GDT: Senators' Final Preseason Weekend | Wings 'n' Habs | Friday and Saturday, 7PM

[Icelevel]

Pinto looked a bit lighter but also looked like he got leg upgrades. Was flying out there.

I think he's better offensively than Fisher. He's also a better skater than Fisher. And trust me, I own a Fisher jersey and loved me some Fisher.

Maybe a bit better skater in some ways but fisher could fly too. He could go end to end like Crosby when he was feeling it. Just couldn’t finish. Pinto can finish. Biggest difference. Fish was also one of the strongest guys in the league and could take on just about anyone if needed. Elite physicality.

 

[Senscore]

Hab fans stopped liking my posts as the game went on. I hope everything is ok and nothing bad happened to them

 

[albator71]

I think he's better offensively than Fisher. He's also a better skater than Fisher. And trust me, I own a Fisher jersey and loved me some Fisher.

Yep you might be right, that would awesome for us, I think Pinto will find his way on the 2nd line pretty quick.

 

[NyQuil]

Doesn’t seem to matter who is playing.

Habs lose to us every time.

Just curious - how are you guys liking Travis Green coaching?

Too early to say.

 

[Xspyrit]

rivalries aren't just about wins and losses kiddo....otherwise Montreal would not have ever had any rivals for about a century.

I don't think it means what you think it means...

How many Cups did the Habs win until 1934, the year the first Ottawa Senators had to relocate due to financial reasons?

The answer is 4, a lot less than Ottawa's 11

Do you realize hockey used to be a very small regional sport with a very limited pool of talent? What was the number of teams during the bulk of Habs Cups? Where were the players from? What was Canada population?

I mean, there is a very LARGE difference between winning a Cup in the 40's, 50's or 60's vs the 90's+

It was rather easy to win Cups back in the days and Ottawa did it 11 times in a 41 years period, an even better ratio than 24 Cups in 114 years.

 

[SpezDispenser]

Just finished watching.

- you can totally understand what both Green and Staios want. Aggressive forecheck + speed through neutral zone. Guys like amadio, gregor, and even mcewen understand the assignment

- f***, a real goalie! It's been a minute

Edit forgot to mention batherson who looked like a different player. Aggressive, making plays. I dare him to play this way all year...

 

[Cosmix]

Bring on the regular season! lookin forward to Thursday, tickets bought, taking my dad, our first Sens game in Ottawa!

I hope you have a great time at the game and the Senators win by 3 goals!

One thing I've realized is that Jenik holds on to pucks really well.

He has dome more than Jarventie has done in all of his opportunities. Jenik is aggressive; Jarventie is passive.

 

[Cosmix]

Not loving all the too many men penalties this preseason

The HC will have to give the bench bosses a real talking to.

 

[Sting]

What I liked about these two last two games with Montreal: despite their time trying to derail the pre-season with antics, and their fans' suggestion that "pre-season doesn't matter", we finished with a 5-1 record, all of our star players are healthy, and we're primed and ready to go.

Meanwhile you have other teams like Montreal that look like they haven't even had a chance to get warmed up because some of their players forced lineup changes/not dressing their top 6 enough.

Good stuff. This is probably the best this team has looked before Game 1. Of course, we have a tough schedule to start, but I think we can confidently say we're ready to play.

 

[Cosmix]

Norris is looking very good out of the gates. Once he hits his stride I expect some good things from him in the regular season and playoffs.

Norris is not playing as passive or soft as he did at the start of last season. Hopefully he is fully recovered and ready to go full tilt immediately or after a few games.

 

[Cosmix]

Bingo, that I could see happening. Is he going on waivers?

Has Englund learned how to play big and nasty?

What about Kleven is not there yet?

He was a stud in Belleville last year, and he’s been good in camp this year.

Is he perfect? No. But it’s not because of any physical trait (he doesn’t need to get bigger or improve his skating), it’s because sometimes he doesn’t make the right read or is too tentative.

All of that can improve as he gets more games under his belt on the third pairing. Confidence, NHL coaching, learning the tendencies of his teammates… all of that matters.

It’s never a binary situation with young defenseman. You don’t play in the AHL until all of a sudden your game is perfectly polished and ready for the NHL. You develop in the NHL as well.

If Kleven is struggling 10-15 games in? I’m sure Staios will start looking at options.

But now? No reason to.

And Brannstrom, specifically, is in no way a better option.

Brannstrom could be a decent 7th D on this team. I think he is better than JBD and Hamonic.

Of course I would like a bigger, tougher, more physical nasty LD. Kleven may become that type of D but he is not showing that capability yet; more AHL time required with appropriate coaching.

 

[Cosmix]

What I liked about these two last two games with Montreal: despite their time trying to derail the pre-season with antics, and their fans' suggestion that "pre-season doesn't matter", we finished with a 5-1 record, all of our star players are healthy, and we're primed and ready to go.

Meanwhile you have other teams like Montreal that look like they haven't even had a chance to get warmed up because some of their players forced lineup changes/not dressing their top 6 enough.

Good stuff. This is probably the best this team has looked before Game 1. Of course, we have a tough schedule to start, but I think we can confidently say we're ready to play.

I am happy with the 5-1 record but wanted to see more intensity, better defensive play by the Fs, and greater physical play. The team is not as "hard-to-play-against" as I want to see. Perhaps we will see that at the start of the season instead of the passivity we have seen in prior seasons.

We need the "pack" mentality; one-for-all, all-for-one! No passive passengers.

 

[NyQuil]

What I liked about these two last two games with Montreal: despite their time trying to derail the pre-season with antics, and their fans' suggestion that "pre-season doesn't matter", we finished with a 5-1 record, all of our star players are healthy, and we're primed and ready to go.

Meanwhile you have other teams like Montreal that look like they haven't even had a chance to get warmed up because some of their players forced lineup changes/not dressing their top 6 enough.

Good stuff. This is probably the best this team has looked before Game 1. Of course, we have a tough schedule to start, but I think we can confidently say we're ready to play.

Ridley Greig trolled them into irrelevance.

Habs fans’ heads exploding all over the country. They’re so easy to rile up.

 

[aragorn]

From a news article:

Xhekaj would go on to explain that he feels the makeup of the Canadiens as they currently stand will require the team, as a collective unit, to work towards protecting some of the more undersized and highly skilled players in the lineup.

Continue reading


“We’ve got a younger team, we have a couple small skilled players and we’ve got each others back,” said Xhekaj. “We’ve got a really tight bond in the room and if you mess with one you mess with [us] all.”

Xhekaj has certainly been living up to that standard so far in the preseason, making headlines several times for his willingness to engage physically with his opponents.

 

[NyQuil]

From a news article:

Xhekaj would go on to explain that he feels the makeup of the Canadiens as they currently stand will require the team, as a collective unit, to work towards protecting some of the more undersized and highly skilled players in the lineup.

Continue reading


“We’ve got a younger team, we have a couple small skilled players and we’ve got each others back,” said Xhekaj. “We’ve got a really tight bond in the room and if you mess with one you mess with [us] all.”

Xhekaj has certainly been living up to that standard so far in the preseason, making headlines several times for his willingness to engage physically with his opponents.

His five minute major was the TSN turning point of the game.

I like where his heart is - his brain just needs to catch up.

 

[Cosmix]

His five minute major was the TSN turning point of the game.

I like where his heart is - his brain just needs to catch up.

When one team's big tough guy targets another team's star players, that other team must respond if the League's officials don't throw the bum out of the game. It means the NHL is OK with the attacks. Brian Murray knew this and had players on the roster to address it. We don't have such players at this time.

 

[Sting]

His five minute major was the TSN turning point of the game.

I like where his heart is - his brain just needs to catch up.

It would surprise me if that happened. His entire identity is to protect their undersized players. Winning games be damned. You can see it in their team and their fanbase. They're just happy to stick up for each other and win a fight.

 

[NyQuil]

It would surprise me if that happened. His entire identity is to protect their undersized players. Winning games be damned. You can see it in their team and their fanbase. They're just happy to stick up for each other and win a fight.

It’s such a novelty to them, that’s why.

 

[Masked]

“We’ve got a younger team, we have a couple small skilled players and we’ve got each others back,” said Xhekaj. “We’ve got a really tight bond in the room and if you mess with one you mess with [us] all.”

Xhekaj has certainly been living up to that standard so far in the preseason, making headlines several times for his willingness to engage physically with his opponents.

He wasn't demonstrating that willingness when Brady got ahold of him.

Your rival's captain goes after you and you turtle? You're a fringe player, you have an opportunity to demonstrate your toughness and you just surrender? Dumb. Real dumb.

 

[SpezDispenser]

His five minute major was the TSN turning point of the game.

I like where his heart is - his brain just needs to catch up.

f*** yes it was. We had no business in that game until he did that

 

[aragorn]

His five minute major was the TSN turning point of the game.

I like where his heart is - his brain just needs to catch up.

Pre-season is irrelevant, they were or he was showing the league that if you screw with their team he will come after you & he is one of if not the toughest & best fighters in the NHL. Whether people care to believe it or not their is intimidation in hockey when a guy that big & that good fighter makes these threats there are not many who will stand up to him & will avoid to anything that could attract his anger. We need Chara.

He wasn't demonstrating that willingness when Brady got ahold of him.

Your rival's captain goes after you and you turtle? You're a fringe player, you have an opportunity to demonstrate your toughness and you just surrender? Dumb. Real dumb.

The refs stopped that from happening as they often do, I don't think he would have any trouble dropping the gloves with Brady, he has fought lots of NHL tough guys. It's not in Ottawa's interest to lose Brady fighting a guy like that especially in preseason which is why Ott needs someone else to do that which IMO they still lack. That is suppose to be MacEwan's job, but he has proven he's not that good at it & he would likely take a beating fighting Xhekaj.

 

[maclean]

Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night needing to pee, I don't want to turn on the light okay?

Yep, do practically the whole thing with my eyes closed and then slip back into bed and fall asleep again like a baby, life changing really.

Never want to overrate pre-season, but we've been getting 'er done and that's always something to feel good about

 

[NyQuil]

When one team's big tough guy targets another team's star players, that other team must respond if the League's officials don't throw the bum out of the game. It means the NHL is OK with the attacks. Brian Murray knew this and had players on the roster to address it. We don't have such players at this time.

Pre-season is irrelevant, they were or he was showing the league that if you screw with their team he will come after you & he is one of if not the toughest & best fighters in the NHL. Whether people care to believe it or not their is intimidation in hockey when a guy that big & that good fighter makes these threats there are not many who will stand up to him & will avoid to anything that could attract his anger. We need Chara.

The refs stopped that from happening as they often do, I don't think he would have any trouble dropping the gloves with Brady, he has fought lots of NHL tough guys. It's not in Ottawa's interest to lose Brady fighting a guy like that especially in preseason which is why Ott needs someone else to do that which IMO they still lack. That is suppose to be MacEwan's job, but he has proven he's not that good at it & he would likely take a beating fighting Xhekaj.

The last guy we’ve had who actually won fights is Brian McGrattan.

All that matters is someone going off the ice that we don’t miss.

 

[aragorn]

The last guy we’ve had who actually won fights is Brian McGrattan.

All that matters is someone going off the ice that we don’t miss.

Well yes & MacEwan will be that guy, but having played a great deal of sports it's a lot more gratifying & motivating when your guy wins the fight more so than the other team's tough guy. The score is ulitmatly the most important, but winning fights comes in as a close second.

When McGratton dropped Domi the fan base exploded as we finally had a player who could drop our biggest rival's tough guy & we went on to the cup final with that team. This team has had a number of tough guys, but we remember the guys who won the most fights like McGratton, Neil & Carkner the most.

 

[NyQuil]

Yeah Carkner.

He was underrated as a fighter.

Konopka always fought in the first five minutes so hard to know.