Another one bites the…ice?

In 79GP, MacLean had 41G and 60A….with Winnipeg. In 84-85. Lace ‘em up Paul!

If you told me last year that in exactly one year the Ottawa Senators were going to be without Spezza, Karlsson and Anderson in this shortened season, I’d have laughed at you. I’d then probably question you on how you knew the season would be shortened. Our conversation would probably end in me asking how you came by this information, in which you’d probably disappear in a *poof* of smoke, whilst whispering, “Cowen and Michalek will be gone too…*cough from smoke* as will Latendresse and Regin.” I’d sit there in my chair drenched in sweat, waiting for Ashton Kutcher to pop out and telling me that I’ve just been punked.

Well that got a little weird.

Here I sit, February 22nd of 2013, looking at the line-up for last night’s game against the New York Rangers, perplexed on how far we’ve come, but startled on our screeching halt. Zoiks.

For those who were unaware, here is the starting lineup for the second game in a row, per SensChirp mind you.

Silfverberg-Turris-Alfredsson

Greening-Da Costa-Condra

Dziurzynski-Smith-Neil

Daugavins-Zibanejad-Grant

Methot-Gryba

Benoit-Phillips

Wiercioch-Gonchar

OTT vs. WPG – Senators cool the Jets, 4-1 OTT.

Group stretch at SBP last weeks open practice to the public. 

Ladies and gentlemen, hockey the NHL is back! I’ve spent the past half hour thinking of what exactly to write for an intro to this blog post but when it comes down to it I feel as if I’m in the same boat as all the other blogs – let’s get right into this already! Note: This post will be mostly in note formation hence the run on sentences which are just out of excitement because the Ottawa Senators are finally back playing hockey together and I can’t wait to see them play the season and oh my god oh my god oh my god - 

First period

Two shots off the post in the first five minutes with Evander Kane slapping a backhander that definitely put me on the edge of the couch

Couldn’t agree more Bonk.

Regarding the Neil hit on Stuart – Stuart saw the hit coming and decided to turn around. You can’t blame Neil for following through with the check. Two minutes for boarding…

Game recap : Binghamton Senators fall 6-5 in OT to Syracuse Crunch after leading 5-0.

Binghamton goals

1st period

7:25 – M. Hoffman from J. Silfverberg, M. Zibanejad

9:18 – P. Cannone from M. Hoffman, A. Petersson

2nd period

1:35 – T. Eckford from M. Stone, A. Petersson

2:51 – D. Grant from M. Stone

6:35 – M. Borowiecki from F. Claesson, C. Schneider

Alright, great game boys! We’ve got a five goal lead, let’s spend the rest of the game focusing on teamwork and getting our beloved goaltender Robin Lehner his first shut out of the 2012-2013 season!

NOPE.

After being run down and toppled by Richard Panik of the Syracuse Crunch, (who later went to score the game winning goal in OT) we really can’t be surprised that Lehner reacted the way he did. He’s an emotional guy who is an adrenaline junkie. After watching highlights from last night’s game, (which can be found here) you have to ask yourself – what happened?

This.

Well for one, Lehner went into his well known state of “beast-mode ” and absolutely mangeled the Crunch’s goalie, Riku Helenius. The thing that irritates me the most about Lehner’s ejection is that prior to Helenius skating from his end to Bingo’s blue line and initiating the fight, Lehner would’ve most likely only received a penalty for leaving the crease, maybe one for roughing. That’s it. The referee wearing #84 clearly had Lehner under control and pinned to the glass, why didn’t he keep him there? Is it not his job to detain players and stop these fights from escalating even more?

From there, the players just began to fall apart. I applaud Lehner’s ability and passion to fire the boys up, but this was a move that ultimately was our downfall.

Then there was the matter of throwing Lawson in, who had played the night before with the Senators ECHL affiliate the Elmira Jackals. Lawson had 32 saves on 34 shots and walked away with a 4-2 victory over the Wheeling Nailers.

Built on the momentum of Lehner being ejected and playing with nothing to lose, the Crunch quickly gained a 2-on-1 chance to score and did off a lucky bounce. From there it was all downhill.

In the post game interview Coach Richardson mentioned several times that hockey is a 60-minute game, not 30. He continued discussing that both teams had assumed the Crunch had lost, resulting in the lack of focus from Bingo’s side.

 ”It’s a 60 min game, not 30. If it was a 30 minute game we’d all be happy but it isn’t.”

Official gamesheet from the game can be found here. Binghamton Senators face the Hershey Bears at 5 p.m. tonight.

Stream for tonight’s game can be found at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bsenshockeylive

Who’s this Silverberg guy?

Anybody know who this guy is? Might get confusing having a Silfverberg and a Silverberg on the same roster.

 

The Binghamton Senators win their first pre-season game of the year vs the Hershey Bears in a shootout, 4-3.

1st goal – Tyler Eckford assisted by Ben Blood, Derek Grant.

2nd goal – Mika Zibanejad assisted by Jean-Gabriel Pagneau, Jakob Silfverberg

3rd goal – Jakob Silfverberg assisted by Mika Zibanejad

Shootout – Silfverberg, Stone, Pagneau all scored.

 

Blog: Despite lockout, major changes to Ottawa Senators franchise and roster.

Assuming Gary Buttman and his cronies don’t lock the NHL for the entire 2012-2013 season, (and can actually live up to the “things are going really well” jabber he’s been telling media) fans will notice a significant change in the Ottawa Senators roster. I say this because I’m not sure about you all, but I felt as if fans were immediately fired up that Matt “1G 2A” Gilroy was added to our roster in exchange for Anze Kopitar Brian Lee before the trade deadline in February. As much as I love seeing new players added to our roster, my keyboard gently weeps for those who forked out the coin/cash/plastic for his jersey. This being said, I’m smiling at my Ottawa Senators Kovalev jersey. Suddenly, everyone has stopped reading this post. Crap.

So who exactly was forced to pay $3.25 to take the 97 to the airport, (what is the deal with the price being raised to $3.30, and why the hell am I not qualified as a “student” just because I’m older than 19?! Back on track….), and who made the trip down the beautiful escalator overlooking a man made  marble waterfall at the MacDonald-Cartier airport?

Pre Boarding (Mid season 2011-2012 changes)

Nikita Filatov  (LW) – 0G 1A (Ottawa Senators) – Where to begin. World Junior All-Star. Drafted to Columbus. Unhappy. Loaned to CSKA Moscow. Traded to Ottawa Senators at 2011 Entry Draft. Huge hype. Hopes. Dreams. People banking on the Filatov-Spezza-Afredsson line. Started to goof off with Butler in practice. MacLean sends him down to Binghamton after just 9 games. Fails to sign contract with CSKA Moscow, occupies roster + salary from Ottawa. Finally signs contract with CSKA, then Salavat Yulaev (Chernyshev Division of KHL) for 2012-2013 season. Lost in the harsh winters of Russia. Apparently scored 2G and an assist during his September 10th game. ITS A COMEBACK PEOPLE!!!!!! The kid’s head must be spinning playing against Ovechkin and Kovalchuk.

Just fabulous. Pretty much sums up Filatov’s attitude.

David Rundblad (D) – 1G 3A (Ottawa Senators) 0G 3A (Phoenix Coyotes) - Acquired by the Ottawa Senators on June 25th, 2010 from St Louis Blues, (17th overall 2009 draft) for Ottawa’s 16th overall pick in 2010 Entry Draft. Honestly felt this young fellers NHL career was rushed, definitely needed more time to grow into himself and get used to the NHL rules and ice size, (11G 39A w/ Skelleftea AIK in ’10-’11). On December 17th, 2011 Rundblad as well as a second round draft pick we traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for our now all-star second line centre, Kyle Turris. I among hundreds of other say the trade was well worth it for we needed a replacement for Fisher, but are going to regret it in the future. Rundblad is going to be a powerhouse.

Puck bunny bait

Brian Lee (D) – 1G 7A (Ottawa Senators) 0G 8A (Tampa Bay Lightning) – We could have had Anze Kopitar. WE COULD HAVE HAD ANZE KOPITAR. WE COULD OF HAD ANZ- I’m not going to waste a paragraph on this. Drafted by Ottawa 1st round 9th overall in 2005 Entry Draft. Traded to Tampa Bay Lightning for Matt Gilroy, who well, you know. Just enjoy the picture.

“It’s a piece of junk!”

NHL Lockout – What’s happened and what’s to come.

Note: This originally was meant as an ongoing assignment for school, will be adding onto it as news develops.  

Source: SportingBreakdown.com

The story so far:

The NHL, (National Hockey League) and it’s player’s union, the NHLPA, (National Hockey League’s Players Association) have been in multiple meetings over the past two months discussing the terms and conditions to a new CBA, (Collective Bargaining Agreement). This agreement was set to expire on September 15^th, 2012 after a 6-year duration.  If a new agreement was not met by the set date, the NHL would have no other choice but to “lock” it’s players out from playing, resulting in zero hockey games played at the NHL level until an agreement was made.

The last NHL lockout was in the 2004-2005 season, which began on September 16^th, 2004 and lasted 10 months and 6 days, ending on July 22^nd, 2004. Previous to that, a lockout occurred during the 1994-95 season, and also in 1992. In the past 20 years there have been four lockouts, all over salary and revenue distributions.

The main focus of the 2004-05 lockout was a salary cut for the NHL players. Player’s salaries were cut by 24%, leaving the players earning 57% of profit made by the NHL, and the owners making 43%.  The main focus of the recent contract made by the NHL for the NHLPA was another reduction in salary. The NHL stated that they wanted to cut player salaries by 8% in the upcoming season, and then proceed to gradually raise it to a total of 10% by the end of six years, resulting in players only making 47% in revenue. The NHLPA did not agree to these terms and conditions, resulting in a lockout.

Read More:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=405400

What’s the latest?

On September 19, 2012, Commissioner of the NHL Gary Bettman held a meeting with the leagues office staffers and executive leaders stating that all NHL staff would receive a 20% pay cut and reduction of workweeks from 5 to 4 days.  This plan was put in order to avoid potential layoffs if the lockout continued for an extended period of time, but did not necessarily guarantee there would be none, as stated by Bettman.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=405629&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nhl-staffers-told-20-percent-pay-cuts-4-144606992–nhl.html

The NHLPA has announced that it will cover player’s premiums including medical, dental, disability, life and accidental death and spousal life insurance. If players are planning to play hockey in Europe this year it will be their responsibility to obtain their own disability insurance through their agent and new team.  Premiums are on two-month policies that are set based on injury history, age, and contract length.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/8396384/source-nhlpa-cover-premiums-players-nhl-lockout

What’s next?

With the NHL locking out its players as of September 16, 2012 at 12:00am, formal talks between the NHL and the NHLPA have yet to occur. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and special counsel Steve Fehr have spoken informally, but nothing it set to officially happen between the two organizations until Wednesday, September 19, 2012. In the previous 2004-05 lockout, the NHL and NHLPA did not speak to each other formally for months. Until this meeting occurs and it’s content and purpose released to the public, the fans sit eagerly wondering when exactly NHL hockey will return.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/17/nhl-lockout-day-2-update-news_n_1891561.html?utm_hp_ref=sports

NHLPA and NHL Press Conferences – Sept 13 2012

Spins.

This afternoon the NHLPA and NHL organizations held separate press conferences to discuss what progress, (or lack thereof) had been made with the latest CBA negotiations. With a deadline taking place at 11:59pm on September 15th, players are giving a final push to show their rallying cause. Roughly 283 players showed up for the meetings today, and our boy Alfie was in the middle of it all.

King Alfredsson and King Lundqvist were spotted behind the executive director of the NHLPA providing comfort, support, and well, good looks. Nice Canadian tux Lundqvist. Chara was seen partially, with his forehead cut out of the frame. Looked like he wanted a coke. I’m really dragging on with these pointless observations, but hey, get used to it if there’s a lockout! (weekly post on how paint dries quicker on drywall over plaster, with a stop motion camera. ANYWAYS.)

So what was said at the NHLPA conference? Basically Mr. Fehr announced that nothing had changed since the last meeting. Added that he felt there was no use to talk to the NHL until Saturday. Some quotes, all from Fehr;

“There have been no developments since yesterday…players want to meet a bargain that treats them fair”

“If it comes to that (lockout) its a choice being made. Not a requirement, not something people have to do”

“What kind of proposal does it take to reach an agreement, & not simply repeat a pattern in all cap sports”

“We would like an agreement that stabilizes industry, provides incentive to grow, gets us out of the cycle. Overall long term.”

“We’re not dealing with slippery people, they know what they’re doing, they’re smart”