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Staying Focused Will Be Key For Ottawa
by SENShobo on 10/10/08 at 09:06 AM ET
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This morning’s Ottawa Senators stories:
- Picard getting noticed early.
- Elliot ready for another year of AHL seasoning.
- Spezza shakes off some more criticism.
- Ottawa ready for a hard month, hopefully learning from Toronto’s win over Detroit.
- Two games in after missing the pre-season, Picard is already garnering good reviews (Ottawa Citizen).
When coach Craig Hartsburg was asked to comment yesterday about the solid play of Kuba and Jason Smith, he couldn’t help but go on about Picard instead.
“He’s the guy, who, to me, has really taken big steps for us,” said Hartsburg. “It takes some time to build chemistry (on the power play), but I saw good things in the last game, especially. (Picard) moves the puck real well.
“He’s not going to be a guy who rushes up and down the ice, but he’s going to make good, smart plays and move the puck, and he has got a good, hard shot—he gets some velocity on it.”
Getting complimented for working the first powerplay unit behind the top line in the NHL should be pretty high up on your list of confidence boosters. No doubt Murray will keep trolling the League, looking for a very skilled puckmoving defenceman, but with Kuba tied with Heatley and Spezza for the League lead in points (3) and points per game (1.5), along with Picard shaping up nicely, our trade with Tampa is looking more than a little slanted in our favour. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
- Elliot is set to build on his rookie AHL season in preparation for his eventual NHL role (pressconnects.com).
From October through January with the B-Sens, Elliott’s monthly goals-against average went from 5.05, to 3.26, to 2.61, to 2.47. And just as sharply as those stats dropped, his save percentage rose: .847 in October, to .910 in November, to .925 both in December and January.
“He has the potential to be (a No. 1 goalie at the NHL level),” Ottawa assistant general manager Tim Murray said. “I mean, you never know that with guys until they actually do it, but I would assume he’s going to get that chance if he continues to play well and his development (continues).
“But he hasn’t shown me anything that, from an off-ice point of view, or the way he prepares for the games, or the way he prepares for a season, he hasn’t shown me anything that tells me that he can’t be (a No. 1), for sure. So, I think he just has to keep going. He’s a hard-working kid, and I think he gets what it takes to be a pro. And that’s all we’re asking him to do.”
We should not have to worry about Gerber or Auld’s play this season, especially with a team vastly reformed from last year, but Elliot gives us another reason to feel solid in goal. It’s unlikely that every NHL game he plays will go as well as his 28 save performance in a 3-1 Ottawa victory over Atlanta, but like Alfie, Elliot should wind up as a very successful NHL player pulled from the depths of the draft.
If you want more previews for the Binghamton Senators’ season, Michael Sharp has prepared a number of great stories over at pressconnects.com for today.
- TSN analyst Tortorella takes aim at Spezza’s game (Ottawa Sun).
“If Jason Spezza doesn’t learn how to be a pro, (the Senators are) going nowhere,” said Tortorella. “He can score. He’s a helluva player.”
Then, showing the clip of Spezza turning over the puck, Tortorella took direct aim.
“There’s a turnover right there ... let’s go to that clip right there. Those are the types of plays that have got to come out of his game,” said Tortorella. “If they’re going to win, and they’re probably going to make the playoffs, I believe they’ll make the playoffs, but if they’re going to do something in the playoffs, he has to understand that it’s not all about offence. It’s about maybe getting a puck out at a certain time in a key game.”
There were plenty of people clamoring for Tortorella to be named the Senators’ new head coach earlier this year, but comments like these don’t seem to serve the players well as much as they should. Tortorella was accused of almost running Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier out of Tampa at one point, and there is equal speculation that Calgary coach Keenan might be wearing on certain players like Kipper, who gave up six goals last night to the Canucks.
Spezza certainly needs to improve his game, in ways that you wouldn’t ask Alfie to be improving. But both he and Heatley are taking the strides necessary to do so. Yes, his turnover partly cost us that first game against Pittsburgh, and yet his goal and assist that night could well have been the difference between that overtime chance at a win and an outright regulation loss.
The season is still young, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves and start taking aim at players, or injecting goalie controversy where there is none. One game does not define a player’s abilities; come talk to me when the season’s over.
- Senators preparing for a real test in opening month and Saturday against Detroit (Ottawa Senators’ web, TSN).
“It’s a great opportunity for us,” Senators defenceman Jason Smith said after the team’s on-ice session today at Scotiabank Place. “They’re a team that has a solid roster and we’re going to have to be at our best to get the results we want. We’re going to have to do the things that we did in the two games over in Sweden: Make sure we’re working from start to finish and executing a solid, all-around game plan.”
“The first thing you always want to talk about is their skill but when you watch them play, (you see) they work extremely hard, they play great defensive hockey and don’t turn many pucks over,” said Hartsburg. “It’s not just about a skill game. They play a good, hard-working team game. I think that’s the part that probably gets lost when people talk about Detroit. It’s a team that has a work ethic you have to match.”
The Sens arguably have the hardest trio of season-opening matchups in the League, with none more difficult than tomorrow’s matchup with the Red Wings. Yesterday I wrote my thoughts on what to expect from the game, and after watching the Wings open their season yesterday I can only imagine they will be fired up for the Sens on Saturday.
You think of the Championship banner Detroit raised, their signing of Hossa, or the punditry Toronto has faced or their trap-style play, and you imagine that it would have been a bruising last night, and yet from the first goal, the Leafs never gave up their lead, all the way to a 3-2 win.
Rest assured, it wasn’t so much the trap that won as it was the Leafs themselves who earned that win. Relentlessly, they forechecked, followed pucks and players, and skated without rest. Rather than playing a distinct style of game, it looked more like an intense game of shinny at times. The Leafs would be buzzing from end to end, forcing Detroit turnovers. Even on the powerplay, rather than setting up for a cannon from Kaberle, they would have the puck flying through any open seam, bouncing from player to player, keeping Detroit from blocking shooting lanes, and letting Toronto get good shots whenever the puck wound up on an open player’s stick.
Rather than spreading out to set up a pretty play while at even strength, they would stick to Detroit, regardless of which player or team had the puck. When they got deep, you’d either see a great individual effort, or a watchful eye knowing where to pass the puck, or where to shoot it for recovery.
For the Sens, it will mean a little adjustment would do wonders. For the top line, rather than setting up for a fancy play, they should simplify their game as they’ve often been told to do, so Detroit can’t focus on deconstructing their strategy, needing to work on just staying aware. For the rest of the team, it means bringing the relentless intensity they’ve shown on some penalty kills to their entire game, and never doubting that even as a fourth liner, you can still score. And, of course, hard forechecking and using their bodies all around was a boon to the Leafs’ game.
They may have one of the most talented lineups in Detroit, as well as a newly-minted Championship banner. They might well be on their way to another Cup. But as the Leafs proved last night, they will lose games, and a quick, aggressive game tomorrow should serve the Sens well; the more you keep Detroit on their toes, it seems, the easier it is to trip them and make them fall.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Alexander+Picard, Binghamton+Senators, Brian+Elliot, Jason+Spezza,
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Who is SENShobo?
Fully addicted to hockey, Andrew Dodds finds it safe to live in the alleys, considering his allegiance to the Ottawa Senators in the middle of Leaf County. He tries to bring you as many worthwhile Sens stories as he can find, along with his musings on the team and the NHL in general; musings indeed since he is but a humble hockey hobo.
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