why are posters on the main boards so down on us

[Cosmix]

I don't see where he was ever blasted? The west will show Spezza for what he is known as being. A big offensively talented player who plays soft. A lot like Joe Thorton, who is only slightly more physical than Spezza.

He also has shortcomings in his defensive game!

 

[Xspyrit]

Dallas' roster is looking like a serious contender to me, but sure..

We say that but if Spezza and Hemsky don't play a better 2-way game in their top-6, they aren't going anywhere. They were giving up a ton of ES GA per 60 minutes played last season...

ES GA/60

Ales Hemsky 4.77
Jason Spezza 4.62
Milan Michalek 4.4
Mika Zibanejad 3.61
Bobby Ryan 2.79
Colin Greening 2.73
Clarke MacArthur 2.63
Kyle Turris 2.51
Zack Smith 2.48
Chris Neil 2.47
Cory Conacher 2.26
Erik Condra 2.06


Look how comfortably both Spezza and Hemsky are on top of that list...

 

[FlyingJ]

We say that but if Spezza and Hemsky don't play a better 2-way game in their top-6, they aren't going anywhere. They were giving up a ton of ES GA per 60 minutes played last season...

ES GA/60

Ales Hemsky 4.77
Jason Spezza 4.62
Milan Michalek 4.4
Mika Zibanejad 3.61
Bobby Ryan 2.79
Colin Greening 2.73
Clarke MacArthur 2.63
Kyle Turris 2.51
Zack Smith 2.48
Chris Neil 2.47
Cory Conacher 2.26
Erik Condra 2.06


Look how comfortably both Spezza and Hemsky are on top of that list...

Yet Hemsky was a Corsi relative of 5.8 at 5 on 5, and Spezza, despite an atrocious start, was only -0.1 at even strength. With game breakers, it's risk reward. Nobody will deny Spezza was not good last year, but now fully recovered from back surgery and playing comfortably on the 2nd line, I think Dallas has a pretty good shot.

 

[Super Cake]

Yet Hemsky was a Corsi relative of 5.8 at 5 on 5, and Spezza, despite an atrocious start, was only -0.1 at even strength. With game breakers, it's risk reward. Nobody will deny Spezza was not good last year, but now fully recovered from back surgery and playing comfortably on the 2nd line, I think Dallas has a pretty good shot.

There defense is still too weak to legitimately compete for the cup.

 

[FlyingJ]

There defense is still too weak to legitimately compete for the cup.

Agreed. They have a solid group of forwards and a good goalie in Lehtonen, but that D? Yeeesh.

 

[albator71]

And? I'd hardly consider, making the playoffs 4/7 times mediocre, including a trip to the second round, a round that only 8 teams compete in a year, that's less than a quarter of the league.

You see, the issue with this fanbase is that they're extremists. We all expect that this team be competing for the cup. Newsflash, only three teams have won the cup in the past 5 years and only 7 have made it to the finals. Now I don't know what the hell this fanbase's expectation is, but what I do know, is that it's way too high. For **** sake, 10 years ago we were competing for the cup. What team in the NHL remains competitive for over 11 years? Very few if any.

The pessimism in this fanbase is very unappealing, and it makes me ashamed to be a Sens fan. "Oh no we're a bubble team! What ever shall we do!!" Well what they're going to do is suck, but hold on there fans, take a step back from that open window. Remember what happened to the Red Wings when they sucked in the 80's? They won some cups. Or how bout the Chicago Blackhawks of the 2000's? Two cups, not too shabby. Now I know that life sucks and there's that possibility of having a Edmonton Oilers scenario happening. Well guess what? Why in the living hell would you assume that's what's going to happen to this team? You don't know the future, so stop acting like it. The Senators have been contenders in the past, and since I'm not a pessimistic brooding depressed fan and use my common sense, I'm going to assume that that the Sens will not suck for the rest of my life.

I'm with you all the way man!!! We need more fans like you, to keep it real.

 

[Xspyrit]

Yet Hemsky was a Corsi relative of 5.8 at 5 on 5, and Spezza, despite an atrocious start, was only -0.1 at even strength. With game breakers, it's risk reward. Nobody will deny Spezza was not good last year, but now fully recovered from back surgery and playing comfortably on the 2nd line, I think Dallas has a pretty good shot.

Dallas has a better shot than the Sens, but very slightly since they are in the West. I think they make the playoffs, but one of LA, Chicago, San Jose, Anaheim, St-Louis and Minnesota will get the best of them. In the East, as long as the team is consistent enough to make the playoffs, I think they can beat anyone not name Pittsburgh or Boston.

And concerning Spezza-Hemsky, I agree their defensive job will be easier on that 2nd line, but that will also hurt their PPG paces.

 

[Benjamin]

Yet Hemsky was a Corsi relative of 5.8 at 5 on 5, and Spezza, despite an atrocious start, was only -0.1 at even strength. With game breakers, it's risk reward. Nobody will deny Spezza was not good last year, but now fully recovered from back surgery and playing comfortably on the 2nd line, I think Dallas has a pretty good shot.

This doesn't mean his back is 100% and he could still have groin problems he dealt with last season.

 

[SlapJack]

Dallas has a better shot than the Sens, but very slightly since they are in the West. I think they make the playoffs, but one of LA, Chicago, San Jose, Anaheim, St-Louis and Minnesota will get the best of them. In the East, as long as the team is consistent enough to make the playoffs, I think they can beat anyone not name Pittsburgh or Boston.

And concerning Spezza-Hemsky, I agree their defensive job will be easier on that 2nd line, but that will also hurt their PPG paces.

I agree with this, but need to point out that both of those teams are not as strong as they used to be. Anything can happen.

 

[member 137785]

We say that but if Spezza and Hemsky don't play a better 2-way game in their top-6, they aren't going anywhere. They were giving up a ton of ES GA per 60 minutes played last season...

ES GA/60

Ales Hemsky 4.77
Jason Spezza 4.62
Milan Michalek 4.4
Mika Zibanejad 3.61
Bobby Ryan 2.79
Colin Greening 2.73
Clarke MacArthur 2.63
Kyle Turris 2.51
Zack Smith 2.48
Chris Neil 2.47
Cory Conacher 2.26
Erik Condra 2.06


Look how comfortably both Spezza and Hemsky are on top of that list...

Does that stat take into account that Spezza and Hemsky were playing against the opposing team's top lines, as opposed to someone like Smith or Condra?

 

[Benjamin]

Does that stat take into account that Spezza and Hemsky were playing against the opposing team's top lines, as opposed to someone like Smith or Condra?

Spezza and Hemsky weren't consistenly playing against top lines. They split that duty with MacArthur, Turris and Ryan. The difference being Spezza and Hemsky were used only for offense. Thats how sad they were defensively...

 

[Micklebot]

Does that stat take into account that Spezza and Hemsky were playing against the opposing team's top lines, as opposed to someone like Smith or Condra?

Spezza saw a split of top lines looking to take advantage of his suspect defence that year, and shutdown lines. Smith was used as a shutdown line albiet with limited success; so between the two, Smith actually saw tougher competition on average.

As for Hemsky, relative stats kind of go wonky when you're traded half way through the year; very difficult (partilularly now that extraskate is down) to hash out what was from one team and what was from the other. I know Hemsky's GA/60 went way up when he was traded, but so did his GF/60. Same thing happened with his Corsi. No clue what the difference was for his QOC though.

 

[Xspyrit]

This doesn't mean his back is 100% and he could still have groin problems he dealt with last season.

A human back never get back to 100%, it just becomes older, unfortunately. Same could be said for every other human part, but in the back's case it's just even worse. That's what I'm starting to understand

Does that stat take into account that Spezza and Hemsky were playing against the opposing team's top lines, as opposed to someone like Smith or Condra?

No, of course not but I didn't state it in that post, I did in another thread though. However, we should ask for a stats expert to provide the data so we could really see. I think Smith and Condra didn't face much easier QOC that much... but would need to see the facts to confirm it.

 

[MainDotC]

Forget the main boards - check out the "phaneuf 4 norris" genius calling Bernier one of the top 5 in the NHL on TSN comments of the Andy deal.

"phaneuf 4 norris
1 day ago
With young Lehner coming up, this deal is confusing to me. Anderson is an alright goalie that is still reaping the benefits from his hot streak a couple seasons ago. Definitely not near the top 5(Quick, Rask, Lundy, Bernier, Rinne). He's probably mid tier along with goalies like Ward, Price, Riemer , Fleury etc. Not looking good for Ottawa. "

love it

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

So much insecurities. I thought everyone liked the role of underdogs?

 

[QuietOnTheFront]

Forget the main boards - check out the "phaneuf 4 norris" genius calling Bernier one of the top 5 in the NHL on TSN comments of the Andy deal.

"phaneuf 4 norris
1 day ago
With young Lehner coming up, this deal is confusing to me. Anderson is an alright goalie that is still reaping the benefits from his hot streak a couple seasons ago. Definitely not near the top 5(Quick, Rask, Lundy, Bernier, Rinne). He's probably mid tier along with goalies like Ward, Price, Riemer , Fleury etc. Not looking good for Ottawa. "

love it

Even if he is mid tier (which he is), $4.2 million cap hit is good value if you are lumping him in with Price, Fleury and Ward. The main boards are filled with extreme cases of homerism, which is why I pay little to no attention to them. I mean the fact that this guy has Bernier over Price (the guy everyone accepts as the best Canadian goalie) pretty much shatters any credibility he may have had. Who cares. Most of the mainboard doesn't know a thing about our prospects or our young players beyond Karlsson. They only know the generalized regurgitated information that national coverage throws at them.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Forget the main boards - check out the "phaneuf 4 norris" genius calling Bernier one of the top 5 in the NHL on TSN comments of the Andy deal.

"phaneuf 4 norris
1 day ago
With young Lehner coming up, this deal is confusing to me. Anderson is an alright goalie that is still reaping the benefits from his hot streak a couple seasons ago. Definitely not near the top 5(Quick, Rask, Lundy, Bernier, Rinne). He's probably mid tier along with goalies like Ward, Price, Riemer , Fleury etc. Not looking good for Ottawa. "

love it

 

[Super Cake]

The fact that he has price out of the top 5 and Bernier in the top 5 just destroys any credibility he has. What do you guys expect though? He is a ****ing leafs fan for ****s sake. Most of them are giant homers and just really delusional. Just look at his username and that is all you need to know when it comes to whether or not you should take the guys opinion seriously.

Bernier is in the same boat that Bishop is in. Both had good seasons, but they are nowhere near top 5 goaltenders.

 

[MainDotC]

Killer Picard gif.

 

[Blarginator]

Forget the main boards - check out the "phaneuf 4 norris" genius calling Bernier one of the top 5 in the NHL on TSN comments of the Andy deal.

"phaneuf 4 norris
1 day ago
With young Lehner coming up, this deal is confusing to me. Anderson is an alright goalie that is still reaping the benefits from his hot streak a couple seasons ago. Definitely not near the top 5(Quick, Rask, Lundy, Bernier, Rinne). He's probably mid tier along with goalies like Ward, Price, Riemer , Fleury etc. Not looking good for Ottawa. "

love it

Here's another comment he posted:

"Have you guys seen Bernier play? In my eyes he is the best goalie in the league. He'll have many Vezina by the time his career is done not to mention a few Conn Smythe and a few more Stanley cups. Leafs are golden with this guy in net and elite superstars like Phaneuf and Kessel."

Can I get some of the stuff you're smoking buddy?

 

[HavlatMach9]

easy to laugh and ignore it as it's just bait material

 

[Hammertyme]

Here's another comment he posted:

"Have you guys seen Bernier play? In my eyes he is the best goalie in the league. He'll have many Vezina by the time his career is done not to mention a few Conn Smythe and a few more Stanley cups. Leafs are golden with this guy in net and elite superstars like Phaneuf and Kessel."

Can I get some of the stuff you're smoking buddy?

Is that you Grandma Bernier? Time for a change of eye glasses.

 

[thesensguy]

As a user on the main board said; "This summer the sens are the trendy punching bag of the NHL".

 

[The Waffler]

Spezza and Hemsky weren't consistenly playing against top lines. They split that duty with MacArthur, Turris and Ryan. The difference being Spezza and Hemsky were used only for offense. Thats how sad they were defensively...

Better to be attacking than defending.

 

[Upgrayedd]

One positive i just thought of that personally i am looking forward to this year are going to be some of the opposing fan responses when they lose to the "bottom five team" in Ottawa this season. We all remember last year late in the year some of the salty comments that turned up in GDT's when we upset....prepare for those to be ramped up big time! Can you imagine if this team is competitive at all how much fun we will have on here?

I for one look forward to at least a few solid meals this year based solely upon opposing "expert" fans tears