Silver Nuggets: Examining Erik's Eminence
by Adnan on Jan 10, 2012 1:02 PM EST
in Silver Nuggets
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PrintErik Karlsson is having a brilliant year so far. He's been touted as a candidate for the Norris Trophy. One blog even suggested Karlsson should be considered for the Hart Trophy. So how good has Karlsson been?
- He has 41 points in 43 games. That's eight more than the next closest defenceman. He's just as close to the Art Ross (league leader has 49 points) as he is to the second place defenceman.
- Karlsson needs 23 points in 39 games to break the club record for points by a defenceman and needs 12 assists in 39 games to break the club record for assists by a defenceman.
- At his current pace, Karlsson is on pace for 67 assists. That is only four assists behind Jason Spezza's club record of 71. The 67 assists would be the most by an NHL defenceman since 1995-1996.
- Zdeno Chara holds the club record for shots on goal by a defenceman at 212. Karlsson already has 152 and is on pace for 290 to obliterate the record. Only Dany Heatley and Alexei Yashin have ever had more shots on goal for Ottawa. Yashin holds the record at 337.
- Wade Redden holds the club record with 2017 minutes played in 2003-2004. Karlsson's 2096 minutes pace would break that record as well.
Tonight's game
- Game preview. (Ottawa Sun)
- Everyone but James Gordon predicts a win tonight. Peter says 3-0 Ottawa. (Senators Extra)
- After struggling (this is my opinion Mark!) in the last game, Matt Carkner will be a healthy scratch and Brian Lee will play. (Ian Mendes)
- The Senators play nine of the next ten on the road and Jason Spezza was full of cliches. Coming out at around .500 in this stretch should keep the Sens in the hunt. (Ottawa Sun, Ottawa Citizen)
- If Erik Karlsson is looking for something similar to Mike Green's $5.25 million a year deal, the Senators should jump at that right now. Craig Anderson feels Karlsson does ten good things for every mistake he makes. (Ottawa Sun)
- Are the Senators just overachieving with a bunch of players with career years? No, not really. But many players are producing throughout the lineup and there is good balance across the lines. (Ottawa Citizen)
- Graeme Nichols points out the different personnel management of Paul MacLean and Cory Clouston. Perhaps due to the addition of Zenon Konopka, or just because, Jason Spezza is taking far more offensive zone face-offs than he did last season. MacLean has also reduced Chris Phillips' ice time due to his struggles, while Clouston continued to play him a lot. Nichols also lays the case for trading Filip Kuba. (The 6th Sens)
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I actually do think that Ottawa is overachieving with a team full of players having career years.
Also, Carkner is clearly a scratch because I named him a Zero.
Co-manager, Silver Seven
I agree with you on the first point
The second is open to debate.
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 1:14 PM EST up reply actions
I disagree. The vets are not having career years, but are doing way better than last year, while
Condra & Greening are merely playing to last year’s projection. Karlsson is having an outstanding year, but we expected that next year, not this: but it’s not unexpected. Smith is unexpected and Turris is turning out to be a very good addition. Are we overachieving because of the comeback wins? Well, it’s a matter of timing. Some teams get their goals in the 1st and 2nd, we get ours in the 3rd.
I suspect we are in 5th because NJ, Washington, Montreal & Buffalo are not doing as well.
by whatsinaname on Jan 10, 2012 4:39 PM EST up reply actions
It's the coincidental timing of all the up-years that makes it a bit of an anomaly
That being said, we’ve got a lot of guys coming up through the system to step into the shoes of anybody that doesn’t keep it up in the next few years. That helps.
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 4:47 PM EST up reply actions
Well take Alfie for example, he’s having a better than expected year, but not a career year. A lot of players are in that boat, Spezza too. Gonchar and Kuba as well.
A lot of the reason players are doing better than last year is because last year was so horribly bad, everything went wrong.
I love soft players (especially Europeans) that play on the perimeter. Enigmas are awesome. Grit and heart-and-soul are red flags.
Erik Karlsson is better than your favourite player.
Twitter: @sens_adnan
In reference to the 'trade Kuba' rationale and the Sens roster in general
The only changes I would make would be 1) find a new backup goaltender STAT, 2) get Brian Lee in for Phillips on occasion and 3) find a spot for Klinkhammer. I want to see me some Klinkhammer-time.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:14 PM EST reply actions
17 games
17 points!
I wonder if the league would allow him to wear unnecessarily baggy pants on the ice.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:25 PM EST up reply actions
That's Klinkhammer
In front of the opponent’s goaltender on a powerplay.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:34 PM EST up reply actions
Seriously though
This makes me want to play Duckhunter.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:35 PM EST up reply actions
But is Klinkhammer even Sens property? I thought he was on an AHL contract, so the Sens would have to give him a contract.
by modsuperstar on Jan 10, 2012 1:19 PM EST up reply actions
I presume he is.
I believe the deal was the Sens lost a 2nd rounder if Klinkhammer got 5 games with the big club this year.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:20 PM EST up reply actions
not a 2nd rounder. I thought it was they lost a 7th rounder, but I’m going by memory here.
Co-manager, Silver Seven
Is there a 7th round?
My 2s look like 7s when I write by hand, so 7 is what I meant. :p
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:49 PM EST up reply actions
7th rounder in 2013 if he plays 5 or more games :)
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=604391
More than 10 years. That takes us right to him being 31, the year everyone gets overpaid. Sign him to a 15 year deal and be done with it. Yeah, it’s risky, but he hasn’t shown any signs of injury yet and he looks like a generational talent.
Question. What happens in the case of a career ending injury?
Like Crosby. Could they buy him out? If he retires does his cap hit count? What are the Pens options if Crosby cannot return?
Under the present CBA
If a player retires, their contract counts againt the cap only if the player signed after a certain age. I think it’s 35, but have no real clue without taking the 0.3 seconds to look it up.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:33 PM EST up reply actions
Generational talent?
I like him, but that’s a huge overstatement.
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 1:46 PM EST up reply actions
I am sorry but Erik Karlsson is the best player of all time! Of all time!
I love soft players (especially Europeans) that play on the perimeter. Enigmas are awesome. Grit and heart-and-soul are red flags.
Erik Karlsson is better than your favourite player.
Twitter: @sens_adnan
Does the tattoo on your chest have the bit at the beginning about being sorry, or just the rest of that message?
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 1:58 PM EST up reply actions
Sidney Crosby is a generational talent
Karlsson isn’t realistically in the running for the Norris. He’s very good, and I’m very happy we have him. But “generational talent” is for the Gretzky’s of the world.
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 2:02 PM EST up reply actions
Pfft
Ian Mendes mentioning having sympathy for the Penguins because of all the injuries. Did they have sympathy when they threw the last game of the 07/08 season so they could play the Alfie-less Sens in the first round? I’d love to see them embarrass the Pens tonight.
Sympathy for the devil
Did Letang have sympathy when he hammared Spezza into the boards from behind and destroyed our season last year?
Though the refs had sympathy when they only gave him 2 minutes.
Okay, I’m still angry.
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 1:29 PM EST up reply actions
I'm having trouble hating Matt Cooke these days
He actually seems to be repentant. One cheap shot though….
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 1:43 PM EST up reply actions
I don't buy them throwing that game
I just don’t. It’s the kind of thing the league takes incredibly seriously, and even the slightest (non-fan sourced) sniff of it brings them in PDQ.
No, it wouldn't. Not when they were so desperate to have Crosby do his thing.
I could believe they tossed it for a better ride and the NHL wouldn’t peep.
A Goal Horn Haiku
Hoooonk hoooonk honk honk hooooonk
That's the sound the train horn makes
Suck it, Toronto
They weren't desperate enough to take that kind of risk
Looking the other way when a team throws a game carries some serious “explode in your face” potential. More than enough to wipe out any benefit of having Crosby do his thing.
I suppose there's "throwing a game" and there's not trying very hard
Pittsburgh didn’t seem to be trying very hard.
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 2:29 PM EST up reply actions
That's a bit more realistic
They were probably guilty of looking ahead to the next game rather than pay enough attention to the game they were in. Their focus was elsewhere. (Insert any other cliché about not giving 100%).
Oh, and let’s not forget that Philly was in a win-to-get-in situation that game.
Scratch that win to get in part
Wasn’t paying close enough attention when I checked the final standings from that year.
Like Forsberg's confession re Olympic games
by whatsinaname on Jan 10, 2012 4:47 PM EST up reply actions
Sigh.
And this after I named my firstborn son “Foppa”.
And my firstborn daughter “Peter Forsberg”.
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 4:49 PM EST up reply actions
Just looking at the gamelog for that game. The Pens finished the season with 2 games against the Flyers, while the Flyers played a game in between against New Jersey. Crosby played the previous game, a win and picked up 3 points. With 4 days between games the Pens decide to “rest” Crosby in the season finale and proceed to lose to the Flyers. I know teams can pick and choose whoever they want in games, but I believe if the Pens really wanted to win that game they would have played their best player in that game.
The Pens had the motive to do it, as they lost to the Sens in the playoffs the previous year and had a matchup against a Sens team that was limping into the playoffs as badly as any team I’ve possibly ever seen. There is no doubt in my mind that the Pens threw that last game to get their rematch with the Sens.
by modsuperstar on Jan 10, 2012 2:20 PM EST up reply actions
Letting off the gas isn't the same as throwing the game
Sorry, but I still don’t buy it. It’s a conspiracy theory, and a bad one at that.
Teams probably let off the case for a better playoff matchup all the time
It’s not like they’re going to give the other team the win, but there’s no way lots of teams just go out there and give it 90% instead of 100% if a loss benefits them.
I also have no problem with a team losing a game intentionally for a better playoff matchup. They earned that right by getting into a position where they could do so.
Co-manager, Silver Seven
I agree. If I were any team in the league in 08 and I had a chance to matchup against the Sens in the first round I would have done it. That team was in such bad shape that if the season went another week longer they wouldn’t have even made it. So per say I don’t fault the Pens for doing it, but it doesn’t mean I can’t begrudge them for it.
My allegation wasn’t that the Pens were missing the net intentionally or the goalie was “accidentally” letting goals in, it was that they intentionally lost that game by not fielding the strongest team possible in an attempt to win it.
by modsuperstar on Jan 10, 2012 2:32 PM EST up reply actions
It's funny
That PIT and OTT are in this discussion on ‘game throwing’ given that the draft lottery is their collective fault for game throwing.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 2:34 PM EST up reply actions
ALLEGEDLY
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
by Mark Parisi on Jan 10, 2012 2:35 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
See, I don't think they "lost" it intentionally
They just chose to not ice their best lineup. I’m sure those players still tried their best to win the games they played.
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
So Crosby lights it up the previous game, gets sat out the season finale, then plays 5 days later to open the playoffs. 9 days between games. The Flyers are the Pens biggest and most hated rival. Why if they really wanted that top seed would they sit Crosby?
by modsuperstar on Jan 10, 2012 2:28 PM EST up reply actions
They didn't care about 1st or 2nd seed
Again, there’s a big difference between not trying as hard and actually throwing the game.
To be fair
There’s a big difference for the NHL, but I’m not sure there’s a big difference in the context of the original comment here.
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 2:38 PM EST up reply actions
I think there is
In any professional sport (or really any sport at all, but moreso when there’s money involved), throwing a game is a very serious accusation. Far more serious than “they could have tried harder” or “they could have iced a better lineup”.
Actually throwing the game is hate-worthy. Resting their best players going into the playoffs isn’t.
Really I don’t see a difference in it. Throwing a game is throwing a game. The difference here is that the Pens are up front about the fact they aren’t doing their best to attempt to win the game when they sit Crosby. The idea of match fixing is obviously a lot worse, but that is meant to be intentionally covert in an effort to gain monetary advantage.
by modsuperstar on Jan 10, 2012 2:49 PM EST up reply actions
Except that's not throwing a game
“Not caring” does not equal “trying to lose”. And it’s got to be “trying to lose” to be considered “throwing a game”.
Simple and straight forward.
By your logic, any team that starts their backup goalie in the first of back to back games to save their starter for the 2nd game is trying to throw that first game. And that’s a concept I find beyond absurd.
The context of the allegation matters. The NHL isn’t going to look into the ’08 penguins because a Sens blog commenter got pissy about anything.
Also, I think the thing we would be pissy about is the lack of respect to the Sens that would be evident regardless of whether the tried to lose or didn’t try to win.
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
I don't see it as a lack of respect to the Sens though
The Flyers, however, might have a case for being offended.
True.
I wasn’t particularly upset about it either way. And I agree with you that the Pens didn’t throw anything.
I just don’t think anyone here actually thinks there was actual match-fixing going on.
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 3:14 PM EST up reply actions
The only respectful thing for Ottawa to do then
was to “throw” the game right back at Pitts and lose, to upset Pittsburg’s strategy. How do you like them apples!! “You are throwing the game? No, no, no, we are throwing the game first.”
by whatsinaname on Jan 10, 2012 4:52 PM EST up reply actions
I know in pro sports it happens all the time, it’s just frowned upon if you’re a loser trying to lose, versus a winner doing it.
In the NFL a 14-1 team isn’t going to play their starters in game 16 when they have their playoff seeding cinched up, just like Green Bay did last week. But say the Indianapolis Colts this year played all their 3rd stringers the whole game in an effort to assure they would be blown out in the season finale. There would be much outrage and calls for draft reforms because of it. Really there is no difference, the losing team looks to gain an advantage with a better draft pick. The winning team is looking to save their best players for the playoffs and hopefully gain an advantage over their playoff opponents by being better rested.
by modsuperstar on Jan 10, 2012 2:43 PM EST up reply actions
Maintaining his L10 pace
Karlsson will have:
66 Assists
88 Points
320 Shots
2104 minutes
Let's not get hasty
I believe Mendes pointed out Karlsson’s performance when Kuba was out of the lineup. It wasn’t pretty.
Karlsson himself admitted he is playing off the strength of his teammates. While confident (in spades!) he recognises he can be a liability.
That said, though, I watched him away from the play during the Philly game on Sunday and it’s amazing the way the game changes when he steps on the ice, regardless of whether he has the puck. The other team knows they have to attack him and prevent the puck from going anywhere near him when the Sens are on the PP.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:42 PM EST reply actions
WHAT WAS HIS CORSI
I love soft players (especially Europeans) that play on the perimeter. Enigmas are awesome. Grit and heart-and-soul are red flags.
Erik Karlsson is better than your favourite player.
Twitter: @sens_adnan
Yes,
Less than a point per game. That’s what I meant by “wasn’t pretty”.
It’s Karlsson, so we speak in relative terms around here.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:50 PM EST up reply actions
He was less than a point per game before that too - 22 points in 24 games
He’s less than a point per game currently – 41 points in 43 games
Two of those games don't count
for the purposes of my argument
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:54 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Karlsson is getting married this summer
That’s going to kill his game.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:52 PM EST reply actions
Adnan
Intends to be his ‘mistress’, so it’s possible.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 1:59 PM EST up reply actions
Like Foligno last season?
minus the preseason..
Foligno was Tiger's mistress?
by RogerTheShrubber on Jan 10, 2012 2:31 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Erik Karlsson has also been a Sens hero in 5 out of last 6 recaps
If you are wondering, I only recapped 2 of those.
I love soft players (especially Europeans) that play on the perimeter. Enigmas are awesome. Grit and heart-and-soul are red flags.
Erik Karlsson is better than your favourite player.
Twitter: @sens_adnan
And is at the top of the Hero - Zero standings
actually tied with Alfie at plus 18.
Plus 12 you mean?
I love soft players (especially Europeans) that play on the perimeter. Enigmas are awesome. Grit and heart-and-soul are red flags.
Erik Karlsson is better than your favourite player.
Twitter: @sens_adnan
Murray MacLean
Dont think MacLean is getting enough credit for Karlssons boost in confidence and subsequent outstanding play- guy is logging a ton of ice time under Maclean
also
This trade Murray made with the Coyotes for Turris has made the Sens one solid club!
Turris is a damn fine #2 center in the NHL, not an easy find- Rundbland much easier to replace than a #2 NHL ready center
RE: Turris
I read another blog/news source where Turris was getting ripped for not scoring a lot of goals yet. But I think he has been a reallly solid addition by virtue of how he has opened up Alfie’s game. It’s no conincidence Alfie has been performing as well as he has since Turris showed up.
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 2:24 PM EST up reply actions
More correct
Would be:
“Alfie has made Turris awesome, making himself even more awsome.”
And here’s the cut and paste for all similar comments in the future:
“Alfie has made __] awesome, making himself even more awsome.”
by StraightFromTHM on Jan 10, 2012 2:32 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs
Consistency
I can’t believe how consistent Karlsson has been. Teams have paid more attention to him than the beginning of the season, but Karlsson keeps finding a way to put up points AND make less defensive mistakes. I think that’s what I’m most suprised about. He’s amazing at adjusting to the game.
Also, this DGB article made me laugh.
Loser: Ottawa Senators – Their forwards may seem to be putting up impressive scoring totals, but a closer look reveals that almost all the goals are the result of Erik Karlsson banking the puck in off somebody who wasn’t paying attention because he “wanted to make it more challenging”.
Hah!
Winner: St. Louis Blues – Goaltender Brian Elliot has put up outstanding numbers ever since new coach Ken Hitchcock broke down film of his time with the Senators and suggested he try the slight adjustment of turning his goalie mask around so that the eyeholes are in the front.
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