GDT: Senators vs Leafs - 7:00 -

they should be made to ride a bus from TO to Ottawa

What a fiasco. Time to blow this Dung up!!!

Two games in is not a big deal, but it is true that the Sens are running out of time to get their chemistry going as each point will count later on.

It was definitely a team loss, and I really do not think that the individuals (that is, playing as individuals) on the ice were all that bad (well, Kovalev really was that bad), yet most Senators on the ice took turns looking terrible by playing as individuals and not as a cohesive unit.

Karlsson had a rough game but I didn't exactly find that surprising. I think we will see the struggles and inconsistencies in Karlsson's performance for the first half of this season as he is still young and will be adjusting to playing against the opposition's top two lines for an entire season.

Ruutu, Kelly and Neil were working hard.

Fisher picked it up in the third.

Spezza disappointed a couple of times but still somehow looks more responsible than in previous seasons, so I'm not overly concerned about his play.

Phillips looked ok, even in that gong show.

Carkner played about as large as Karlsson, which isn't very large. He needs to use his size, it's his best asset.

Lee looks more coposed than ever before. He will look great once the team starts to gel.

Leclaire was great in many respects, but his timing is off and his nerves are a little high, as evidenced by the excessive range of motion and late timing of kick saves leading to rebounds in the slot (not to mention that last goal). In my opinion, if he gets more games in early this season, he will adjust and be even better.

Finally, not trying to be a downer but I don't think the chemistry will improve over night. It hasn't been a quick fix in the past and it won't be now. I expect the Senators to struggle against teams playing a good team game for at least the next 6 games or so.

shabbs wrote:Is it time to boot Greg Carvel?

If he's the special teams coach, yes. If he's responsible for something else, yes. If his name starts with 'G', yes.

By the way, the Sens got into Toronto at 1AM. Sure, it's an excuse. Why not stay home, leave in the morning and arrive in time for their afternoon nap? It would also save the Euge some hotel bills.

wprager wrote:

Michallica wrote:if it's about the 'gelling' this team needs, then its on the coaching, because that's what freakin' 8 preseason games were supposed to be for. Most of our core guys onl¥ got 3-4 games in, and even then wasn't enough clearly.

I'll only comment on two things, so I'm only quoting part of your post.

1. Management wanted to evaluate a ton of players (they had 50+ in camp, I think). I wouldn't out it all on the coach.

2. What's with your Ys sometimes?

I get that they wanted to evaluate lots of players but something has got to give here. IF they're not to blame, then I would at least say they have to share the blame. These guys have looked just unprepared and at times uninterested...like preseason is still going on or something. These were key games, and I've seen zero compete level. Cut people earlier if you must but at least get your guys enough games in preseason so they can 'gel'. They're lucky that its only the first two games so far, but it could get uglier, and fast. Why has everyone looked so slow? or is it that other teams are just that much faster?

oh yeah the Y's sometimes turn out like ¥ because I'm using a mac and in my fast typing, for some reason in my configuration for typing the 'Y' key, I accidently touch the 'alt' key as well. Mac keyboards are quite thin and very sensitive, so it doesn't take much pressure for the key to be pushed down. I get lazy to go back and remove them since they still look like a 'Y'

It just appears that the team has no structure; it looks like the team that was playing just before Clouston came on-board (which is scary) but 2 games is pretty early.

TheAvatar wrote:It just appears that the team has no structure; it looks like the team that was playing just before Clouston came on-board (which is scary) but 2 games is pretty early.

Yeah, shades of Hartsburg's and even Paddock's days... which none of us want to see again...

Michallica wrote:
oh yeah the Y's sometimes turn out like ¥ because I'm using a mac and in my fast typing, for some reason in my configuration for typing the 'Y' key, I accidently touch the 'alt' key as well. Mac keyboards are quite thin and very sensitive, so it doesn't take much pressure for the key to be pushed down. I get lazy to go back and remove them since they still look like a 'Y'

I wonder if I could use a swear-word substitution to fix that

No, I can't (it works on words only, not characters -- I could get rid of the ¥ but only by replacing the entire word it's in).

OK, at the risk of being called a homer excuse-monger:

1. They were evaluating a lot of players in camp and the new lines/pairings have not had much time to play together.
Solution: Guys like Alfie, Kovalev, Spezza, and others are alright. They should have played the new defensive pairings more, though.

2. Spezza missed game 1 and should have missed game 2 as well. Michalek is less than 100%. Both Kovalev and Michalek could not even get on skates until a couple of weeks before camp. Campoli and Alfredsson, too.

3. Fisher looks tired. If any of us had just gotten married to Carrie Fisherwood we'd be tired, too.

4. Karlsson has lost a step. I think he's put on a few pounds over the summer. He's also grown at least an inch. They showed him standing right next to Spezza (who is 6'3" I think) and there wasn't the huge difference I remember seeing last year. He's definitely playing like he's adjusting to some new-found size.

5. Kuba vs. Lee -- 'nuff said.

6. 11 blocked shots by the team last night, versus 11 by Volchenkov in a single game. 18 blocked shots in 2 games is not nearly enough in this league. Now, I have this theory that it's not that they are unwilling, but more that they are out of position. New defensive pairings have something to do with this, for sure.

Now, all that said, it's not going to get any easier tomorrow night. Let's hope the Sens don't try to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving by scarfing down a turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Yeah, I think the fact that the Sens didn't ice a full line up in the pre-season - almost at all - really is hurting them right now. They need to get into a tempo and get things going. Next year, these guys have to play a minimum of 4 games - or even 5 games.

It'll come together, Clouston is a sharp coach and he looks bad right now. No doubt he hates looking bad, so there'll be one crazy fired up squad on Monday. They'll play with a chip on their shoulders for sure, it all depends on when they can get up to NHL game speed.

I don't see the point in doing player by player analysis when your whole team sucks Donkey.
For instance, Karlsson takes the puck, he has nobody to pass it to, so he loses it or makes a dumb play... So Karlsson looks bad, when in fact, there's 4 players who were worse.
It's chemistry, coaching and confidence. Which is not that bad of a problem early in the season.

marakh wrote:I don't see the point in doing player by player analysis when your whole team sucks Donkey.
For instance, Karlsson takes the puck, he has nobody to pass it to, so he loses it or makes a dumb play... So Karlsson looks bad, when in fact, there's 4 players who were worse.
It's chemistry, coaching and confidence. Which is not that bad of a problem early in the season.

That would make for a short and boring thread, though.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

marakh wrote:The whole team sucked!

Agreed

Source?

I didn't think the whole team sucked though. Leclaire is part of the team, and I thought he played very well. I didn't see this so called panic or late reflexes. It was like he was playing with a men's league team vs an NHL team.

Could he have played better? Yeah, he could have stopped all the shots, but that would be a lot to ask for a goalie to do when his team gives up so many scoring chances.

And meanwhile someone who has not been mentioned yet is Elliot... wonder how he is spending his time,

Dash wrote:I didn't think the whole team sucked though. Leclaire is part of the team, and I thought he played very well. I didn't see this so called panic or late reflexes. It was like he was playing with a men's league team vs an NHL team.

Could he have played better? Yeah, he could have stopped all the shots, but that would be a lot to ask for a goalie to do when his team gives up so many scoring chances.

I don't think it was any kind of panic, but he was even quoted saying he had nerves for the first fifteen minutes or so in the loss to the Sabres. Even if he wasn't at all nervous he was kicking rebounds out to the slot, and I think he can work on that. I don't think it's a stretch to say rebound control has something to do with timing. It isn't necessarily about being late either, as comitting to a save too early can also do a goalie wrong.

In short, my point was that he is showing skill, but I still think he can be better with timing and rebounds, which I'm sure he does too.

sens4win wrote:Spezza is making a huge difference give away = GOAL = toronto up 1-0

What a textbook start to the season for that guy. You couldn't have written a worse script for him if you tried.

sens4win wrote:Dear Santa,

Please take karlsson off of that top pairing defence thanks.

S4W

Clearly, Kuba is sorely missed. You have to think that the pairings will be Phillips / Gonchar and Kuba / Karlsson once he returns.