Ottawa Senators

[lektrix]

Neither did they outplay Calgary in the last 15 minutes. With Anderson they can just screw around. With Hammond they try harder. Couldn't lose to Buffalo or get blown out by Montreal.

[Mr. Guru]

Is Hammonds nickname the Hamburgler? Cause that's the first time I heard of it. Don't really care for nicknames.

[Vanek! at the Disco]

Meh, Dub's in a great situation. He even he said himself that he needed to go through those rough times in order for him to get to where he is now. Not really all that funny.

Sleeper - Putting Hammond on another team does not guarantee that he plays the same way. Look at Bishop with the Sens organization versus TB. See Ryan Miller in St. Louis versus Buffalo. Goalies are weirdos, which makes them harder to predict!

Well the Dobber community (including the big man himself) sure thought he was a joke just a year ago. Not many people laughing now if they were foolish enough to buy into that talk.

[larrylintz]

If some are suggesting Bishop was a different goalie after going to TB i beg to differ. He played gr8 for Sens after Anderson went down in strike year, save% was .922 with Sens (and he was only 1 of their 3 goalies who was successful in shootouts) and dipped to .917 after the trade. It was .924 last year and is currently .915. He was showing a lot of promise his last year with Sens but team opted for Anderson and Lehner. Looks to me like Tampa got exactly the goalie their scouts said he'd be before the deal was done.

[Mr. Guru]

Hammond starts today. Deservedly so.

[Big Ev]

Larry, I will support the tram and the goalie no matter who is net. I 100% believe Anderson is being dealt this offseason to give lehner the chance at the net with Hammond pushing him but people can have a different opinion. If Hammond keeps starting I will be on his train. But it was still a no brainer to go with Anderson against Boston and Cameron agreed with me on that.

Again its bs to say that you just ride a streak no matter what. If it wasn't Craig anderson who has been disrespected his whole career then people would be seeing things much differently. Like I said no chance the rangers don't start lundwvist the first game he is healthy even though they have been better under Talbot.

The only other thing i will say is why are you putting Steve Laidlaw in the same sentence as Pierre McGuire?

Go sens

- - - Updated - - -

If some are suggesting Bishop was a different goalie after going to TB i beg to differ. He played gr8 for Sens after Anderson went down in strike year, save% was .922 with Sens (and he was only 1 of their 3 goalies who was successful in shootouts) and dipped to .917 after the trade. It was .924 last year and is currently .915. He was showing a lot of promise his last year with Sens but team opted for Anderson and Lehner. Looks to me like Tampa got exactly the goalie their scouts said he'd be before the deal was done.

They got a starting goalie but they didn't get the guy he was last yearm. If that's what they were expecring then sure, but he will be replaced by vasilevsky soon enough

[larrylintz]

I would accept that it was a reasonable judgment call on Cameron's part to go with the vet #1, but it wasn't a no-brainer. Smarter people than us suggested before Boston game that Hammond should start, and the subsequent results suggest they were right. This is not my definition a no-brainer. It was a judgment call and i was fully prepared to be wrong when i said i thought before the game that I was hoping he'd go with Hammond.

While McGuire has ego issues and is often wrong, he and Laidlaw have imho something very much in common -- they know more about this sport than us.

Anyway, quite a run for the Sens -- I can't imagine the entire league has newfound respect for these guys and I can't imagine anyone taking them lightly again. Even at the team's peak i wonder if they ever put a string like this together against many of the top teams in the league. I wonder if Cameron will get some coach of the year votes. I suppose many voters will give all the credit to Hammond, but the coach put together the structure that allowed the team to play well in front of him and allow this streak to happen

[The Comish]

While McGuire has ego issues and is often wrong, he and Laidlaw have imho something very much in common -- they know more about this sport than us.

McGuire yes, Laidlaw, Dobber, anyone else who writes for a fantasy hockey website - nope. McGuire was actually employed by an NHL team and has been involved in the business. Dobber and crew (me included) are simply fans (like you guys and everyone else on these boards) with strong opinions who have a platform to espouse said opinions. It doesn't make them any more knowledgeable than someone who actually works or worked with the NHL. Not. Even. Close.

[larrylintz]

I should say Ev that i hope you're right -- Anderson's value will probably never be much higher, and i suspect there are a lot of teams who would look at him as a guy who could get them over the hump. Getting another first round pick before this year's draft, and another young player, and freeing up money to perhaps go after that college goalie everyone's talking about, represent a lot of upside.

I also think Hammond must look to a lot of scouts right now as, if not a potential late-blooming starter in the NHL, an ideal backup. He seems incredibly mature, a real team guy who would handle the second-string role with poise.

The one wrinkle is that i am not convinced Lehner is ready, and i'm not convinced he would handle it very well if he doesn't take the top job and run with it. To be the understudy of anderson is one thing, to be the understudy of Hammond might be tough for him to handle.

The other thing is Melnyk. He's huge on making the playoffs (he needs the money), he told fans last year that the team was two years away from being a Cup contender. If next year had the makings of a development year, which until recently it was looking like, then maybe he agrees to deal Anderson. Right now he must be thinking this team could go far next year. But if his goal is to have a playoff run I'm not sure he'd support a GM who would entrust Lehner with that responsibility. Who knows who the GM is next year but i suspect they would be equally if not moreso concerned -- UNLESS they became convinced Hammond is #1.

I still think Lehner has great potential, in retrospect it would probably have been better to give him another year in ahl. Given the way goalies develop he could emerge as an all-star next year, or five years down the road. Maybe he needs a different goalie coach. As i said before it's kind of a crapshoot with many goalies, their position is much more cerebral than other positions in this sport. Just look at Fleury's playoff woes.

[larrylintz]

If Boston hangs on to lead today then Capitals officially become the target -- 7 pts ahead of us but we have 2 games in hand.

[notch4077]

You can't teach what Mark Stone is.

[notch4077]

Sens management have told Pageau to find a home. He's done in Bingo.

That's gotta be a good feeling. Well deserved.

[Achilles]

Sens management have told Pageau to find a home. He's done in Bingo.

That's gotta be a good feeling. Well deserved.

No kidding. The older I get, the more I respect the fact that most of these guys aren't there mostly because of natural talent, they're there because they are prepared to work hard and make sacrifices. He's living his dream, and that has got to be pretty wonderful.

[The Comish]

Sens management have told Pageau to find a home. He's done in Bingo.

That's gotta be a good feeling. Well deserved.

Great work ethic. Feel good story.

[bumchilly25]

It continues to be an absolutely EPIC run:

Andrew Hammond tied a 76-year-old NHL record set by Frank Brimsek on Tuesday night.
He did so by allowing fewer than two goals for his 12th consecutive game to start his career. Hammond has posted an 11-0-1 record to go along with a .956 save percentage, a 1.35 goals-against average and two shutouts. Ottawa trails Boston by just four points for the final Wild Card spot in the East and the two teams will clash on Thursday night.

Source: Ottawa Citizen Mar 18 - 11:20 AM