Pre-Game Talk: SENS in old Montreal, Wednesday 7:30pm on SporstNet

[BatherSeason]

I guess I am missing the coaches pressers everyday, but are there any non-layup type questions being asked to Boucher? Seems like he has gotten a free pass from the media for the majority of this 7 game losing streak. Is anyone gonna ask him about his PP strategy? Cody Ceci's struggles? Chabot? I know the media doesn't want to get on the bad side of the coach, but there are ways of phrasing these questions to make them not sound so negative.

 

[Viletho]

Claesson-Karlsson
Harpur-Ceci
Chabot-Phaneuf

And adjust the damn system so Chabot can play LD.

I agree with that, but i think we could also try:

Harpur-Karlsson ( top shutdown pair ) 25 min
Chabot-Ceci (Easier matchup, since i don,t think Ceci is suitable for it and Chabot is not suitable for it now. ) 18-20 min
Claesson-Phaneuf. (15-17 min )

But like i said, i like your pairing.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

I mean, I'm feeling down on this team too, but this wasn't close to being that bad. Hell, I've seen them play worst games THIS season.

True but this game FELT bad. Huge losing stream. BUggest rival. Going into the third down a goal aaaaaaaannnd nothing

 

[branch]

Honestly, I've been underwhelmed with Chabot given the hype around him. I don't think he's ready for the NHL, he's had some good moments but they haven't been often enough. He hasn't impressed me at AHL or NHL level.

You know who his coach is right? It's hard to play to impress when you get 11 mins and are instantly stapled to the bench the moment you do anything he doesn't like.

 

[Tundraman]

Boucher seemed pretty satisfied in his post game comments. He said they gave 21 body checks. He never seemed too interested in that part of the game when he sat out Neil last season. I'm trying hard to remember a standout one that had any impact on the game. Maybe he's counting Price flopping like a fish out of water as multiple body checks. I think he's hit rock bottom for anything positive to say so he's just spouting any game stats that sound good.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

His content with the powerplay is frustrating. He's pretty happy with the play of the team. Tampa fans complained about the exact same thing.

That Game 7 OT will just hurt more and more over time, won't it?

 

[Alex1234]

I was at the Bell Center so i had a good view of things tonight.

I wasn't able to rewind and watch again so here is a few things I saw that jumped to me watching the Sens.

- They were very good at some point at breaking play in the neutral zone. Which is exactly what the system his about. But what wasn't good was the counter attack. It's one thing to break plays, but you also need to gain the puck and transition it into an offensive opportunity.

- Phaneuf-Ceci... Every time they were on the ice together, it was a nightmare.. Ceci has been bad with the puck and taking decision with it.. Phaneuf... man.. i was scratching my head all night... the guy cannot skate and what is worst is that he isn't moving his feet. He was also trying to make plays before getting the puck and he lost at least 2 or 3 time the puck that way. They should not be paired together.. Especially against fast player like Drouin.

Karlsson, he was a ROCK on defence. So solid all night... very good transition as usual, but not so good in the ozone... at least not to my liking.. and again.. hr lost the puck with the empty net.

Harpur was solid all night, IMO. Didn't notice Oduya much, which is probably a good thing.

Now this one isn't going to be popular, but Claesson need to step up his offensive game.. at least to the swedish trip level.. 1 points this year only.. granted he isn't given offensive opportunity.. i have faith in him, but i hope he step up.

Duchene, for all the talk about him not getting points, he was once again solid. Especially behind the net. He setup Hoffman and Stone for Grade A chance but they missed the puck

Stone is as usual.. God mode

Hoffman : i thought he had chance but he took weird decision. I don't know how it look on t.v but from my point of view he had a lot of opportunity for pass but he decide to skate the puck by 3-4 opponents instead on the transition. His shot was soft, at least they weren't looking heavy like it usually look.

As a line, they were very good. At least to me liking

Smith-Brassard-Ryan. Very good line. Very engage. But i wasn't happy with Ryan. Same thing than with Hoffman. Weird decision. Prime opportunity on the rush, he receive a pass in the slot, but he decide to do a no look pass to no one.. Enter the zone in the 3rd full speed, he has the D beat with 1 more stride but decide to pass it to the board, miss the pass and they lose the puck.

3rd line.. nothing
4th line.. nothing

Which bring me to the team problem i saw..

They lack mobility and puck skill on defence.. aside from Karlsson, there is no D that can skate the puck with ease out of danger. ( hummmmm Chabot, yesss i know.) They also are very poor at puck handling. They are slow at taking decision both on the D and offence. We need more skill on the back end.. again Harpur also look gpod imo.

Offence.. we need more from the top 6... but also from the bottom 6.. when we have been "successfull" this year, we had support scoring from the Dman ( Wideman, Chabot, Phaneuf, even Ceci was more engage ) we had support from the bottom 6...

The net front presence is again lacking. A lot of loose puck in the front of the net that if there was a second guy at the net, that's a goal..

That's all for now.. my memory cannot take more.

PK was good. PP need to move the puck quick.. Hoffman is also guilty of being very slow on the PP. BTW i don't think in saw one shot that i was telling myself that it was a very heavy and lazerbeam shot.. they were all soft.

Bonne nuit !!

Thanks pour ce résumé

 

[Sensfanatic]

I guess I am missing the coaches pressers everyday, but are there any non-layup type questions being asked to Boucher? Seems like he has gotten a free pass from the media for the majority of this 7 game losing streak. Is anyone gonna ask him about his PP strategy? Cody Ceci's struggles? Chabot? I know the media doesn't want to get on the bad side of the coach, but there are ways of phrasing these questions to make them not sound so negative.

Sports media in Ottawa is an extension of the Sens marketing team. They wouldn’t dare ask an “elephant in the room” question. Same old, “what are your thoughts on the game coach”.
In ANY other market, this would never happen.

 

[Back in Black]

Karlsson, he was a ROCK on defence. So solid all night... very good transition as usual, but not so good in the ozone...

I found Karlsson not so good on Defense, and it's been more than just last nights game. People are skating around him or pushing him off the puck quite easily lately.

Close game though, too bad we couldn't tie it up and at least get to O/T.

Cost me a goddam coffee this morning!!!!!

 

[Alex1234]

Bobby on pace for 33 pts...........
Derick : 39
Matt:


...........

 

[Viletho]

His content with the powerplay is frustrating. He's pretty happy with the play of the team. Tampa fans complained about the exact same thing.

That Game 7 OT will just hurt more and more over time, won't it?

I don't get how he can be happy with the PP.. aside from that one feed from Duchene behind the net to Hoffman in the slot in the in the first 10sec of the first PP.. they didn't look dangerous.

Multiple shot doesn't mean quality shot.. The shot came from far and were soft as hell.

Won't be popular, but Hoffman should touch less the puck.. Almost all trigger man on PP are not controling the puck.. The play is on the opposing side, moving between the board, near the net and the man at the blue line, then it create space for a hard shot.

Hoffman is playing very far from the ''trigger spot'' and since he touch the puck so much, they are placing a guy near him. It's easy to close the space. If the play is the other way around, they won't be able to keep a guy near him.

I don't know if i'm the only one who think that, but it would be worth trying..

 

[Viletho]

I found Karlsson not so good on Defense, and it's been more than just last nights game. People are skating around him or pushing him off the puck quite easily lately.

Close game though, too bad we couldn't tie it up and at least get to O/T.

Cost me a goddam coffee this morning!!!!!

I've been hard with Karlsson so it's not like i'm licking his boots recently

Of course, he isn't 2016-2017 Karlsson defensively. But i remember 2 sequence in the second period, right in front of me. Pacioretty and another player trying to dangle Karlsson and he stopped them with ease. He did a very good job, IMO, and they weren't hemmed in the zone a lot with him on the ice. There was a lot of comment about how Karlsson was good in the crowd.

When you compared to the last few game, he was good. He now need to provide points. But at the same time, he need player to finish his play.

 

[Alex1234]

I dont get why GB is satisfied with the PP being 27th in the league

Were not 17th where you can see good signs and cheer up the guys and be content we making progress

WE NEED GOALS

 

[jbeck5]

Just finished the game.

We came in having lost 6 in row.
We were playing a not so good team in montreal
We were playing a division rival
We were playing a team that embarrassed us last game

If there was any game to come out flying and be fully motivated to put in a 60 minute effort, it was this game. I'm starting to question the character of this team.

 

[Alex1234]

Also Julien put a 19 yo goalie in goal when Price was hurt with great results because he trusted him.

Not all rookies are morons and take 6 years to develop

While not perfect that young goalie probably saved MTL season

Chabot could help Im sure

Condon was great yesterday too
Play him while Andy recovers from whatever makes him a sub .900 goalie

Phaneuf/Ceci on 3rd pairing should a thing EVERY game

Stone is now top 5 RW in the league imo

 

[HSF]

I definitly think its time to put Chabot in but Boucher has trusted young guys to come in a make a difference in Harpur and Claesson which has been alright so far though neither bring any offense

 

[jbeck5]

Erik was skating better tonight. Stone was solid.

The rest of the team.....yuck.

Even EK wasn't skating. I spend half the time wondering when EK would start moving his feet. All he ever does now is stand still and look for a rundblad type pass. Where is the EK that can dominate the offensive zone, is a one man breakout, and is putting like 15 pucks towards the net. He isn't moving. He's always coasting looking around not getting involved.

 

[jbeck5]

Well I'm not a lucky charm.

Sloppy game. Not fighting hard enough to be first on the puck. Condon played well.

I do wonder if we have a bit of a "cup" hangover even though we didn't go all the way. Plus add in Karlsson who doesn't look like a difference maker right now (looks like he did the first season post his first Achilles injury -- so I hope he goes back to himself post the all Star break). It just isn't good. I'm not sure I get the " Boucher has lost the room" talk... As I feel it is more a "everyone is still hurting A bit" type thing" but I haven't kept up with the team so much this season.

I usually hear the opposite from previous cup winners in history. They often have a story if thge time everything clicked so they could win the cup. It's usually the time that they got close before, but realized how much more you have to give to actually win, and they come back even stronger.

Gretzky has a great story of the first time he lost in the finals before winning the cup. He said when they were eliminated they were walking back to their dressing room all pissed off saying "we shoulda done this or that" and wanting to play again right away. Then he walked by the dressing room of the cup winners, and they were all covered in ice packs full of bruises looking all beat up. He said that was his lesson that he has to let it all on the ice if he expects to win. You're never gonna win by just going out there. You have to leave it all out there. Many other players have had similar stories. They get so close yet realize how far they were, and what they have to do, and how much harder they have to play. Usually when you get close enough, but fail, you have a chip on your shoulder, you don't start playing lazy going "meh, we made it to the third round last year, were tired"

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Karlssons foot isn't right. They rushed him back from surgery.

I would have to think that Karlsson rushed himself back at least as much as anyone else rushing him back.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I dunno how many times it needs to be explained, they work together. Do you think Nick Paul was in the lineup becuase Boucher wanted him in the lineup?

To answer your question. I doubt it. Boucher obviously has a lot of influence but Dorion has to foster a development environment where prospects playing in the minors can graduate .. that can be to see how they perform, to continue their development, or to increase their value and showcase them for a trade. If the losses mount and the playoff spot drifts further away it will be interesting to see if the philosophy changes

 

[Burrowsaurus]

I definitly think its time to put Chabot in but Boucher has trusted young guys to come in a make a difference in Harpur and Claesson which has been alright so far though neither bring any offense

He loves harpur because he's as safe as can possible be.

Cleassen he doesn't really have much choice but to play. But remember. Claessen is his first scratch of our top 6.

 

[jbeck5]

... and fairly or not, Burrows is being paid to score goals. BTW Wingels has the same amount of points as Burrows. We could have kept Wingels at less than half the price and he would bring as much and possibly more than Burrows.

more. Wingels finishes his hits and skates hard on the forecheck.

 

[MarkStone]

I found Karlsson not so good on Defense, and it's been more than just last nights game. People are skating around him or pushing him off the puck quite easily lately.

When Max Pacioretty of all people was hounding him while he had the puck I couldn't believe it....

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Honestly, I've been underwhelmed with Chabot given the hype around him. I don't think he's ready for the NHL, he's had some good moments but they haven't been often enough. He hasn't impressed me at AHL or NHL level.

I can understand you being underwhelmed, however, I think Chabot has been told "We know what you can do offensively, and that is great, but we want to see improvements defensively". As such I think that Chabot in a sense has been asked to take a step back and focus on the defensive awareness part of the game; the read and react to be in the right defensive position and to make the "safe" play. All reasonable. IMO if they played Chabot.. told him to play his game and play through his mistakes, learning as he goes we would see a different player. And imo, that player could help us now.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Welp, have to say this team completely fooled me and I am feeling pretty sheepish lately....thought for sure they were a quality group that worked hard and that the luck tag we had picked up last season was pure bs, outside of Stone and EK who we know has it but is currently funking it up this team has very limited skill and almost no drive/will to win and or compete, the effort last night sealed the deal for me on this, I have no excuses left to offer up other than we are not a good hockey team.

Glad we protected that first, no chance this team finishes above the bottom ten in the league imo.