GAME DAY: Buffalo Sabres @ Ottawa Senators - 7:00pm EST - Sat. Nov. 20th, 2009: Sens win 5-3 PLUS post game thoughts

So, no comments on my question regarding Sid? I'm actually fairly serious. At what point do you stop pointing at past contributions and check his season-to-date? And speaking of past contribution, it's actually pretty slim at the senior international level -- to borrow from Neely, he hasn't won anything (a 0-5 loss in the Bronze Medal game).

Well, let's get real here, how many guys are evaluated solely on their current seasonal performance only? Certain players will get a free ride, like Sid, because they know he'll step it up when it matters, under pressure etc...

Is there an open practice this morning?

Not sure...

shabbs wrote:Well, let's get real here, how many guys are evaluated solely on their current seasonal performance only? Certain players will get a free ride, like Sid, because they know he'll step it up when it matters, under pressure etc...

He's got one massive thing working against him though: Canada's insane depth at center.

When you have these guys playing the middle of the ice for you to choose from, it makes things dicey:

Joe Thornton
Vincent Lecavalier
Jeff Carter
Mike Richards
Ryan Getzlaf
Marc Savard
Eric Staal
Jason Spezza
Jonathan Toews
Patrick Marleau
Derek Roy
Jordan Staal

I know it's presumptuous and possibly ridiculous to include some of those names on the list, but you could easily pick four guys out of that group and not be disappointed.

At some point Team Canada brass have to look at their roster and say "We need the guys who are playing the best hockey right now to give us a chance against the other countries".

Is one of those guys Sidney Crosby? Who knows. He's been struggling this year it seems. Well, struggling by his standards I suppose. He has 5 points in his last 9 games and is a -6 in that same stretch.

Tough call to make. Obviously need more time to judge these players, but maybe he's not as much of a lock as some of us would hope.

Agreed, and Yzerman has said that he wants guys who are "heating up" and playing their best hockey at the time... so, we'll see if he follows through or will they buckle under the political pressure...

Sid has been in one international event as a senior. He wore the 'A', led the tournament with 8 goals and 8 assists in 9 games, but the team lost 0-5 to Finland in the Bronze Medal game.

So he doesn't (yet) have a resume. Unlike Heatley, for example. Who who last night got another 3 . Thornton, with 4 assists, is certainly having a better season. So is Marleau. Crosby is also taking a lot of penalties -- among Canadian centers, he's 4th behind the likes of Konopka, Prust and Rypien. He's safley ahead of the Olympic hopefuls.

Yeah, I'm just being a little devil, especially given my past comments and negative bias against Sindey, but still.

Sid's not even a 4th line center...



Taxi squad?

wprager wrote:Sid has been in one international event as a senior. He wore the 'A', led the tournament with 8 goals and 8 assists in 9 games, but the team lost 0-5 to Finland in the Bronze Medal game.

So he doesn't (yet) have a resume. Unlike Heatley, for example. Who who last night got another 3 . Thornton, with 4 assists, is certainly having a better season. So is Marleau. Crosby is also taking a lot of penalties -- among Canadian centers, he's 4th behind the likes of Konopka, Prust and Rypien. He's safley ahead of the Olympic hopefuls.

Yeah, I'm just being a little devil, especially given my past comments and negative bias against Sindey, but still.

I think he'll make the team, just because he'll more likely than not pick it up and start tearing it up again. But if he continues to be a minus player as his recent 9 game stretch trends towards, then he's gonna have to bring a different element to the team. And considering that he's not even in the top 20 for scoring this year, and barely in the top 30, he's gonna have to start doing something better.

PKC wrote:
He's got one massive thing working against him though: Canada's insane depth at center.

When you have these guys playing the middle of the ice for you to choose from, it makes things dicey:

Joe Thornton
Vincent Lecavalier
Jeff Carter
Mike Richards
Ryan Getzlaf
Marc Savard
Eric Staal
Jason Spezza
Jonathan Toews
Patrick Marleau
Derek Roy
Jordan Staal

I know it's presumptuous and possibly ridiculous to include some of those names on the list, but you could easily pick four guys out of that group and not be disappointed.

At some point Team Canada brass have to look at their roster and say "We need the guys who are playing the best hockey right now to give us a chance against the other countries".

Is one of those guys Sidney Crosby? Who knows. He's been struggling this year it seems. Well, struggling by his standards I suppose. He has 5 points in his last 9 games and is a -6 in that same stretch.

Tough call to make. Obviously need more time to judge these players, but maybe he's not as much of a lock as some of us would hope.

Umm, where's Mike Fisher on that list? He's got identical stats to Mike Richards (playing on a weaker team) except for being a +5 (versus +4 for Richards, playing on a better team, or did I mention that already?) He plays hard yet has only taken 13 PIMs (I assume that's 4 minors and a major; compare to Crosby who has 35).

So you guys think after carying the olympic torch they will take him off the team? I can assure you even if he has 40 points by February he will still be on that team.

So, back to the game...

Lines at Sens skate today:

Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Foligno-Fisher-Shannon
Ruutu-Kelly-Neil
Cheechoo-Regin-Winchester

Game notes for tonight:

http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/PDFs/091121_Ott-vs-Buf.pdf

Clouston post-practice presser from today:

http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091121_Clouston.mp3

Pascal goes in net for the Sens.

marakh wrote:So you guys think after carying the olympic torch they will take him off the team? I can assure you even if he has 40 points by February he will still be on that team.

Well, that's part of the reason I'm upset and not a Sid fan. He's a heck of a hockey player, but they are making as much fuss over him as they did over Mario. Difference is, Mario took a few years to get to that level, but with Sid it started since his first year in the league.

Lalime goes tonight for the Sabres.

Buffalo went to OT last night, before losing. So we can't tie them on points. Good, that won't be on the players' minds.

Florida beat Detroit? Whaaaaat?!