Canuck players defend Vigneault / news links

You won't catch any players bad-mouthing Alain Vigneault's system in these tough times. When asked if AV was to blame Alex Burrows belted out:

"I think it's completely, bull****," said Burrows.
"We've lost seven or eight in a row, but he's not the problem. We've been in some different games where we've had penalty trouble, some other games we haven't been able to score, some others we couldn't keep the puck out of our net. So he's not the problem. He's not why we're losing. We just have to go back to work just like we did today and . . . get ready for Saturday and have a good game against the Wild."

Bernier chimed in:

"We all know it's the players on the ice who are doing the job," said Bernier.
"It's a good system. We just need to follow it. If we do it, we'll be back to where we were before these struggles. It's not the coach's fault. Sometimes you try to do somebody's job, and that's where you get caught. It's the same system we were winning with at the start of the season."

The anger from the fans and the rumors don't affect Ryan Kesler.

"I don't order the paper, I don't listen to the radio, and I don't watch TV, so it's not affecting me at all," said Kesler

. More at the Province.Hey this coach-defending is cute and all, and I think the players are going to do their best to come together. But if they don't succeed, the coach usually gets the axe.

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Some arenas have questionable rules in regards to taking pictures. For example, you can snap pics at a Canucks game but you can't have a superzoom lens. I almost had my camera confiscated at a Prince George Cougars game because I wasn't allowed to take pictures AT ALL. Suckers.
Earlier this month, a 17 year old volunteer at an Ontario arena was banned from the building after taking pictures of Don Cherry and talking to him. He is hoping Grapes will say something about it on Coach's Corner.

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Does Columbus' Mike Commodore know when to shut up? First he bad-mouths Mike Babcock and now Senator's GM Bryan Murray, who he played for in Ottawa.

"Bryan Murray said some things to the media that he shouldn't have," Commodore told the Dispatch in Columbus. "I'd have a meeting with him and he'd end up saying things to the media that he wouldn't say to my face.
I'm struggling, the team's struggling, and Bryan's telling the media that I'm a player with no hands and no ability. Then they'd come to me and I'd have to spin it somehow, or try to laugh it off."

Oh, but there's more.Way to start burning bridges, you idiot.

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Old news: Unlike his bald buddy from Sweden, Peter Forsberg has made it clear that he will not play in the NHL this season due to his nagging foot injury. He will play for Modo instead. Actually, he signed there today.

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From the Toronto Sun:

Several weeks ago, Brian Burke described the trade offers being presented to the Maple Leafs as "garbage."

That is not the case any more.

The Maple Leafs general manager admitted last night that talks are "heating up" as the March 4 trade deadline looms closer.

"I've had a couple of interesting calls in the past 48 hours," Burke said. "The talks are not boiling. And I would not say anything is imminent. But things definitely are heating up right now."

I wonder if Mike Gillis is one of the guys doing some inquiring. He may as well bring in Antropov and Ponikarovsky so Sundin has linemates that he can gel with. Send Bernier and Bieksa the other way. Did I say hat out loud? I'm kidding. We don't need Antro-karovsky here.

T Tags: Canucks+defend+Vigneault Mike+Commodore+bashes+Bryan+Murray jackass Brian+Burke Leafs+trade+talks Don+Cherry

Canucks 3 Senators 0: Canucks improve and Sens get worse

Everyone's been asking about us taking too many penalties. Tonight we responded physically and kept it within the rules.
-This was one of our best defensive games in a while.
-We played hard for Sanford because we know he's been playing his guts out out there. -Shane O'Brien

The Canucks outshot the Senators 32-18 tonight, including 9-7 in the 3rd. Why? Because the frustrated Sens took a lot of penalties, where the Canucks took less. Tonight's 3-0 drubbing of the Sens was a combination of the Canucks' excellent effort AND the Senators' lack of it.
Lots of talk about the chemistry between Demitra and the Sedins post game. It makes me wonder why Alain Vigneault doesn't always have him playing with Dank and Hank. I think AV wants to spread out the scoring more on most nights. Those 3 accumulated 6 points tonight. If the Canucks play a team that is deeper on offense, then maybe that combo wouldn't be a great idea. This is where Sundin is going to help out greatly...depth up front.
Vigneault just mentioned that he plays players more if they deserve it. I guess he doesn't always feel Demitra earns a top line spot? It also depends on how physical the opposing team's defence is.
Demitra was absolutely terrific. 1 goal 1 assist, 4 shots. He was a force out there, even in the 'small' areas, liking keeping the puck in the opposing team's zone while on a power play. He was the go-to guy tonight no doubt.
Jason Jaffray said pregame that he knows it's going to be tough for him to keep a roster spot with Sundin and Ryan Johnson coming into the lineup soon. But he wants to make the decision 'tough' for management to send him back to Manitoba. Once again I though Jaffray played really well tonight in Pyatt's place. I would almost go as far to say that I'd prefer Jaffray in there over Pyatt anyway.
By the way:
Alfredsson had 2 shots and was a -2 tonight. 17:45 of icetime.
Dany Heatley had no shots and was a -1. 19:38 of icetime.
Jason Spezza had 1 shot and was a -1. 21:36 of icetime.

How important was this win? Check out the standings.
I'm loving the effort by Sanford tonight. Let's ride this guy until Luongo comes back. And let's hope the Canucks can continue this style of game against the Flyers. It's going to be a tough task against the Bullies.

Canucks PPV is saying that Sundin will be their guest in the first in the first intermission in the game against the Flyers 2 nights from now.

Canucks.com will be streaming the Canucks' practice on Tuesday at 10:30 I believe. Who's going to be on the ice? Mr. Mean Mats Sundin! Or, Baldilocks and the 3 Swedes, as Temujin and the Humming Giraffe put it on the Canucks.com Live Chat board tonight.


BOXSCORE

T Tags: Canucks Senators game+review Sanford Demitra

We should be able to beat a slumping Senators team, right?

The Senators have lost the first 2 games of their season-high 8-game road trip, a 6-3 loss to Calgary last night and a 6-4 loss to Flyers on the 23rd. Ottawa has not won a game on the road in 11 games now (0-9-2). However the Canucks have lost 3 of their last 4 games and are taking a lot of penalties in the process.
-Ottawa is 29th overall in goals per game. The Canucks are 13th.
-The Canucks have allowed fewer goals per game than the Sens.
-Ottawa holds a slight edge in power play efficiency.
-both teams have the same penalty kill percentage.
-both teams are utilizing goalies that are not considered starting netminders. Both goalies could be lit up at any time. How ironic that the last time the Senators came to GM place was December 9, 2005 and lost to the Canucks 3-2. Our goalie back then? Alex Auld. (Canucks.com) Now let's see what kind of effort Auld puts up tonight against us. It was only a couple of years ago when we dumped Auld, Bertuzzi and Bryan Allen to Florida to get Luongo and Krajicek.

The Senators sit 10 points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The team is floundering. The Canucks sit in 5th in the West but the Wild West is insanely close in some areas, as you can see below.


























There are all kinds of concerns with those standings:
-The Flames are rolling and now lead the Northwest by 3 points.
-The Canucks are only 4 points ahead of the 9th place Avalanche.
-Six points separate the 9th place Avalanche and 15th spot Blues.

Yes, we have Sundin and Luongo arriving on white horses just over the horizon, but this injury-riddled Canucks team needs to look at RIGHT NOW and start winning with what they've got. If the Canucks want to roll the dice by taking too many penalties against the Senators they are going to pay for it. It's no secret that you have to shoot high on the shorter Sanford to beat him. The Sens have some guys who can do that no problem.
And just to point fingers at one player directly: we are not paying Pavol Demitra $4 million so he can slump like this repeatedly. It's great seeing him staying healthy, but he's got to get rolling offensively.

This Canucks squad is not doing much to convince me that they are going to win any games until Luongo or Sundin enter the lineup. That's unfortunate. I watched a couple of Devils games this weekend and they sure get the job done without Brodeur. Of course, Scott Clemmenson is better than Sanford I suppose.
As for tonight's game: As Gimli said in The Two Towers: "Let's hope they last the night."

Game Time: 7:00 PST
TV: Canucks PPV. (Oh no. What's our record in PPV games this year? 0-2?)

Canucks.com's Live Blog is happening again. Everyone with a pulse and a clean mouth is invited. I will be joining the Mod Squad on that board tonight.












T Tags: Canucks Senators game+preview stats slump December+28+2008 Demitra+slump Sens+suck

Comments on the first 2 regular season games in Europe

In point form:

-Looks like about 35% of each game will be filled with power plays. Unbelievable and pathetic. But it isn't going to change so I must stop complaining about it. All those power plays really exposed a couple of issues however:

1. The Sens need a power play quarterback whose name isn't Kuba.
2. The Penguins are really going to miss Gonchar and Whitney.

-Is Gerber the man? He looked shaky at times. This prompted Mike Milbury to suggest that the Sens should be targeting Nikolai Khabibulin. Kelly Hrudey disagreed because he thinks Khabibulin is no longer the dominant goalie he once was. I would say the Sens need a higher calibre goalie than Alex Auld to push Gerber, but the Bulin Wall is out of their price range.

-Sid Crosby bringing out the hits? Impressive! He made Chris Kelly pay twice. Speaking of Crosby, he was mostly flanked by newcomers Satan and Fedotenko. Like I said in my predictions, those 2 are no Malone and Hossa. Not even close. And that my friends makes me happy, because I hate Pittsburgh.

- I never knew that Spezza coughed up the puck so much. But MacLean, Milbury and Hrudey pointed it out after period 1 and then Spezza delivers the buffoonery in overtime by getting stripped of the puck by Miiiiiiisterrrrr Kennedyyyyy.............................Kennedy. Kennedy storms into the Sens' zone and bags a weak one on Gerber.

-All those new faces in Tampa Bay are going to take time to click as a team.

-I know Lightning coach Barry Melrose was bragging about the Lightning being a fun team to watch this year, but by being more entertaining they allowed 41 shots on goal. And they lost.

-Markus Naslund scores the Rangers' first goal of the season? Oh no...please don't make me look like a fool Markus. He looks pretty happy out there doesn't he?

-Scott Gomez is everywhere. What a player. He reminds me of a bee stuck in a jar.

T Tags: Rangers Lightning Senators Penguins Regular+Season+Game+1 Sweden Czech+Republic

The Bulin Wall isn't toast yet

The deadline teams have to pick up Khabibulin on waivers (and at his whopping salary) has come and gone (12:00 EST). Unless a late report comes out, no one has taken the former Cup winner.
Too much dough. And obviously teams are not willing to pay it. I can't imagine what Chicago was trying to get for him before they put him on waivers....but no one bit.
Now The Bulin Wall will most likely get demoted and then put on re-entry waivers, where most people believe he will be claimed at half of his $6.75 million salary. That makes Khabibulin cheap for the taker and knocks just over $3 million off the Hawks' cap spending.
So who is going to gamble on the netminder?
Rumors persist that Ottawa will trade for him. I say bunk to that. Gerber is getting his chance.
It seems that the Kings is his best fit. Sure, they are rebuilding, but when was the last time the Kings actually had a bonafide starting goalie?
It's all going to go down in the next several hours.

Speaking of waivers: Is anybody going to claim Michel Ouellet, who was put on waivers yesterday by the overloaded Lightning?

Tags: Khabibulin+clears+waivers? Kings Senators Blackhawks

Senators sign Brad Isbister

From CBC.com:

The Ottawa Senators signed journeyman forward Brad Isbister to a one-year, two-way contract on Thursday.
Isbister, 31, had 11 points (six goals) and 38 penalty minutes in 55 games last season with Vancouver, his fifth team in the last five seasons.

Hey Brad, good luck in Ottawa. Thanks for the effort during your brief stint here in Vancouver. And yes, I'm being serious.
PS: Brad, can you take Lawrence Nycholat with you and tell Ottawa to stop littering in our city? No, that was not serious.

T Tags: Senators+sign+Brad+Isbister

Gillis traded Shannon out of mercy

From the Province:

"I just saw him as a player who has to play in the top six in this league to be effective," Gillis said. "We made some moves with [Steve] Bernier and [Kyle] Wellwood, and are in the hunt for another top-line, top-six player.
It would be very difficult and very challenging for Ryan in that environment."

Shannon is a top 6 player, even if he is under-sized. "Under-sized" shouldn't be a word in today's NHL by the way. But the speedy guy hasn't had enough of a chance to build up his value yet, and wouldn't get that chance in Vancouver.
But maybe MG could have got more than just Nycholat in return, but not according to him:

"We had him rated as one of the top three or four defencemen in the AHL, pushing for the No. 1 spot," Gillis said. "We're looking at him as a guy who can play games for us.
"Right now, as it sits, we need depth, particularly with our travel schedule. He will come in here and compete for our seventh defenceman's job. We thought he would be the perfect depth guy for us for a variety of reasons."

Gillis is not ruling out a trade for a top 6 center yet either. For more on that, check out the Province article.

T Tags: Canucks+trade+Ryan+Shannon Senators Lawrence+Nycholat Mike+Gillis+explains

Canucks trade Ryan Shannon to Senators for Lawrence Nycholat

A strange deal of sorts for the Canucks. I guess you can never have enough spare defencemen in Vancouver seeing how they get injured all the time! That or Gillis is going to trade one of them.
I thought Ryan Shannon was going to push for a spot with Vancouver after they had signed him for 1 year back in July to a $605,000 deal. He played in 27 games for the Nucks last season, scoring 5 goals and 13 points. But none of his goals were more memorable than this controversial spinaroonie shootout goal.
So who the hell is this Lawrence Nycholat guy?
-a 29 year-old defenceman. Born in Calgary.
-wasn't drafted
-will make $600,000 this season
-about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds
-has played in 31 NHL games with the Rangers, Capitals and Senators, scoring 2 goals and 8 points.-Had a decent year with the Binghamton Senators last season, scoring 12 goals and 49 points in 77 games.

NycholatTube

- A Nycholat profile on YouTube.
-Nycholat fights Brian Sutherby.
-Nycholat was a captain of the Hershey Bears.

T Tags: Canucks+trade+Ryan+Shannon+to+Senators+for+Lawrence+Nycholat

Senators trade Meszaros to Lightning for Kuba and Picard

The Senators just couldn't reach a deal with Meszaros. He is expected to sign a 6-year deal worth about $4 million per season with the Bolts. That's probably about $500,000 more than the Sens were offering.
So Ottawa saves $1 million, as Kuba makes $3 million this season until he becomes a free agent in the summer.
Kuba scored 6 goals and 31 points in 75 games last season.
Meszaros scored 9 goals and 36 points in 82 games.
So the points output is about the same. Skill-wise I suppose Meszaros is better.
Hence, defenceman Alexandre Picard was thrown in the mix to Ottawa as well. He has 28 points in 92 NHL games. Probably fair to say he's the 6th or 7th d-man in Ottawa.
Meszaros' reported $4 million contract will put the Lightning just under the cap. They could still use another defenceman though.

T Tags: Senators+trade+Andrej+Meszaros+to+Lightning+for+Filip+Kuba

Vermette signs / Bowman to Chicago as advisor

"I don't think it would have been that nasty," Bryan Murray told reporters via conference call Thursday morning. "But certainly we're pleased to do it at the number we did. It took a long time to get done, but we're glad we could avoid it (arbitration)."

Murray should be happy about the price he is paying for Vermette. It's a 2-year deal at approximately $2.63 million per season. Vermette could have made more in arbitration, which was about an hour away.

"I’m happy. Ottawa is where I want to play hockey and I love the city," Vermette said after agreeing to the deal. "I love the fan base and the support we have there. We have a good team and I have some good friends as well."

So I guess you can take Vermette off the list of Canucks candidates. However, there is no talks between Andrei Meszaros and Senators management yet. It looks like Meszaros may be on his way out of Ottawa, leaving a huge hole on their defence. That may force Murray's hand into a trade.

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The rise of the Blackhawks continues, as should the excitement from the Chicago fanbase. The great Scotty Bowman has jumped ship from Detroit to the rival Chicago to become the senior advisor of hockey operations for the Blackhawks. Wow. What possessed him to do that? Well for one, his son Stan is the assistant GM. Having Bowman advising the staff there can only mean good things for this franchise, who has long toiled in mediocrity from management-down. The Hawks are back, baby!

T Tags: Senators+re-sign+Antoine+Vermette Scotty+Bowman+new+Blackhawks+senior+advisor

Antoine Vermette to Canucks?

I am just posting this because Eklund isn't the only person speculating about this possible trade. Gillis may make a deal like this whether he lands Sundin or not, and I say: "go for it!"

Vermette is getting nowhere with the Senators as far as a contract goes. But he sure as hell improved his offence in his contract year. 81 games played, 24 goals, 53 points, 4 power play goals, 3 shorthanded goals, and played an average of 17:35 per game. As you can see here, his icetime and stats have gone up ever since 2003 when he started in the NHL.

Question is, which defenceman is Gillis going to surrender, Bieksa? He has 3 years left on his contract that pays him $4.25 million this coming season, and $3.5 per season the following 2 years. Ohlund? He will be playing in the final year of his contract that pays him $3.5 million per season. I'm sure a raise is coming there. Like a friend of mine said, defencemen are getting paid so much damned money in the offseason as free agents, that Ohlund could demand $6 million-plus. Sucky. Adiose.
We'll see. Krajicek has 1 year left on his contract as well.
Gillis has already hinted a couple weeks ago at a possible trade to acquire a top 6 forward. It's just a matter of time.

T Tags: Antoine+Vermette+to+Canucks? trade Bieksa Ohlund Krajicek

Ray Emery toughs Landsberg's questions on Off The Record

I managed to catch the special Off The Record today with Ray Emery as the guest. Michael Landsberg asked Emery some serious deep questions and tried hard to get some dirt on Emery and I thought the troubled netminder handled them pretty well. Here are the events of the show and what Emery said.

Landsberg started off by asking Emery "What went wrong?" Emery answered that the season started off tough and did some stupid things after returning from his wrist injury. The stupid things ampified his disappointment that he had lost his #1 job in net to Martin Gerber who Emery admitted was playing very well at the time.

Emery mentioned that he wanted to be traded out of Ottawa because he was "sick of not playing."

Landsberg repeatedly brought up Emery's tardiness for practices and Emery responded by saying that he "seriously has a hard time showing up on time."

When Landsberg dove into the fist fights Emery had with Brian McGratton, Emery grinned and said that the 2 of them had fought about 5 times before, and that he gets into fights with his friends all the time. Geez, I'd hate to be his friend!

Emery mentioned that it was never his intention to be a distraction by being late and fighting at practice, it's just that the media jumped all over it.

Ray kind of contradicted himself after that. Landsberg asked him if he would change anything about his life. Emery answered "no", but then mentioned that in hindsight he would have done things differently.

Emery then mentioned that he took some time away from the NHL and 'got away from things'. This helped him re-focus on his life, professionally and with his family and to get into shape. He "made himself a better person." He didn't get into any details though.

Landsberg asked Emery flat-out if he had a drug problem, to which Emery said "no."

Landsberg asked Emery if partying was a problem for him. Emery again replied "no."
He said he likes to go out and have fun but said he didn't go out on game nights.

Landsberg played the race card next, by asking Emery if it was tougher playing in the NHL because he is black. Emery said that he didn't think so. He said he was definitely more recognizable especially in white-dominated Ottawa.

Landsberg asked Ray "Why Russia?" Emery said that they "really went after me" and they were offering him better money. He said he would have made 1/10th of that in the NHL from what teams were offering.

Emery apologized to Senators fans for not establishing himself in Ottawa.

When asked what went wrong with the Sens down the stretch last season, Emery said that there was "insecurity" with the team. The Sens panicked down the stretch. They forgot what had gotten them to the Finals the previous year.

Landsberg asked Emery if Alfredsson was the right guy to be the captain of the Senators. Emery said that Alfie "is a great captain" and that he "steps up to support and guide the guys." Emery admitted that the Sens captain had sat down with him a couple of times and asked him what was going on. Emery admitted that Alfredsson "talked tough" to him about it.

When asked about the negatives about playing in Russia, Emery said that he has been told by players that the travel and living conditions were in question.

I couldn't keep up with the Next Question segment, but a few highlights from that were:

- Emery said Russian women on a scale of 1-10 are a 10.
- Emery's hummer is not coming with him to Russia
- A great perk about playing there is that he will have a bodyguard. Wow.
- The biggest thing he'll miss about Ottawa will be playing there on Saturday nights
- Emery will not miss the media craziness.
- He will miss Heatley and Spezza the most
- He dodged the player he will miss the least by saying "The Media"
- He didn't answer how many times he was pulled over by Ottawa police but mentioned that he had not been pulled over since the last time he was on OTR. Landsberg ate that one up.

Emery is still only 25 years old. Is he being sincere about turning his life around and changing his attitude? Perhaps. Time will tell. His deal with Atlant Mytishchi is only for one year, and then Emery said he will see what happens.
Sure, most teams avoided Emery like the plague this off season, but if Emery gets his life together, even though he'll always be a rebel, and has a great year in Russia, I don't see why an NHL team won't take a chance on him next summer.

There are some highlights of Emery on OTR found here at TSN.

T Tags: Ray+Emery+on+Off+The+Record highlights story

Thursday NHL Links and stories

A crazy story coming out of Montreal:

The city's mayor is seeing red - and white and blue - after firefighters painted several fire stations to show their support for the Montreal Canadiens.
As the Habs prepared to face the Boston Bruins in the first game of their playoff series on Thursday, Mayor Gerald Tremblay was getting ready to send in work crews to clean up the impromptu paint jobs.
"And we're going to send the bill to the (firefighters') union... it's tolerance zero," he said.

I guess the point there is that the city is trying to stop the grafitti issue and it doesn't help deter the issue when firefighters paint Habs logos all over the stations. Check out the rest of that story. It's a good read. Hate to say it, but I agree with the mayor on that one.

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The Ottawa Sun also had a piece on the reaction of Sens fans after the game 1 loss to the Pens. One fan quipped:

When the boogie-man goes to bed, he first checks his closet and under his bed for Gary Roberts.

Indeed. Gary Roberts was playing on the 4th line and was a force out there. Even though I hate the Pens with all that I am, I really am a big fan of Gary Roberts. He just keeps ticking, and looks to be a Sens killer again. Sens fans seem to be feeling quite pessimistic right now, and I don't blame them. But like one fan said, "suck it up and cheer for the team to turn it around."
Word is that Alfredsson is only riding and exercise bike at this point and is recovering from neck and back injuries. That means that he probably won't play in round 1. Hey, I or you can say all you want about European captains, but this is a serious blow to Ottawa. Alfie proved himself to be a great leader in last year's playoffs.

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Can you believe that the Sharks finished the regular season with an 18-2-1-1 record? It's no suprise that the Flames win over San Jose was a shock. What are they planning to do to change their fate?

"We just need to get more traffic on him," Sharks center Joe Thornton said. "We gave him shots that he saw and when he sees the shot he's going to save it every time. We're going to have to work for our goals this series."

There is a potential upset in the making in this series, but can you really trust the Flames to be consistent and finish off the Sharks? Not me.

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Sure, Martin Brodeur gaffed on Callahan's go-ahead goal last night and the Rangers never looked back. But that's not the point. The Devils need to score more goals, and it doesn't help that captain Jamie Langenbrunner, who is a player that can get this team rolling, is pointless in his last 5 games. He also only has 2 goals in his last 14 games. If Langenbrunner doesn't snap out of it, the Devils are probably done. Oh yeah, you can also tack on the fact that Scott Gomez looks primed to bury his old team.
More bad news for the Devils: Brian Gionta is nursing a "sore side". He did not play much in the 3rd period last night.
Even more bad news for New Jersey: What the hell is wrong with Patrick Elias? His production has tanked for too long.

T tags: Montreal+firemen+graffiti Gary+Roberts Senators+killer Alfredsson+injury+update Brian+Gionta+injury Scott+Gomez+is+the+man Langenbrunner+cold

Who's knocking Patrick Lalime now?

I agree with Kelly Hrudey, who said last night on After Hours that he really enjoys comeback stories. And Patrick Lalime is one of them. It took a while for Lalime to get a steady job with the Sens, but when he did, by 2002 he helped them get past Round 1 in 5 games over Philadelphia, allowing only 2 goals in the process. The Sens were then beaten in 7 games by the Leafs in Round 2.
The following season, Lalime played more games than the previous season (67) and won 39 games, had 8 shutouts, a .911 save percentage and a 2.16 goals against average. The Sens and Lalime made a serious push for the Cup in that season, defeating the Islanders in 5 games in Round 1 (Lalime allowed 7 goals), the Flyers in 6 games in Round 2 (Lalime allowed 10 goals), and then losing to the Devils in 7 games in the Semi-Finals (Lalime allowed 17 goals). The losing goal in game 7 in the Devils series came off the stick of Jeff Friesen who buried a shot past Lalime that he had no chance on. It was more bad Ottawa defence than anything else.
That was the best that Lalime had to offer for the Sens, as he played less games for the Sens the following year (57) and his stats dropped. The Sens were buried in the first round by the Leafs in 7 games, Lalime was pulled from the net in Game 7 after the first period after letting in 2 soft goals by Joe Nieuwendyk. He never played another game with Ottawa. Then-Sens GM John Muckler said:

"I thought Patrick Lalime performed pretty well for us and this is tough because of the type of character that Patrick Lalime is," said Muckler. "But the reality is if Patrick Lalime came back next year the pressure on him would have been tremendous.
We want to win a Stanley Cup in Ottawa and we have to make moves we feel can help us. I have no doubt in my mind that Patrick will go to St. Louis and have success. I just think we needed to make changes because we haven't had success in the past. With this move, and trading Radek Bonk (on Saturday), it gives us options to make other moves."

Dominic Hasek was brought in to address Ottawa's 'goaltending issues' and we all know how well that went.
He was then traded to the Blues in June 2004 for a conditional 4th round pick in 2005.
Lalime must have lost a lot of confidence by then, (plus playing for a gutted Blues team) because he only won 4 games out of 31 games played and his stats crumbled to a 3.64 GAA and a .881 save percentage. He was sent to the minors and also tore his ACL.
The Blues let Lalime go to unrestricted free agency in July 2006, and Chicago picked him up. Much like the Blues situation, Lalime walked into a Hawks team that was in disarray. Not even Luongo could have saved that mess last year in Chicago. His Hawks debut had to wait a few months because he needed back surgery.
This season? Things are looking up for St. Patrick the 2nd (his idol is Patrick Roy). With the ongoing injuries to Nicolai Khabibulin, Lalime is seeing playing time and performing well. He has 10 wins in 20 games, a 2.40 GAA and a .907 save percentage. Lalime and the Hawks have won 6 of their last 8 games. Lalime has allowed only 14 goals in that span. It doesn't hurt that the Hawks play that much better with Jonathan Toews in the lineup.
These are better times for Lalime, and I am happy for him. He has come a long way in the past few years, and is becoming a great comeback story.

A lot of these stats have come from Hockey Goalies.org.

T Tags: Patrick+Lalime Black+Hawks comeback stats Senators

John Ferguson Jr added to the TSN Trade Center Panel / Trade Rumors-Predictions

JFJ's insight will be interesting no doubt at the deadline. It's better than having a schmuck like Eklund on there.
I am still loving the move by Ottawa to acquire Stillman and Commodore yesterday. Like Bryan Murray said, it's the Sens making a statement that they want to WIN NOW. No shit. If Ottawa's goaltending situation holds up (which now is the question mark), then they just became favorites overnight, if they weren't already.

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The 4 player swap between the Canes and Sens is said to possibly spark a bunch of more trades to come before the deadline. That may not be the case. Last year, the biggest names moved weeks prior to the deadline were:
-Forsberg to the Preds (Feb. 15th)
-Tkachuk to the Thrashers (Feb. 25th)
-Gary Roberts to Pittsburgh (Feb. 26th)
The deadline was on the 27th. The rest of the moves were minor prior to the deadline (or nothing to write home about.) Check out the above link to see what I mean.
The biggest names moving on Deadline Day were:
-Bill Guerin to San Jose
-Martin Biron to Philly
-Ryan Smyth to the Islanders
There was no shortage of deals, but the amount of big names moved wasn't all that spectacular.

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So what am I saying? I'm not counting on a barrage of big moves. But I will tell you the gossip floating around and my opinion of each potential deal.
-Forsberg to Philly or Colorado. Given Colorado's cap room and their success even minus Sakic and Smyth, I'd say Forsberg ends up in Colorado for a last hurrah. Screw the unfinished business in Philly bullshit.
-Brian Burke was wooing Rob Blake. Yeah right. He already has plenty of defensive depth. Makes no sense. I could see San Jose making a serious pitch for Blake though, as they have lost out in the Wade Redden scenario. Maybe even Brian Campbell could be an option for the Sharks, as he will no longer have talks about an extension with the Sabres until the summer. San Jose needs a go-to blue-liner and will stop at nothing to get it.
Blake could be an option to sign in Colorado if the still-not re-signed Liles and Avs can't reach a deal.
-Sundin to almost anywhere. OK, count Vancouver out. That is not going to happen. The Leafs have about 7 games left before the deadline. In my opinion, if they aren't even close to a playoff spot by then, Sundin may opt to be traded. But if they are close, he's not going anywhere.
-Detroit's long-term loss of Dan Cleary (6-8 weeks) with a broken jaw should cause them to be somewhat active at the deadline to replace him. How about Michael Ryder?
Alex Tanguay? If the Habs rid themselves of the unhappy Ryder, they could be in the Tanguay sweeps as well.
Who knows.
Nowadays, any team in the top 8-10th spot in each Conference has a chance to make the Finals. It's just that when teams like Ottawa pull off deals like yesterday, it puts pressure on GM's to improve their squad as well to keep up. I just wouldn't count on the middle-of-the-pack teams to squander away all their futures on a big name player to win the Cup. That's what the upper echelon teams do...right?
Remember, if you want expert advice on trade rumors and their validity, check Spector's site.

T Tags: John+Ferguson+Jr+TSN+Trade+Center NHL+Trades rumors

First big trade pre-Deadline: Sens and Hurricanes make swap

TSN's sources say the Senators have acquired defenceman Mike Commodore and forward Cory Stillman in exchange for defenceman Joe Corvo and forward Patrick Eaves.
Wow. That is a major deal. I think Ottawa got the better end of the deal in one way: the Stanley Cup experience brought in by Stillman and Commodore from their cup win a couple years back. I don't think Ottawa needed the shakeup as much as the Hurricanes did, as Carolina, who started the season strong have faltered lately and lost their playoff spot.
Even Stillman has lost his offensive edge lately, compacting Carolina's problem. On top of that, both Stillman and Commodore become UFA's this summer. Corvo is signed for 2 more years and Eaves becomes a restricted free agent in the summer.

T Tags: Senators+trade+Eaves+Corvo Hurricanes+trade+Stillman+Commodore

Steve Downie gets 20 game suspension

The NHL frowned heavily upon Steve Downie's flying shoulder block to Dean McAmmond's head, handing him the 5th longest suspension in NHL history. That puts his suspension length behind Chris Simon (25 games), Gordie Dwyer (23 games), Marty McSorley (23 games), and Dale Hunter (21 games). The 20 game suspension matches penalties handed to Todd Bertuzzi, Brad May, and Tom Lysiak. Remember what Tom Lysiak did to warrant 20 games? He tripped an official in 1983 after getting kicked out of the faceoff circle. Gordie Dwyer abused officials and left the penalty box to fight in a 2000 preseason game.
Downie may not even get a spot on the Flyer's roster this season, but as soon as he does make it onto an NHL roster during the regular season, the suspension kicks in.
I love violence in hockey. I love hitting, fighting, and don't mind headshots....as long as you don't take a 20 foot run at the guy and leave your feet like Downie did. I know the headshot issue is front and center again, but I've always said that the shoulder pads are to blame for the concussions. I don't want fair hits that happened to be headshots to be taken out of the game. Enough of that.
McAmmond is going to be alright, even though he doesn't remember any of it. But what chaps my ass is what Downie said about the hit afterward:

"I didn't mean to hurt him and I hope he's OK," Downie said following the game. "My game's to hit and to finish the check. I'm just trying to earn a spot on the roster. It's part of my game and I apologize for him getting hurt. I thought I got him clean. Once we hit the boards after, I asked if he was okay."

Didn't mean to hurt him huh? Liar.
Downie is not going to make a lot of friends whenever he does get onto NHL ice. He's an agitator. His worst enemy now is Ottawa's Brian McGratton:

"He'll get what's coming to him next time we play him, that's for sure."

Of course, the wimpy media got all cautious over McGratton's threats, as Bertuzzi images flashed through their minds. Yet when asked about his threats later, McGratton said:

"I don't beat around the bush. I'm not the guy who whips out cliche after cliche, you are going to get a straight answer out of me," McGrattan said. "At least I'm telling him I'm going to do it. I'm not going to blindside him or hit him from behind.
That kid may get away with that stuff in junior but he won't get away with it in this league, not for long."

Amen, brother. God I love hockey.

T Tags: Steve+Downie+suspended McAmmond McGratton

New Senators jersey

Looks more simple, however, the Senator on the logo looks like someone just shit on his office desk. That's a good thing. Logos should look meaner and mightier, and that is what the new one portrays.
The Senator on the old alternate jersey wasn't too bad either.
Overall, I'm liking their new look.






T Tags: new+senators+jersey

Senators trade Schaefer to Bruins / Updates

With plenty of free agents to sign, especially Ray Emery, the Sens cleared some cap space today, trading Peter Schaefer to the Bruins in exchange for Shean Donovan.
Schaefer has 3 years left on his contract at $2.23 per season while Donovan has 1 year left that pays him $925,000.
This is a decent upgrade for Boston, as Schaefer had 12 goals and 46 points in 77 games last season, while Donovan had 6 goals and 17 points in 76 games.
The Sens were more concerned about saving dollars at this point.

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The Hurricanes have re-acquired speedy Matt Cullen from the Rangers today in exchange for D-man Andrew Hutchinson, forward Joe Barnes, and a 3rd round pick in the 2008 Entry Draft.
The Rangers had to clear Cullen's $2.8 million from their payroll and got another defenceman in return, an area they are not-so deep in. Cullen is a great speedy and gritty role player. I'm sure the Canes are welcoming him back with open arms.


T Tags: Senators+trade+Schaefer+to+Bruins+for+Donovan
Rangers+trade+Matt+Cullen

The shimmy on John Paddock

John Paddock is the new coach of the Ottawa Senators. Here is a look at his pro history as coach and player.
-born in Brandon Manitoba, June 9, 1954
-was drafted by the Washington Capitals, 37th overall in the NHL Entry Draft.
-also drafted into the WHA, 57th overall by the Minnesota Fighting Saints.
-played in only 87 career NHL games with the Capitals, Nordiques and Flyers as a forward, scoring 8 goals and 14 assists.
-In 1984, he retired from playing at 30-years old. He was playing with the Maine Mariners at the time in the AHL.
-actually, half-way through that season he became the head coach of the Mariners.
-spent 7 years coaching in the AHL with the Mariners, Hershey Bears, and Binghamton Rangers, making the AHL playoffs 5 of those 7 years and winning one championship with Hershey.
-he then became the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets in 1991. His success there was limited, as the Jets made the playoffs twice, losing in Round 1 both times, and missed the playoffs entirely under Paddock's leadership. He was let go in 1994.
-after a 4 year absence from coaching, Paddock returned the AHL to coach the Hartford Wolfpack for 3 years (and a Championship), and then the Binghamton Senators from 2002-2005.
-he was promoted to assistant coach of the Ottawa Senators last season.

Coaching records:

In the AHL: About 1040 games coached, 550 wins, 392 losses, and 93 ties. That is a .53 winning percentage.

In the NHL: 281 games coached, 106 wins, 138 losses, and 37 ties. That is a .37 winning percentage. But hey, that was the Jets, and they sucked.

Fun Fact:
In the 1980 Stanley Cup final, Paddock scored the tying goal in the sixth game to force overtime, however Bob Nystrom scored at 7:11 of overtime to earn the New York Islanders the NHL championship. (Thank-you Halifax News)


"John is known and respected by our players and that was a big reason in his being named head coach," Bryan Murray said today. "I never considered John as an assistant coach. I considered him a partner."

"This is an extremely exciting day to have an opportunity to coach a team I've been associated with for five years," Paddock said.

A couple of days ago, Murray said this about Paddock: “I have spent some time with John and he has been into the office the last few days to talk about free agents and depth players,” Murray said. “He has been part of that process, as well.”

So Murray and Paddy are close. This shouldn't be too much of a transition for the Sens players, as some of them played under him in the AHL and had success, and they all have worked under him as an assistant coach.

T Tags: John+Paddock New+Senators+Coach Stats Bio