Questions about a few historical Ottawa Senators

[Bhrangerfan0809]

I'm starting to dig into the history of hockey (having been a recent convert to the sport's fandom) and would like to know a bit about some Senators from past years. If you could, tell me about these Senators' styles of play, what they excelled at, what they were not as good at, any remarks on their intangibles, etc.

- Shawn McEachern
- Peter Schaefer
- Karel Rachunek
- Shaun Van Allen
- Jason York
- Igor Kravchuk
- Todd White

Thanks to anyone willing to help!

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[DrEasy]

- Shawn McEachern: scoring winger on the Yashin line with Dackell with a good shot
- Peter Schaefer: great on the boards, underrated hands, great on a line with Fisher and Neil
- Karel Rachunek: good PMD, yet big enough to take the body and take a hit. Lots of apples on the PP with Redden due to nice passes and ability to hit the net even though he didn't have a hard shot.
- Shaun Van Allen: defensive-minded C, great on the PK, pretty slow. I believe he was good on the face offs but I could be wrong.
- Jason York: great shot.
- Igor Kravchuk: big dude.
- Todd White: underrated C with some puck skill, a bit small. I think he was on a productive line with McEachern and Alf, but I could be wrong.

 

[MainDotC]

McEachern was a scoring winger but mostly due to his positioning and speed. He was always on the PK. His hands were absolutely horrible and it always seemed like the puck would just bobble end over end but that was mostly due to the fact that he uses black tape on his stick. He did score on slapshots, but almost every slapshot on which McEachern scored was deflected off a defenseman's skate and simply changed direction on the goalie. But, he was part of the MOO.

Todd White was a very smart, scoring winger and did pick up a fair amount of points with Ottawa. He excelled playing with Alfie and Brunet / Arvedson, and was also a PK'er. Unfortunately he had a very difficult time delivering / taking a hit. If someone bumped up against him along the boards it would look like he just got run over by an 18-wheeler. He wasn't injured all that much, but he just seemed to take a pounding on the ice. In the 2004 playoff series vs the Leafs he had a d-man lined up and went in full-steam, only to have the d-man sidestep at the last minute and Whitey went right into the boards, face-first. White's half-shield came down and pressed awkwardly against his face so that he was actually cut from eye down to chin, diagonally. I think this one instance can speak volumes of his flaws, but he did help Ottawa score some goals.

 

[Big Papi]

all players I liked

- Shawn McEachern - one of the most underrated senators...was a very solid player, ranks in the top 10 all time for points and goals. Very much liked while here.
- Peter Schaefer - another underrated player. He traded a good, but oft-injured Dman (Salo) for him. Didn't expect much from him, although he looked good on paper. He surprised and I was sad to see him go. He's the perfect bottom pairing guy you need on a team to win the cup.
- Karel Rachunek - RIP, a +49 lifetime...
- Shaun Van Allen - seems to have settled down in Ottawa
- Jason York - consistent player, not easily rattled.
- Igor Kravchuk - i don't remember this, but based on the stats, looks like he was injured often. I remember him as a good dman.
- Todd White - local boy done good, very quiet guy but very much a fan favorite here.

 

[Bileur]

- Shawn McEachern: scoring winger on the Yashin line with Dackell with a good shot

Good speed too. I seem to remember him being regarded as a leader.

- Peter Schaefer: great on the boards, underrated hands, great on a line with Fisher and Neil

Schaefer was also solid on the PK. He was usually one of the faster skaters on the team. He had a really weird curve on his stick where it seemed to almost turn sideways.
He didn’t score very often but usually had 1 or 2 of the nicest goals of the year for the sens. Underrated hands is an understatement.
Schaefer is the guy who waved a towel at the end of his stick as a white flag when the sens were getting a lot of bad calls. It seemed to get far worse after that.

- Karel Rachunek: good PMD, yet big enough to take the body and take a hit. Lots of apples on the PP with Redden due to nice passes and ability to hit the net even though he didn't have a hard shot.

I’d add that Rachunek seemed very, very strong and was willing to block shots.

- Shaun Van Allen: defensive-minded C, great on the PK, pretty slow. I believe he was good on the face offs but I could be wrong.
- Jason York: great shot.
- Igor Kravchuk: big dude.
- Todd White: underrated C with some puck skill, a bit small. I think he was on a productive line with McEachern and Alf, but I could be wrong.

Nothing to add.

 

[Bhrangerfan0809]

How was Kravchuk's physical play?

 

[Old5oh]

IIRC Messier said Shaefer was the best puck possessor along the boards he had ever seen/played with.

 

[KarlssonMarx]

I was kinda young when some of these guys were playing, but here's what I remember:

- Shawn McEachern was super fast and put up some solid goal/point totals. He was our top scoring winger back in the days of our first playoff appearances.

- Peter Schaefer was legendary for his board work. He could just keep control of the puck along the boards for as long as he wanted. He also had some nice hands, and every now and then he would score a beauty highlight reel goal. I loved the one where he flipped it over the Dallas(I think...) goalie, then skates around him and tips the puck out of the air and into the net.

- Karel Rachunek didn't play here for very long but was a solid in all departments while he was here.

- Shaun Van Allen was Chris Kelly before Chris Kelly was Chris Kelly. He was our defensive/pk specialist and was awesome at it. Of course he is going the coaching route now...as will Chris Kelly one day.

- Jason York was a really solid defenseman here for a pretty long time. He had a big shot from the point. I think he was/is a local guy too?

- Igor Kravchuk another solid defenseman who could put up some points and just played a smart all-around game. He was pretty slick but he would never take you out of your seat.

- Todd White was another local guy who was a big fan favorite here. He was a very smart, pass-first kind player offensively. He also worked his ass off every single shift, which is why people loved him so much I think. Little guy with a big heart.

 

[jbeck5]

I'm starting to dig into the history of hockey (having been a recent convert to the sport's fandom) and would like to know a bit about some Senators from past years. If you could, tell me about these Senators' styles of play, what they excelled at, what they were not as good at, any remarks on their intangibles, etc.

- Shawn McEachern
- Peter Schaefer
- Karel Rachunek
- Shaun Van Allen
- Jason York
- Igor Kravchuk
- Todd White

Thanks to anyone willing to help!

Mceachern: small, speedy winger with a heavy shot. He loved to streak down the left wing with speed and use a slap shot. Think MacArthur with a better shot(more of a sniper mentality) but slightly less heart. He seemed to disappear when the games got physical.

Schaefer: speedy winger with supringly good hands and grit. Was great along the boards as he could twist and turn and make a play off the boards.(think smaller chiasson with more tricks up his sleeve). Also used a straight blade with a twist at the end of his stick. Very unique. See: goal against turco on Dallas.

Karel rachunek: rip... Redden light. Seemed to have all the same strengths and weaknesses as redden, but half the player. Decent 2 way game but more offensive. Could handle the physical game but didn't dish it out. Pretty decent first pass. Not overly fast.

Shaun van Allen: the ahl all star who had to play a different game to succeed in the NHL. He could score 100+ in the ahl. In the NHL he was your gritty typical 4th line center. Good on the draw, go to the net. Good leadership. His ahl offensive skills didnt translate much. Average shot. Average hands. He wasn't a great skater but was always skating hard. He kinda skated like tie domi skated. See: 2003 round 3 game 1 gwg.

Jason York: kinda gritty, and good defensively, but with good offensive skills. He wouldn't be a catalyst offensively but wouldn't hurt either. Think Shea weber light...or Chris Phillips with better puck skills. Not razzle dazzle, but like a smaller kuba with more defensive/grit.

Igor kravchuk: offensive defenseman, but not an amazing one. Decent defensively. His bread and butter was breaking out. Think of a worse gonchar. He would always lead the puck up ice looking for breakout passes. Decent at everything but not great at anything.

Todd white: the perfect complimentary player. Think of a smaller bozak but better defensively. Not great by himself, but you can plug him in on the first line and hell get 50-60 points while being defensively conscious. But if you put him on the third line you'd think he's just a penalty killer. Won't create an offensive play, but won't kill it either. Great work ethic, but also very small and easily outmuscled.

Hope that made sense.

 

[Slow Hands]

Just posting to say reading this thread is awesome. I remember watching all these guys but I definitely did not have the same kind of insight and knowledge of the game back then that I do now. Cool to read descriptions of these guys.

 

[MtRundle]

I remember T. White giving us pretty good depth in the C position. A pretty good O guy who was always on the right side of the puck.