Camp cuts and other notes

How do we all feel about that finger snapping smiley? Is it 'worthy'?

I don't think so. But at least let it be a standard against other are judged -- i.e. something better.

wprager wrote:I don't think so. But at least let it be a standard against other are judged -- i.e. something better.

I thought the same to be honest. We can probably find a better one - it's a tough one though.

SpezDispenser wrote:

wprager wrote:I don't think so. But at least let it be a standard against other are judged -- i.e. something better.

I thought the same to be honest. We can probably find a better one - it's a tough one though.

It's unreasonably tough. Must be something in the search terms I'mnot doing right. Tried "snaps fingers" "snapping fingers" snap fingers" and just "snap". Nothing. Weird.

I'm going to try another search engine.

I am just wondering what people think it would take to get kessel from boston?

regin, lee, and a 2nd rounder.

He is a sure thing, a 30 goal scorer for the forseeable future.

Nope, still nothing, but I found this (completely unrelated):

111519 wrote:I am just wondering what people think it would take to get kessel from boston?

regin, lee, and a 2nd rounder.

He is a sure thing, a 30 goal scorer for the forseeable future.

replace regin with another prospect that might not pan out, say maybe Zubov, even though he played one hell of a game last night, then maybe we talk, I say no to Regin.

111519 wrote:I am just wondering what people think it would take to get kessel from boston?

regin, lee, and a 2nd rounder.

He is a sure thing, a 30 goal scorer for the forseeable future.

How is he a sure thing? He's already missed considerable amout of time for injuries and other things. He played with a top play maker in Boston and scored a little of 30 goals. He tailed of at the end in a huge way, and there are serious questions about his character from the time he was drafted up until this very second.

Kessel is not a sure thing and any team that gives up anything more then basically a decent prospect and MAYBE a 1st rounder is mental.

Kessel will not make a team better on his own.

Notes from Sens Chirp

Speculation is that Murray will move a body out before the season begins in an effort to create a spot for one of the young guys. I keep reading Chris Kelly as a candidate to be moved but I really think the Senators would be wise to hang on to him. Obviously his contract isn't great but hes too important defensively and on the PK to just ship out for a draft pick.

Donovan, Schubert and Ruutu seem like the most likely candidates. Nothing more than a draft pick should be expected in return

Then some on Michalek

Milan Michalek skated with the Senators for the first time yesterday and today was lined up on the left side of Jason Spezza with Daniel Alfredsson on the other wing. That line could be absolutely lethal for the Senators.

Oh...that line is so sexy. I love it.

Ruutu, IMO should not go anywhere. He has 1 year left, I say let him play it out. I'm a fan of what he brings to the team. HIs contract is small too, so not really worth moving him, IMO.

Donovan has already said that he's prepared for whatever happens this season, whether he plays or not. His contract is peanuts.

That line would be kick-Donkey for sure. Looking forward to seeing them play together.

Kovalev and Cheechoo and Fisher should be able to get some chemistry going. Kovalev had some beautiful feeds to Fish, but of course Fish couldn't finish. I am going to be patient with him this year, he just seemed stunned that he was getting such nice passes, he's not used to that, especially from a winger. Who needs a Center on line 2 when you have Kovalev.

I keep reading Chris Kelly as a candidate to be moved but I really think the Senators would be wise to hang on to him. Obviously his contract isn't great but hes too important defensively and on the PK to just ship out for a draft pick.

I disagree with this statement. At this point the cap room would outweigh Kelly's PK value. We have plenty of people to fill that role.

2 years left for Ruutu.

I don't know if anyone read this all or not....thought I'd post it.

By DON BRENNAN Sun Media
Michalek has sense of urgency with Senators

Up close, he looks even bigger than the listed 6-foot-2, 225 lbs. Thicker, more solid.

By all accounts, he does not shy away from physical play. He drives hard to the net and battles in the corners.
If he’s not the fastest skater in the NHL, they say, he’s probably in the top 5.

And at 24, he’s bringing not only a relatively club-friendly contract but also, seemingly, a sense of urgency.

“I hope I can step up my game,” Milan Michalek said yesterday morning, in his first interview as a Senator at Scotiabank Place. “I am not a young guy any more. Hopefully, I can put up some more goals.”

It’s quite possible Michalek, who will pull in an average of $4.33 million until the end of the 2014 season, has only scratched the surface of his potential.

The Senators, in fact, are banking on it. In four NHL seasons with the San Jose Sharks, he’s been pretty good with goal totals of 17, 26, 24 and 23.

He believes he’s better than that.

I think I have a pair of boxers older than he is, but if Michalek says he’s “not a young guy anymore” then that indicates he’s not going to make excuses, that he’s ready to live up to his billing as the No. 6 overall pick in 2003, which was a very good draft.

And if he scores 30-35 goals this season while actually playing both ends of the ice like the rumours suggest, Michalek could be well on his way to making Senators GM Bryan Murray come out the winner in the trading of Dany Heatley — a sniper who only brings a great one-timer and a lot of sour grapes to the table.

Starts and stops
Jeremy Yablonski could very be among the wave of cuts made by Ottawa today, but GM Bryan Murray really should think about re-calling him from Binghamton for at least six games this season — every single Senators-Maple Leafs meeting. The Toronto Goon Squad will have too many brawlers for Chris Neil to handle by himself (even though Nick Tarnasky’s aching orbital bone is proof that Neil is already in fine form) and Yablonski reminded all he’s more than capable of handling such duties with his thorough pounding of tough guy Adam Keefe in the first period .... The only rift between Heatley and any Senators players was the envy the former held toward the stars on the team and their shadows he thought he’d never escape — and from those who were simply tired of his selfishness. Stop, already, with all the ridiculous off-ice rumours about girlfriends and wives and pregnancies. For the last time, the reasons he wanted out of Ottawa were all hockey-related ... Heatley was also down on the local media who dared criticize his play. Things could change, of course, but the two players he was traded for are displaying a different attitude toward the press. The almost-always-grinning Cheechoo clearly enjoyed reminiscing yesterday morning about the Memorial Cup tournament in Ottawa 10 years ago — even though a knee injury meant he mostly had to watch his Belleville Bulls fall short — while Michalek acknowledged but shrugged off such heat in the nation’s capital. “I don’t think it’s going to be a lot of pressure,” he said. “We’ll see if everything is going to go good. If something is going to go bad, the pressure will be worse than in California.”

Between periods
There’s something you don’t see every day — Anton Volchenkov has just blocked a shot, this one by Cory Stillman. Well, you don’t see it every day in the summer. Every day the Senators are playing you do .... Kovalev must have thought he was on Michael Landsberg’s Off The Record with the quick “next question” he gave a TV reporter asking if he was going to be making his new hockey season home in Quebec or Ontario. “I’m in Ottawa now,” he bristled, “so I’m living in Ottawa.” ... New song, new clip coming to a video board near you: Mike Fisher is gonna git ya. Easy ladies, he’s still got the girlfriend .... Attendance was announced at 15,205 but the building was only half full, at most ... So much for the Senators always winning when Chris Phillips scores.

Things that make you go hmmm ...

It wasn’t a regular-size crowd and the conditions were dry, but the new fourth lane made the drive to SBP 90 minutes before game time even better than expected. I was able to drive 130 km/h between the 416 and the rink. Um, sorry officers, I meant 100, of course ... You’ve never seen Yablonski? Think Tie Domi, with muscles and about four more inches in height ... One theory is the officials were so tired of watching a bad game, there’s no way they were going to allow another five minutes of it ... The three stars, as selected by the Team 1200, were the three goal scorers: Dmitri Kulikov, Jordan Leopold and Phillips.

SeawaySensFan wrote:I keep reading Chris Kelly as a candidate to be moved but I really think the Senators would be wise to hang on to him. Obviously his contract isn't great but hes too important defensively and on the PK to just ship out for a draft pick.

I disagree with this statement. At this point the cap room would outweigh Kelly's PK value. We have plenty of people to fill that role.

I personally agree. As much as I like Chris, I think with all of the young lads we have coming up through the system, his time is quickly coming to be moved. Which makes me wonder why we even bothered signing him in the first place. Trade bait I guess...alot of money though.

I will go ahead and say that Z. Smith is almost ready to take over for Chris. I will not say that he's as good yet, obviously, but he'll get there.

Kovalev must have thought he was on Michael Landsberg’s Off The Record with the quick “next question” he gave a TV reporter asking if he was going to be making his new hockey season home in Quebec or Ontario. “I’m in Ottawa now,” he bristled, “so I’m living in Ottawa.” ...

Ummm...sounds like he's already annoyed with our media too.

probably tired of people making such a big deal about his comment about retiring in montreal

apparently only six cuts today down to a roster of 40

http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=498875

Drew Bannister and Tomas Kudelka; forwards Erik Condra, Denis Hamel and Jim O’Brien, and goaltender Chris Holt.