Jared Crozier: The "Snakes and Ladders" Of Senators Training Camp

PRAISE BE!

First on the new blogger's thread, suckers

Welcome aboard, Jared, now to read your blog...

PRAISE BE!

First on the new blogger's thread, suckers

Welcome aboard, Jared, now to read your blog...
- Mr_Clean

First to comment after reading the blog

Welcome to the buzz

Welcome Jared...

I am a bit surprised by Weircioch... I think the org has mishandled him and wrongfully put stock in Phillips/Boro to play on the 3rd pairing.

Do you think there is a trade market for guys like Greening, Condra or Prince?

I still think Weircoche is on the opening day starting 6 - I think Coach Mac wants to push the pace and be a dominant puck possession team and EK, Ceci and Weircoche are the backbone of that. Gotta give them a chance to do it, but it will be a short audition.

If he can't make it happen in 1-2 games then I think he goes the route of Del Zotto - lot's of flash and dash for the fans but nothing the coaches like.

Methot - EK
Cowen - Weircoche
Phillips - Ceci
-------------------
Boro - Gryba

Welcome Jared...

I am a bit surprised by Weircioch... I think the org has mishandled him and wrongfully put stock in Phillips/Boro to play on the 3rd pairing.

Do you think there is a trade market for guys like Greening, Condra or Prince?
- riceroni

Greening's contract would be tough to move for what he gives. It is tough to make trades at this point when almost every team is in the same boat. Condra could be a valuable 4th liner for someone, and it's not a long-term commitment. Prince is still a solid prospect that should get more time, I am just surprised how long it is taking for him, given what he did in the second half of his last year in junior.

I agree with you on Wiercioch, and how he has been handled.

Welcome Jared and good luck.

Oh my god! A Sens blog

Welcome Jared!!

Welcome aboard Jared, we'll try not to be too harsh on you. For now at least

Welcome Jared...

I am a bit surprised by Weircioch... I think the org has mishandled him and wrongfully put stock in Phillips/Boro to play on the 3rd pairing.

Do you think there is a trade market for guys like Greening, Condra or Prince?
- riceroni

The thing with Weircoche is he can provide all the offense you want but you can't have him on the ice going into puck battles with half a heart and avoiding physical contact. It sends the wrong message to the team, you can't have 19 guys battling and 1 guy doing a fly by - as a coach you can't be preaching hard hockey and have Weircoche play over Gryba if one of them is going into the corners and doing it hard all over the ice the other one is being Tom Preissing.

This is on Weircoche - I don't think you can blame the coaches for not playing him over Ceci or Phillips

Welcome.

So pleased to have a local blogger. Especially someone with a background in junior hockey.

Nice first blog.

welcome aboard, nice to have some Sens news again (thanks Ryan for taking over for a bit).

Solid blog.

I love that Claessen is getting some love, i was talking about him last year and how i hoped he'd be in Ottawa's D group this season. I think he would be a great replacement for methot if he eventually gets moved. seems to play a similar game, plus he's swedish which probably makes karlsson happy.

in my ideal world:

greening, neil, boro, gryba not on NHL team

puempel, lazar, and claessen on NHL team

Claesson may be more than just a ladder. Playing D with Karlsson might be something akin to playing wing for Sidney Crosby. Huge extra points if you can adapt your game to make it entirely supportive of the guy your playing with. Kunitz may not be the best winger, but he may the best at playing with Sidney.

Maybe Claesson will emerge as the guy that not only understands the genius of Karlsson's game but he can also provide the kind of support that enables him to go to an even higher level.

welcome aboard, nice to have some Sens news again (thanks Ryan for taking over for a bit).

Solid blog.

I love that Claessen is getting some love, i was talking about him last year and how i hoped he'd be in Ottawa's D group this season. I think he would be a great replacement for methot if he eventually gets moved. seems to play a similar game, plus he's swedish which probably makes karlsson happy.

in my ideal world:

greening, neil, boro, gryba not on NHL team

puempel, lazar, and claessen on NHL team
- sensarmy_11

I'm with you on this.

First of all, I don't understand why Gryba is still around. At BEST his ceiling is a 5-6 guy. If we trade him or waive him, who cares? It's not like it's going to come back and bite us in the butt. "Oh, remember Gryba? Yeah, he's playing 10mins/game in (enter city) now". "Man did we ever screw that up".


On the other side of things, to me Weircioch and Boro have much, much more upside. If we give up on those two, we could regret it in 5 years.

Gryba better not get more games this year than those two.

On forward, the same thing can be said of Greening. To me, there is absolutely no point in keeping him around (other than our cheap owner). Buddy Robinson already looks like a better version of Greening at a fraction of the price.

Same deal with Chis Neil. The guy is done. That said, we don't have an enforcer anymore, so Neil could have some use as a 4th liner in certain situations.

At the end of the day, if we had a team that wanted to win at all costs (see what I did there?) Neil would be on the roster, but would be a healthy scratch for about half the games (when we play teams that don't have a tough guy). Greening would be long gone and Puempel or Robinson would be on the team.

Opening Day lineup should be:
Ryan-Turris-Mac
Chaisson-Zibby-Michalek
Stone-Legwand-Hoffman/Lazar/Puempel
Condra (I still see his usefulness)-Smith-Hoffman/Lazar/Robinson

EK-Methot
Ceci-Cowen
Weir-Boro

welcome aboard, nice to have some Sens news again (thanks Ryan for taking over for a bit).

Solid blog.

I love that Claessen is getting some love, i was talking about him last year and how i hoped he'd be in Ottawa's D group this season. I think he would be a great replacement for methot if he eventually gets moved. seems to play a similar game, plus he's swedish which probably makes karlsson happy.

in my ideal world:

greening, neil, boro, gryba not on NHL team

puempel, lazar, and claessen on NHL team
- sensarmy_11

Agree on all points of new guys to add. Also think Buddy Robinson is not too far behind. 6'5" and a very good skater who likes to bang. Sounds like a great fit on a 3rd or 4th line.

Welcome aboard, Jared!

Welcome, Mr. Crozier

Also looks like Mac wants to put Stone on that Turris line and move Ryan to the Zibby line - seems like Mac is in love with Stone (I think we all are). Spreads some veteran and rookie play throughout the lineup and gives us a more balanced attack (like when he put Alfie on the Turris line back in the day)

Mac - Turris - Stone
Ryan - Zibby - Chiasson
Hoffman / Puempel / Lazar - Legwand - 9MM
Greening - Smith - Neil
Condra

In practice MacLean is playing Turris with MacArthur and Stone. Zibenajad is between Ryan and Chiasson (Michalek has some minor hurts).

Also looks like Mac wants to put Stone on that Turris line and move Ryan to the Zibby line - seems like Mac is in love with Stone (I think we all are). Spreads some veteran and rookie play throughout the lineup and gives us a more balanced attack (like when he put Alfie on the Turris line back in the day)

Mac - Turris - Stone
Ryan - Zibby - Chiasson
Hoffman / Puempel / Lazar - Legwand - 9MM
Greening - Smith - Neil
Condra
- tuna99

i suggested that EXACT top six in the summer, and was flamed by several people (including you i believe) for not loading up the top line.

I'm with you on this.

First of all, I don't understand why Gryba is still around. At BEST his ceiling is a 5-6 guy. If we trade him or waive him, who cares? It's not like it's going to come back and bite us in the butt. "Oh, remember Gryba? Yeah, he's playing 10mins/game in (enter city) now". "Man did we ever screw that up".


On the other side of things, to me Weircioch and Boro have much, much more upside. If we give up on those two, we could regret it in 5 years.

Gryba better not get more games this year than those two.

On forward, the same thing can be said of Greening. To me, there is absolutely no point in keeping him around (other than our cheap owner). Buddy Robinson already looks like a better version of Greening at a fraction of the price.

Same deal with Chis Neil. The guy is done. That said, we don't have an enforcer anymore, so Neil could have some use as a 4th liner in certain situations.

At the end of the day, if we had a team that wanted to win at all costs (see what I did there?) Neil would be on the roster, but would be a healthy scratch for about half the games (when we play teams that don't have a tough guy). Greening would be long gone and Puempel or Robinson would be on the team.

Opening Day lineup should be:
Ryan-Turris-Mac
Chaisson-Zibby-Michalek
Stone-Legwand-Hoffman/Lazar/Puempel
Condra (I still see his usefulness)-Smith-Hoffman/Lazar/Robinson

EK-Methot
Ceci-Cowen
Weir-Boro
- Charliebox

I dunno that Boro has 'much, much more upside' than Gryba... I mean, he has more, in that he could be maybe - just maybe - a second pairing defenseman, but he's not very likely to be THAT much better than Gryba, is he?

I agree that Wiercioch should be much better, and could even be much, much better

great stuff and great to have you aboard. let me know when you can come on the podcast sometime!

i suggested that EXACT top six in the summer, and was flamed by several people (including you i believe) for not loading up the top line.
- sensarmy_11

They shouldn't have. It's not a terrible idea, however if we're planning to keep Ryan at what will probably be a very expensive rate, I think they probably will want to keep him on the first line so as to maximise his production (and appear to maximise their investment - also, wouldn't Ryan want first line minutes?).

If they aren't going to be able to keep him, then they'll want to maximise his value... Best accomplished on the first line as well.

Honestly, I think they'll be trying out other wingers with MacArthur and Turris because they don't figure Ryan into the teams long-term plans.

I dunno that Boro has 'much, much more upside' than Gryba... I mean, he has more, in that he could be maybe - just maybe - a second pairing defenseman, but he's not very likely to be THAT much better than Gryba, is he?

I agree that Wiercioch should be much better, and could even be much, much better
- Mr_Clean

I think Boro is headed back to Binghamton. He was given a good contract knowing he needs to clear waivers. They will send him back down. I doubt they are very worries about his being claimed.