Despite surrendering a 2-0 lead to the Montreal Canadiens, Mike Fisher's overtime marker was able to propel the Ottawa Senators to their ninth straight victory.Fisher, enduring a career year, has continued with his excellent two-way play. Jason Spezza has goals in six straight games. Daniel Alfredsson has eleven points in eight games since returning (early, once again) from injury. Alexei Kovalev is playing inspired hockey, and has points in nine of his last ten contests. Brian Elliot has been nearly unbeatable in net, and has surrendered just eight goals over his last seven games.
In short, the Ottawa Senators are clicking on all cylinders.
Cory Clouston's squad has come a long way over the past couple of weeks. Their team defense is excellent, and they're finally beginning to get the goaltending any team needs to be successful at the NHL level.
Clouston's journey from successful AHL coach to winning NHL bench boss is something that is being mirrored all around the league. While several "old time" NHL coaches have seen their teams underachieve here in '09-'10 (Claude Julien in Boston, Brent Sutter in Calgary, Paul Maurice in Carolina, Ken Hitchcock in Columbus, Marc Crawford in Dallas, Pat Quinn in Edmonton, and Ron Wilson in Toronto), many others who have been promoted from within their own organization - like Clouston - have seen their squads make tremendous strides.
Bruce Boudreau's Capitals are the class of the Eastern Conference. Scott Gordon has a young Islander team fighting for a playoff spot. John Anderson has the Thrashers positioned well for the franchise's second playoff appearance. Joe Sacco may very well take home the Jack Adams Award if his Avs can stay within the top eight out west. And you might've heard of a guy by the name of Dan Bylsma, whose Penguins are the defending Stanley Cup Champions. All of these coaches had zero NHL coaching experience prior to their promotions.
By no means does an NHL coach need to be elevated from within their own organization to be successful, but the results have been overwhelmingly positive for these coaches. Such coaches have often already worked with many of their franchise's young players at the AHL level, and are well accustomed to working with youth on a day-to-day basis.
Clouston and has coaching staff needs to be given a lot of credit for the way they have brought along young defenseman Erik Karlsson. After struggling mightily in the early going of his first season in North America, the 19-year old defenseman has become an integral part of Ottawa's success. Karlsson registered two assists today - including a pass that sprung Fisher for the game-winning goal - and logged a team high 24:51 to go along with a +2 rating.
The progress Karlsson has made over the last month, or so, has been unbelievable.
There's a lot to be said for the familiarity that comes with coaching young players everyday in the AHL. Joe Sacco has two players selected in the 2009 draft making due as his second and third line centers (Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly). Bruce Boudreau has helped make Mike Green a household name, while also springboarding the careers of Tomas Fleischmann and Eric Fehr.
Successful coaching is all about putting your players in positions in which they can succeed and reach their maximum potential - something that is very difficult with young players. But coaches such as Clouston are already well-versed in these types of situations.
Kudos to Clouston, and kudos to the entire Senators team. Ottawa features 20 guys giving it their all every night, and their nine-game winning streak is well deserved...
The other four Canadian teams will faceoff later tonight, with the Canucks paying a visit to former GM Brian Burke's Maple Leafs, and the Oilers heading to Calgary in the Battle of Alberta.
I'm expecting a big game out of the Sedins - it's hard to visualize the Leafs' defense slowing down the Canucks first line. If Toronto heads to the box, it should be interesting to see if the league's worst penalty kill can slow down Vancouver's power play...very doubtful.
The Battle of Alberta should be interesting, with Edmonton winless in twelve and the Flames winless in nine. You can bet both teams will be hungry for a "W." If the Flames don't right the sinking ship soon, the Battle of Alberta may come to be known as the "Battle for Taylor Hall." You have to think Calgary will be able to find a way into the post-season - despite the lack of scoring up front there is just so much talent on the blue line and in the crease for Brent Sutter's club...
Also - just heard that Ottawa's Nick Foligno suffered a broken leg and will be out for 6-8 weeks. Tough break for the kid, as he has fit in well on a line with Kovalev and Fisher.
It looks like Michael Cammalleri is going to have an MRI. His tumble into the boards after a big hit from Anton Volchenkov didn't look too good, and word is it's probably an MCL injury.
No comments:
Post a Comment