How Will the Ottawa Senators Do This Season?

Most so called “experts” have the Senators finishing near the basement of the Eastern Conference, and even the league.  Even NHL12 has the Sens as clearly the worst team in the league in terms of team stats (which is a real bummer because it makes it much more difficult for me to play with my team) – that’s right the Sens are my team so take this article with a grain of salt.  Personally, I think the Sens have a legit shot to battle for a playoff position until the end of the year.  I have them slotted in around 8th – 10th in terms of the Eastern Conference power rankings, and as you can see, that 8th place is in there so they have a shot at the playoffs.

Here Is Why

The Senators top 7 defencemen are actually very solid and I wouldn’t trade them for the top 7 d-men on at least 20 other teams in the league.  You have Erik Karlsson, a young guy with about as much playmaking talent as a d-man could have.  He will make sure that the Sens score powerplay goals and you can expect his plus-minus to be much better this year, as his defensive game improves.  Add in Sergei Gonchar, who we all know can be a top guy on any team if he plays like he has throughout his career and the Sens powerplays should have two legitimate quarterbacks.  Then you have Chris Phillips who has been a top shutdown guy his entire year and who anchored his team to the cup finals only a few years ago.  Alright, I don’t like Filip Kuba, but that is the only slot in the top 7 I’m not fond of.  Matt Carkner is the perfect 6th d-man on a team, with a toughness and presence that can help against rough opposition, and then you have two rookies who are ready for the big time.  David Rundblad was the Swedish Elite League’s top d-man last season and you can tell by watching him play that he will be another great puck mover from the back-end and he is a 3rd legit powerplay quarterback.  Then Jared Cowen, who is showing shades of Tyler Myers, is another big guy who can shutdown down low and has already showed he has the ability to provide offense with his two goals in the first preseason game.  The Sens are fine at the back end and they will get the puck to their forwards.

The goaltending situation is also solved.  Craig Anderson slipped a little at the start of last season, but the Avs are a worse team than the Sens and he showed in his games with the Senators he still has what it takes.  Anderson is a legitimate number 1 goaltender who has the ability to steal games, a few of which will be needed for the Senators to make the playoffs this season.

The Problem

The problem lies in the forwards.  Spezza can’t do it all.  Alfredsson and Michalek need to play at their best and then other goals have to come from the likes of Foligno, Butler, Regin and hopefully Filatov.  A few of these lesser known Senators will break out this year with the absence of Fisher and Kelly, but this is necessary for the team to win games.  I hope that GM Brian Murray doesn’t just keep Greening and Condra at the big club because he signed them to one-way contracts even if guys like Da Costa, Filatov, etc are more deserving and are better pieces to the puzzle.  The Senators need goals from up front.  Spezza and Alffy can’t do it all.

I think the Senators will surprise some people this year.  They have nothing to lose, with a young team that is eager to win and many players that know how to win from their Binghamton Calder Cup last season.  I for one am going to check out some sports gambling sites and hopefully find some great odds for the Senators throughout the season, due to the fact they are being underestimated by the masses.

Teemu Selanne Season Prediction – Any Left In The Tank?

Teemu just announced that he will be rejoining the Ducks this season and Ducks fans everywhere must be letting out a huge sigh of relief.  Take away the Ducks top 4 forwards and they are a poor team.  Reduce that amount to 3 high end guys, including their 2nd leading scorer from the season and a guy who scored a goal per game through 6 games of the playoffs and they aren’t looking too great.  With Selanne the Ducks once again have a shot at making the playoffs, although they need many more pieces if they want to go far.  That being said the Ducks need the Selanne circa last season, not a slower ‘Finnish Flash’ who isn’t at 100% after knee surgery.

But if Teemu says he’s ready to play, you better believe he’s ready to play.  Putting up 80 points in 73 games at 41 years old is unheard of.  In fact Gordie Howe and Johnny Bucyk, with Howe being the only to finish in the top 10 in scoring (Selanne was 8th even after missing 7 games).  In the playoffs he kept up to speed scoring 6 goals and adding an assist in 6 games.  Not to mention how many late game-tying goals he scored in the final stretch when Anaheim was gunning for a playoff spot.

If the Ducks can get anything close to the Selanne of last year they will be laughing.  Personally I don’t know why a player would retire after one of the best seasons of their career.  Obviously he still has gas left in the tank and the ability to help his team.  He might as well pad his stats and cement his place as one of the top NHL players in the history of the game.

I expect Selanne to start up right where he left off last season, scoring goals and amazing fans.  Not to mention those fans will be in his home town of Helsinki because the Ducks open their season off there (that might have helped push him in the right direction towards returning to the team).

If Selanne can stay healthy I predict similar numbers to last year.  Something along the lines of 29 goals and 45 assists I would expect, with at least half of those goals being on the powerplay.  I still don’t plan on placing a division winners bet on Anaheim to take the Pacific this season, but if  Selanne’s return will likely make many online sports bettors at least take a second glance at the Ducks Stanley Cup betting lines various online sportsbooks will be offering.

If nothing else fans around the NHL are thankful that they get to watch the skill and finesse of the Finish Flash for at least one more season.  I for one am much more likely to stop at the channel at a Ducks game now that he has confirmed his return.