Guest Post: A look from Sens Army Blog
Peter and Ben, the brains behind Sens Army Blog, agreed to share a little bit about their team, the Ottawa Senators, as a sort of preview for tomorrow’s game between Detroit and Ottawa. I also sent Peter and Ben a guest post about the Wings so be sure to visit Sens Army Blog here to see what I wrote. Here’s what they had to say about their Sens…
It all comes down to this: The matchup hockey pundits have been looking forward to since the first couple of weeks of the season, the Ottawa Senators versus the Detroit Red Wings.
It is unfortunate that these teams only meet once a season—if that—and hopefully one of the wild card games under the new scheduling structure is a meeting of the beasts of the east against the best of the west. Anyway, onto this game’s preview, from the forwards on back:
FORWARD
On forward, the Sens are goliaths. So are the Red Wings. The Sens are goliather, though; with Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, and Jason Spezza the league’s fifth-, sixth-, and tenth-highest scoring players in the league, the CASH line (as we like to call it; Captain Alfredsson, Spezza, Heatley) is the most powerful in the league.
After those three the stats fall off pretty steeply, but support players like Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette can still be counted on for some clutch performances. Heavyweight Brian McGrattan probably won’t be dressed since you guys are lame fighter-haters, but he is one of the best in the league and could explode Henrik Zetterberg’s ugly mug with one punch.
DEFENCE
I will concede that Nik Lidstrom is good.
You know who else is good, though? Anton “The A-Train” Volchenkov. Possibly the toughest player in the league, Volchenkov often blocks as many shots as the goaler, and he can throw punishing hits like nobody’s business. When his power is combined with that of stalwart Chris “Big Rig” Phillips, fuggedabout any offence.
Our offence often benefits from the prowess of Joe Corvo, Wade Redden, and Andrej Meszaros on the goal-scoring side of the puck, although they can be a bit of a defensive liability at times. When that happens, Volchie, Phillips, or wily veteran Luke “The One-Punch Machine Gun” Richardson should be back to cover.
GOALIE
Whether you’re facing Martin “Darth” Gerber – Ottawa’s #1 goaltender for the majority of this season - or “Sugar” Ray Emery, the goaltender whose fists do not discriminate between positions or teams, the Red Wings may have a hard time. Sure, each goalie has their weaknesses, but either one has the ability to steal a game when they’re playing well. Who are you facing? It’s one of Head Coach John Paddock’s incredibly genius tactics to tell neither his enemies nor his allies who will be playing.
No matter how you look at it, the Sens will win. If you have any doubt, look at Jason Spezza’s sick two-goal game last time, in which he made Domink Hasek and his ticking-time-bomb of a groin look more like the dominated than the dominator (see it here). Oh yeah, and 1998 called: they want their goaltenders back.
Related Posts
Leave a Reply