GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ New York Rangers - 7:00pm ET - Sat. Oct. 3rd, 2009

i'm just really disapointed, i honestly thought we would see a team full of energy and jump

we got the usual

Clouston's gonna need to earn his extension now...

We have a $5.5 million dollar 4th line

asq2 wrote:

Gohan wrote:

Sens19 wrote:Why the hell would you pull the goalie when you're down by three, to embarrass yourself even more?

Maybe to not give up?

Did you just age 5 years?

Was the game that painful?

Practically knocked me back in time

Changes are still needed. I maintain that they'll be good this year, but there are significant weak pieces in the team structure that need to be fixed. Starting primarily (obviously) with the D.

Dash wrote:We have a $5.5 million dollar 4th line

Kelly's all but gone.

Hey, Karlsson got an assist on that goal. 1st career point for him, although his game was marked with first-game jitters.

PKC wrote:I said from the beginning that Phillips and Volchenkov should be split up. And if you aren't going to split them up, don't put them as your top pairing and send them out with Spezza and company...how the hell are they supposed to get the puck and attack the zone with speed when Volchenkov can't make a breakout pass to save his life.

Its bad enough that he's losing his place on this team. If this weakness in his own end continues, say goodbye to an extension.

asq2 wrote:Hey, Karlsson got an assist on that goal. 1st career point for him, although his game was marked with first-game jitters.

Yeah he didn't look like himself.

PKC wrote:

111519 wrote:i know no one wants to hear it but, kelly makes 2.2 million; did anyone even see him tonight???

i know its only one game but not a good first impression for a bunch of guys that should be eager to prove themselves

I feel for the guy. He's lost his third line role and is no languishing on the fourth line with uber offensive talents like Chris Neil and Jarkko Ruutu.

But, he should pull his own weight.

He played an alright game tonight---made some really strong defensive plays, especially in that late 1st period flurry with all the PKs---but he just doesn't have a place here anymore. He can't play in the top-9 and he's paid too much to play on the 4th line. That combined with the fact that Winchester is much more suited to play center for those two and you've got a guy thats on his way out the door.

asq2 wrote:

Gohan wrote:

Sens19 wrote:Why the hell would you pull the goalie when you're down by three, to embarrass yourself even more?

Maybe to not give up?

Did you just age 5 years?

Was the game that painful?

Wait...how am I 29? wtf? I missed that. My birthdate is now the 29 of February. I should be 7.

Just wondering when you guys think elliott takes over for leclaire? Will it be because of an injury or because he doesn't have Hitchcock as a coach protecting him? Time to face reality yet or no? Weak defense and unproven tenders.

holy crap - game 1 - too much negativity - wow.

cloverleaf wrote:Just wondering when you guys think elliott takes over for leclaire? Will it be because of an injury or because he doesn't have Hitchcock as a coach protecting him? Time to face reality yet or no? Weak defense and unproven tenders.

Well Leclaire didn't look great, but he didn't look as bad as the score indicates. You may be right that he's been shielding by the Hitch (as many of us have theorized) but its just to early to make that determination. I've seen a lot of things that inspire faith, so meh to this comment.

I thought Leclaire kept his team in the game with some fantastic stops in the first half. Turning point was the first goal - the Sens have a great odd-man rush resulting in a hit post. A freakish bounce for the Rangers and they score on a 3-on-1.

Tough to be cohesive after an 8-day layoff at any point, but especially now. I'll take .500 hockey in the first month as this team will only get better.

Each 4th line forward took a minor penalty.

Would not be sad to see A train go after that game. He was BRUTAL. I've said this since the summer, he will be a guy getting dealt to make room for Lee, which at this point I wouldnt even mind. A Train better pick it up because he was the worst player on the ice.

Leclaire, good game, cant blame him.

Clouston, it took you 59 mins to figure out that you should go with Fisher/Regin/Foligno eh... you coached an absolutly awful game. Better learn from it because you were out coached and your team was out worked.

Spezza was ok, not even close to good enough. Like Regin, like Michalek, and believe it or not, the best forwards out there tonight were Cheechoo and Neil.

Karlsson looked like a rookie tonight but the mistakes made are all part of the learning curve. Carkner looked, well, pretty solid. No problem with his game except the one time he chased a guy behind the net on the PK, but he def showed his worth.

Alfi was Alfi.

All in all good to see the team out there again, pretty upset to see not a lot has changed except the goaltending. (at least for the first game of the season)

dennycrane wrote:I thought Leclaire kept his team in the game with some fantastic stops in the first half. Turning point was the first goal - the Sens have a great odd-man rush resulting in a hit post. A freakish bounce for the Rangers and they score on a 3-on-1.

Tough to be cohesive after an 8-day layoff at any point, but especially now. I'll take .500 hockey in the first month as this team will only get better.

Each 4th line forward took a minor penalty.

500 hockey with The Sens schedual, kiss the playoffs good bye. Not even close to good enough.

MEh, too much drama for a 1st game here IMO. I see tons of potential here (4 lines who can score for sure). Lundqvist took advantage of a roster still trying to find some chemistry. Compare this performance with the Habs', Leafs, and Rangers first game (even Chicago's 1st game), and I think we didn't look as bad. Kovalev still hasn't found his teammates, Michalek is getting there with the other 2. The defensemen are not sharp yet(I've seen a lot of communivation problems). Leclaire will be awesome.
I would even say I'm pretty excited for this season.

Sens19 wrote:the Leafs look like they're going to be real good this year. I hope we play much better than we're doing against them. They at least tried to come back into it and scored 4 goals

Typical case of a team (Was) leading by 5 and relaxing a little.