Pre-Game Talk: Back to Back: Ottawa/Colorado in SWEDEN (Friday afternoon & Saturday afternoon games)

[DrunkUncleDenis]

For some reason I thought the game was today and took until after 1pm to realize it wasn't

It's been a long week.

 

[BonkTastic]

Man, this is a huge opportunity to pick up some points against a team that we just crippled by trading for (and subsequently pulling out of their lineup) one of their best players.

Need to take advantage, hopefully the guys are in the right state of mind for these games. Can't wait to see Duchene make his debut in a Sens jersey! Him and Hoffman could be absolutely filthy together. I'm very excited to see what those two do on the same line.

Is it coincidence that we're putting Claesson and Karlsson, two Swedes, together again after a while apart, for two games in Sweden? Clearly Karlsson is doing his best to wingman for Claesson in his hometown. Helping him pull in those "top pairing with the best defenceman in the world" kind of endorsement deals during the day, and then again afterward at the bars.

 

[Duncstar]

Maybe P9s nagging injury will be better off with this time off.

 

[God Says No]

Oduya and Phaneuf pair makes me cringe a little. Talk about 4 dead feet. Retrieving loose pucks in the corner and keeping up with faster forwards will be interesting with those 2. On the bright side, 24 hours to go. This wait has been rough.

It should be:

Claeasson - Karl
Phaneuf - Ceci
Oduya/Harpur - Wideman

and play Wideman on the PP more. He was pretty good when Karlsson was away.

 

[UnHappyDude]

I am LOVING Paul's interview from today. Sounds like he out in a huge summer of work and he is fired up to go with a faster and more physical game.

 

[InTkachukWeTrust]

I am LOVING Paul's interview from today. Sounds like he out in a huge summer of work and he is fired up to go with a faster and more physical game.

Haha I've always liked Paul and have high hopes for him. I remember not to long ago I was at a bar in Ottawa, waiting in line for the bathroom and I look to my right and it was him. Non challantly I said "Hey you're Nick Paul for the Sens eh" and he's like "ya buddy". I told him if you ever get the chance to prove yourself to the Sens you go out there and hit everyone and everything. Hopefully he takes my advice haha.

 

[solidprospect]

Will be interesting to see what lines Duchene plays on, powerplay and any pk time as well as linemates.

 

[Deku]

Predictions for how many points Duchene will get this weekend?
I'll say 3 points, 1G 2A.

 

[Back in Black]

Nice to hear they are pairing Karlsson & Claesson together again.

Hard to believe, it's less than 20 hours to g0

 

[Korpse]

Watched some of the practice that was posted on the NHL Facebook page and looked like Duchene and Hoffman were on a PP unit together, with Phaneuf at the point.

----------------Karlsson
Brassard-----Dzingel-------Stone
----------------Dido

----------------Phaneuf
Hoffman-----Wideman-----Duchene
-----------------Smith

Once Ryan is back I wonder where he fits in, could see him fitting nicely on both units. But would prefer to have him in Stone's place on the half wall with Stone moving to the from of the net.

 

[Karl Prime]

Watched some of the practice that was posted on the NHL Facebook page and looked like Duchene and Hoffman were on a PP unit together, with Phaneuf at the point.

----------------Karlsson
Brassard-----Dzingel-------Stone
----------------Dido

----------------Phaneuf
Hoffman-----Wideman-----Duchene
-----------------Smith

Once Ryan is back I wonder where he fits in, could see him fitting nicely on both units. But would prefer to have him in Stone's place on the half wall with Stone moving to the from of the net.

So .... Wideman was in the slot?

 

[Korpse]

So .... Wideman was in the slot?

Yeah, he has been there a couple games now, not many right shots to use there if you want to work off Duchene on the wall .

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

 

[chipsens]

So defrosting some Swedish meatball & lingonberry sauce for pre game lunch tomorrow...

I hope the Swedish fans chant "Alfie, Alfie" at the 11 minute mark. That would be special, esp if he's in the rink...

I hope our Swedes beat their Swedes. Go Sens!

 

[Icelevel]

 

[johan f]

So defrosting some Swedish meatball & lingonberry sauce for pre game lunch tomorrow...

I hope the Swedish fans chant "Alfie, Alfie" at the 11 minute mark. That would be special, esp if he's in the rink...

I hope our Swedes beat their Swedes. Go Sens!

I would love that too. But I doubt enough of the crowd knows about the 11 minute thing. People in general don't know that much about NHL and the players as one would think. I blame media for that who very much cover soccer, ridiculously much. Daniel is not that of a household name like Sundin and Forsberg are (along with Salming). Real fans of NHL here knows everything, but they are not the majority of the crowd in arena. Lots of suits and general sports fans are dominating.

 

[Blarginator]

I would love that too. But I doubt enough of the crowd knows about the 11 minute thing. People in general don't know that much about NHL and the players as one would think. I blame media for that who very much cover soccer, ridiculously much. Daniel is not that of a household name like Sundin and Forsberg are (along with Salming). Real fans of NHL here knows everything, but they are not the majority of the crowd in arena. Lots of suits and general sports fans are dominating.

That's interesting. I don't really blame Europeans for not being into the NHL that much due to the timezone difference but I would've thought that there was still a strong following in Sweden. Are guys like Karlsson, the Sedin twins, Hedman and Landeskog rockstars in Sweden or are they more like Alfie?

 

[Flamingo]

I hear that Lundqvist has quite a following, which isn't surprising as he's back-stopped the national team for a while.

 

[Icelevel]

So defrosting some Swedish meatball & lingonberry sauce for pre game lunch tomorrow...

I hope the Swedish fans chant "Alfie, Alfie" at the 11 minute mark. That would be special, esp if he's in the rink...

I hope our Swedes beat their Swedes. Go Sens!

Big soccer game for Sweden. Probably what most swedes will be watching on Friday

 

[21]

Big soccer game for Sweden. Probably what most swedes will be watching on Friday

Big is almost an understatement, it is a huge game for Sweden, poor timing. Playoff vs Italy, best of two games (this is the first), the winner of these will go to World Championships. I read that selling out two arenas would have been easy for this game. ;-) I expect 50 000 at Friends arena (maximum capacity) with no empty seats at all.

I have felt rather dissapointed everytime watching a NHL game live in Stockholm but hopefully it will be better this time, I really wish. A majority of the hockey people in Sweden follow SHL, not NHL (for me it is the complete opposite though). The other games I've seen was first games of the season, poor pace, sleepy players and a terrible boring audience. The audience may still be a concern, last times I got the impression of too many companies and businessmen getting most of the tickets, some empty seats and quiet audience. Hopefully there will be many Avalanche and Senators fans in Stockholm making it more fun.

I have no idea how this will end, the Avs being extremely difficult to predict right now, many feeling very positive about the trades and the new start but it may be a bit too early. ;-) Swedes Soderberg and Nemeth being out from the game doesn't help, both of them have been surprisingly good at the start of the season. Nemeth at a 0.5 ppg pace which is rather impressive for a stay at home defenseman and a good fit for offensive minded Tyson Barrie. Soderberg could be the best #4 line center in the league right now. The defensive pairing of Girard and Barrie will be fun and extremely interesting to watch though (at least from an offensive point of view).

Avalanche is a very well known team in Sweden because of our legend Peter Forsberg (arguable the most complete and skilled Swedish player all time) but Erik Karlsson is almost a living legend already, now (super popular) and I suspect most of the audience will cheer for the Senators because of Erik. Landeskog is known too but left Sweden after debuting in SEL as a 16 year old for Canada (OHL) and he hasn't had a real breakthrough for the Swedish national team yet (which almost is a requirement before becoming a true hockey star in Sweden). Also defensive physical forwards like Landeskog will rarely get the same kind of attention as a pure highlight goal scorer. Oduya used to play in Stockholm (Djurgården) and the Globe was his home arena, most hockey fans in Stockholm know Oduya. People in Stockholm may be confused about Oduya suddenly being such a nice guy though. ;-) He was actually more known as a dirty rough/tough guy when young in Sweden, involved in some fights as well which is really rare in Swedish hockey. Larry Robinson changed Johnny completely in New Jersey, that's for sure.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Big is almost an understatement, it is a huge game for Sweden, poor timing. Playoff vs Italy, best of two games (this is the first), the winner of these will go to World Championships. I read that selling out two arenas would have been easy for this game. ;-) I expect 50 000 at Friends arena (maximum capacity) with no empty seats at all.

I have felt rather dissapointed everytime watching a NHL game live in Stockholm but hopefully it will be better this time, I really wish. A majority of the hockey people in Sweden follow SEL, not NHL (for me it is the complete opposite though). The other games I've seen was first games of the season, poor pace, sleepy players and a terrible boring audience. The audience may still be a concern, last times I got the impression of too many companies and businessmen getting most of the tickets, some empty seats and quiet audience. Hopefully there will be many Avalanche and Senators fans in Stockholm making it more fun.

I have no idea how this will end, the Avs being extremely difficult to predict right now, many feeling very posivite about the trades and the new start but it may be a bit too early. ;-) Swedes Soderberg and Nemeth being out from the game doesn't help, both of them have been surprisingly good at the start of the season. Nemeth at a 0.5 ppg pace which is rather impressive for a stay at home defenseman and a good fit for offensive minded Tyson Barrie. Soderberg could be the best #4 line center in the league right now. The defensive pairing of Girard and Barrie will be fun and extremely interesting to watch though (at least from an offensive point of view).

Avalanche is a very well known team in Sweden because of our legend Peter Forsberg (arguable the most complete and skilled Swedish player all time) but Erik Karlsson is almost a living legend already, now (super popular) and I suspect most of the audience will cheer for the Senators because of Erik. Landeskog is known too but left Sweden after debuting in SEL as a 16 year old for Canada (OHL) and he hasn't had a real breakthrough for the Swedish national team yet (which almost is a requirement before becoming a true hockey star in Sweden). Also defensive physical forwards like Landeskog will rarely get the same kind of attention as a pure highlight goal scorer. Oduya used to play in Stockholm (Djurgården) and the Globe was his home arena, most hockey fans in Stockholm know Oduya. People in Stockholm may be confused about Oduya suddenly being such a nice guy though. ;-) He was actually more known as a dirty rough/tough guy when young in Sweden, involved in some fights as well which is really rare in Swedish hockey. Larry Robinson changed Johnny completely in New Jersey, that's for sure.

FYI, the SEL re-branded itself a number of years ago....... it's now the SHL.

 

[21]

FYI, the SEL re-branded itself a number of years ago....... it's now the SHL.

Thanks for reminding, I actually knew this very well, but difficult changing old habits in writing. ;-)

 

[Back in Black]

Wow, only 5 hours to g0

 

[SensTrader]

Long, long time lurker, first time poster... blocked off my afternoon to watch the game today...

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

Long, long time lurker, first time poster... blocked off my afternoon to watch the game today...

Hey, thanks for making your presence known around here! Enjoy the game.