The Ottawa Senators exceeded expectations with a bounce back year last season, finishing in 5th place in the Eastern Conference with 94 points, a solid improvement from their 11th place 83 point outting the year before. This was done after the Dany Heatley drama that saw the former 50 goal scorer demand a trade that saw Ottawa pick up Milan Michalek and Jonathon Cheechoo, neither of which made a significant impact last year. Nevertheless, the Senators managed to perform well with newcomers Eric Karlsson and Peter Regin performing well and helping the team regain playoff form.
This season the Senators were able to keep the bulk of their lineup with the one main loss being Anton Volchenkov signing with the Devils. To replace him Brian Murray wasted no time finding one of the premier offensive defenceman in the game: Sergei Gonchar. With this switch and the emergence of Eric Karlsson, the Senators will once again have a skilled, puck-moving defence core, which they found their most success with over the past few years and which is essential for succeeding in the faster-paced NHL (Blackhawks have the best puck-moving d-men in the league).
The Senators have a solid team that should be able to claim a playoff spot once again this year. The team will need veteran forwards Daniel Alfredsson and Alex Kovalev to play like they have shown they can throughout their career, while Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek need to step up and provide offense. The one area that may be a problem for the Senators this season is their goaltending. It’s anybody’s guess whether Brian Elliot or Pascal Leclaire will start in net for the Senators this season, but both goaltenders need to be better if the Sens have a chance at the Cup this season.
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Ottawa Senators 2011 Stanley Cup Betting Odds – September 16, 2010
At the time this article was written Sportsbook.com is offering by far the most favourable Ottawa Senators Stanley Cup odds of all of our recommended online sportsbooks. The Ottawa Senators are listed at +4000 at Sportsbook.com. This is compared to +1900 at Bookmaker.com and +3500 at Bodog.com. This means that a $100 wager on the Sens at Sportsbook.com would payout $4100.
I personally am going to place a wager at this price because the Senators should easily make the playoffs and the East doesn’t have any real dominant teams so I would give the Sens as good a chance as anyone at making it out of the Conference. Then, once in the Stanley Cup finals anything can happen. Place your Ottawa Senators Stanley Cup bet at Sportsbook.com!
Ottawa Senators 2010/2011 Prediction
The Senators should easily make the playoffs this season. Last year their series with the Penguins could have easily gone either way and this year I think their growth as a team and the addition of Gonchar could improve their chances. As mentioned earlier I think the +4000 odds at Sportsbook.com are very favourable.
Written By: Niko de Jonge
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