GAME 4 - 2010 Stanley Cup GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators (1) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2), Tuesday Apr. 20, 2010 - 7:00PM EST.

N4L wrote:Atlanta is the number 1 place they should be looking. That team is desperate for a name to play there. Edmonton is another place, Columbus, St. Louis, maybe Florida for Wiess and Horton. Something like that.

SeawaySensFan wrote:All I know is that we outscored Pittsburgh 4 - 3 after Elliott was pulled and you could see the difference in how the team was playing.

As we all said prior to the game, they had to play that way for 60 minutes. They didn't. So, once again, we beat ourselves.

SensGirl11 wrote:I do love the young guys on our team for sure. We were a much more hard-nosed team this year than we were in the past 3 or so. We finally got an identity back after losing it along with Chara. Thank god we didn't have loser Heatley on our team this year. Now all we have to do is trade Spezza and get some more hard-nosed skilled guys come in and we should be even tougher to play next year. We really need to work on our D too.

N4L wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

N4L wrote:Alfi needs to do this for the young guys like Regin, Karlsson, Elliott, so on. These are the guys he has to lead and they will learn from this and use his example to become better players. Alfi doesnt need to do this, he wants to, which is what makes him so special.

I find it interesting that aside from The Alfie, the only other players that really seem to want it are Regin, Smith, Winchester and, oh yeah, Matt Freaking Cullen. What a player!

Volchenkov showed on 2 occasions that he simply does not want the puck. I'm not blaming him on the Spezza giveaway, but not wanting the puck is a major deficiency.

Oh how I wish we could have dealt Foligno at the deadline...

Like most people have said, A Train is a limited D man in what he can do. If he leaves that blueline there is a hole, but someone else can defently step in and play with Phillips, who will probably make them look as good as he made A Train look.

Right now is when The Sens need to really evaluate their core leadership, front to back. Yeah, Fisher didnt have a good playoff, they needed more from him, he is still a leader that is needed and his work ethic cant really be questioned. They need him for that purpose. I would even go as far to say Kovalev is somewhat of a leader and a guy that will help this team in the short term in more ways then one.

The two guys that they need the most right now are Alfi, and most of all, I truly believe this, is Phillips. With the young group of D men coming in and his leadership, overall skill, and his ability to play the game, he is more important then anyone in Ottawa.

PKC wrote:On a positive note, Karlsson, Regin and Smith all seem to have handled the playoff experience exceptionally well.
And Cullen showed his true worth. He's competitiveness has been off the charts so far this series.
The real deals that need to be made are Spezza, Cheechoo, Foligno, Volchenkov, Sutton and Fisher.
Replace these guys with different cogs. Bring back a healthy Michalek and go from there.

There is a bright future for this team somewhere in the underlining of this series. It's just a matter of weeding out the guys who don't get it.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Sign me up for that Wiess and Horton deal. I'd love Horton in a Sens uni. Imagine if we could re-sign Cullen too? A Horton, Cullen, Fisher, Kelly middle sounds excellent to me.

N4L wrote:I think you deal Spezza before you deal Fisher, salary isnt a huge issue at this point.

N4L wrote:

PKC wrote:On a positive note, Karlsson, Regin and Smith all seem to have handled the playoff experience exceptionally well.
And Cullen showed his true worth. He's competitiveness has been off the charts so far this series.
The real deals that need to be made are Spezza, Cheechoo, Foligno, Volchenkov, Sutton and Fisher.
Replace these guys with different cogs. Bring back a healthy Michalek and go from there.

There is a bright future for this team somewhere in the underlining of this series. It's just a matter of weeding out the guys who don't get it.

I think the guy that is getting overlooked in a BIG way here is Campoli. He was fantastic the entire series, took some real shots on the forcheck and didnt blink. He has had his ups and down and he was one guy that I got on early, but he is defently a guy that this team can move forward with.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

N4L wrote:I think you deal Spezza before you deal Fisher, salary isnt a huge issue at this point.

Can you replace 80-90 points? Can you replace hard work and mixed results?

SeawaySensFan wrote:

N4L wrote:I think you deal Spezza before you deal Fisher, salary isnt a huge issue at this point.

Can you replace 80-90 points? Can you replace hard work and mixed results?

SeawaySensFan wrote:

N4L wrote:

PKC wrote:On a positive note, Karlsson, Regin and Smith all seem to have handled the playoff experience exceptionally well.
And Cullen showed his true worth. He's competitiveness has been off the charts so far this series.
The real deals that need to be made are Spezza, Cheechoo, Foligno, Volchenkov, Sutton and Fisher.
Replace these guys with different cogs. Bring back a healthy Michalek and go from there.

There is a bright future for this team somewhere in the underlining of this series. It's just a matter of weeding out the guys who don't get it.

I think the guy that is getting overlooked in a BIG way here is Campoli. He was fantastic the entire series, took some real shots on the forcheck and didnt blink. He has had his ups and down and he was one guy that I got on early, but he is defently a guy that this team can move forward with.

He's been overlooked all season. No big surprise there. I think when people just keep repeating that a player is no good without really backing it up people still believe it.

N4L wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

N4L wrote:I think you deal Spezza before you deal Fisher, salary isnt a huge issue at this point.

Can you replace 80-90 points? Can you replace hard work and mixed results?

If he wa sputting up those kind of numbers then it would be a little esier to make that arguement. He could get 150 points next year and he would fold in the playoffs, The Sens dont need it and it will hurt them having a guy like that in the end.

Build young tallent with old character. There is a ton coming into Ottawa right now, both upfront and on the blueline.

N4L wrote:I dont see how people can go out and blame Alfi here, he is doing everything he possibly can from a physical and emotional stand point for his team. He's 37 years old playing through an injury.

As for Elliott he was asked to make big saves early and give his team a chance to win, he did that. His team didnt give him a chance and that Spezza give away leading the 2nd goal essentially ended their season.

PKC wrote:
I'm sorry. But that's just not true.

RobbyJ wrote:

N4L wrote:I dont see how people can go out and blame Alfi here, he is doing everything he possibly can from a physical and emotional stand point for his team. He's 37 years old playing through an injury.

As for Elliott he was asked to make big saves early and give his team a chance to win, he did that. His team didnt give him a chance and that Spezza give away leading the 2nd goal essentially ended their season.

He should of sat down the last week of the season and healed up a bit. This isn't hindsight, I said it then and I was right. He could have stayed home during the Florida trip at least and played his 1000th game at home rested. Remember how much jump he had coming back from his injury earlier this season.