Sens to face Flyers in 2009-10 playoffs!
It's fun at this time of the season to take a look at the trends and gaze into the future at the possibilies... Join me on this trip.
The Senators finished their season yesterday with a convincing 5-2 win over the 7th place Sabres. This win gave the Senators 99 points, and knocked the Philadelphia Flyer out of 4th place in the Conference. While the Flyers also finished with 99 points, the Senators had two more victories, and secured home ice advantage. The powerhouses of the conference are Pittsburgh and Washington who finished first and second, seperated only by one point.
Daniel Alfredsson has had a banner season. The league's senior captain scored 94 points on 33 goals and 61 assists, fifth overall in the league. Mike Fisher had his best year ever with 72 points on 31 goals and 42 assists. Jason Spezza wasn't the scoring powerhouse he'd been in previous years with only 27 goals. Rather, like Alfredsson, he bacame a playmaker, racking up 56 assists, and helping linemake Milan Michalek to his best season with 42 goals and 38 assists.
Jonathan Cheechoo has had a disappointing year once again. Although his shots on goals were well up from previous years, he battled in trying to find the back of the net. The twelve games he missed because of a groin injury earlier in the season didn't help either.
The Senators were helped by the tremendous performance of Jarkko Ruutu and Chris Kelly, who had banner years. Ruutu, who never scored more than 10 goals in a season prior to this year, finished with 21 goals and 15 assists. Kelly had an equally good year with 17 goals and 28 assists. With Shean Donovan's 25 points, the Senators fourth line has been the best they've had in a long time, and provide dangerous depth to the Ottawa legions.
After a slow start to the season, Alexei Kovalev rallied in February and has been hot coming down the stretch, finishing with 66 points. The renewed finesse of play between AK-27 and Alfie has been key to the Senators' matching their club record of 11 games in a row where they were unbeaten in March. Netminder Pascal Leclaire, who was solid througout the season, has had moments of brilliance during the March streak when he openly admitted he wanted to exceed the Senators record, and had to settle for tying the mark. He finished the season with a .907 save percentage and 2.71 goals against.
Defensively, the Sens have had impeccable service from Chris Philips and Anton Volchenkov, and a pleasant surprise from Matt Carkner and Chris Campoli who have forged a solid offensive-defensive pairing.
The Senators finished their season yesterday with a convincing 5-2 win over the 7th place Sabres. This win gave the Senators 99 points, and knocked the Philadelphia Flyer out of 4th place in the Conference. While the Flyers also finished with 99 points, the Senators had two more victories, and secured home ice advantage. The powerhouses of the conference are Pittsburgh and Washington who finished first and second, seperated only by one point.
Daniel Alfredsson has had a banner season. The league's senior captain scored 94 points on 33 goals and 61 assists, fifth overall in the league. Mike Fisher had his best year ever with 72 points on 31 goals and 42 assists. Jason Spezza wasn't the scoring powerhouse he'd been in previous years with only 27 goals. Rather, like Alfredsson, he bacame a playmaker, racking up 56 assists, and helping linemake Milan Michalek to his best season with 42 goals and 38 assists.
Jonathan Cheechoo has had a disappointing year once again. Although his shots on goals were well up from previous years, he battled in trying to find the back of the net. The twelve games he missed because of a groin injury earlier in the season didn't help either.
The Senators were helped by the tremendous performance of Jarkko Ruutu and Chris Kelly, who had banner years. Ruutu, who never scored more than 10 goals in a season prior to this year, finished with 21 goals and 15 assists. Kelly had an equally good year with 17 goals and 28 assists. With Shean Donovan's 25 points, the Senators fourth line has been the best they've had in a long time, and provide dangerous depth to the Ottawa legions.
After a slow start to the season, Alexei Kovalev rallied in February and has been hot coming down the stretch, finishing with 66 points. The renewed finesse of play between AK-27 and Alfie has been key to the Senators' matching their club record of 11 games in a row where they were unbeaten in March. Netminder Pascal Leclaire, who was solid througout the season, has had moments of brilliance during the March streak when he openly admitted he wanted to exceed the Senators record, and had to settle for tying the mark. He finished the season with a .907 save percentage and 2.71 goals against.
Defensively, the Sens have had impeccable service from Chris Philips and Anton Volchenkov, and a pleasant surprise from Matt Carkner and Chris Campoli who have forged a solid offensive-defensive pairing.
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