One More Reason The Senators Should Play McGrattan Every Game

From the San Jose Mercury News:

"On an otherwise ordinary shift, Sharks main man Joe Thornton made contact with Montreal agitator Maxim Lapierre (the perfect name for a Montreal agitator, by the way). In response, Lapierre gave Thornton a borderline cheap knockdown shot directly in front of the Sharks' bench....

The next two shifts when Thornton came over the boards, he was not accompanied by usual linemate Milan Michalek. Instead, Michalek was replaced by Jody Shelley....

For those two shifts, Shelley skated alongside Lapierre. With both body and verbal language, Shelley informed the Canadiens transgressor that any more nonsense would have consequences.

"Do we talk in that situation?" Shelley said Tuesday after the Sharks' practice. "Yeah, we talk. He might say, 'It was a clean hit.' And then I say, 'I don't care.' He knew that shift was going to be uncomfortable for him and that if he got the puck, I was going to run him over."

Guess what? Lapierre was not a problem the rest of the night, giving Thornton his space. ..

"It was great," Thornton said Tuesday. "Everything kind of settled down after that. When Jody steps out there with you, you get just a little bit of extra confidence. He makes everybody feel about three inches taller and 10 pounds heavier." "

The Senators are looking for toughness, but their nuclear weapon is sitting in the press box every night. Now it looks like Daniel Alfredsson is a game-time decision for the Senators because Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin cross checked him in the ribs. That shouldn't be allowed to happen to your star players.

.

Who do the Senators sit out? Randy Robitaille. No offense to Randy, but you don't win Stanley Cups with perimeter players like him. He's been better lately but he's still not a warrior by any stretch of the imagination.