Post-Game Talk: Boston Creamed | 01/11

[DrunkUncleDenis]

Unfortunately we have too many players. If we trade/waive/send to AHL Greening and call up Puempel to give him a few game trial we could do this:

MacArthur -Turris - Ryan
Hoffman - Lazar - Stone
Puempel - Zibanejad - Chiasson
Michalek/Smith - Legwand - Neil/Smith/Condra

Very young top 9 but all of them could be our best chance in talent/scoring/energy. I don't think Legwand has been bad actually. The "4th line" would still see a lot of ice time.

We are "retooling" or ending our rebuild. Lazar has made this team. Puempel needs a chance to show his stuff in the NHL, for a 5/6 game trial. Despite the team having too many signed forwards. Better now then when Methot is back and we need another roster spot for him. If Puempel isn't ready then send him back. If he is then make room.

I think we'll be a good team in a few years' time. Hoffman and Lazar are just finding their NHL legs this year. Stone is a little further along, but still trying to prove he belongs in the top 6. We have Puempel making massive strides over the last year, and may be ready for the show full-time next year. Englund is developing, along with Wikstrand and Claesson. Zib is still finding out how to effectively use his man-body, and trying to find that balance of speed and power.

Essentially, this season is an exercise in development, as will be the next. In 3 years' time, this team is gonna rock. That's why it was so exciting to lock guys like MacArthur and Ryan up long-term. It gives the kids a few years to develop, and by the time they are firing on all cylinders, we still have our big guns in Turris, EK, Ryan and Mac signed for a number of years. Not to mention Lehner becoming a more stable goalie.

#positivepost

edit - my bad on the triple post.

 

[Sens Rule]

I think we'll be a good team in a few years' time. Hoffman and Lazar are just finding their NHL legs this year. Stone is a little further along, but still trying to prove he belongs in the top 6. We have Puempel making massive strides over the last year, and may be ready for the show full-time next year. Englund is developing, along with Wikstrand and Claesson. Zib is still finding out how to effectively use his man-body, and trying to find that balance of speed and power.

Essentially, this season is an exercise in development, as will be the next. In 3 years' time, this team is gonna rock. That's why it was so exciting to lock guys like MacArthur and Ryan up long-term. It gives the kids a few years to develop, and by the time they are firing on all cylinders, we still have our big guns in Turris, EK, Ryan and Mac signed for a number of years. Not to mention Lehner becoming a more stable goalie.

#positivepost

edit - my bad on the triple post.

I kinda think we don't have to wait 3 years. We could be good this year and pretty great next year. Hoffman and Stone aren't young, Stone is already a pretty fully developed NHL player, Hoffman might be too.
I would give Puempel a trial sooner then later. Best if we do it before Methot comes back when we have more roster flexibility. We can send Greening to the AHL. If he gets claimed great. If not he at least gets to play for a few weeks, is fresher, maybe can get his game to a better level before he is recalled. If Puempel gets a trial after Methot is back then either Condra or Smith needs to be traded and both are useful players we might need if we have injuries.

We have too many forwards, but they are all actually pretty good and valuable NHL players, save Greening at the moment.

I don't like a 3 year timeline. I like being better now, or ASAP, and we are doing well. I don't get the criticism of Neil, he is playing fine. Condra has been good when he is in the lineup. Legwand is a fine 2-way presence. If our young guys are better we can play him less minutes.
We have a bunch of young forwards capable of top 6/top 9 minutes and that can chip in offensively. We have savvy veterans around. We have 3 really good proven offensive forwards in MacArthur, Turris and Ryan.
We are in a position to be good NOW and SOONER then 2-3 years.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Yep hungover.

 

[Stone Valley]

We never play well against the Bruins.

Every team has a team they cant beat, Boston is ours

 

[Xspyrit]

Listening to games without the GDTs is so much better lol

By the way, FIRST (1st) regulation time loss against an EASTERN team.

Pace yourselves boys still 72 games to play.

Lots of ups and downs in a season you need to go with the flow.

It's a bit ridiculous... Some people sound like they have just started following the NHL last year. lol what's new? 82 games is a long season

Some of the comments you read are just so inaccurate and many just don't make any sense. It looks to me like a bug spinning on its back trying to get on its feet. Some should really start trying to manage their emotions a bit better, you can't let a sports team bring you down like that.

Sens are a young inexperienced team (less NHL games on the roster in the whole league) who won't be nothing more than a playoffs bubble team for now, not until many young players get more experience and take more place (Ceci, Lazar, Stone, etc). They also have one the lowest payrolls in the whole league, and yet some expect them to win every game.

That's the problem with this team... The fanbase has unrealistic expectations and I wouldn't be surprised if they run Karlsson out of town. Who's next after? Turris or Ryan?

lol think about it one sec... Who the heck wants to play for Ottawa? You have to reach MacArthur successful level or else... Look at Legwand for example... The veteran signs a cheap short term contract (just slightly above the league average) and is already receiving a ton of hate. Look at the hate for Phillips last year... The guys feel the vibes, and I'm not surprised if you never hear anyone says that he has pride to wear this jersey for this city. If Sens fans only had 1/10 of Habs fans loyalty and support, maybe this team would feel like they have some people behind their backs.

we depend on karlsson and we live or die by him so tonight certainly wasn't our night

Karlsson has been a HUGE detriment to the team the last 2 games... Your best players have to be your best players and Ryan, Karlsson, Methot, Turris haven't been great. Only Mac has been great so far and some role vets and youth.

worst effort of the year

First 5 games 4-1
last 5 games 1-2-2

Ups and downs. I was 100% expecting it and I find it amusing if some people were not.

This team is just a mess defensively. It is what it is.

They have given up 25 goals in 10 games, 2.50 GA/G is 13th in the league actually.

If Karlsson stops gift-wrapping goals for the opposition and Boro plays instead of Wiercioch, they are totally fine. Also, Methot back in the line-up would help immensely

Methot-Karlsson
Cowen-Ceci
Phillips-Gryba/Boro

That's the defense needed.

Goaltending has to be near perfect for us to win these days;

Nah lol, just has to be NHL good, like not too bad/easy goals. If Andy plays an "average game" against Chicago, the Sens win. Lehner was ok tonight, not great, but the whole team laid an egg. It's simple as that, it's a team game.

Do you thinks Rangers and Habs would do any good if Lundqvist and Price weren't that good?

I thought letting go of spezza was

Letting go?

I usually just skip your posts but... what could have been done? Tell him "sorry, you play for us this year" and then lose him to UFA? That's brilliant asset management.

Shots were virtually even tonight. Sens 29 Bruins 30. Not bad, but poor play caused goals against the Senators. Lehner's goaltending was below average and much below the save percentages achieved earlier this season. With any luck, he could have stopped 1 or 2 of the shots that went in. I was surprised at the hits stats which shown the Senators out hitting Boston by about 30 to 18.

You seem obsessed with the shots count... Yes it "looks" fine but to me it was the worst game with probably Florida in terms of scoring chances for... We didn't gave up a lot though, but Boston were quick to capitalize on EK's mistakes and Lehner gave up 2 so-so goals.

Despite the score being 4-2, it wasn't really an offensive game, a few nice individual efforts but overall a tad boring if you like scoring chances.

Shots locations :

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/gamecast?gameId=400563730

Same story as the game against the Hawks, EK and the goalie have to be better to win against good teams.

Oh and conclusion : shots count don't matter at all, scoring chances and shots locations do.

I'm sorry but Neil is a defensive and offensive black-out.

I tend to really think the opposite when watching the games. Again tonight, I saw him make a few great defensive plays. Neil is a safe player and that's why PM puts him in situations fans don't really understand. For offense, well, I'm not expecting him to provide offense so everytime he scores a point (he has more than several players so far this season), it's a bonus. I don't see what's wrong with Neil on the 4th line getting the less ice-time among your forwards (however I agree we could cut it another 2-3 mins as he plays 11:00 per game right now)... He just has to be careful and not take too many reputation calls. But 2 mins per game? A bit exaggerated...

 

[StefanW]

Our record is better than I thought it would be at this point in the season. The interesting thing to me is that we seem to be losing against the elite teams and winning against teams we need to beat. There aren't many elite teams in the league so it is a recipe for making the playoffs, although probably not making it too far once we are there.

We've had 2 below average games from our goaltenders out of 10. I'll take that.

Forward lines have been mixed. Ideally we need to spread the scoring around with this bunch, and so far we have three lines that look like they can be a threat on a given night. All things considered I will take that.

Our D has been the biggest surprise so far. Our goals against is fine (although spectacular goaltending has hidden a few sins). I like our chances when Meth comes back and we are able to leave both Wiercioch and Cowen out of the lineup.

Ice time allocations has been the greatest improvement between this year and last. The best players on a given night are getting the ice, and we don't have as much weird crap (e.g. top scorers getting less than GSN in one goal losses).

Overall it could be better, but we are miles ahead of where we would be if we played like we did last season.

 

[blahblah3]

Last night was simply a bad game. Karlsson played like vomit, and Ryan and Turris have been under performing. At least Hemsky is already injured, as was predicted. Dodged a bullet on that one.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Listening to games without the GDTs is so much better lol

By the way, FIRST (1st) regulation time loss against an EASTERN team.



It's a bit ridiculous... Some people sound like they have just started following the NHL last year. lol what's new? 82 games is a long season

Some of the comments you read are just so inaccurate and many just don't make any sense. It looks to me like a bug spinning on its back trying to get on its feet. Some should really start trying to manage their emotions a bit better, you can't let a sports team bring you down like that.

Sens are a young inexperienced team (less NHL games on the roster in the whole league) who won't be nothing more than a playoffs bubble team for now, not until many young players get more experience and take more place (Ceci, Lazar, Stone, etc). They also have one the lowest payrolls in the whole league, and yet some expect them to win every game.

That's the problem with this team... The fanbase has unrealistic expectations and I wouldn't be surprised if they run Karlsson out of town. Who's next after? Turris or Ryan?

lol think about it one sec... Who the heck wants to play for Ottawa? You have to reach MacArthur successful level or else... Look at Legwand for example... The veteran signs a cheap short term contract (just slightly above the league average) and is already receiving a ton of hate. Look at the hate for Phillips last year... The guys feel the vibes, and I'm not surprised if you never hear anyone says that he has pride to wear this jersey for this city. If Sens fans only had 1/10 of Habs fans loyalty and support, maybe this team would feel like they have some people behind their backs.



Karlsson has been a HUGE detriment to the team the last 2 games... Your best players have to be your best players and Ryan, Karlsson, Methot, Turris haven't been great. Only Mac has been great so far and some role vets and youth.



Ups and downs. I was 100% expecting it and I find it amusing if some people were not.



They have given up 25 goals in 10 games, 2.50 GA/G is 13th in the league actually.

If Karlsson stops gift-wrapping goals for the opposition and Boro plays instead of Wiercioch, they are totally fine. Also, Methot back in the line-up would help immensely

Methot-Karlsson
Cowen-Ceci
Phillips-Gryba/Boro

That's the defense needed.



Nah lol, just has to be NHL good, like not too bad/easy goals. If Andy plays an "average game" against Chicago, the Sens win. Lehner was ok tonight, not great, but the whole team laid an egg. It's simple as that, it's a team game.

Do you thinks Rangers and Habs would do any good if Lundqvist and Price weren't that good?



Letting go?

I usually just skip your posts but... what could have been done? Tell him "sorry, you play for us this year" and then lose him to UFA? That's brilliant asset management.



You seem obsessed with the shots count... Yes it "looks" fine but to me it was the worst game with probably Florida in terms of scoring chances for... We didn't gave up a lot though, but Boston were quick to capitalize on EK's mistakes and Lehner gave up 2 so-so goals.

Despite the score being 4-2, it wasn't really an offensive game, a few nice individual efforts but overall a tad boring if you like scoring chances.

Shots locations :

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/gamecast?gameId=400563730

Same story as the game against the Hawks, EK and the goalie have to be better to win against good teams.

Oh and conclusion : shots count don't matter at all, scoring chances and shots locations do.



I tend to really think the opposite when watching the games. Again tonight, I saw him make a few great defensive plays. Neil is a safe player and that's why PM puts him in situations fans don't really understand. For offense, well, I'm not expecting him to provide offense so everytime he scores a point (he has more than several players so far this season), it's a bonus. I don't see what's wrong with Neil on the 4th line getting the less ice-time among your forwards (however I agree we could cut it another 2-3 mins as he plays 11:00 per game right now)... He just has to be careful and not take too many reputation calls. But 2 mins per game? A bit exaggerated...

You're condescending nature usually clouds your ability to assess what other people are saying.
I read this whole post (because you took the time to write it. But I'll address the whole "there's 82 games in a season" argument.yes there's ups and downs. I agree. But how many ups have we had this year? Or last year? And in terms of karlsson. As captain and our best player I think he has a shorter leash on how many downs he's allowed to have (isn't that what separates the good players from the bad anyway?) it's been a lot of down from him this year. And I think he's going to turn it around. But don't get all up in arms when he continually screws up and people get angry. Especially people that read these board and hear how he's almost on the level of Crosby. And he's elite this and generational that. Regardless of whether there's a thousand games left in the season or 1. He's playing poorly.

 

[blahblah3]

Karlsson hasn't been bad all year. Last night was rough, but he has been playing solid defensively.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Karlsson hasn't been bad all year. Last night was rough, but he has been playing solid defensively.

Really. He has been underwhelming in every game outside of the Tampa game where he dominated.

 

[God Says No]

Hey Xspirit and StefanW, I'm still waiting on Legwand to pleasantly surprise me.

As for Kalrsson, he's been playing poorly defensively pretty much all season. Some better games, but also a lot of poor games. These past 2 games have been his worst. He's not trending in the right direction, that's what is concerning. They say it's darkest before the dawn, so maybe he gets a defensive epiphany some time soon, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Our record is better than I thought it would be at this point in the season. The interesting thing to me is that we seem to be losing against the elite teams and winning against teams we need to beat. There aren't many elite teams in the league so it is a recipe for making the playoffs, although probably not making it too far once we are there.

We've had 2 below average games from our goaltenders out of 10. I'll take that.

Forward lines have been mixed. Ideally we need to spread the scoring around with this bunch, and so far we have three lines that look like they can be a threat on a given night. All things considered I will take that.

Our D has been the biggest surprise so far. Our goals against is fine (although spectacular goaltending has hidden a few sins). I like our chances when Meth comes back and we are able to leave both Wiercioch and Cowen out of the lineup.

Ice time allocations has been the greatest improvement between this year and last. The best players on a given night are getting the ice, and we don't have as much weird crap (e.g. top scorers getting less than GSN in one goal losses).

Overall it could be better, but we are miles ahead of where we would be if we played like we did last season.

That's what worries me. What's the point of barely making it to the post season, only to get steamrolled in the first round?

I know the team has a philosophy that 'anything can happen in the playoffs', but realistically, unless we meet the Habs in the first round, we have no chance.

We might be better of this year to miss out and get a top 10 pick. Not saying lose on purpose....but perhaps this is a good year to give some kids like Puempel, Prince, etc a baptism by fire. If we lose a few more games, then we lose. Move some redundant pieces like Greening, Weir, maybe Condra and a B prospect or two for a few decent picks. Take advantage of a strong draft and give our kids some legit NHL experience to see where our farm talent is really at.

 

[Benjamin]

Hey Xspirit and StefanW, I'm still waiting on Legwand to pleasantly surprise me.

As for Kalrsson, he's been playing poorly defensively pretty much all season. Some better games, but also a lot of poor games. These past 2 games have been his worst. He's not trending in the right direction, that's what is concerning. They say it's darkest before the dawn, so maybe he gets a defensive epiphany some time soon, but I'm not holding my breath.

Could be a wake up call to Karlsson. Learn from his mistakes.

I'd like to see Ceci take away from Karlsson's minutes for a few games. EV and PP. See how it goes.

That's what worries me. What's the point of barely making it to the post season, only to get steamrolled in the first round?

I know the team has a philosophy that 'anything can happen in the playoffs', but realistically, unless we meet the Habs in the first round, we have no chance.

We might be better of this year to miss out and get a top 10 pick. Not saying lose on purpose....but perhaps this is a good year to give some kids like Puempel, Prince, etc a baptism by fire. If we lose a few more games, then we lose. Move some redundant pieces like Greening, Weir, maybe Condra and a B prospect or two for a few decent picks. Take advantage of a strong draft and give our kids some legit NHL experience to see where our farm talent is really at.

This. So much this.

 

[bert]

Karlsson was appalling, Weircioch was disgusting.

Only saw from the second period on but this is what I took from it....

Wiercioch keeps getting slower... how?

 

[bert]

Karlsson hasn't been bad all year. Last night was rough, but he has been playing solid defensively.

He's been danced atleast once every game. So much puck watching, no commitment to D whatsoever. His offense and puck carrying has taken a step back too... I can live with the bad D here and there if he is controlling the pace but he looks like a shell of his former self. Heard he came into camp in bad shape too be honest but I didn't believe it.

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

I don't know about you guys but I'm just enjoying this season as a fan that's watching his team make a major transition. This team is going to be something special in the future and, just my opinion, I think that's about 2 years away. The kids are getting the right amount of ice time as they transition into the NHL and Murray has done a good job of insulating them with veterans that can help the transition along. Yeah, players like Neil, Phillips and Legwand are past their expiration date but for what they lack on the ice, they make up for in teaching the kids. In less than 2 years, they'll be gone but the stuff they've taught Lazar, Stone, Zibby, Karlsson and Hoffman could pay major dividends.

At the games, I notice that they're always talking to the kids, at face-offs, between whistles, etc.

We also have to be really happy that we've locked up a great line in Mac-Turris-Ryan and our goaltending has a wicked blend of veteran savvy and youthful intensity.

The defense is our biggest question mark but if we can lock up Methot, and Karlsson, Ceci, Cowen and some of our other prospects like Clauesson, Wikstrand or Englund step up, we're going to be more than OK. If not, I'm sure management will fill the void when it's needed.

This team this year isn't going to win pretty or might not even that often but man, this feels like LA before they started making their run.

 

[StefanW]

I don't know about you guys but I'm just enjoying this season as a fan that's watching his team make a major transition. This team is going to be something special in the future and, just my opinion, I think that's about 2 years away. The kids are getting the right amount of ice time as they transition into the NHL and Murray has done a good job of insulating them with veterans that can help the transition along. Yeah, players like Neil, Phillips and Legwand are past their expiration date but for what they lack on the ice, they make up for in teaching the kids. In less than 2 years, they'll be gone but the stuff they've taught Lazar, Stone, Zibby, Karlsson and Hoffman could pay major dividends.

At the games, I notice that they're always talking to the kids, at face-offs, between whistles, etc.

We also have to be really happy that we've locked up a great line in Mac-Turris-Ryan and our goaltending has a wicked blend of veteran savvy and youthful intensity.

The defense is our biggest question mark but if we can lock up Methot, and Karlsson, Ceci, Cowen and some of our other prospects like Clauesson, Wikstrand or Englund step up, we're going to be more than OK. If not, I'm sure management will fill the void when it's needed.

This team this year isn't going to win pretty or might not even that often but man, this feels like LA before they started making their run.

Aside from last night, this team has definitely been fun to watch. That counts for a lot.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I don't know about you guys but I'm just enjoying this season as a fan that's watching his team make a major transition. This team is going to be something special in the future and, just my opinion, I think that's about 2 years away. The kids are getting the right amount of ice time as they transition into the NHL and Murray has done a good job of insulating them with veterans that can help the transition along. Yeah, players like Neil, Phillips and Legwand are past their expiration date but for what they lack on the ice, they make up for in teaching the kids. In less than 2 years, they'll be gone but the stuff they've taught Lazar, Stone, Zibby, Karlsson and Hoffman could pay major dividends.

At the games, I notice that they're always talking to the kids, at face-offs, between whistles, etc.

We also have to be really happy that we've locked up a great line in Mac-Turris-Ryan and our goaltending has a wicked blend of veteran savvy and youthful intensity.

The defense is our biggest question mark but if we can lock up Methot, and Karlsson, Ceci, Cowen and some of our other prospects like Clauesson, Wikstrand or Englund step up, we're going to be more than OK. If not, I'm sure management will fill the void when it's needed.

This team this year isn't going to win pretty or might not even that often but man, this feels like LA before they started making their run.

I love your enthusiasm.

I keep reminding myself how young this team is. It's hard to sit through the team struggling to grind out a handful of goals. But, like they say: no pain, no gain.

I'm most happy about the vets taking their leadership role to heart. That's how a team avoids tuning into another Edmonton.

 

[bert]

Aside from last night, this team has definitely been fun to watch. That counts for a lot.

I agree with that the kid line plus Ceci has been amazing same with the goaltending. Very entertaining to watch.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Hey Xspirit and StefanW, I'm still waiting on Legwand to pleasantly surprise me.

As for Kalrsson, he's been playing poorly defensively pretty much all season. Some better games, but also a lot of poor games. These past 2 games have been his worst. He's not trending in the right direction, that's what is concerning. They say it's darkest before the dawn, so maybe he gets a defensive epiphany some time soon, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think Legwand has been steady. He's made a couple big costly mistakes, but aside from that he hasn't been bad. He hasn't been spectacular, but that's about what I expected. Its not like he signed for a tonne of money.

 

[Golden]

The entire team didn't look very good, Karlsson especially had a pretty bad game and Lehner was just okay. Plus Boston. With all those factors that's an inevitable loss. With a young team games like this have to be expected. Shrug it off and move on to the next game.

 

[God Says No]

I think Legwand has been steady. He's made a couple big costly mistakes, but aside from that he hasn't been bad. He hasn't been spectacular, but that's about what I expected. Its not like he signed for a tonne of money.

Yeah, I'm just referring to me calling Legwand a 3C at best in the preseason and Xspirit and StefanW disagreeing. He's been playing with 4C line mates so far.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Yeah, I'm just referring to me calling Legwand a 3C at best in the preseason and Xspirit and StefanW disagreeing. He's been playing with 4C line mates so far.

I"m not sure that the Sens really have a fourth line right now. They sort of have 3 second lines with how they distribute ice time.

Legwand is going to get pk and pp minutes ontop of whatever he gets 5 on 5 as well.

 

[StefanW]

Yeah, I'm just referring to me calling Legwand a 3C at best in the preseason and Xspirit and StefanW disagreeing. He's been playing with 4C line mates so far.

His minutes are not 4th line minutes, and his numbers are certainly not worse than our #2 C. I do think you are right in the sense that there has been more trouble than expected slotting him in a particular spot in our lineup. He is more of a spare part at the moment.

 

[God Says No]

His minutes are not 4th line minutes, and his numbers are certainly not worse than our #2 C. I do think you are right in the sense that there has been more trouble than expected slotting him in a particular spot in our lineup. He is more of a spare part at the moment.

Yeah, his minutes are not 4th line minutes due to PP and PK time. Even strength he's our 4C, even though like it was said the minutes are spread apart almost evenly.

I just have been underwhelmed with this guy last year when he came over to DET + his preseason this year + the season so far. Especially in the dot. He seems to lose a lot of key draws. He must be better in particular in defensive draws on the PK. The best penalty kill is to win the draw.