lead through most of the second and third periods, Leclaire was never panicked and extremely consistent.

(FACT: Pascal Leclaire only wears goalie equipment because he would get too many shutouts if he played naked. He doesn't want to make other players look silly.)

The Senators' third and fourth lines are playing waaaaaay above expectations. This used to be a one-line team. Now we're got four. That's quite a turn-around. Credit to Cory Clouston and Bryan Murray (You gotta give it when it's due).

Did I mention Alfredsson? Of course I did. He leads the team with nine points in seven games. He doesn't get older, he just gets better. (Guess who's second and third in team scoring? Mike Fisher and Jarkko Ruutu!)

Of course, those points from Kovalev didn't hurt at all. That's what he was brought in to do. Put the Sens over the top in games that could have gone either way. That added offensive talent, combined with solid goaltending from Chuck, is all the Sens need to win these middling games on most nights.

Audio:

Cory Clouston's thoughts on the game.

Alfredsson's post-game comments.

Kovalev's post-game comments.

(Courtesy whatever wonderful human being updates the Senators Twitter account.)

Kovalev needs support: Cookie Monster

I've been taking every opportunity to be critical of Alex Kovalev recently. Sure, we're only three games in, but I've barely noticed the guy on the ice. I had a sudden realization while discussing the Ottawa Senators with a co-worker recently: AK27 isn't getting much support.

In the Sens most recent game, Kovalev was on a line with Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno... one of these things is not like the other things. Give the flashy winger some flashy linemates! At least somebody with a little Nordic or European blood in them!

Luckily, I think Cory Clouston has watched Sesame Street in the past 20 years, and has decided to make some changes to the top two lines for tonight's game against the Atlanta Thrashers. You know--the lines that are supposed to be scoring the goals.

So Kovalev will have some support from Daniel Alfredsson tonight, and Foligno will play with Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek. Hopefully, with another goal-scorer on his line, Kovalev can put some of those fancy moves to good use, rather than just coming up with some of the NHL's most interesting ways to lose the puck.

Non-believers, like me, be damned

All the credit for the Ottawa Senators' 2-1 win over the Maple Leafs tonight should go to two people: Pascal "Chuck" Leclaire and Cory Clouston. I didn't think the Sens were going to pull it off tonight. I thought the Leafs goons would get to gooning and that-goalie-that-really-looks-like-Martin-Gerber-when-he-was-a-Leaf would seem like a God-sent for Leafers in his NHL debut. I am happy to admit that I was wrong.

If that puck that made it past Leclaire had gone in, instead of ringing off both posts, we'd all be singing a different tune about Chuck, but let's celebrate the solid goaltending we did get. Leclaire was the epitome of clutch tonight. Especially in the final, say, 5 or 6 seconds of the game.

Milan Michalek appears to be gaining confidence with his linemates Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. (Gimme a minute to hetero man-swoon for Alfie a moment here.... okay, enough).

I see too much to brag about from the other lines. In fact, in the middle of the third period, I was wondering if Alex Kovalev had been benched. Other than some fancy stick-handling from him on the penalty-kill, we haven't seen anything to warrant that $10-million two-year contract.

Finally! We see a resurgence from Philchenkov. Especially from the 'chenkov portion of that duo. Anton Volchenkov gets back to what he's known for: being physical and blocking shots like pieces of his body like they're replacable (though this blog did speculate some time ago that he's a Soviet android...). Philchenkov doesn't have to do anything except prevent the other team from scoring, and make them hurt whenever they enter the Sens zone. Hopefully, they're finding this out.

...which brings me to Clouston. He picked Alfredsson to take that penalty shot despite the captain's less-than-stellar shoot-out record, and didn't even mention Brian Elliot since Saturday's game. That's what we call very un-Leaf-like coaching. Nice work.

We ain't done! Lee and Zubov might be...

Although Pletch won't be posting anymore (and thank you for your service, P) the blog continues onward toward the opening night. Did I mention we're kind of making a big deal of it? (see obvious banner above). You can sign up for a reminder on the left-hand sidebar.

In Ottawa Senators news: I'm rather surprised that Erik Karlsson has, so far, beaten out Brian Lee for a roster spot (as you know, Lee was returned to Bingo a couple days ago). Cory Clouston and the other coaches must really like what they see from Special K.

Word on the street is (well, I heard it in a van) that if Alex Picard were on a two-way deal, it would be him riding the bus back to the state of New York. I'm not sure if that's a compliment to Lee or an insult to Picard... I guess we'll see when the season starts up on Saturday night (!!!!).

Word on the twitter feed is that constant-prospect Ilya Zubov expects that he will be traded soon. Some people have interpreted this as a trade request... although I think that would require a statement of preference, as in: 'I would prefer to be traded'. What he actually stated, however was:

'I'm not very happy about [being sent to Binghamton]. It's not what I want. Both me and the Ottawa team (talked) and I might get traded soon."

So... he suspects he'll be traded? I could see how this could be misinterpreted as 'demand'. Let's not just jump to conclusions based on one quote. This will probably be sorted out tomorrow by a simple question.

Hard to blame the guy though, he's been toiling in the minor leagues for years. A special set of circumstances must exist for a player to make it to the NHL, and if he can't find those circumstances in Bingo/Ottawa, I wish him the best of luck with the Atlanta Thrashers.

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

The Dark Era ends - Senators no longer On Notice

It was perhaps the darkest era in the modern history of the Ottawa Senators: December of 2008. Martin Gerber was still, sadly, a member of the team and momentum was slowly building to finally relieve him of duty. Brian Elliot had only played a few games--a far cry from his late-season status as #1 goalie. Craig Hartsburg, seen as a breath of fresh air when he was hired as head coach at the beginning of the season, was less than two months from being fired.

We, the fans, were low on ourselves and the team. Plainly stated, there was no reason to cheer. Not even the predictable late-season 'believe' campaign had a shred of sincerity. There was nothing to believe in.

I did the only thing I could do: I put them On Notice. I did not take the decision lightly. I was beginning to loathe my own team, and I had to air my concerns.

The lowest scoring team in the league cannot blame its second-line wingers for not producing, nor can it blame its third line for not checking hard enough. The chemistry is wrong and the will to win is not bubbling to the surface. Defenders are not communicating amongst themselves or with forwards in order to decrease scoring chances, or even checking the opposition. Coaching has been inadequate, failing to find a solution to the scoring woes of a potentially talented team. Recently suggested changes to the lineup have already been tried in past weeks and failed conclusively.

No one was spared of blame--there certainly was plenty of it to go around at the time. From management to coaching, first line through fourth--everything was a failure.

I have been hesitant to remove the team from the On Notice list for the remainder of the 2008-09 season, and the entire summer. It's hard to remove a team that had broken 11 consecutive playoff appearances. There they lingered, a scar on the face of this blog to remind the team and its fans that mediocrity and complacency are not acceptable. We are not Leafers, and failure should be neither predictable nor celebrated.

As long as I can see the light...

But the Dark Era is now over. A change is goaltending is perhaps the best indicator of this. Gerber dragged the team into a sink hole of soft goals and unpredictability. Pascal Leclaire, when he was acquired was labeled "The Answer" by this blog, and the question was "When can we start cheering again?".

Another significant change was unpredictable. Dany Heatley's summer time request to be traded certainly shook up the team. The subsequent trade calmed the waters, but the uncertainty remains... but it's the good kind of uncertainly. What are we getting back? How good can Milan Michalek become? Does Jonathan Cheechoo have any gas left? We're all hopeful that the Sens can bring these pieces together and repay our recently renewed faith.

Bryan Murray did something he's rarely had the opportunity to do: he was proactive. In the face of losing one of his star players, he became aggressive and picked up a new one. Alex Kovalev has been dropping jaws at Scotiabank Place during this preseason with his stickhandling and controversial nature. I say, "Good on ya Alex. Spice up the team fergodssake." We need something to write about other than self-loathing. (I'll admit that I came down pretty hard on you for that last gaff).

At the Sens game last week, I was impressed. Cory Clouston has created a system is greater than the sum of its parts. There were points when the Sens were schooling the Habs and controlling the flow of the game. It felt good that the Sens were in charge of the game again. No longer competing against their own flaws, they could focus on beating the other team.

Ottawa Senators, you are forgiven. I will cheer again, and you can count me amongst your truest fans. Now a short prayer to the Golden God:

Alfie, all powerful and righteous in your Swedishness;
Forgive my dismissal of your former teammates;
Let us reconcile like a handshake after a playoff series;
Allow glory to flow upon the Senators, like your hair circa 1999;
And cross-check our indifference like Darcy Tucker in a playoff game.

Amen.

Let a new era begin.

Three big questions for 2009-10

It's always difficult to make predictions about your favourite team. It's hard to see past your own passion in order to make an objective evaluation of, in this case, the Ottawa Senators.

The magic word after last season's generally disappointing performance was 'optimism'. But such a simple word doesn't encapsulate the many questions that the Senators are facing with the 2009-10 season about four months away.

Question 1: Is Cory Clouston a legitimate NHL coach?

Despite showing great potential as game-time decision-make ("Martin Gerber? No thank you."), and an off-ice team builder (Haven't bought out any contracts recently...), it's difficult to say whether Clouston will be the savior that the Senators have been searching for since Bryan Murray moved into the front office.

I believe the key to this situation is patience. Even if the Senators start the season 5-15, Murray has to move his finger off the panic button and finally realize, after three new coaches in three seasons, coaching isn't the problem. Sens fans have to temper their enthusiasm until Clouston can make it through one whole season.

Answer: I sure hope so.

Question 2: Will Leclaire provide better stability in net?

My fellow Ottawa Senators fans, I celebrated extra hard this Canada Day because it meant the end of a horrifying era in Ottawa: Martin Gerber's reign of terror. Not only is he no longer anywhere near the team, he's not even on the books anymore! Pascal Leclaire is almost certainly an upgrade in net. At least, he will provide the knowledge that he won't be beat out for the starting job within two months. Backed up by Brian Elliott, the Sens should have the standard #1-#2 goalie relationship that most teams thrive on.

In this category, despite the questions, Senators fans have reason to be most optimistic. Even if Leclaire's groin explodes in the first game of the season, fans will at least know who's #1.

Answer: He's not Martin Gerber... so, yes.

Question 3: Will Kovalev improve the team?

He's the most significant free agent signing in the (short) history of the franchise, and I hope he's smart enough to understand that he'll be observed and analyzed like the only hot chick on a nude beach. It's difficult to say whether adding Alex Kovalev to last year's Senators would have been enough to push them into a playoff spot (hmmm.... probably not. Your thoughts?), but it's safe to say that even if he contributes only 20 goals to the Senators in 2009-10 (which some would consider a disappointment), he'll be the number 4 or 5 scorer on the team*.

Answer: You bet your ass.

When I began writing this blog, it had the headline "Senators will make playoffs"... but writing the story got me thinking about how much rests on Clouston being able to replicate his performance last year. And despite what Pierre McGuire yelled at us at the trade deadline last season, no one in Ottawa can really predict how well Leclaire will play for the Senators (especially in front of the Sens' increasingly young defenders) - he had 24 wins in 54 games with Columbus in 2007-08, but these stats can be transferred across teams and conferences.

One thing is for sure: It's going to be fun watching these questions be answered by the players and coaches when the puck drops.

*Foligno could score 25 this year... who knows?

UPDATE: Choosin' Clouston

(You can use that, Ottawa Sun, if you want)

Cory Clouston turned around a terrible season for the Senators and compiled a 19-10-3 record while head coach. He's now been signed to a two-year contract to stay in Ottawa and work his magic as head coach. He deserves this tribute:

There once was a man from Bingo
Who was set up with a team of bozos
He told them to stop bitchin
While Murray's trigger finger was itchin'
Now he's gotta buy a condo

Anyone else have a limerick in them?

Some great poetry came out of our comments, and I believe they deserve to be noted:

From Pletch:

Gather 'round and I'll tell you a story,
'Bout a hard-nosed coach named Cory,
He got the Sens turned around,
The old magic they've found,
And next year the team's bound for glory.

From Oman:

There once was an Anonymous troller,
And on every Blog he would holler,
"FIRE MURRAY! FIRE MURRAY!
FIRE MURRAY! FIRE MURRAY!"
Now all he can do is suck it.

...Did I mention he was from Cantuckit?

A haiku from Warren:

Hopeful in Autumn
Terrible 'til Coach Clouston
Then resurrected

Anonymous says...

even without the meszys and reddens
the team was headed to dead ends
they played like shit
looked like they wanted to quit
but somehow wheeled celeb g-friends

and (my favourite because it ends in a word that does not yet exist)

kelly is probly the leanest
neiler is probly the meanest
they werent there quite
clouston made them unite
now ladys be grindin his peanest

Anyone else want to contribute? Throw it in the comments!

Murray shifts the blame

The Ottawa Citizen has an article today that has Bryan Murray shifting the blame to his players, specifically Speatfredsson. You must be kidding me.

If not for the late-season miracle of Murray picking Clouston (for lack of a better option, no doubt) to coach the team for the remainder of the season, it would certainly be Murray's head on a stake this summer.

Trades and signings (both successful and unsuccessful) aside, it was Murray who picked the Senators' past three coaches and sent them into the tailspin that they experienced this season and last.

Murray desperately tried to mold a puck-moving defensive core out of the Senators this season. Unforgettably, he traded away Joe Corvo (37 points so far this year) for a couple of rentals from the Carolina Hurricanes last season. What was he thinking?

His ass might be spared this summer thanks to Clouston's arrival, but make no mistake, the past two seasons of disappointment have been Murray's doing (his best move was getting rid of Gerber two expensive years too late).

When pinkslips are given to other NHL GMs this summer, Bryan Murray should look up to the heavens and think, "There, but for the grace of God, go I".

Hope springs eternal... for now

Ah yes, Spring is upon us in the nation's capital. The sun is shining, the snow is melting, and young ladies will begin to show skin again soon. Casting off our winter slumbers, the city will soon embrace its full potential in a beautiful sun-shower.

Our hockey team too, is embracing new beginnings and the Ottawa media is now taking note. Cory Clouston is the Senators savior for this season, and has become a symbol of the team's potential (which is often questioned) being unleashed. It's difficult to ignore the stat: A team that was well under .500 with Craig Hartsburg is not 11-6-3 under Clouston's guidance.

The front page of the sports section in the Ottawa Citizen does a great job of illustrating (literally and figuratively) the difference that Clouston has made.

Under Hartsburg, Phillips owned one of the NHL's worst plus/minus marks, a chilling minus-20 in 48 games. Since Clouston arrived, however, Phillips is a plus- nine in 20 games. There are similar spikes in the numbers for Nick Foligno (minus-19, Hartsburg; plus-nine Clouston), Mike Fisher (minus-seven Hartsburg; plus-nine, Clouston) and Anton Volchenkov (minus-13, Hartsburg; plus-seven Clouston)

In the darker days of this season, I've often pointed to Phillips +/- as an indicator of not only his poor play, but as a barometer of the team as a whole. With the team's top defender on the right side of zero in recent games, the Sens are surely headed in the right direction.

Though reporters are asking the right questions to players and GM Bryan Murray about the future of Clouston and the Senators' head coaching position for next season, there really is no doubt about what must be done: Give Clouston a deal. Now. He's inspired the team (albeit in the short-term -- let us not forget the success the Sens had for 20 games under Paddock) and seemed to have made winners out of losers.

Brian Elliot has turned into yet another late-season success story for Ottawa. It will be interesting to see how the goalie situation next year will pan out. Will Elliot stay in the big leagues or be shipped back to Bingo to allow the tandem of Auld and Leclaire to hold down the fort?

Hope springs eternal in Ottawa. I wish the season started a couple

News and notes:

I am accepting articles from possible new contributors to the blog until Saturday. So if you want in, please send me an article. So far, everyone who has sent in an article has been excellent.

We had some great success with last week's live blog on Thursday evening, so join us again this Thursday to shoot the shit and discuss the Senators while they take on the Montreal Canadiens.

General Lee break down

I had a good feeling about this game for some reason. I think it had something to do with the fact that the Sens hadn't played the Sharks in a long time, and that since everyone now presumes they will lose every game, the team has nothing to lose--every two points are an unexpected bonus.

Of course, they did lose 2-1 to the Sharks, but I'm going to be optimistic about the game. A 2-1 loss to the top team in the western conference isn't that bad, is it?

Recently, it seems that momentary mental lapses have kept the Sens from winning the game. In past games, it's been the first 20 minutes of the game (see: game vs Vancouver), and this time it was a second period penalty kill. Brian Lee, you sloppy rookie. We expect this sort of thing from Jason Spezza, but not from The General!

Speaking of Jason 'deke through everyone, get to the front the net and then pass off to someone 25 feet away from the crease instead of taking a shot that might very well go in in tonight's game vs the shark' Spezza. TAKE THE FREAKING SHOT!!

Overall, the Sens seemed to have have a structured offence and defence this game. Clouston's system seems to be a system worth following. Still, Chris Phillips makes me nervous whenever he's supposed to be covering someone in front of the net. Auld looked good and the coach should stick with him while he's hot. What have the Sens got to lose? (As I already established, nothing. Nothing but John Tavares).

Turning point: Lee double-minor

Tomorrow's Ottawa Sun headline: SHARK ATTACK!!!!111ONEONEeleven

Harsh reminder of poor decisions: The team that Sharks wanted to trade Marleau to a couple years ago: The Sens. The player they wanted in return: Wade Redden. sigh.

Holy something: Sens 4, 'Canes 2

Ouch, Carolina. Those would have been a pretty big two points for you guys, eh? Too bad the Senators picked this time to start playing good hockey. You've been spoiled, suckas. Ottawa responded to the challenge from their coach to come out of the gates strong, scoring three goals and taking a 3-1 lead in the first period, and they didn't look back.

These new guys look pretty good so far, don't they? Chris Campoli is a heck of a player on the powerplay, and had his third assist in two games so far in a Sens uniform. His mobility is great, and even if he's not going to throw a big hit, he's usually able to get in the way of an approaching forward. And after a great (albeit point-free) start to his second stint with the Senators, Mike Comrie scored a beauty in his second game that turned out to be the game-winner. He froze Cam Ward with a fake slapshot, and then moved up on him and slip the puck five-hole. I could get used to this secondary scoring thing again.

Two assists for Daniel Alfredsson, and the guy is playing with a broken freakin' jaw. You can see some hesitation from the captain when he's faced with really physical play, but it hasn't negatively affected his performance; he's just using vision and positioning instead of muscle and strength to win battles. Playing smarter, instead of just harder--although he still works like an ox. Antoine Vermette had a couple assists on the night, as well, and was an incredible 72% in the faceoff circle (13/18). Although Vermette's fifth in the league with a season-average 57.5 faceoff percentage, he was going up against a guy like Rod Brind'Amour, long known as a strong faceoff man and second overall this season at 61.7% (Brind'Amour was only 43% in the circle on the night). Possibly interesting note: Former Sen Radek Bonk leads the league in faceoff winning percentage at 62%.

Jeremy Milks at Black Aces described Cory Clouston's smart decision to start Alex Auld instead of Brian Elliott tonight, despite the possible perceptions or political remifications of such a decisio. Elliott's been a good goaltender for the Sens since he came up, but he's been fighting the puck recently. With a capable supporting 'tender and little on the line for his team, Elliott is in a good position to learn about the mental side of the game--he may simply have to settle down before he gets back in the net. Or he may have to wait for Auld to falter, the way cueball has been playing.

Anyone else notice a physical edge from Brian Lee tonight? He was credited with one hit (it was a good one, but holy shit Mike Fisher had eight hits), but he was also roughing a 'Canes player up a bit in front of his net after the whistle. He had an assist, too, but it's good to see a young guy who's obviously learning parts of the game begin to learn the disciplined physical side that many good defencemen need to know to be effective.

Carolina outshot the Senators 43-22 on the night, so kudos to Auld, of course. But the 'Canes got 43 shots through, and had another seven blocked by Anton Volchenkov. I don't know how Android gets pucks to hit him so much; maybe he's got some crazy Soviet ionized-equipment technology that attracts vulcanized rubber to his shin pads. Yeah, that must be it.

Other notes, I guess: Sick pass from Alfie and sick release from Dany Heatley on the Sens' first goal, and Heater's now got 30 goals on the year; Great response by Vermette and Chris Kelly to restore the Sens' lead seconds after Carolina tied the game; Nice powerplay goal for Jason Spezza to put the game out of reach early in the second period.

Canucks fans are jerks :'(

Well I went to the Sens game tonight and I was not happy with the result. The first period pretty much sunk Ottawa, as they spent the rest of the game trying to claw their way back into it. Ultimately a four-goal hole was too large for the Sens to find their way out of, and time ran out for Ottawa in this game.

This was a totally winnable game for the Sens, or at least, their play of late lead me to think so. Cory Clouston puts much more faith into second and third-line players like Shean Donovan and Nick Foligno, but it's hard to say whether this strategy pays off. While Foligno was grinding in the corners, the Canucks defence seemed ripe for a speedy centre to deke through them and score. Dany Heatley's goal was straight of out his "wait with your stick cocked high in the air" play book.

Despite the score, Brian Elliot played very well, especially in the second and third period. It's not his fault that the Senators defence abandons him. I don't think that better "team defence" is the answer anymore. Fingers need to be pointed, and there's more than enough fingers to go around. Defence needs to be addressed as much as scoring when Bryan Murray looks at his options this trade deadline.

Mike Fisher had one goal and more than 20 minutes of ice time. What's the strategy here? Jason Spezza, having a far more successful season, played around 14 minutes. I'd rather have the Sens' first-line centre than their supposedly fearsome eight-goal scorer.

After an incredible road trip, the Sens are facing the true test of their season in the next week. Are they an underperforming team in need of inspiration? Or is it truly the end of days? Either way, I like the Canucks a whole lot less tonight.

All The Way Home: Avs 3, Sens 2 (OT)

Wow. The Senators had 15 points on the road in their first 25 road games, but got nine on this five-game road trip. Says a lot about how this team's been playing of late, and for anyone to get 90 per cent of points available on such a disjointed road trip has to come (all the way) home feeling pretty darn good about their trip.

Ryan Shannon made this game for the Sens. He scored the Sens' two goals, one on a sneaky shot and the other a top-corner wrister from the point. He looks a little unusual playing the point on the powerplay, but it worked tonight. Shannon didn't make much of an impact in his first stint, but his recent seven-game stint under Cory Clouston has re-energized his line with Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno, and his speed is lethal.

In nets, Alex Auld made some big saves tonight, and was one of the main reasons the Sens walked out of the game with even one point. He stopped 24 of 27, including one terrific chance Ryan Smyth had in alone after a lucky home-ice bounce off the back boards.

For obvious reasons, ice time was pretty evenly distributed amongst the players tonight. It's a pretty important coaching tactic when playing the second game of a back-to-back, particularly in the mile-high city of Denver. No one had less ice time than Jesse Winchester's 10:52 (and he still had three shots), and Mike Fisher led the forwards with 18:28 on the night.

Could Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza have been more invisible on the night? Apparently Heatley had three shots, but they couldn't have been very good scoring chances, and the only moments I noticed Spezza were when he looked for an open pass with futility, eventually to lose the puck to an Avalanche player--such as what happened on Colorado's second goal, when Spezza lost the puck and then offered absolutely no defensive coverage when backchecking. They had one shift with any semblance of intensity, and that was with five minutes left in the third; and it didn't even generate a shot on net, as Heatley sent his one chance wide. But then Spezza's inability to get the puck in deep and severely lacking defensive coverage were the chief reasons for Wojtek Wolski's overtime winner. Need more offence than that from these guys, especially in such a difficult game.

In his 1,000th career NHL game, Jason Smith played an effective game. He had 18:11 of ice time, usually with Alex Picard, and he bailed out his younger defence partner a couple of times. And he even had a couple shots on net. As for Picard, I`ll give the guy a break because it was his first game in quite a while, but he didn`t look very good on the whole.

Got to laugh about Chris Kelly's continued offensive drought. The guy doesn't have a goal in 13 games including the Colorado game, and only has six on the year. He had Ottawa's best chance to go up 3-2 with about 80 seconds left in the third, but his clean shot from the slot went high and wide. Coupled with his empty-net post-clanger last night against Nashville, the guy's got to be damn frustrated.

So now it`s back home for a game against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Should be a good game, as both teams are pretty hot right now.

Playing to your strengths

Biggest news in Senators land right now has got to be the entirely unexpected success that Cory Clouston has had since taking over the head coaching mantle. Throw into the fire that was the Ottawa Senators terrible season so far, Clouston came in with confidence and excitement, and that has visibly transferred to the players under him. You've got to wonder, though, why has he been so successful (so far, at least, by going 4-1-1) where three other coaches failed?

I think it has a lot to do with playing to the team's strengths. John Paddock failed last year because, according to GM Bryan Murray, he didn't do enough to get himself and the team ready to play every night. He overused the CASH Line to start the season, and lost the dressing room at some point. He wasn't able to regain the room, and the team couldn't gain any semblance of consistency. So Murray canned Paddock and went behind the bench himself, but to no avail; the team continued to plummet, and Murray's one big trade did nothing to help when they were swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

Craig Hartsburg came in this season with plenty of fanfare. He was absolutely convinced that this team, even without truly elite defencemen, just needed a defensively responsible system to play within to compensate. He forced square pegs into round holes, telling offensive players to play defence instead. And, to be honest, I did think that was what the team needed. We had weak defence and weaker goaltending (this was before Brian Elliott saved us), but good offensive firepower. The unintended effect of this, though, was that offensive players, particularly Daniel Alfredsson, tired themselves out in defensive work and others, such as Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, looked lost at times in a system that just didn't work for them. That's not to say Hartsburg was a bad coach, he was simply a coach who wasn't right for the team and wasn't able to change his approach to suit its players.

Clouston's has been tremendously different, though. He's reinstituted the run-and-gun style that these Senators have had their most success with, and the players look like they're having fun with it. Ottawa is still a team with good speed--especially on the second, third, and fourth lines--and a hard forecheck as has been practiced takes the pressure off Ottawa's defence and puts it on the opposition's. And, with a goaltender who by all appearances may be able to steal a game (or at least preserve a game) in Elliott, the inevitable defensive gaffes won't be as costly as they once were. This may not be a team that will win games with stifling defence, but they might be good enough to outscore their opponents--which is a lot more exciting than games were earlier in the year.

The new coach has also given a new life to a few of Ottawa's prospects, whom he was familiar with in Binghamton. Brian Lee (now playing with Filip Kuba after Clouston (rightfully) reunited Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips) continues his solid play, but that started before Clouston came around. But Clouston has placed Nick Foligno in a second-line role position with the opportunity to succeed, and Foligno has responded well. He's used Brendan Bell effectively, limiting his even-strength ice time to that against weaker opposition and maximizing his powerplay time. He brought up Ryan Shannon, who rejuvenated the Senators' second line and has also been seeing powerplay time on the point.

It's still very early in Clouston's career. The last six games have been impressive, but it remains to be seen whether the players are only relaxed because they now have no expectations, or whether they're still running on the wake-up call that a coaching change represents. As a few more games are played, though, we'll start to see the real team come about--hopefully it will look like the one that's played the last six games rather than the one that was around for the year prior to them.

Workin' on a dream: Sens 5, Flyers 2

How many good things are going to come out of Binghamton this season? Cory Clouston appears to be making a significant difference in the approach this team takes to their games. Brian Elliott is playing unbelievably well. Brendan Bell is quarterbacking the powerplay like no one else has this season. Ryan Shannon, along with Nick Foligno, is making a second line into an actual second line. Brian Lee is solid defensively, and can move the puck up better than any other defenceman. Is this what a farm team is supposed to offer?

Starting in nets, this game could (and likely would) have been completely different without Elliott. He played out of his mind hockey, stopping 34 of 36 shots including plenty of good opportunities. Ottawa was massively outshot (36 to 23) on the night, but Elliott was up to task. One of the two goals he allowed was off an unfortunate rebound, but his defencemen gave him no help on the play. And Mike Richards scored on a breakaway; anyone could let that guy's shot in.

Of course, Bingo callups didn't do everything for the team. The CASH Line played a large part in the win, as well. Although I didn't get to see the whole thing, Dany Heatley responded to criticism with two goals on four shots and three hits, if you'll believe it. He was named first star as a result. Jason Spezza had a goal and an assist, and Daniel Alfredsson also had one assist.

Secondary scoring kicked in with the rest, with Foligno scoring what turned out to be the game-winner (and what looked like the easiest goal in the world) and Antoine Vermette actually scored, his third in six games, on a solid solo effort cutting to the net (Vermette added an assist, to boot).

So, incredibly, the Senators have now won three in a row (first time this season), and are 3-1-1 under Clouston. Elliott is (knock on wood) undefeated on the road. Still 14 points back of a playoff spot, but it's nice to see some good effort on the ice.

Murray next to go: Paddock

According to TSN, John Paddock has suggested that Bryan Murray hasn't assembled a team good enough to compete in the NHL, and is the next in line to be fired. His words, according to the report:

"I think now he's next in line," Paddock told the Courier-Post. "We were 14 games over .500 when I was fired. They're seven under now. Somebody needs to take responsibility for that. Whether the coaches he hired and fired were good or not, they're his players and they're either not playing good or can't play, one or the other."

[...]

"The players are not very good, that's the problem," Paddock told the Courier-Post.

I have two questions: First off, after having moved on to a new AHL coaching job and likely trying to leave his Senators' experience in the past, why the hell is Paddock choosing this time to speak out on the issues of the team? It doesn't seem to make any sense.

And secondly, is there one person who doesn't think Murray is next on the firing list, if things don't get better? I think that's pretty much the only thing people agree on with regards the Ottawa Senators right now. Whether or not he'll get to take the team through the next draft is one thing, but owner Eugene Melnyk certainly has laid his expectations at the feet of Murray, and it's up to Murray to make it work.

And one final point, about his statement that the players aren't very good: It's still early, but Cory Clouston has gotten them to play pretty well. This group is, most would agree, even less skilled than the team that Paddock had to work with, and the same one Craig Hartsburg had to work with. So maybe it's not only that the players--as a 20-man group--aren't good enough, but maybe Paddock, and Hartsburg, hadn't motivated them properly to play within a system that works to their strengths.

We will see how things go, certainly, but the timing and content of these comments don't reflect well on Paddock.

Sens Army Blog news update

Hey folks,

After a minor surgery, posts on the website have been limited recently. Mostly to No Habs No! letters, which are certainly fun (and one for Dion Phaneuf, which will completely avoid any mention of sloppiness, seconds, or anything of that nature, will be forthcoming), but are lacking in the depth readers expect.

Although not analytical, here is at least a run-down of the most recent Sens' news to keep you abreast of the issues:

• Android Volchenkov kills Thomas Vanek. Okay, 'kills' is a strong word, but Vanek's likely out for a month after Volchenkov shot him in the face. With a puck.
• Ryan Shannon contributing. He looks good... will it last? Here's to hoping.
  
• Dany Heatley disagrees with coach Cory Clouston. But then, mere hours later...
• Dany Heatley agrees with coach Cory Clouston. Fabricating stories, and then reporting on the response to said fabrication, is a great way to sell papers.
• Clouston running the Sens ragged in practice. Good?
  
• Speaking of Clouston, one thing I hadn't noticed but is certainly noticeable: New ice time allottments. Nick Foligno (20:29) played more than any of Heatley (19:43), Jason Spezza (19:40), or Daniel Alfredsson (19:27) against Buffalo. And Brendan Bell (20:30) played more than Volchenkov (18:16), Jason Smith (20:05), and Chris Phillips (19:54). Is it a good idea? Well, they won, and Foligno and Bell each had a role in the win.
• Chris Neil is out for two weeks with a lacerated calf (on his leg, not a baby cow). Questions abound as to whether we'll see him in an Ottawa uniform again, or if he'll be traded.
• Shean Donovan should be back on Wednesday, according to the above-linked story. Alex Picard won't be yet, but may be soon.
  
• Carrie Underwood will be alone on Valentine's Day. But would like Mike Fisher to make her a home-cooked vegetarian meal. Why the hell do I know this?
• And holy shit, MLS soccer in Ottawa? About Eugene Melnyk's bid, the MLS commissioner said, "It’s highly unlikely and almost inconceivable that with a stadium deal in place we would not grant an expansion team to Ottawa." I didn't think it was likely.