Game Night - Montreal @ Ottawa, Wed, Jan 30, 2013

NEELY wrote:Still remember him playing in the WJC at the Civic Center and saying to myself "this kid is special". Never saw anyone walk the blueline like he did and control the game like he did. I remember saying he was the best D man on the ice each and everytime, made Hedman look like a 2nd rate D man and people thought I was just a homer and nuts.

4 years later... top 5 player on the planet. Best D man in the world.

Totally was at that game and saw the same thing. Sweden Finland am I right?

NEELY wrote:

asq2 wrote:

NEELY wrote:Still remember him playing in the WJC at the Civic Center and saying to myself "this kid is special". Never saw anyone walk the blueline like he did and control the game like he did. I remember saying he was the best D man on the ice each and everytime, made Hedman look like a 2nd rate D man and people thought I was just a homer and nuts.

4 years later... top 5 player on the planet. Best D man in the world.

What keeps me from just being used to this is that he's even better than last season. Last year he was such an incredible offensive force and a lot of his defensive contribution came from the fact that he got the puck to the offensive zone so consistently. This year he is almost entirely flawless. Against Washington apart from one miscue (which happens with every player) it was like every attempt by a Capital to bring the puck by him was just a waste of time.

What is as incredible as his performance thus far is the fact that he has seriously upgraded his game every season going back at least as far as 2007. And he won the Norris last year.

Kid is incredible, controls the game like no other player in the game and no other player in the last 20 years aside from Lidstrom. Just as impressive is the fact he never gets touched or hit by others. I remember people screaming about a small guy not being able to play D... well you can't hit a guy that you can't catch.

Generational talent and I am saying it now, I would take him over Stamkos. Karlsson is a better player.

Well, duh! I said that last night. Stamkos is still very one-dimensional. Karlsson is leading the league in TOI but is third in ES TOI (Big Buff leads there because he only has 38 seconds of SH TOI -- that's 38 seconds *total*, not per game). Karlsson is getting 2:20 SH TOI per game -- not league leading by any stretch, but he's only getting 3:36 PP TOI per game. Never thought we'd see Karlsson getting 2/3 as much PK time as he does PP time.

Yeah I know it's early and I don't want to get ahead of myself. But in terms of what he's done this season there were a lot of Finnish posters saying he may also win the Finnish Elite League defenceman scoring race despite not playing half the season.

All I can say is (and I'm probably not qualified as I got into the Senators later than a lot of you I'm sure) we've had some great players who have put up great numbers don the Sens jersey: Heatley, Spezza, Hossa, Chara, Redden, Yashin, etc. The only player I've watched who has had a comparable on-ice impact to EK right now is Alfredsson right after the last lock-out. And then we are talking about the greatest player in the franchise's modern history in his prime versus Karlsson at 22.

I took a picture with EK65 last year at the ASG. I think in 20 years I will be able to say I have a picture with one of the all-time best.

So, any prognostic adjustments on Zibby's ceiling?

What a win !! Not even close to the same team that played the night before.

If Zibanejad scores on the one timer, Karlsson gets assist of the year

I watched this game with 4 other habs fans! what a night! finally i was able to modestly sit there as smiles turned to frowns.
you guys are right Karlsson is in a league of his own. I had to point this out a few times to my friends tonight as there's always comparissons with them with either Markov or Subban. jeez, the guys plays the PK, the PP and 5 on 5 and is getting better by the minute it seams. can we just give him the Norris already? I don't think there's anybody in the league I would trade him for right now( not even Crosby with his injuries). that's how good the kid is! it's amazing to be able watch him play at such a young age. i hope he's a career sens. i'd love to be there the day they hoist his number up next to Alfie's.

Credit where credit is due, Wiercioch was excellent. His passes were crisp and he played with much more confidence. His one touch to Alfie was sick.

Karlsson is unreal. So in Anderson.

And Boroweicki is amazing. Love him.

shabbs wrote:Big Rig Brew gave a free round to everyone at the bar after he scored.

That's some damn good beer right there.

LeKid wrote:

NEELY wrote:Still remember him playing in the WJC at the Civic Center and saying to myself "this kid is special". Never saw anyone walk the blueline like he did and control the game like he did. I remember saying he was the best D man on the ice each and everytime, made Hedman look like a 2nd rate D man and people thought I was just a homer and nuts.

4 years later... top 5 player on the planet. Best D man in the world.

Totally was at that game and saw the same thing. Sweden Finland am I right?

That's the one.

LeKid wrote:So, any prognostic adjustments on Zibby's ceiling?

Not on my part. Think he is a Mike Fisher type, 25/25 kind of guy that's hell to play against. Impressed none the less and my opinion of his game has changed a litte... night and day from last year but I still think he lacks some hockey sense.

SpezDispenser wrote:Credit where credit is due, Wiercioch was excellent. His passes were crisp and he played with much more confidence. His one touch to Alfie was sick.

Karlsson is unreal. So in Anderson.

I was out with skating/hockey so didn't get to see any of the game until around midnight, and then mostly fast-forwarding to see the goals (and the alleged penalties I kept hearing about). There were a few shifts I did watch in their entirety, though. On one of those I actually saw Wiercioch getting pretty physical. Maybe he needs a game like this (against a team not known for their rough play) to realize that he's got a big frame, and he's no longer a 6'4", 158 lbs beanstalk.

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:One thing that drives me nuts is fans leaving before the end of the game. Stay until the end, and salute your team when they put in a fine effort. Also, stay for the 3 stars for that matter. Just accept the fact when you go to a game that you're not getting home early. Drives me insane.

Great game for the Sens...we got plenty of bounces and was going all Neo in the net.

You do realize it's 75% Habs fans in there, right?

Probably more like 50/50, but that's not the point, it's the same story at every home game.

SpezDispenser wrote:Credit where credit is due, Wiercioch was excellent. His passes were crisp and he played with much more confidence. His one touch to Alfie was sick.

Karlsson is unreal. So in Anderson.

Oh, and Karlsson's acceleration is unreal. I get it that he has great hockey sense and vision, but without that acceleration he simply wouldn't be able to pull some of this stuff off. Which means that he'll have to learn new tricks as he ages and slows down.

Sens get a day off today... much deserved after back to back wins in as many nights. Off to Carolina on Friday.

The Hurricanes always seem to play us tough. Here's hoping Ward is off his game.