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

tim1_2 wrote:Not sure we can really use the stats under Cameron yet...not very many games played yet...as the cool kids like to say, "sample size".  That said, they seem to be playing a little better overall.

12 games. Most people wanted to evaluate after 10 (and, yes, again after 20).

SpezDispensed wrote:

wprager wrote:Some more interesting numbers.  I took a look at the stats of the Sens centers to compare last year to this year.  For last season they had Conacher and Grant listed as centers but I ignored their stats and went with just Spezza/Turris/Zibanejad/Smith/DaCosta/Pageau.

Goals per game went from 0.44 to 0.15 -- almost a 3x drop.  Points per game went from 0.86 to 0.39 -- more than a 2x drop.  Surely, though, with the improved goaltending the +/- will be better, right?  Especially with Spezza gone.  This year the centers are accumulating minuses at the rate of -0.12 per game, as compared to last year's 0.10 pace.

Way less offense down the middle.  Scary bad.  And the +/- is actually slightly worse, despite much better goalie performance.

Remember before this year started we said the season would hinge on Cowen and Zibanejad having bouncback years?  Well...one of them did...

Zibanejad had nothing to bounce back from.

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:Not sure we can really use the stats under Cameron yet...not very many games played yet...as the cool kids like to say, "sample size".  That said, they seem to be playing a little better overall.

12 games.  Most people wanted to evaluate after 10 (and, yes, again after 20).

I think we could all agree that it's kind of silly to evaluate a coach after 12 games.  Especially when he doesn't have a ton to work with.  As my hero Brock Lesnar once said, "you can't make chicken salad out of chicken Dung".

I don't think we all should agree. 10 games is a nice, round number. And since we are evaluating the coach and not the GM the fact that the lineup remains unchanged is actually important. Let's see who can make a better lemonade (or a better salad).

The numbers are encouraging. Not necessarily to say that Cameron is a better coach -- like the article said, Cameron is not under the same pressure to perform and the injuries to Neil and Smith have kinda . forced his hand. Small sample size or not, there is a small improvement. Not enough to all of a sudden make them playoff contenders, but enough to perhaps suggest we are on the right track.

wprager wrote:I don't think we all should agree.  10 games is a nice, round number.  And since we are evaluating the coach and not the GM the fact that the lineup remains unchanged is actually important.  Let's see who can make a better lemonade (or a better salad).  

The numbers are encouraging.  Not necessarily to say that Cameron is a better coach -- like the article said, Cameron is not under the same pressure to perform and the injuries to Neil and Smith have kinda .  forced his hand.  Small sample size or not, there is a small improvement.  Not enough to all of a sudden make them playoff contenders, but enough to perhaps suggest we are on the right track.

I think we were on the right track even before PMac got fired, but it does seem like Cameron has had them elevate their game a little.

Did anyone else watch the Road to the Winter Classic series that aired on Sportsnet.  It amused me watching Trotz and Quenville say the same damn things to the players everyday: "outwork them", "move your feet", "compete level", "pick it up", "not Cussing good enough", etc etc.  One thing that I think Trotz does very well is become almost a father figure to the players, where they seem to really appreciate his praise when he gives it.  Little things like shaking every players' hand after a win and commenting on something they did in particular that game...Quenville was more of a "LET'S STOMP THESE MOTHER Diddlers IN THE GROUND, RARRRRRRRGH" type coach.

Next year, Mike Yeo is a must for that program.

dennycrane wrote:Next year, Mike Yeo is a must for that program.

I found the hype around his big rant was a little overblown. It wasn't really that nuts, just a really passionate speech about how they had to stop sucking.

tim1_2 wrote:

I still don't think the playoffs are out of the question.  The rest of January, we have Colorado, Phoenix x2, Dallas x2, Toronto, The Rags, Carolina, and Montreal.  That's 9 games...I think we can go 7-2, which should get us pretty close to that last wild card spot. 

The schedule in Feb is pretty soft too, with the exception of the western road trip at the very end of that month.

Make it so.

Alright, gotta go 7-1 over the next 8.

Make it so.

tim1_2 wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

I still don't think the playoffs are out of the question.  The rest of January, we have Colorado, Phoenix x2, Dallas x2, Toronto, The Rags, Carolina, and Montreal.  That's 9 games...I think we can go 7-2, which should get us pretty close to that last wild card spot. 

The schedule in Feb is pretty soft too, with the exception of the western road trip at the very end of that month.

Make it so.

Alright, gotta go 7-1 over the next 8.

Make it so.

LET'S DO IT!!!!

tim1_2 wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

I still don't think the playoffs are out of the question.  The rest of January, we have Colorado, Phoenix x2, Dallas x2, Toronto, The Rags, Carolina, and Montreal.  That's 9 games...I think we can go 7-2, which should get us pretty close to that last wild card spot. 

The schedule in Feb is pretty soft too, with the exception of the western road trip at the very end of that month.

Make it so.

Alright, gotta go 7-1 over the next 8.

Make it so.

Gotta win 1.

Gotta win 7. Of the next 8. We're due for a lengthy hot streak.

Sens would be drafting 8th right now but sadly I think that improves over the next 3 months. Columbus will pass them and IMO make the playoffs and win a round. Philly will more than likely pass them. Other than that... might be tough to get a better pick but who knows how hard the Sens tank right now. It won't be getting any better.

wprager wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:Not sure we can really use the stats under Cameron yet...not very many games played yet...as the cool kids like to say, "sample size".  That said, they seem to be playing a little better overall.

12 games.  Most people wanted to evaluate after 10 (and, yes, again after 20).

Source?

Hopefully 1 guy they give a shot to next year is Da Costa... there's a guy that could help the PP right now but they decided he wasn't good enough for the NHL or just wasn't room right now.

Plan the parade:

Bruce Garrioch @SunGarrioch · 2m 2 minutes ago

Unless there's a change of heart, expect Todd Bertuzzi to join Ottawa's AHL affiliate in Binghamton next week on a 25-game pro tryout. #Sens

Fun

i swear to god people are challenged. They wouldn't even be allowed to call him up in this deal.

It's so true. Any NHL team can sign him while he's I'm bingo. Any one