Posts Tagged ‘Ottawa Senators’

NHLHS Mock Draft: With the Number Sixteen Pick…

NHLHS Mock Draft is our latest feature where we collectively predict the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. The draft is a crapshoot and we will be wrong… …but we thought it would be fun to try.

With the sixteenth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, the Ottawa Senators select…
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Hall, Seguin or Spezza? Oilers face decisions

The 2010 NHL entry draft is fast approaching and will be starting June 25th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles; the buzz around the Edmonton Oilers is rapidly heating up.

Not only has there been great debates on whom the Oilers should take albeit Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin but since a leak broke out about Jason Spezza being on the block along with his 7 Million dollar cap hit through 2014-2015 has sparked rumors aplenty across NHL nation this last week.

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Eight(h) is Enough

Congratulations to the second biggest underdog to enter the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for, what has been thus far, the most amazing Cinderella run since 1993.

For the Montreal Canadiens, the number eight seed was simply enough. Enough to ignite a spark under a team compiled of averaged sized players surrounded in turmoil from every angle except financially.

And to think, luck was on their side in order to squeak into the playoff picture.

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Penguins can seal Ottawa’s fate tonight by riding momentum

Many sports fans compare baseball to a marathon, and football to a sprint. An adequate comparison for the NHL, if there is one, is an eight month long boxing match.

After being on the receiving end of blows to end the season, the Pens took a crucial blow to the chops in Game 1, drawing negative criticism from hockey’s media, fanbase, and blogosphere, including from yours truly. In Game 2 and 3, however, the Pens began to deliver the heavy punishment, rather than taking it, to the Ottawa Senators.

I wrote in my Game 1 recap that Pittsburgh’s lack of preparation and responsibility from behind the bench was equally as responsible for their loss to begin the season as much as the lackluster defensive play and maddeningly consequential goaltending gaffes. Aside from a Ruslan Fedotenko scratch, no major line changes were implemented. The plan of attack, however, was vastly different, and the Penguins benefited.

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Penguins Special Teams Need to be Better

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Ottawa Senators
Round 1, Game 1

The Tribtron was up and the fans were out in full force in- and outside Mellon Arena. Chants of LET’S GO PENS! rose off Mario’s lawn, the excitement was palpable.The last time I was at Mellon for a Senators/Penguins game, in December, Geno had a hat trick and the Penguins blew out the Senators. While I was hoping for this result again, I know that Ottawa is NEVER an easy match up.

Pens fans, you have to realize that along with Alfredsson and Spezza, the secondary scoring is unreal. News flash: the Senators have about the most legit and clutch fourth line in the league. The goal tending may be a weak spot but both Elliott and Leclaire can both be great in the clutch.
Penguins defense needs to tighten up, clear the puck and hop up on the offense.

The power play and the penalty kill need to be drastically better or the Penguins will not make it past the first round.

Pros & Cons: Ottawa Senators vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Our newest feature, Pros and Cons, holds a debate between two of our featured writers as they make an argument for each team in the series.  We will continue this series throughout the playoffs as we delve deeper into how these two teams will interact.

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Pens Begin their Cup Defense against the Ottawa Senators

NHLHS writer Joe Depto takes a look at the opening round series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators.

Hoisting the Stanley Cup over a player’s head in June is the greatest honor in sports. It is the truest evidence of character, perseverance, and talent.

But what happens after the limelight has dimmed, the heralding interviews have given their last interrogative, and the last car in the championship parade drives off into the sunset?

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 2009 Stanley Cup’s spotlight quickly became a magnifying glass.

In hockey, as in life, what men do with their newly earned power is often more indicative of their integrity than what actions granted them such hierarchy to begin with. All season long, the Pens haven’t been referred to as their 48 year old flightless-bird moniker, but rather tribute-esque phrases such as “defending champs”.

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Current Power Outage Puts Fading Flyers Season on Brink

NHLHS writer Dave Strehle takes a look at the Philadelphia Flyers’ tightrope walk on the edge of playoff contention and dropping into oblivion.

In what has become a veritable rollercoaster-type season for the Philadelphia Flyers, the lowpoints are seemingly falling deeper and deeper.

With last night’s 2-0 shutout loss to Brian Elliott and the Ottawa Senators, the Orange and Black now trails Ottawa by 4 points.  Only one point separates the Flyers from the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.  The Boston Bruins currently sit in that slot and have a game in hand on the Flyers.  And the rejuvenated Atlanta Thrashers are just 4 points from knocking Philadelphia out of the postseason entirely.

A familiar problem for the Flyers has once again reared it’s ugly head, one that no one thought would afflict a Philly team with so much offensive potential this season.  But they have again run into a stretch where they have a complete lack of generating any offense.   And it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

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