Ottawa Senators (present and past) TIDBITS & QUICK HITS!

tim1_2 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:What was the speed on his shot?  Who won fastest skater?

Young Milan Michalek.

Did he blow out his knees in the process?

No. But many "fans" were heard saying that he was "slow" and "finished" afterwards.

Our fan base is very knowledgeable. You don't win by spending money!

tim1_2 wrote:Our fan base is very knowledgeable.  You don't win by spending money!

Truth.

tim1_2 wrote:Our fan base is very knowledgeable.  You don't win by spending money!

You don't win without spending the money wisely.  If they let Hemsky go and Michalek go for cash reasons then I might jump on board this little hate train but until there is a mass exodus of players leaving people are crying for the sake of crying.

if Michalek was asking for a lot of cash then no Dung we aren't signing him.

Michalek is not a critical player to re-sign

Would be nice to see regulation losses tonight by:
- Carolina (they host Buffalo)
- Columbus (they host San Jose)
- Tampa Bay (they host Florida)
- Rangers (they visit the Wild)

I know... I know...

Ev wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:106, holy crap.  Get this guy to the point on the pp and start webbering guys.

It's like the team never scouted in him Europe or internationally. This is his spot.

There must be a concern about his defensive play? Not sure, he has the speed to get back in a hurry, he's clearly got the shot - which we knew already because he was hammering goals from the left side on PPs last year and earlier this year.

My favourite "Zibanejad" is the one that has some confidence and isn't afraid to rip those one timers on the PP.

Ev wrote:if Michalek was asking for a lot of cash then no Dung we aren't signing him.

Michalek is not a critical player to re-sign

Critical?  No.  Important?  IMO yes.

Looks like his knee might be getting back to the way it was. If that's the case and his horrific season wasn't because of destructful knee issues, then yes, I'd look at re-signing him. I still think it's a tremendous risk though - and Uncle Gene isn't in the business of taking financial risks.

I've slightly changed my position on him because he doesn't look like a 65 year old out there anymore, he looks back to the way he should look without the injuries. And Hemsky has infused a tremendous amount of jump and what appears to be early chemistry, so better the devil you know sometimes.

Didn't the Michaleks also welcome their first earlier this season? Just googled, and she was due in August. OK, so it should not have affected him much for the start of the season (maybe lack of sleep) but it probably affected his workout regimen during the summer.

I'm not gonna take that as a big excuse. A millionaire should be able to provide assistance to his spouce when he needs to workout.

I'm glad he appears to be rounding back to the old Michalek though, I always really liked him obviously.

I think it's simply the knee surgery that he had in Europe that caused him to miss significant off-season training and he hasn't found his feet until now. The question I would have remains: is he going to remain healthy, or is this just one big risk?

With Murray coming out and saying that he has faith in Cowen and won't trade him, I guess we're not looking at any kind of changes on the backend - which is really disappointing.

However...laughably, the forward core appears to be headed in the right direction with Michalek appearing to be coming around and Hemsky being a huge addition.  Not to mention some of the young talent we have that have looked right at home up here - most notably Da Costa, Hoffman and Stone.  Puempel looks like he might hit 25-28 goals in the AHL as well as a rookie, that's just fantastic - and people shouldn't forget Robinson or Schneider.

I guess, if we assume Hemsky and Michalek will at least be looked at as re-signings, we can have a good summer of working and come back next year with a refreshed outlook.

The main issue I would have is to make this a 4 line team - a true 4 line team - which means that Smith, Neil and Greening/Condra should rarely see 3rd line minutes.

MacArthur - Turris - Ryan
Michalek - Spezza - Hemsky
Hoffman - Zibanejad - Stone/Lazar
Greening - Smith - Neil

I assume Lazar will be in there somewhere

That's more along the lines of what we want to see here.  3rd line is no longer for checkers exclusively.  

I don't even want to write out the D - it makes me depressed.

EDIT: It would be great to add Stewart and force him onto a line with Zibanejad with Lazar or whoever legitimately wins the other wing job.

the D isn't depressing, it will be the strongest point of the team in the near future

Ev wrote:the D isn't depressing, it will be the strongest point of the team in the near future

Let's hope it is.

My gut says Hemsky and Michalek are gone this summer...

my gut is that 9mm is gone also. they will probably try and retain Hemsky, let's see if they manage.

I know i said this will never happen but i figured SJS would have locked up Dan Boyle by now... depending what he wants(get a 3 year contract with an up-and comer like us and hit the home town for the final stretch) or go to a team that is looking like they are clearly a contender, I could see Murray adding him on the back end to bring some veteran presence(to correct the lack of "Gonacharness") and also convert one or more of these D-man into an asset.

my bet for the off season: michalek walks, Dan boyle is brought in we make a trade with Buff for stewart.

I'd like to add that we trade spezza but i don't trust they will.

if they cannot get a new contract for bobby ryan this summer i imagine they will try to show him what they think they truly are and continue to try to get him signed during next season.

BM is not the type IMO to part with guys by the trade deadline if he's dedicated to wanting them to sign a contract.

my 2 cents

my gut says I want pizza

My gut just had a jerk chicken sandwich...