Ottawa, First Place In The
East?
An Article By Salvatore Schillacci
August 27th, 2002
Ottawa, First Place In The
East?
An Article By Salvatore Schillacci
August 27th, 2002
35 Games into the 2002-2003 WCFHL Season the Ottawa Senators find themselves,
surprisingly to many, in first place within the Eastern Conference. This
coming from a team that attempted to re-tool themselves in the offseason
dealing away Kenny Jonsson, Steve Thomas, Dan McGillis, and Alexander Karpovtsev
for stalwart defenceman Dmitri Yushkevich, sniper Fredrik Modin, reliable
veteran Curtis Leschyshyn, and reliable veteran Keith Carney. Along with
the trades, the Senators added yet another veteran in Mark Messier to the
mix and dropped Rick Tocchett to the farm in order to give Andreas Dackell
regular playing time. No serious changes here, so what has proppelled the
Senators to the top of the league table so early in the season? Heart.
The Ottawa Senators consist of a core of veteran players, willing to do all the dirty work to win games, playing hockey the way it was intended to be played. Led by savvy veterans like Yzerman, Messier, Belfour, Taylor, Carney, Yushkevich, Matteau, Reekie and Dineen to name just a few, it is not surprising the Sen's have achieved the level of play they have. Combine the verteran leadership with the defensive skills of Yzerman, Dackell, Taylor, Dineen, Yushkevich, Carney, Leschyshyn, and Reekie, along with the reliable and sometimes astonishing play of Ed Belfour, it is not surprising the Senators battle it out until the very end.
The Senators do not have a true sniper on their roster, the only Mr. Clutch on their roster is none other than Steve Yzerman. What the Sens do have is a balanced level of scoring on their team. Shawn McEachern and Fredrik Modin can be seen as the two snipers on this team, but McEachern only has 9 goals in 35 games while Modin has 8. The team though does know that one guy cannot win games all the time. 9 players have 5 or more goals so far this season. 10 players have had the honour of scoring the Game winning goals so far this season, while Belfour, who has only 1 shutout, has made sure the Sen's are within reach of victory in every game holding a mere 2.09 GAA.
The exploits of Belfour is even more
important considering the fact that although the Senators have a solid
balance of scoring, they are still a low scoring team. 35 games into the
season, the Sens are scoring a mere 2.69 goals a game (18th in the league)
but at the same time the Sens are giving up only 2.20 goals a game (3rd
in the league). Even more impressive is that even with this low scoring
totals, the Sens have taken advantage of every PP opportunity put forward
to them, clicking on the PP 18 % of the time, good for sixth best in the
league. The Penalty Kill is also clicking at 91.8 % of the time, good for
3rd best in the league, which is also attributed to the fact that the Sens
are one of the least likely teams to take bad penalties, averaging a mere
10.2 PIM's per game.
The coaching exploits of Jacques Martin should not be forgotten either.
MArtin was nearly fired last season after the Sens nearly missed the playoffs,
but after saving his job and taking the Sens deep into the playoffs, Martin
has continued to show Senator management why they should have faith in
them. Realizing the Sens are not a high scoring team, Martin has adapted
the teams play to fit into a solid, tight checking system, resulting in
very few scoring opportunities for the opposition. The Senators give up
only 23.4 Shots A Game, where at least 10 of those shots come from the
Blue Line and beyond. With the tight checking system, the Sens are also
always able to enter the opposition's zone taking 26.8 shots per game,
good for 11th best in the league.
These Senators are for real, they should not be doubted any more. With a solid base of veteran leaders with playoff experience, along with a core of youngsters (Markov, Rachunek, Modin, P.J. Stock and Tomas Vokoun) it is not surprising to see the Sen's perform. Will they remain the best team in the East? Only time will answer that question but what can be said for sure is, the Sens will never let a game slide out of their reach. Ottawa is looking for a winner, the team is built to win now as the future, other than Stephen Weiss, doesn't look too bright, so look for Ottawa to continue thier solid play and make a push for the WCFHL Title for the 2002-2003 season.
