OTTAWA @ DETROIT - GAME DAY #1!!!

NEELY wrote:I can't believe all the people questioning the coach before game 1 is even over, haha. Oh Ottawa fans, will you ever change?

This is nothing...wait until November!!!!

Seriously though, we all knew that our d-men were going to be shuffled around...it'll take a while for that to "play" itself out (i.e. depending on who plays well, and who doesn't). Everybody will be given a shot. Imagine if Carks were healthy right now, that would make the situation even more muddled.

NEELY wrote:I can't believe all the people questioning the coach before game 1 is even over, haha. Oh Ottawa fans, will you ever change?

It's going to take a while for him to find his way too IMO. he's not going to be perfect right off the bat. Preseason showed that very clearly and now with putting in 2 guys that probably shouldn't be in the lineup yet is defintely worth questioning. I mean we're not trying to lose. I don't think anyway...

I love the top 6 - I hope it translates well.

So on the 1st game of the season the N1 topic is how we can scratch Lee over Rundblad? Get back to work people

La Femme wrote:So on the 1st game of the season the N1 topic is how we can scratch Lee over Rundblad? Get back to work people

And get those Cussing beers on ice ya'll!!!!!!!!

You need puck possession against Detroit, hence why Rundblad will play. Lee is what he is, he has earned a spot but he is still just "ok" and is playing more defensive. Still can't shoot.

Look at Ottawa's 4th line, which one of those guys is a plug grinder? None of them. They all have offense to their game.

Honestly, what's the wierd obsession with Lee? He was good in the pre-season, had a good finish to the year last year... but still.

How is Rundblad better at puck possession right now? I'd love an answer to that, he hasn't proved anything here yet, except that he LOVES to turn the puck over in the worst situations.

I know he'll be awesome one day (soon probably), but he is nowhere near ready for the NHL. I think this is the worst game possible to have him play in to start off. Put him in Game 2 against Toronto, I think it's much less risky.

His confidence is already at an all time low, this is just going to destroy him if he makes mistakes, which he will.

Well, just so everyone knows what to EXPECT, the line on the Wings tonight is -2.30. The Sens are BIG underdogs tonight (as we know), and I doubt that Lee or Rundblad would be the difference maker tonight (unless Rundblad lights it up).

I'm gonna keep an open mind. Pre-season and regular season are night and day so maybe some of the pre-season underachievers just need the challenge of games that matter to get them in gear.

Besides, I think playing 3 out of 4 games against Western teams to start is a good opportunity for some extra fine tuning since the points matter a little less than they would against conference and division rivals.

NEELY wrote:Look at Ottawa's 4th line, which one of those guys is a plug grinder? None of them. They all have offense to their game.

Honestly, what's the wierd obsession with Lee? He was good in the pre-season, had a good finish to the year last year... but still.

I don't think there's an obsession with Lee necessarily, but there's no reason to knock him either. He's worked very hard to get where he's at and it's just a little sad to see him pushed aside like he was last season. For no particular reason. He's been getting better and better and I trust him way more out there right now than I do Rundblad. There's really no reason to be rushing Rundblad at all. He needs time to get used to the NA game, just like Karlsson did. Karlsson was no better than Rundblad when he came in, and look at him now. 15 games in Bingo made him what he is today. He Wing Dang Doodle and moaned about it, but he did it and he's SOOOOO much better for it.

La Femme wrote:So on the 1st game of the season the N1 topic is how we can scratch Lee over Rundblad? Get back to work people

?

I don't think its that farfetched quite frankly. Last week, most of you ppl were talking about how Rundblad needs time in the AHL, and now suddenly "oooh how dare someone say put Lee over Rundblad??" It's a legitimate point and I think its up for discussion where we're not burying the coach (read the comments, no one is burying the coach, its called a freakin' discussion). Let's not pretend the bunch of you who think its 'obvious' that rundblad should be in the lineup are on some type of high horse where you can accuse ppl of being bad fans.

EDIT: sorry don't mean to single you out only, this is also response to neely's post

Michallica wrote:

La Femme wrote:So on the 1st game of the season the N1 topic is how we can scratch Lee over Rundblad? Get back to work people

?

I don't think its that farfetched quite frankly. Last week, most of you ppl were talking about how Rundblad needs time in the AHL, and now suddenly "oooh how dare someone say put Lee over Rundblad??" It's a legitimate point and I think its up for discussion where we're not burying the coach (read the comments, no one is burying the coach, its called a freakin' discussion). Let's not pretend the bunch of you who think its 'obvious' that rundblad should be in the lineup are on some type of high horse where you can accuse ppl of being bad fans.

+1 Well said

Michallica wrote:

La Femme wrote:So on the 1st game of the season the N1 topic is how we can scratch Lee over Rundblad? Get back to work people

?

I don't think its that farfetched quite frankly. Last week, most of you ppl were talking about how Rundblad needs time in the AHL, and now suddenly "oooh how dare someone say put Lee over Rundblad??" It's a legitimate point and I think its up for discussion where we're not burying the coach (read the comments, no one is burying the coach, its called a freakin' discussion). Let's not pretend the bunch of you who think its 'obvious' that rundblad should be in the lineup are on some type of high horse where you can accuse ppl of being bad fans.

EDIT: sorry don't mean to single you out only, this is also response to neely's post

\

Well, it's the first game of the season. I'm not saying you guys don't have any solid arguments, I'm just saying the fuss about it is a little bit exagerated. I think there are solid explanations for Rundblad over Lee:
- Move the puck into Detroit's zone AFAP: Cannot stay in the neutral zone long against Detroit. Rundblad > Lee
- 3 solid puck movers on each pairing, 3 solid veterans / youngsters pairings: all our 4 lines will play pretty similarly, no grinding 4th line, like Neely said, no "shutdown pairing" on D
- Detroit's PK was very average last year. We need to take avantage of the full 2 minutes. PP: Rundblad > Lee

I can garantee you Brian Lee will play tomorrow.

Michallica wrote:

La Femme wrote:So on the 1st game of the season the N1 topic is how we can scratch Lee over Rundblad? Get back to work people

?

I don't think its that farfetched quite frankly. Last week, most of you ppl were talking about how Rundblad needs time in the AHL, and now suddenly "oooh how dare someone say put Lee over Rundblad??" It's a legitimate point and I think its up for discussion where we're not burying the coach (read the comments, no one is burying the coach, its called a freakin' discussion). Let's not pretend the bunch of you who think its 'obvious' that rundblad should be in the lineup are on some type of high horse where you can accuse ppl of being bad fans.

EDIT: sorry don't mean to single you out only, this is also response to neely's post

Rundblad probably does need time in the AHL and would probably be there if Carkner wasn't hurt. Fact is, Carkner is hurt and they want to carry 7 D men and 13 forwards right now which is a good decision being that they start on the road. Rundblad is up in Ottawa and he needs to play, Lee can't play the left side as he struggles in big ways so he sits.

I'm not suggesting Rundblad doesn't need time in the minors but he does need to play. Lee knows his role right now, that's a 5th, 6th, 7th D man, he hasn't done anything as of right now to suggest he is more than that.

To beat Detroit they will need to score, sorry, Lee doesn't help with that in the least. Rundblad does despite his obvious short comings at this point. He might be burned all night long but it's what Ottawa needs to win.

This was posted on the Sun website too

OTTAWA

•Milan Michalek-Jason Spezza-Nikita Filatov
•Colin Greening-Mika Zibanejad-Daniel Alfredsson
•Nick Foligno-Stephane Da Costa-Chris Neil
•Erik Condra-Zack Smith-Bobby Butler

Defence

•Chris Phillips-Erik Karlsson
•Jared Cowen-Sergei Gonchar
•Filip Kuba-David Rundblad

I know that's a minor change and the top d pairing and 2nd paring are inverted. Not sure the real lineups are out yet to be honest.

DETROIT

•Dan Cleary-Pavel Datsyuk-Jiri Hudler
•Valtteri Filppula-Henrik Zetterberg-Johan Franzen
•Justin Abdelkader-Darren Helm-Todd Bertuzzi
•Patrick Eaves-Cory Emmerton-Tomas Holmstrom

Defence Pairings

•Nicklas Lidstrom-Ian White
•Niklas Kronwall-Brad Stuart
•Jonathan Eriksson-Jakub Kindl

Goalies

•Jimmy Howard
•Ty Conklin

I honestly can't believe like Femme is saying, people are up in arms about a 6th D man being out of a lineup for a guy they feel may or may not need time in the AHL.

SensGirl11 wrote:This was posted on the Sun website too

The lineup isn't final yet. It becomes final on gameday, usually just after the morning skate when the media reports it.

Anyway, to be honest, I'd rather see Rundblad in the lineup, because this year is all about the kids!