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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.
Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Many Topics Including The Oldest Dinar Community. Copyright © 2006-2020



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jedi17

Toronto Maple Leafs - Thu Feb 09, 2017 9:28 pm

Phaneuf deal marked turning point in rebuild; Leafs vs Blues
February 9, 2017, 6:45 PM ET [239 Comments]

Mike Augello
Topics tagged under 1 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality - Page 6 Tor Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT



For the latest Leafs updates or  on Twitter

It would’ve been hard to imagine the Toronto Maple Leafs battling for a playoff spot just one year ago, when team captain Dion Phaneuf was dealt to the Ottawa Senators, but it is clear on the first anniversary of the nine-player deal that it was an important step to move the 31-year-old blueliner out to facilitate the rebuild of the club.  

The deal came while Toronto was wallowing near the bottom of the NHL standings with a roster of hole-plugging veterans on short-term contracts who were waiting to be shipped out at the trade deadline. 

Phaneuf was a player in the midst of his prime on a club that was years away from being good, and his presence may have provided a road block to bottoming out and having the best chance to draft Auston Matthews. 




More importantly, it is clear on the first anniversary of the nine-player deal that it was necessary to transition from the group associated with losing Game 7 in Boston, the 18-wheeler going over the cliff, Salute-gate and the dysfunction symptomatic of the Burke/Nonis era to a group of youngsters that the fan base could be optimistic about.  

Toronto’s management made miscalculations when it came to Phaneuf, assuming that he would grow into a #1 defenseman, but the only aspect of Phaneuf that resembled a top blueliner was his $7 Million salary, which makes it even more of a feat that Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello was able to deal him without retaining any salary on the remaining five years of his contract. 

“(Clearing Phaneuf’s salary) gives us the opportunity to do things, but it also gives us the opportunity when some of our younger players are coming at the end of their entry-level contracts who we have high expectations for to sign them.” Lamoriello said last February.

Toronto absorbed all of the financial pain in one season, taking on the salaries of Milan Michalek, Colin Greening and Jared Cowen (bought out last summer) totaling $9.75 Million (which will all be off the books after the season) and gave the Leafs the room to
sign Morgan Rielly to a six-year, $30 Million contract extension, along with minor leaguer Tobias Lindberg and a 2017 second rounder.  

Phaneuf has fit in well with the Sens on the second pair with youngster Cody Ceci, but had he remained in Toronto, his declining skating ability would have made him a liability on the top pairing. 

The Leafs task over the next few seasons is to find a young top defenseman or two who can adequately fill the hole left by their former captain. 

*******

UPDATE - Nikita Soshnikov is a late scratch with an upper body injury, Josh Leivo is taking the pre-game skate and will replace Soshnikov in the lineup. 

The Leafs played their third game in four nights against the St. Louis Blues at Air Canada Center on Thursday. The Blues defeated Toronto 5-1 in St. Louis last week, the first game for head coach Mike Yeo after Ken Hitchcock was fired.

Frederik Andersen will return between the pipes for Toronto after a 39-save win by backup Curtis McElhinney against Dallas on Tuesday, while Jake Allen will go in goal for the Blues. 

Former Leaf Carl Gunnarsson replaces Robert Bortuzzo in the St. Louis lineup, while Mike Babcock will go with the same lineup that defeated the Stars 3-1 on Tuesday. 

jedi17

Washington Capitals - Wed Feb 08, 2017 8:55 pm

Holtby with (yawn) ANOTHER Shutout 
February 8, 2017, 12:09 PM ET [22 Comments]

James Tanner
Topics tagged under 1 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality - Page 6 Was Washington Capitals Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT





Another day, another Capitals shut-out.  

Final score: Washington 5, Carolina 0.  

Yes the Caps are scoring a ton, and yes they are getting balance throughout the line-up. Yes, having three #1 defenseman on the same roster makes them super hard to play against, but no one talks enough about their goalies. (I assume, I don't keep track of everything everyone talks about). 

All I ever hear about is how Dubnyk and Price are so great.  



Guess whose team has been the best in the NHL for 140 straight games and counting?  

Somehow, Braydon Holtby, who won last year's Vezina, is currently a more valuable fantasy hockey commodity than Connor McDavid, and has been the best goalie in hockey going on three years now, doesn't get enough press. 

He has seven shutouts this year. Three the year he won the Vezina. Nine the year before that. (Wasn't even a finalist that year). 

In fact, he has 30 career shut-outs in less than 300 games.  

You know who doesn't quite have a shut-out in ten percent of his career games? 



Martin Brodeur. (It's like 9.8% ) 

Of course, Holtby would have to keep this pace up for another six Trump terms, but I think he's got the stamina.  



Holtby is on pace on to be the NHL's shut-out King. Of course, if you're not a poltergeist and you're reading this, you're on pace to live forever, so I don't know how much you should read into that stat. 

Anyways, Holtby got his seventh shutout last night, and the Caps tenth of the season overall. They are shutting opponents out in almost 20% of their games.  

That's crazy talk. It sounds like something Ted Cruz would say, only it's actually true.  

On Thursday, Detroit comes to town. Detroit is known for awesome music and murder. Washington for politics and murder. If I had to guess, I would say the Capitals will murder the Red Wings.  

Seems like the marketing department is missing out on some really good cross promotions between this game and a possible CSI franchise. Maybe David Caruso could at least drop the puck? 

That's all I got for today.  

Go Caps!!

jedi17

Carolina Hurricanes - Tue Feb 07, 2017 9:46 pm

Off to DC for Final Battle Against Caps
February 7, 2017, 11:00 AM ET [13 Comments]

Ben Case
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The Canes face the Capitals for their fourth and final match-up this season. As a whole, the Canes have played the Caps tough and they are 1-1-1 on the year—they won in a blowout, lost in a blowout and lost in a shootout too. Just like the past three games, tonight is another “must-win” as the Canes are four points out of the final wildcard. 

The schedule continues to put more weight on the Canes games in February, as they only have four more games other than tonight’s from Feb. 7th to the 23rd. This means that every single one of those games are pretty much “must-wins” if the Canes want to be buyers and not sellers. The lack of games from now until a few days leading up to the deadline will make it tough to evaluate their “true” position in the standings too.

When you look further into the schedule, one will note that they don’t really see an uptick in games until right before the deadline and mostly extending after it is over. Looking at Feb 24th to March 23rd, the Canes will play 16 games as the schedule picks up—during that stretch, the Canes do not have more than one day off between any of the 16 games. They will have the same amount of days off from Feb 7th to 23rd, as they do from Feb 24th to March 23rd: 12 days off. 

The good news for the Canes is that they are rolling right now. One of the players who has been especially notable since the break is Aho. He tallied his first career hat-trick against the Flyers and then scored the GWG against the Oilers too. His performance this past week landed him as the NHL’s #1 star for the week. 

He continues to play with more confidence and it is really showing up on his ability to create pressure/turnovers on the fore-check and in the neutral zone. Many of his opportunities come as a result of his sound defensive play and positioning. In addition, now that he is producing and adjusted to the NHL, his offensive production is really taking off. Here are the highlights from his hat-trick: 




The other bright spot is that in the past three games the PP has converted three times on 11 chances. This is a vast improvement as they only converted three times from Jan 1st to Jan 26th on 38 chances through 12 games. 

I really like how the Canes have started to try and put two layers of screens in front of the goalie now. When the puck goes to the point or wing, they are now starting to put a guy in front of the crease and another forward six to ten feet above them in the slot area. Overall, the increase in creating traffic has resulted in some pucks finding the back of the net for the PP. If the Canes can continue to get the PP rolling they will be a much tougher opponent. 

As the PP has been performing much better, the PK has actually been decreasing some. While the PK is still first in the NHL, they have surrendered two PP goals on two in 12 shorthanded situations. The slight downtick in PK performance isn’t too alarming, however, it needs to pick back up. Obviously, against the Caps, winning the special teams battle is a huge component for a win. 

The bigger concern is that the most disciplined team in the NHL is starting to find the penalty box more than usual. They’ve been taking some undisciplined penalties and need to clean up the play against better teams, such as the Caps. If the Canes get caught shorthanded four to five times against the Caps, the chances of a classic “Ovie One-Timer” as relatively strong. 

Another concern is how poorly the Canes played the third period against the Islanders on Saturday. The Canes did a good job of matching the intensity from the Islanders and responding to Islander goals. The Canes scored 21 seconds after the Islanders took a 2-1 lead in the second period. The most impressive response was when the Canes took the 4-3 lead with two seconds remaining in the second period on a goal that came 58 seconds after the Islanders had just tied it up. 

The Canes team that came out in the final frame was not the one that we had seen against the Flyers, Oilers or in the first 40 minutes. The Canes were out-shot 11-2 and took three penalties in the final frame. They spent a majority of the time just trying to make it to OT after the Islanders tied it up with just over half of the third remaining. It was almost as if the Canes thought the game was over with the last second goal they had in the second period. 

The Canes will have to have a complete game against the Caps to win. The last time the Canes took on the Caps they came out flying for the first ten minutes. Then, after the Caps tied it at 1-1, the Canes began to collapse and it resulted in a 6-1 loss. The Canes looked overwhelmed most of the night with the depth of the Caps and struggled to find favorable match-ups.

A large reality of the struggles was the fact that this was the first time the Canes faced the Caps on the road. I don’t think many people realize the true significance for the Canes success when it comes to puck possession, controlling the pace and getting favorable match-ups. Given tonight is at the Verizon Center, the Canes will have to do a better job of competing against the Caps despite not always having favorable match-ups. 

Another issue that the Caps exposed during the blowout loss was the in the face-off circle. The Canes have been one of the league’s top teams in the dots and it is a large component that allows the Canes to be able to control the pace and minimize scoring chances in the defensive zone. Looking at the blowout loss, the Caps won 59% of the draws that game—in comparison to the previous two games, the Canes won 57% in the shootout loss and 62% in their blowout win. Both the SOL and blowout win were at home, further pointing to the significance of match-ups, puck possession and how it enables the Canes to better control the pace. 

Overall, the Canes need to focus on winning special teams, playing 60 minutes, controlling the dots and minimizing poor match-ups. Given the “stomping” the Caps previously gave the Canes, I imagine that the Canes will be looking for some revenge. Let’s hope the Canes keep their momentum and three-game winning streak alive tonight! Puck drop is at 7:00 at the Verizon Center and is on FSCR and CSMA. Go Canes!

jedi17

NHL Trade Rumours: Matt Duchene - Sun Feb 05, 2017 10:56 pm

[size=39]Matt Duchene to the Predators, from the Dept. of Obvious Fits[/size]
Greg Wyshynski,Puck Daddy Fri, Feb 3 3:33 PM EST 



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Topics tagged under 1 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality - Page 6 A7e5c298efea931b8c0da898b67d5675

The Nashville Predators waived Mike Ribeiro on Friday, after he reportedly asked for a trade. Obviously it’s Nashville’s fault he has his worst points per game average since 2002 despite starting a league-high 50.3 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone …
Bye-bye.
Clearing Ribeiro’s salary opens up an even larger chunk of cap space for the Predators, as well as a roster spot at the forward spot. Which brings us to one of the most obvious bits of NHL matchmaking in recent memory: The Colorado Avalanche potentially sending center/winger Matt Duchene to the Predators.
Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com, who was recently admonished by Tyson Barrie for his Avalanche-rumormongering, pushed these whispers in the conversation this week:
Poile’s team’s performance over the next three weeks will likely drive his trade-deadline decisions. The GM obviously would not comment on any trade speculation, but other sources have suggested that the Preds have already checked in with the Colorado Avalanche regarding Duchene and will probably monitor that situation moving forward. The Preds just can’t resist the big fish, right? 
Now, let’s inject some reality as well. A long list of teams have reportedly reached out to Avalanche GM Joe Sakic regarding Duchene. Second of all, do the Predators have the young, high-end defenseman the Avs would covet in return for Duchene? Third, it’s not a certainty that Sakic will even move Duchene before March. Perhaps he will decide instead that the blockbuster month of June is a better time to ramp up the auction on the 26-year-old center. 
Let’s take those last points one by one.
1 No, the Predators can’t resist a big fish, especially when that fish is a star center under contract through 2019 and looks great in a cowboy hat.
[size=16]2 – According to Bob McKenzie, the price tag for Duchene is:

“If it’s three high-end pieces, we’re talking about a player that’s established in the NHL already – between 20-24 years of age – as well as a first-round pick, as well as a top prospect. If the young NHL isn’t established, if it’s all prospects, then the price goes up to those four high-end pieces.”
Yes, the Predators do have the young, high-end defenseman the Avs could covet in return for Duchene. The question is which ones they’d want to part with for Duchene, and which ones Joe Sakic would covet.
If you want established defensemen, Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis are both 26. Ekholm has a wonderfully manageable cap hit ($3.75 million) through 2022, and Ellis is signed through 2019. (I’ve read some Predators fans thinking Roman Josi could go straight up for Duchene, but despite their recent success without him that’s a serious ante I might not make.)
If you want prospects, Samuel Girard is a blue-chip prospect in the QMJHL that projects to be an offensive force in the NHL. Dante Fabbro was taken No. 17 overall last summer.
From On The Forecheck, more Duchene matchmaking:
The Predators have the pieces to be in the conversation for Duchene. Dante Fabbro and the aforementioned Girard are two highly touted defense prospects in Nashville’s organization. They also have Vladislav Kamenev, the Predators #1 prospect, who recently made his NHL debut. It is unlikely that Poile would part with Kamenev, who is expected to be a 2nd line center in the near future, but Poile is not shy to make big splash trades.
The Predators probably have the pieces to make that work, depending on what the Avs want.
3 – If Sakic is going to move Duchene, better to do it now. There are some awfully thirsty teams – Montreal, Ottawa and Nashville – that view him as a major puzzle piece, and would be willing to part with multiple pieces to get him. And the Avalanche need multiple pieces.
Where do you think Duchene ends up?
[/size]

jedi17

Ottawa Senators - Sun Feb 05, 2017 6:05 pm

Lehner symies Senators shooters...again
February 5, 2017, 8:46 AM ET [3 Comments]

Jared Crozier
Topics tagged under 1 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality - Page 6 Ott Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT



The Ottawa Senators have a nemesis in one of their own, or at least one that used to be their own. Robin Lehner's rush to get into the spotlight resulted in his early rise to the NHL, hastening the trade of Ben Bishop at a point when the Senators goaltending was at its deepest. His rush to be a #1 goalie hastened his departure to Buffalo when the Senators chose Craig Anderson over him (and they put a little too much faith that the run that Andrew Hammond had that fateful spring would at least make him a viable backup).  

Since that trade, all Lehner has done is stone the Senators. He has played in 7 games against the team that drafted him and the organization he led to a Calder Cup championship, getting decisions in 5 of them. His numbers against Ottawa are ridiculous - 3-0-2 record, with a 1.18 GAA and .961 SP, and put the cherry on the sundae Saturday night with his first shutout against the Senators. Considering his career numbers are 2.74 GAA and .918 SP, it is safe to say he gets up to face Ottawa. 

Ottawa fired 37 shots on the Sabres goalie, and carried the play for the most part, but the fact that they had a difficult time getting a lot of traffic in front of his vision, completing passes and holding onto the puck it was a frustrating game to watch from the Senators standpoint. They had almost as many shots blocked (17) or missing the target (17) as they got on goal, while the Sabres made the most of their 26 shots, beating Mike Condon 4 times before he was pulled mercifully in favor of Andrew Hammond. 

Jack Eichel has had his season derailed by the high ankle sprain suffered on the eve of the season, but he was easily the best player in the ice, and although probably not quite in the league of Connor McDavid or even Auston Matthews, he will be a force to be reckoned with and a thorn in the Senators' side for the next ten to fifteen years. He had 2 assists and showed some flashy stickhandling and puck control on occasions. 

Not that it was Condon's fault, except for the last goal that resulted in Boucher's hook coming out, it was a night where the Sabres were scoring some highlight reel goals. Kyle Okposo beat Marc Methot and Ryan Dzingel on a drive to the goal and put it upstairs to open the scoring, Ryan O'Reilly tipped home a shot from Rasmus Ristolainen right in front of the net and Sam Reinhart made a ridiculous curl and drag move in close for the third marker. Condon probably should have had Marcus Foligno's shot that resulted in the fourth goal, coming moments after a Dion Phanuf turnover and the Senators goalie wasn't quite set for the shot that went right through his 5-hole. 

After a substandard first period, Boucher put the lines in a blender for the rest of the game, throwing out numerous different line combinations looking for something to click. All four lines were affected and the team responded with some dominant offensive zone time, but couldn't solve the big Buffalo goalie. 

The Senators return home, having been away since the loss to Calgary before the All-Star break, and they will have a couple of days off to get re-acclimated to the home life before they host the Blues on Tuesday at Canadian Tire Centre.

jedi17

Arizona Coyotes - Sat Feb 04, 2017 11:11 pm

Coyotes at Trade Deadline : Everything Must GO 
February 4, 2017, 12:03 PM ET [31 Comments]

James Tanner
Topics tagged under 1 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality - Page 6 Pho Arizona Coyotes Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT





Players! Get your Players here! We got NHL players, we got guys who should be retired! Get your Players. We have big players, little players, injured players.......etc. 

With the possible exception of the Colorado Avalanche, the Coyotes are set to hock as many assets off on the rest of the NHL as possible.  



Mike Smith

Shane Doan

Radim Vbrata

Martin Hanzal

Mike Stone

Connor Murphy

Luke Schenn 

If you want em, come and get em because EVERYONE MUST GO.  

The Toronto Maple Leafs have shown something I've been writing about for years to be true: the only thing stopping a whole bunch of rookies from being successful in the is the chance to play. 

I have no doubt the Coyotes have noticed this and I expect to see some similar lineup construction next year.  



Dylan Strome, Christian Fischer, Clayton Keller, Chychrun, Duclair, Anthony DeAngelo, Max Domi, Christian Dvorak + maybe (fingers crossed) Nolan Patrick could all be in the lineup next year for Arizona.  

In the meantime, the Coyotes have a whole bunch of players who they should be willing to move at all costs. 

Mike Smith is showing that he could definitely help a Nashville or St.Louis reach their potential.  

Vbrata has to be one of the most desirable adds in the league. Hanzal would help anyone.  

Would someone want to take a chance on a right-handed Dman with mobility and a great shot? They have one of those. Maybe even two.  

No team is more poised to cash in on the deadline than the Coyotes. In my opinion they should start the sell-off sooner than later so that they can try to catch the Avs for the best shot at the #1 pick. 

----

Tonight the Coyotes will be facing off against the Sharks!! Let's go San Jose!! 



-----

In breaking news Craig Morgan reports that the Arizona State University has pulled out of the arena deal the Coyotes announced a few months ago. I told you at the time it was horse ___ 
and that they would never build yet another state-of-the-art sports facility in an area jam packed with about ten of them all ready. 

So there is that.

jedi17

Ottawa Senators - Fri Feb 03, 2017 9:40 pm

Senators bounce back in Tampa; What is their #1 trade deadline need?
February 3, 2017, 11:25 AM ET [25 Comments]

Jared Crozier
Topics tagged under 1 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality - Page 6 Ott Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT



"I love it when a plan comes together" - Col Hannibal Smith, the A Team




Perhaps a cheesy line from an equally cheesy 80's TV show (or for the younger readers a mediocre but entertaining movie), but it seems to fit and I could imagine Guy Boucher uttering something like that last night. 

As I said in the preview yesterday, the Senators need to get back to the game plan and take care of the defensive end first, and also give Mike Condon some help given his recent two month workload. Check. The Senators limited the Lightning to just 21 shots and capitalized on chances of their own en route to a 5-2 victory.  

Pretty much what the Senators needed to happen to recover from consecutive losses sandwiching the All-Star break happened. Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson and Kyle Turris, the Senators best players, were indeed the Senators best players and most of the other guys filled their roles. They went 2-for-5 on the power play, were perfect in killing off three Tampa man advantages. Condon was good when he had to be, even if there was almost another cough-up behind his own net remarkably similar to the game-changer in Florida, but fortunately the puck didn't end up in his net this time or it could have been a drastically different outcome. 

Tampa scored first on a Tyler Johnson goal but Ottawa answered that one pretty quickly with a Stone marker and Ottawa never trailed again. The power play went to work and in the middle of the second, when Turris' shot got through the glove of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to give them the lead, and then Hoffman also counted with a power play goal early in the third. After Brayden Point got the Bolts within on, Stone again had the answer in short order to restore the two goal cushion and snuff any Tampa momentum. Chris Kelly iced the game with the empty netter, his 122 goal in his 800th game.  

The Senators won one that they were supposed to win, and looked pretty good doing it, playing the system they are deployed to play. They will try to do that all over again on Saturday, when their trek home from the Sunshine state lands them for a stop in Buffalo before returning home for a four game homestand. The Blues did the Senators a favor by downing the Leafs so Ottawa opens a 5 point gap on their most likely first round opponent at the moment and used one of their games in hand on the Bruins. With Montreal also spinning their wheels a bit at the moment, Ottawa is just 7 points behind the Habs with three games in hand for first in the Division, although looking at potential matchups 2nd might be a more favorable position because at this point in time it looks like the Atlantic winner will get one of Pittsburgh, Columbus or the New York Rangers, while second place (assuming it is the Senators will get one of the Bruins, Leafs or Panthers. 


But the playoffs are still a long way away, and the next big moment is the upcoming trade deadline. Ottawa has a number of areas they could improve upon, but what is the single most pressing need, and who is available to fill it. And finally, is the price to be paid worth it? 

I will look at it from the net out. The goaltending is adequate, with two capable goalies (once Craig Anderson returns) and either one of them are capable of going on a hot streak that could carry into a playoff series. Not really a need to go out and get a goalie. 

On the blue line, the Senators seem to have everyone slotted properly and the top 4 is pretty solid, despite what the underlying numbers say about the Dion Phaneuf - Cody Ceci pairing. With Freddie Claesson stepping in and showing he can be a good 5-6 player, they have 7 guys they can choose from and be relatively satisfied. If there is a need on the blue line it would be for a veteran who can play in the top 4 should the need arise due to injury, and can stabilize or improve the bottom pair. It would be nice to have, but if they enter the playoff run with that group of 7 healthy, I would be ok with that. 

The Senators biggest need is elite level scoring. Not just a top 6 forward, but a legitimate top 3 guy. Bobby Ryan was expected, and is paid, to be that guy, but for whatever reason he just can't seem to get his game together for any significant length of time and is on pace for somewhere around 40 points. Ryan Dzingel has stepped up and filled a role nicely, as has Zack Smith but should one of the current top 6 go down to injury, there isn't a ready player to step in. The Senators addressed the need to add depth to the bottom 6 with last weeks acquisition of Tommy Wingels, but there is a need at the top end.  

That certainly won't be an easy spot to fill, either with a rental or by way of opening the wallet for an established, signed player with term. 

If you look at TSN's Tradebait list, Colorado is ready to deal, either Matt Duchene and/or Gabriel Landeskog. Both come with contracts in the $5.5-$6M range, with Duchene (26) having 2 years left and Landeskog (24) having 4 years left after this season. Either would be a nice fit and you could argue Landeskog could really use a change of scenery and was maybe given the "C" a little too early in Denver.  

The same thing for a guy like Jordan Eberle in Edmonton, who also appears on TSN's list of players either likely to be moved or players teams are dangling. Eberle also carries two more years at $6M so Ottawa would have to shed some salary in a trade involving any of these guys with term.  

If you were going the rental route, one that might not be as costly, there are a pair of Coyotes available, centre Martin Hanzal and winger Radim Vrbata. Vrbata is intriguing because he plays the wing, is a pretty consistent 50-60 point guy and is cheap ($1.5M this season then UFA). 

The Senators aren't in a position to take on a bunch of salary, and any deal bringing on term would rely on someone being willing to take Bobby Ryan and his salary off Pierre Dorion's cap. I don't know how many takers there would be at that price tag, unless it is problem for problem. 

In a perfect but unlikely scenario, someone finds the magic elixir to get Ryan back to his 30 goal Anaheim form, and while they are at it find out what is wrong with Lazar and fix that so he can fulfill his expectations which are certainly higher than a 2 point season, and Colin White's college campaign ends earlier than he would like and he turns pro at the end of the season to join the club for a playoff run. Then there isn't much need up front and they can maybe look for that stabilizing defenseman.  

Second best scenario would be to bring in an upgrade while moving Ryan and his salary out, even if it means adding other pieces to the deal to make it happen. There is apparently some interest in Lazar, to give him a new start, and that could be one of the pieces. 

The club's lack of depth, of NHL ready prospects and a couple of bad contracts are standing in the way. And while a potential Ryan/Lazar for Eberle swap might be good from one side, Edmonton can't afford to take the chance that Ryan just didn't fit in Ottawa and they probably can't afford the contract either without Ottawa eating some of his salary.  

In the end they will probably do what Ottawa does, bring in a middling rental or do nothing at all.  

jedi17

Ottawa Senators - Thu Feb 02, 2017 9:41 pm

Game Day: Senators @ Lightning - Boucher's homecoming & help Condon out
February 2, 2017, 11:32 AM ET [9 Comments]

Jared Crozier
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Guy Boucher will make his first appearance in Tampa since being fired on March 24, 2013 after, ironically, losing to the Senators. He brings his current team to town in a great situation while his former team is struggling to tread water.  

The Lightning are six points out of a playoff spot with a boatload of teams standing between themselves and a playoff spot. They are coming off a loss to the Bruins on Tuesday night, managing just 21 shots in a 4-3 loss. Of course they are without Steven Stamkos, who has not played since mid-November with a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee. Take a perennial 30 goal scorer (40-50 when healthy) out of any team's lineup and they will take a hit, but the Lightning have played without him before to some success but haven't been able to get their game in sync without their captain. Also absent from the lineup for most of the season has been Ryan Callahan, who has had a difficult couple of seasons in Tampa and has been limited to just 18 games with a hip injury. He has just 4 points in those 18 games. 

On the plus side for the Bolts, Victor Hedman is having a Norris-calibre year, (at least in any year where Brent Burns wasn't having the season he is currently enjoying) with 41 points in 48 games Hedman is on pace to shatter his career high of 55 points. 

Former Senator Ben Bishop, who was nominated for the Vezina Trophy last season, has had a tough year that included a recent stint on the IR. He is 2-2-1 since returning on January 12th, but has allowed 9 goals in his last two starts, including 5 goals on 17 shots to the lowly Arizona Coyotes before being pulled after 40 minutes two starts ago (Jan 21).

With rumors that Bishop, who will be a UFA at the end of the season, might be made available at or before the trade deadline with Andrei Vasilevskiy ready to be a #1 starter and a comparably adept alternative to the much more expensive Bishop. Big Ben would be a big coup for a team heading to the playoffs looking to shore up their goaltending, provided he can show before the deadline that he has his game back, but he won't get the chance tonight against his former club. The Senators will face Vasilevskiy in the Tampa goal.  

From the Ottawa perspective, there are no more excuses about pre- or post-All-Star break distractions, it is time to get down to business. They had their 6 game points streak snapped with a loss to the Panthers on Tuesday and need to get back into the win column because things are tight behind them. No team is more than 7 points out of a playoff spot at the moment, and there is no true separation as of yet. Boston lost last night, which means they are still tied with Ottawa but the Senators now have 6 games in hand, many of which they will use over the next couple of weeks as Boston has a thin schedule including their mandatory "bye week". Even with a 6-2-2 record in their past 10 games, the Senators haven't gained much ground and back to back losses won't help matters. 

I said it before the Florida game, and the same holds true for this one. It isn't a "must-win" game by any stretch of the imagination and they will still be in a good spot win or lose. But if they continue to leave points on the table against teams they should be beating, it will catch up with them eventually and games later in the season that shouldn't be, will become, "must win". 

Mike Condon had an off night, as did many of the players in front of him, on Tuesday. The last time he had a game like that was the 7-6 loss to Columbus and he answered that with a 31 save shutout of the league leading Washington Capitals. He will set a franchise record tonight with his 26th straight appearance, and even with the recent All-Star break the fatigue might just be catching up to him. He has allowed 15 goals in his last 4 starts (and than includes the shutout of the Caps) and has had sub-.900 save percentages in three of his last 4, and 5 of his last 8 games. That is why I was such a proponent of resting him for that home game against the Blue Jackets that ended up being a 7-6 track meet.

The Senators as a club have been getting away from their game plan a bit lately, giving up 29 or more shots in 5 of their last 6 outings. Normally that isn't the end of the world, especially for this franchise, and they have been successful on the whole in spite of it. However when your goalie is playing every night for the foreseeable future (at least a couple of weeks or so), and has been for the better part of two whole months, you need to do everything you can to help him out and minimize his workload. By comparison, the Senators only gave up more than 30 shots once in the first 10 games of the current streak that has seen him start 16 straight games, with the 17th to come tonight. 

While the higher-scoring games of late have been super exciting to watch and back-and-forth, the Senators find themselves on the wrong end of a lot of them. They need to play the system Boucher has designed - take care of your own end and the offense will take care of itself, even if it dulls the excitement a bit. They have the ability to score on the counterattack, but you can't transition when you are fishing the puck out of your own net, and usually two points in the standings is better than the excitement of an 8-7 or 6-5 loss. 

As for the Senators lineup, Boucher said that Mark Borowiecki will be back in the lineup, and that he may try out the 7 defensemen, 11 forward strategy that he used with success behind the bench in Tampa. If so, that means that Chris Neil and Curtis Lazar could sit. (EDIT: Lazar draws back in, Neil is out. Borowiecki in, Claesson out - 12 F, 6D)

jedi17

Ottawa Senators - Thu Jan 26, 2017 10:51 pm

Game Day: Flames @ Senators - its a trap! & front office shakeup
January 26, 2017, 11:08 AM ET [14 Comments]

Jared Crozier
Topics tagged under 1 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality - Page 6 Ott Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT



With one eye toward escaping the city for the All-Star break, the Flames and Senators will square off at Canadian Tire Centre for one last battle before they head to Vegas, Bermuda or whatever destination they have for a quick weekend getaway (although Erik Karlsson is heading to Hollywood for the game itself). The key for this one might be whatever coach can keep his players' attention the longest and even get off the mark the quickest tonight might be the one who walks away with the two points. 

It is a classic trap game for the Senators, not only because of the impending mini-vacation, but also because they are riding a wave of success, coming largely against very good teams, and they will be staring across at a team that is in a downward spiral.  

The Senators should get Mike Hoffman back from the flu that kept him out of Tuesday's win, while new acquisition Tommy Wingels will make his debut in a Sens uniform. The Senators sent Casey Bailey back to Binghamton and it remains to be seen which remaining forward will sit out (barring another flu victim), but my money would be on Curtis Lazar, at least for the first game. It could be a revolving scratch between he and Chris Neil, but I think the veteran has done enough to stay in the lineup and brings an element that the team would miss, while Wingels plays the type of game Lazar has been playing, but an upgrade on it. 

On the blue line, Freddie Claesson has impressed on the third pairing with Mark Borowiecki out for an extended period of time with the flu. It will be interesting to see if Claesson continues in the lineup or if Borowiecki is good to go, if he gets back in. Borowiecki skated before practice, but stuck around for the morning skate as well.  

One thing that is not uncertain is that Mike Condon will appear in his 24th straight game (15th straight start) and the first game after the break will tie the record of 25 straight appearances set by Damian Rhodes in 1996. One question that will be answered in due time is how the Senators will work when Craig Anderson returns. Condon has done enough to be a #1 goalie for this team, and after Anderson's mini-camp to get back into shape, how will the duties be split. Signs are pointing to the mini-camp possibly starting as soon as today as Pierre Groulx, the Sens goaltending coach, is apparently in New York to work with Anderson. It will be a good problem to have, finding enough starts to keep both goalies busy. I don't know the answer, but I think it is suffice to say that there won't need to be any further lengthy streak for consecutive appearances when Anderson does come back and both should be fresh for the playoff run. 

While Ottawa has points in each of their last 5 games (and 6-1-1 in their past 8), the Flames are reeling from four straight losses, giving up 20 goals in that span. They are 0-2 on their Eastern Canada swing that will wrap up tonight, losing 4-0 to Toronto and 5-1 in Montreal on Monday and Tuesday, with the goal in Montreal coming with one second left in the third period. The choice word coach Glen Gulutzan chose to use in describing his team's play was "Pathetic" following the loss in Montreal, and he called out his team and primarily the best players who have failed to show up of late. 

Which is kind of a good news/bad news scenario for the Senators. On one hand, facing a team that is struggling and in disarray at the moment should be an advantage, but they can't afford to have a let-down in their game to play at the level the Flames have been playing at. Because professional athletes tend to have a bit of an ego and don't necessarily like to be called out in public and the Senators have to be ready if that tongue-lashing via the media has its intended effect. It is his first season behind the Flames' bench and he might be feeling the heat already, no pun intended, and the Flames sit outside the playoffs looking in having played more games than those around them. 


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The Senators made some off-ice headlines yesterday, bringing in former MLSE boss Tom Anselmi into the fold as the new President and CEO of the Senators. It won't affect the on-ice product, but Anselmi's construction history and his experience in helping to build the ACC and BMO Field in Toronto was a major reason he was brought in, given the task ahead of building the Senators' new arena at LeBreton Flats, along with the accompanying development. 

With the move, Cyril Leeder, who has been with the franchise from day 1 and is a big reason Ottawa is still an NHL city given some past issues, was ushered aside and will no longer be part of the Senators organization. 

Also, there is rumours that the Senators will begin the 2017-18 season in Sweden, possibly against the Colorado Avalanche, as well as the long-rumored outdoor game is now almost a sure thing.

jedi17

Chicago Blackhawks - Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:18 pm

The Thin Blue Line
January 25, 2017, 10:21 AM ET [48 Comments]

John Jaeckel
Topics tagged under 1 on Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality - Page 6 Chi Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT



 



I'm going to avoid going to deeply into the negative following last night's fairly deflating Blackhawk loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

To my eye, it just goes to show a few things: mainly how narrow the margin is between winning and losing—convincingly either way—in the NHL. Except when you are a truly deep and 100% healthy team, which dear readers, the Chicago Blackhawks are not. Not at this point anyway.

There were a lot of failings last night: Jonathan Toews getting cleanly beaten on a face-off leading to tampa's tying goal early in the third. Trevor van Riemsdyk and Duncan Keith getting soundly beaten, and overall lackadaisical almost, effortless (and that not in a good way) commitment at times. Ditto Richard Panik as well. Corey Crawford still clearly not at the top of his game.

So chalk it up to a bad game, if you want, but I am going to stick by at least one observation I made a few blogs back: Keith does not look 100% or close to it. Every defenseman, even a 2-time Norris/Conn Smythe winning defenseman, makes bad decisions now and then. But again, Keith seems to lack the world-class explosion and short area quickness he has always been able to rely to rectify those errors.

What that does is make the Hawks' collective margin for error that much more precarious game to game. 

And to be frank, I will just pose this question to readers, what if Crawford (like Keith) is very slow to regain form after this injury? At what point does Scott Darling (assuming he continues to play lights out), become #1 at least for a handful of games?

You can argue Crawford needs to play through his current issues—and that is likely the right argument. The question is, how long would you ride that assumption? 

As for the Jekyll/Hyde team as a whole, you can focus on the bright side, 65 points and "second place" in the conference by virtue of points, and the fact that maybe on more nights than not, the Hawks margin for error is good enough. But I will submit to you that is against the aggregate average of all NHL teams the Hawks have played—not likely playoff teams, which this morning, the Lightning are not.

But all you can do is keep suiting up and working on things in practice and games. And the Hawks get back to business versus Winnipeg tomorrow night. I will have a preview tomorrow. 


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