Ottawa Senators TIDBITS & QUICK HITS!

If they are looking trade a guy that might make sense, once against is Fleischmann. LH shot, capable of scoring some goal, not signed long term, and can probably be had for a song and dance. He can distribute the puck fairly well too. I don't think that option is coming though and they may need to just figure it out on their own.

Fact of the matter is they are only 4 points back on Detroit who leads the division and the Sens haven't played anywhere near their best hockey yet and the killer part of their schedule is done for the year. They need some bounces and they need to work hard, simple as that.

Karlsson practicing without a visor this morning. Strange.

Ev wrote:as much as I would like Ziba to get top minutes and contine to produce offensively in the AHL, I think his game is much needed here, especially for the upcoming stretch. He'a a better option than Pageau at the moment, IMO.

I think the fact he is in the NHL is more for him than the team. Regardless of what happens this season, long term is still more important.

Exactly. People looking for short term fixes are going to be disappointed over the next few weeks. They run a marathon not a sprint in terms of the regular season and the development of prospects. I would be extremely surprised if Zibanejad was in Ottawa before Christmas just for the simple fact they want him to play a ton down in Bingo and develop his offensive game to the point where he can come into the NHL and not miss a beat.

Pageau, yah he's struggling a little but most if not all young players struggle in the faceoff circle and the only way you get better at that is rep after rep after rep. He's not coasting, he's not taking shifts off, and he's not costing the team when he doesn't have the puck. Expecting offense from him right now playing with Condra and Kassian is a little much and I don't think anyone in the organization expects him to but he needs to play for sure and having a night off and being able to see the game from up top isn't always a bad thing for a young guy. It's all part of the process.

Expect guys like Hoffman and Peterson to be getting the looks if they want some offense in the short term, guys who have paid their dues within the organization.

Actually Pageau is coasting, the coach said it himself. He isn't skating as well and just not playing as well as he can. He is not hustling every shift.

Long term IS important and it's not in Pageau's best interest to be here right now

Ev wrote:Actually Pageau is coasting, the coach said it himself. He isn't skating as well and just not playing as well as he can. He is not hustling every shift.

Long term IS important and it's not in Pageau's best interest to be here right now

What's the based on? They are trying to turn him into a well rounded center at the NHL level. Also, Pageau has probably played more hockey than any other player in the Sens organization over the last year and may have very well needed a night off. Not buying that he's coasting more so than he's dead tired.

Only way he's going to get used to the bumping and grinding of the NHL over the course of a season is by being there. He might get sent back down at some point but it won't be before mid Nov when he's actually had the time to catch his breath.

He's tired? It's Game like, what, 8? Not a good excuse. Cory Conacher played just as many games and is doing fine.

Playing a 20 year old 8 minutes a night is just not the smart thing to do, IMO.

I'd rather have the guy who showed he can play in the NHL for a long stretch in the lineup right now.

He's tired  

and by the way, it was for sure the right move to scratch him. Hopefully he wrote an essay as well.

Ev wrote:He's tired? It's Game like, what, 8? Not a good excuse. Cory Conacher played just as many games and is doing fine.

Playing a 20 year old 8 minutes a night is just not the smart thing to do, IMO.

I'd rather have the guy who showed he can play in the NHL for a long stretch in the lineup right now.

He's tired  

I think he's accounting for previous seasons plus the rookie tournament and preseason that pageau was heavily involved in. It's possible he's run out of gas a little bit. But I don't see how taking a game off will suddenly help recover that.

Like I said, the first sign of real trouble like sens getting under .500, we will see zibanejad called up

I agree that he's played a lot of game. But if he is tired, then sending him down is a better option than playing him since Binghamton gets lots of breaks.

Ev wrote:He's tired? It's Game like, what, 8? Not a good excuse. Cory Conacher played just as many games and is doing fine.

Playing a 20 year old 8 minutes a night is just not the smart thing to do, IMO.

I'd rather have the guy who showed he can play in the NHL for a long stretch in the lineup right now.

He's tired  

You know a 20 year old who is still actually filling out, needing more calories than he can possibly intake, and playing none stop from the ECHL, AHL, NHL, and NHL playoffs to the rookie camp, main camp, and first NHL season is pretty much more than any 20 year old can take from a physical stand point.

I laugh at comments like these because it shows just how little people know about what goes on outside of a hockey game. He plays 8 mins a night? So? That extra 8 would make really make it hard for him to get up in the morning? Or is it the 25-30 mins of extra practice time everyday that he puts in? Is it the fact he skates harder in practice than most of the established vets because he needs to keep his spot?

The amount of game time a player receives is absolutely no indication of how tired or well rested a player is long term, meaning outside of the actual game and on a day by day, week by week basis. If a player is tired in game that's conditioning. If a player wakes up tired both physically and mentally and starts the game like that it's almost impossible to overcome.

Laughing at the comment "he's tired" shows total ignorance to what actually happens and what is actually going on in the NHL with players on a day to day basis. This is why fans are just fans and the ones that make comments like it just drive by good life and already feel sick to their stomach.

I am not ignorant to what happens outside of a hockey game. Saying he's tired and making excuses for him is sad because people say some thing about Zibanejad and you and others asay those are excuses. It should be no different that he and Pageau would both benefit by playing a lot of minutes regardless of what league he is in.

And no, tired is not a good excuse when I pointed out a guy like Conacher, who was a college player, who played all of last year (90+ games) and is playing really well right now.

Pageau had all summer off. It should be no excuse, and he wouldn't use it as an excuse. In fact, nobody is saying that. If he's tired, get him the heck down there and get a better prospect and more well-rested player up. He either plays well, or he gets the boot since he is waiver exempt. I'm not saying he CANT be tired or BLAMING him for that, but IF HE IS MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY TIRED, SEND HIM DOWN.

I didn't comment that "he only plays 8 minutes a night so why should he be tired". I said it's stupid to play him 8 minutes a night when he could get 20 in Binghamton.

and as for the last comment, don't generalize.

and he didn't play in the ECHL.

I don't like the way Pageau is being handled at all personally. He's not the kind of kid that will benefit from sitting - unless Mac is getting him to watch the game from up top and use it in the next game. Even then, he's young, I haven't seen him take shifts off, but what I've seen is him not being effective in the least and playing 5-8 minutes because of it. That's 100% not what Pageau needs for his development right now. He needs to do the Zibanejad thing where he goes down and plays 20 minutes a night - preferably on the wing as well.

I don't see the point in his development up here at all.

As for Zibanejad, I'm a huge advocator of leaving him down there until Christmas so he can get his compete level up, his endurance, work on the finer points of his game - all of that...but...the two guys who took his job have now pretty much failed - and Bryan Murray's not the kind of guy to wait around I don't think.

That said, I think it'll be Hoffman. We need a sniper to finish some of the plays that are being set up.

And Diddle-a-doodle-doo, what is the point of playing Kassian? Someone tell me.

SpezDispenser wrote:I don't like the way Pageau is being handled at all personally.  He's not the kind of kid that will benefit from sitting - unless Mac is getting him to watch the game from up top and use it in the next game.  Even then, he's young, I haven't seen him take shifts off, but what I've seen is him not being effective in the least and playing 5-8 minutes because of it.  That's 100% not what Pageau needs for his development right now.  He needs to do the Zibanejad thing where he goes down and plays 20 minutes a night - preferably on the wing as well.

I don't see the point in his development up here at all.  

As for Zibanejad, I'm a huge advocator of leaving him down there until Christmas so he can get his compete level up, his endurance, work on the finer points of his game - all of that...but...the two guys who took his job have now pretty much failed - and Bryan Murray's not the kind of guy to wait around I don't think.

That said, I think it'll be Hoffman.  We need a sniper to finish some of the plays that are being set up.

Unless a player is an every day, sure fire NHLer every player can benefit from taking a seat and even those who are every day NHLers can benefit from it. There is a ton to learn and a ton a player can take in by sitting up top and watching the game at a slower pace. They sat Greening last year and after that he was lights out and helped the Sens chug along in a big way.

There's learning to do away from actual game play as well. People get so obsessed with in game crap they forget most of the learning is done outside of the games while in practice, the video room, the weight room, the grocery store, etc, etc, etc.

The idea for Pageau isn't to be a dominate offensive player going up against other teams top lines, they want him to be that complete all around center you can throw out there in any situation. Fact is in Bingo he will probably dominate offensively and put up points when they really don't need him to be. Only way he's going to get better at what he does is by playing against the best and practicing with the best.

Maybe if he continues to struggle and can't do what's needed the move him back down but it won't be this week or next week.

I get I'm probably going to take flack for this, but IMHO the defense haven't been great so far this year, and I wonder why Corvo isn't playing. I would have sat Philips or Cowan for a game or two, as I thought Corvo was one of the top dmen in the 3 games he played on the Road Trip.

Phillips? He's been about as solid as you can ask. Cowen? He's been awful and he's not even the guy playing is off side right now. The defense as a whole is struggling hard and a big reason why the Sens can't get the puck out of their own zone along with a lack of defensive commitment from the forwards... along with moronic decisions in the neutral zone and offensive zone by those same forwards.

Corvo should be in because he's been better than Cowen and Gryba. Cowen is 100% the guy that needs to figure out how to play in the NHL again because his playoffs last year and the start of his season this year have been of the AHL quality.