Good, Bad and Ugly on Opening night...

Acrobat wrote:You have to think that they were somewhat deflated by a goal 40sec into the season - not just the game, but the season.

How's that for an omen?

So much for the theory that Gerber was distracted by Emery (or is he distracted by Elliot now?) Perhaps I overestimated his technical skill a bit (or overestimated his mental strength a lot - and that's scary, when I think about it.)

Murray puts in a call to Tallon, and I'm thinking Tallon is in the driver's seat.
Dammit, another game like this, and Melnyk won't be questioning whether he should absorb a big contract in the minors, he'll be asking why he waited so long.

OK, back away from the ledge, please.

It's one game, a bad game by all. Gerber sucked. Alfie was not playing like Alife. Spezza with the give-away. Refs still hate us.

But we still got a point out of it, and the big-two had a three-point night. And we outhit the snot out of those waddlers.

Tomorrow Gerber *will be* better. Alfie will get a good night's sleep and be on fire tomorrow. Spezza will get another 2 points or more. The Pens defense will be really tentative going into corners. The Sens wil come back home with 3 out of a possible 4 points. That's like 123 points for the season, if you extrapolate.

The only question is, do we start the parade from the Red Zone and go downtown, or the other way round?

:D

I'm not "on the ledge" - I'm just a bit pissed, that's all.

This is a team that is supposed to hammer the opponent into submission, and they didn't.

This is a team that is supposed to keep shots to a minimum, and they didn't.

This is a team that is supposed to play smart defensive hockey (which Heater, Spezza, and other have committed to, and know how to do), yet - you guessed it - they didn't.

I have no problem with someone, or a team that really tries, and fails. I just didn't see that.

And worse, I have a bunch of Habs fans at the office that I'm going to have to listen to all year ...

EDIT : keep in mind that my initial rant was directed at Gerber only; the more I think about it, the more I realize that he was only one of many problems, but we've seen before that no team will play with confidence without a solid goalie behind them

Sucks to say it, but we might need to look at acquiring Khabibulin or another goalie of some letter. Those goals Gerber let in were absolutely Dung. That first goal he let in...I swear to God, a 12 year old kid on my street could have stopped that. It was just horrible to see. The last goal was an embarrassment to being a goalie. You CAN'T LET PERIMETER GOALS IN!!!!

Another thing I thought brought optimism was...the penalty kill. Our penalty kill units are going to be absolutely ridiculous this year. Might have the best penalty kill in the league if they can improve upon tonight's successes in that area.

But yeah, Gerber...you let me down old friend.

Also have to say after watching Craig Hartsburg's post game interview, Gerber and Spezza have made it onto a short term Dung list. Clearly not happy with either of them.

I don't think we should be making panic trades after one game. I thought the Big Line played pretty well all in all, and the team fought hard.

I think we have to acknowledge that Pittsburgh is a pretty good team.

We could use a puck-moving d-man though.

Did you see the goals Gerber let in? AGAIN, he let in the first shot of the game. Not to mention it was such a bush league goal that I'd be embarrassed to have let that in myself, and I'm nothing remotely close to an NHL-caliber goaltender.

PKC wrote:Did you see the goals Gerber let in? AGAIN, he let in the first shot of the game. Not to mention it was such a bush league goal that I'd be embarrassed to have let that in myself, and I'm nothing remotely close to an NHL-caliber goaltender.

It could have been much worse with all the Pittsburgh powerplays and the fact that he let in a weak goal right off of the bat.

He had a mediocre game, it's not like he's Trevor Kidd or something.

PKC wrote:Did you see the goals Gerber let in? AGAIN, he let in the first shot of the game. Not to mention it was such a bush league goal that I'd be embarrassed to have let that in myself, and I'm nothing remotely close to an NHL-caliber goaltender.

We should be thankful, I suppose, that this "home" game for the Sens was in Stockholm. I can only imagine how bad Gerber would have gotten boo'd had this home game been here in Ottawa.

Hartsburg was great in the post game. In response to the question about what he thought of Gerber's performance, what his mouth said was "The team has to learn from this game." But what his body language said was "...and what they have to learn is that Gerber lets in goals little Pee-Wees could stop, and that Spezza thinks he can stickhandle through an entire team in over-time."

So, does Auld get the start in game 2?

I've watched the 3rd, seen the hightlights and the post game comments. Hartsburg wasn't happy with the result but who would. I am not going be jumping off the bandwagon with Gerber. He let in some bad goals but at the same time Spezza should have dumped the puck into the zone. Does that mean we need to move him too because he is up to his old tricks. If this were to continue every game up to games 15 to 20 then something needs to be done. But not yet.

OH ya there was also some bad passes especially on the 5-3 power play that resulted in Pitts getting into our end. What a last minute save by Alfie, loved that poke check dive. My wife who doesnt even watch a lot of hockey was scratching her head on the amount of time we were in our own end during that 5-3 in the 3rd. Things will come together. Go Sens GO

Phoenix30 wrote:I've watched the 3rd, seen the hightlights and the post game comments. Hartsburg wasn't happy with the result but who would. I am not going be jumping off the bandwagon with Gerber. He let in some bad goals but at the same time Spezza should have dumped the puck into the zone. Does that mean we need to move him too because he is up to his old tricks. If this were to continue every game up to games 15 to 20 then something needs to be done. But not yet.

OH ya there was also some bad passes especially on the 5-3 power play that resulted in Pitts getting into our end. What a last minute save by Alfie, loved that poke check dive. My wife who doesnt even watch a lot of hockey was scratching her head on the amount of time we were in our own end during that 5-3 in the 3rd. Things will come together. Go Sens GO

Amen.

Let's not forget, Spezza is tied for the league lead in short-handed goals ... with Malkin. Yeah, it's only one game. Time to analyze, not panic.

Last year
I had a gut feeling to get rid of Emery after his first appearance.

I had a gut feeling to get rid of Paddock before the end of January.

This year,
My gut tells me Gerber will be ho hum. He needs to go unless our plan is to tank for Tavares.

If we don't upgrade, we will be repeatedly spanked by the Leafs and the Canadiens this year... take that to the bank.

and for the record: everyone thought I was crazy for suggesting that Emery and Paddock should be gone. I'm hearing the familiar "it's just one game" or "step away from the ledge" quotes from last year.

I don't jump on bandwagons, I start them :-)

Yep. I can admit when I'm wrong, and although I feel it would be a premature judgement for me to say Gerber is an awful goalie, if he plays like that again any time soon I will be on the "Gerber needs to go NOW" bandwagon. Until I see Khabibulin play this year I will reserve judgement on how significant an upgrade he is. But my gut says he goes in the "same poop, different pile" category.

Phoenix mentioned the PP struggles. I don't think I've been impressed by the PP yet this pre-season/season, and it all stems from our lack of movement and bad decision making from the back end. Is anyone else worried about our team having the weakest PP in the league?

beerandsens wrote:Yep. I can admit when I'm wrong, and although I feel it would be a premature judgement for me to say Gerber is an awful goalie, if he plays like that again any time soon I will be on the "Gerber needs to go NOW" bandwagon. Until I see Khabibulin play this year I will reserve judgement on how significant an upgrade he is. But my gut says he goes in the "same poop, different pile" category.

Phoenix mentioned the PP struggles. I don't think I've been impressed by the PP yet this pre-season/season, and it all stems from our lack of movement and bad decision making from the back end. Is anyone else worried about our team having the weakest PP in the league?

We've had the worst 5-on-3 PP for years. I don't know what it is, but we almost never score in that situation. It's the kiss of death and usually deflates the team instead of getting us a goal. I'd love to hear the stats on that one if anyone knows where to find them -- in the last 3 years, I'd bet we've converted something like 1 out of every 10 5-on-3s, at best, which would be a gross stat.

While not encouraging, I'm not ready to throw Gerber under the bus yet... let's give it 20 games and then see. Does he get the start today?

The Ottawa Sun is reporting: Auld gets first Sens start in Sweden

http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/Senators/2008/10/05/6985791.html

I'm excited

shabbs wrote:While not encouraging, I'm not ready to throw Gerber under the bus yet... let's give it 20 games and then see. Does he get the start today?

I am.....

http://www.octranspo.com/

Number Twenty Nine wrote:

shabbs wrote:While not encouraging, I'm not ready to throw Gerber under the bus yet... let's give it 20 games and then see. Does he get the start today?

I am.....

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Fair enough, I guess your moving Spezza as well for his regular antics and not clueing in.

Spezza's antics are correctable. For Gerbs, you can send him to a shrink, but in the end, he's at the tail end of his career, where Spezza is on the cusp.

If Spezza had 1/2 the work ethic as Crosby, he'd be much greater than he is right now. The puck through the legs thing was cute a few years ago, but they're onto it now.

Crosby is a big baby (and I hate him), but I'll give it to him that he loves the game and goes above and beyond to hone his skills...

Auld is in net. Watch Auld's play and you'll agree that him and Gerber are the same - back up goalies at best. My nick is homage to Gerber, so it pains me to say this....