Will Sens have a non-fighting season?

[marc123]

Originally Posted by Viper

Yeah, forgot about him, however crap they may be but they all count eh? lol

This is going to be a looooong season...

[The Woodsman]

There are a couple of things I thought I'd mention...

Getting rid of the "bad apples" in the dressing room was very important for Sens fight fans in my opinion. If McGrattan fit into this, then Murray made the right decision. Even from the outside looking in it was clear that the room was divided on the goaltending issue. Emery, Spezza, McGrattan + whoever else, vs. Gerber, Alfredsson, Fisher, etc. It came to a point where the team did not stick up for each other, at all. Alfredsson and Fisher both got taken out in the final game of the year against the Leafs. Not one Senator made any attempt to serve up any justice for it. It must have been a desolate room if two classy team guys like Stillman and Commodore wanted no part of it, Stillman having waived his NTC to come here in the first place.

So here is what I think... Getting rid of Emery and McGrattan (if he indeed was one of the problems in the room) and adding a guy like Jason Smith is going to be huge in terms of bringing the guys back together and making them want to put themselves out there for each other. If they like each other they are going to want to stick up for each other. Without McGrattan we have no answer for top heavies, but I think that everyone else on the squad will be more active, and after our monumental collapse we will be playing on the 'us against the world' mentality.

I still have hopes for a heavy in Ottawa, whether it be via trade, or bringing up a Carkner or Yablonski from the A. There is a big time log jam at the 3rd and 4th lines, so the odds of one of those guys making the team in any capacity will be pretty minimal unless Murray has a deal close to his chest that sends a package somewhere for either a top 4 D man or a 2nd liner.

So while we will probably get pushed around by teams with top heavies, (Neil will probably have to fight 2 or 3 of them this year) I think our FM totals will actually increase on the whole.

[chilly666]

yablo is on an ahl only contract for the next two years. yes the sens can sign him or actually any other team for that matter, but if they send him to the ahl he has to go back to bingo until he gets another call-up.

[Blues 34]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

Hordi tell me about it i go nutts when this board is slow and i jump over there to see what kinda crapp is goin on.


If jeremy yablonski is in the system... there is still hope , maybe he might come up for a few. although he'll probably most likely only get to showcase himself in the pre-season.

I hope Jeremy Yablonski gets another look.

[FurnaceFace]

he needs a pre-season ko. or tko.
but it was a slip if you're a bruins fan

[The Woodsman]

I would give anything to get Yablonski onto the big club this year but I really don't think it's going to happen.

[Bileur]

Maybe we wont have much heavy action but the sens will definetely be entertaining from the scrap/physical play aspect.

Neil, Ruutu, Bass, Schubert and Foligno are all excellent agitators and I suspect you will see quite a few borderline hits from them.

Add in Fisher, Smith, Phillips, Volchenkov, Donovan and there is quite a big potential for physical play and nastiness to ensue.

The heavyweight fighting aspect will be missing but in terms of amount of fights I think we'll be middle of the pack. The sens could be quite high in terms of grit and physical play.

[Cat Smasher]

Once Neil get's hurt, it's lights out. Why would they trade him? They wouldn't. If they were smart they would have picked a heavy and stick Neil in front of the net, where he belongs.

[Grittzkey]

what moxie said

[Unforgiven]

People really aren't seeing much of the big picture here. Everyone brings up the loss of McGrattan but look at the reality of last here.

Brian McGrattan played 38 games.
He had only 8 fights.
Of those 8 fights, all of them were Heavyweight 'appointed' fights.
He logged less than 2 minutes of ice a game. I don't think Brian realizes hockey even has 3 periods.

My point is McGrattan didn't discourage any 'dirty' play by other teams. He never once went out and pounded on someone for a dirty hit. He never 'enforced' a single thing. His 'presence' was non-existant on the ice, because he never was on the ice. Quite frankly, he didn't do much of anything.

Losing McGrattan did not hurt this team's physicality. Sure, they don't have a super heavy and a top 5 guy anymore. That's a shame for fight fans, but realistically, this does no impact the Sens' toughness department.

This year we have willing guys in: Chris Neil, Jarko Ruutu, Mike Fisher, Cody Bass, Shean Donovan, Brad Isbister, Jason Smith and maybe Matt Carkner.

Carkner has danced with guys like Sugden, Peters, Gillies, etc. and can more than 'hang' with the heavies of the NHL and probably won't do too bad against the supers. Neil we know can handle the heavies. He hasn't done it in a while, but a simple glance at his fight card shows he can hang with the big boys.

I see no reason for concern here. I think having this lineup will result in more fights and grittier hockey than last year had. I'm not expecting a top 5 in FMs team, but a solid upper-middle of the pack showing.

[bupz91]

They won't be that bad fighting wise, they are a very chippy team. As already stated, they don't have a heavyweight anymore, although Chris Neil can take on HW's as shown by his fightcard. Jason Smith had 6 fights last season and should come near that total this year. Hopefully Carkner stays up, as he is a good fighter. Jarko Ruutu is also a good source for at least 3 fights. If Yablo gets a shot, the team will fight often. If not they will be in the last 15 but not in the last 5.

[The Woodsman]

I am just pulling these numbers out of my arse but this is my projection for FMs for the Sens this year:

Chris Neil: 16
Jason Smith: 6
Cody Bass: 5
Shean Donovan: 5
Jarkko Ruutu: 4
Mike Fisher: 3

We might get one fight out of Dany Heatley this year. He's a chippy player and with the A on his sweater he might just drop 'em this season. It isn't too much to expect maybe 1 more FM from Dean McAmmond, either. The rest of the numbers really depend on whether or not old Luke, Matt Carkner, and Brad Isbister can stick out of camp.

I would say somewhere between 35 and 45 fights is what we should expect for the regular season.

[SnowballIsChamp]

No. Neil has been the enforcer before and he can do it again. He won't be beating up Brashear or Laraque but he has fought and beat his fair share of heavyweights.

[marc123]

Originally Posted by moxie

We might get one fight out of Dany Heatley this year. He's a chippy player and with the A on his sweater he might just drop 'em this season.

There is no way he's going to fight, his left eye already way to fecked.

[The Woodsman]

Originally Posted by marc123

There is no way he's going to fight, his left eye already way to fecked.

He's got an FM already, and he seemed to be looking for it tonight. Like I said, I wouldn't be surprised to see Heater drop the gloves with another non-fighter, much like Spezza did with Markov last year.