Ottawa Senators Fanatics

What a disappointing pick Brian Lee has been. I miss the days when we had good draft after good draft. Murray just doesn't seem to be finding the talent the way we use to be able too. We haven't had a great 1st round draft since Spezza and Gleason in 2001.
Since then we have:
Jakub Klepis
Patrick Eaves
Andrej Meszaros
Brian Lee
Nick Foligno
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Jim O'Brien
Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowan


It is still too early to label the bottom 3 but Klepis to Foligno is not good production for 1st round picks the last few years. Meszaros looked good when he was playing with an all-star but in Tampa he has been fairly average. Klepis and Eaves were also traded but haven't amounted to a lot.

Cowan has not impressed me a lot since with his size and credentials wasn't even a shutdown D-man for the WJHC.  I have not seen much of Jim O'Brien to know anything about him.

We really were spoiled by the previous management teams.

I would like to see another defensemen added in case something happens to Volchenkov,he is always one hit or blocked shot away from injury the way he plays,and we don't have anyone to replace him .Would also like to pick up a veteran sniper to replace Cheechoo,Maybe Ray Whitney,you could trade Lee for him or another sniper,Lee doesn't have it.Just look at Karlsson's development compared to Lee.

yep, we are looking much better at the moment. Hopefully we can keep this up. I think we could be looking at huge holes again though if anything happens for injuries

The Sens will seek their eight win in a row tonight when they visit Pittsburgh.

A win would be huge for the Sens,here's hoping for a win,

PITTSBURGH - Brian Elliott survived a Daniel Alfredsson shot to the head at the morning skate and will make his sixth consecutive start in goal Thursday night for the Ottawa Senators.

In searching for win No. 8 in a row, Ottawa will be trying to match a franchise record set in the fall of 2007. The Penguins have also been hot of late, and have won their past two games.

Put to the test will be the Senators penalty-killing units that have been perfect during the streak.

"Obviously, they have a very high level of skill," coach Cory Clouston said of a Penguins power play that is currently on a roll. "Right now they've got some pretty good net presence. They've been able to get some goals the old fashioned way, with screens and deflections."

This was sweet.

BOSTON -- Jason Spezza returned after missing 20 games with a knee injury to score the winner in the second period and the surging Ottawa Senators earned their sixth straight victory, 2-1 against the Boston Bruins on Saturday

The team played well to move 6 points ahead of Boston and 7 behind Buffalo.This is the kind of run we haven't seen in a long time and is great for Sens fans.Two tough games next week against Jersey and the Penguins.

The only people of true value on the sens would be Neil, Phillips, Volchenkov, Fisher, Alfie, Kovalev and Spezza. Spezza played his value down. Phillips and alfie have been around for so long, it would be sad to see them go.
Agreed,but after this 5 game win streak i think the needs have to be re-evaluated.There has been development shown by Regin and Karlsson.If Spezza comes back tomorrow we have to give them a few games to see how the team meshes after all the injured players return.This team could turn out to be a very good unit.Altough I still feel we need an upgade in goal.

The only people of true value on the sens would be Neil, Phillips, Volchenkov, Fisher, Alfie, Kovalev and Spezza. Spezza played his value down. Phillips and alfie have been around for so long, it would be sad to see them go.

Fisher is the only good pubicity we are going to get. Neil and Volchenkov are loved by the fans for their style of play.

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Kovalev didn't help his cause much but maybe we find a contender for him with cap space? Possibly the Kings would send a few pucks our way plus a sewing kit to fix the nets?

The Sens need a big game from Pascal Leclaire tonight in Atlanta.

ATLANTA -- Pascal Leclaire is going to get another chance to save the Senators.

He will make his second straight start tonight as the Senators try to end their four-game losing skid against the Atlanta Thrashers tonight at Philips Arena.

Leclaire made 29 saves in the club's 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at the RBC Center.

"We just have to get back to playing our game," said Senators winger Chris Neil.

The Thrashers are struggling mightily with only one win in their last 11 games. Expect to see Ondrej Pavelec, who made 50 saves in a 3-1 victory on Oct. 31 in Ottawa, make the start for Thrashers.

Centre Nick Antropov will be a game-time decision. If he plays former Senators centre Todd White, who hasn't scored in 34 games, could be a healthy scratch.

The Thrashers are coming off a 8-1 loss to the Washington Capitals Saturday at home.

"We want to get back up on the horse again and get going," said Atlanta coach John Anderson. "We have to be tougher in front of their net."

It would be nice if the Sens could make a trade to fill their holes but who do they have to trade besides Sezza?

A loss to Washington last night,really showed off the Sens weaknesses.No scoring and they lose Michalek,and again bad goaltending by Leclaire.

WASHINGTON — There are sure to be a number of records broken at what should be the playground of Alex Ovechkin for the next 10 years or so.

Here’s what will sound like a broken record from a witness of the most recent game at the Verizon Center: The Senators were done in Thursday night because their goalie gave up bad goals and their power play stunk.

Simple as that.

Two goals by centre Nicklas Backstrom in the third period ruined any hope of a comeback as Ottawa lost its second in a row, this time 5-2 to the Capitals.

The first goal, just 26 seconds after the intermission, was a shot by Backstrom from the corner, just a couple of feet away from the extended goal line. It went in off Pascal Leclaire’s side, or what the Capitals’ broadcaster referred to as “the seven-hole.”

Who even knew there was such a thing?

Backstrom notched his second goal of the night when he skated in on the left wing and then, with Leclaire overplaying the rush, tucked it in the open net.

Leclaire was defensive in the post-game scrum.

“There were 40 other shots (Thursday night). F---, I’m going to make mistakes ... now it seems that every time I give up a goal, it’s scrutinized, and its always the story of the game. If you guys want to keep doing that ... I know I make mistakes. I made a mistake on the third goal, but at the same time I thought I did some good stuff.

“As long as we don’t win, there’s nothing else that matters. It’s 5-2, we’ve got to play smarter defensively, especially against a team like that. We gave them too many scoring chances.”

Senators defenceman Chris Phillips said the third goal was a tough one.

“We kind of got down a little bit after that,” he said. “Sat back and almost watched them for the rest of the game.

Asked for a comment on the goaltending, Cory Clouston rolled his eyes.

“Like our play, probably inconsistent,” the Senators coach said. “Thought he made a couple of key saves in the second that allowed us to score that goal, but the first shift of the third, that goal really seemed to break our back.”

Ovechkin add his 27th on a semi-breakaway with a bit more than a minute to go, while Jonathan Cheechoo responded with his fourth of the season, and first in 18 games, with just 56 seconds left.

Meanwhile, the Senators’ power play was at its ugliest on this night, going 0-for-3. Ottawa has scored in just two of its last 42 power plays.

Adding to their injury woes, the Senators lost their third Top 6 forward in a month when winger Milan Michalek was “shaken up” by a Mike Green hit early in the first. He’ll be re-evaluated Friday with what was described as an “upper-body injury.”

Michalek leaves game

“We’re missing some pretty key players,” said Clouston. “We’re asking a lot from some guys, whether they’re first -year players or generally that’s not their role. Right now we have our whole first line out. Michalek, (Jason) Spezza and (Daniel) Alfredsson. We can’t make excuses.

"We’ve got to find ways, but that has a little bit to do with the fact we’re not getting a lot done on the power play.”

The Senators, who fired then-coach Craig Hartsburg after their last visit to the Verizon Center (Feb. 1, 2009) have not won here since March of 2006.

Asked about Leclaire’s fault in the loss, Phillips said: “A lot of guys in here, in fact all of us, if we’re going to turn this thing around, we’ve all got to be better. Great opportunity in the second, he kept us in the game, we would like to do more for him. Our power play could have been big for us (last night), lots of areas definitely could have been better and need to be better.”

The Senators were behind 2-0 at the end of the first.

Washington took the only two penalties in the opening stanza, and the Senators managed a grand total of two shots during the four minutes worth of man-advantage opportunity. Neither of them was a real threat to get past Jose Theodore, nor was anything else the former Hull Olympiques goalie faced in the first half of the game.

Leclaire made three quick saves before a falling Boyd Gordon scored his first goal of the season with Shean Donovan riding his back.

Four stops in a row is a lot to ask, but Leclaire would have helped himself by smothering the first one instead of giving up the rebound. The second Washington goal was a wrister by Mike Knuble from the right-wing faceoff circle.

The second period saw the Senators battle to stay in the game by killing off two penalties — not an easy chore when the opposition’s lineup boast the likes of Ovechkin, Green, Alexander Semin and Backstrom. Moments after surviving their ninth too-many-men penalty of the season, the Senators got a goal from Nick Foligno