murray to make changes to the roster?

marakh wrote:Anyone thinking a trade would solve anything doesn't get the real problem IMO.

A new, vibrant talent up front wouldn't solve some of the transition issues? Or the PP issues? Or the losses? This team still isn't on the same page, I get that. Some of them are older and starting to wear, I also get that. What I don't like is that when opportunities arise to drive the puck to the net, we generally don't. That's coaching too though, is that what you're saying?

....or maybe they'll start to score. That would be refreshing and somewhat unexpected right now to see them fully re-connect with the system and look like a real team again.

Look, we brought in Gonchar who was a PP hero for 15+ years.
So all of a sudden on a (not so) beautiful month of October 2010 he just decided to suck? Say what you want, but any PP with Alfie, Spezza, Gonchar and MIchalek should be top 10 in the league night in night out.
Who exactly do you want to put in there? Crosby? Ovechkin?

I think fans just get too emotional, pissed off and they want to see a big shake up because they think that would give a little positive in their mood.
I am not saying I hold the absolute truth but I believe in this team on paper and I give it a few more games before it gels, and when it happens, because I know it will, I hope I'm gonna still hear you guys wanting to trade some of the players you mention here.

Big Ev wrote:WTF is the Central Park Incident?

Anyone can win 11 in a row, it just doesn't happen rarely. Don't expect the same team to do it twice. Especially with the worse D we have this year.

THey lost like 6 in a row before a day off at Central Park that started the 11 game winning streak.

OTTAWA SUN: Bruce Garrioch reports Senators GM Bryan Murray has had no success thus far in his search for a rugged blueliner and three league sources tell Garrioch they doubt any are available at this time because so few teams are looking to shake things up. Murray currently has about $75k remaining in cap space. It's believed he's shopping defenseman Brian Lee but his poor play makes him impossible to move. Other teams have interest in forward Nick Foligno and defenseman Erik Karlsson but Murray doesn't want to move out young players with promise.

SPECTOR'S NOTE: Hands up those who are surprised by this development. As I've repeatedly stated trades are very difficult to make at this time of year. If Murray wants that rugged defenseman he might have to part with someone like Foligno but even then there's no guarantee he'd get a deal done.

foligno for a rugged D-man. that's a high price. there should be a better deal somwhere. i find it hard to believe that there's no one that hasn't been signed thatcould do the job.

marakh wrote:

Big Ev wrote:WTF is the Central Park Incident?

Anyone can win 11 in a row, it just doesn't happen rarely. Don't expect the same team to do it twice. Especially with the worse D we have this year.

THey lost like 6 in a row before a day off at Central Park that started the 11 game winning streak.

Lets wait and see what happens. So far the Sens have shown little to no reason to believe they'll play better than they have.

The fact that they lost 6 in a row, went to Central Park, then rattled off 11 wins before is nothing to hang our hat on. It was a different team with a different set of circumstances.

Bright spots from this season:
- Alfie is a point per game
- Spezza (I know he's injured) is a point per game
- The PP is slowly but surely getting better at 12.9% and hopefully climbing
- Leclaire actually looked good in his limited play (I know injured yet again but it's a minor injury - I still say give the guy a break)
- Gonchar has looked solid when paired with Phillips and has been much better defensively than advertised.
-

The same (better) D we had last year was responsible for both the 6 game losing streak and the 11 game winning streak. Exactly *nothing* changed in the lineup, other than Brodeur stepping in, but, come on, let's face it, he played as well as Leclaire/Elliott could have played (i.e. he did not pull off some miracle that neither of the other two had capacity to do).

So, what changed? A little chemistry, a little luck, perhaps, and a little confidence after that first win.

Why do we think it will take an overhaul, mini-rebuild or a bag skate to make the difference now? I liked what I saw in the Montreal game. Apart from the shot count (and, of course, the score) they outplayed the Habs. Kovalev was playing physical (even if he did miss badly on an attempted hit -- at least he was trying to hit; timing was off, but that will come). A couple of posts/cross bars could have been the difference. The first goal was the result of Fisher trying to do too much by himself -- there *was* no play until he tried taking out the wrong guy and ended up taking himself out. They need to trust each other more, continue the hard work (hitting, blocking shots, face offs, truculence) they started against Montreal, and *know* that the hard work will eventually pay off.

Oh, and they are closer to getting their #1 center, #1 goalie and top minutes defenseman back in the lineup. I think the change on the back-end with Kuba back will be quite game-changing.

marakh wrote:Look, we brought in Gonchar who was a PP hero for 15+ years.
So all of a sudden on a (not so) beautiful month of October 2010 he just decided to suck? Say what you want, but any PP with Alfie, Spezza, Gonchar and MIchalek should be top 10 in the league night in night out.
Who exactly do you want to put in there? Crosby? Ovechkin?

I think fans just get too emotional, pissed off and they want to see a big shake up because they think that would give a little positive in their mood.
I am not saying I hold the absolute truth but I believe in this team on paper and I give it a few more games before it gels, and when it happens, because I know it will, I hope I'm gonna still hear you guys wanting to trade some of the players you mention here.

The best thing that could possibly happen is they gel all at once and start playing the way we think they can. No one needs to get traded, nothing needs to get shaken up, I think this team can do it - although I'm still not entirely sure where the goals are coming from really, I have a favourite young player who I think can do it and maybe Bobby Butler can have some success as well.

I'd like to stay positive, but it's games like the Montreal game that kill all confidence in the team for me from time to time. They sucked and they got destroyed and there's really no excuse for that.

Fingers crossed that tonight's the night where everything at least starts coming together and by January we have a new deal in place for Phillips, because that's one guy I'd really rather not let go of.

Go Sens!

wprager wrote:The same (better) D we had last year was responsible for both the 6 game losing streak and the 11 game winning streak. Exactly *nothing* changed in the lineup, other than Brodeur stepping in, but, come on, let's face it, he played as well as Leclaire/Elliott could have played (i.e. he did not pull off some miracle that neither of the other two had capacity to do).

So, what changed? A little chemistry, a little luck, perhaps, and a little confidence after that first win.

Why do we think it will take an overhaul, mini-rebuild or a bag skate to make the difference now? I liked what I saw in the Montreal game. Apart from the shot count (and, of course, the score) they outplayed the Habs. Kovalev was playing physical (even if he did miss badly on an attempted hit -- at least he was trying to hit; timing was off, but that will come). A couple of posts/cross bars could have been the difference. The first goal was the result of Fisher trying to do too much by himself -- there *was* no play until he tried taking out the wrong guy and ended up taking himself out. They need to trust each other more, continue the hard work (hitting, blocking shots, face offs, truculence) they started against Montreal, and *know* that the hard work will eventually pay off.

Oh, and they are closer to getting their #1 center, #1 goalie and top minutes defenseman back in the lineup. I think the change on the back-end with Kuba back will be quite game-changing.

If you're talking about the most recent Habs game, then no, we didn't outplay them at all. Shot counts can be deceiving, but when you get less than 20, you had a bad night. Some teams get 15 in one period.

I think it's time to give Corey Locke a shot. I know he's an AHL all-star but he deserves a shot. He's the same size as Shannon and I think he's got more skill than most of our players. It's worth the experiment at this point.

Kovalfie wrote:I think it's time to give Corey Locke a shot. I know he's an AHL all-star but he deserves a shot. He's the same size as Shannon and I think he's got more skill than most of our players. It's worth the experiment at this point.

And yes, I know Locke is a forward, but sometimes the best defence is a good offense. You need to have possession and put points up before you can start sitting back and playing defence.

Kovalfie wrote:I think it's time to give Corey Locke a shot. I know he's an AHL all-star but he deserves a shot. He's the same size as Shannon and I think he's got more skill than most of our players. It's worth the experiment at this point.

That's just silly.

Locke will be a career AHL-er. Book it.

Kovalfie wrote:I think it's time to give Corey Locke a shot. I know he's an AHL all-star but he deserves a shot. He's the same size as Shannon and I think he's got more skill than most of our players. It's worth the experiment at this point.

But has like 1/10th the speed.

I would love to bring up Locke and get rid of Shannon.

Big Ev wrote:I would love to bring up Locke and get rid of Shannon.

The guy has two goals so far in, like, 6 minutes of hockey a night. Plus, he's made a number of strong, highlight reel defensive plays. I'm not a huge Shannon fan -- he's small; not built for a 4th line role; and never quite seems to have enough to grab a top 6 spot -- but he's done everything, absolutely everything, right to start this year. He's one injury or one bad night from Foligno/Regin away from getting another shot in a scoring role. Hell, who knows, they may well put that Shannon/Regin/Kovalev line back together when Spezza returns.

Defensive plays don't make the highlight reels But I see what you're saying.

On the other hand, Locke or wheover is one Shannon injury away from getting his minutes. Losing him wouldn't hurt the team.

I guess the thing you have to look at is Shannon is on a one-way contract, Locke a 2-way, and calling Locke up adds to the cap, cause unless Shannon is waived, both cap hits count. And Shannon is one of those cap friendly guys. Has NHL experience and is cheap. He's a plug. Can't really ask for too much from him other than to play sound hockey (which it seems like he is doing).

However, when you got your expensive talent under-performing, basically at the level of a league-minimum player but at top dollar, then you have a problem.