NyQuil
Big F$&*in Q
Carolina/Edmonton the year before was a similar situation (3-1 series), yet that series had more interest by comparison
That was the first Cup after the lockout.
Carolina/Edmonton the year before was a similar situation (3-1 series), yet that series had more interest by comparison
I'm still not sure where this comes from, although I suspect it had to do with the Toronto media and a little recency bias.
Over his first 6 playoffs:
1st Phase:
96-97 7 GP 5-2-7
97-98 11 GP 7-2-9
98-99 4 GP 1-2-3
99-00 6 GP 1-3-4
00-01 4 GP 1-0-1
01-02 12 GP 7-6-13
44 GP 22 G 15 A 37 PTS
Considering this was during the height of dead puck hockey, that stat line is very good.
It's worth noting that Alfredsson never had the benefit of Ottawa's #1 C while Hossa was with the team except from his position on the point on the PP.
Now I suspect that your opinion was framed because of these three years and how the 2006 playoffs ended on the Pominville play.
2nd Phase:
02-03 18 GP 4-4-8
03-04 7 GP 1-2-3
05-06 10 GP 2-8-10
35 GP 7 G 14 A 21 PTS
Not great, but not horrifying either.
Then you had his playoff leading results in 2007.
06-07 20 GP 14-8-22 PTS
He never won a Game 7 in his life.
These were all some very good Senators teams back then too, we all know this. We can blame Yashin, and we do, but it wasn't as if Alfredsson led them either. Or Hossa, or Chara or whichever goalie was in there. Really it wasn't until 2007 that he redeemed himself for playoff failures. These are close series that he was in very often, a goal from Mr. Alfredsson changes a lot.
The timing was terrible for that decision.
1. Chara had struggled in the 2006 playoffs with the post-lockout crackdown on obstruction. He was also playing with an injured wrist. And yet, people questioned whether he could adapt to the new "speedier" NHL.
2. Chara wanted the max salary over the max term at the time. 5 years at 7.5 million was the most money a player could earn.
3. Redden was willing to take fewer years at a smaller salary (3 years at 6.5 million) and was willing to drop to 6 million if Chara would.
4. Spezza and Heatley contracts were coming up on the horizon and the cap had just been put in place and was a measly 37 or 39 million at the time IIRC.
It was the kind of decision that left a bad feeling in the pit of everyone's stomach. I was never a strong Redden supporter, but he'd played better in those 2006 playoffs when the decision was made.
With hindsight, interviews and discussion has raised the issue of whether Chara ever really wanted to sign with the Senators.
1. He was not happy that his countryman and friend Marian Hossa was dealt for Heatley in a sign-and-trade situation. Marian was in tears and I believe it came out that it soured Zdeno on the organization somewhat.
2. He wanted a hand on the tiller of a team and that just wasn't going to happen with Alfredsson in the picture. He went to Boston to be the Captain.
If their contracts had come up a year earlier, who knows what would have happened?
That really is a shame, the Sens made up for it when they drafted Karlsson in 2008 but it looks like he’s gone in free agency this season. Chara would’ve benefited well in the 2007 Finals against Anaheim’s forwards, really sucks cause the Sens outside of Alfie ran out of gas...Spezza and Heatley were non factors that Finals, Emery gave up timely goals, Ducks checking line gave Ottawa’s top six a heck of a time.
2007 was supposed to cap off the Sens peak but ended in a whimper. Although 2003 I thought they should’ve gone to the finals.
We were a little surprised about 2007 because they started so poorly and were rife with injuries around December-January (17-18-1 by Christmas). Ottawa had injuries to Spezza, Vermette and Fisher so we had Chris Kelly centering the 1st line.
But they turned things around (Heatley was NHL player of the month in January) and went into the playoffs as one of the league's hottest teams and rode that momentum until they ran into the Ducks. Finished up 31-7-8 to cap off the season.
I don't begrudge the Ducks their win - they had a very good team that year and deserved the victory. It's easy to say that the Sens looked gassed but they did have those 9 days off and I think it was the Ducks who tired them out. It would have been interesting to see Chara in that series because Redden struggled (as he did against physical teams).
Most Ottawa fans believe that the 2003 team was the finest incarnation of the team, while the 2006 team was the most entertaining (with Hasek).
In 2007, everyone seemed to be on the same page in the post-season which was sort of reminiscent of last year's surprising run to Game 7 in the ECF. The Pizza Line obviously led the way but in the first round, they weren't quite as dominant and a lot of players stepped up including McAmmond and Comrie.
If Chara stayed, it would’ve been:
Chara/Redden, Phillip/Volchekov as the top 4.
Meszaros/Schubert/Priessing round off the bottom six whoever you rotate out of there.
It would have been tough to keep Redden I think.
We brought in Preissing (for Havlat) in part because he only cost $600K for that season.
It would have been tough to keep Redden I think.
We brought in Preissing (for Havlat) in part because he only cost $600K for that season.
Well, Lalime was 0-4 in Game 7 situations.
There's a thread on this very board talking about how Tampa Bay could have accomplished much more with a goalie.
Meanwhile, you had Toronto overperforming thanks to the likes of Cujo and Belfour.
Anyway, 2007 was redemption in the eyes of some, certainly. To others, it wasn't as flagrant.
Carolina/Edmonton the year before was a similar situation (3-1 series), yet that series had more interest by comparison
Strikes me as a poor mans 2002, dominant team vs first-timer (in Ottawas current form) not expected to be there.
We hear how the Ducks dominated this series and their checking line and Pronger/Niedermayer tandem shut down Spezza and Heatley (Alfredsson was the one guy for Ott scoring this series), but it should be noted 3 of the Ducks' wins (games 1-2-4) were by one goal- not exactly 1995/1997 in terms of a lopsided Cup Final scoring wise.
4. Anaheim played a very physical series which Ottawa tried to match, having been the more physical team against the Pens, Devils and Sabres. But Senators fans were particularly frustrated with the blue line picks that appeared to be pretty standard for Western Conference hockey (preventing forecheckers from hitting the defencemen at the end boards or behind the net with speed).
Detroit would have fairly easily handled the Sens. As a Ducks fan I can say that Detroit was the only team I was genuinely scared were going to take the series. They put up a hell of a fight and Jiggy stole us that one.
I enjoyed it, but Murray should have blown up the team after that series, it was really over for that core at the time, but we didn't want to admit it to ourselves.
2nd Phase:
02-03 18 GP 4-4-8
Mins/GP | 03 PO | JM PO | DA PO | 03 RS |
22+ | 1 | 15 | 36 | 13 |
20-22 | 1 | 10 | 24 | 24 |
19-20 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 10 |
18-19 | 5 | 6 | 17 | 4 |
17-18 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 13 |
16-17 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
15-16 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
U15 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Total GP | 18 | 44 | 117 | 78 |
really sucks cause the Sens outside of Alfie ran out of gas...Spezza and Heatley were non factors that Finals, Emery gave up timely goals, Ducks checking line gave Ottawa’s top six a heck of a time.
We were a little surprised about 2007 because they started so poorly and were rife with injuries around December-January (17-18-1 by Christmas). Ottawa had injuries to Spezza, Vermette and Fisher so we had Chris Kelly centering the 1st line.
Do you think the 2007 Pizza Line stepping up in the playoffs was a matchup situation? Because Emery in '06 was shaky at times. Buffalo beat them in '06 with a lesser team, yet lost in '07 without Chara/Hasek.