The Hockey News: Sens to miss playoffs

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.

wprager wrote: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.

I dunno about that. Malkin is too big for Spezza to handle and Staal is too defensive; would have shut down our top line. Clouston probably decided to put power on power and Crosby is just a really powerful guy.

wprager wrote: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.

Maybe he had too much faith in Spezza, same with Elliott. Karlsson and Regin certainly rewarded his faith in him.

All in all it was a good experience, it'll be very interesting to watch the coach this year and see what changes.

Hoags wrote:

wprager wrote: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.

Maybe he had too much faith in Spezza, same with Elliott. Karlsson and Regin certainly rewarded his faith in him.

All in all it was a good experience, it'll be very interesting to watch the coach this year and see what changes.

What's going to change? A healthy Michalek would have shut down Crosby and a healthy Kovalev could have potted 1-2 key goals in that series.

We're a serious threat if Leclaire stays healthy and consistent. That's what this season comes down to

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.

You think we're weak on paper? I guess in a sense we are but if a player like Wick or Butler live up to our beliefs, and if Gonchar can get Kovalev going, then we're in fantastic shape next year. Still would like to add a second-line center to relieve some stress off Fish though and put him in a more natural role...

wprager wrote: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.

I think he learned a lot from that playoff series. He made some seriously rookie mistakes all over the place - including too many men on the ice, matchups. Basically everything until the 4th game or so. I would imagine he doesn't make those mistakes again - or I hope not.

I just read THN article and they think it's the goaltending that is our weakness - which is fair enough actually (although...you know...Brian Elliott is around, they're either forgetting about him or just simply underrating him).

Also, they like the Gonchar move, but wonder about our toughness on the backend.

Basically what we've been talking about on the 'net for months now.

Problem is you subtract a player from our blue line for someone with toughness, and you lose skill.

The only move I might make is trading Kuba for a stay at home defencive type. Matt Greene would be ideal, but no way LA gives him up.

LMAO Clouston will go down as the greatest coach in history? Where did that come from!?!?!

I don't feel like quoting but I'll address some of Kovalfie and a few other people's points:

-Pittsburgh has found their prime winger and it's Malkin who will play wing on a line with Staal.

-Buffalo is not amazing but in no way are they going to be a bottom-feeder. There team is still ok, even with the losses on defence. Especially with Tyler Ennis coming in, a player who can seriously challenge for the Calder.

-A healthy Michalek would NOT have shut down Crosby. That's nothing against Michalek, it's just that Crosby's offence would have been too much for him to handle.

-Atlanta won't make the playoffs. They shouldn't even be trying.

-Right now, on paper, there is no way you can say the Sens are a better team than the Bruins. All we have to look at are the teams on paper, and yes we could be better than them once the season gets going, but IMO on paper we are second in the division.

Dash wrote:Problem is you subtract a player from our blue line for someone with toughness, and you lose skill.

The only move I might make is trading Kuba for a stay at home defencive type. Matt Greene would be ideal, but no way LA gives him up.

Too late for that IMO. The move to have made was to trade Kuba for a pick (if possible) and re-sign Volchenkov.

It's not like Volchenkov and Sutton made a huge difference, Pittsburgh matched and maybe even outhit us.

Sure they blocked a lot of shots, Penguins still managed 50+ on net, when Leclaire set the team record.

Hopefully now with Gonchar and co. we'll actually get the puck out of the zone and spend more time in the opponents' end.

Hoags wrote:It's not like Volchenkov and Sutton made a huge difference, Pittsburgh matched and maybe even outhit us.

Sure they blocked a lot of shots, Penguins still managed 50+ on net, when Leclaire set the team record.

Hopefully now with Gonchar and co. we'll actually get the puck out of the zone and spend more time in the opponents' end.

That's exactly right IMO. We've been being beaten time and again with Ds that aren't as tough as ours, it's time to turn the table a little and stick up for ourselves, but move the puck out of the zone so there isn't as much opportunity for hits needed.

SpezDispenser wrote:

Dash wrote:Problem is you subtract a player from our blue line for someone with toughness, and you lose skill.

The only move I might make is trading Kuba for a stay at home defencive type. Matt Greene would be ideal, but no way LA gives him up.

Too late for that IMO. The move to have made was to trade Kuba for a pick (if possible) and re-sign Volchenkov.

Still end up paying over a million more though. And Also sets a bad precedent for our team, when you've got Chris Phillips who is more of a complete player to re-sign.

I think the best thing is to see how this team actually plays first before making any judgements

I think A-train would have taken a 4 X 6, so it would have been a negligible difference. Interesting point on Phillips though, he's way more important - not that I'm putting down A-Train, he's awesome and everyone knows it - but Phillips is 'the guy' on our backend and I'd like to re-sign him for less than he's making now.

Big Ev wrote:LMAO Clouston will go down as the greatest coach in history? Where did that come from!?!?!

I don't feel like quoting but I'll address some of Kovalfie and a few other people's points:

-Pittsburgh has found their prime winger and it's Malkin who will play wing on a line with Staal.

-Buffalo is not amazing but in no way are they going to be a bottom-feeder. There team is still ok, even with the losses on defence. Especially with Tyler Ennis coming in, a player who can seriously challenge for the Calder.

-A healthy Michalek would NOT have shut down Crosby. That's nothing against Michalek, it's just that Crosby's offence would have been too much for him to handle.

-Atlanta won't make the playoffs. They shouldn't even be trying.

-Right now, on paper, there is no way you can say the Sens are a better team than the Bruins. All we have to look at are the teams on paper, and yes we could be better than them once the season gets going, but IMO on paper we are second in the division.

- If that's the case with Pitts 2nd line tandem, they're not as strong a 'team'. Playing 2nd line minutes, powerplay, and penalty kill won't be easy for Staal who will now be expected to put up serious points. Pitts should have went after Kariya and Selanne IMO.
- Buffalo definitely won't be a bottom feeder but they play Ottawa, Boston, and Toronto 8 times a year each, and all three teams' offensive outputs should increase significantly this year. The Northeast should be a lot more competitive now, and they're going to have to rely on Miller that much more. He's a great goalie but he can't be expected to win games by himself every single night.
- Atlanta made a really strong push near the end of the year and that was without Kovalchuk. Add a full season of Bergfors who is a very underrated talent, Byfuglien who will be a huge body in front of opposing nets (see Washington, Tampa, and Carolina's weak defences), Ladd who could have been a 2nd line player on most teams in the NHL last year, and another year's experience for Kane, Peverley, and Little and Atlanta has a very young, underrated team. That's not including Esposito, Cormier and Aliu who could push for spots (I think Aliu can anyway), and a motivated Mason. I think Atlanta will be a surprise team
- You might be right about Boston being the better team. My opinion is obviously swayed by being a Sens fan, but we finished ahead of them last year having a sub-par powerplay, and a weaker backend presence. I know Gonchar is old but he and Karlsson are going to make our powerplay so much better. Spezza and Kovalev all struggled last year and both will come out flying this year. Regin has showed he can be a top-six guy, and if our role players put up decent numbers like they did last season I think the Sens will be the better team. It really hinges on Leclaire having a bounce back year and our defence adjusting to a new style. We will be an attacking team next year and hopefully our goals for makes up for our transitioning defence. Wick/Butler could also be wildcards in defining the success of this team.

Great points Kovalfie. I think the Northeast is really up in the air. Even a team like Montreal who looks decent on paper could surprise and be more than decent (I think Price will do well without the stiff competition that hef aced with Halak last year). It's tough to predict this division.

Staal is more than a third line player so I think he can handle the minutes. He played more than 20 on most nights anyway so I don't think it will affect him too much. Also don't think he gets a ton of PP time since he will be on the second unit. Pittsburgh also has some wild cards in rookie wingers Dustin Jeffrey and Eric Tangradi who can really surprise if they get put in the right situation.

Can tomorrow be October? I wan't the season to start!