CCF Game One: Binghamton at Houston: 8:35PM Friday, May 27, 2011

Rust versus rest. This will be the 15th time in AHL history that one Conference Final ended up a sweep while the other went to Seventh Heaven. In the previous 14 series, the "sweepers" won 7 and lost 7. It's a dead heat between rust and rest. The team that was higher in the standings, however, has a definite advantage. Binghamton finished with 92 points while their opponents collected 98, but let's not forget the fiasco that was the Ottawa Senators, and how a quarter of Bingo's roster was playing regular minutes with the big club for half the season.

Anyhow, throw all the statistics out the window because the results of this series will be added to the pool, not ladled out from it.

GO B-SENS!!!!!GO B-SENS!!!!!GO B-SENS!!!!!GO B-SENS!!!!!GO B-SENS!!!!!GO B-SENS!!!!!

Love to see Butler make an impact this series.

This is also a monster series for Keller and Potulny. They keep up their current pace and one of them might get a serious look at the NHL level next season. My money is on Potulny

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:Love to see Butler make an impact this series.

This is also a monster series for Keller and Potulny. They keep up their current pace and one of them might get a serious look at the NHL level next season. My money is on Potulny

I get the feeling Potulny does land in the NHL, only not with Ottawa.

Houston Probable Lines:

O'Sullivan - Wellman - Ortmeyer
Gilles - Peters - Earl
Palmer - Rau - Disaltore
McMillan - Almond - Daoust

Noreau - Spurgeon
Scandella - Falk
Penner - Bragnall

Leading Scorers, Houston (Top 10):

Patrick O'Sullivan 15
Jed Ortmeyer 11
Maxim Noreau 11
Colton Gillies 10
Robbie Earl 10
Casey Wellman 10
Warren Peters 10
Jared Spurgeon 10
Chad Rau 9
Jon DiSalvatore 9

Leading Scorers, Binghamton (Top 10)

Ryan Potulny 25
Ryan Keller RW 22
Kaspars Daugavins 17
Zack Smith 17
Andre Benoit 14
Bobby Butler 13
Erik Condra 13
Corey Locke 10
Mike Hoffman 9
Roman Wick 8

Goaltending Stats, Houston:
Matt Hackett 2.56 .898
Josh Tordjman 6.82 .8.33


Binghamton:

Robin Lehner 2.41 .932
Barry Brust 3.45 .889



SD Red Line Report:

Jim O'Brien and Colin Greening: Both have been playing well, with Greening playing exceptionally well according to Bingo fans, but...in the Finals, you need everyone to pitch in offensively. If the rest of Bingo can maintain their levels of scoring, then the onus might come off these two a bit, but if there are struggles of any kind, the B-Sens will look to 1/3 of the lethal 2nd line of Greening, Locke and Butler to start ramping it up offensively.

Similarly, Jim O'Brien had a stellar year for the B-Sens - one of the most improved players, but his stamina and endurance seemed to lack slightly as he tailed off towards the end of the year and in these playoffs.

O'Brien's 5 points in 17 games places him only 1 up on Jared Cowen...the thing is, Cowen's played only 5 games and isn't really known as an offensive dynamo. Greening has but 3 points. Again, points aren't everything, but in this specific instance, the B-Sens could use an offensive contribution from these two.

In an intra squad game yesterday, Robin Lehner's squad beat Barry Brust's squad 6-1 with Bobby B getting a goal and talented University grad Pat Cannone scoring 2 in succession.

This is it boys! You're loaded and ready, make it happen!


Go B-Sens!

I'll re-post this from the game ECF game 4 thread.

wprager wrote:
The Aeros must have a fantastic defense, because they only have one player in the top-20 scoring leaders. They have 7 in the top-40, compared to the B-Sens' 7 in the top*10*. On the offensive side of things, there is no comparison. They might as well be playing in different leagues.

The Aeros have given up an average of 33.8 shots on goal in their last 6 games. That includes a double-OT game, so if you normalize that to 60 minutes it would be lower. It also includes an 8-1 drubbing, which points to some inconsistency. So much for "fantastic". If they were consistent they probably would not be facing a game seven situation.

I've heard all kinds of praise for Hackett from MsConduct's tweets, but he has a SV% under .900! What???! How do the Aeros win with one top-20 scorer and a sub-.900 goalie? Inconceivable!

I'm not sure which team I would rather face. It would appear to be a no-contest against the Aeros, except I don't understand at all what makes them tick. Inconsistent defense, bad goaltending, and an anemic offense. Yet there they were, 1 game away from the Finals. Maybe game 4 is when they lost their glass slipper and their coach turned back into a pumpkin?

Oh, man, I just don't know. With any luck it'll go to another double OT and no-matter which team we face they will be exhausted. With the chemistry that's very obviously present in the locker room I don't think rust will be an issue. Four years ago, the Sens had one line. I don't think it's very good for chemistry when only one line contributes and gets all the ice time. The only thing that concerns me about the B-Sens is the shots on goal they are still allowing, even with Cowen and Gryba on the back-end. Other than that, it would be nice to see the powerplay improve. Although they have scored in 6 straight games, and 10 of their last 11, they are not setting the world on fire. 7 goals on 33 attempts during that 6 game streak is 21%. Good, not great.

OK, I've officially gone too far. Let's just see how game 7 shakes out and get ready for The Finals.

Interesting write up Prags. Hackett's gonna feel some serious heat from the Bingo forwards especially (and Benoit). Lots and lots and lots of pressure. And not just fancy plays - although the B-Sens can do that too - but a lot of net presence like Z.Smith, Colin Greening, Erik Condra, Jim O'Brien. A lot of guys who love to make a beeline to the net and cause issues for goalies.

Jared Cowen is the monster addition too. Dung dude....we're locked and loaded!

SpezDispenser wrote:Interesting write up Prags. Hackett's gonna feel some serious heat from the Bingo forwards especially (and Benoit). Lots and lots and lots of pressure. And not just fancy plays - although the B-Sens can do that too - but a lot of net presence like Z.Smith, Colin Greening, Erik Condra, Jim O'Brien. A lot of guys who love to make a beeline to the net and cause issues for goalies.

Jared Cowen is the monster addition too. Dung dude....we're locked and loaded!

So ... what you're saying is ... that we will get raped in 4 straight?

wprager wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Interesting write up Prags. Hackett's gonna feel some serious heat from the Bingo forwards especially (and Benoit). Lots and lots and lots of pressure. And not just fancy plays - although the B-Sens can do that too - but a lot of net presence like Z.Smith, Colin Greening, Erik Condra, Jim O'Brien. A lot of guys who love to make a beeline to the net and cause issues for goalies.

Jared Cowen is the monster addition too. Dung dude....we're locked and loaded!

So ... what you're saying is ... that we will get raped in 4 straight?

No NO! Big EV has to do it!

Michallica wrote:
No NO! Big EV has to do it!

And he will.

SpezDispenser wrote:

Michallica wrote:
No NO! Big EV has to do it!

And he will.

No it has to go 5 games... ROAD TRIP TO BINGO June 4th. Ultimate Tours.. not sure if details are up yet.. but that is the day. Trying for 2 busloads of fans this time.

Last one was a blast.

sandysensfan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

Michallica wrote:
No NO! Big EV has to do it!

And he will.

No it has to go 5 games... ROAD TRIP TO BINGO June 4th. Ultimate Tours.. not sure if details are up yet.. but that is the day. Trying for 2 busloads of fans this time.

Last one was a blast.

Yeah, I clearly remember Joy's comments "wow, can these ottawa people ever drink" ...

Let's hope their is not the heat & humidity in Houston there is in Florida. The B-Sens won't be used to playing through that.
I assume it will be hot.. after all it is the southern US.

sandysensfan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

Michallica wrote:
No NO! Big EV has to do it!

And he will.

No it has to go 5 games... ROAD TRIP TO BINGO June 4th. Ultimate Tours.. not sure if details are up yet.. but that is the day. Trying for 2 busloads of fans this time.

Last one was a blast.

RedScarfUnion tweeted it right after Houston won. They didn't have any details yet, of course, but they will be going.

Here's the latest tweet on it: http://twitter.com/#!/redscarfunion/status/73438843927408640

@Crazy_Canuck_ oh! Most definitly going to be a #bingobus! Just working on the details!

Hope they're not Rusty tonight....history dictates that teams which finish very early in their conference finals usually stink up the joint in the finals.