Ottawa Senators 09/10 Official Team Thread

[paint huffer]

Well, I guess we’ve had enough going on throughout this tumultuous offseason to start our 2009/2010 thread. There’s no lack of conversation topics, that’s for sure.

First, to kick off the offseason that started oh-so early, Cory Clouston is locked up for two years to be the bench boss. Then, about a month later, our supposed defensive saviour in Erik Karlsson signs an entry level deal. Things are looking up at this point, especially with Ottawa’s relatively strong finish to the largely horrid 08/09 campaign.

The optimism is short lived, however, when the Dany Heatley saga begins. The all star sniper demands a trade in late June, then turns down the proposed trade that would have seen him land in Edmonton. This leaves Ottawa stuck with paying his $4 million bonus and quite possibly leaves us with a disgruntled player, who likely won’t be welcome in the locker room, and has significantly lowered his own market value in terms of a trade.

Things look up again at the draft, when Ottawa chooses a 6’5, 220 pound Western Canadian boy in Jared Cowen. Prior to this season he was ranked as high as third for the ‘09 Entry Draft, but his knee scared a few teams off...and thus Ottawa was able to steal him with the 9th overall pick. Doctors don’t think his knee will be an issue either, so it looks like the defensive tower in Cowen and the offensive d-man in Karlsson might be the blueline tandem of tomorrow in the nation’s capital.

Ottawa fans then get another piece of good news when rugged winger and UFA Chris Neil turns down more lucrative offers from the Rangers and Leafs to stay in Ottawa. Not only does Ottawa keep their top pugilist who also can show that scoring touch and man the front of the net on the PP, but he’ll be needed for his toughness- only three days earlier the Leafs had signed the monstrous Colton Orr.

And now for the latest- the Ottawa Senators sign somewhat hailed, somewhat shunned ex-Habs captain Alexei Kovalev, for two years at $5 mill per. He’s getting on in age at 36, there are reports of motivation issues, and these come packaged with Kovalev’s reputation for only showing up for a handful of games. Thus many Ottawa fans are pushing the panic button. Others still, at the other end of the Kovalev spectrum, seem to be loving the signing; he is, after all, the best puck handler in the NHL, he scored 35 goals and 84 points only two seasons ago, and has scored as many as 95 points in his heyday with the Penguins. So is this a good signing? You be the judge.

So that’s just a quick summary to kick start this year’s thread. We can contain all our general Senators banter herein, and hopefully it’s a little more active than last year’s thread. I’m holding out even more hope that we’ll have a lot more positives to discuss this year...the potential is lurking, let’s see where it takes us.

Here’s to the 09/10 thread! Go Sens Go!

[paint huffer]

Ok, I guess I'll get the ball rolling here a little...today a "worst captain" thread was created and Daniel Alfredsson has been mentioned a few times. This has me wondering, is Alfie a good captain?

For me, I'm inclined to think that the people saying "no" are more outsiders looking in, and their viewpoint is perfectly understandable given their status as outsiders/non-fans. But that also begs the question, is it me who is in the wrong?

Personally, I'm inclined to think that Alfredsson is one of the last vestiges holding what's left of this team together. What I hear and see leads me to believe that the players largely look up to him, and that the lockerroom problems are due to "bad apples" who aren't likely to have acted much differently regardless of who the captain was (*cough Emery*). Granted, maybe if this was 1995 and Emery's captain had been Wayne Gretzky things might have been different, but really, can we hold every captain to the level of the greatest? I mean, do you really think Emery would have behaved had Iginla been his captain? I highly doubt it.

And Alfie has shown flashes of brilliance in his on ice leadership ability.

Still, Ottawa has done its fair share of underachieving under Alfie's leadership. Is it his fault, should he be held responsible? While I don't think he's the best captain out there, I don't necessarily know that he's among the worst...is he?

Thoughts?

[paint huffer]

Oh, and in reference to the above regarding Alfie, I should officially mention that I named Kovalev in the worst captains thread.

While I'm still not 100% sold on him on a player, I'm certainly not sold on him as a captain...fortunately he doesn't have to play that role in Ottawa. So I'm still holding out hope that his signing will turn out for the best. Kovalev to put up 90 points? He's capable, so a man can dream!

[marc123]

That's a solid recap of the after offseason so far huffer!

I'm not sure about Kovalev, I'll have to wait to actually see him play with the sens to say anything about him.

[antonio106]

He made the Avatar and my sig, lol. I'm thrilled about this kind of signing. As far I see, this isn't a question of whether we have secondary scoring, it's a question of whether he becomes a first or second line player.

For a guy of his age, I think having been a healthy scratch had to have been humiliating. My hope is that he feels he has something to prove this year.

As for the BIG question mark this off-season, I still say it's goaltending (lol, what else is new?). I haven't heard anything in terms of Pascal Leclaire's recovery ETA, is there any update? With Auld gone, I'm worried that Elliot is suddenly going to have shoulder the bulk of the season if something goes sour with Leclaire.

All in all, I have high hopes for this season.

[paint huffer]

Originally Posted by antonio106

He made the Avatar and my sig, lol. I'm thrilled about this kind of signing. As far I see, this isn't a question of whether we have secondary scoring, it's a question of whether he becomes a first or second line player.

He'll be either a first or second line player. And he'll score. No one is doubting that. It's his work ethic, dedication, and the impact it will have on the rest of the dressing room that scares people.

For $5 million a year, a team needs more than a second liner putting up 70 points. They need an all around team guy. Or, if he's not gonna be a team guy, he needs to put up at least a point per game. And even then, it's still not an ideal situation.

I'm remaining optimistic at this juncture, but if I'm perfectly honest with myself, odds are Kovalev won't put up a point per game at this point in his career. So he'd damn well better be motivated and a good influence.

The benching didn't change overly much in Montreal, so I don't know about Ottawa. The only hope is the change of scenery does him good, as it did with Heatley (until about a month ago...)

Most people are hating on Kovalev too much and being too drastic; there is room for cautious optimism, but everyone seems to be too hyperdramatic to realize such. They are already starting to blame Kovalev for what has yet to go wrong.

And then there's the much smaller proportion of people like you, Antonio, who are in love with the Kovalev signing. They are either completely blind homers, or are simply jumping on the Kovalev bandwagon as the rest of Sens fans aren't. Loving Kovalev for the sake of being different. You fall into the latter category, lol, but I much prefer that type to the "Oh my God, Kovalev is satan reincarnate....hit the panic button!!!"

Time will tell, and odds are, this will end up somewhere in the middle.

[antonio106]

Originally Posted by paint huffer

And then there's the much smaller proportion of people like you, Antonio, who are in love with the Kovalev signing. They are either completely blind homers, or are simply jumping on the Kovalev bandwagon as the rest of Sens fans aren't. Loving Kovalev for the sake of being different. You fall into the latter category, lol, but I much prefer that type to the "Oh my God, Kovalev is satan reincarnate....hit the panic button!!!"

Can't I be both, lol? I also like it because if he plays well, it really sticks it to all my friends that are Habs fans. Even worse than when they took Radek Bonk from us

[fight_fan]

Now that we have signed chris neil does anyone think there is a chance we could see jeremy yablonski up with the big club for a few games.

[paint huffer]

Originally Posted by fight_fan

Now that we have signed chris neil does anyone think there is a chance we could see jeremy yablonski up with the big club for a few games.

Unfortunately, I doubt it. I'd love to see him in the lineup for a Leafs/Sens game to see a fight between Yablonski and Orr, but I'm not holding my breath. In terms of toughness from Bingo, I'd say we're more likely to see a Bois, Bass, or Carkner called up. One can hope; it's not impossible, but I'm not overly optimistic.

[marc123]

Originally Posted by fight_fan

Now that we have signed chris neil does anyone think there is a chance we could see jeremy yablonski up with the big club for a few games.

I highly doubt it sadly, maybe the preseason but they completely ignored him last year.

and Huffer, Danny Bois is not part of the organization anymore. He signed with with the Blackhawks

[paint huffer]

Originally Posted by marc123

and Huffer, Danny Bois is not part of the organization anymore. He signed with with the Blackhawks

$hit, you're right. That was a while ago too . I've been out of the country for a month and a half, still trying to get my head back into hockey mode!

[fight_fan]

I am gonna be going to the pre season game ottawa has against tampabay.Its in Regina Saskatchewan and im really hoping Ill get to see jeremy yablonski.Does anyone no if there is a place i can find out who will be playing for ottawa that night?

[marc123]

It's going to be announced in the local news paper, but usually it's only a day or so before the game.

[paint huffer]

So what do you guys think of Zack Smith? Personally, I'd LOVE to see him on the big club this year, though I doubt that will happen. Like someone said in another thread (Moxie, maybe?) with Kelly around it's not overly likely we'll see Smith.

I absolutely love Kelly, he's very underrated, a great penalty killer, and from what I understand he's a decent leader too. But I really like Smith's game, at least what I know about it (which admittedly isn't overly much).

So I pose this question to all of you, if you had to pick, who do you go with, Kelly or Smith? And more importantly, does anyone think there's room for BOTH of them on Ottawa's roster this year?

[paint huffer]

For the record, today TSN showed clips from the photo shoot for the rookie cards of this past season's first rounders. Cowen was the only guy there not wearing a visor, I believe. Good stuff. A big, rugged, Western Canadian boy and that makes me think he'll be a bit of a throwback. Awesome!

(and does anyone have thoughts on the Kelly/Smith issue?!?!)