GAME DAY: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Ottawa Senators – 7:30PM EST, Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Was I the only one that noticed they had both Foligno and Campoli out on the ice together early on in the game? Why would Clouston have two out of five players on the ice together who clearly had timing issues early in the game?

I remember one shift in particular where Foligno was bobbling and mishandling the puck in the offensive zone and then about 20 seconds later Campoli was doing the same thing in the D zone. Funnily enough he was trying to get the puck back to Foligno of all players.

Edit: I know it can't always be avoided but it was in the first period and both of them had missed significant time due to injury.

They are over the cap without applying the bonus cushion. IIRC by about $160K or something in that neighborhood. The bonus cushion (if used) gives them around $800K. Cheechoo's cap for the remaining 12 games would be $439K.

The thing to keep in mind, though, is that the bonus cushion is not free money. Eventually it has to be applied to the cap. If we bring Cheechoo back it will cost us roughly $500K next season (very roughly) unless we demote one or two players.

Winchester is on a one-way but, then again, so is Cheechoo. At this point, none of them should feel safe about getting sent down. Regin and Winchester would be my prime targets for a little "Let's try to remember why we need to play harder" trip to Bingo. Couple of weeks should do it. In the meantime, bring Cheechoo back up.

I must have watched a different game than most of you. Other than the first 10 minutes I thought the Sens were okay if not good. They generated lots of chances that never even became shots on goal. The guys are obviously at a very low confidence level, but from what I saw last night I think this streak is about to turn around. I would not be shocked to see the guys win 3 in a row and have this fickle fanbase taking Conference Final again.

RobbyJ wrote:I must have watched a different game than most of you. Other than the first 10 minutes I thought the Sens were okay if not good. They generated lots of chances that never even became shots on goal. The guys are obviously at a very low confidence level, but from what I saw last night I think this streak is about to turn around. I would not be shocked to see the guys win 3 in a row and have this fickle fanbase taking Conference Final again.

Even during their 11 game winning streak I didn't expect a Conference final for this team. I was thinking second round with a 3rd place finish in the Conference was a distinct possibility though. Now I'm thinking it will be tough to hang onto 5th and a first round knock out is a distinct possibility if not a guarantee should we face Washington or Pittsburgh in round 1.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

RobbyJ wrote:I must have watched a different game than most of you. Other than the first 10 minutes I thought the Sens were okay if not good. They generated lots of chances that never even became shots on goal. The guys are obviously at a very low confidence level, but from what I saw last night I think this streak is about to turn around. I would not be shocked to see the guys win 3 in a row and have this fickle fanbase taking Conference Final again.

Even during their 11 game winning streak I didn't expect a Conference final for this team. I was thinking second round with a 3rd place finish in the Conference was a distinct possibility though. Now I'm thinking it will be tough to hang onto 5th and a first round knock out is a distinct possibility if not a guarantee should we face Washington or Pittsburgh in round 1.

I wasn't speaking necessarily of the members here, more of the pathetic fanbase in the city as a whole.

RobbyJ wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

RobbyJ wrote:I must have watched a different game than most of you. Other than the first 10 minutes I thought the Sens were okay if not good. They generated lots of chances that never even became shots on goal. The guys are obviously at a very low confidence level, but from what I saw last night I think this streak is about to turn around. I would not be shocked to see the guys win 3 in a row and have this fickle fanbase taking Conference Final again.

Even during their 11 game winning streak I didn't expect a Conference final for this team. I was thinking second round with a 3rd place finish in the Conference was a distinct possibility though. Now I'm thinking it will be tough to hang onto 5th and a first round knock out is a distinct possibility if not a guarantee should we face Washington or Pittsburgh in round 1.

I wasn't speaking necessarily of the members here, more of the pathetic fanbase in the city as a whole.

True enough. It's not just the fan base it's the media as well.

I'm still not convinced about this Capitals team. They've had it too easy in the regular season, and I think they will find the post-season (2nd round and later) very tough.

Montreal is playing very well, lately. They've been plagued with injuries all year, but have found a way to stick around long enough for the IR list to shrink to a manageable size. They've solidified their playoff position and are just one point behind Ottawa. If you plot their trajectory versus Buffalo's it's clear that they can soon end up as the third seed.

And Cammalleri is not back in the lineup *yet*.

How well did Ovechkin do against Halak in the Olympics? One goal in the shootout in a 2-1 loss. And Halak will have more NHL players with him this time around.

At this point, I don't think the Sens are a threat to anyone, frankly. Montreal, on the other hand, if I was Washington or Pittsburgh, I'd be concerned.

I agree with you on Washington. I believe they'll make it out of round 1 but that's as far as I see them going.

Nothing is gonna change until we've gone through the cold streaks of Fisher, Kovalev and to a lesser extent Michalek. They're three of the streakiest players on the planet - and we knew that going in. Now, the three of them are cold as hell and we have to wait until they get hot again.

I'm still waiting to hear that Winchester is a healthy scratch and Donovan is back in (or even better, Z.Smith has been called up). Come on.

SpezDispenser wrote:Nothing is gonna change until we've gone through the cold streaks of Fisher, Kovalev and to a lesser extent Michalek. They're three of the streakiest players on the planet - and we knew that going in. Now, the three of them are cold as hell and we have to wait until they get hot again.

I wonder if they should just leave Fisher on the shelf until the playoffs in order to heal his nagging injury. It's not like he was helping in the goal scoring department right? It seemed to give Spezza a boost after being off for an extended period. At this point I don't think it would hurt.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Nothing is gonna change until we've gone through the cold streaks of Fisher, Kovalev and to a lesser extent Michalek. They're three of the streakiest players on the planet - and we knew that going in. Now, the three of them are cold as hell and we have to wait until they get hot again.

I wonder if they should just leave Fisher on the shelf until the playoffs in order to heal his nagging injury. It's not like he was helping in the goal scoring department right? It seemed to give Spezza a boost after being off for an extended period. At this point I don't think it would hurt.

Fisher and Alfie can sit for 10 games, I'm dead serious, they're both dead, they need a rest. With Foligno back - and he looks awesome already - this team has the depth to let them recoup. It might be a good idea. Alas, now we're in a battle for a playoff spot, so that probably can't happen.

I would shelf Fisher for a while though, we can call up Z.Smith and he'd be the same as Fisher right now. Let Fisher injure Leclaire again - once and for all please, so we have some cap space next year.

I agree with you on Alfie. He won't be rested until we're mathematically locked into a playoff spot. As for Fisher they should definitely leave him out as late as the first week of April to heal up whatever his problems are. Once he's back I say re-establish the Alfie-Fisher-Michalek line.

What a fiasco.

SeawaySensFan wrote:What a fiasco.

Fiasco? They give you almost 3 dozen shots when all you asked for was one!!!

There's just no pleasing you is there?

Maybe it was a hot goalie, or the flu, or the injury bug...?

SeawaySensFan wrote:Maybe it was a hot goalie, or the flu, or the injury bug...?

The most hilarious part of that whole evening was when Gustavsson got first star.

Why was that funny? He played well and gave The Sens nothing. Just becuse he wasnt spectacular doesnt mean he wasnt the best Leaf or player in that game.

That's what people fail to see about goaltenders, being steady is better then being spectacular or making huge saves. Usually when a goalie makes a huge save it's because he made a mistake somewhere. That's why when people say "well Elliott didnt have to do much" I get pissed. The Monster was indeed a Monster last night.