Hunting Buffalo in Northern New York

What more can I say other than "WOOHOO" after downing the Sabres 5-2 on their own ice?

Two things:

Alfie, sir, captain my captain, the grand poobah.... harder on the puck to clear.

Fish... Please get a couple of points on the road. I keep sticking my neck out there for you.

In the game of bad versus bad ... bad won!

Leafland is happy this morning. They were able to beat a team that has been struggling since last Christmas and this gives them justification to say their team is complete. I kid you not. Look at some of the headlines like "Proof Positive" (thank you TSN for reaffirming your hockey world bias). All the Leafs did was that they can beat the Senators, but only when they are down and out. Congrats. Too bad the Leafs are far from a complete team and free of blunders (scoring on your own net?) that fans and media gloss over simply because they beat the Senators. Only zealots of either team knew that last night's game was a matchup between two bad teams fighting for identity and purpose. Gasp. So let's get to the boys in red and talk about some of the issues.

The injury

I don't believe one iota that Martin Gerber was injured; not in the least. This is a classic case of coach and GM protecting a fragile goalie in the midst of trying to build some sort of bank roll behind him. That or they are trying to send a clear signal to Gerber by putting him in IR and showing him that Auld doesn't let beachballs pass by and Elliott is hungry to start in the big club. Either one of those options, but Gerber is NOT hurt ... pride doesn't count. Why?

Pre-game

Bryan Murray was asked just before the game if he felt "Alex Auld was the number one goalie at this time." Either Murray was being coy or deaf, but he answered the question initially with "Who?" When he collected himself he insisted that Gerber's injury is to be short lived (I'd say after we face enough division headache in Buffalo and they head to Florida), but he also instead that Gerber was still the number one. Technically that isn't true, but nevertheless, it sounded more like posturing and trying to create a market of interest or Murray was trying to convince himself that Gerber was as good as he dreams. Nevertheless, Auld started and played an OK game ... not spectacular. How come Ottawa lost by one goal?

Penalties

The first is that there were too many phantom calls. Volchenkov getting the gate for interference when both he and his man were playing for the same puck and space was a little insane. When Alfredsson got the gate for holding when he was held up was also insane. The game was very lopsided on the calls and it appeared as though Toronto had the favour in the calls at most opportunistic times. My least favourite was the non-call on Luke Schen for instigating and/or fighting with a visor. Either one of these calls should have been made. Neil laid a hit, Schen was the third man in and went at Neil with his helmet and visor still on. Listen... if you want to fight then take off your damn helmet if it has a visor. Most tough guys will let you get your gear off because they respect that the fight isn't just for giggles.

Cowardice

Hollweg was part of the issues that sent my mother's cousin out of the NHL and to Russia to play (he currently has 109pim and 6pts in 14 games). He has been hitting people from behind and getting away with it as much as Chris Pronger gets away with stomping on players (another reason why Chris Simon doesn't play in the NHL any more). However, my issue is with Chris Neil... When you want to spark some anger in your team you don't do it by taking a 10 minute misconduct. If Hollweg wants to be a gamer with you ... drop em. Sean Avery is a punk who goes after the under classed fighter ... don't be that guy Neil. Most importantly do NOT go offering to Hollweg to come cross check you in the back and expect the refs to giggle it off. Chirping is good to a point, but sometimes you need to clam up and shoot the puck or drop the damn gloves.

Checking is also part of the cowardice issue. The Senators are playing for their name on the back of their jerseys and not for the logo on the front. This is most evident when your top forwards go in to forecheck and don't bother laying the body. If the defence of the opposition can move the puck without thinking "jeez, is Spezza going to railroad me into the boards" there is something wrong. Stripping a player of a puck is awesome to watch, but on the forecheck it only works if there is support... otherwise, hit the damn guy in the opposite jersey!

That's all I can stomach to write. Hopefully I can start singing the praises of the team in the coming weeks instead of these pissed off criticisms.

Dear Ron Wilson...

Listen... I like you. You are one of two Leafs in history that I can honestly say that I like. You and George Armstrong. That's some pretty elite company. I like that you want to have your team inspired and that you want them to take pride in the history of the club. I like that you don't care if they are new or old to the club... you want their best. That said ... get Joseph ready to play our Senators because backups who should not have a prayer against the boys from Bytown are dominating the game. It is not a hidden or even whispered secret that the Ottawa Senators are in a huge slump. Case in point I am writing this during the third period while the Senators are down 4-0 to the Ducks.

On a nice note... Corey Perry actually got a point tonight and he's in my hockey pool. About damn time, but I am gonna have to ship him off for a better winger.

Who is more the fool? The fool or the fool who follows?

Tonight the Senators were not downed by a superior team. The Panthers are an OK team, but they should not be able to dominate the Senators so easily. What did our boys in?

Goaltending:

A friend of mine got to chatting on MSN during the second intermission and we talked about the Gerber situation. He was shopped around in the summer and absolutely nobody wanted him; we know there is nothing that can be done about that. No one will take him. My buddy said that something, however, has to be done "because right now the fans are being played for fools." He is right.

Ride him out:

Since January, Gerber has posted horrible stats. I know, people love to say "that was then; this is now," but the reality is that Gerber is a 34 year old goalie and is not getting younger by the day. The Senators management has been determined to ride Gerber and the only reason I can think of is to try and get him some wins to show that he is capable of going to a different market as a viable net minding option. Riding Gerber for the rest of the season will have the Senators missing the play offs and you can mark my words. I questioned bringing him to Ottawa in the first place and I was one of very few people who did not jump on the "Darth Gerber" bandwagon sensing an unease in the force. As an older goalie, Gerber's days are not just numbered in Ottawa, but for his career.

Sit him:

Alex Auld is a younger goalie and in his own right has never really had a crack at the number one position in any club. He has also has had decent starts with Ottawa in this very young season, but is that enough? The team does not play for Gerber very much -- nor itself for that matter -- but can Auld steal a game? Truthfully this is a good option for the Senators because it has an old goalie ready to take a relief game or two should Auld run into any snags, but is there not a better option? I know a lot of fans want to see Elliot brought up to backup or even start and I know it is an option, but it isn't a good one. Elliot needs time to develop much in the same way Lee does -- explaining why Lee was sent back to Bingo today.

Buy him out:

There is no way B-Murda (I know, I am a cliche freak) wants to do this mess again. I mean look at the last guy he bought out, Ray Emery. Ray was a stellar goalie in his first full season with the Senators and then he comes back to find an old fart playing good hockey taking his job. Yeah, I won't get back into this again, but I bet you a dollar that Murray would rather a young upstart with a bad attitude over an old dog with no tricks. At least the young upstart can be trained and taught. As for buying out Gerber that is a lucrative contract that has to be gobbled up. That said, I think this is Ottawa's best option despite how unlikely it is going to happen. Get the cash out of the books as fast as you can get him out of the roster.

Waive him:

Of course, they could waive him outright and see if another club picks him up or force him into retirement. It's less graceful and could run the risk of getting nothing for him, but let us be brutally honest ... All the fans and the club are getting for Martin Gerber right now is squat. He plays small in the net, lets in weak goals and does not show any signs of desperation in his game. The problem, as far as I can see, of waiving Gerber is that it is as embarassing as buying him out and admitting that the club has no real number one; just two backups.

Final note:

Our energy line is a saving grace. All lines should play with that kind of determination and pressence.... but what's with this no fighting thing for the Senators? Is this a coach rule or is no one in the mood to stick up for one another!?

Ugh... consistently inconsistent!

If you scroll down a couple of inches into the previous post you will find me hoping that we'll see some consistency. Yup, the team has that, but the showing of inconsistency. The Bruins have a decent club and a physical one at that, but there could have been a better effort tonight.

Goaltending

Gerber got the nod for the second night in a row and for the second night in a row he played very well when called upon, but the soft plays ended up popping juicy rebounds. That said, it wasn't his fault this game was lost. Not by a long shot.

Defence

Combine slow and sloppy with youth and brash; what do you get? Bad blueline presence. Though they bailed Gerber out on his juicy rebounds, but the blueliners were not the entire down ice quandaries. The players coming back were often lazy and did not do well to commit to the passes thus coughing up turnover after turnover.

Checking

There was some and in the last six minutes leading to Heatley's dumbdumb penalty there was a little more grit from the Senators, but overall, there was a laziness to the physical game. Combine this with soft passing plays, poor nuetral zone coverage and sloppy defence and you get the Senators losing 4-2.

Now string them together and you might read an apology...

The game tonight was boring from the stand point that our arena is dead silent unless there is a big check, a goal or a fight. However, six goals is hard to say that it was a complete sleeper so I suppose I can say a few words.

First is about Gerber. I know I have been hard on his sloppy goaltending; that will not change. He was still popping out rebounds, but he actually did the one thing I have complained about for quite some time now and he actually stole a game. Yup. I will admit to that. Gerber played quite well. The defence, sadly, played like they were asleep and by the third period the entire team showed that they were off for eleven days.

Spezza ... Definitely leaving it there on the ice. He was much smarter this game and played a great up ice and a good down ice game. What else can I say? His numbers speak louder than my words, but he needs to show consistency before I get off his back.

Ruuuuuuuuutuuuuuuu ... Every game, every shift, every hit, shot and annoyance this guy does makes me giddy. Two goals in this game just added to the man-crush list and I am about ready to name my first born Jarkko.

Checking: The team needs to do a LOT more of it. We got stronger, grittier and tougher all around during the off season, but I didn't feel as though that were true. Take a lead from Volchenkov. He will knock a player on his rear, block a shot in the next transition and take shots on net. Now granted he has only scored 11 goals in his NHL career -- one of them coming tonight -- but he's a good example of a strong, punishing player. Oh and Vermette, helicoptering Fisher does not count as a check. ;)

More tomorrow when the Sens host Beantown. I hope that my next blog post doesn't have me returning to my annoyed rants about poor consistency.

Giving away the game!

There are two things I absolutely hate about Jason Spezza. First and foremost I hate how he does so many interviews. Yes, he's a top flight centerman for the Ottawa Senators, but he is neither the spokesman for the club nor is he the best there is in the league. Jason, do the fans and the city a favour and shut up, play hockey and let the points do the talking! The second thing I hate is the thing that cost us the home opener against Detroit ... forced and/or blind passing!

For a couple of years I have griped about how often Spezza tried to thread the needle and how very frequently it goes wrong. I usually get the idiotic response from Spezza lovers of "yeah, but when it works it's AWESOME OMG!" Yeah, when it works... Simple plays lead to goals more often than fancy plays. If you have no option then put the puck on net. It's a whole lot better than firing between your legs back towards the blueline where it is picked off and starts an odd man rush!

Now, I know a lot of people will be sore about this, but c'mon Gerber. Three goals? Seriously? The first goal I can admit that Volchenkov MAY have screened you a bit, but you knew if it won't hit him it'll come up. The second goal there was no excuse ... you cheated and dropped early. The third goal hit Kuba's stick and wobbled, but hit the netminder and still got through. I don't mind a sloppy goal now and then, but when the Sens had actually played decent defence for most of the night I expect the goalie to bail the club out on a bad change. Yeah Gerbs played well other than those three goals, but the ones that go in are the only ones that count.

Stockholm... games one and two

I chose to wait until the second of the back-to-back games in Stockholm were concluded for selfish reasons. I really didn’t feel like writing two days in a row. That said let’s move on to the meat of the matter.

Goaltending Controversy ... round two!

In game one Gerber showed very little poise and let in three bush-league style goals. These goals were the product of poor position play and even worse they came without any screening. In game two Auld showed poise under fire and even when he made small mistakes he made up for it with smart plays. I said it last year and I’ll say it again this year ... Martin Gerber is not Ottawa’s starting goaltender. He could come ‘round and dance on his head proving me wrong, but I don’t work on the concept of faith. I like to be shown the truth. Will Auld be #1? I don’t know, but the home opener in seven days will be a shocking if Auld is not in net after how he played this game. His only goal against came in the last second and was no fault of his own.

The youngin’s and the old folks...

Winchester had a great camp, but let’s be honest, he has had even better start in the NHL. With Fisher out (again) with a groin injury there was a need for a good two way player to step up and work like Fish does and Winchester is a good substitution. Lee, although committed a nasty give away in the first game, has also stepped up his game and become a bit of a presence on the back end and contributed to Vermette's shortie in game two, but what about Jason Smith? Going to task on Crosby isn’t an easy order especially when Sid the Kid can fly past most players, but the older slower Smith got in his face sure enough. It got to the point where Sid hacked at Smith and all the veteran did was crack a grin at the kid and continue on.

The PEST line ...

There is absolutely no need to give a name to the Neil – Faligno – Ruutu line. Call it exactly what it is ... It’s the PEST line! They are fantastic. I won’t lie. I hated Ruutu right up until the game started on Saturday, but moving forward into Sunday I was even more in man-crush territory. Putting him out there with Neil for added agitation and toughness was a no-brainer, but Faligno too? Now that’s a heck of a combination! This just leaves to question what will happen when Fisher returns? Winchester goes back down and Faligno shifts lines? As much as I think Mike Fisher is amazing, I don’t think it would be a wise move unless you want that line to net goals.
Penalty Kill ...
Through 14 power plays the Senators only allowed one goal and it came in the last second of the second game. That is absolutely astonishing considering the talent of the Penguins. Moreover the Senators kept the Penguins to the outside or running around in their own end for the puck ... not to mention the short handed markers in both games.

Defence ...

You cannot have good PK without solid defence. The one thing everyone was saying when Redden and Meszaros left was that we lost a lot of defence. Ironic to that statement is that in their last two games Redden and Meszaros have gotten points on the board ... Defence? True, the Senators need a puck moving defenceman, but it seems that this club has started to transition well. Perhaps we won’t see a major shakeup if the club can come together as a team as they showed in Stockholm. I have long said this club needs to be tougher on the puck both up and especially down the ice.

Grit ...

See the above mentioned really. Smith, Neil, Ruutu, Phillips, Volchenkov even Alfredsson ... The Senators played with much more grit and intensity. Hartsburg could very well be the catalyst for this, but the players must continue to want and need to play for one another just like this.