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Sens’ Final Resting Place
by SENShobo on 11/03/09 at 08:59 AM ET
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Melnyk looking to stab back at Heatley, Kovalev supposedly needs to improve, and some injury updates with shocking schedule realities, but first..
From the Ottawa Citizen, on Elliott’s future prospects,
Like Elliott, Leclaire has another year left on his contract. At that point, the Senators will have to decide whether they want to re-sign Leclaire and/or Elliott or whether they want to trust their future to Swedish goalie Robin Lehner, who is playing very well this season for the Ontario Hockey League’s Soo Greyhounds.
Cory Clouston, who coached Elliott in Binghamton before both of them were parachuted into Ottawa, has no doubt Elliott will be a No. 1 NHL goalie. It’s a matter of finetuning.
“I think the structure of his game and his positional play is a lot better,” said Clouston, who was promoted to Ottawa after the firing of Craig Hartsburg in February.
Going 2-1-1 with a 3.20GAA and .892Sv% won’t convince anyone that last season’s end wasn’t a fluke, but there’s much more still to come.
Just as he rose to the occasion in Ottawa with Clouston’s arrival, going 16-8-3 to finish last season with the big club, he was just as instrumental in keeping Binghamton in their own playoff hunt that failed after he left, Elliott even missing his place as AHL All-Star Game starter to play for Ottawa. It’s no fluke that the Senators signed three AHL-capable goalies this off-season, and still haven’t found a clear-cut leader.
More importantly, the players haven’t forgotten last season either. They see the motivation in their goalie, taken with the second to last pick in the then-still nine round draft in 2003, and it shows; when I looked at the shots the team took and allowed, and that the opposition missed and had blocked, there was no consistent difference between Leclaire’s and Elliott’s numbers. This team plays the same way in front of both goalies, a confidence that Ottawa has not seen too often in days gone by.
Leclaire will surely make it an uphill battle, and Lehner will be chomping at his heels, but Elliott is a long way from hopeless, and just waiting to pick up steam.
From the Ottawa Sun, Melnyk wants his money back,
Sun Media has learned the Senators owner was so furious with being forced to shell out a $4-million bonus to Dany Heatley, who refused to accept a trade to the Edmonton Oilers on July 1, he has filed a grievance asking for his money back.
...
Indications are Melnyk isn’t convinced he can be successful, but after handing over a whopping $14 million to Heatley only 12 months into a seven-year contract extension, the Senators won’t fork over the cash without a fight.“I don’t think Melnyk really expects to get his money back,” said a league executive. “I do think he wants to cause Heatley some hardship because he caused plenty of problems for the Senators in the summer.”
With the NHLPA currently in shambles as it undergoes a full root canal, the battle could indeed be drawn out by months, if not years. It is the ironic nature of Melnyk, not willing to bury any NHL contracts in the minors but never willing to back down.
Still, the rules are the rules, and this would have to go beyond the League for any compensation to be meted out. Maybe it would make sense in the future CBA to have teams responsible for uneven portions of a player’s salary, perhaps based on how many of the 82 games or approximately 180 day season the team has a player for, regardless of how the player actually wanted his cashflow structured. That day is not now, and such things wouldn’t ever be retroactive. At least Melnyk knows Ottawa grieves with him.
From the Ottawa Sun, on the ever-mystifying Kovalev,
Senators coach Cory Clouston noted if some of Kovalev’s teammates had cashed in the chances he’s set them up with in last six games, he’d probably have “six assists in the last three or four games”, but he has to start clicking with linemates Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher.
“(Kovalev) had a couple of really nice plays around the net and if we bury our chances, like I said he’s got four or five points in his last few games,” said Clouston. “We need him to contribute a little bit more offensively. He’s gone through a bit of a break-in period.
“He should be familiar with our systems and his linemates and what we’re expecting from him. So, now it’s time for him to not just make those plays, but to bury them.”
Really, that says it all though, more than the frustration the Sun tries to embody. More often than not, it’s that new addition, new unexpected element that Kovalev brings that still needs to be engrained.
Donovan, Ruutu, and Kelly know that they need to forecheck hard and cycle with each other to take away time from opposing scoring lines. When he’s healthy, Spezza needs his linemates to find space for themselves with speed to open up lanes for a deft pass. Kovalev, as he’s already shown this season, needs faith. You’re still seeing those moments when he’ll take care of the impossible pass between him and his partners, and they will be astounded by the move, unable to take advantage of the giftwrapped opportunity. Once that trust develops, that confidence that the open lane should be in front of the player waiting to shoot and not between him and Kovalev, then the magic will finally yield more than wilting roses from a hat.
From the Ottawa Citizen, on injuries,
The MRI scan on the injured right elbow of Ottawa defenceman Anton Volchenkov was “very positive,” Senators coach Cory Clouston said Monday.
There is some ligament damage, but the Senators hope Volchenkov will be back in action in a week to 10 days, though two weeks is also a possibility. He’s already riding an exercise bike.
Centre Jason Spezza (upper body) has seen a little bit of improvement but he’s doubtful for Thursday’s game against Tampa. He’s already missed two games.
The team is currently on their last run of four game-less days. Aside from the Olympic break, they have only one break of three game-less days left all season long. Undoubtedly you want both Spezza and Volchenkov back, but even more certain is that any injuries not healed now will not get a chance until the Senators are done for the year.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
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