The Hockey News: Sens to miss playoffs

stempniaksen wrote:We say that about New Jersey every year though. I won't write them off until they prove that they aren't a well oiled machine.

I agree about the Sabres though, that defence is absolutly one of the weakest in the entire league with the loss of Lydman and Tallinder.

Jersey is going to miss Paul Martin badly I think. He's very underrated and really helped that team when he was healthy. Tack on another year to Marty and I don't know how good they'll be. I think they'll be competitive but I don't think they are a well oiled machine by any means.

SpezDispenser wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:Meh, I don't really have an issue with publications putting us out of the playoffs, because we are weak on paper. Fortunatly for us the games are played on the ice and in that respect with the addition of Gonchar and the progression of Karlsson and the biggest wildcard of all (Clouston) then we should be fine.

I don't agree. I think we're lacking three things:

1.A sniper
2.A little toughness on the backend
3.Consistency in net

Odds are one or two, if not all three will be fixed/answered sooner rather than later. Otherwise this is a good squad IMO.

Wow, I'm surprised.

You know, one thing I love is being the underdog. I think this will be good for this team!

SpezDispenser wrote:We should have one for this instance specifically.

I'm not gonna sit here and say the Sens are the best team in the East - far from it, but I truly believe we're a better team than last year with a fresh slate for Leclaire, Elliott a year older and wiser, Spezza seemingly feeling better, Volchenkov replaced by Gonchar, a full year of Karlsson, Regin's maturation, Michalek being with us from the very beginning of the summer to the start of training camp (it means a lot), hopefully a renewed Kovalev.

Alfie, Kovalev and Gonchar will all lose some steam as well, but this is a young, hungry, skilled club.

Still don't understand why THN did that this year after predicting us to come in 9th last year and being flat wrong.

i fear the sophomore curse with karlsson. Although I don’t see how or why it would happen to him, it’s a curse to some. I think we might se regin make leaps this year if it hasn’t gotten to his head and they keep him on the top 2 lines.

hemlock wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:We say that about New Jersey every year though. I won't write them off until they prove that they aren't a well oiled machine.

I agree about the Sabres though, that defence is absolutly one of the weakest in the entire league with the loss of Lydman and Tallinder.

Jersey is going to miss Paul Martin badly I think. He's very underrated and really helped that team when he was healthy. Tack on another year to Marty and I don't know how good they'll be. I think they'll be competitive but I don't think they are a well oiled machine by any means.

I agree about Paul Martin, he's one of my favs in the game right now and he's hugely underrated. New Jersey has built up a pretty rag tag group of guys that are all pretty much underrated in their own rights though.

On the top pairing they have Volchenkov (do I really need to say more?) and Henrik Tallinder (one of the most underrated guys in the entire league, imo, and one of the reasons Myers was so dominant last year).

On the second pairing they have Andy Green (not a houselhold name, but took huge strides last year and looked like a #2 guy in Paul Martin's absence. He'll be a big part of their sucess) and Bryce Salvador/Colin White (shutdown vets in a Chris Phillips mold who aren't as good, but fill into the #4/#5 spots nicely).

On the third pairing they'll have one of White or Salvador playing with some young talent in either Salmela, Fraser or Corrente (who are all potential future top-four guys, although safe money would be on Corrente being the only one to reach it).

I'm not saying they aren't missing some skill back there, but that argument has been made every year and it hasn't slowed them down yet (atleast not in the regular season), so I won't bet against Big Lou's system until it proves that it doesn't work.

SpezDispenser wrote:We should have one for this instance specifically.

I'm not gonna sit here and say the Sens are the best team in the East - far from it, but I truly believe we're a better team than last year with a fresh slate for Leclaire, Elliott a year older and wiser, Spezza seemingly feeling better, Volchenkov replaced by Gonchar, a full year of Karlsson, Regin's maturation, Michalek being with us from the very beginning of the summer to the start of training camp (it means a lot), hopefully a renewed Kovalev.

Alfie, Kovalev and Gonchar will all lose some steam as well, but this is a young, hungry, skilled club.

Still don't understand why THN did that this year after predicting us to come in 9th last year and being flat wrong.

I'd like to prefix this by pointing out I'm a positive guy and think the Sens will make the playoffs this season and could even make noise into the 2nd/3rd round depending on matchups and such.

Now I'm going to go into Devil's Advocate Mode and breakdown our roster the way the writers at THN might be seeing it, and at worst it creates discussion. (So I'm too lazy to do it all, I'll cover the major guys)

Top line: Regin - Spezza - Alfredsson

The big key to this is if Spezza can rebound to the offensive force he was pre-Hartsburg. We've all seen glimpses, but this is about keeping it up consistently and putting up 75+ points starting this season. Can he do it?

Alfredsson has been slowing down, we as fans have all seen it. Is this the year he takes a big fall and becomes a player that can't be counted on to lead the offence?

Regin might not progress, he was better near the end of last year and phenomonal in the playoffs, but can that carry over to an 82 game schedule?

2nd line: Michalek - Fisher - Kovalev

Kovalev is the offensive wizard on this line, but how will he heal from injury at his age and will he ever be the same player once he comes back?

Fisher, he is what he is. But in that respect, some would argue that he doesn't put up the numbers or have a consistent enough output to be viewed as a legitimate top-six player.

Michalek is a streaky as they come, and adding last seasons injury problems on top of that could make him even more tentative, ect. How will this affect his game has yet to be seen so he's a question mark at this point.

Top D pairing: Phillips - Gonchar

How will Phillips play without his usual partner in Volchenkov and how long will it take him to find a chemistry with a vastly different partner.

Sergei Gonchar is getting up there in age which is always a concern, and has had some injury troubles the last couple years. Also, how will he react to a team that doesn't have Crosby and Malkin to shoulder the load offensively.

2nd pairing: Kuba - Karlsson

Kuba is like Phillips in this case, I think we all know what we're getting and there isn't necessarilly a downside other than lack of physical play on that pairing and in our top-four overall.

Can Karlsson break free from the possibility of a sophmore slump? Can he also avoid some of the defensive mistakes that followed him last year?

Goalies: Leclaire - Elliott

Can Leclaire stay healthy?

Can Elliott keep progressing, or will the bad showing in the playoffs continue to follow him into next season?

I also don't like Buffalo's D...at all. Miller better be extra good this year or there might be issues.

washington
pittsburgh
ottawa
new jersey
boston
montreal
philidelphia
new york

this is it.

stempniaksen wrote:

hemlock wrote:

stempniaksen wrote:We say that about New Jersey every year though. I won't write them off until they prove that they aren't a well oiled machine.

I agree about the Sabres though, that defence is absolutly one of the weakest in the entire league with the loss of Lydman and Tallinder.

Jersey is going to miss Paul Martin badly I think. He's very underrated and really helped that team when he was healthy. Tack on another year to Marty and I don't know how good they'll be. I think they'll be competitive but I don't think they are a well oiled machine by any means.

I agree about Paul Martin, he's one of my favs in the game right now and he's hugely underrated. New Jersey has built up a pretty rag tag group of guys that are all pretty much underrated in their own rights though.

On the top pairing they have Volchenkov (do I really need to say more?) and Henrik Tallinder (one of the most underrated guys in the entire league, imo, and one of the reasons Myers was so dominant last year).

On the second pairing they have Andy Green (not a houselhold name, but took huge strides last year and looked like a #2 guy in Paul Martin's absence. He'll be a big part of their sucess) and Bryce Salvador/Colin White (shutdown vets in a Chris Phillips mold who aren't as good, but fill into the #4/#5 spots nicely).

On the third pairing they'll have one of White or Salvador playing with some young talent in either Salmela, Fraser or Corrente (who are all potential future top-four guys, although safe money would be on Corrente being the only one to reach it).

I'm not saying they aren't missing some skill back there, but that argument has been made every year and it hasn't slowed them down yet (atleast not in the regular season), so I won't bet against Big Lou's system until it proves that it doesn't work.

I'm in agreement with what you've said here, but since the deadline or so last year, they've lost Martin and Oduya, who were their 2 best defencemen bar none. Volchenkov is a warrior, but he is what he is, and isn't helping that team with anything offensively.

This team could be like the Sens of a few years ago, which featured some nice talent up front, but noone on defense to really help spark the offence. We saw how the Senators struggled, and I think NJ may be in for some struggles because of what they've lost and failed to replace. I don't know if the collapse will be as bad as Ottawa's was, but I think there will definitely be a noticable drop.

Flo The Action wrote:
i fear the sophomore curse with karlsson. Although I don’t see how or why it would happen to him, it’s a curse to some. I think we might se regin make leaps this year if it hasn’t gotten to his head and they keep him on the top 2 lines.

I think Karlsson will avoid a sophomore slump because these slumps usually happen to rookies who were amazing for their entire rookie year. Karlsson only came on during the late poart of the season.

I just came to say I don't give a crap

Oh and I also think Buffalo is 1 injury away from Adam Larsson.

Big Ev wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:
i fear the sophomore curse with karlsson. Although I don’t see how or why it would happen to him, it’s a curse to some. I think we might se regin make leaps this year if it hasn’t gotten to his head and they keep him on the top 2 lines.

I think Karlsson will avoid a sophomore slump because these slumps usually happen to rookies who were amazing for their entire rookie year. Karlsson only came on during the late poart of the season.

One of the biggest reasons for a sophomore slump has got to be the rest of the league paying more attention to that rookie who burned them the year before. Defensemen tend to be less noticeable out there than forwards and, to be frank, I don't think Karlsson did enough to really get noticed out there. And the Sens picked up one of the league's premiere puck movers for the other teams to pay more attention to, so I think Karlsson will be fine.

I'm kinda surprised at the pessism here over the Sens. I expect that from THN.

I expect us to do at least as good as last year.

- Goaltending should be fine. Elliott works hard and gets better every year. We actually got a real goalie coach and that sounds like just what Leclaire needs. Both goalies are in a contract year. At least one of them will step up and take the reins.
- The loss of A-train and Sutton is no biggie. We had these shot blocking monsters on our team and the Penguins still managed 50+ shots on net. Not to mention their big physical presence did nothing, Sutton's hit ton Leopold only mobilized them more.
- I don't think Karlsson will slump, as teams will be more busy trying to contain Gonchar. I think he's smart and fast enough to handle any extra pressure on him by the opposition anyway.

And then there's the Clouston factor, he continues to defy the low expectations on him and the team.

All in all I'm not worried, we had some crippling injuries and we still stayed compettive.

My only wish is for consistency and not go on a huge win streak only to lose an embarrassing game to the Leafs.

Actually that's a better request, can we please kick the Leafs' Donkey this year ? Not a shootout win but a solid asskicking like the old days.

Hoags wrote:I'm kinda surprised at the pessism here over the Sens. I expect that from THN.

I expect us to do at least as good as last year.

- Goaltending should be fine. Elliott works hard and gets better every year. We actually got a real goalie coach and that sounds like just what Leclaire needs. Both goalies are in a contract year. At least one of them will step up and take the reins.
- The loss of A-train and Sutton is no biggie. We had these shot blocking monsters on our team and the Penguins still managed 50+ shots on net. Not to mention their big physical presence did nothing, Sutton's hit ton Leopold only mobilized them more.
- I don't think Karlsson will slump, as teams will be more busy trying to contain Gonchar. I think he's smart and fast enough to handle any extra pressure on him by the opposition anyway.

And then there's the Clouston factor, he continues to defy the low expectations on him and the team.

All in all I'm not worried, we had some crippling injuries and we still stayed compettive.

My only wish is for consistency and not go on a huge win streak only to lose an embarrassing game to the Leafs.

Actually that's a better request, can we please kick the Leafs' Donkey this year ? Not a shootout win but a solid asskicking like the old days.

I think when its all said and done, Clouston will be the greatest coach in the history of the game. While watching games, I've never really seen a coach impact a team positively (def. seen then do harm to a team), I never even thought it possible. I would be watching a game and could see players turn a game around, but never a coach. That is until I saw Clouston. If the sens would have beaten the Pens, I would have said it was because of Clouston's in-game adjustments.

I know this team will make the playoffs (minus any huge injuries, even with those, I think we've still got a great chance). I know it because Clouston is the coach.

SpezDispenser wrote:
1.Washington
2.Pittsburgh
3.Boston
4.Philadelphia
5.New Jersey
6.Buffalo
7.Tampa Bay
8.Montreal
---------------------------
9.Carolina
10.Ottawa
11.Atlanta
12.Toronto
13.NY Rangers
14.NY Islanders
15.Florida

- The Caps won't win the East. Atlanta and Tampa are a lot better now and Wash's defensive issues will really show this year.
- Pitts is really going to miss Gonchar on the PP and they still didn't address the fact that they don't have any good wingers for Malkin and Crosby.
- Boston will be good but there will be a lot of pressure on Seguin and they will run into injury issues. Can Rask repeat his awesome year?
- Philly is sick. Goaltending still an issue but that shouldn't be much of a problem. Need to work on their consistency as a team however.
- New Jersey is trying to revert to their old days (Volch = Stevens). No serious threat on the blueline offensively, Brodeur is past his prime, but loaded offensively.
- Buffalo = garbage. Too much, a team of 2nd and 3rd liners with a great goalie. Don't know if there defence core can be as effective as they were last year. The league knows about Myers now.
- Tampa is a great team on paper but still have a lot of offensive and defensive holes.
- Montreal will lose the Northeast. Aside from Cammalleri (and the departed Halak) playing hockey at a godly level, the team was garbage in the playoffs. They're undersized offensively, and Price is overrated and inconsistent.

My rankings:

1. Philadelphia
2. Washington
3. Ottawa
4. New Jersey
5. Pittsburgh
6. Boston
7. Atlanta
8. Buffalo
9. Tampa Bay
10. Toronto
11. Montreal

Amnesia021 wrote:

Hoags wrote:I'm kinda surprised at the pessism here over the Sens. I expect that from THN.

I expect us to do at least as good as last year.

- Goaltending should be fine. Elliott works hard and gets better every year. We actually got a real goalie coach and that sounds like just what Leclaire needs. Both goalies are in a contract year. At least one of them will step up and take the reins.
- The loss of A-train and Sutton is no biggie. We had these shot blocking monsters on our team and the Penguins still managed 50+ shots on net. Not to mention their big physical presence did nothing, Sutton's hit ton Leopold only mobilized them more.
- I don't think Karlsson will slump, as teams will be more busy trying to contain Gonchar. I think he's smart and fast enough to handle any extra pressure on him by the opposition anyway.

And then there's the Clouston factor, he continues to defy the low expectations on him and the team.

All in all I'm not worried, we had some crippling injuries and we still stayed compettive.

My only wish is for consistency and not go on a huge win streak only to lose an embarrassing game to the Leafs.

Actually that's a better request, can we please kick the Leafs' Donkey this year ? Not a shootout win but a solid asskicking like the old days.

I think when its all said and done, Clouston will be the greatest coach in the history of the game. While watching games, I've never really seen a coach impact a team positively (def. seen then do harm to a team), I never even thought it possible. I would be watching a game and could see players turn a game around, but never a coach. That is until I saw Clouston. If the sens would have beaten the Pens, I would have said it was because of Clouston's in-game adjustments.

I know this team will make the playoffs (minus any huge injuries, even with those, I think we've still got a great chance). I know it because Clouston is the coach.

That's going way too far. He's only had one full season as coach, and you're predicting he'll be the greatest of all time?

A bit much, yes, but I think he meant best ever in Sens history.

Now, the flip side of that is I think one of the biggest reasons we lost to the Pens last year was Clouston. We won game 1 and were leading game 2 18 seconds in. Bylsma made adjustments to put Crosby on Spezza and it worked. Back in our own barn Clouston would have been able to keep Spezza away from Crosby but he didn't. I know I am oversimplifying things, but the point is Bylsma course-corrected when he had to and Clouston did not. Rookie mistake.