Ottawa Senators

[JagrBomb]

Going to OTT/ANA game on March 26 for a buddy's birthday, my Karlsson jersey just came in the mail today!

Is there any sort of Ottawa Nightlife?
We haven't booked a hotel yet, looking for suggestions on where to stay that is in close proximity to some bars/pubs!

i'd suggest getting a hotel downtown and predrinking in byward market.

there are usually busses that go straight to the arena, but they are usually jammed pack filled with drunk kids. so if you're in your 20s it's great, especially since they are loaded with sens/leafs fans so theres lots of chirping.

but if you predrank you probably will want to kill yourself as the arena is pretty far and holding in your beer piss that long is brutal.

driving is pretty bad too as getting out of the arena after the game takes a while. that goes the same for busses. make sure you leave early if you can. (i.e don't get stuck in line trying to exit the arena).

but on the bright side the tickets are cheap (cheaper than ACC at least).

and the girls are hot. that's probably what you care about most anyways.

[Big Ev]

i'd suggest getting a hotel downtown and predrinking in byward market.

there are usually busses that go straight to the arena, but they are usually jammed pack filled with drunk kids. so if you're in your 20s it's great, especially since they are loaded with sens/leafs fans so theres lots of chirping.

but if you predrank you probably will want to kill yourself as the arena is pretty far and holding in your beer piss that long is brutal.

driving is pretty bad too as getting out of the arena after the game takes a while. that goes the same for busses. make sure you leave early if you can. (i.e don't get stuck in line trying to exit the arena).

but on the bright side the tickets are cheap (cheaper than ACC at least).

and the girls are hot. that's probably what you care about most anyways.

buses do not take long to leave the parking lot as they get priority

[JagrBomb]

buses do not take long to leave the parking lot as they get priority

yea but they get jammed pack pretty quickly. not really a pleasant experience commuting to/from the arena in my experience

[Big Ev]

yea but they get jammed pack pretty quickly. not really a pleasant experience commuting to/from the arena in my experience

They aren't allowed to sell/give more tickets than there are seats so that is not an issue. If they are they are breaking the law.

I've taken many free shuttles and it's great. In and out quickly and I've never been on a full bus. But that wasn't from downtown.

edit: maybe you are talking about OC. Sorry for the confusion if so. I am talking about shuttles from restaurants. I definitely wouldn't take OC

[Lug Tread Lager]

If you can get a group of lads it's usually not too expensive to book a Limo. They drop you off/ pick you up right at the door. Did it with 10 guys for playoffs last year and was loads of fun. Ended up being only 30-40 per person.

[larrylintz]

2 points after tonight's game:
1. First time since he took over that I've begun to wonder if Cameron is a bit unhinged. Power play was absolutely lethal with Hoff-Karlsson-ryan running it as first unit, even if Hoff had a bad game it's absolute insanity to replace him with Smith, who is inept and made three clumsy giveaways during futile pp efforts tonight. Atrocious judgment. when has smith EVER given an indication he's PP#1 material? MacLean was like that, did well for a while and then the idiosyncrasies and obstinance took over.
2. I was going to start counting the number of times the puck ended up in the possession of Sens' opponents after Cowan touches it when there's any sort of traffic, then thought it would make more sense to count how many times it doesn't. It's that rare. The guy is brutal, and the notion that he could play for a playoff team is laughable. Gryba was better because he did less harm. Ev, he's a whipping boy for a reason. Ottawa hockey fans are a knowledgeable group and they know a complete dud when they see one. One of his blunders led to a goal tonight, but there would have been many more this year had anderson not bailed Cowan out so frequently.

[larrylintz]

I'm glad to see Cameron has finally accepted the fact that Cowan is a massive liability, no matter how much time he spends on the ice, and i would be delighted if he never plays another game for the Sens. I wonder if there's any way to get rid of the contract, very tough to have him and Greening as budget deadweights. Perhaps they can find an equally bad contract coming back attached to a player who could actually contribute.

[The Comish]

Wow, whale of a game from Bobby Ryan tonight. He factored in all three goals, scoring the GWG in OT. Just wow!

[larrylintz]

No kidding, very entertaining and stunning that we won esp when karlson, turris and HOffman were so gassed in OT it looked like they were conceding the loss. I have to say Claesson has been almost flawless and may be the ideal (under the circumstances) partner for EK. I hope he's up for good.

[larrylintz]

Sometimes when I'm baffled by the poor judgement of other hockey pool managers I remind myself that professional GMs in all sports make can't-see-forest-for-trees blunders. This writer captures my view of Murray's bad judgment on the Cowan file, and underscores why i think Murray should have stepped down for good when he got sick. http://www.silversevensens.com/2016/...wen-ottawa-nhl
No one in NHL had, or in at least one case should have had, a better understanding of Cowan's limitations, and his extremely low ceiling, than Sens management, scouts, coaching staff, and fellow players for that matter. That Murray would still maintain last spring that, if traded, he would somehow emerge as another Ben Bishop-esque level star is completely irrational. It's frankly on the same level of bad judgment as the guy in my league who drafted Pascal Dupuis this autumn thinking he could be a star playing with Crosby and Kessel. It's called wishful thinking.

[Big Ev]

It's Cowen, not Cowan. That writer is atrocious. I've always hated his work and his opinions.

You can't fault the team for the Cowen signing. He had a really good rookie year and was a top prospect at all levels. He was progressing well but has regressed, mainly due to injuries. Yes it looks bad now but you have to lock up the young players if you believe in them. I believed in him as well. He was on the right track. The only issue I had with him was holding out for the contract.

At the time when he was an RFA, people on this board were ripping on Murray and the Sens for having the audacity to "low-ball" Cowen by offering him an 8 year contract for less AAV. People were excited and happy when the Sens signed Cowen to his current deal. It turned out to be a bad contract, but it's not a crippling one and it's a guy who can still be traded right now for something. You have to be willing to make mistakes and take risks as a small market team.

[larrylintz]

It's Cowen, not Cowan. That writer is atrocious. I've always hated his work and his opinions.

You can't fault the team for the Cowen signing. He had a really good rookie year and was a top prospect at all levels. He was progressing well but has regressed, mainly due to injuries. Yes it looks bad now but you have to lock up the young players if you believe in them. I believed in him as well. He was on the right track. The only issue I had with him was holding out for the contract.

At the time when he was an RFA, people on this board were ripping on Murray and the Sens for having the audacity to "low-ball" Cowen by offering him an 8 year contract for less AAV. People were excited and happy when the Sens signed Cowen to his current deal. It turned out to be a bad contract, but it's not a crippling one and it's a guy who can still be traded right now for something. You have to be willing to make mistakes and take risks as a small market team.

The contract is a bit of a straw man there Ev, and I think you know that. Neither the writer nor I raised that, and I also didn't have a problem with the signing. The point is that the Sens should have dealt him when it became obvious that they made a terrible mistake because he didn't have the dexterity, brains, speed or motor skills to play defence in the NHL. To me that was obvious early last year when MacLean stubbornly and stupidly kept playing him with Karlsson. His flaws just became more glaring as the season wore on and he ended up in the press box. GMs are dazzled by a high draft pick D with size, Sens could have received a decent return had they dealt him at the right time to a team that hadn't properly scouted him. The writer is correct, we'd be lucky to give him away at this point. Sens fans and a lot of media exaggerate (probably because they're shilling for Murray) the likely return, ie the laugher that Spezza would get us a regular, a prospect and a #1 draft choice.

And what happened to your very recent defence on page 175 of Cowen, essentially arguing that he had a place on this team as a 5-6 defenceman? I trust you recognize now the reality that this guy is at best an AHL player, and that they would have no chance in the playoffs -- or frankly a chance TO make the playoffs -- with a guy like that taking a regular shift. The suggestion that championship teams have d-men like Cowen is laughable.

[Big Ev]

The contract is a bit of a straw man there Ev, and I think you know that. Neither the writer nor I raised that, and I also didn't have a problem with the signing. The point is that the Sens should have dealt him when it became obvious that they made a terrible mistake because he didn't have the dexterity, brains, speed or motor skills to play defence in the NHL. To me that was obvious early last year when MacLean stubbornly and stupidly kept playing him with Karlsson. His flaws just became more glaring as the season wore on and he ended up in the press box. GMs are dazzled by a high draft pick D with size, Sens could have received a decent return had they dealt him at the right time to a team that hadn't properly scouted him. The writer is correct, we'd be lucky to give him away at this point. Sens fans and a lot of media exaggerate (probably because they're shilling for Murray) the likely return, ie the laugher that Spezza would get us a regular, a prospect and a #1 draft choice.

And what happened to your very recent defence on page 175 of Cowen, essentially arguing that he had a place on this team as a 5-6 defenceman? I trust you recognize now the reality that this guy is at best an AHL player, and that they would have no chance in the playoffs -- or frankly a chance TO make the playoffs -- with a guy like that taking a regular shift. The suggestion that championship teams have d-men like Cowen is laughable.

no it isn't laughable. The Blackhawks had DAVID RUNDBLAD on their third pairing last year. Championship teams in the cap era don't have outstanding D at every spot. To suggest that the Sens would have no chance in the playoffs if he was playing like 10 minutes a night is laughable.

I still think Cowen can be a #5 or #6 on this team, but I am at the point where I don't care if he is moved or if he is kept. I think he is an NHL player, he is just a dumb person obviously and he just has to find the right team to return to a decent form, but past and future injuries will always be the issue. He wasn't improperly scouted, he just took a step back. He was dominant as a prospect, was dominant in his brief stint in the AHL, was very good in his second WJC, had a good rookie year next to Gonchar.

Cowen had a rough start to the year, had a really good stretch, and then faded. He's similar to Wiercioch who had a very very poor start but has been decent as of late. Cowen is actually faster and a better skater, and I'd rather have him out there to defend, but his puck skills are obviously not the same. I wouldn't be opposed to moving either guy.

People say they should have moved him "at the right time" but hindsight is 20/20. it's not like he would have received much more in return if he was traded a year ago. Cowen is just a whipping boy even though a guy like Wiercioch has similar faults but is loved by the geeks who wouldn't know how to spot hockey sense or intangibles if they were thrown in their face. It's funny that everyone now seems to love Claesson just because he isn't Cowen. Claesson has been decent, but people overrate guys once their whipping boy is taken out of the lineup. Next up is Borowiecki who the stats guys definitely don't get.

As for Spezza we were going to get Hornqvist for him if he didn't reject the trade, and we still made out OK getting Paul and a pick for a player who requested a trade and had few options of teams to be traded to.

[larrylintz]

It doesn't take a geek or fancy stats to recognize that Cowen is a completely overmatched klutz. The fact is, this is a middle of the pack team, at best, and with a very weak defence, AND HE'S PLANTED IN THE PRESS BOX!!!! It is mind-boggling that you could still argue that it is even imaginable that this guy could be playing in a Stanley Cup finals. Opposition coaches would plan part of their game strategy around getting swift playmakers out there the second his skates awkwardly hit the ice. You're just being stubborn here Ev. It's hard not to assume Murray has accepted Cameron's decision, and is now trying to dump the contract. You are Murray's biggest supporter on these boards, and now you are effectively contradicting a guy you obviously deeply admire.

[Big Ev]

It doesn't take a geek or fancy stats to recognize that Cowen is a completely overmatched klutz. The fact is, this is a middle of the pack team, at best, and with a very weak defence, AND HE'S PLANTED IN THE PRESS BOX!!!! It is mind-boggling that you could still argue that it is even imaginable that this guy could be playing in a Stanley Cup finals. Opposition coaches would plan part of their game strategy around getting swift playmakers out there the second his skates awkwardly hit the ice. You're just being stubborn here Ev. It's hard not to assume Murray has accepted Cameron's decision, and is now trying to dump the contract. You are Murray's biggest supporter on these boards, and now you are effectively contradicting a guy you obviously deeply admire.

It seems to me you're being stubborn by not answering the question. Tell me why David Rundblad was in the Final last year, a guy who is in Europe right now? You have not replied to this cold hard fact, that a D-man worse than Cowen was in the Final last year.

I don't even care about Cowen right now dude. Not saying he should play another game with the Sens at this point. You're just overrating his negative impact. Are you trying to tell me if you put Cowen on the Capitals right now that they would suddenly not be a favorite to come out of the East?

and my other main point is he hasn't ALWAYS been an "overmatched Klutz". Some people try to act like he has, but he had a big sample of being a good second pairing D.

How am I contradicting Murray at all? I just said I don't care if Cowen is moved.