Re: GAME DAY: Washington Capitals @ Ottawa Senators - 7:30pm EST - Mon. Nov. 23rd, 2009 PLUS post game thoughts

by **Sens19** on Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:59 pm

N4L wrote:Maybe for Sopel and a pick.

I don't know much about Sopel but hell can he be worse?

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:01 am

OMG no, Ill take Sopel every day of the friggin week over Campoli.

by **marakh** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:01 am

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:01 am

Fisher is just awesome. Our TRUE number 1 center.

by Hockeyhero22000 on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:01 am

FISHER!!!!!!

by **marakh** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:02 am

woW i was listening to the radio at school and it was 3-1, I arrive at home and it's OT just to see Fisher score

by **Sens19** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:02 am

whohoho oh yeah!!!

by Gohan on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:04 am

N4L wrote:OMG no, Ill take Sopel every day of the friggin week over Campoli.

He's definitely not worse than Campoli, but he definitely doesn't answer the problem with the Sens lineup. We need a competent puck-mover who can handle his own end and supply a little offense---Another Kuba, kind of, would be fine, but a player with more of an offensive slant would be better

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:05 am

Gohan wrote:
N4L wrote:OMG no, Ill take Sopel every day of the friggin week over Campoli.

He's definitely not worse than Campoli, but he definitely doesn't answer the problem with the Sens lineup. We need a competent puck-mover who can handle his own end and supply a little offense---Another Kuba, kind of, would be fine, but a player with more of an offensive slant would be better

Sopel would improve the blueline though, I dont mind him as a player at all. Get a 1st rounder back with that from Chicago and you are pretty much set.

Sopel is paid what he's worth IMO.

by **Sens19** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:06 am

Gohan wrote:
N4L wrote:OMG no, Ill take Sopel every day of the friggin week over Campoli.

He's definitely not worse than Campoli, but he definitely doesn't answer the problem with the Sens lineup. We need a competent puck-mover who can handle his own end and supply a little offense---Another Kuba, kind of, would be fine, but a player with more of an offensive slant would be better

Oh I wasnt referring to solving our big issue on D just referring to solving our Campoli issue on D

I love when we come from behind and win it (told you Fisher was our best player tonight)!!! 3rd place here we come!!!!

by Flo The Action on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:08 am

hole mole!

mike fisher is earning his millions this year! this is one of the best wins for me this year. coming back from a 2 goal deficite to win the game against the best team in the east is got to be a huge confidence boost for this team!
hell yeah!!!!!!!!!

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:12 am

Flo The Action wrote:hole mole!

mike fisher is earning his millions this year! this is one of the best wins for me this year. coming back from a 2 goal deficite to win the game against the best team in the east is got to be a huge confidence boost for this team!
hell yeah!!!!!!!!!

Huge win.

Some of the unnoitced but important things.
Picard and Carkner, really good tonight!
Elliott, very, very solid. (as if he's the backup here).
Shannon played his best game of the year by a mile.
Phillips making a HUGE play taking AO off the puck in the OT.
Kuba only has 7 points in his last 2.
Michalek got in a lot of dirty area's and really was the reason they tied it up IMO.

We'll leave the negative alone but there is one guy really note worthy who is not carrying his weight at all. 2 points in his last 8... unacceptable.

by Bramlet07 on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:12 am

Leclaire may now have a broken jaw????

by Gohan on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:16 am

N4L wrote:
Flo The Action wrote:hole mole!

mike fisher is earning his millions this year! this is one of the best wins for me this year. coming back from a 2 goal deficite to win the game against the best team in the east is got to be a huge confidence boost for this team!
hell yeah!!!!!!!!!

Huge win.

Some of the unnoitced but important things.
Picard and Carkner, really good tonight!
Elliott, very, very solid. (as if he's the backup here).
Shannon played his best game of the year by a mile.
Phillips making a HUGE play taking AO off the puck in the OT.
Kuba only has 7 points in his last 2.
Michalek got in a lot of dirty area's and really was the reason they tied it up IMO.

We'll leave the negative alone but there is one guy really note worthy who is not carrying his weight at all. 2 points in his last 8... unacceptable.

two more positives:
Chris Neil's play, all night, culminating in the goal that would get us rolling.
CC doing whats right and keeping Cheechoo off the ice for the final 8 minutes.

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:17 am

Cheechoo is not having an easy time right now. CC has to do what he has to do. I love his effort and heart, but he just cant do it anymore.

by asq2 on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:19 am

Shannon always seems to play great with Fisher. That Foligno kid seems to as well. Have we ever tried putting them together on a line?

by **Sens19** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:20 am

Is Leclaire really seriously injured?

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:20 am

Only player in The NHL who can get hurt on the bench. WTF is with that guys luck!?

by Bramlet07 on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:22 am

Sens19 wrote:Is Leclaire really seriously injured?

Sportsnet said during the highlights that he may have broke his jaw when he got hit with the puck in the 2nd period. Hopefully thats not the case.

by asq2 on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:23 am

I can't tell whether to send condolences or crack jokes about his face.

I won't lie, I was leaning towards the latter. But if he broke his jaw, I'd feel guilty.

by Gohan on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:26 am

asq2 wrote:Shannon always seems to play great with Fisher. That Foligno kid seems to as well. Have we ever tried putting them together on a line?

But then what would we do with the Russian?

by **dennycrane** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:28 am

I wouldn't put any stock in what Sportsnet said. They said in their highlight package that it was a rumour. Great journalism there.

Great comeback/horrible meltdown by the Caps.

If Leclaire is hurt, Eklund will go bat-s#$% with Biron to the Sens (E4). Meanwhile, our sensible local reporters will say Malkin to the Kings.

by **SpezDispenser** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:29 am

Gohan wrote:
asq2 wrote:Shannon always seems to play great with Fisher. That Foligno kid seems to as well. Have we ever tried putting them together on a line?

But then what would we do with the Russian?

I think most of us thought the exact same thing - especially in the third period (that's the only period I actually saw). Laugh1

[i]

Hmmm...this Fisher - Shannon - Regin/Foligno line is killer, but...what do we do with Kovalev.

by asq2 on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:30 am

Gohan wrote:
asq2 wrote:Shannon always seems to play great with Fisher. That Foligno kid seems to as well. Have we ever tried putting them together on a line?

But then what would we do with the Russian?

Convert him to defence.

Yeah, the problem with putting the FFS line together was that my plan hinged on Cheechoo being an ~~NHL~~ top-6 calibre forward and Kovalev showing up for more than 20% of the games.

Otherwise, we could have gone:

Michalek - Spezza - Cheechoo
Kovalev - Regin - Alfredsson
Foligno - Fisher - Shannon

It'd be nice to get Foligno going, though. He was supposed to be a guy who was going to pot 25+ this season, but he's only on pace for 16.

by **SpezDispenser** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:34 am

I'm still in quasi-shock. I get home from work right in time for the 3rd, they play lights out from the drop of the puck, we cap it off with an OT winner by Fisher - unreal.

I got the feed working for a bit of the 2nd at work, then saw the third. There's a specific shift by Campoli and Lee that sums up what can go wrong with a defensive pairing. The shift where they had 3 seperate opportunities to clear the puck, didn't all 3 times, gave it right back to the caps. Finally, Fisher comes in, take the puck behind the net and draws a (lucky) penalty. Otherwise, that puck is in the back of the net and it's 4-3 Caps with 8 minutes to go or whatever it was.

I'm starting to think that the sooner we get Campoli out, the better - and I was a fan of his when we got him. We need to clear the roster spot for Volchenkov, we need to clear our system of him because it's clearly not working. Lee's no shining star, but I thought he's been playing really well for a while, but tonight he looked horrible and I think a fair bit of that falls on Campoli.

At any rate, split them up - please.

by **SpezDispenser** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:37 am

Great positives from this game as well. Great battle to get back into that game. 15 shots going into the third and I think we took 18 in the 3rd alone. That's way more like it. Why that didn't happen earlier, I'm not sure.

Carkner was really calm. Picard was great, I'm feeling that he's cutting down on his crappy games and his good games are worth it. I hope he's learning consistency, because when he plays like this, he's great.

Kuba's a rock star. What does he have, 10 points in 3 games? It's something like that. See what happens when you put the puck in the net?

Shannon, Regin and Fisher together was fun, Neil was fun, Ruutu was GREAT, Kelly was good.

Alfie and Spezza weren't their typical selves, they need to bounce back, but if you can turn the tables and come back on the Caps - who are missing Semin, but we're missing A-Train - you have some positives to take out for sure.

Ahhhhh!

by asq2 on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:46 am

No Semin, Knuble and Poti (amongst others, but those are the important ones) for the Caps, no Volchenkov or Leclaire for Ottawa.

I'd call it about even. And that means it may be the first "top" team we've beaten while on an even keel injuries-wise (I don't think the win over Pittsburgh counts).

by **hemlock** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:58 am

Fisher in OT again. He's clutch.

I know people will say that he's playing well defensively, but for $7 million, I need to see Spezza's name on the score sheet. Another game in the books and he hasn't gotten a point. This is starting to become a concern. Sure he may have become more defensively responsible to perhaps make the Olympic team, but he won't be there with no offensive output.

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:06 am

SpezDispenser wrote:Great positives from this game as well. Great battle to get back into that game. 15 shots going into the third and I think we took 18 in the 3rd alone. That's way more like it. Why that didn't happen earlier, I'm not sure.

Carkner was really calm. Picard was great, I'm feeling that he's cutting down on his crappy games and his good games are worth it. I hope he's learning consistency, because when he plays like this, he's great.

Kuba's a rock star. What does he have, 10 points in 3 games? It's something like that. See what happens when you put the puck in the net?

Shannon, Regin and Fisher together was fun, Neil was fun, Ruutu was GREAT, Kelly was good.

Alfie and Spezza weren't their typical selves, they need to bounce back, but if you can turn the tables and come back on the Caps - who are missing Semin, but we're missing A-Train - you have some positives to take out for sure.

Dont know about that... everything is becoming very typical for him. Really think we might see the end of Spezza if he doesnt pick things up.

by **hemlock** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:07 am

N4L wrote:
SpezDispenser wrote:Great positives from this game as well. Great battle to get back into that game. 15 shots going into the third and I think we took 18 in the 3rd alone. That's way more like it. Why that didn't happen earlier, I'm not sure.

Carkner was really calm. Picard was great, I'm feeling that he's cutting down on his crappy games and his good games are worth it. I hope he's learning consistency, because when he plays like this, he's great.

Kuba's a rock star. What does he have, 10 points in 3 games? It's something like that. See what happens when you put the puck in the net?

Shannon, Regin and Fisher together was fun, Neil was fun, Ruutu was GREAT, Kelly was good.

Alfie and Spezza weren't their typical selves, they need to bounce back, but if you can turn the tables and come back on the Caps - who are missing Semin, but we're missing A-Train - you have some positives to take out for sure.

Dont know about that... everything is becoming very typical for him. Really think we might see the end of Spezza if he doesnt pick things up.

Somehow I don't see Murray rushing to try and move a big ticket player with issues and a NTC. I don't see how he gets moved, or to whom, if he's got any say (which he most certainly does).

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:08 am

hemlock wrote:Fisher in OT again. He's clutch.

I know people will say that he's playing well defensively, but for $7 million, I need to see Spezza's name on the score sheet. Another game in the books and he hasn't gotten a point. This is starting to become a concern. Sure he may have become more defensively responsible to perhaps make the Olympic team, but he won't be there with no offensive output.

Yuuuuuuuuuup.

Chris Kelly is adding more to The Sens right now then Spezza is, ten fold.

Literally, if you think about things, Spezza right now is this teams 3rd best center. Kelly is actually just as effective offensivly right now, working the PK, and is just better without the puck.

Spezza is in deep right now. He is the teams highest paid player by an absolute mile.

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:10 am

hemlock wrote:
N4L wrote:
SpezDispenser wrote:Great positives from this game as well. Great battle to get back into that game. 15 shots going into the third and I think we took 18 in the 3rd alone. That's way more like it. Why that didn't happen earlier, I'm not sure.

Carkner was really calm. Picard was great, I'm feeling that he's cutting down on his crappy games and his good games are worth it. I hope he's learning consistency, because when he plays like this, he's great.

Kuba's a rock star. What does he have, 10 points in 3 games? It's something like that. See what happens when you put the puck in the net?

Shannon, Regin and Fisher together was fun, Neil was fun, Ruutu was GREAT, Kelly was good.

Alfie and Spezza weren't their typical selves, they need to bounce back, but if you can turn the tables and come back on the Caps - who are missing Semin, but we're missing A-Train - you have some positives to take out for sure.

Dont know about that... everything is becoming very typical for him. Really think we might see the end of Spezza if he doesnt pick things up.

Somehow I don't see Murray rushing to try and move a big ticket player with issues and a NTC. I don't see how he gets moved, or to whom, if he's got any say (which he most certainly does).

20000% Edmonton. Not now but if Edmonton continues to go down hill like they are, I can see it before that NTC kicks in. Again, we all know that they were and are high on him, or any big name player.

by asq2 on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:10 am

I'm still chalking it up to injury. This guy was our best forward at the beginning of the season - why would he all of the sudden start playing the way he is now if not because of injury?

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:13 am

asq2 wrote:I'm still chalking it up to injury. This guy was our best forward at the beginning of the season - why would he all of the sudden start playing the way he is now if not because of injury?

Because he has quit his entire hockey life when things dont go his way. Face it, he very well might be that kind of player...

by **Sens19** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:13 am

asq2 wrote:I'm still chalking it up to injury. This guy was our best forward at the beginning of the season - why would he all of the sudden start playing the way he is now if not because of injury?

I never thought I'd say that, but I really hope Spezza is injured. Also hasn't his NTC already kicked in?

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:16 am

Sens19 wrote:
asq2 wrote:I'm still chalking it up to injury. This guy was our best forward at the beginning of the season - why would he all of the sudden start playing the way he is now if not because of injury?

I never thought I'd say that, but I really hope Spezza is injured. Also hasn't his NTC already kicked in?

Nooooooope, July 1, 2010.

by Hockeyhero22000 on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:19 am

I am soooo glad murray resigned Kuba instead of trading him away last year at the trade deadline 7 points in his last 2 games

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:22 am

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:I am soooo glad murray resigned Kuba instead of trading him away last year at the trade deadline 7 points in his last 2 games

Yup, being hurt early in the season made it tough for him to get in mid season form, but he's there now. Really picked up his game. Im a Kuba fan and always have been.

by **SpezDispenser** on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:24 am

N4L wrote:
asq2 wrote:I'm still chalking it up to injury. This guy was our best forward at the beginning of the season - why would he all of the sudden start playing the way he is now if not because of injury?

Because he has quit his entire hockey life when things dont go his way. Face it, he very well might be that kind of player...

Nah, I don't buy it personally. Let's give him some time before we throw him to the lions and start this trade Spezza thing again.

He's been great all year, he's putting things together, for whatever reason he didn't get into this game, whether it's injury or he just had an off game. Clouston's not the kind of guy who'll sit back and watch that happen if it's not injury - we have to have some faith in the coach and in Spezza himself.

One bad game and we're talking trading him. I can't imagine that. We lost our biggest marquee player last season and he didn't complain once, he stood by the Sens the entire time. He plays a hard nosed game from pre-season till now, he has one bad game and we're talking like this?

by N4L on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:28 am

Spezza has 2 points (both 2nd assists) in his last 8 games. He hasnt been detrimental to the team for the most part.

Right now we are paying our 2nd line center 7 million dollars. Dont care how hard he is playing, that kind of production is totally unacceptable.

Like it or not, Spezza has a history of packing it in when things are not going the way he wants them too, he isnt scoring, it's getting to him, and it's showing. He's a mentally weak hockey player and always has been.

I like his commitment to defense and I've praised him for it but it doesnt look like he has the ability to put it all together, thats tough to swallow but IMO, that's the long and short of it.