GAME DAY: Preseason - Boston @ Ottawa - 7:00pm ET - Fri. Sep. 25th, 2009--PLUS afterthoughts...

Just watched the Neil fight and wow! Did he ever own Lucic! You take that 15 second grace period where he was recovering from getting hammered in the junk and he laced the kid!

Awesome!

Neil is the man, the guy is showing his worth and showing how much he truly cares. Thank God we have him because this team would be lost without him.

N4L wrote:Neil is the man, the guy is showing his worth and showing how much he truly cares. Thank God we have him because this team would be lost without him.

I'm just grateful he's on the fourth line and not the second. He's good at what he does, but he's been miscast so many times.

asq2 wrote:

N4L wrote:Neil is the man, the guy is showing his worth and showing how much he truly cares. Thank God we have him because this team would be lost without him.

I'm just grateful he's on the fourth line and not the second. He's good at what he does, but he's been miscast so many times.

Yup, I look at Phillips along those same lines as well. When Phillips struggles it's because he is being asked to do too much, same with Neil.

N4L wrote:

asq2 wrote:

N4L wrote:Neil is the man, the guy is showing his worth and showing how much he truly cares. Thank God we have him because this team would be lost without him.

I'm just grateful he's on the fourth line and not the second. He's good at what he does, but he's been miscast so many times.

Yup, I look at Phillips along those same lines as well. When Phillips struggles it's because he is being asked to do too much, same with Neil.

I am not sure if you guys think this miscast but i really like when they used to put him in front of the net to cause problems for the goalie on the pp it seemed to have been an effective tool

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:

N4L wrote:

asq2 wrote:

N4L wrote:Neil is the man, the guy is showing his worth and showing how much he truly cares. Thank God we have him because this team would be lost without him.

I'm just grateful he's on the fourth line and not the second. He's good at what he does, but he's been miscast so many times.

Yup, I look at Phillips along those same lines as well. When Phillips struggles it's because he is being asked to do too much, same with Neil.

I am not sure if you guys think this miscast but i really like when they used to put him in front of the net to cause problems for the goalie on the pp it seemed to have been an effective tool

I don't know. There are just some situations where he shouldn't be on the ice. Last game, for example, why was he on the ice with Regin? If that was Regin's regular line, Fisher could have stepped in and at least the draw would have been more difficult, which probably wouldn't have resulted in Fata's goal.

Plus, there was an instance where he was on the PP but didn't really obstruct Thomas' view at all (and that was in double coverage with Alfredsson). Thomas had a clear view of Spezza's shot.

I really liked what he did with Lucic and I think he and Ruutu as a tandem can make life hell for other team's top players. But I don't think they should try to turn him into Johan Franzen.

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:

N4L wrote:

asq2 wrote:

N4L wrote:Neil is the man, the guy is showing his worth and showing how much he truly cares. Thank God we have him because this team would be lost without him.

I'm just grateful he's on the fourth line and not the second. He's good at what he does, but he's been miscast so many times.

Yup, I look at Phillips along those same lines as well. When Phillips struggles it's because he is being asked to do too much, same with Neil.

I am not sure if you guys think this miscast but i really like when they used to put him in front of the net to cause problems for the goalie on the pp it seemed to have been an effective tool

In the past, we had no one else who was willing to do that. With Michalek, Foligno, and to an extent Fisher, we now have too many better options to have him there. Neil simply doesn't have the hands to make good use of that spot.

true enough guys but i guess it was that one season where he had like 10 goals he seemed really effective

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:true enough guys but i guess it was that one season where he had like 10 goals he seemed really effective

16, actually. But everyone and his dog was scoring that season.

asq2 wrote:

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:true enough guys but i guess it was that one season where he had like 10 goals he seemed really effective

16, actually. But everyone and his dog was scoring that season.

Not when Neil was. He was the guy who kept The Sens head above water that year before they turned it around. Neil doesnt score those goals Alfi might not even be a Seantor.

And 16 goals with time on the PP is not "effective". He has to be able to move around out there too. You can't just park him in front of the net to wait. He has to be an option crossing the blueline. He has to be able to retrieve the puck on a dump-in or gather up loose pucks behind the net. He has to have the hockey sense to read and react to both his teammates and the opposing players.

N4L wrote:

asq2 wrote:

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:true enough guys but i guess it was that one season where he had like 10 goals he seemed really effective

16, actually. But everyone and his dog was scoring that season.

Not when Neil was. He was the guy who kept The Sens head above water that year before they turned it around. Neil doesnt score those goals Alfi might not even be a Seantor.

wrong year...

CCgotITcovered wrote:

N4L wrote:

asq2 wrote:

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:true enough guys but i guess it was that one season where he had like 10 goals he seemed really effective

16, actually. But everyone and his dog was scoring that season.

Not when Neil was. He was the guy who kept The Sens head above water that year before they turned it around. Neil doesnt score those goals Alfi might not even be a Seantor.

wrong year...

That wasnt the year The Sens went to the cup?

EDIT: He got 12 the year after which is the year I am thinking of. Still, 28 goals in 2 years, not bad at all.

Still not good enough to justify taking Michalek, Fisher, Foligno, Regin, Shannon, or Cheechoo off the pp..

CCgotITcovered wrote:Still not good enough to justify taking Michalek, Fisher, Foligno, Regin, Shannon, or Cheechoo off the pp..

Oh, no, I dont even think I was implying he should be on the PP or anywhere but th 4th line. He can pop 10 on the 4th line though.

CCgotITcovered wrote:Still not good enough to justify taking Michalek, Fisher, Foligno, Regin, Shannon, or Cheechoo off the pp..

true enough
I am still not used to having lots and good options to help score

Anybody see the clip on tsn, rating the canadian teams? The front runners are, of course, vancouver and calgary. But, discussing who could make the playoffs, the sens were a write-off. Actually, they made it sound like the leafs would make it before the sens.

This is good news. Expectations are low and distractions are limited. This team can focus on building chemistry and simply playing hockey...for once.

Vandelay wrote:Anybody see the clip on tsn, rating the canadian teams? The front runners are, of course, vancouver and calgary. But, discussing who could make the playoffs, the sens were a write-off. Actually, they made it sound like the leafs would make it before the sens.

This is good news. Expectations are low and distractions are limited. This team can focus on building chemistry and simply playing hockey...for once.

Ottawa was barely even mentioned in that clip. I doubt any of them had any in-depth knowledge of the Sens.