Patrick Eaves, left, is trying to become a more reliable cog in the Senators' potent attack. (Dave Chidley/Canadian Press)
Feature
Depth Charge
High-octane Senators need Eaves to inject secondary scoring
Last Updated Mon., Oct. 1, 2007
By Chris Iorfida CBC Sports
The Ottawa Senators return to action in the 2007-08 season with a squad largely intact from its runner-up status in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Senators have fewer weaknesses than most other NHL clubs, but a common bugaboo has been a lack of consistent secondary scoring in the playoffs.
Patrick Eaves is heading into a pivotal third season, as his sophomore campaign ended with personal disappointment amid the team's best ever result. The winger has scored 34 goals in 131 career NHL games but believes he can be relied on to produce at a more prolific rate.
"Obviously you want to be on the top six [forwards] because you're contributing every night to the team," Eaves told CBCSports.ca. "That's definitely what I'm going for and what I've been working toward all summer."
Led by Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa was second only to Buffalo in goals during the regular season. But when things tightened up in the final against Anaheim and their Big Three struggled, among the other forwards only Mike Fisher and Dean McAmmond seemed a threat to score.
Grinder McAmmond, for example, had as many goals in the playoffs (five) as any two-player combination of Antoine Vermette, Chris Neil, Chris Kelly, Mike Comrie, Oleg Saprykin and Peter Schaefer.
Limited ice time
Eaves was largely consigned to cheering on his teammates after suffering a concussion from a hit delivered by Pittsburgh's Colby Armstrong in the first round of the post-season. Eaves came back to play three more times late in the playoffs, but with limited ice time.
The 23-year-old got a grim reminder of his own troubles when McAmmond was decked on an illegal check by Steve Downie of Philadelphia in a pre-season game on Sept. 25.
"It's not an equipment issue, when you get blindsided like that," Eaves said two days after the McAmmond hit. "It's the type of hit, as opposed to the equipment."
While Eaves won't admit to having extra motivation this season, the fact is in the weeks before his concussion his ice time had dropped from earlier in the campaign. As a result, his goal total fell from 20 in an abbreviated rookie year to 14 in 73 games last season, when the five-foot-eleven, 190-pounder more often found himself in a checking role.
"I felt I got better as a player overall last year so I wasn't too real worried about the points, especially with the way we ended up," said Eaves, who spent the summer cross-training with other pro players, including his older brother, Ben.
New face behind the bench
Ottawa's most significant change this season is behind the bench. With Bryan Murray replacing John Muckler as general manager, assistant John Paddock has taken over from Murray as coach.
New Senators coach John Paddock, right, isn't afraid to be blunt with star forward Jason Spezza and the rest of the Senators. (Patrick Doyle/Canadian Press)
While there are eight current Senators who spent significant time with Paddock when he was the head coach at Binghamton of the AHL between 2002 and 2004, Eaves wasn't one of them.
But he told CBCSports.ca he's excited about the chance to play for Paddock.
"He's a very good bench coach, so far that I've noticed in the pre-season," said Eaves. "He always has the right players out at the right time."
"Patty Eaves, is he going to be a top-six player for the rest of his career?" Paddock wondered publicly as the team began training camp. "I'm not sure he can score. Does he make things happen quick enough?"
'Best player on the ice'
Just under two weeks later, Paddock was lauding Eaves after one pre-season contest as "the best player on the ice," adding that the performance was in line with the skater's play the entire camp.
Comrie, Schaefer and Sapyrkin are now gone, and veteran acquisitions Shean Donovan and Nik Dimitrakos typically can go weeks between goals.
Offensive contributions from Eaves this season will be a necessity and no longer simply "nice to have."
The son of former NHL player Mike Eaves was born in Calgary and raised everywhere from Minnesota to Hershey, Pa., to Finland before going to college in Boston.
It's the kind of background that will ensure Eaves can roll with whatever comes his way this season.
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