Introspection

The Comrie-Campoli deal is looking good 2 games in, now that Comrie got the game winning goal against the Canes in a 4-2 win. Campoli got his 3rd point in 2 games for the sens.

We need Kuba and Comrie to sign for b/w 2-3 million. I believe that Comrie's best days are still in front of him at 28 he is good for at least another 5 years and if he gets 15-20 minutes a game on a Senators roster his point production will pick up.
Also, we should say bye bye to Lee and Smith  before or at the trade deadline for draftpicks, prospects or other players. Even Ruutu is dispensible.

I saw some talk on sportsnet about Neil. I hope he is not being shopped because that would be aweful for the sens. He ranks right up there with Alfredsson when it comes to heart. And ofcourse, Kudos to Alfie to keep playing despite that horrible jaw injury. Most players would sit it out at least for a few games but not Alfie. That is why he is the captain.

Heatley got to the 30 goal mark in a dismal season with today's game. If the good form continues their is no reason why he wouldn't hit the 40 goal mark. 

Sens traded Dean McAmmond to Islanders for Mike Comrie and Campoli today. They are over the salary cap by $522,329 as of now, so Murray will have to do something to fix that too, I believe.

It is an attempt to bring one of the few genuine pmd's that we need in Ottawa. Campoli is signed on for the next year after which he is a RFA while Comrie is a UFA next year. So, maybe he will sign with us for a cheeper price because his numbers havn't been great exactly or we will have a 4 million cap space next season to sign someone else.

Murray wanted Comrie to sign with the sens before and let him go only because he was too expensive. Dean Mcammond wasn't doing much anyway, never had. But yes, the center piece of this deal is Campoli about whom too things remain to be seen. Frist, If indeed he will become a genuine pmd and second, if he will sign with Ottawa if he does become one.

From what I have read so far both Comrie and Campoli are happy with the trade. Apparently, Comrie had told Murray a short time ago that he really was disappointed when he left Ottawa and that He enjoyed it here and he felt that he should have stayed here.

And you know what I like this deal. Who knows what we could get at 29-30th spot in the draft and how long that asset would have to be groomed in the minors. On the other hand Campoli already has several seasons under his belt and can get only better as the pmd for the sens. He will not get any heavier as at 24 he is 190lbs and it is around th.

So, the Islanders have started their yard sale, when will we open our garage doors?

This team has had 12/14 points from the last 7 games. When the game goes in overtime, its really anybody's guess who would win.

Good to see Shannon score 2, it would have been great if he had a hatrick. Worrying stat for me has always been that when the big 3 are missing from the point production this team seldom wins.

Stamkos scored a hattrick against the Hawks and the Lightning still lost.

I miss the old loser Ottawa Senators.

lol just kidding

Sens got a 2-0 shutout against the preds. Missed watching both the goals because I was seeing House on Fox. There is a difference in this team for sure. They are scoring first and able to keep the lead. Since, it is generally accepted that firing a coach does light a fire under a team in the short term. Therefore, the question is, how long can this continue. In any case, their current play has been inspirational to say the least.

Too bad the Pens lost in the shootout today. Atleast, they get one point from the game. Only if start going on 2-3 game streaks from now on will they make the playoffs.

I am in no way, shape or form thinking that the senators can get anywhere this season from their current dismal standing. What we saw in the last 1.5 years was not just a team lacking a correct playing style which the newly installed coach is bringing. Their are serious problems with the senators lineup and they will have to be fixed. Hopefully this years trade deadline would see atleast 1 pmd in Ottawa. God, knows we need more than 1 to get anywhere.

 How about that 3rd test in Antiga, eh? England just killed the windies in the 1st innings. The worst that can come from this test for them is a draw. Also, they got the windies at 1 wicket down already so they have an upper hand already. But, who ever thought that the England would have such a turnaround after a dismal 1st test? 2 centuries and 3 half ones! Too bad Flintoff didn't capitalize and went for a duck.

Next game is today vs. Avalanche. It will be tough game as they have only 24 hours to prepare for a high altitude match.

A 5-3 win against Wild. The sens came back 3 goals down in the first period to win this one.

This is always how good the sens have looked when the big 3 are getting their points. They were involved in 4 out of 5 goals. So we moved one spot ahead on number 12. Well, this 4 game streak will win something if they make it 6 or 7. Otherwise, the hole is just too deep to get out of. Good to see that Auld was able to perform when he was called upon. Ottawa had 2 short handed goals in a game to quote people from team 1200 it is a statistical anomaly.We should be happy that we had it but there is nothing more that we can read from it.

Brendan Bell has been playing well for Ottawa he is a good defenceman but he is not consistent. At his salary he was a steal for us. I am certain, if he plays a full season he will get over 30 points, more if the team is having a good year.

Also, leaves won 6-2 vs Pens, today. It is time that we all realize that leaves actually have a better team then they give themselves credit for. For them it all beings in the defence. They have an excellent pmd in Kabarle and 3 solid defencemen in Finger, Frogren and Schenn.

Even though the numbers might not suggest so, Toskala is a genuine number 1 goalie and comes up good more times than not. Their supposed lack of talent up front is compensated by a bunch of player vying for existence in Leafland and NHL. If they can get a 2 genuine top 6 forwards they will be as good as any other team. That thought is scary at best.

In the meanwhile Green has become the first defenceman in a very long time to get goals in 8 straight games. Also, Jason Blake's play has really improved this year. He had a career high 9 points in January and continues to score goals. He is a tenacious, persistent winger and I would be happy to see him in
Ottawa if Leafland don't want him.

  Once again the CASH line is scoring and once again all the wins are looking easy.

Looked like Elliot ran out of luck in the 3rd period, It was possibly because senators stopped attacking in the 3rd.

I don’t like how Brian Lee gets hit by pretty much every player in the opposition. It was happening yesterday and continued into today’s game. The manner in which he gets hit doesn’t lead me to believe that it’s because he was trying to make a play and got hit. Boy, Winchester is not afraid of getting hit and I don’t know whether I should be happy about it or not. He does compete hard every time but maybe he is not all that deft in avoiding hits. Good to see Heatley get a couple of goals. Also, the hard working Bell got a point. What a drive to the net by Vermette in the end to get a goal. Good to see Foligno get a goal too, IMO he just doesn’t seem to compete all that hard after getting a point. 

Man, if only this team played this well early on in the season. I think they are more aggressive in scoring goals and they are getting it too if, this is due to Clouston’s system then good luck to him. 

I would like to see Patrick Weircioh as soon as possible in the senators lineup along with Jim O’brien and Karlsson.

I think, this season, senators haven’t been defensively too bad. I think it is due to the fact that the two major pieces in the senators defensive game Phillips and Volchenkov are still with the team, unlike, the PMD Redden, Meszaros and Corvo.

Hopefully Neil will be back in the line up soon.

Meanwhile, Gerber is putting up good numbers in Binghampton I believe. Maybe someone looking for a backup will trade for him?

It was a hard fought game by the sens which turned out to be shootout loss. If only they played all their games like this. I really like how Foligno plays, he fights hard for the puck every time has got some skills.

Fishers hard play penalty at the end was worth every second of it.

I am at peace with the fact that the sens will miss the playoffs this season. It had to happen sometime, so this year is as good for it, as any other. Only thing we can hope for is that they make a comeback  next year. In that regard its important to keep playing hard like they did in this game and to create a strong committed core. Get a goalie, if we can on top of Elliot, 1 puck moving defensemen(on top of Karlsson), 1 top 6 forward and I think we'll be good next season. Spezza has to drop his childish smirks and become a bitter man in order to do a  better job being more physical like Pronger. Somebody needs to shake Kuba to the core to do the same.

Alfredsson
Heatley
Spezza
Fisher
Foligno
Top 6 - Connolly, Franzen, Zajac, Booth, Zherdev, Afinogenov, Knuble, Ryan Klowe ! ,
Neil
High 1st Round draft pick

Phillips
Volchenkov
Karlsson
Bowmeester or Cam Barker ( dream on!)
Kuba

Nicklaus Backstrom ( best dream eva!)
Elliot


I think the tradeline madness this year and free agent frenzy will not be completely insane like last year due to the economic situation. Teams will have to keep in mind that the year after next year the salary cap will most likely come down and therefore the price of players will come down too. Looks like Hossa's decision to wait 1 year and then sign might not be that lucrative after all. Though teams would still be willing to spend between 7-7.5 million on him.

I think players will look for safe markets to sign in which do not have a chance of going belly up in the next few years. In that regard, I think Canadian markets like Ottawa are stable as they are still growing and will continue to get more populous and have a good chance of getting some of these players.

What would the Canadian opposition look like in 2010? There are basically two teams that look like that can give the Canadians a run for their money - The Swedes and Russians. The Americans and Czechs will also have a good roster but i doubt that they can be considered as the favorites.

For the Canadians there can only be one goal after the shock in Turin. That is, Gold and nothing less than that.

This is what the Swedish and Russian squads may look like:

Swedes:
Lidstrom
Alfredsson
Zetterberg
Franzen
Holstrom
Kronwall
Nickaus Backstrom
D. Sedin
H. Sedin
Naslund
Nylander
Mats Sundin?
Peter Forsberg?
hedman
Karlsson
Lundsquist

Russians:
Ovechkin
Kovulchuk
Malkin
Datsyuk
Kovalev
Semin
Radulov
Filatov
Frolov

Gonchar
Volchenkov

Khabibulin
Ilya Bryzgalov?


Looks like the Russians have all the forwards they need Who are the other Russian defensemen and Goalies? Are there any playing in KHL that we don't know about?