Tag: Ottawa Senators

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NHL General

Friday Morning NHL Roundup


Sharks 2, Red Wings 0
I’ve written before about my fascination – perhaps of an unhealthy nature – with the San Jose Sharks. Long story short: a few weeks before my frosh year of college, my dad and I were buying posters; I liked the colors on the Sharks poster (you should have seen how I picked NCAA Tournament teams back then), and thus bought it; it led to an oddly interesting dynamic with a wallflower who lived down the hall from me. Basically, I think I made him throw up from drinking for the first time in his life (and the second, and third, but those are different matters). The Sharks, though, brought us together.

The one legitimate thing I liked about San Jose aside from their colors was how they manhandled Detroit that year they (SJ) were the 8 seed. Arturs Irbe? He was en fuego in that series. The image of those guys skating out of the shark’s mouth en route to a massive upset is something that really kept me tuned into hockey back in the mid 1990s.

It appears San Jose is still owning Detroit, because in Game 1 of the Western Semis last night, they hung a 2-0 win on ’em. Nabokov had 34 saves. Mike Grier and Matt Carle – whose name doesn’t even hyperlink off NHL.Com for some reason – provided the offense. I guess the moral of this story is, a shark will always eat an octopus (or, for that matter, a seal – you guys been watching Planet Earth?).

Senators 5, Devils 4
Two relevant things emerged from this game, in my mind, and I wouldn’t call myself a “puckhead” by any means (maybe a “puckbunny,” but that’s an entirely different tangent), so maybe I’m wrong.

1. What’s wrong with Marin Broduer? OK, he’s old. And OK, the Devils still advanced out of the first round, but Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis basically tattooed their names all over Brodeur’s back, posterior, and nether regions, smacking him around for 11 goals. The problem for Tampa Bay is, they only scored three other goals in all. Anyway, tonight he gives up a goal 90 seconds into the game – Jason Spezza – and then three more in the first period. The Devils are already in a 4-0 hole. How’s a band of brothers going to come back from that? Huh? Huh? It hurts so good, Marty.

2. If anyone cares, what’s the broader American sentiment on Dany Heatley these days? The guy is, for all intents and purposes, someone associated with murder. He also happens to be one of the best damn players in hockey; his two years in Ottawa, he’s had over 100 points per season. In this game, he was one of the Fatal Four that scored on Martin B. in the first period, after a solid first round. What’s your take: is Heatley a monster or a misunderstood offensive genius who was driving the wrong Ferrari at the wrong time? Frankly, I think mistakes happen, and sometimes they’re absolutely awful in terms of their ramifications. An Eastern Conference Finals battle between Chris Drury, the boy who can do no wrong, and Dany Heatley, the brotha who can do no right, would be an absolutely intoxicating battle of Good vs. Evil. Yea, I’m a smidgeon melodramatic.

[Ted Bauer will be covering the NHL playoffs for us this year. You can find more of Ted’s work at A Price Above Bip Roberts.]

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Ottawa Senators

Ray Emery leads a good old fashioned hockey brawl

Check out this video of the brawl last night between the Sens and the Sabres. The absolute best thing about hockey brawls is that the goalies are compelled by hockey tradition to fight each other even though they probably never crossed each other’s paths the entire game. Ray Emery gets the nod for this brawl because not only does he dispatch with Martin Biron, he then turns his sights on Sabres goon Andrew Peters. They always say goalies are a little wacko. Emery is just deranged.

Don’t forget to check out our favorite Buffalo site Bfloblog for their reaction to the brawl.

Links:
[Toss in the Towel]: Ray Emery Fights Biron AND Peters! He’s Crazy…And I love It!

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NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Chicago fires coach Yawney

1. Blackhawks fire Trent Yawney
You think going back to work today was tough for you?  Consider Trent Yawney, fired today by the Chicago Blackhawks who have lost 12 of the last 15 games.  He was replaced by assistant Denis Savard.   No word on whether Yawney said during Thanksgiving dinner, “I am thankful for my job as head coach of the Blackhawks.”

2. Lighting Up The Sens
Tampa Bay goalie Johan Holmqvist chalked up 22 saves on Sunday night in a 3-1 win over a somewhat mysterious Ottawa Senators team. Holmqvist is hot, now having won a miraculous eight of his last nine starts to lead the Lightning back into the thick of things in a crowded Southeast Division. It prompts this question: why even have goaltender Marc Denis on the roster (this year, new Denis is 5-7-1, while Holmqvist is 8-3-0). Holmie’s terrific performance in net snapped a four game winning streak for a second-to-last Sens team, and also ended a seven game point streak for Ottawa sniper Daniel Alfredsson. Offensivley for Tampa, Brad Richards had an impressive night with a goal and an assist–helping the Bolts to their fourth win in the last six games.

3. Kari Goes Krazy
Thrashers’ netminder Kari Lehtonen produced one of the best performances thus far in the NHL season, leading Atlanta to a 1-0 win on Saturday night. He stopped all 37 shots that came his way from the sticks of the Florida Panthers, paving the way for his third shutout of the year. Florida has had no answer for the boys from “Blueland” this year, now dropping to 0-4 against Atlanta. This can be credited in large part to Atlanta’s penalty kill against Florida, who has been shut down to the tune of 1-for-23 in the four meetings between the teams. Ilya Kovalchuck increased his team lead in goals on Saturday, tallying the lone score for Atlanta.

4. BIZZARO NEWS BREAK: Columbus Wins
In an event that can only be considered bizarre, the Columbus Blue Jackets actually showed up to play on Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild. They walked off of the ice as a 5-3 winner in the contest, which is probably the most amazing thing to happen in the NHL in recent memory. Sergei Fedorov had a productive performance for the Blue Jackets, scoring two goals and adding two assists. Still, with only five goals and seven assists on the year, he has to be considered an underachiever (but it is tough to blame him completely, when he’s usually the only Columbus player awake on the ice). The win ended an abysmal stretch of eight straight losses for the Blue Jackets, and also gave new coach Ken Hitchcock his first victory behind the bench. For Minnesota, who is tied for first in the Northwest, it was not the first time they have lost to a last-place team. The Wild dropped a 4-3 decision to the Phoenix Coyotes on November 14th.

Check It Out
In an interesting story from The New York Times, this edition of NHL Notebook discuses the impact of Bo Schembechler’s loss in the NHL. It revolves around Rangers’ defenseman Aaron Ward, who has roots in Ann Arbor. Stories like these just cushion the stories we’ve all heard about Schembechler as not only a coach, but a man.

Game of the Night: Dallas at Detroit, 7:00PM ET
The Red Wings have lost five straight after winning nine in a row

The Last Shot
SI.com’s Brian Cazeneuve releases his thoughts on a crowded Western Conference, as well as other notes from around the NHL. Brian tends to agree with us in thinking that Anaheim holds Western Conference supremacy.

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NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Hats Off to Atlanta – Again



Best part of the hat trick

1. Sens Slumping, Thrashers Thumping
The Ottawa Senators are reeling at the moment, now having lost five straight games. This is their longest losing streak in 10 years, believe it or not. Their most recent loss came at the hands of the mighty Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday night, as the Sens managed to blow two 2-goal leads in the game. Credit Atlanta, though. This is a team on a mission, and that has been clearly seen through the first month of the season.
Slava Kozlov lit the red lamp three times in this game for his fifth career hat trick. His last 3-goal game also came against the Senators in January. With Ilya Kovalchuck’s Hat Trick on Monday night, it marks the first time in the history of the franchise that they’ve had hat tricks in consecutive games. Hat sales are expected to skyrocket this week in Atlanta, because everyone in town is now looking for a new Thrashers hat.

2. Dominik the Dominator
Detroit continued to melt the ice on Wednesday night, when they made quick work of the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 3-0. For Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek, he earned his 70th career shutout and led Detroit to their seventh consecutive win. At 41 years old, he still has what it takes. If I were him, I’d aim to become the Julio Franco of hockey–play as long as possible. It also helps that the Red Wings have arguably the best defense in the NHL, and pucks are usually cleared out before Hasek has to stop a shot. The only low point for Detroit in this contest came in the second period, when Jason Williams left the ice on a stretcher. He suffered a vicious check to the face, and then landed face-first onto the ice. Ouchies.

3. Sundin Don’t Shine In Toronto
Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin is expected to miss up to month with a torn ligament in his right elbow. He was injured on Monday night while playing against the Philadelphia Flyers. This could eventually be a big blow for the Maple Leafs. They’re going to have to keep up with the Buffalo Sabres in the Northeast Division (they have done an excellent job of hanging around in that division this year) without the help of their team leader in points – and in a division that could end up in a deadlock at the end of the year, this injury could be huge.

Check It Out
ESPN’s John Buccigross evaluates today’s NHL and plays “Buy or Sell” with every team. His biggest buy is with Pittsburgh, and since Evgeni Malkin showed up, we tend to agree. The Maple Leafs, Oilers, and Avalanche are among a handful of teams he would not currently pay to watch.

Game of the Night: Washington at Carolina
Capitals: coming off first back-to-back wins of the season

The Last Shot
The Flyers’ Jeff Carter is sidelined for six weeks, thanks to a broken ankle. This prompted Philly to call up veteran Petr Nedved from the AHL. The Flyers’ farm team, the Philadelphia Phantoms, are 5-6-1 on the season… that’s better than the record of the big league club, as the Flyers now stand at 3-10-1. Our condolences go out to Nedved– we’d rather play on the Phantoms this year, too.

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: So what do they do with all those hats?



GWH

1. Collecting Hats
Ilya Kovalchuck was the star for the Thrashers on Monday night, leading his team to a 5-3 win in Atlanta. The #1 overall draft pick in 2001 sent the hats flying with a Hat Trick, netting three Power Play goals and an assist in the game. Kovalchuk continues to impress, and is slowly forming into one of the best players in the league. Atlanta’s Johan Hedberg had a nice night between the pipes, stopping 24 of 27 shots faced on the way to his third straight win. Another big reason for the Thrashers’ success was the amount of time they spent on the man advantage. Boston committed 13 penalties in the game, allowing four Power Play goals.

2. Capping Off the Win
Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals walked out of the Verizon Center with a 4-3 Overtime victory on Monday night, trying to keep pace with the Atlanta Thrashers in a crowded Southeast Division. Ovechkin did his thing yet again – scoring two goals, including the game-tying Power Play goal with 24 seconds left in regulation. That would later set up Chris Clark for the game-winner in the extra period. The Senators held a comfortable 3-0 lead in the first period, but were unable to stall the Caps’ offense. Washington scored four unanswered goals over the next two and a half periods to earn the victory. With the loss, the Ottawa Senators have now lost four straight games and are in danger of slipping to last in the Northeast Division.

3. Lightning Strikes the Island
On Monday night in the Nassau Coliseum, the Tampa Bay Lightning downed the New York Islanders by a score of 5-1. Tampa Bay sniper Martin St. Louis scored a Power Play goal in the second period, breaking a 1-1 tie and launching a stretch of four unanswered goals for the Lightning. They also got some offensive help from an unlikely source in Defenseman Filip Kuba, who scored his forst and second goals of the season. Johan Hedberg got a rare start for Tampa, and made the most of it. He stopped 25 shots en route to his first win of the year.

Check It Out
Off Wing Opinion’s Eric McErlain talks about the NHL’s scheduling issues. He, along with the rest of the hockey world, would like to see less divisional games and more interconference contests.

Game of the Night: Minnesota at San Jose
Minnesota has won last four games at San Jose

The Last Shot
Former Red Wing Steve Yzerman received the Lester Patrick Award Monday, given to individuals who have made an impact on hockey in the United States.