GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Montreal Canadiens– 7:30PM EST, Monday, March 22, 2010

N4L wrote:Not the same situation at all. Regin played in The AHL already, has had a good rookie year and has to play himself out of it. You dont punish a rookie because he is having a rough patch.

Regin is going to be a great player on this team for years to come. Right now, the long schedule seems to be wearing down on him. He needs to add more upper body strength as I find he's knocked off the puck far too easily. Currently, his style of play doesn't suit playoff hockey -- he may find himself to be a healthy scratch when that time rolls around.

Maybe not, but being a healthy scratch for a young player come playoff time isnt abnormal at all. That's an entirely different and very possible situations.

N4L wrote:Not the same situation at all. Regin played in The AHL already, has had a good rookie year and has to play himself out of it. You dont punish a rookie because he is having a rough patch.

I don't want to punish him, I really don't, I want to make sure that he's good to go by the playoffs. He's one of my favourite young players on this team and I'm quite concerned about him. If he can't get it together and lead a successful 3rd line, I would say that the depth that this team has accumulated is starting to go for not.

If it's too much to send Regin down, then I'd do a 100% about face and surround him with the talent to boost his confidence in game. For example, the only two guys who seem to 'get' Kovalev are Regin and Shannon, so tonight would be Regin paired with Kovalev.

I like Shannon a lot, but I cannot defend him anymore, so the natural move is to put young Z.Smith there so there's a huge sense of urgency there for Kovalev to try to draw off of.

Keeping the status quo here is real dangerous, it can either galvanize these guys and make them come together, or the same Dung will happen and we'll actually miss the playoffs. Obviously I'm not a coach or a GM in this league, so I'm not sure what the mindset is, but I hope CC and BM know what they're doing, or there'll be a lot of crying from Sens' fans in the next two weeks.

SDH89 wrote:Regin is going to be a great player on this team for years to come. Right now, the long schedule seems to be wearing down on him. He needs to add more upper body strength as I find he's knocked off the puck far too easily. Currently, his style of play doesn't suit playoff hockey -- he may find himself to be a healthy scratch when that time rolls around.

He's gonna be so good next year after a summer of grueling work to get himself stronger, I agree 100%, that's what's lacking.

You cant consistantly keep changing things, that's called panic. There is no reason to panic right now, only work harder and be more disaplined.

Like I said, there is a way to do things and a way not to. Sending guys down with 10 games left who have been here all year, just not the way to go. Ever.

SpezDispenser wrote:

SDH89 wrote:Regin is going to be a great player on this team for years to come. Right now, the long schedule seems to be wearing down on him. He needs to add more upper body strength as I find he's knocked off the puck far too easily. Currently, his style of play doesn't suit playoff hockey -- he may find himself to be a healthy scratch when that time rolls around.

He's gonna be so good next year after a summer of grueling work to get himself stronger, I agree 100%, that's what's lacking.

Oh for sure. It's all apart of the learning curb for a young player like Regin. He'll get on a weight program and get in the gym everyday. I'm expecting him to come in next year and score 20.

N4L wrote:You cant consistantly keep changing things, that's called panic. There is no reason to panic right now, only work harder and be more disaplined.

Like I said, there is a way to do things and a way not to. Sending guys down with 10 games left who have been here all year, just not the way to go. Ever.

I would tend to agree, but it's getting harder and harder to watch this club flail around. Shannon got sat tonight, but how many others deserve a similar fate on this roster - and at what point do you panic and make a move to get a spark with this team?

I'm VERY nervous about tonight, this could be a disaster for us - or it could put us back on the right track, but the way this group has been playing, it's hard to see anything but negatives right now.

Lets try to be positive until at least the first Habs goal.

SpezDispenser wrote:

N4L wrote:You cant consistantly keep changing things, that's called panic. There is no reason to panic right now, only work harder and be more disaplined.

Like I said, there is a way to do things and a way not to. Sending guys down with 10 games left who have been here all year, just not the way to go. Ever.

I would tend to agree, but it's getting harder and harder to watch this club flail around. Shannon got sat tonight, but how many others deserve a similar fate on this roster - and at what point do you panic and make a move to get a spark with this team?

I'm VERY nervous about tonight, this could be a disaster for us - or it could put us back on the right track, but the way this group has been playing, it's hard to see anything but negatives right now.

Because Shannon is actually useless if he doenst produce. He cant hit, he's a defensive liability, he's soft, so on and on. At least Winchester can hit and kill the odd penalty.

Shannon isn't useless defensively. His speed has provided some nice back checking at times. This is not to say I love him defensively I'm just saying he's not completely useless and CC has even mentioned his speed as an asset in terms of helping get back in the play defensively.

I still believe he needs to be sat but lets not totally crap on him to the point of saying he's completely useless. There is some use for the guy and has been in the past outside of being productive.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Shannon isn't useless defensively. His speed has provided some nice back checking at times. This is not to say I love him defensively I'm just saying he's not completely useless and CC has even mentioned his speed as an asset in terms of helping get back in the play defensively.

I still believe he needs to be sat but lets not totally crap on him to the point of saying he's completely useless. There is some use for the guy and has been in the past outside of being productive.

If he isnt producing, he basically is.

what first goal?

I find as Shannon's game goes, his defensive play goes. He's actually really, really good defensively because he can catch guys on the back-check, but when his game is off, he loses confidence and his defense isn't good enough.

That's why he's being sat I would imagine, a wake-up call that if you're not back-checking hard enough, you're useless to us right now. Might as well plug in a big dude like Z.Smith who can score like Shannon (right now) and can certainly play a three zone game.

Shannon will be back in there, this is his wake-up call (again).

In zone, Shannon is awful. He back checks, great, but there is way more to playing defense then just back checking.

N4L wrote:In zone, Shannon is awful. He back checks, great, but there is way more to playing defense then just back checking.

Yeah, he has issues in the defensive zone for sure.

FFS, is Kuba not playing? I'm starting to have a hard time justifying why we have Filip "The Ghost" Kuba. The Diddler NEVER plays. Hey Kuba, you better be on death's doorstep, it's not as if this is the most important stretch of the year or anything.

Diddle.

Shannon is a 13th forward, he's a plug for when a top offensive guy goes down. That's what he is, Zack Smith is already a better player and fits in a lot better in Clouston's system. Couldnt be happier to see him back in the lineup. Shannon might not see another game this year if The Sens go on a bit of a roll.

SpezDispenser wrote:FFS, is Kuba not playing? I'm starting to have a hard time justifying why we have Filip "The Ghost" Kuba. The Diddler NEVER plays. Hey Kuba, you better be on death's doorstep, it's not as if this is the most important stretch of the year or anything.

Diddle.

I think everyone is getting a little sick of Kuba in terms of that. Better now then in the playoffs, hopefully that's everyones mind set in reguards to him.