Third jersey leaked

A "hockey consultant" at the gameworn.net forums has posted what is apparently most of the 2008-09 NHL third jerseys. Many are throwbacks. The Senators' jersey is a throwback to the time when you wish Nintendo made hockey jerseys and you wanted to display your rejection of the Sega Genesis by proudly wearing "SNES" on your chest. Mario Kart 4 Life!Why Lapointe was chosen for this example remains a mystery... Quick! Someone update wikipedia!

I love the Senators black jerseys in general, but I'm not exactly rushing to the store to pre-order this one. Making the text flow lower-left to upper-right will surely cause some confusion, but it's not too late to replace it with the badass "O" and put the text on the shoulders - get on it, marketing department.

A couple other cool ones below:














UPDATE: Thanks to Haggis for alerting us to the alternative and the accompanying petition, which I suspect many fans prefer. Badass!

Sens sign Brad Isbister

According to MarketWire (via Kukla's Korner), Ottawa signed winger Brad Isbister to a one-year, two-way contract today. I assume, considering Isbister's limited effectiveness in the NHL in recent years and the current bumper crop of forwards the Senators already have signed, that this newest signing will be Binghamton-bound.

Isbister's ten-year career seen him with Phoenix, the Islanders, Edmonton, Boston, the Rangers, and Vancouver before signing with Ottawa today. He's got 222P (106G, 116A) in 541 NHL games, and has 44P (27G, 17A) in 63 AHL games. Definitely a solid depth signing, but I don't expect he'll be playing much NHL this season unless he turns a lot of heads in training camp.

Should Isbister be playing for Binghamton, that team will likely suit one of their best lineups in years. Isbister would likely be fighting for a top-six forward along with the legendary Denis Hamel, newly-acquired Ryan Shannon, Josh Hennessy, second-year pros Ilya Zubov and Alexander Nikulin, as well as youngsters Kaspars Daugavins and Peter Regin. And perhaps some of the other veteran forwards that are on the team. And let's not forget the defence corps that will now include Brendan Bell.

Somehow, I think Bryan Murray might be orchestrating a trade with one of the many forwards this team now has.

Are the Sens that bad? Part three: Goaltending

After reading about Ottawa's forwards and defence being (on paper) better than people seem to be giving them credit for, there is still the (arguably) most important position on the team: the goaltender.

GOALTENDING

Perhaps the most contentious issue of the last three years has been goaltending. Dominik Hasek made way to Ray Emery, who made way (unwillingly) to Martin Gerber, who lost his job to Emery, who then lost his job (through unjury) to Gerber, who lost his job to Emery, who didn't appear to want it and gave it back to Gerber, and so on. Gerber played well at the start of 2007-08, and then--under pressure from Emery and uncertainty from then-head coach John Paddock--lost his consistency and couldn't regain it until, one could (and I would) argue, the 2008 playoffs.

In order to answer all question, Gerber could simply return to the form he had at the start of the 2007-08 season, and maintain it through the season into the playoffs and, ultimately, the 2009 Stanley Cup finals. That would be great if you could do it, Marty. But since there are no guarantees of that (although I think he certainly is able to return to that form), there are viable alternatives.

Alex Auld was brought in to replace Emery after he was bought out and went to Russia to re-start his career, and his strength of character and ability to bounce back has been extolled by many as one of his greatest attributes. His stats, though, are nothing to scoff at. On his career he's got a 2.85 GAA and a .903 SV%. Stints with the Florida Panthers and Phoenix Coyotes are bringing down those stats, and some of his best hockey was last season with the Boston Bruins (9W, 7L, 5OTL, 2.32GAA, .919SV%). After Auld, minor-leaguers Brian Elliott and Jeff Glass are hoping to make an impression during training camp, but GM Bryan Murray seems to be of the opinion that they will need at least one more season in the AHL before stepping into the big leagues.

There are questions surrounding the abilities of Gerber and Auld, no doubt about it. Both have demonstrated an ability to win games. Gerber has in the past--for the Senators, Hurricanes, and the Swiss National Team in international play--been able to steal games. If he regains his confidence and plays like he can, and the team develops a more responsible defensive style, there is no reason to think this team won't be able to win 2-1 and 3-2 games.

More haters be hatin'

Bleacher Report's Greg Caggiano released his Eastern Conference predictions for 2008-09, and--surprise, surprise--he picked the Sens to finish out of the playoffs in tenth place. Here's his justification:

"When you hear the phrase "one-line team," the Ottawa Senators have to come to mind. Other then Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, and Dany Heatley, this team's offense on the bottom nine forwards is incredibly thin.

"On defense, they lost Wade Redden, and even though he had been struggling, I would still rather have him over Filip Kuba, who they just added in a trade with Tampa Bay.

"If they made one good signing is was the rugged and tough defenseman Jason Smith who will shore up the defense. The goaltending is a question mark with Martin Gerber and Alex Auld between the pipes."

I'm not going to try and debate the issues in this post, but check out my "Are the Sens really that bad?" posts on the forwards, defence, and (soon) goaltending. Long story short: No, they're not really that bad.

Senators GMs stick to their guns

An article on Bleacher Report brought up the ongoing trend of Ottawa Senators owners and general managers facing players whose contract demands are overzealous, sticking to their guns, and eventually forcing those players to fall in line or get traded.

The article mentions, of course, the recently-traded Andrej Meszaros and goes back to include Alexei Yashin, Zdeno Chara, and Martin Havlat on the list of Senators players whose salary demands didn't fit into the Senators' payroll structure. (Not included was Marian Hossa, whose sign-and-trade departure could rightfully have fallen under the criteria, but may have just been an oversight).

Although the article was a little overzealous at times--making contentions about some of the traded players that are either unfair or unfounded (including statements that all the Sens lost in Meszaros was "inconsistency, give aways [stet], and inaccurate shooting", that Chara "let Jason Pominville skate around him, Wade Redden, and Daniel Alfredsson to eventually score the series winning goal for Buffalo in the 2006 Eastern Semi-finals" and also that Chara openly questioned Alfredsson's leadership [which I don't remember happening directly])--the story brings up an interesting trend in modern Senators history.

What may be most interesting is the fact that these instances span over several general managers, and both owners the team has ever had. Meszaros was traded by current GM Bryan Murray, Havlat and Hossa were traded during the tenure of John Muckler, and Yashin was traded by Marshall Johnston in 2001. The first three listed were traded during the ownership of Eugene Melnyk, and the Yashin Saga was with former owner Rod Bryden. It is interesting in an era of overpaying for so many free agents, whether restricted or unrestricted, the Senators have managed to operate with relative frugality and responsibility in the face of so many apparent arms-races.

Murray today said that part of his reasoning in trading Meszaros, rather than allowing him to be (potentially, if Tampa Bay could acquire that elusive third-round pick) scooped up via a free-agent offer sheet for $5M a year, was to avoid further salary inflation among young defencemen (see a story in the Ottawa Citizen about his remarks here). Not to suggest the trade was a hugely Mother Theresa-like sacrifice for the Sens to make, but that kind of long-term thinking seems to be all but lost in today's NHL.

The Sens' best, according to E.J. Hradek

ESPN blogger E.J. Hradek went over a listing of the Northeast Division teams' best-ever players, including the Senators. His picks were Daniel Alfredsson as the best-ever forward, Wade Redden as the best-ever defenceman, and Patrick Lalime as the best-ever goaltender.

Something tells me that Hradek based his picks on what the players did while in a Senators uniform, and not based on pure skill (which is what I did in my all-time roster).

(via Kukla's Korner)

Are the Sens that bad? Part two: Defence

The Sens had a few problems--to put it nicely--last season, and defence was a huge one. Not just the team's defencemen, although many of them had their problems, but also a team-defence philosophy that would allow defencemen to have mistakes mitigated by backchecking forwards.

This year, with the acquisitions and hirings, should be different.

DEFENCE

Defensively, the Sens' defence will definitely be better. Offensively, it might be a different story. The Sens' d-corps has changed significantly since last season, and only two players who started the year--Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips--remain from that top-six. And they remain for good reason; defensive responsibility. The newly-signed Jason Smith is in the same mould, and should fit into a defensive system very well. And, although one knock on Filip Kuba is that he can commit defensive gaffes, he led the Lightning with 131 blocked shots last year. Combining the shot-blocking abilities of those four, you've got to wonder if the goaltenders will see any rubber by year's end.

When looking for production for the defence, though, the Sens might have to look pretty far. A lot of hopes are going to be placed on Kuba to lead the Sens' offensive rush, at least on the powerplay. Rookie Brian Lee will also be given a lot of rope, and the hopes will be that he can lead the Sens' second powerplay unit and play as well as he did at the end of last season. In the sixth spot will be one of Christoph Schubert (a natural defenceman who's been playing forward [quite effectively] against his wishes for the last two seasons), Alex Picard (a relatively unseasoned defenceman with some offensive potential), or Brendan Bell (a successful AHLer who's had limited NHL success).

It may turn out that the biggest acquisition for the defence was actually behind the bench rather than on it. Craig Hartsburg had a ten-year career as a defenceman for the Minnesota North Stars, and the belief is that he will be preaching a defence-first system, and demanding (here's that all-important idea in Senators' circles again) accountability and responsibility from his players. It might mean a few less creative offensive plays, and hopefully it means Jason Spezza won't be among the league-leaders in giveaways, but it will certainly mean a bigger emphasis on team defence for 2008-09.

Sens chasing players to Russia?

While reading a KHL season preview on the New York Times' Slapshot blog, I noticed just how many former Senators are going to be playing key roles for the various teams in the Russian league. Here is a listing of them:

1. Ray Emery, G, Atlant Mytishchi
   No need to rehash the Emery Saga.


2. Alexei Yashin, C, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
   I don't really want to go over Yashin's Senators' career, either. It's well-documented.


3. Oleg Saprykin, C, CSKA Moscow
   Saprykin was a pretty big part of the fourth line during the Sens' 2007 cup run (even though he only had two points), but it was rumoured that GM Bryan Murray didn't like the qualifying offer issued to him.


4. Alexei Kaigorodov, C, Metallurg Magnitogorsk
   Drafted in the second round of 2002 by the Sens, Kaigorodov was pencilled in as Ottawa's second-line centre for the 2006-07 season, but when things didn't go his way he left North America and went back to Russia. The Sens traded his rights to Phoenix for Mike Comrie.


5. Petr Schastlivy, LW, CSKA Moscow
   Another second-line centre hopeful, Schastlivy played parts of five seasons with the Senators, but never really panned out. He was traded to Anaheim in 2004.


6. Joel Kwiatkowski, D, Severstal Cherepovets
   Kwiatkowski had a few stints with the Senators, but played most of his time with the organization for the Grand Rapids Griffins when they were the Sens' affiliate. He also had a stint with the Binghamton Senators.
   


7. Mike Fountain, G, Lada Togliatti
   Played in two games for the Senators, and 88 for the Griffins. Not spectacular
   


8. Ivan Ciernik, F, Sibir Novosibirsk
   Good ol' Ivan was drafted in the ninth round of the 1996 draft, and played 29 games for the Sens while being bumped around all sorts of AHL teams. Then he went to a German league, and now he's in the KHL.
   


9. Filip Novak, D, Dinamo Riga
   No, Filip Kuba is not the first defenceman named Filip that ever played for Ottawa. Novak played 11 games for the Sens in 2005-06, and 64 for Binghamton in the same season. He did well, too, scoring 58 points for the B-Sens in that season.
   

I guess there's something about the Senators' franchise and chasing players out of the NHL. Which is kind of a shame... good to see Russians like Ilya Zubov and Alexander Nikulin

aren't afraid to try and work their way onto the team.