SENShobo

Habs Top Sens, And The Goal/Game That Was Stolen Away

by SENShobo on 11/20/08 at 11:30 PM ET
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After the Senators lost 3-2 to Montreal in the shootout, I find myself in a debacle. On one hand, I could follow journalistic instincts and not speak of bad calls ruining the game.

Or, I could preserve common sense and point out the complete nonsense that ruined the game. I’ll sit on the fence by bringing it up later, but rest assured that this won’t be the last time you hear about it.

Tonight, the Sens played their best game during their now 6-game losing streak, and yet a loss once again reared its ugly head. With a straight face, it should be near impossible to say that the Habs outplayed or outworked the Sens. The irony is that those kind of wins used to be Ottawa’s specialty.

Filed in: NHL Rules, NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink

The Trials Of Dany Heatley

by SENShobo on 11/20/08 at 11:57 AM ET
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From the Globe and Mail, a detailed look over Dany Heatley’s successes and challenges,

They may never call him “Captain Canada” — but they will certainly call on him.

Come the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, Dany Heatley is as good a bet as any to be the hero who helps Canada regain the treasured gold medal in men’s hockey — an incredible journey for a young man who, only five years ago, was at the centre of a tragic accident that cost a close friend his life and might have cost Heatley his career.

That sad shadow — some based on fact, some on innuendo and some on falsehood — has largely lifted, and though the Ottawa Senators’ forward remains media shy and reluctant to talk about any of it, his postaccident accomplishments have come to speak for themselves.

It is still a shock to me how poorly some treat him.

Filed in: NHL General, NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Dany+Heatley,

Injured, Sens Look To Play Without Crutches

by SENShobo on 11/20/08 at 08:50 AM ET
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The Sens face the Canadiens tonight looking for rough-times inspiration, they’ll suit up Saturday against the Rangers in their new third jersey, and an interview with Daniel Alfredsson, but first…

From the Ottawa Senators’ website, injury updates for Fisher and Neil,

Fisher is probably out at least two weeks with a strained ligament in his right knee. Neil, who will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Friday to repair a meniscus tear, also in the right knee, is likely to miss a bit more time than that.
....
“Two years ago, it was a situation where we were missing three of our centre men (Fisher, Jason Spezza and Antoine Vermette), basically three of our core guys,” veteran forward Dean McAmmond said earlier today after the Senators’ practice session at the Bell Sensplex. “And as a team, we had a group effort to win games in whatever fashion we could. Out of it, we learned how to win period.

“We came back and you saw the rest of the story then.”

Sure enough, if the Sens lose in regulation tonight, their 6-10-3 record will equal their 19-game point total from two seasons ago (7-11-1), but the turnaround they sparked with a win over Buffalo at that point will not be made easy to duplicate against the Canadiens or Rangers, especially with Neil and Fisher out for a good while.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Daniel+Alfredsson,

Someone Light A Fire Under These Guys, And The Curious Case Of Ricochet Ruutu

by SENShobo on 11/19/08 at 09:12 AM ET
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Injury updates, thoughts on Ruutu’s ‘curious’ shootout attempt on Lundqvist, and the secret shootout star that didn’t make the cut, but first…

From TSN, Hartsburg’s thoughts on the reunited top line,

“At the end of the first period I had to go in and give them all crap - the three of them,” said Hartsburg. “Because they didn’t play the right way and as the game went on, they started to be better. They got us a goal - they gave up a goal.”

‘Crap’, the first hint of a little bit of coaching heat, but how much longer before the Sens get on fire?

Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Brendan+Bell, Jarkko+Ruutu,

Neil And Fisher Taken Out At The Knee

by SENShobo on 11/18/08 at 01:38 PM ET
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From Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen, on Neil and Fisher’s status,

Both Mike Fisher and Chris Neil are expected to miss the Ottawa Senators’ Thursday game against the Montreal Canadiens with knee injuries.

Neil had an MRI on his knee Tuesday morning and was awaiting the results Tuesday afternoon. Fisher was scheduled to visit with doctors Tuesday afternoon.

Unless Hartsburg breaks his committment to not play Schubert as a forward, there will be another callup. Seeing as how the Binghamton Senators have played 7 games in 10 days all over eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States, and as they are already without half of their defense corps and two-thirds of their top 6 forwards due to injuries and Ottawa callups, as reported in Michael Sharp’s Binghamton Senators blog, this may well make for interesting decisions.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Chris+Neil, Mike+Fisher,

The Ottawa Slump Non-Factors

by SENShobo on 11/18/08 at 01:25 PM ET
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From Ian Mendes of Sportsnet, on What’s not wrong in Ottawa,

I’ve covered this team as closely as anyone over the past few seasons and I still have no clue what is wrong with this team.

So I figured it would be easier (and quicker) to write about the things that AREN’T the cause for the Senators early season struggles. Here are four things we used to always blame for Ottawa’s problems that are no longer applicable:
....
#3 - Coaching:
I know there have been whispers that perhaps Craig Hartsburg’s system is at fault for the team’s slow start. But this group has now had three coaches in this calendar year and none of them have turned this ship around. You could have Scotty Bowman or a sumo wrestler behind the bench and you probably would have the same result. (That second sumo wrestler reference is just to see if you are paying attention). Hartsburg and his coaching staff aren’t the problem here.

I figured that was probably the next direction fingers would point in, especially in the wake of the League mourning the loss of the hair, but even before last night’s game, MSG commentators noted that Spezza had said that Hartsburg’s been the most defensively detailed coach the Sens have had, and it’s been the team’s inability to work through it that’s caused their offense to sputter.

So have a read, and how about you? What do you think is wrong in the capital? (minus 100 points if you list something from Mendes’ column, without a thoroughly documented research paper to prove him wrong)

Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Alex+Auld, Craig+Hartsburg, Daniel+Alfredsson,

Senators Improving As Losing Streak Reaches 5

by SENShobo on 11/18/08 at 09:01 AM ET
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From the Ottawa Citizen, Craig Hartsburg on last night’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Rangers,

“We played a heck of a game. I’m proud of every guy. We battled. Now we have to go home and continue. This is not a consolation. We played good. The guys worked.

“We competed (last night) for 65 minutes and that was a good step for us.”

65 minutes of competing well against the East’s best team and walking away with a lone point won’t prompt any high-fives. It might, however, give some hope that the tide could slowly be turning.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink

Shootout Lifts Rangers To 2-1 Win Over Sens

by SENShobo on 11/17/08 at 11:01 PM ET
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It was a gentle skate in on Auld for Chris Drury, the second last shooter as Zherdev had given the Blueshirts the lone shootout goal through two rounds. A lifted leg, followed by a gentle twitch of a fake — which Auld did not sink one tooth into — and then the very shot you would have predicted gets shut down by Auld.

All pressure rests on Vermette to keep the game alive. Renney was wise to give Lundqvist the last word, a choice the Rangers’ goaltender is always given as the zambonis clear the ice; knowing all the pressure is on you, and that you are staring down a long stretch of ice with the King at the end, it’s enough to crack the toughest egg. Henrik’s save would win the game for the Rangers, and indeed it was largely his play that kept the game within reach throughout 65 minutes of play.

The Sens managed one of their most complete full-game efforts of late, playing fairly consistently compared to throughout their now 5-game losing streak, but it wasn’t enough. The Sens, who have fallen a long way, were up against not only their former teammate in Redden, but their former team in the Rangers; a team with enough skill that turning on their game for brief flashes is all it takes to rise to the top of the East.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink

Sens Look To Garden To Nurture Growth

by SENShobo on 11/17/08 at 09:02 AM ET
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The Sens have an unusual ‘practice’ Sunday, the team gets a minor in-house shakeup, in advance of any outsourcing, and the questions are still left unanswered for the team, and for the all-too-quiet fans, but first…

There will be no chanting of his name, no bronx cheers when he touches the puck, but tonight may be a bit emotional for the Sens, witnessing their old friend, Wade Redden, outside of a Senators uniform for the first time. The Rangers seem to enjoy snatching up teams’ top players, Zherdev, Naslund, Gomez, Drury, and Redden not likely to make one think of blueshirts first or foremost.

According to NHL.com, Ottawa has won the last five matchups at MSG, and 15 of the last 20 games against the Rangers overall. Still, Sens fans have not had much time yet to forget just how much good their impressive record against the Isles did for them in their last two games.

Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Brendan+Bell,

Senators Recall Brendan Bell

by SENShobo on 11/16/08 at 03:38 PM ET
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From CBC Sports,

The Ottawa Senators recalled defenceman Brendan Bell ahead of Monday night’s game against the New York Rangers.

Bell has six goals and nine assists in 15 games with Binghamton in the American Hockey League.

The defenceman, who played junior hockey with the Ottawa 67’s, has played 48 NHL games with Toronto and Phoenix.

Who does this put on the outs?

Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Brendan+Bell,

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Who is SENShobo?

Fully addicted to hockey, I find it safe to live in the alleys, considering my allegiance to the Ottawa Senators in the middle of Leaf County. I try to bring you as many worthwhile Sens stories as I can find, along with my musings on the team and the NHL in general; musings indeed since I am but a humble hobo in the land of men.

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