Clouston Making his Mark with Ottawa
The world is looking bright and shiny these days for the Ottawa Senators, who are riding high on a pair of wins over Montreal and Tampa Bay. With a record that stands at 5-2, the pundits have already begun asserting the inevitability of a berth in the playoffs for these up and coming Senators.
While it may be a little early to be talking about playoff prospects, the team does appear to be coming together. Goaltending from Pascal Leclaire has been solid if not spectacular, the defense has been solid, and even the offense has begun to wake up. Last week, Milan Michalek had his coming out party against the Lighting, scoring three goals, including two shorthanded. Saturday it was Alex Kovalev`s turn for a breakout game, picking up a goal and an assist, not to mention the adoration of the notoriously partisan Montreal fans.
Meanwhile, among the other good news this week was a move that didn’t necessarily make the top headlines, but could still be considered significant. General Manager Bryan Murray signed rookie defenseman Matt Carkner to a one-way, two year deal worth $1.4 million. It’s a step up in the world for the 29 year old Carkner, who had spent the last eight years toiling in the AHL. The guaranteed NHL pay also means the Sens plan on keeping him around for the long-term.
The signing looks like a good move for Murray, assuming Carkner keeps playing the way he has been so far this season. In this modern NHL, $700 000 is a reasonable price to be paying for a number five or six defensive defenseman with the physical presence of Carkner, especially considering the shortage of such players in the Sens system.
Looking at the bigger picture, the Matt Carkner contract is a sign of the growing influence coach Cory Clouston has on the culture of the Sens organization, and especially with GM Bryan Murray. It has been said that he is a coach that rewards a hard work ethic, and he has certainly shown that since he arrive in Ottawa by promoting several players from the Sens’ farm team in Binghamton. Clouston is quite familiar with the players in Binghamton, having coached them for the year and a half previous to his promotion to the big leagues.
Soon after Clouston arrived mid-way through last season, forward Ryan Shannon was promoted from the AHL and ended up finishing with 20 points in 35 games. He found himself playing a fairly significant offensive role, and even ended up spending time on the second powerplay. In the summer he was rewarded with a one-year contract, and a spot on the Sens that was his to lose.
Meanwhile, coming into training camp this season, of the few players expected to content for the final spots on the team, Peter Regin was not likely the favorite. However, he carved himself out a spot on the team with a solid preseason. Ditto for Carkner, a 29 year old career AHL player whose signing in 2007 barely caused a blink at the time. He came out and proved that the Sens needed what he could bring to the table. That Clouston was familiar with both from his time in Binghamton was certainly a factor in bringing them onto the team.
Both are players who seem to represent the Cory Clouston work ethic that is being instilled in the Ottawa Senators. It`s a simple mantra: work hard and you will be rewarded. Players like Ilya Zubov, Cody Bass or defensman Brian Lee were favoured to make the team, but simply weren’t able to impress Clouston or Murray enough to stick around this fall. Zubov in particular, until recently a hot prospect, seems to have fallen out of favour with the team, and recently headed back to Russia.
Whatever Cory Clouston has been doing with this team, it`s been working. The Senators have now gone 24-13-4 since his arrival last year. It should not be forgotten that was a team that had started the season 17-24-7, so the change is quite startling. Now the hope of fans and pundits alike is that Clouston can take this upstart team battle their way through a full NHL season and into the playoffs.
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