GDT: Sens @ Rats 10/15/04

Binghamton Senators @ Albany River Rats 10/15/04 7:00 PM

Not sure if anyone's going to have the time to listen to the game tonight, but I'll put this up anyways. Should be a good game!

Webcast:
http://www.live365.com/stations/albanyriverrats?site=albanyriverrats
Note about webcast: If last year's format is followed, broadcast will begin about 15 minutes prior to the game (usually never starts right on time, though). The pre-game show normally features an interview with Robbie Ftorek. Between the first and second periods, there's usually an interview with a current River Rat. (As much as I don't like Jon Scherzer's play-by-play, he does decent interviews)

Scoreboard:
http://www.theahl.com/SlamScoreboard/ahl-frameset.html

Game notes:
The Binghamton Senators finished fourth in the East Division last year with 80 points and a .500 record. This year's Sens team should be even stronger with the addition of players like Jason Spezza, Antoine Vermette and Anton Volchenkov. The B-Sens are geographically the closest division rivals to the Rats, and the teams will square off a total of 10 times this year. Last season the River Rats finished with a 3-4-1-2 record against the B-Sens.

Not only will this the first official AHL game for Zach Parise, but he'll also be playing against former UND teammate Brandon Bochenski for the first time. Robbie Ftorek is at 299 wins as an AHL coach going in to this season. Newly appointed captain Pascal Rheaume will be playing his 253rd regular season game for the Rats. Sens winger Danny Bois will not be in the lineup as he is serving a two-game suspension

Woooo Parise scores!

terrible radio connection- it buffers every 15 seconds. <sigh> it was all i had to look forward too...

Suglobov :bow:

Reading this, I feel like that guy in the Sam Adams commercial. Aw, yeah...whooooooooooooo!

I so wish this was on TV.

EDIT: I just turned on the Binghamton Sens webcast. Rats up 5-0 after the 2nd. Apparantly, the Rats play this team TEN times this season. B-Sensational, the Rats certainly are.

Boooo. No shutout for Ahonen. Josh Langfeld scored on the PP 1:40 into the third to make it 5-1 Albany.

6-1 Rats! Pascal Rheaume saw Thompson go down to the butterfly, stopped, and went for the easy wraparound.

To quote a wise guy, GREAT SUCCESS!

Go to the Binghamton Senators site and click on their live webcast. Its working well.

http://www.binghamtonsenators.com/

much better, thanks!

A Senator (Jan Patill?) has decided to initiate something with Rob Skrlac. BAD IDEA.

Ray Emery reached over the bench and held on to Skrlac's jersey. Skrlac reminds Emery that he let up 5 goals. OK, Emery only gave up 4, but the point's the same.

rough game with all the penalties

WOOOOO SUGGY!!! Hopefully this game is a sign of good things to come.

Volchenkov just "decked" Voros with a hit and now he's in the box.

Is Philman OK?

18:57 into the third, Schubert (Shewbert? Shubert?) scores on the power play to make it 6-2 Albany.

This is looking more and more like an EHM AHL boxscore.

Rats win 6-2! The River Rats are undefeated! ALL THE WAY TO THE CALDER CUP, RATS!

All right, I'm exagurating. Just a little.

I hope Philman's OK.

sorry about the webcast. :(


three stars:

#3 rheaume
#2 parise
#1 suglobov

-a lot of pucks got collected as every rookie forward got their first goal out of the way.

-suglobov looks like he bulked up and appears a lot stronger and able to handle physical play better. his first goal was a beautiful rising slapshot.

-ahonen looked very sharp, and wasn't giving up rebounds.

-the defense took spezza out of play quite effectively. he showed some fancy stickhandling moves...and that was about it.

-i'm thrilled to have watched ray emery get chased after less than 25 minutes. :rolly:

the next three games are against bridgeport, which should be a good test.

sorry about the webcast. :(
the next three games are against bridgeport, which should be a good test.

What? Are you serious? The next three games are against the SAME team?

I liked Suglobov last year, they showed him on a Devils-Rangers preseason game on umm.......MSG or FSNY, can't remember which, pretty sure it was FSNY, he didn't score, but he let off a wicked shot that Dunham kicked out, but it was a laser and I knew he was a special player.

A win is a win. It will give them confidence, Spezza's was picked by the hockey news to win the Calder cup. good for them!

Ratsgirl,

While you were watching Dean McAmmond tonight, did it look like he was still battling to catch up with the other Rats players who have had the luxury of playing and practicing more together? Reason I ask, is a week ago it seemed like he was still trying desperately to get into early season form from the looks of him leaving the ice after 2 periods totally out of breath and exhausted. Couldn't tell if it was just the one game or if he's still behind the eight ball trying to get his level of conditioning up.

Im sure he's still behind the 8-ball, I mean the man hasn't played hockey since last season, he missed all of the playoffs, give him some time.

I was at the game tonight and wanted to share a few thoughts. First, I'm a Bruins fan so I'm not just dumping on the Devils, I respect them more than Ottawa. Stats be damned, Spezza was far and away the best player on the ice IMO. I have to disagree with Ratsgirl about his play tonight. If he had a quality forward playing with him, he would have had several assists tonight. He made several moves in which he left multiple Rats looking very confused as he moved around them. That being said, I don't think he brought his A effort game tonight, but he is still one hell of a player. The Sens overall seemed sluggish and sloppy all night.

I thought Dean McAmmond played quite well tonight. He showed that he is a veteran and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time and just plays the game a different way than the young kids do.

At the risk of irritating people on the board, I was not overly impressed with Parise tonight. His goal was a soft one (Emery was TERRIBLE tonight) and he didn't seem to carry the play at all. He clearly has great vision and awareness, he just didn't seem as much of a presence on the ice, nowhere near the presence Spezza was. I know it's his first "real" pro game, but I was disappointed. He was part of the reason we drove 2 hours each way to see the game.

Your goalie (his name escapes me at the 1:30am) played very well, although he didn't seem to be seriously tested that many times.

Overall, a choppy and fairly poorly played game, but not terribly surprising under the circumstances. Announced attendance - 6,200ish.

Suggie! =D

I was at the game tonight and wanted to share a few thoughts. First, I'm a Bruins fan so I'm not just dumping on the Devils, I respect them more than Ottawa. Stats be damned, Spezza was far and away the best player on the ice IMO. I have to disagree with Ratsgirl about his play tonight. If he had a quality forward playing with him, he would have had several assists tonight. He made several moves in which he left multiple Rats looking very confused as he moved around them. That being said, I don't think he brought his A effort game tonight, but he is still one hell of a player. The Sens overall seemed sluggish and sloppy all night.

I thought Dean McAmmond played quite well tonight. He showed that he is a veteran and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time and just plays the game a different way than the young kids do.

At the risk of irritating people on the board, I was not overly impressed with Parise tonight. His goal was a soft one (Emery was TERRIBLE tonight) and he didn't seem to carry the play at all. He clearly has great vision and awareness, he just didn't seem as much of a presence on the ice, nowhere near the presence Spezza was. I know it's his first "real" pro game, but I was disappointed. He was part of the reason we drove 2 hours each way to see the game.

Your goalie (his name escapes me at the 1:30am) played very well, although he didn't seem to be seriously tested that many times.

Overall, a choppy and fairly poorly played game, but not terribly surprising under the circumstances. Announced attendance - 6,200ish.
Edmonton had attendance over 16000 We desperately needed our hockey fix
Sorry to hear Parise played so poorly I have him as a prospect in my hockey
pool so i wanted to get some first hand opinions. Lucky for me I also have Suglobov

some feedback from this site.

Despite not having the "presence" that Spezza had, Parise still got a goal and an assist in his first pro hockey game, against a defense featuring players like Volchenkov. The presence will devolp with time, I think.

Suglobov.... look at the stats. Enough said.

I was at the game tonight and wanted to share a few thoughts. First, I'm a Bruins fan so I'm not just dumping on the Devils, I respect them more than Ottawa. Stats be damned, Spezza was far and away the best player on the ice IMO. I have to disagree with Ratsgirl about his play tonight. If he had a quality forward playing with him, he would have had several assists tonight. He made several moves in which he left multiple Rats looking very confused as he moved around them. That being said, I don't think he brought his A effort game tonight, but he is still one hell of a player. The Sens overall seemed sluggish and sloppy all night.

I thought Dean McAmmond played quite well tonight. He showed that he is a veteran and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time and just plays the game a different way than the young kids do.

At the risk of irritating people on the board, I was not overly impressed with Parise tonight. His goal was a soft one (Emery was TERRIBLE tonight) and he didn't seem to carry the play at all. He clearly has great vision and awareness, he just didn't seem as much of a presence on the ice, nowhere near the presence Spezza was. I know it's his first "real" pro game, but I was disappointed. He was part of the reason we drove 2 hours each way to see the game.

Your goalie (his name escapes me at the 1:30am) played very well, although he didn't seem to be seriously tested that many times.

Overall, a choppy and fairly poorly played game, but not terribly surprising under the circumstances. Announced attendance - 6,200ish.

So for less than $20 you got 8 goals and some fights, and you're complaining about the game? Geez.

I never said Spezza was bad. Just that his individual skill and flashy moves accomplished nothing. And they didn't. He was held to one shot on goal, and guys like DeMarchi were winning a lot of the one-on-one batttles with him. I've been much more impressed with Spezza in the past. And I'm probably a homer but I think Suglobov was easily the best player on the ice.

As for Parise...he may not have been dominant per se (nor was I expecting him to be), but he was solid. And sure, Emery was awful and the first goal was very weak, but Parise still needs to get credit for carrying the puck in from the blueline before powering through the Binghamton D (Fibinger...who was a -4 for the night) and then embarrassing Emery by putting a backhander five-hole. Even if that sequence hadn't resulted in a goal, it still showed skill, poise and determination.

Too bad you seem not to have enjoyed the game.

I certainly did.

Im sure he's still behind the 8-ball, I mean the man hasn't played hockey since last season, he missed all of the playoffs, give him some time.

yeah, that's kind of my thought. he only played one pre-season game, so i'm sure it will take him a few games to get into game shape.

Good win. I guess it will give them some confidence for next games. Now, let's hope the guys will confirm tonight against Bridgeport, it'll be another great test.

Ahonen was pretty good apparently. I assume he will have the start against the Sound Tigers ?

Ratsgirl, how was Pihlman ?

I didn't see the game, but some of you made Zach Parise sound like the second coming of Ken Gernander. ;) PUH-LEEZE. It was the kid's first game and he had two points. Maybe Lou should cut him so he can go back to school, get his degree, and work in a cubicle the rest of his life, like a lot of us have. I hate cubicles. Whoever felt that they made a good work environment should be sentenced to living in a maze with mice and other rodents. Minimum of 20 years. lol.

Zach will be a superstar in the NHL. If he is not, I will be extremely surprised.

BTW, the Phantoms and the Wolf Pack are on MSG Network tonight. Hopefully, when the Rats play the Pack, MSG will show it.

For those of you who were actually at the game, could you please tell me the line combos and defense pairings? Thanks a lot. :D

I tried to listen to the game last night, but the feed was awful. If I were smart, I would have listened to the Binghamton broadcast, but I ain't so bright. ;)

Good win. I guess it will give them some confidence for next games. Now, let's hope the guys will confirm tonight against Bridgeport, it'll be another great test.

Ahonen was pretty good apparently. I assume he will have the start against the Sound Tigers ?

Ratsgirl, how was Pihlman ?


Clemmensen tonight

Clemmensen tonight

thanks!

For those of you who were actually at the game, could you please tell me the line combos and defense pairings? Thanks a lot. :D


i think this is how they started out (and since I know you care, no, I wasn't paying attention to who played LD or RD, sorry!)

voros-khomutov-suglobov
pihlman-parise-pikkarainen
murphy-rheaume-janssen
mcammond-parise-skrlac

kesa-hale
allen-demarchi
schultz-redlihs

Thanks a lot, ratsgirl. BTW, is Alex Brooks still a Rat? Is he Devils' property, too? And was there an Adrian Foster sighting? lol What is wrong with him now?

Did we have one defenseman who shoots right-handed?

With those linemates, Parise would have to be Wayne Gretzky or Mario to get an assist. Zach will have to bank the puck off their bodies because they couldn't put the puck in the ocean if they were standing at the end of the dock. :D

So is Cam Janssen the second coming of Tie Domi, or what? Got a goal. I don't care if it bounced off of his butt, it is still a goal. You know, a rose is a rose and a goal is a goal. lol

Thanks for any questions you can answer!!! :yo:


P.S. Still looking for the right avatar. If you have a good one, please e-mail it to me. Thanks, again.

Thanks a lot, ratsgirl. BTW, is Alex Brooks still a Rat? Is he Devils' property, too? And was there an Adrian Foster sighting? lol What is wrong with him now?

Did we have one defenseman who shoots right-handed?

With those linemates, Parise would have to be Wayne Gretzky or Mario to get an assist. Zach will have to bank the puck off their bodies because they couldn't put the puck in the ocean if they were standing at the end of the dock. :D

So is Cam Janssen the second coming of Tie Domi, or what? Got a goal. I don't care if it bounced off of his butt, it is still a goal. You know, a rose is a rose and a goal is a goal. lol

Thanks for any questions you can answer!!! :yo:




P.S. Still looking for the right avatar. If you have a good one, please e-mail it to me. Thanks, again.

Foster and Brooks are injured. No none of the D are right handed except Brooks. Foster injured his chest in an exhibition game against Bridgeport

I didn't say Parise was terrible/bad/should be cut or anything close to it. All I was saying is that I was disappointed that he wasn't as good as I thought he was going to be.

Niedermayer27: Zach will be a superstar in the NHL. If he is not, I will be extremely surprised. After watching his play (on tv) in the World Juniors last winter and listening to people talking about him, I was expecting more. I would agree with Rats girl on one thing, the move he made to get into scoring position was a big time move. I think part of my initial post my have been influenced listening to Rats fans at the game talk about "what a great goal" he scored. One guy sitting near us said something along the lines of "I'm not sure if even Gretzky could scored from there". With responses like this from some of the fans, I was just expressing my opinion that Devils fans shouldn't get too hyped up yet about him, although I agree he could be a very good (I doubt great) NHLer some day.

So for less than $20 you got 8 goals and some fights, and you're complaining about the game? Geez.
I had a great time at the game, GOD BLESS HOCKEY :bow: :bow: All I was saying is that the quality of the play was poor. The game was a typical opening game for young teams, sloppy.

I will have to agree to disagree with Ratsgirl about Spezza. For my money, he was far and away the best player on the ice. I'm sure you saw how Albany reacted every time he touched the puck. Albany clearly had a specific plan to defend him and yet he still made some absolutely incredible moves. If the lockout is lengthy :mad: and he plays hard, he will put up some impressive numbers in Binghamton.

Anyhow, thank God hockey is back (albiet it's the AHL)