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http://www.crashthecrease.com/2010/01/06/ch-ch-ch-changes/
The Sens got two pretty decent sized injury reports back to back – the first was less worrisome than the second. Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson are both out long term – and that should pretty much wind up the Sens season – or any hopes they may have of making the playoffs. But wait! What’s this? They actually can play a team game? Or to steal one of the many lines from Dave Tippett: they can play a “pack mentality”? Maybe, but I’ve been lucky enough to attend more than one of the Sens recent home games down in the lower bowls and I can say that this team still has skill, in fact, it might be teams over-looking guys like Fisher, Michalek and Kovalev that have sent the Sens to a 4-2 record since Alfredsson went down. They come at you again and again and again until they score.
But how? How do they do it when Milan Michalek hasn’t scored for 13 games? And now Mike Fisher is in the depths of a cold streak. And until his 5 point outburst, Alex Kovalev was in a season long slump. And Pascal Leclaire has just returned from a month after a fluke broken cheekbone. Toss in the fact that the Sens have a less than stellar blue line and sophomore-jinxed Brian Elliott, who flailed under the pressure of being a number one, and the Sens should be in the Eastern Conference basement looking up.
Second chances come about once in a while and Ryan Shannon is prove positive of that. Before the injuries to Spezza and Alfredsson he couldn’t do anything right. He looked petrified to go into corners and battle for pucks, his speed was wasted as he lagged behind the play and looked to get back into position and he certainly wasn’t scoring – at all. But then he started to click with Mike Fisher and Alex Kovalev – and then he absolutely exploded. Back to the way he was last year and perhaps better. Why was that? Well, recently coach Cory Cloustin and GM Bryan Murray both eluded to the fact that Shannon had come back too soon from a concussion he suffered earlier in the season and that was the reason he was playing so poorly. He’s a lucky man that he wasn’t cut completely, because calling him ineffective would be a disservice to the word, he was useless. But he put his head down and played through everything, eventually making his way up from being a healthy scratch to the bottom nine forwards and then into the top six when injuries made way. Now he’s one of the hottest players in the NHL – and it really couldn’t have come at a better time.
Let’s clump three guys in here together: Chris Kelly, Jarkko Ruutu and Chris Neil. These three form one of the best third lines in the NHL. They come at you hard, they bang and crash and now they’ve started to…score! It’s one of those things that Sens fans saw a little glimpse of in 2006/07 when the Sens were about to make an extraordinary rise from out of the playoffs to the Stanley Cup Finals. And eerily, the same things happened…almost. Instead of Alfredsson that year, it was Spezza, Fisher and Antoine Vermette, the Sens top 3 centers. Then GM John Muckler, in what may have been his best trade ever, acquired Mike Comrie – and he stepped in as a very effective stop-gap, but other guys stepped up, Chris Kelly, Chris Neil, some pretty familiar names in fact. Now, I wouldn’t lay any bets down that the Sens will make the Finals, in fact, I think they’re in tough enough just making the playoffs, but it’s hard not to tip your cap to this squad and to coach Cory Clouston for hanging around.
The Ups and Downs of the WJC – Sens fan style:
First the bad:
Jared Cowen played badly and cost himself a shot at playing in the Gold Medal game. He played perhaps two or three shifts, but not enough to get himself into the flow or make an impact. The reason was the coaching staff felt he didn’t play well enough earlier in the tourney to warrant a longer look. Fair enough, but instead of trying to rectify these mistakes, they simply sat him down and when they needed him after and injury and a 10 minute misconduct, he wasn’t prepared, his confidence was down, he looked timid and then poof, he was out of the game again. To say the least, I was not pleased to see the way this was handled, and now people like SensChirp are starting to hear rumblings that the Sens brass are also not impressed.
Altogether a tourney to forget for Cowen. He should stick to what he does best: lead the Spokane Chiefs to another championship!
On a more positive note, Andre Petersson scored more goals than any other Swedish player at the tournament in 17 years. He showed an unbelievable ability to get open and unleash a rocket of a wrist-shot and is a sublime passer – when he wants to.
Jacob Silfverberg is the other Sens’ prospect playing on Team Sweden who excelled. I had heard a couple of fans describe him as the next Alfredsson in terms of hockey IQ, two-way defensive play and offensive prowess, but I never really bought it – until now. He’s a fantastic player to watch, full of energy and willing to go into the dirty zones to retrieve pucks. Very impressive.
Hopefully these two guys pan out – the Sens will need it sooner rather than later.
The Sens got two pretty decent sized injury reports back to back – the first was less worrisome than the second. Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson are both out long term – and that should pretty much wind up the Sens season – or any hopes they may have of making the playoffs. But wait! What’s this? They actually can play a team game? Or to steal one of the many lines from Dave Tippett: they can play a “pack mentality”? Maybe, but I’ve been lucky enough to attend more than one of the Sens recent home games down in the lower bowls and I can say that this team still has skill, in fact, it might be teams over-looking guys like Fisher, Michalek and Kovalev that have sent the Sens to a 4-2 record since Alfredsson went down. They come at you again and again and again until they score.
But how? How do they do it when Milan Michalek hasn’t scored for 13 games? And now Mike Fisher is in the depths of a cold streak. And until his 5 point outburst, Alex Kovalev was in a season long slump. And Pascal Leclaire has just returned from a month after a fluke broken cheekbone. Toss in the fact that the Sens have a less than stellar blue line and sophomore-jinxed Brian Elliott, who flailed under the pressure of being a number one, and the Sens should be in the Eastern Conference basement looking up.
Second chances come about once in a while and Ryan Shannon is prove positive of that. Before the injuries to Spezza and Alfredsson he couldn’t do anything right. He looked petrified to go into corners and battle for pucks, his speed was wasted as he lagged behind the play and looked to get back into position and he certainly wasn’t scoring – at all. But then he started to click with Mike Fisher and Alex Kovalev – and then he absolutely exploded. Back to the way he was last year and perhaps better. Why was that? Well, recently coach Cory Cloustin and GM Bryan Murray both eluded to the fact that Shannon had come back too soon from a concussion he suffered earlier in the season and that was the reason he was playing so poorly. He’s a lucky man that he wasn’t cut completely, because calling him ineffective would be a disservice to the word, he was useless. But he put his head down and played through everything, eventually making his way up from being a healthy scratch to the bottom nine forwards and then into the top six when injuries made way. Now he’s one of the hottest players in the NHL – and it really couldn’t have come at a better time.
Let’s clump three guys in here together: Chris Kelly, Jarkko Ruutu and Chris Neil. These three form one of the best third lines in the NHL. They come at you hard, they bang and crash and now they’ve started to…score! It’s one of those things that Sens fans saw a little glimpse of in 2006/07 when the Sens were about to make an extraordinary rise from out of the playoffs to the Stanley Cup Finals. And eerily, the same things happened…almost. Instead of Alfredsson that year, it was Spezza, Fisher and Antoine Vermette, the Sens top 3 centers. Then GM John Muckler, in what may have been his best trade ever, acquired Mike Comrie – and he stepped in as a very effective stop-gap, but other guys stepped up, Chris Kelly, Chris Neil, some pretty familiar names in fact. Now, I wouldn’t lay any bets down that the Sens will make the Finals, in fact, I think they’re in tough enough just making the playoffs, but it’s hard not to tip your cap to this squad and to coach Cory Clouston for hanging around.
The Ups and Downs of the WJC – Sens fan style:
First the bad:
Jared Cowen played badly and cost himself a shot at playing in the Gold Medal game. He played perhaps two or three shifts, but not enough to get himself into the flow or make an impact. The reason was the coaching staff felt he didn’t play well enough earlier in the tourney to warrant a longer look. Fair enough, but instead of trying to rectify these mistakes, they simply sat him down and when they needed him after and injury and a 10 minute misconduct, he wasn’t prepared, his confidence was down, he looked timid and then poof, he was out of the game again. To say the least, I was not pleased to see the way this was handled, and now people like SensChirp are starting to hear rumblings that the Sens brass are also not impressed.
Altogether a tourney to forget for Cowen. He should stick to what he does best: lead the Spokane Chiefs to another championship!
On a more positive note, Andre Petersson scored more goals than any other Swedish player at the tournament in 17 years. He showed an unbelievable ability to get open and unleash a rocket of a wrist-shot and is a sublime passer – when he wants to.
Jacob Silfverberg is the other Sens’ prospect playing on Team Sweden who excelled. I had heard a couple of fans describe him as the next Alfredsson in terms of hockey IQ, two-way defensive play and offensive prowess, but I never really bought it – until now. He’s a fantastic player to watch, full of energy and willing to go into the dirty zones to retrieve pucks. Very impressive.
Hopefully these two guys pan out – the Sens will need it sooner rather than later.
