GAME 3 - 2010 Stanley Cup GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators (1) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1), Sunday Apr. 18, 2010 - 6:30PM EST

marakh wrote:Seriously, I have no voice anymore, and when the Highlight of the night is Alfie Kneeing Orpik, enough said... (I actually enjoyed that, the building was mentally crazy).

We could have won this game is Spezza showed up to play, but in the end, shutting down Malkin and Crosby is 99.5% impossible.Too good, too strong, too skilled.

Reffing was ridiculous. No comment.

you herd it here reffing was just rediculous back to you Gary bettman

If I ever hear anyone ever call Spezza elite again Im going to rip into them like never before. He is no where near elite and the last few games have proved it. He's out classed in such a large way by the truly elite it's embarassing.

Got his token 2nd assist though, that's what important.

N4L wrote:If I ever hear anyone ever call Spezza elite again Im going to rip into them like never before. He is no where near elite and the last few games have proved it. He's out classed in such a large way by the truly elite it's embarassing.

Got his token 2nd assist though, that's what important.

Agreed.... He's been invisible the entire series... Pretty embarassing paying him 7mil.

from what i saw on the tely i think ottawa was getting it together in the second and 3rd. lots of pucks didn't go our way and the ref'ing... well nuff has been said about that. that goal that almost went in if fleury didn't dive... i don't think it's impossible to win against them. they have crosby and they have malkin, shut them down as much as possible. then after that we need to play like in game 1. if you're on the ice, then you have to create scoring chances. (line 3, game 1)
they have some incredible players, we have a team that can all create chances.
put cheechoo in the way i see it, shannon's speed could come in handy but zach smith, winny and cheechoo are a close call standing next to each other. cheechoo has more experience and has had a scoring touch in the past.

I'll kill Clouston is Shannon plays another game.

marakh wrote:I'll kill Clouston is Shannon plays another game.

Cheechoo should be given the chance... I dont know why Shannon was in there for any game... It's clear he cant compete in a physical series.

Clouston's game plan was not very good tonight. So many errors all over the ice; guys looked lost and didn't have that jump in their step.
They need to fix that break out and they need to get the third man in to the offensive zone to stop hanging out 10 feet into their blueline and head straight to the net. The guys carrying the puck down the boards are not finding any options either. Defensemen are way too out of the play in most cases and the third forward in is sitting near the top of the slot where there are 4 Penguins within stick reach of him.
As for Elliott, I can't really say anything. That first goal is inexcusable to allow. It's not a good way to inspire confidence in your team and it's a horrible way to take your home crowd out of the game so early.
People wanted to cheer, but this team gave them nothing to cheer for, for the most part.
Also, Shannon needs to sit. He's not contributing anything. One shot on goal in two playoff games for a guy who's supposed to be a scorer/playmaker is absolutely inexcusable.
NEWSFLASH Shannon: We don't play you to grind it out on the third/fourth line. We play you to make scoring opportunities happen.
And don't even get me started on the refereeing. Absolutely terrible. I don't know how many times Malkin was down in those scrums swinging his stick and his fists...and nothing. No offsetting penalties. Nothing. Just a free pass.
Same for Crosby. The amount of stuff those two are allowed to get away with is absurd. I don't believe that refereeing bias Dung, but clearly these guys get star treatment. It's obvious. It's undeniable. Anyone who says otherwise is just playing devil's advocate.

caissie_1 wrote:

marakh wrote:I'll kill Clouston is Shannon plays another game.

Cheechoo should be given the chance... I dont know why Shannon was in there for any game... It's clear he cant compete in a physical series.

Weird thing is, Cheechoo was out for the warmup and shootaround.

PKC wrote:

caissie_1 wrote:

marakh wrote:I'll kill Clouston is Shannon plays another game.

Cheechoo should be given the chance... I dont know why Shannon was in there for any game... It's clear he cant compete in a physical series.

Weird thing is, Cheechoo was out for the warmup and shootaround.

Seriously it's so obvious that he would do a better job I dont understand why Clouston keeps Shannon.

Unless Spezza magically turns into something he's not (a winner) and grows some heart (which he doenst have) this series is going to be over in 5. Alfi is taking some serious hits, getting dirty, so on, Spezza, nothing. He has a chance to level Crosby 5 seconds after he hammered Alfi, no response, just a stupid little stick check.

His back must be out, the only thing I cant figure out is how that has anything to do with his heart.

The Sens will never win with Spezza as the number 1 center or the highest paid player. He's just starting to prove a lot of what people say about him right again... thank God he had a good 2 months of an NHL season other wise he would be packed for Edmonton already.

N4L wrote:If I ever hear anyone ever call Spezza elite again Im going to rip into them like never before. He is no where near elite and the last few games have proved it. He's out classed in such a large way by the truly elite it's embarassing.

Got his token 2nd assist though, that's what important.

I agree 100%. He was absolutely brutal tonight. But, he got no help from his teammates either. Every pass that came his way was Dung. It was silly. In his feet, behind him, in front of him, too hard, too soft, miss him completely. So hard to break out and do anything with the puck when you can't even get an honest to God pass from anyone on the team.
But that's still not to excuse his play tonight. It was just meant as a commentary.

Yes, star players get star treatment (it's the same in every pro sports league), but that is not the reason why teams win or lose games.

I 'm not blaming Spezza on us being down 2-0. He can't do everything himself, we just don't have the depth that we did a few weeks ago. Spezza is not elite like Crosby or Malkin, nobody has ever said that, but he can still be the franchise centre going forward. He is not the reason why we haven't won anything during his tenure.

AT least Regin is developping as a 1st line player. I think he already is.

but I think it's complete BS to say Spezza has no heart...I hear this all the time about a variety of players, but who are we to judge the heart of a player? It's not like he's a selfish player, he wants to help out his teammates and does too much sometimes.

Big Ev wrote:Yes, star players get star treatment (it's the same in every pro sports league), but that is not the reason why teams win or lose games.

I 'm not blaming Spezza on us being down 2-0. He can't do everything himself, we just don't have the depth that we did a few weeks ago. Spezza is not elite like Crosby or Malkin, nobody has ever said that, but he can still be the franchise centre going forward. He is not the reason why we haven't won anything during his tenure.

That's not true at all. Star players don't get preferential treatment in the NFL or MLB. The only two professional sports leagues with preferential treatment for its players are the NBA and NHL.
One's always gonna have the referee gambling fiasco hanging over its head (NBA) and the other doesn't appear to be too far behind (NHL).

3rd and 4th Pens goals were breakaways after a domination in the PEns zone. Hurts.

Big Ev wrote:Yes, star players get star treatment (it's the same in every pro sports league), but that is not the reason why teams win or lose games.

I 'm not blaming Spezza on us being down 2-0. He can't do everything himself, we just don't have the depth that we did a few weeks ago. Spezza is not elite like Crosby or Malkin, nobody has ever said that, but he can still be the franchise centre going forward. He is not the reason why we haven't won anything during his tenure.

Are you nuts? People in Ottawa say that ALL time! Point is nothing will ever be won with any team Spezza is on, his teams lose. Tonight is a perfect example of him contributing to that.

Not doing it all himself? Maybe he should try passing the puck, chipping it in, something that actually involves him not trying to do it all himself. Once again, something doesnt go his way he shuts it down completely and is totally useless. He's gone back from just not producing but costing The Sens on the defensive end again.

Spezza isnt THE reason the Sens are down 2-1, he's is defently the biggest problem.

Big Ev wrote:but I think it's complete BS to say Spezza has no heart...I hear this all the time about a variety of players, but who are we to judge the heart of a player? It's not like he's a selfish player, he wants to help out his teammates and does too much sometimes.

Umm yes he is, always has been. It's showing again. Who are we to judge his heart? You mean the paying fans who pay is over priced contract? Yeah, we can judge and that's the reason he wasnt on Team Canada, hell, he wasnt even a consideration.

He's a career loser, biggest one in The NHL, bar none, at every level.