Welcome Andy Sutton

The Ottawa Senators have acquired defenceman Andy Sutton from the New York Islanders in exchange for a second round draft pick. GM Bryan Murray wanted to get a deal done Tuesday in advance of Wednesday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline and had been saying he would look for a defenceman to provide depth along the blue line.

In 567 career NHL games with the San Jose Sharks, Minnesota Wild, Atlanta Thrashers and the Islanders, Sutton has scored 34 goals, added 101 assists and 984 penalty minutes. On another front, Murray said barring an unforeseen turn of events, Volchenkov will still be a Senator after the deadline.

In other trades Edmonton traded Nashville’s second round pick for defenceman Denis Grebeshkov, who’s minus-16 with 19 points. The Anaheim Ducks traded defenceman Nick Boynton to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday for future considerations & Pittsburgh Penguins, who picked up defenceman Jordan Leopold from the Florida Panthers on Monday for a second-round pick.

Senators Trade Picard For Cullen

The Ottawa Senators have traded young defenceman Alexandre Picard to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for center Matt Cullen.

Acting as soon as his contract been extended GM, Brian Murray made a couple of changes to his squad which is doing very well at the moment. Cullen, who has 12 goals and 28 assists in 60 games played this season, could be a boost to the Senators 27th ranked power-play, as he spent time in Carolina playing at the point on their power-play unit. The 33-year old Minnesota native, who won a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2005-06, has 165 goals and 288 assists in 859 games played.

Then, the team announced it is waiving the underachieving Jonathan Cheechoo, who arrived in Ottawa last summer from San Jose in the Dany Heatley deal. The move means Cheechoo’s days with the Senators are over.

Sens Update, 12th Feb ’10

The Ottawa Senators haven’t let up much since our last update. On the 30th of January, the Sens closed out the first month of the new year with a 3-2 OT win over the Montreal Canadiens. Mike Fisher scored the winner, while Jason Spezza & Alexie Kovalev also scored.

After a 3 day rest, the Sens visited Buffalo and came back with a 4-2 win against the Sabers. Spezza & Daniel Alfredsson had two goals each as the Senators extended a franchise-best winning streak to 10 on Wednesday night. In a night of milestones, Brian Elliott stopped 36 shots to win his eighth in a row to match the team record he set last year.

The very next night, the Vancouver Canucks came calling in Ottawa and were beaten 1-3. Spezza, Milan Michalek & Chris Kelly scored the goals for Ottawa. Spezza scored his ninth goal in his last eight games and Ottawa extended its team-record winning streak to 11. The streak had to end sometime – and it happened two days later against the hate Toronto Maple Leafs. It was a 0-5 shutout victory for the Maple Leafs.

Two days rest was good enough for the Senators to get back to winning ways. They welcomed the Calgary Flames and came out 3-2 victors – Spezza scored his 10th goal in his last 10 games late in the second period to send Ottawa to a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. Elliott made 27 saves in his 11th straight start for the Senators, who won their 12th in 13 games and Kovalev & Ruutu also scored.

And finally, the Senators met the Washington Capitals and came out 6-5 winners – Spezza, Michalek, Alfredsson, Chris Neil, Kovalev & Chris Phillips scored the goals. Ottawa moved into the division lead with 74 points, one ahead of Buffalo, which lost 4-3 in overtime at Carolina.

Sens Update, 29th Jan

The Ottawa Senators have turned their season around and made it 8 wins in a row. Just how did they achieve this? Secondary players stepping up and scoring while the name players were out injured. Teamwork!

On the 21st of Jan, Ottawa welcome the St.Louis Blues and won 3-2. Milan Michalek, Peter Regin and Chris Phillips scored the goals with Regin assisting on Phillips goal. Brian Elliott stopped 27 shots to win his third straight start and Michalek also scored on the power play in his return after missing seven games because of a concussion.

Two days later in Boston, Daniel Alfredsson & Jason Spezza scored to give the Sens a 2-1 win against the Bruins. But what the Sens really wanted was a win against the New Jersey Devils who have long had the upper hand against the Ottawa side. On the 26th of Jan the Sens beat the Devils in Ottawa 3-0. Michalek, Spezza & Alexie Kovalev had the 3 goals. Elliott earned his third shutout.

And just last night the Sens visited defending Stanley Cup champions Pittsburgh and came away with a 4-1 win. Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, Nick Foligno and Spezza scored the goals while Elliot made 30 saves to win his sixth consecutive start and the Senators tied a club record with their eighth straight win.

Sens Update, 21st Jan

The Ottawa Senators have bounced back well from those 5 loses in a row and now have 4 wins in a row. First, on Jan 14th 3rd choice goalie Mike Brodeur had a shutout away against the New York Rangers in a 2-0 win. Chris Campoli & Chris Kelly scored the goals.

Two nights later the Sens went to Montreal and beat the Canadiens in captain Daniel Alfredsson’s first game back after a 3 week layoff due to injuries. The captain, Chris Phillips, Mike Fisher & Zack Smith scored in the 4-2 win. Brodeur stopped 30 shots on goal.

Then it was on to Boston. Alfredsson had a hattrick in a 5-1 win away against the Bruins. Alexi Kovalev and Jonathon Cheechoo scored the other two goals. Brian Elliott started in goal when Mike Brodeur felt dizzy before the game.

And then on the 19th Ottawa returned home to face the Chicago Blackhawks. Smith, Ryan Shannon, Peter Regin & Fisher scored in a 4-1 emphatic victory over the team tied at the # 1 spot in the NHL. Ottawa are currently at the 5th spot in the East but have a lot more work to be done to ensure a playoff spot.

Terrible Start To 2010 For Sens

Yes we are missing our top line but we can’t offer any excuses for the terrible & pathetic start to 2010 that we have made. 6 straight losses; yes it’s that bad!

3rd Jan : 4-7 loss to Philadelphia Flyer

5th Jan : 1-4 loss to Boston Bruins

7th Jan : 2-5 loss to Washington Capitalc

9th Jan : 0-3 loss to Florida Panthers

10th Jan : 1-4 loss to Carolina Hurricanes

12th Jan : 1-6 loss to Atlanta Thrashers

These are terrible statistics and unless we do a drastic turn around, I’m afraid that we will sink lower & lower in the rankings and miss the playoffs for a second year in a row. We need to buy a new forward or two and a defensive powerhouse. Time for a goalie change as well.

Sens Update 3rd Jan, 2010

After the last update, goalie Brian Elliot came back but could not do much to save a loss against the Boston Bruins, 0-2 on the 21st of December. This was the same day that Senators C Mike Fisher confirmed his engagement to singer Carrie Underwood. Two days later it got even more worse – infact the lowest point of the season so far. We lost away to the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-8 in a thrashing like we have never seen before. Anton Volchenkov & Chris Kelly scored the goals for us.

The Senators had to wait till Boxing day to get their act back together – a 3-2 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Shannon & Chris Neil scored the regulation time goals for the Senators. And then on the 28th we had a nice home victory over the Montreal Canadiens, 4-2. Shannon, Neil, Peter Regin & Chris Campoli had the goals for the capitcal city.

Ottawa played the last two days of the year, a 3-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in which Shannon had a brace and Nick Foligno had the 3rd goal. But New Year’s eve was much more happier for the Sens. It was a shootout victory over the New York Islander – regulation time goals scored by Kelly & Regin.

Sens Update 21 Dec, 09

After the last update , on Monday the 14th of December, the Senators paid a visit to hated provincial rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs just about managed to edge the Sens for a 3-2 victory. Jason Spezza & Mike Fisher scored the goals for us. Ottawa appeared to tie the game with 35 seconds left, but the referees waved the goal off when it was ruled that Jesse Winchester kicked the puck into the net.

Two days later it was the turn of the Buffalo Sabres who came calling to the Scotiabank Place. With the depleted Ottawa Senators scrambling just to put together four forward lines, goalie Brian Elliott helped bail them out with another big game. Elliott made 22 saves for his second shutout in four games, and Alexandre Picard and Fisher scored to help the Senators beat Buffalo 2-0 on Wednesday night.

Last Friday, the 18th, was a tough loss as Martin Brodeur set a NHL record for games played by a goaltender and helped make the milestone a win with 27 saves and an assist, leading the New Jersey Devils to a 4-2 victory over the Senators. Jarkko Ruutu and Picard scored the 2 goals for the Sens. With Elliot playing many games at a stretch, he needed a rest.

Mike Brodeur made a name for himself Saturday night in his NHL debut for the Sens. A distant relative of New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur, the rookie netminder carried a shutout into the third period and Erik Karlsson scored his first career goal, leading Ottawa to a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. Brodeur stopped 22 shots in his first career start after backing up Brian Elliott for 13 straight games. Anton Volchenkov, Milan Michalek and Ruutu also scored for Ottawa.

Sens Update 13 Dec, 09

Alright so time for a 3 game update on the Ottawa Senators. Last night the Sens hosted the Carolina Hurricanes in a games that saw Alexie Kovalev break out of his long goal drought. The Russian scored a hat-trick, including his 400th NHL goal – the 82nd player to reach that milestone. Jason Spezza also scored for the Senators (16-11-4), and Brian Elliott made 23 saves.

In a game that featured two struggling offences, the Ottawa Senators beat the Philadelphia Flyers with defence on the 10th. Goalie Elliott made 23 saves in his second NHL shutout and Nick Foligno and Jesse Winchester scored third-period goals to give Ottawa a 2-0 victory over the slumping Flyers on Thursday night.

And two days prior to that, Kovalev and his new team faced off against his old team when the Montreal Canadiens came calling. The Canadiens won 4-1 with Mike Fisher scoring the solitary goal for the Sens.

Sens Update 7th Dec, 09

On the 23rd of Nov, Ottawa beat the Washington Capitals on an OT goal by MIke Fisher. Peter Regin, Chris Neil & Alexander Picard also scored. Two days later Milan Michalek scored the lone goal in a 1-3 loss to Martin Broduer and his New Jersey Devils.

The very next day Columbus came calling and lost 1-2 to the Sens. Spezza & Nick Foligno scored in a game in which current Senators goalie Pascal Leclaire couldn’t face his former club due to injury. For our last November game, the Bruins defeated us in a shootout – Michalek had a double and Daniel Alfredsson scored once.

This was followed by 3 losses to the San Jose Sharks, the LA Kings & the Coyotes. The Ottawa Senators badly needed to snap their 4 game losing streak. Alex Kovalev and Alfredsson scored in the first two rounds of a shootout for a 4-3 victory on Sunday night.

Jarko Ruutu, Jason Spezza & Filip Kuba scored the regular time goals and goalie Brian Elliot finished with 33 saves and stopped two of three shots in the tiebreaker, helping send Anaheim to its fifth straight loss and salvage the finale of a five-game road trip that began with a shootout loss against Boston.

Sens Update Nov 22nd, 09

Last night the Ottawa Senators met up with the Buffalo Sabres and ended up with a 5-3 victory. Senators backup goalie Brian Elliot replaced injured starter Pascal Leclaire to start the third and made 16 saves to pick up the win as Ottawa topped the Buffalo Sabres 5-3. Daniel Alfredsson led the way with two goals and an assist for Ottawa and Filip Kuba scored his first of the season as part of a four-point night as the Senators (11-6-3) extended their winning streak to three games. Chris Kelly and Milan Michalek, with the game-winner, also scored for the Senators in front of 17,206 at Scotiabank Place.

Much more impressive was the way the Sens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2 nights ago. Suiting up for the 800th game of his NHL career, Senators defenceman Chris Phillips led the attack in a 6-2 victory by scoring 2 goals. Mike Fisher chipped in with three assists, while Chris Kelly, Alex Picard and Nick Foligno all had two-point efforts. Goaltender Pascal Leclaire wasn’t tested a lot by the Pens, but he made 25 stops. Milan Michalek, Matt Carkner and Jonathan Cheechoo also scored for the Senators.

Leclaire had a 30 save starring role in a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on the 17th. Fisher had 2 goals and Michalek had the 3rd, his 8th of the season. On the 14th we lost 1-2 to the New York Rangers in which Brian Lee scored for Ottawa. And last week Friday we had a bad 1-5 loss to Philadelphia in which only Fisher scored.

Sens Update Nov 11th, 09

Well I missed the 5 match update which closed out October but I’ll go with the update of the 3 games played in November so far. On the 5th of November Jason Spezza scored a power-play goal 4:17 into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Spezza also assisted on Daniel Alfredsson’s first-period goal, but his first tally of the season couldn’t have been more timely. Mike Fisher also scored for Ottawa and Pascal Leclaire made 18 saves in the third meeting between the two teams this season, the second in seven days.

Two days on Saturday, at home the Sens lost 2-3 to the New Jersey Devils. Milan Michalek and Brian Lee scored for the Senators. Pascal Leclaire, celebrating his 27th birthday, stopped 22 shots.

And last night Spezza scored the winning goal in the shootout for the Ottawa Senators, who came from behind twice to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Tuesday night. Chris Neil scored his third goal of the season with just under seven minutes left in regulation to give the Senators a 3-2 lead. Jonathan Cheechoo and Nick Foligno also scored for the Senators. Leclaire made 31 saves.

Sens Update, 19th Oct 09

Well Ottawa seems to be getting in their stride of late. On the 10th the Sens welcomed the Atlanta Thrashers and came out 4-2 winners. Mike Fisher had a goal and an assist. Alexie Kovalev, Chris Neil & Jarko Ruutu also scored and goalie Brian Elliot made 27 saves.

Two days later however, the Pittsburgh Penguins came calling and handed us a 4-1 defeat. Milan Michalek got his first Ottawa goal to open the scoring 15:59 in. Pascal Leclaire made 24 saves as the Senators (3-2-0) ended a three-game winning streak. On the 15th, Michalek registered his first three-goal game in the NHL, including a pair of shorthanded tallies, to spark Ottawa to a 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Place.

Kovalev, Alexandre Picard, Nick Foligno and Ruutu also scored for the first-place Senators (4-2-0), who leaped back over the idle Buffalo Sabres in the Northeast Division. Goalie Leclaire had a relatively easy night, facing just 17 shots and stopping 16 of them. The highlight of that game is shown below. And just last night, Kovalev scored a goal and had an assist against the team he had played for from 2004-09 – the Montreal Canadiens. The Sens scored a goal in each period to win 31, with Neil & Daniel Alfredsson scoring the other two.

Ottawa 3 NY Islander 2

Superstar youngster John Tavares’s first NHL game in Canada was last night at Ottawa. But it was it was a less-heralded rookie suiting up for the Senators who played the starring role. Defenceman Matt Carkner, in just his fifth NHL game despite being drafted 10 years ago, scored his first goal and added an assist, being named the No. 1 star in the Senators’ 3-2 overtime victory over the Islanders on Thursday.

Mike Fisher & Peter Regin scored the other two goals, with the former’s being the overtime winner, which was setup by Carkner. The 28-year-old Carkner, a second-round pick of Montreal in 1999 who cracked the Senators’ roster out of training camp. Pascal Leclaire came up with 23 saves in goal. After losing their season opener, the Senators have now picked up back-to-back victories and, including last season when they kicked off the season in Sweden, improved to 9-4-3-1 in home openers.

From now, I’m going to be go back to my regular schedule of blogging about Sens games after every 4 or 5 being played. Here’s hoping for a wonderful season. Go Sens Go!

 

Ottawa 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 1

The Ottawa Senators got their first win of the 2009-10 season in Toronto, led by 26 saves from goalie Pascal Leclaire, as they beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 — the first win for Leclaire in a Senators uniform.

There was plenty of hype around the decision by Toronto coach Ron Wilson to start goalie Jonas “The Monster” Gustavasson, but Daniel Alfredsson, on a penalty shot, and Shean Donovan scored for the Senators. After their 5-2 loss away to New York, Ottawa were much more tight in defence.

The Senators were awarded a penalty shot after winger Milan Michalek was high-sticked and taken into the boards by Toronto defenceman Luke Schenn at 7:22 of the second period. Michalek, who was cut, needed medical attention as he lay on the ice, but did return to the game. After two games on the road, the Sens play their first home game against the New York Islanders later tonight.

Ottawa 2 NY Rangers 5

Their season opener, played out at Madison Square Garden didn’t end up that good for the Ottawa Senators. The New York Rangers beat the Sens 5-2 with Brandon Dubinsky scoring two goals. Marian Gaborik scored for a second straight game, a goal that padded the Rangers lead to 4-1. The Rangers rebounded from a 3-2 loss in Pittsburgh on Friday night in their opener with the rare home win over the Senators, 16-4-1 in their previous 21 visits to Madison Square Garden.

Daniel Alfreddson and Peter Regin scored in the Senators’ season opener. Pascal Leclaire, making his first start since undergoing ankle surgery last December, made 29 saves in his Ottawa debut. Leclaire was solid in the first period, despite NY having 3 power plays to Ottawa’s none. On to game two.

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New Look Senators Ready For Season

With the start of the new season upon us and Ottawa in particular looking to put back last year’s bismal showing and missing the playoffs, it’s time for a fresh start. When the puck drops on their season opener on Saturday (3rd Oct) against the New York Rangers, hopefully the new faces & old guard will be able to rise to the occassion and put behind the drama that surrounded Dany Heatley’s long drawn trade to San Jose.

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Senators Coach Cory Clouston confirmed that there would no more moves and that the roster is set. So we see newcomer Milan Michalek join Daniel Alfredsson & Jason Spezza on the top line, while Alexie Kovalev will skate with Mike Fisher & youngster Peter Regin. Nick Foligno, Ryan Shannon and Cheechoo will make up the third unit, while Jarkko Ruutu, Chris Kelly and Chris Neil will skate on the fourth line, with Shean Donovan as the extra forward.

Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov, the team’s No. 1 defence pairing, will be counted on to shut down opponents’ top lines. Chris Campoli, Filip Kuba, Alex Picard and newcomer Erik Karlsson are more finesse style, puck moving defencemen. Defenceman/winger Matt Carkner is also around for his toughness.

Murray Not Done With Sens Squad

The season opener is on October 3 (against the New York Rangers) but GM Bryan Murray isn’t done tinkering with his squad. Most of the reason is due to the long drawn out drama concerning Dany Heatley’s request for a trade and his final movement to the San Jose Sharks.

Murray could have decisions to make on defencemen Christoph Schubert and Alex Picard. Centre Chris Kelly has to step it up. Prospects Peter Regin, Erik Karlsson and Matt Carkner are pushing for jobs, but our GM can’t afford to keep everybody and stay under the $56.7-million (all terms US) salary cap. Senators D Jared Cowen, Ottawa’s top pick in June’s draft, suited up against the Bolts and was returned to Spokane of the WHL following the game.

If Murray is selling or trading, the current free agents I would like to have on the team are Darryl Sydor (d), Michael Peca (c) & Manny Malhotra (c). These could be valuable assets if we’re fighting for playoff spots or well into the playoffs.