Senators Sign Sergei Gonchar to a 3-year, $16.5M Deal posted by Jeff Ponder

When you lose to a team in the playoffs, what is the best way to beat them the next season?  By stealing their players, of course.

Sergei Gonchar, an eight-time 50-point scoring defenseman, has called it quits in Pittsburgh and moved on to Ottawa.  Averaging $5.5 million a season, this could prove to be a good signing for Ottawa.  Even at a steep-price for a defenseman, Gonchar has proven time and again that he can still move the puck with the best of them, even at the age of 36.  His 39 assists last season gave him his ninth time of scoring 30 assists or more in a season. 

Gonchar also brings experience to the table.  He has been a part of a strong franchise in Pittsburgh for quite some time now, and was a member of the Penguins' 2009 championship season.

Ottawa needed to bring in a strong-skating defenseman.  Gonchar will prove useful down in the stretch late in the season.Continue reading "Senators Sign Sergei Gonchar to a ..."

Golden Effort Falls Just Short posted by Brad VanFossan

A Golden Effort Falls Just Short By Brad VanFossan I know it’s more than just a hockey game when my 63 year old father is looking forward to watching, and has been watching most of the hockey games during this Olympics. I know it’s more than just a game when patrons at bars ask to turn the hockey game on, both the men’s and women’s games, as I have seen happen over the last couple weeks. This is about reliving nostalgia for those who were around for the 1980 Gold Medal team‘s “Miracle“ run. And it’s about wanting to experience that same feeling for those of us who were too young or weren’t around then. This is the kind of thing the brings generations of sons and fathers together creating memories that become part of family lore. More importantly, this is a message to the world that hockey isn’t a secondary sport in the United States anymore, but one we can excel at, and even be the best.  It’s almost time for the opening face off, winning twice on enemy territory won’t be easy, but I think if anyone can, it’s this group of relentless young men. No matter what the outcome, they will put forth an effort to be proud of.My in game thoughts from the penalty box: -In the first U.S./Canada match up the U.S. was able to score first, taking the crowd out of things for a bit, today Canada scored first, it’s the first time the U.S. has trailed all Olympics. -Jonathan Toews goal was off of a rebound, not too much cause for concern yet. The U.S. is still playing pretty well, theyContinue reading "Golden Effort Falls Just Short"

Time to Put the Big Boy Pants on Dany posted by Jeff Ponder

After a grueling summer of NHL media not knowing the full synopsis of the Dany Heatley saga, the man in the spotlight finally spoke.

The German-born right winger informed the Canadian media for the first time since asking for a trade in Kelowna, British Columbia about his situation.  Dany stated that his desires of leaving Ottawa have not changed.

"When I signed in Ottawa two years ago, I felt it was to be an integral part of the team," Heatley said. "Over the last two years and more recently over the past year, I feel my role was diminished. This past season, it diminished a lot more.”

Dany went on to say that this is a “straight hockey decision” and he did not have any harsh feelings toward the city of Ottawa.  I am sure that will help GM Bryan Murray sleep at night.

The reason that Heatley feels this way is because he had troubles with newly-appointed head coach Cory Clouston.  The head coach made headlines instantly, bumping Heatley's ice-time down and taking him off the first power-play unit and placing him on the second.  This is a tragedy that no hockey player should ever have to face.

Dany's numbers have had a steady drop-off since his 105-point season in 2006-07.  Two seasons ago, Dany posted 82 points before posting 72 in 2008-09.  While these numbers still put him in the all-star ranks, this is a factor of the Senators' poor downfall since they lost in the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals to the Anaheim Ducks.  The team has failed to make the playoffs since their Cup run, and faced a trying season last year to cap it off.  The Senators were an inadequate 36-35-11 in 2008-09, placing them 11th in the Eastern Conference.
Continue reading "Time to Put the Big Boy Pants on Dany"

Chris Neil: should he stay or should he go? posted by Chris Hofley

Most Ottawa Senators fans like Chris Neil. I do too. He's entertaining and he's a solid scrapper who can, albeit less frequently of late, chip in offensively on occasion. But -- and it's a big BUT -- does liking him warrant paying him upwards of $2 million per season to keep him in a Sens uniform? Is watching him get the crowd going by flapping his arms upwards on his way to the penalty box after a fight worth that kind of money? Does that fact that his possible departure when free agency season kicks off on July 1 warrant a two-page feature spread in Ottawa newspapers?

Nope, no and definitely not.

Lets try to keep things in perspective: Neil will be 30 when the 2009-2010 season starts, meaning he is already most likely on the downswing of his career. Since his career year in 2005-2006 when he scored 16 goals, 17 assists and was a plus-9 while recording more than 200 penalty minutes, Neil's production has been on a steady decline. He scored 12 goals and 28 points the following year and six goals and 20 points in 2007-2008. This year, Neil chipped in only three goals and 10 points in 60 games (he missed chunks of time because of knee and leg injuries).

If Neil can get back to 100 per cent health-wise, he can be a very effective chippy, strong and agitating forward playing a third or fourth line role. But is that kind of position worth the kind of cash Neil and his agent are supposedly asking for, especially considering the very capable job Jarko Ruutu did this year doing pretty much the same thing?

Again, no.

As a fan, I'd gladly welcome Chris Neil back next year, provided he is willing to take the so-called home town discount. If not, whatever salary the team is willing to give him can be better spent fixing some of the other major problems the team had this season.

Continue reading "Chris Neil: should he stay or should he go?"

Merry Christmas; Happy New Years; Welcome 2009 Winter Classic!! posted by Devin Rodger

Well I am new to this website, but have ultimately been blogging for years now.

Seeing as it is the end of December, I wont full publish a working Senators blog till after the year. 

My first post will be on the 2009 Winter Classic. Should be a great game!

Until then, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Years!

Continue reading "Merry Christmas; Happy New Years; ..."

Inbound link contest winner announced! posted by Earn Money Blogging

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

The whole purpose of this contest was to get our bloggers networking with other webmasters and to start to build up their inbound links which will help their traffic.  Even a few links can help you with the search engines as they will see you as more of an authority on your topic the more inbound links you have.

To learn more about marketing your blog check out this post: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html#my_faq_2971

Marija's blog can be found here.  If you're a Knicks fan, check it out: http://www.newyorkknicksnews.com/marijak

The original post announcing the contest can be found here: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/bloggers/weblog/2984.html

And if you're not already signed up with Google AdSense and making money from your blog, check out our Revenue Share FAQ page: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

Inbound link contest - Win $100! posted by Earn Money Blogging

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

We're going to impose some restrictions on the types of links you can get so please see below for the full list of links that do NOT count.

To get started simply go to Google and find other websites and blog that are about the sports and teams that you write about. Email the website owner and ask them for a link by explaining that you think your blog would be a good resource for their readers. Or offer to write a guest post for them with your by-line and URL at the bottom of the article. Or offer to exchange links with them by writing a quick write up of their site and a reciprocal link back to them. Some webmasters will be happy to add you to their blog roll even if you don't give them a link back (which is ideal) but some may want you to link back to them - you can easily do this with a quick blog entry on your blog about their website.

To learn more about inbound links and marketing your blog in general check out this post:

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

2008 NHL Playoff Awards - Round 1 posted by Paul Olsen

Let’s end the suspense- Nicklas Lidstrom has already won his sixth Norris Trophy, regardless of when it will be announced.  Through Round 1 of the 2008 NHL Playoffs, here are some lesser known awards:

The “thanks for showing up” award has to go to the Ottawa Senators.  Martin Gerber didn’t show up until the second period of Game 1, while the rest of the team waited until Game 2.  Every member of the team worked together to cycle in their mental vacations to ensure a consistent lack of consistency.  It will be interesting to see how much of this roster remains intact over the offseason. 

Humanitarian Award:  The Nashville Predators and Boston Bruins came short of providing blueprints for knocking out a conference’s top seed, but each team scored enough to prove that no team in unbeatable.

Better Staal: Statwise, Marc wins with a tiebreaking +3, as each Stall has put home one goal thusfar.  While Jordan’s upside is just as significant, Marc has been arguably the best at his position for his team.  Of course, Jordan has world class competition at his center position, but few expected Marc to outperform veterans Paul Mara and Michal Rosival.

Honorable Mention:  A playoff award should not be affected by regular season play, but the Boston Bruins persisted through an adversity mired season, watched by Patrice Bergeron.  Marc Savard stepped in as the centerpiece of Beantown’s blue-collar Bears, who secured their playoff spot with a run bested only by Washington’s history making push.  Phil Kessel has emerged as a star, while Milan Lucic and David Kreici allow Claude Julien to cycle three playoff quality lines. 

Continue reading "2008 NHL Playoff Awards - Round 1"

Ottawa Senators fire coach John Paddock posted by Brent Blaze

http://wizbangsports.com/2008/02/ottawa_senators_fire_coach_joh.

This comes with less than 20 games left in the NHL season.

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators, looking sluggish in a recent, lengthy slump, on Wednesday fired coach John Paddock.

General manager Bryan Murray will take over coaching duties for the last 18 games of the regular season. Murray was coach when the Senators advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in 2006-07, but stepped aside to become GM during the summer, and Paddock was given the job as coach.

The Senators lead the Northeast Division by a point over the Montreal Canadiens, but have been shut out in their past two games. Ottawa has lost six of its past eight games and 14 of its last 21.

Murray's first game in his return behind the bench will be Thursday against the Flyers in Philadelphia.

Murray has been almost as well traveled as Mike Keenan. With stops in Anaheim, Detroit, Washington, and Florida. The Senators have been a disappointment after a fast start to the 07-08 season. I still feel the talent is there for Ottawa to win the conference. A resurgent Pittsburgh Penguins look like the Senator's biggest obstacle, that is other than themselves.

Continue reading "Ottawa Senators fire coach John Paddock"