Waived: Hoffman, Dziurzynski (in 2013)

[pepty]

Seems like they cleared waivers

Bob McKenzie ‏@TSNBobMcKenzie 5m
EDM claims Luke Gazdic from DAL.


Bob McKenzie ‏@TSNBobMcKenzie 3m
Everyone else on waivers yesterday cleared.

 

[BonkTastic]

curious to know which 2/3

Colton Orr, maybe a guy like Parros based on reputation.

Mostly, I think that "Nuclear Deterrents" are a sham, a myth to justify having no-skill lunatics on the roster because "fighting sells tickets".

I love me some tough hockey, and I love HONEST fights, but there's no way you can convince me that some guy who plays 5 minutes a night is somehow going to prevent injuries from occurring in a game as physical as hockey.

Injuries happen. Having Kassian would not have prevented the Cooke-Karlsson injury. A fighter sitting on the bench doesn't prevent guys from taking liberties, because they know that if a "deterrent" challenges them, they don't have to fight, or they can just let some other tank fight for them. How often do you see a goon go after a little dirty player, only to have the little guy duck behind his team's tough dude?

So yeah. Maybe 2 or 3 guys in the league are actual deterrents. Heck, I'd say Lucic is more of a deterrent than a guy like Orr is, because Lucic actually plays 17-20 minutes a night, and has a better chance of actually being on the ice to deter someone. Or a guy like Clutterbuck. Give me a middleweight who can play 15 minutes a night over a super-heavyweight who plays 5 minutes a night, needs his minutes heavily managed, and can't count past the number of fingers on his hands (or teeth in his head).

 

[h2]

Whether the people against fighting want to admit it or not, it's currently part of the game and Kassian adequately fills that role.

I suppose we all forgot Wiercioch/Phillips dropping the gloves last year only to go on and miss 1/3 of the game, or McLaren dropping Dizzy like a sack of potatoes. All of this in a span of what? like 1 month after the season started and not having a designated enforcer since Carkner left?

We often mock Toronto for loading up with McLaren/Orr/Fraser and criticize them for not having skilled depth on the bottom of their lineup, but they still beat us last season and their players obviously feel more comfortable with that presence. I can see a similar change in Chris Neil being much more effective just knowing he's not the only designated fighter when we've had McGrattan/Carkner/Kassian in the lineup.

I also trust Murray's analysis and opinion over anyone on these forums. If Murray thinks we needed a designated fighter, I agree with him. Even if said fighter is obviously the worst player on the team, he fills a need that often gets overlooked by some in the fanbase until things go down. (And then when the response happens, he's a favourite again! See Carkner-Boyle)

 

[Berserker*]

There are probably only 2 or 3 real nuclear deterrents in the entire league, and Kassian ain't one of them.

Agreed. Kassian seems to be able to hold his own with heavies, but I don't get the impression that he is a very intimidating player on the ice. He doesn't have an abundance of power in either hand so he hasn't mauled or knocked anyone out and he rarely if ever throws big hits. I also haven't ever seen him attempt to rough up or bully more skilled players, which makes him much less intimidating/effective. He also hasn't really partaken in any other form of message sending by beating the **** out of a dirty player regardless of whether they want to fight or not.

Overall, Chris Neil is a better deterrent than Kassian. He is one of the best hitters in the league, so if the opposition starts running around or playing dirty, Neil can simply target their star players for massive hits. Aside from that, he can hold his own with heavies, which allows him to run around and play a bit recklessly with absolute confidence that he can handle himself if challenged.

I think Kassian might be "too nice" for the role he is in, which isn't a good thing considering the fact that he isn't very skilled.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Agreed. Kassian seems to be able to hold his own with heavies, but I don't get the impression that he is a very intimidating player on the ice. He doesn't have an abundance of power in either hand so he hasn't mauled or knocked anyone out and he rarely if ever throws big hits. I also haven't ever seen him attempt to rough up or bully more skilled players, which makes him much less intimidating/effective. He also hasn't really partaken in any other form of message sending by beating the **** out of a dirty player regardless of whether they want to fight or not.

Overall, Chris Neil is a better deterrent than Kassian. He is one of the best hitters in the league, so if the opposition starts running around or playing dirty, Neil can simply target their star players for massive hits. Aside from that, he can hold his own with heavies, which allows him to run around and play a bit recklessly with absolute confidence that he can handle himself if challenged.

I think Kassian might be "too nice" for the role he is in, which isn't a good thing considering the fact that he isn't very skilled.

I think Kassian is there just incase the Sens need to Carkner someone's Boyle.

Takes a bit of pressure of Neil too, knowing that the team can dress someone whose job it is to throw down whenever the need arises.

 

[lafite]

I can understand all the debate over who should stay and who should not when you are comparing guys who can do the same job. This talk about Kassian has me a bit confused because it is the one job on this team where there has been no competition for that spot. I don't want to see Neil be the guy who has to fight Parros, Orr etc.

Just because some people don't like that role in hockey doesn't mean it doesn't exist, maybe now more than in recent years.

 

[Rodzilla]

Agreed. Kassian seems to be able to hold his own with heavies, but I don't get the impression that he is a very intimidating player on the ice. He doesn't have an abundance of power in either hand so he hasn't mauled or knocked anyone out and he rarely if ever throws big hits. I also haven't ever seen him attempt to rough up or bully more skilled players, which makes him much less intimidating/effective. He also hasn't really partaken in any other form of message sending by beating the **** out of a dirty player regardless of whether they want to fight or not.

Overall, Chris Neil is a better deterrent than Kassian. He is one of the best hitters in the league, so if the opposition starts running around or playing dirty, Neil can simply target their star players for massive hits. Aside from that, he can hold his own with heavies, which allows him to run around and play a bit recklessly with absolute confidence that he can handle himself if challenged.

I think Kassian might be "too nice" for the role he is in, which isn't a good thing considering the fact that he isn't very skilled.

THIS, THIS!

Kassian is so useless, and I admit, I hate him so maybe biased. He looks like a really nice guy and also a funny one, seems loved in the room, BUT on the ice, boy is he useless, for real, I have 100x his puck skills, and I'm a JR AA- AAA player, when I look at him, like Bruiser said, I just see a waste of a roster spot because, really, nobody fears him, when Orr is on the ice for TO, I fear him, and our players must do so too!

Kassian on the other hand, is so slow that he doesn't even have time to get to a player that the play is gone the other way, OR they get an odd man rush cause he is ****ing carrying a boat or a piano whatever with him. Also, enforcers know he's so useless on the ice that they choose when they want to go, and most of the time it's to change the momentum of the game to their advantage so when he fights we don't get anything positive out of it.

Last week we were playing MTL and Karlsson got knee on knee by Tinordi, now I'm don't saying you go in there and beat the **** out of him but you at least try and go give him a message, to him or any ******** on the MTL squad that this isn't happening in OUR building, all he did was give Tinordi a little shove. Seriously he is useless, and it's sad cause he looks cool, but I prefer having a skater in his spot, who is able to receive a pass and do something with the damn puck

 

[StefanW]

Colton Orr, maybe a guy like Parros based on reputation.

Mostly, I think that "Nuclear Deterrents" are a sham, a myth to justify having no-skill lunatics on the roster because "fighting sells tickets".

I love me some tough hockey, and I love HONEST fights, but there's no way you can convince me that some guy who plays 5 minutes a night is somehow going to prevent injuries from occurring in a game as physical as hockey.

Injuries happen. Having Kassian would not have prevented the Cooke-Karlsson injury. A fighter sitting on the bench doesn't prevent guys from taking liberties, because they know that if a "deterrent" challenges them, they don't have to fight, or they can just let some other tank fight for them. How often do you see a goon go after a little dirty player, only to have the little guy duck behind his team's tough dude?

So yeah. Maybe 2 or 3 guys in the league are actual deterrents. Heck, I'd say Lucic is more of a deterrent than a guy like Orr is, because Lucic actually plays 17-20 minutes a night, and has a better chance of actually being on the ice to deter someone. Or a guy like Clutterbuck. Give me a middleweight who can play 15 minutes a night over a super-heavyweight who plays 5 minutes a night, needs his minutes heavily managed, and can't count past the number of fingers on his hands (or teeth in his head).

I agree with all of this. Staged fighting is driving me crazy, and it makes me enjoy a hockey game a lot less. When two guys are battling all game long and tempers boil over, and they drop their gloves, then that is one thing. When a couple of guys are sent onto the ice just to fight, and they plan it out and take off each others' helmets, then it just takes up time that could be better spent playing hockey.

IMO the biggest myth out there is that fans love fighting. The people who make the argument point out that people in the stands stand up and cheer when fights happen. What they miss is that the people who hate fighting no longer go to the games. If they take fighting out the core fans will stick around, and some fringe fans will simply be replaced by other fans.

The second biggest myth is that fighting deters anything. If you look at the NFL, which is far rougher in the trenches than hockey ever could be, they toss players for fighting. Period. I doubt the no fighting policy in the NFL leads to more injuries in that league. The issue is all about culture, where hockey players are taught from a young age that fighting is a part of the game, and where fans are continually given a message that fighting is ingrained within the sport.

 

[Sensinitis]

I think Kassian is there just incase the Sens need to Carkner someone's Boyle.

Takes a bit of pressure of Neil too, knowing that the team can dress someone whose job it is to throw down whenever the need arises.

Sounds dirty

 

[Berserker*]

I agree with all of this. Staged fighting is driving me crazy, and it makes me enjoy a hockey game a lot less. When two guys are battling all game long and tempers boil over, and they drop their gloves, then that is one thing. When a couple of guys are sent onto the ice just to fight, and they plan it out and take off each others' helmets, then it just takes up time that could be better spent playing hockey.

IMO the biggest myth out there is that fans love fighting. The people who make the argument point out that people in the stands stand up and cheer when fights happen. What they miss is that the people who hate fighting no longer go to the games. If they take fighting out the core fans will stick around, and some fringe fans will simply be replaced by other fans.

The second biggest myth is that fighting deters anything. If you look at the NFL, which is far rougher in the trenches than hockey ever could be, they toss players for fighting. Period. I doubt the no fighting policy in the NFL leads to more injuries in that league. The issue is all about culture, where hockey players are taught from a young age that fighting is a part of the game, and where fans are continually given a message that fighting is ingrained within the sport.

Lol, okay bud. Neither of those things are myths. Only a small percentage of fans truly detest fighting and even a smaller percentage among them don't go to games or watch hockey because of it. I can only assume that anyone who won't go to or watch a hockey game because there is potential for fights, also thinks that hitting is too violent and should also be abolished from the game.

The truth is that the vast majority of fans love hockey fights and are very entertained by it. Sure there is a sub group of those individuals who really hate "staged fights" but that is mostly due to the fact that staged fights are meaningless and have no real impact on the game. Those same fans tend to like fights as long as they have a purpose and are related to events that occurred in the game. All they want is to remove the pure enforcer who can't play and only partakes in "staged fights".

Secondly, fighting does in fact deter dirty hits and overly aggressive physical play by the opposition. The risk of not only having to fight, but potentially get your ass kicked in front of thousands of people in a stadium and millions on TV is enough to make players at least second guess their actions. If fighters didn't deter dirty play, then respectable GM's like Bryan Murray and coaches like Paul MacLean wouldn't have multiple on the roster. The only debatable part here is whether a heavyweight enforcer deters anything. With the instigator rule in place, heavyweight enforcers are handcuffed in terms of what they can do without risking hurting their team through penalties as well as fines and suspensions. Due to this, heavyweights basically only fight other heavyweights, which for the most part makes them very useless. Therefore only a few heavyweights who are truly intimidating simply based on their presence and physical play actually have any value to a hockey team.

 

[Berserker*]

THIS, THIS!

Kassian is so useless, and I admit, I hate him so maybe biased. He looks like a really nice guy and also a funny one, seems loved in the room, BUT on the ice, boy is he useless, for real, I have 100x his puck skills, and I'm a JR AA- AAA player, when I look at him, like Bruiser said, I just see a waste of a roster spot because, really, nobody fears him, when Orr is on the ice for TO, I fear him, and our players must do so too!

Kassian on the other hand, is so slow that he doesn't even have time to get to a player that the play is gone the other way, OR they get an odd man rush cause he is ****ing carrying a boat or a piano whatever with him. Also, enforcers know he's so useless on the ice that they choose when they want to go, and most of the time it's to change the momentum of the game to their advantage so when he fights we don't get anything positive out of it.

Last week we were playing MTL and Karlsson got knee on knee by Tinordi, now I'm don't saying you go in there and beat the **** out of him but you at least try and go give him a message, to him or any ******** on the MTL squad that this isn't happening in OUR building, all he did was give Tinordi a little shove. Seriously he is useless, and it's sad cause he looks cool, but I prefer having a skater in his spot, who is able to receive a pass and do something with the damn puck

The sad part is that there is only a small disparity in skating and overall skills between Kassian and Kramer. From what we saw from Kramer this preseason, he still has a lot of work set out for him and shouldn't see any NHL time until next year or the year after that. But with that said, if Kramer was 225-240 lbs right now, he would probably be able to replace Kassian at this point.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Lol, okay bud. Neither of those things are myths. Only a small percentage of fans truly detest fighting and even a smaller percentage among them don't go to games or watch hockey because of it. I can only assume that anyone who won't go to or watch a hockey game because there is potential for fights, also thinks that hitting is too violent and should also be abolished from the game.

The truth is that the vast majority of fans love hockey fights and are very entertained by it. Sure there is a sub group of those individuals who really hate "staged fights" but that is mostly due to the fact that staged fights are meaningless and have no real impact on the game. Those same fans tend to like fights as long as they have a purpose and are related to events that occurred in the game. All they want is to remove the pure enforcer who can't play and only partakes in "staged fights".

Secondly, fighting does in fact deter dirty hits and overly aggressive physical play by the opposition. The risk of not only having to fight, but potentially get your ass kicked in front of thousands of people in a stadium and millions on TV is enough to make players at least second guess their actions. If fighters didn't deter dirty play, then respectable GM's like Bryan Murray and coaches like Paul MacLean wouldn't have multiple on the roster. The only debatable part here is whether a heavyweight enforcer deters anything. With the instigator rule in place, heavyweight enforcers are handcuffed in terms of what they can do without risking hurting their team through penalties as well as fines and suspensions. Due to this, heavyweights basically only fight other heavyweights, which for the most part makes them very useless. Therefore only a few heavyweights who are truly intimidating simply based on their presence and physical play actually have any value to a hockey team.

The only person I know who stopped going to games because of fighting also cited the addition of cheerleaders as one of the reasons she no longer wants to go to games.

So yeah, those people are probably better off watching curling anyway.

 

[pepty]

If the team needs an enforcer and it looks like they do the way things are right now especially in our division-its better to have a reasonable guy like Kassian rather than some troglodyte.

He is a better fighter than some we've had here.

 

[h2]

If the team needs an enforcer and it looks like they do the way things are right now especially in our division-its better to have a reasonable guy like Kassian rather than some troglodyte.

He is a better fighter than some we've had here.

Kassian isn't McGrattan type bad either, he's passable as a 4th line grinder when managed correctly.

 

[Sens Rule]

Colton Orr, maybe a guy like Parros based on reputation.

Mostly, I think that "Nuclear Deterrents" are a sham, a myth to justify having no-skill lunatics on the roster because "fighting sells tickets".

I love me some tough hockey, and I love HONEST fights, but there's no way you can convince me that some guy who plays 5 minutes a night is somehow going to prevent injuries from occurring in a game as physical as hockey.

Injuries happen. Having Kassian would not have prevented the Cooke-Karlsson injury. A fighter sitting on the bench doesn't prevent guys from taking liberties, because they know that if a "deterrent" challenges them, they don't have to fight, or they can just let some other tank fight for them. How often do you see a goon go after a little dirty player, only to have the little guy duck behind his team's tough dude?

So yeah. Maybe 2 or 3 guys in the league are actual deterrents. Heck, I'd say Lucic is more of a deterrent than a guy like Orr is, because Lucic actually plays 17-20 minutes a night, and has a better chance of actually being on the ice to deter someone. Or a guy like Clutterbuck. Give me a middleweight who can play 15 minutes a night over a super-heavyweight who plays 5 minutes a night, needs his minutes heavily managed, and can't count past the number of fingers on his hands (or teeth in his head).

Neil is more of a deterrent then Kassian is for the reasons mentioned above. Plus Neil, being a middleweight sort of and not a straight up goon can try to fight most players that cause stuff. No way can Kassian try to fight anyone but another goon.

Konopka was USELESS, well worse then Useless because he foaught and lost all the time, and fought when it helped other teams momentum. Neil NEVER does that. Carkner was good at his role (at least initially.. I think injuries hampered him later in his Sens career), didn't take fights that helped the other teams momentum much and he WON most of his fights. Intially in Ottawa he became one of the Nuclear deterrents in the NHL, he isn't anymore. Plus he actually played as the 6th D and was on the ice for 12-16 minutes a night not 5 or 6.

Neil is a deterrent not just with fighting. If someone hits a Sen hard... legal or not... star or not. Chances are Neil is going to nail the guy that did it with a hard hit sooner then later. Or nail someone really hard his next shift if he doesn't nail the guy that did it. Neil does this every game. Other players know this and it has to deter at least a few hits, or at least have guys looking over their shoulders afterwards throwing them off their game. If Cowen can get mean (and smart) like Neil then we are a team no one will take extra liberties with.

Kassian plays very little role.... except fighting Colton Orr and the like so that Neil or Smith or Greening or Cowen NEVER have to. I guess I shouldn't say he has no role, winning a fight does raise the spirit on the bench, and Kassian is an above average Heavyweight fighter... but if the choice for 12th forward is between Conacher and Kassian and you are rolling 4 lines, as we will certainly, then Kassian will rarely play unless it is going to be a message making game.

 

[StefanW]

Lol, okay bud. Neither of those things are myths. Only a small percentage of fans truly detest fighting and even a smaller percentage among them don't go to games or watch hockey because of it. I can only assume that anyone who won't go to or watch a hockey game because there is potential for fights, also thinks that hitting is too violent and should also be abolished from the game.

The truth is that the vast majority of fans love hockey fights and are very entertained by it. Sure there is a sub group of those individuals who really hate "staged fights" but that is mostly due to the fact that staged fights are meaningless and have no real impact on the game. Those same fans tend to like fights as long as they have a purpose and are related to events that occurred in the game. All they want is to remove the pure enforcer who can't play and only partakes in "staged fights".

Secondly, fighting does in fact deter dirty hits and overly aggressive physical play by the opposition. The risk of not only having to fight, but potentially get your ass kicked in front of thousands of people in a stadium and millions on TV is enough to make players at least second guess their actions. If fighters didn't deter dirty play, then respectable GM's like Bryan Murray and coaches like Paul MacLean wouldn't have multiple on the roster. The only debatable part here is whether a heavyweight enforcer deters anything. With the instigator rule in place, heavyweight enforcers are handcuffed in terms of what they can do without risking hurting their team through penalties as well as fines and suspensions. Due to this, heavyweights basically only fight other heavyweights, which for the most part makes them very useless. Therefore only a few heavyweights who are truly intimidating simply based on their presence and physical play actually have any value to a hockey team.

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to think what you are saying is silly. If fighting actually deters dirty play then every other team sport in N America would be filled with excessively dirty play. Dirty play continues because players are not really punished for it. In football if you get a ten yard penalty, or if the other team gets an automatic first down, it has a huge impact on the game. In hockey you can basically use your stick to carve out your name into the opposing player's back or legs, and if you have a good penalty kill nothing bad really happens to you. If you want to end cheap shots then have in-game penalties that mean something more often than one time out of five.

You have absolutely no clue why people do not go to games, so don't make yourself look foolish by pretending you do.

 

[Sens Rule]

I agree with all of this. Staged fighting is driving me crazy, and it makes me enjoy a hockey game a lot less. When two guys are battling all game long and tempers boil over, and they drop their gloves, then that is one thing. When a couple of guys are sent onto the ice just to fight, and they plan it out and take off each others' helmets, then it just takes up time that could be better spent playing hockey.

IMO the biggest myth out there is that fans love fighting. The people who make the argument point out that people in the stands stand up and cheer when fights happen. What they miss is that the people who hate fighting no longer go to the games. If they take fighting out the core fans will stick around, and some fringe fans will simply be replaced by other fans.

The second biggest myth is that fighting deters anything. If you look at the NFL, which is far rougher in the trenches than hockey ever could be, they toss players for fighting. Period. I doubt the no fighting policy in the NFL leads to more injuries in that league. The issue is all about culture, where hockey players are taught from a young age that fighting is a part of the game, and where fans are continually given a message that fighting is ingrained within the sport.

Staged fighting is stupid. I do somewhat enjoy it, but it is rather pointless. A fight between two guys when they are going at each other hard all game and it boils over is different. I think that the reason why there was fighting, the fact that every player carries a stick in their hands and two blades on their feet and fighting is a lot better then using weapons to settle things, still does have some merit. NFL players are not holding sticks or wearing knives on their feet. That is a big difference.

Still if fighting led to an automatic 3 game suspension it would rarely happen. It would only happen when there was really, really something bad going down on the ice. A couple of times a year per team probably. I don't think that hockey fans would like that though, despite a few of them really hating fighting. Insurance issues might lead to that kind of rule though... sooner then later.

 

[Sens Rule]

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to think what you are saying is silly. If fighting actually deters dirty play then every other team sport in N America would be filled with excessively dirty play. Dirty play continues because players are not really punished for it. In football if you get a ten yard penalty, or if the other team gets an automatic first down, it has a huge impact on the game. In hockey you can basically use your stick to carve out your name into the opposing player's back or legs, and if you have a good penalty kill nothing bad really happens to you. If you want to end cheap shots then have in-game penalties that mean something more often than one time out of five.

You have absolutely no clue why people do not go to games, so don't make yourself look foolish by pretending you do.

The NHL really, really, really has cut down on dirty play. From the free for all Eddie Shore years where guys near killed each other, to the crazy stick swinging, bench clearing brawl 1970's, to the dead puck era where you can watch a Mario Lemieux hghlight reel and literally see 2 or 3 penalties that would be called today on half of the goals he scored.

Gordie freaking Howe was a lot dirtier then Matt Cooke ever was.

 

[Berserker*]

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to think what you are saying is silly. If fighting actually deters dirty play then every other team sport in N America would be filled with excessively dirty play. Dirty play continues because players are not really punished for it. In football if you get a ten yard penalty, or if the other team gets an automatic first down, it has a huge impact on the game. In hockey you can basically use your stick to carve out your name into the opposing player's back or legs, and if you have a good penalty kill nothing bad really happens to you. If you want to end cheap shots then have in-game penalties that mean something more often than one time out of five.

You have absolutely no clue why people do not go to games, so don't make yourself look foolish by pretending you do.

Fortunately the NHL can afford to lose anti-fighting fans like you.

 

[Ron Jeremy]

I agree with all of this. Staged fighting is driving me crazy, and it makes me enjoy a hockey game a lot less. When two guys are battling all game long and tempers boil over, and they drop their gloves, then that is one thing. When a couple of guys are sent onto the ice just to fight, and they plan it out and take off each others' helmets, then it just takes up time that could be better spent playing hockey.

IMO the biggest myth out there is that fans love fighting. The people who make the argument point out that people in the stands stand up and cheer when fights happen. What they miss is that the people who hate fighting no longer go to the games. If they take fighting out the core fans will stick around, and some fringe fans will simply be replaced by other fans..

The NHL is a gate driven league. The fans at the game are the league's bread and butter. Alienating them to appease the pacifists out there is dumb business. If you don't like fighting, go watch the KHL.

 

[Ron Jeremy]

Seriously, what in the hell would Matt Kassian deter other players from doing to our skilled players LOL? He's completely useless - if you can get a pick for him, you do it. What a complete waste of a roster spot.

See Carkner v. Boyle. Kassian is a better player than many of the "enforcers" out there. McGrattan, Parros, Bourdeleau etc...

 

[Sens Rule]

See Carkner v. Boyle. Kassian is a better player than many of the "enforcers" out there. McGrattan, Parros, Bourdeleau etc...

He really isn't. Carkner was. Konopka could win faceoffs.

Kassian is painfully slow. He made Latendresse look like Erik Karlsson. He is too slow to hit guys much. Kassian only had one use.... Let's not pretend he is even an average enforcer in terms of play.

 

[h2]

He really isn't. Carkner was. Konopka could win faceoffs.

Kassian is painfully slow. He made Latendresse look like Erik Karlsson. He is too slow to hit guys much. Kassian only had one use.... Let's not pretend he is even an average enforcer in terms of play.

I find this evaluation very exaggerated.

Kassian is fine as a 4th liner when managed correctly.

 

[aragorn]

Whether the people against fighting want to admit it or not, it's currently part of the game and Kassian adequately fills that role.

I suppose we all forgot Wiercioch/Phillips dropping the gloves last year only to go on and miss 1/3 of the game, or McLaren dropping Dizzy like a sack of potatoes. All of this in a span of what? like 1 month after the season started and not having a designated enforcer since Carkner left?

We often mock Toronto for loading up with McLaren/Orr/Fraser and criticize them for not having skilled depth on the bottom of their lineup, but they still beat us last season and their players obviously feel more comfortable with that presence. I can see a similar change in Chris Neil being much more effective just knowing he's not the only designated fighter when we've had McGrattan/Carkner/Kassian in the lineup.

I also trust Murray's analysis and opinion over anyone on these forums. If Murray thinks we needed a designated fighter, I agree with him. Even if said fighter is obviously the worst player on the team, he fills a need that often gets overlooked by some in the fanbase until things go down. (And then when the response happens, he's a favourite again! See Carkner-Boyle)

Good post.

Agreed. Kassian seems to be able to hold his own with heavies, but I don't get the impression that he is a very intimidating player on the ice. He doesn't have an abundance of power in either hand so he hasn't mauled or knocked anyone out and he rarely if ever throws big hits. I also haven't ever seen him attempt to rough up or bully more skilled players, which makes him much less intimidating/effective. He also hasn't really partaken in any other form of message sending by beating the **** out of a dirty player regardless of whether they want to fight or not.

Overall, Chris Neil is a better deterrent than Kassian. He is one of the best hitters in the league, so if the opposition starts running around or playing dirty, Neil can simply target their star players for massive hits. Aside from that, he can hold his own with heavies, which allows him to run around and play a bit recklessly with absolute confidence that he can handle himself if challenged.

I think Kassian might be "too nice" for the role he is in, which isn't a good thing considering the fact that he isn't very skilled.

I agree that kassian does seem to be too nice & doesn't seem to ave enough in his punches. While I don't care for staged fighting, it's a part of the game, Toronto seems to use it in every game I saw from them last yr. Ottawa could ignore it as JM wanted, but then every team would soon find out & run our skilled players with no response. You have to have players on your team who will respond on behalf of your skilled players. While it might not deter someone from running a player, taking retrobution on their skill players should prevent it a second time.

Chris Neil IMO is one of the best fighters in the league, he backs down for no one& he can trow them wih the best. Last season I thought Neil beat Orr in their fight. I think Ottawa needs one more tough guy who can play & one more skill guy to go deep in the playoffs. I think they are too small right now but I expect over the yr that will get taken care of through trade or other guys brought up.

 

[Berserker*]

Good post.



I agree that kassian does seem to be too nice & doesn't seem to ave enough in his punches. While I don't care for staged fighting, it's a part of the game, Toronto seems to use it in every game I saw from them last yr. Ottawa could ignore it as JM wanted, but then every team would soon find out & run our skilled players with no response. You have to have players on your team who will respond on behalf of your skilled players. While it might not deter someone from running a player, taking retrobution on their skill players should prevent it a second time.

Chris Neil IMO is one of the best fighters in the league, he backs down for no one& he can trow them wih the best. Last season I thought Neil beat Orr in their fight. I think Ottawa needs one more tough guy who can play & one more skill guy to go deep in the playoffs. I think they are too small right now but I expect over the yr that will get taken care of through trade or other guys brought up.

Well I think ideally you find a heavyweight that is very intimidating and actually has the ability to take a regular shift. Chis Neil is a great example of that as is Lucic, but there are a few others such as Probert, Domi, Simon, Brashear and Laraque who could actually take a regular shift and possibly contribute offensively and defensively as well as hitting and fighting. Those are the types of heavies (too a certain extent because some such as Simon had terrible discipline issues) actually add some value to the team.

Unfortunately it is nearly impossible to find a player like that, so you are forced to try and develop them. Hopefully Kramer and Sdao develop enough to be regulars for the Sens.

Another player I would like the Sens to keep an eye on his Woodruff "Woody" Hudson. Woody was one of the better heavyweights in the USHL last year and he seems like he has a bit of hockey skills. He was passed over in the draft but is now starting his NCAA career at St Lawrence University. If he keeps developing and turns himself into a real player, then he could be a good target as a NCAA free agent. Seeing as the Murray's like tough players and free wallets, Woody could end up being a good target.