GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Dallas Stars – 2:00PM EST, Saturday, March 20, 2010

111519 wrote:I don't know what it is about this team. The desire to win is just not there. You never get the feeling they are fighting to win for 60 minutes. They show up, play the game and if they win great, if they loose-oh well. How in the hell do you get them to care....

I hate to say it but even the Leafs show a fight to win every game.

Is it Alfie, Clouston, Spezza, management, I don't know.

The desire to win hasn't been there since 18 games into the 2008/2009 Season.

dennycrane wrote:Whatever the "leadership" is on this team, their message is not getting through. If this team misses the playoffs, I don't care who they trade (Alfie, Phillips, etc.). No one would be untouchable in my book (even though trading those players would never happen).

I'm starting to think that Alfie needs to retire

Today's game was encouraging IMO. If Elliott is in nets there I think they win. If they can come back with the same effort on Monday and Elliott can play with some consistancy and make a couple big saves, they will win.

If they do fail to make the playoffs though, I dont see how you keep this core together or dont rebuild all together. Alfi wont be traded now would Phillips based on A Train picking up and moving, you also need him for a rebuild IMO, nor will Karlsso, Elliott, or any other of the younger guys, but Fisher, Spezza, Kovalev, Leclaire, who ever, they might and probably 1/2 of them will be gone.

N4L wrote:Leclaire was brutal today, no doubt. I was really hoping he would come through but he did anything but. Im not for waiving Leclaire, no way would I do that but he wont be finding his game this year. He isnt ready to be a number 1, Elliott is close to being there but still has his lapses, but def the best The Sens have.

It's Elliott the rest of the way, Im pretty sure if he was in nets today The Sens would have come away with a point. Elliott has never let in 11 goals in 2 straight games in his life, wouldnt have happend today. Good thing is though, he will be prepared for Monday against The Habs. If The Sens play the same way they did today and Elliott plays like he usually does, they will win that one.

No doubt Leclaire wasn't very good today, but Elliott has been just as bad over the past couple of games. How can we label "the guy" right now when seemingly neither can stop a beachball?

It would have been a different game today if Cullen had scored on that 2-1 shorthanded, we would have buried a slumping Dallas team early.

There are 3 vets I keep around though I go full out rebuild. That's Spezza, Alfi, Michalek, and Phillips

Reasoning? Spezza can explode on any given night and probably win some games by himself, the youth actually might help him mature and become a leader. 7 million dollar cap hit during a rebuild is nothing so cap is a non issue.

Alfi, well, he can choose to play here or ask for a trade, either way Im ok with it. Through a rebuild you have your leader showing the way and what it means to play in Ottawa.

Michalek? Too much upside, too complete, great cap hit, and a solid player. Plus he's young.

Phillips, well with the young D core and a guy that bleeds red and black, this is the guy you want brining along Karlsson, but especially western guys in Cowen and Wiercoich.

Other guys I think should be around, Kelly, Neil, and Carkner. Those are the guys you want and need with a lot of youth around. Toughness and expierence. Someone needs to really step up for them when the time comes.

Next year if things are somewhat blown up... you go with that group leading the way IMO.

I think the guys that will be dealt are defently Fisher, Kovalev, and MAYBE Leclaire if they get a somewhat decent return, otherwise there is no point.

I hope for The Sens sake they can really get things going here because there is still a ton of potential, but I still think they overacheived a bit this year already and it should have been a rebuild last year, but I changed my mind based on the situation who might or should be going.

Somewhere, Eli Wilson is smirking.

Most disappointing about this week is it was three fairly decisive losses against non-playoff teams. Today's game was a bit better as they showed a little moxy at the end.

SDH89 wrote:

N4L wrote:Leclaire was brutal today, no doubt. I was really hoping he would come through but he did anything but. Im not for waiving Leclaire, no way would I do that but he wont be finding his game this year. He isnt ready to be a number 1, Elliott is close to being there but still has his lapses, but def the best The Sens have.

It's Elliott the rest of the way, Im pretty sure if he was in nets today The Sens would have come away with a point. Elliott has never let in 11 goals in 2 straight games in his life, wouldnt have happend today. Good thing is though, he will be prepared for Monday against The Habs. If The Sens play the same way they did today and Elliott plays like he usually does, they will win that one.

No doubt Leclaire wasn't very good today, but Elliott has been just as bad over the past couple of games. How can we label "the guy" right now when seemingly neither can stop a beachball?

Besides Atlanta, where wasnt he very good? The guy was left to hang in Toronto, none of those goals I put on him, the defense and team was brutal. He played on in Detroit before the break, amazing in New York and stole 2 points for The Sens against The Islanders, NYR he was meh, nothing great but hardly his fault, Carolina he let in one goal and gave the team a chance, Edmonton he made two huge saves and kept it close until The Sens scored, Calgary, 2-0 game, what else can he do? Toronto... again, what would you like him to do? Atlanta, he was brutal, no doubt.

Elliott gave The Sens a chance every single night except against Atlanta, I wont defend that game. For all his starts this year he has had very few stinkers. Luongo has been pulled friggin 7 times this year, Brodure has been pulled a large amount, Lundqvist isnt playing all that well right now, and Miller is coming back down to earth and getting the hook and more off nights. Elliott has been better then average all year, people are just either A. Too blind to see this B. Dont watch anything but The Sens and think the grass is greener somewhere else or C. Just have no idea about goaltending.

Elliott is a frigging rookie having some ups and downs like ALL rookie goaltenders do, look at Howard in Detroit, he was awful to start the year but with an improved team infront of him and a bigger commitment to defense, he has looked pretty good. Elliott is no different, he's stolen games for The Sens this year and costed them arguably 2, Atlanta for sure, I think that's on him and you can argue one of either San Jose or LA, both of which are arguable.

I just voted

well I've spewed enough negativity around here for the last couple of weeks, so I guess we go with some positives maybe?

Powerplay clicked today and looked good at it. Spezza and Cullen looked great and I hope that line sticks together so they can gel some more.

Our Defence sucks noodles right now, but to allow 5 goals on 19 shots? Leclaire...sooo good early on....then so Dung

No one should ever suggest that Alfie should just retire again.

Also, without Spezza and Alfredsson, this team is nothing. They're the ones that can change our fate from one moment to another - and they need to. I no longer can wait for Fisher or Kovalev to get 'un' cold, although Fisher looked a lot better today (when he's on the Diddling wing!!!).

I was at work and missed the game...looks like I didn't miss much

Tuk Tuk wrote:I was at work and missed the game...looks like I didn't miss much

Well, it sounds like Spezza got off the schneid (sp?). How could our goal differential be -18?

SpezDispenser wrote:Also, without Spezza and Alfredsson, this team is nothing. They're the ones that can change our fate from one moment to another - and they need to. I no longer can wait for Fisher or Kovalev to get 'un' cold, although Fisher looked a lot better today (when he's on the Diddling wing!!!).

Fisher on the wing? That's a novel idea. Only like uhh....all of us having been saying this for what? 3 years?

why cant we hav foligno fisher shannon together

alfie spezza michalek
foligno fisher shannon
cullen regin kovalev
rutuu kelly neil

The only players on this team that should not be traded are

Alfie, Spezza, Karlsson, Michalek

everyone else is fair game.

wprager wrote:I'd say he had at least 2, probably 3 opportunities to make a great save. I *really* don't like harping on a goalie for a loss, but between him and Karlsson that was brutal. Karlsson is a 19-year-old rookie making one third the salary (plus he was playing with a new partner for the first time).

Exactly, Karlsson had a bad game but he's a rookie that's still learning. I don't blame Karlsson at all for the loss.

But when you're a team struggling to score goals and win games then you need your goalie to get you out of the funk. Leclaire needed to make just one big save and he didn't do that when the team needed it most. Leclaire can blame the team all he wants but goalies are supposed to bail out the team every once in awhile. For him to suggest that he didn't play that bad is not what I want to hear. To me, that's him deflecting blame and being content with his game. He should be saying he feels like he let the team down and he needs to work harder.

I hope Murray can get Leclaire off the roster in the summer and hand over the reigns to Elliott once and for all. He's the only guy that's shown and kind of consistency in net this year.

SpezDispenser wrote:No one should ever suggest that Alfie should just retire again.

Yeah, 'cause that could get you banned... and I don't mean just from this site.