The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Start For Binghamton Senators

The title taken from the film says it all, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, as that phrase has been recycled many times in the sports world ever since the movie debut in 1966 featuring Clint Eastwood, in the first of many ‘spaghetti westerns’ in his career. I cannot find a more appropriate title to how this season has progressed after just 13 games for the Binghamton Senators as one of my childhood VHS favorites.

Today, their record stands at 4-7-2 for 10 points, good (or bad?) for last place in the division, and while it’s too early to be talking about the playoffs, it can’t be ignored because as it stands if the trend continues, they’ll have no shot of making them. Defensive turnovers and player inconsistencies are all over the place for some, and it’s starting to wear on the fans. Especially this one.

So let’s begin with my version of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on a few selected players worth noting for.

The Good

Special Teams – The Power Play got off to a slow start at 2/32 rated next to last in the league but has since caught fire led by Chris Wideman’s 3 goals and 3 assists and going 8/18 over the last 5 games as they now find themselves in 6th position with a 20.0% ranking. Penalty Kill is somewhere in the middle in 13th place with a respectable 84.6%.

Chris Wideman – (8 goals, 9 assists, 13gms -1) Easily the best player on the offensive side as he is second in the league in points and fresh off earning Player of the Week and Month of October awards. Scary what this team would look like without Wideman, so let’s hope he can stay healthy here on out.

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Matt Puempel – (4 goals, 5 assists, 13gms -4) Overall effort is there and his scoring will come as he’s off to a somewhat slow start. Had 2 goals and an assist on Saturday. Tried to get into a fight with Jesper Pettersson before getting mauled over by big bad Zack Stortini, and wisely backed down. Smart man!

Ryan Dzingel – (3 goals, 1 assist, 12 gms -6) Skating, skating and more skating. Always involved as him moving up the line-up is one of the best moves replacing Carter Camper, who seems to be doing better on the fourth line. Pleased with his early progress and is decent in the dot even if he’s at -6, which mostly came with his time spent on the fourth line I’m going to assume.

Shane Prince – (3 goals, 3 assists, 11gms -4) I’m going to miss Mr. Prince once he’s gone. This season he’s turned it up a notch getting ample scoring chances and taking his game more to the middle while getting shots in on net. Had a beauty of a goal up in Rochester last week and his celebration completely sold it.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau – (3 goals, 6 assists, 13gms +2) Top centerman and gives his all out of his stocky 5’9 frame, including sticking up for his team-mates as he threw down the gloves with Ronalds Kenins after his hard hit to Patrick Mullen in the corner. Heart of the team by a mile, but could use a few tips in the fighting department.

The Bad

Shots Allowed – It’s utterly baffling with a defense, as good as it appears on paper, has allowed a league worse 479 SOG in 13 games for an average of 36.85 per outing! On top of that, the club has 13 players in the red with a (-) and only 6 in the black (+) with two even (0). Out of those the most alarming player is Fredrik Claesson as he had a team best +37 last season, good for third in the league compared to this season trending  a -7. I’m just at a lost in words for the most part.

Alex Grant – (1 goal, 3 assists, 13 gms -8) So our top defensive pair are a combined -15, if such a worthy stat comparison exists. Either way it’s not adequate enough to be on the other side of winning games. I expected more out of Grant as he’s had his share of turnovers but his play in the middle is troublesome.

Mike Sdao – (0 goals, 1 assist, 11 gms 0) Costly errors and ill-advised penalties are Mike’s down-fault in slowing the team down in certain areas as we all know he can fight with the best of them, but needs to make better plays in front of the net and utilize his body more instead of the occasional stick. Although definitely wouldn’t want to run into this guy in a dark alley.

Carter Camper – (1 goal, 3 assists, 13 gms -7) Started out on the second line but his play-making abilities were non-existent in the beginning as he finds himself now on the fourth line with Darren Kramer(!) on his side. Had one good game in Rochester but hasn’t produced much else. Gotta keep those legs moving or he often finds himself on the seat of his pants.

Aaron Johnson – (1 goal, 6 assists, 13 gms +6) On the fence with this one. He’s putting up numbers on pace with his past averages, good guy in the locker room, but coughs up the puck often and makes poor passes leading to turnovers. Not consistent enough in front of the net.

Garrett Thompson – (1 goal, 2 assists, 13 gm -2) If this is all he’s got then we’re in for a long season ahead for Garrett. Seems to be a floater and goes unnoticed at times. Nearly did put one in the other night, but it was the wrong net! Cool first name though.

Cole Schneider – (3 goals, 4 assists, 12gms -7) This was supposed to be his season and so far, it hasn’t been. He’s had all the support one craves for in starting out with Camper (well, ok) and Prince, and now aligned with Pageau and Puempel, but with just 3 goals to show for isn’t cutting it for the third year pro. That limo ride to Ottawa is now parked in the garage until further notice. If that was your guess from my tweet, you win a doughnut.

"We can't win one-lose one or win one-lose two or we are going to fall out of a race and have a big hole to climb out of,"B-Sens coach Luke Richardson said."We got to make sure that we're embarrassed by this and don't let it happen again" -Press & Sun-Bulletin

And The Ugly

The Attrition of Andrew Hammond – He has started in all but one game for Binghamton. Has played more minutes (714:51), suffered the most losses (7) and has made the most saves (385) in the league while being ranked 45th. That’s not what you want out of your #1 goaltender as those numbers are indeed troubling and at this rate he’ll be spent come late January or early February, if not sooner.

Some have said if it wasn’t for Hammy’s part this team would be already sunk, and the goaltender is only as good as your defense. Both valid points, but he’s been forced into action with no window of relief in sight. Plain and simple, the situation is downright ugly therefore, Hammond is included in this category. Kabish?

Could be worse I suppose, as with the case of the Iowa Wild in not one, but both goaltenders struggling with one ranked 44th – Johan Gustafsson (2-5-0, 3.49, 0.891) and the other 47th – John Curry (0-4-0, 3.72, 0.885) as their club is dead last in the AHL at 2-9-0. No thanks, been there, done that a few years back.

Brad Mills – He hasn’t stepped on the ice yet, but his 20 game suspension is as much as an embarrassment to the league as well as leaving a black eye in the organization. Not sure what his role is here once the suspension has been lifted.

Andrew Hammond – (3-7-2, 3.53 GAA, 0.902 SA%) Although he can’t be at blame for all things considered gone bad to ugly, he’s right in the thick of it as this club will not ride on behalf of Hammond’s shoulders. It’s also not going to change soon with prospect Chris Driedger (1-1-1, 3.57, 0.897) fledgling around trying to find his groove for Evansville as goaltending is now an apparent issue with zero depth involved in the Senators Organization. Scott Greenham (1-0-0, 2.24, 0.942) has got to step up and carry some of the work load, and that might be asking a lot from a guy that’s played in parts of only 12 games in four years in the AHL.

Darren Kramer – (0 goals, 1 assist, 13 gms -4) He does try, I’ll give him that, but having tough guy and team pest in the line-up every single night? On the flip side you have to ask yourself, who’s going to take his spot? Danny Hobbs? Jakub Culek? Perhaps he’s in there because Mills screwed up. I’m sure Luke didn’t envision Camper aligned with Kramer at any given point. Besides that, his fighting skills are just average as he’s more of a clutch and grab type of scrapper, a tad above the overly talented Bobby Farnham. Ouch!

– Those players left out didn’t shine in any of the three category’s, so consider them perhaps in the ‘Average Group’ or ‘Up and Down’ category, which would’ve really messed up my plans and killed the overall theme if I included them in this piece. However, my Quarterly Grades report is coming up soon and will cover all.

*Cover Photo Courtesy of Alicia Strauch