In light of last night’s announcement from the Philadelphia Flyers that Chris Pronger will miss the remainder of the season and playoffs because of severe post-concussion syndrome, Peter Laviolette made these comments before the start of their 4-3 victory in Montreal.
“It’s really tough news about Chris. I think first and foremost we wish for him to have good health and anything after that I guess we’ll sort it out.
It’s hard to replace a guy like that. He plays 26, 27 minutes and there’s no one individual in the organization that we can find somewhere and replace him.”
He’s right. There isn’t. Fortunately, there’s a TSN panelist and former NHL head coach who’s willing to close his eyes, put an index finger to his temple and concoct a solution to this dilemma.
Here’s some genius courtesy of Marc Crawford’s official Twitter account:
“If I’m Paul Holmgren, I trade ASAP for Sergei Gonchar. Give them a young prospect the same age as their developing core players.” #MaybeSchenn
On Crawford’s Twitter profile, it lists him as a ‘Former NHL head coach and NHL on TSN hockey analyst.’ Nowhere do the words ‘out of touch’ or ‘unintentional comedy’ appear.
It seems quite obvious that when Crawford forms an irrationally favorable, he maintains it for at least twenty years.
How else could one explain the hedgehog-like haircut that he’s seemingly had forever or his questionable approbation of Sergei Gonchar?
In Crawford’s defence, Gonchar has rebounded considerably from his disappointing 2010-11 campaign. However, if Marc Crawford wants to be gainfully employed by another NHL organization anytime soon, I’d probably refrain from making absurd suggestions about moving Brayden Schenn — who is not only one of the top prospects in hockey but the centerpiece of the Flyers’ Mike Richards trade return — for a 37-year old defenceman whose resolve is softer than the tips of Crawford’s gelled coif. (Note: In fairness to Gonch, he’s still a very serviceable second pairing guy who can put up some good offensive numbers on the power play.)
It is a time like this I wish that every GM followed Mike Gillis’ footsteps and created their own Twitter account. If he had one, I imagine Paul Holmgren’s feed would look something like this:
“If I’m Marc Crawford and the gold medal’s on the line, I don’t go to Ray Bourque in a shootout.” #MaybeGretzky
All joking aside, Philadelphia has the potential to be a great trade partner for Ottawa. With Pronger going on the LTIR indefinitely, it creates enough cap space to fit one of the Senators’ veteran defencemen. So long as Bryan Murray doesn’t kick the can on another Columbus Blue Jackets’ top ten selection like Jakub Voracek, I’d be interested to see what he can get for a guy like Filip Kuba or the aforementioned Gonchar.
Kyle Turris Close to Being Dealt
If you’ve been following former third overall draft selection’s progress since returning to the Coyotes, odds are you probably noticed Darren Dreger’s tweets this morning that “Things are heating up on the Kyle Turris trade front. Sources indicate a deal could come down today” and “Told the Calgary Flames are out of the Turris hunt. Ottawa still has interest. Wpg isn’t in. Toronto is in its freeze (lol)…”
It’s worth noting that Turris didn’t play in last night’s game against the Oilers. It was the second consecutive game in which he was made a healthy scratch. One has to wonder if he was held out for precautionary reasons because he hadn’t produced offensively or whether it was because trade talks had progressed with another team.
Pierre Lebrun threw in his two cents on Turris via Twitter, “Am told the Senators and Coyotes have spoken this week on Turris but I don’t get the sense that Ottawa is the front-runner right now…”and “Ottawa would be a great fit for Turris, slotting in as No. 2 center behind Spezza…. not sure if Senators can pull it off or not though.”
I’ve been dubbed the chairman of the “Bring Turris to Ottawa campaign” by James Gordon but it’s worth mentioning that I’m only in favor of bringing in the former third overall draft selection if the price is low.
Adam McQuaid Fined
Brendan Shanahan fined the Bruins defenceman $2,500 for this knee-on-knee hit on Nick Foligno Wednesday night. For what it’s worth Foligno believed that the 5-minutes and a game was punishment enough for his former Sudbury Wolves junior teammate.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FcAdqJ71L1A
News and Notes From Practice
- According to everyone, head coach Paul MacLean told the media today that Kuba and Gonchar will not return tonight to face the Penguins. He is hopeful however that they could both make their returns next Tuesday against Buffalo.
- Alex Auld gets the start tonight. He faces off against Brent Johnson who’s 8-1-1 with a 1.99 GAA and a .940 SV% in his career against Ottawa.
- Milan Michalek has been riding
Sens Marketing Department is Killing It With These All-Star Game Campaign Videos
Governor Rick Perry could learn a thing or two from these Sens Campaign Ads
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