Ottawa v Minnesota Game Review

Ottawa have had a tough start to the season, losing 5-3 and 6-5 so far and looking were looking for a better defensive performance in this one.

Ottawa started the game with a PP and chances for Spezza and Alfredsson but Minnesota held on and killed the penalty well. The first 8 minutes the Senators were really on top, taking the game to the Wild with Backstrom seeing a lot of the puck.  They would have been disappointed when the Wild then took the lead with a Brosiak tip infront from what seemed a soft shot by Stoner towards the goal.

Kassian and Konopka then decided it was time to drop the gloves and a pretty even battle of the heavyweights ensued. Konopka picked up an extra 2 minutes for instigation but the Wild couldn’t capitalise on the PP. A ragin dash through centre ice saw his long shot take a funny bounce back off the boards and through the crease but Foligno failed to carrel the puck and his attempt went just wide.

Minnesota took a 2-0 lead before the end of the period after a series of bad plays again by veterans on the Ottawa side. 1^st Spezza took a ridiculous slashing penalty, retaliating as he was skating off the ice for  a line change and being caught for it. Gonchar then failed to clear the zone on the resulting PP, only sending the puck round the boards and straight back to Koivu who in turn found Heatley and he set up Setoguchi for the one timer. That was the end of the 1^st period and despite a better performance the Senators still found themselves down on the scoreboard.

Brosiak had a great chance early in the 2^nd period to make it 3-0 as he skated in alone on Anderson but the netminder got a piece of it and fended it off. Nick Foligno got the Senators back into the game just before the halfway stage of the 2^nd as his line with Neil and Ragin did some great work in crashing the net and he tucked a loose puck away from close range. Ottawa at this point were outshooting Minnesota 10-1 in the 2^nd period.

Ottawa continued to dominate the period but the score remained at 2-1 going into the 3^rd. Only 2 minutes into the 3^rd the Wild got their 2 goal lead back as Johnson made a strong play to the net and the puck pinballed off numerous players infront, creeping in over the line. As the play went to review the puck clearly did go completely over the line and the goal stood. This incensed Ottawa as Phillips had his stick broken on a slash as the play was made and the officials missed the call.

 

Chris Neil made it 3-2 with almost 14 minutes left with another goal that went to review as he clipped the puck high into the net from a tight angle. It hit the back of the netting and shot straight out which confused the officials as they original waved no goal which lead to a melee infront with players squaring off to each other in a mad few minutes of scuffling.

Michalek and Clutterbuck were both given 2 minute roughing penalties from that scuffle and a further 2 minutes were then taken by Minnesota as Zidlicky was called for high sticking. This led to open ice and some great chances for the Senators with Colin Greening tying the game on the 5 on 4 pp as he stood infront of the net acting as a screen and picked up a loose puck and found the five hole of Nicklas Backstrom.

Both teams battled for the rest of the 3^rd with Minnesota coming back into the game a little. However, neither team were able to find the winning goal in regulation and it headed into OT. The overtime period was a pretty quick one with neither team able to capitalise on the open ice situation and the game headed into penalty shots. Michalek took the first shot and he buried his attempt. Koivu then missed. Both Spezza and Cullen put their attempts away meaning captain Daniel Alfredsson had the chance to win the game with his shot and he put the puck into the twine and the Sens won 4-3 after PS.

My star for the game was Chris Neil of Ottawa. He picked up a goal and an assist, was a pest all game and made some big hits when his team were 2-0 down to try and motivate the Senators. He was all over ex Ottawa man Dany Heatley, much to the delight of the home fans and his line with Ragin and Foligno played well all night.

by Adam Yates

Brian McGrattan Wishes He Was Chris Neil... Secretly at Least

When Ottawa Senator Chris Neil makes you look unclassy in comparison, you've got a problem. But that's just the situation in which Boston Bruin Brian McGrattan finds himself after calling out Neil through the media on Monday.

After Neil fought McGrattan's soon-to-be teammate Dennis Seidenberg on Saturday, McGrattan said that it was "typical Chris Neil" to do something worthy of getting kicked out of a game, adding that he always had to protect him when the two were teammates between 2005 and 2008. All Neil said in response: "I'm sure he's trying to get into the line-up. I have nothing bad to say about the guy."

It's interesting to note that McGrattan has yet to play a game for the Boston Bruins after signing a contract as an unrestricted free agent with the team in mid-October and being assigned to the Providence Bruins for conditioning. Even though he was recalled on Monday, McGrattan should have taken the three-game stint in the AHL as an opportunity to get used to his surroundings, because he's likely due for an extended stay in the minor leagues somewhere in the near future.

That isn't because McGrattan would have a hard time finding the back of the net blessed with binoculars and optimal seating two feet from the goal line (47 points in 197 career AHL games is kind of proof of that). That isn't even just because the Bruins already have a more-than-capable heavyweight in Shawn Thornton. No, it's mostly because even five years after the Senators gave him his first taste of NHL action he has yet to establish himself as a full-time NHL enforcer. His one claim to fame? Establishing the AHL record for most penalty minutes in one season in 2004-2005 (551), which, for a guy trying to prove himself capable of playing with the big boys, is like beating up on all the guys who are smaller than you. Really not all that impressive unless you're looking to become a professional bully... or as this clip shows one psychotic bad-ass.



What's "typical" Brian McGrattan? Well, admittedly not swinging his stick like a baseball bat. That was just a one-time thing (hopefully, anyway). Who really knows? He did enter the league's substance-abuse program in 2008, but it would be wrong to hold that against him. What should be held against him is his need to criticize Neil for attacking Seidenberg, who wasn't looking to fight, when he once did the same thing to then-Los Angeles King Sean Avery. Granted, he did everyone a favour by trying to put Avery in his place then, but there's little room for hypocrisy when it comes to making a living as a tough guy. People are supposed to fear and revere you for your toughness... not act afraid of you on the ice and laugh at you behind your back.



Now Neil does take his fair share of cheap shots. He's not exactly a clean player, but for McGrattan to suggest that it was his job to protect Neil and "fight all his battles for him the next time" they played the same team implies that a) Neil doesn't know how to fight and b) McGrattan somehow was actually able to play his way into the Senators' lineup once every blue moon. His game totals actually decreased in each of the three seasons he was with Ottawa (to a low of 38), while Neil earned himself a regular shift and a reputation as a timely contributor on offense (as well as a cheap-shot artist).

For the record, according to Hockeyfights.com, McGrattan has a regular-season record of 28-17-8, for a total of 53 fights. Neil has appeared in 112 dating back to the 2001-2002 season. Since McGrattan first got into the league in 2005-2006, Neil has fought 55 times. During McGrattan's time with the Senators, he fought 37 times, while Neil did 26 times. In those 26 fights, Neil actually fought several tough customers, including Hal Gill (who's not a fighter, but is still huge), Tie Domi, Aaron Downey, Darcy Hordichuk, Paul Gaustad, McGrattan's other soon-to-be teammate in Thornton, and, my personal favourite, Donald Brashear, a bout with which Neil actually did McGrattan's job for him and not the other way around.

Jealousy is an ugly emotion. It's even uglier on McGrattan. Now, admittedly that's due in part to his brutish appearance. But that gives him little right to talk smack about another player when it's become abundantly clear that Neil is right when he says he's only trying to make his way back into a regular role in the NHL.

The Bruins next play the Senators on November 13 in Boston, and I'm sure Neil will be happy to oblige McGrattan should he come looking for a fight. After all, that's what ex-teammates tend to do for one another... that is if McGrattan actually gets a chance to play.

A Brief History of Recent Hits in the NHL

As you've all probably heard by now, Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson was given a two-game suspension for Monday's hit on the Buffalo Sabres' Jason Pominville, which probably sounds about right, all things considered. It clearly constituted "a check delivered on a player who is not aware of the impending hit, therefore unable to protect or defend himself, and contact is made on the back part of the body," as per the NHL's rule 43.1.

However, it's interesting to note how this specific hit stacks up against other notable ones from the past few years and to take note of the league's consistency on handing down punishments or lack thereof. For example, in a 2006 incident, Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin similarly hit then-Sabre Daniel Briere from behind as well, and no suspension was served, although he apparently did get a boarding call on the play. It's clear that he invoked the much-forgotten-about and unwritten "bankable star" clause in the rulebook that no one ever really cites. Curious, that.

And then there's Ottawa Senator Chris Neil and his hit on then-Sabre Chris Drury in 2007, which also didn't result in a suspension. There's less of a mystery here, though, as this hit took place before the well-documented Matt Cooke hit on Marc Savard, which led to the formulation of the "Illegal Check to the Head" section of the rulebook (I just love the fact that "check to the head" has to be qualified by the word illegal, don't you?). As such, Neil got off scot-free, while Drury got a concussion, with the NHL brass still three years away from first getting a clue that Don Cherry's Rock'Em Sock'Em Hockey video series does not constitute good masturbation source material.

There are several key takeaways from the case study, with the most notable one being that if you're a Buffalo Sabre, you had better keep your head up at all times, because goons seem to be attracted to that bright-yellow-buffalo emblem like moths to a flame. Beyond that, there is the undeniable deep-seeded issue that a lack of respect between players in the NHL is endemic. I mean, just looking at Ovechkin's latest commercial below, I gotta say it must be hard for even his teammates to look at him the same way.

All things being equal, none of those hits compare to then-Philadelphia Flyer Steve Downie on Dean McAmmond from the 2007 pre-season. Downie was given a 20-game suspension, the fifth-longest in NHL history, if memory (wikipedia) serves me correctly, which is sad because Downie had never played a regular-season NHL game at that stage of his career and he was only trying to make a name for himself. As a result, it's easy to believe that one huge reason the suspension was so large was due to his laying out a more-esteemed player in the league. If it was the other way around, if McAmmond had hit Downie, I would guess that the suspension, if there would have been one at all, wouldn't have been for nearly as long... then again, I can't even imagine any NHL player hitting a rookie in that fashion, which is probably more telling than any video, but, that being said, here you go: