Ducks’ Hagman Might Be Option For Ottawa

Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray has never been one to hide his intentions from the press, unlike some of his colleagues who apply to the old Cosa Nostra theory that “three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead”.

Murray telegraphed his wish to pick up another forward who can put the puck in the net and even owner Eugene Melnyk said he’d support Murray’s efforts at the deadline. With the Senators continuing to roll after a somewhat surprising 4-1 win over the Sharks, coming on the heels of a long flight into the Bay Area 3 time zones away, Murray is clearly in a position where he has to start thinking about the playoffs.

There’s some disagreement amongst fans whether or not Murray should be risking the chemistry of the team for a better shot in the post-season, and probably a near unanimous sentiment that he shouldn’t deal any top prospects, but some kind of move is inevitable. Especially when Murray has a history of adding at the deadline, even if a lot of those moves didn’t pan out as expected.

Those were different teams under different circumstances. This year’s edition of the Senators is the first team under Murray’s GM tenure that seems to have fresh momentum heading into the stretch, as opposed to the post-Cup final squads that were hanging on to past glories.

A smart deadline deal for a team on the upswing can really push them to the next level, while that same deal might just burden a club already fading under expectations.

Yet if you look at the situation closely, it seems like Murray has already pulled the trigger on the biggest move he’ll make this season when he dealt future offensive stud David Rundblad for Kyle Turris, a player who is making Murray look like a genius after bloggers like myself called him crazy. But that’s the hockey business. One day you’re on the ropes, the next you’re landing uppercuts.

Barring a stunning deal that brings in a well-known player with term and money on his contract, the Senators are likely looking for a veteran forward who is about to become a UFA, has a scoring touch and can fit into coach Paul MacLean’s system by being able to skate. Even if the Senators defense isn’t very fast as a group, it seems like MacLean insists on his forwards being able to play with speed.

Keeping that in mind, who would be a likely target for Bryan Murray when talks heat up after the All-Star break?

A guy that seems to fit is Ducks veteran winger Niklas Hagman, now a bit of a journeyman after stops in Florida, Dallas, Toronto, Calgary and now Anaheim. He’s had a few rough stretches in his career but he’s put up over 20 goals three times, has 30 games of playoff experience (all with Dallas), and would immediately become one of Ottawa’s best skaters. He also has experience playing either wing and would be an easy plug-in on any line. Other than inconsistency, Hagman’s biggest drawback is that he’s not physical but the Senators aren’t exactly lacking in that department.

If Hagman’s not to the Senators taste, there’s a buffet of players heading into UFA status on bad teams that would be available to Murray. Tuomo Ruutu will be a guy that everyone will be chasing but Carolina GM Jim Rutherford will probably want to hit a home run with the gritty winger which means Tuomo will likely miss being the third Ruutu brother to be brought into the Senators organization (after Jarkko and Mikko).

Ales Hemsky and Ryan Smyth of the Oilers are probably out of Murray’s range for similar reasons. But Sammy Pahlsson and Vaclav Prospal of the woeful Blue Jackets might be options for Murray. Pahlsson doesn’t have the offense Murray might want but he’s known as a greasy playoff guy and won a Cup against Ottawa while with the Ducks. MacLean knows Pahlsson well from the Western Conference and there might be some interest there. Prospal is ancient but has a history with the Senators and can play both wing and centre. He may still have a few goals left in him but he’s probably a long shot to join Ottawa.

But who knows? For all this talk, Murray might just decide to fold his arms and watch other teams fall all over themselves for past-their-prime players while his Senators plug the holes with prospects from Bingo.

Maybe Andre Petersson steps in and scores a hat trick in his first game. I’m pretty much through with predicting how this season will go for the Senators. There seems to be a surprise around every corner and I expect the trade deadline to be much the same.

Sens Fans Live The Near Perfect Day .... And Other Strange Rumblings From Capital City

Ottawa 4 Tampa Bay 1

Just as I was going to write something about the Senators win over the Bolts tonight, I catch sight of Sens prospect Mika Zibanejad scoring the overtime goal for Sweden to win the World Juniors and doing an incredible "Foligno leap" as his teenage teammates swarm him in a shambolic blur of yellow jerseys.

 It was an unbelievable goal by a can't-miss kid who has power forward written all over him.

Could Ottawa Senators fans possibly have a better day in January?

Their top prospect stars in the World Juniors and scores the clutch overtime goal to become a hero in his homeland.

Four Ottawa Senators - Daniel Alfredsson, Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek - get voted into the starting lineup of the All-Star game right here in Kanata while the Leaf's golden boy Phil Kessel gets buried before the finish line as Sens fans stack the ballots at the last minute (Oh the indignity! Kessel gets picked last in the "fun" draft last year and now the millions of Leaf fans hang him out to dry).

And just to make sure everybody gets a gift bag, the Senators roll over the Lightning for their 4th straight win that temporarily puts them ahead of Pittsburgh for 5th in the East.

Not sure I should write much more because most Ottawa fans are probably in some kind of happiness coma or else blind drunk in an effort to deal with the mind shattering events of today.

Allright, one more for the deranged.

Alfie had a 3-point night.

Grown men are weeping across the city.

Black Aces Senators 3 Stars

1. Craig Anderson
2. Daniel Alfredsson
3. Kyle Turris

Honorable Mentions: Zack Smith, Colin Greening, Jason Spezza and Erik Condra.

***

Expansion Twins Starting To Grow Up

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Ottawa Senators both entered the league in 1992 when the rather dapper NHL President John Ziegler was the king of Palm Springs and nobody but basketball fans had heard of Gary Bettman (nor had they heard of an NHL "Commissioner"). Here’s a few random comparisons between the two relatively young franchises:

1. After their first two NHL seasons, the Bolts had 53 wins while the Sens had 24.

2. To date, the Senators have had 9 head coaches (including Roger Neilson for two games) while the Lightning have had 8. Basically a wash.

3. The Lightning have had 8 different captains. The Senators 7.

4. The highest sweater number worn by a Senator was 94 by Stan Neckar. For the Bolts it’s 97 worn this season by Matt Gilroy.

5. A few notable players that fans may or may not remember that have played for both Ottawa and Tampa are Alexandre Daigle, Filip Kuba, Vaclav Prospal, Bruce Gardiner, Andrej Meszaros, Mike Sillinger, Zenon Konopka, Cory Stillman, Janne Laukkanen, Andreas Johannson, Brandon Bochenski, Grant Ledyard, Ryan Shannon, Stan Neckar, Luke Richardson, Colin Forbes, Jody Hull, Andre Roy, David Hale, Darren Rumble and Juha Ylonen.

6. The Lightning have had the first overall pick in the Entry Draft 3 times, taking Roman Hamrlik, Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos. The Senators also picked first 3 times taking Alexandre Daigle, Bryan Berard and Chris Phillips.

7. The Bolts best late round pick has to be Pavel Kubina, taken 179th overall in the 7th round in 1996. Obviously Ottawa’s is Daniel Alfredsson taken 133rd overall in 1994’s 6th round. Maybe Ryan Dzingel will change all that in a few years.

8. Ottawa has used 27 goalies in its existence. Tampa has used 37. Remember Dieter Kochan? Who’s calling who a goalie graveyard now?

9. The Bolts have made the playoffs 6 times in their 18 completed seasons, with the most in a row being 4 from 2003 to 2007. The Sens made it 12 times in the same span, doing it 11 years in a row between 1997 and 2008.

10. The one comparison that really matters? The Bolts have a Stanley Cup.

NOTES

Some more good news for Senators fans: the players voted into the All-Star game will be spending the month of January trying to prove to everybody they truly deserve to be there. Daniel Alfredsson already mentioned something like that around Christmas, saying he wished it was his play qualifying him for the game and not just his popularity (to paraphrase). Is it a coincidence he’s been on fire lately? The player this should give the biggest boost to is Milan Michalek who’s been pretty cold since he returned from a concussion. I don’t think it matters to Erik Karlsson. He’s too green and otherworldly to even know what pressure is. He’d still have 20 assists if he was playing with a broomball stick and wearing a pair of old Kodiak’s.....It's always funny when you hear a player very forcefully yell "f**k off!" during the play on live TV and guys like Dean Brown and Denis Potvin have to pretend we all didn't hear it......Played Pro-Line again on Wednesday night for the first time in a while and picked Winnipeg to beat Montreal and took the Under. Habs win 7-3. I took Boston and New Jersey to tie. Bruins win 6-1. And yet I seemed so sure of my own genius when I forked over the two dollars to the strangely smirking clerk who said "Good luck" like he knew something I didn't.....

.....Kyle Turris. Pretty good hockey player. Not the greatest interview. I felt for Ian Mendes as he tried to get a few moderately entertaining answers out of the young man after his first goal as a Sen. Mendes would have had better luck mining for diamonds in Major's Hill Park.....You might be surprised but a lot of NHL coaches don't go around patting backs on the bench. Hell, some coaches barely even talk to their players outside of the dressing room. But there was Paul MacLean going right up to Kyle Turris to congratulate him on his first goal as a Senator. And we've seen that type of thing all season from MacLean. It's somewhat normal for assistant coaches to do the rah-rah thing but the stereotype of the head coach is a guy who eats ice chips and sneers like Mike Keenan (who really did eat ice chips from a Gatorade cup every single game). It's no surprise the players love playing for a guy like MacLean. If he can get them into the playoffs, they'll go through the wall for him......Kerry Fraser recently penned a really good column over at TSN about some of the more vicious and controversial trash talking that goes on in the NHL between players. As Kerry points out, it can often go over the line into territory that gets everybody in trouble. But for every taunt that goes over the line, there's probably 50 that are pretty funny. I've been reading Fraser's new book about his career called "The Final Call" (which I will probably do a review of in the near future here on the blog) and in it he recalls a time when New York Islander (and now TSN personality) Ray Ferraro made then-New York Ranger Tie Domi go completely berserk with rage. Seeing that it was right around Halloween, Ferraro waited until the linesmen had Domi tied up in an after-whistle scrum and then yelled at the young tough guy "Domi, with a fuckin' head like that, you should be sitting on someone's porch!" As Fraser tried not to laugh, Domi had to be held back from "ripping Ferraro's head off to hang on the rear-view mirror of his car." Halloween-themed trash talking clearly has potential for greatness.....

.....Now that Stevie Yzerman's running the Bolts, can we start calling Steven Stamkos "Stevie" too? I think the only one who still calls Yzerman "Stevie" is Don Cherry, but that's a tradition that should be carried on. It's not too hard to remember Stevie Y as the kid who Detroit pinned all their hopes on to drag them out of their ghetto early 80's era.......One last thing about the Lightning - their new uniforms this year are a huge improvement (remember these old 3rd's?). Simple, clean but still bright and those lightning bolts on the pants are a nod to their early years. Yzerman said the organization wanted a classic look and in a way the Tampa uni's are close to a blue version of the Wings look. Pretty sharp....

......John Vogl of the Buffalo News gives us a great quote from Ville Leino on the quiet and lifeless atmosphere in Buffalo’s home rink this year: “Married couples fighting upstairs, you can hear that on the ice."…..Geez, I’m guessing the Sabres would love to get their hands on Ryan Getzlaf if all the scuttlebutt about him being available in a possible yard sale in Anaheim. Getzlaf is exactly the kind of big, proven, playmaking centre they’ve needed for a long time. Could even be worth sacrificing Ryan Miller for….

Zack Smith Gaining Cred... And Sens Second Line Emerges In Tough Win Over Jets

Ottawa 6 Winnipeg 4

Senators fans who tuned in to the Jets game Tuesday night were witness to one of the more exciting games of the season, and that's saying something because Ottawa has been in a handful of barnburners in the first quarter.

Going into Winnipeg for the first time since the 95-96 season, the Senators were challenged physically by the Jets all night long, in particular Erik Karlsson who was obviously targeted in the game plan by coach Claude Noel. Karlsson took a lot of tough, borderline hits including a hard fall against the boards that must have had the Senators coaching staff on tenterhooks while #65 crawled to his feet, thankfully just winded. Despite getting the rough treatment, Karlsson was again the Sens best defenseman, but he wasn't alone in having a standout game.

Sportsnet colour commentator Denis Potvin was right on the money when he spontaneously exclaimed that Zack Smith was "coming out of his shell" before our very eyes right after Smith scored his second goal of the night, which turned out to be the game winner.

Smith has been getting better all season long but in the last stretch of games dating back to that long Western road trip, you can just see him quickly growing into a fierce power forward with the kind of clutch ability that you can't teach. It just seems to be part of a player's personality or it isn't. Smith is starting to look like that big game guy that Ottawa management projected very early on when he wasn't even on the radar of most fans.

Take that move Smith made against Tanner Glass, coming from behind and lifting his stick, stealing the puck and drawing a penalty. Or the scrum around the Jets net when it was clear to everyone that Ondrej Pavelec had the puck covered and the whistle should have been blown, but Smith and Erik Condra simply outbattled the Jets down low and Smith was able to toss it into the net to tie the game. Again, clutch.

It looks like Smith can play the game any way he wants to. He can drop the gloves, he goes to the net without any fear at all, he's already one of the team's best penalty killers and he's got a set of hands.

Smith wasn't the only revelation for the Senators tonight in an important road win. So was the second line now being centred by Nick Foligno. Whether it's the added responsibility of being the man down low and the main puck carrier on the attack, or whether it's just freshness of the new role, Foligno looks like a perfect fit right now on that once stagnant second line with a rejuvenated looking Daniel Alfredsson and the consistent Milan Michalek.

The one worry about the new lines may have been separating Michalek from Jason Spezza but both players haven't missed a beat being apart and now there seems to be a balance up front that wasn't there when Stephane Da Costa was regressing and Alfredsson looked like a man on an island. The captain noticeably has more jump and is getting the puck on his stick so he can make plays.

Meanwhile, the top line were still creating chances even though Spezza keeps losing wingers. Tonight it was Nikita Filatov (who just can't catch a break) getting a skate boot in the face and breaking his nose, forcing him to leave the game early (he only played 5 shifts in total). That opened the door for Bobby Butler to once again skate with Spezza, the centre that he had so much success with last season.

It will be interesting to see if Butler gets another shot with Spezza against Dallas on Thursday. Right now we don't know if Filatov is able to go (a broken nose shouldn't keep any hockey player from playing unless there's deeper damage) but if he isn't, there's a good chance Butler stays for another game. Like we've said many times on this blog, Butler is still a great prospect and he has that much in-demand value of being a natural goal scorer. Sure, he's struggling more than anyone could have imagined, but if he gets a little confidence going and Spezza keeps putting the puck on his stick like last year, Butler has the ability to bury it. He should have had at least one tonight but he whiffed on a puck going across the crease during a scrambly play.

Right now, Ottawa has three lines that can change the momentum of a game and a fourth line with Zenon Konopka in the middle that can surprise other teams once in a while.

If Foligno can keep playing this way, the only pressing question is that Filatov/Butler slot, or whomever Paul MacLean picks to win the lottery.

Black Aces Senators 3 Stars

1. Zack Smith
2. Erik Karlsson
3. Milan Michalek

Honourable Mentions: Chris Phillips, Jason Spezza, Nick Foligno, Erik Condra, Daniel Alfredsson and Colin Greening.

NOTES

Strange. Bobby Butler gently puts his stick on a Jet and gets called for a weak hooking penalty. The moment he gets out of the box after the Sens kill it off, he quickly does the exact same thing but doesn't get called for it. I don't know who's dumber - Butler or the refs......It's the curse of Andreas Dackell. Winger Chris Neil, with 179 career points, was just one behind Dackell on the Senators all-time points list when he was hobbled with a bum ankle. Or is it just unlucky #13? That's the rank of Dackell and once Neil takes it over, he might be stuck on the jinxed number for a while as #12 on the list, Magnus Arvedsson, is 30 points ahead with 210 in his Senators career.... Speaking of unlucky, when I think of Dackell and Arvedsson, I can't help but think of two brutal injuries they sustained as Senators. Dackell got absolutely crushed by the Flyers Eric Lindros against the boards in October 1998, making a gruesome mockery of what was once a "human" face. Go to this old Black Aces article for a picture of the aftermath. As you might recall, Arvedsson had his abdomen punctured when he went into an open bench door, also against the Flyers. He spent the night in the hospital and doctors thought there were no internal injuries until further testing revealed he had torn open his intestine, requiring major surgery. Geez Louise.....Great pre-game segment by Sportsnet's Ian Mendes about Paul MacLean's 82-83 O Pee Chee rookie card having a picture of teammate Larry Hopkins instead of MacLean. Mendes took a pic of the error card to current Sens players to see if they could spot the mistake but it seems only Matt Carkner picked it out, saying the "rookie" looked about 45 years old.....

......Strange rumblings out of Anaheim that Bobby Ryan might be on the market. Seeing that this was reported by a mainstream source (Nick Kypreos), there may be something to it, but I can’t see any realistic scenario where Anaheim benefits by doing that. I still can’t understand why they traded Chris Pronger, let alone them contemplating moving another one of their foundation pieces. If your club is having an off year, it doesn’t mean you make panic moves and deal one of the best young players in the NHL. Maybe it’s a bunk rumour anyways….TSN analyst Aaron Ward absolutely tore into Anaheim bench boss Randy Carlyle on That's Hockey on Tuesday night. He said his time with the Ducks under Carlyle was the worst month and a half of his career, said that Carlyle "sucked the life out of the game", and finished by openly calling for his firing both on TSN and on Twitter. It's a bit of a flamethrower job, but that's why they have Ward on TSN. It makes for boring television when people sit on the fence and try not to piss anybody off. Thankfully, Ward doesn't have that problem.... And neither does Mike Milbury who is really coming into his own as a television personality. There's nothing more entertaining than when Milbury's face creases with disdain and rage at someone whining over a hard hit or babbling on too long. Anytime he says boo, people flame him on Twitter but to me that's a sign he's doing his job. He's got strong opinions on the game he grew up playing and he's not afraid to lift the middle finger to the new school mentality of fans and journalists who think hockey should be no more offensive than your average public service commercial telling you to "play safe".....The Lightning Strikes blog points out that Tampa coach Guy Boucher is now the longest tenured bench boss in the Southeast Division with the firings of Bruce Boudreau in Washington and Paul Maurice in Carolina. He is also the only coach in the Southeast who has yet to be photographed smiling…..How long before we see both Boudreau and Maurice on TSN or Sportsnet? And how long before Boudreau drops an F-bomb on live television? The guy is what us old timers from Almonte used to call “a classic”…. Woah. One of those speedbag scraps tonight between the Sabres Zach Kassian and the Islanders Matt Martin.

“The Senators Heritage Jersey Fiasco”

The Ottawa Senators ran a very popular jersey promotion at the start of the year where you could buy the new Heritage sweater and get two tickets to the Colorado game on October 13 as well as a barberpole toque and scarf thrown in for only $130 bucks. Pretty good deal and fans snapped it up. Except there were a few snafus when people wanted customized jerseys with players names on them. There was a thread on the HF Boards a while back with fans frustrated at not getting their jerseys in a timely manner. Then there is this guy, Andrew, a friend of Black Aces who wrote me a note about his experience trying to get what he paid for. It’s kind of unbelievable the runaround he’s been getting and I’ll let him share it with you in his own words:

“Sept 27: Pre-ordered a custom heritage jersey - Zibanejad 93. Comes with 2 tickets to Colorado game, heritage toque and heritage scarf. I am told that because it's a custom job, will not be ready on Oct 1st, but will be ready in 10-14 days. I'm given a voucher for the tickets for the Oct 13th game unveiling the new jerseys, but no toque or scarf... I assume they'll come with the jersey itself. And am under the impression I should have the jersey well in-time for the game.

Oct 13, 16 days after ordering, I call to see if it's in so I can wear it to the game - no. They say they'll call me when it's in.

After 3 weeks and no call, I call to see if it's ready - no. They say they'll call me when it's in.

After 4 weeks I call again - not ready.

After 5 weeks I call again - not ready. The guy tells me that because they accidentally shipped a box to Buffalo in the famous incident, Reebok have been working around the clock to keep the shelves stocked. So what that tells me is that since they already had my money, there was no rush at all to get me my jersey, but instead they needed to provide jerseys to the stores so that they were available for game-day sales, etc.

Finally on Nov 5th, almost 6 weeks after I ordered it, I get the call. When I go in to pick it up, the clerk is unaware that I am expecting a toque and scarf with it. He then tells me they're out of them, and that they'll phone me when they get more in and gives me a rain check.

Nov 26th, I get a call that my toque and scarf are in. I go to pick it up on Nov 28th, and when I present the clerk with the rain check, she tells me they ran out again. However, sitting on the counter in between she and I are the exact toque and scarf I am waiting for. So I ask her "isn't this the package we're talking about?". She says "yes, but we're out. I can take your name and number and call you when we get more in if you want?" I left, completely dumbfounded.”

Did anyone else have similar troubles to Andrew or is this just an isolated incident?

Five Worst Current NHL Uni's

Actually, things aren't that bad.

NHL fans had to live through some truly ugly uniforms throughout the 90's and 00's but with the Heritage craze thankfully taking over, we are seeing less black, less navy blue and more of the bright primary colours that were popular before Gretzky went to LA and wore the new black and silver Kings theme that went on to sell a million jerseys and taking hockey fashion to boring depths never breached before.

That era is coming to an end but there are still some sweaters that would best go the way of the the Islanders Captain Highlander experiment.

I'm sure people will vehemently disagree with some of my choices, so let me have it if you feel that way.

Okay, here we go. Five worst uniforms in the NHL today:

1. Anaheim Ducks 3rd jersey

The Ducks regular uni's are merely boring, drab and uninspired. These are straight up brutal. Where do we start? First off, I like orange on uniforms if done the right way (Philly obviously). Bright colours look good on TV and nothing pops better in HD than orange. But this uni is a bit of a Frankenstein. Look at the socks. Looks like a failed home economics project where the clearly failing student randomly sewed together two different socks from two different teams. Why not just go with an orange stripe instead of going half and half?

Then there's the already dated vertical slashes under the arms, the horrid piping along the shoulders and the meaningless, utterly forgettable logo on the front. Why not just go back to the duck mask? At least that had character.

2. Dallas Stars home and away

What's the point here? They're barely even trying. There was a spate of uni's after the lockout that were so plain they looked like pajamas (the worst being the Oilers white sweaters which they have mercifully discontinued). These plain Stars uni's are almost impossible to discern on TV. The Stars have a decent logo but it's hanging out on the shoulder where no one can see it and their best colour - green - is now pretty much a complimentary shade.

You can't even make out any green on these black home duds. It's bad enough there's no stripe along the waist, but plain black pants? Who designed this crap? The Undertaker?

3. Colorado Avalanche home and away

The Avalanche actually have a good color scheme, which is distinctive in a league full of black, red, blue and more black. But you couldn't really come up with a worse design than this. I look at the shoulders and it reminds me of a bad spacesuit. How many sections is this jersey made of? The piping down the front makes this look like a barbecue apron. It's got that ugly neckline that makes the players look like they're wearing a pendant around their necks. There's not an inch of tradition here and that makes these look cheap and dated.

The home darks are only marginally better. That being said, their 3rd jerseys are among the best in the league. How do they not go with these full-time?

4. Edmonton Oilers 3rd jersey (former home jersey)

Again with the pajamas. Or practice jerseys. Whatever you want to call them. One of the best logos in the league on the one of the worst uniforms of the past decade. Half-stripes on the underside of the elbow, the dreaded apron piping, no stripes on the waist, zero colour. A sad time for the Oilers. Thankfully they have reverted back to their Gretzky-era uni's but for some reason they've kept this disaster as a 3rd. Their now extinct white counterparts were even more boring. Against the ice, it was like watching invisible men.

5. Los Angeles Kings 3rd jersey

The Kings uniforms have been a mess since 98-99 when they dropped their Gretzky-era black and silver (which I was never a huge fan of either) and adopted various versions of black and purple with the city's name spelled out on the waist. This dud has survived the war of attrition and will be worn a few times this year. The Kings have never been able to get their look dialed down and watching the Kings for the past decade has been depressing if you're a jersey hound. Looks like that is going to continue in a rather dumbed down black and silver uniform that still doesn't seem quite right to me (but at least they look kinda mean now).

To end on a bright note, the Kings do have one of the nicest heritage jerseys in the NHL with this beauty. Too bad we only get to see it a handful of times. When I see these, I think LA hockey - Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer, Bernie Nicholls.

Sens Not Alone In Arena Fails

Yes, the antiquated and barely functioning scoreboard clock at Scotiabank Place is a local eyesore, but remember, it could always be worse. It could look like this:

This is what the scoreboard inside the Marine Midland Arena (now the First Niagara Centre, home of the Buffalo Sabres) looked like on November 16, 1996 after it fell from the rafters not long after the Sabres had finished practice for the day. Luckily no one was killed.

Cries for a new scoreboard have reached fever pitch in Ottawa, especially with the All-Star game in the building this year and early problems with the clock which has crapped out in at least two home games so far. It was basically inoperable for much of the third period in last night's game against Columbus and rink announcer Stuntman Stu had to keep announcing how much time was left. Yet the Senators organization refuse to say if and when a new one will be purchased and installed, leaving them open to all the wisecracks they deserve.

If they have concrete plans to replace it, why not just tell the fans that? They'll be much more patient and understanding if they know a new one is on the way. Right now, it's a closely guarded secret and I can't fathom why.

Meanwhile, fans grasp at made-up rumours and columnists take pot shots at the organization. It's a relatively small issue that is getting blown out of proportion and the team let it get that way by being more secretive than the people in charge of the Winnipeg Jets, who operate that club more like a cult than a pro sports franchise.

But at least the Senators eschew gimmicks like oil derrick's, which got stuck dangling over the Edmonton Oilers bench during a game last week and hung there during game action.

Oilers defenseman Ryan Whitney talked to Postmedia reporter Joanne Ireland and said "That was like a scene out of a movie. Like Final Destination."

Luckily for the Senators, they have also never had a mascot set himself on fire in front of thousands of horrified children. So they have that going for them.



Also, this has never happened:



Can anyone remember other arena/stadium mishaps? Let us know.

Sens Get Cleaned Out, Pick Themselves Back Up

Two games into the season, the Senators are both terrible and wildly entertaining as they staged big comebacks in both matches and almost caught the panicking Leafs on Saturday night. Ultimately they came up short again and are sitting at 0-2 going into their home opener.

Okay, cancel the parade but don't cancel your cable package. It looks like every night has the potential to be either a massive train derailment or a fight filled, goal scoring frenzy. Or both. Quite likely both.

Even when the Senators were getting absolutely hammered by the Leafs in the first two periods, guys like Chris Neil and Zenon Konopka basically went to war in order to salvage some pride for their team. Konopka came as advertised in his first Senators game - yapping, fighting, selling penalties, winning faceoffs and ....yapping a little more.

Neil unfairly got an instigator and a misconduct penalty when he schooled Luke Schenn near the benches in the second period. Neil was going for a change when Schenn stepped into his path on purpose but clearly got more than he could handle. Refs must have felt sorry for Schenn and tossed Neil, leading to the Leafs scoring on the ensuing power-play. Things were hitting rock bottom rather quickly for the Senators, just like it did against the Wings on Friday.

Dion Phaneuf delivered what will probably be the biggest hit of the year on waterbug Stephane Da Costa. The rookie could have lain there like a shattered human being, wishing he was back in Paris strolling along the Seine, but to his credit he got right back up, took a bit of ribbing and probably some short advice from Daniel Alfredsson on the bench. The cameras clearly caught him mouthing the words "my fault" and letting slip a smile.



If the NHL can keep those kinds of hits in the game and eliminate the "Cooke on Savard" type disasters that repulsed so many, both players and fans will certainly be satisfied on both sides of the violence debate.

More encouraging news was relayed by CBC reporter Elliotte Friedman on the pre-game show when he said both Brendan Shanahan and his assistant Rob Blake went back and viewed the Scott Stevens clips that Don Cherry showed on Thursday's now legendary Coach's Corner segment and said that all but one of those brutal hits would be completely legal under the current rules. Only the Paul Kariya hit in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals would have been deemed illegal. Perhaps now some critics can also stop piling on Hall Of Famer Scott Stevens with comments like "those are the type of hits we need out of the game." In fact, we need more of them, and Phaneuf delivered a memorable one tonight.

And a little like Kariya years before him, Da Costa rose like Lazarus and ended up scoring a clutch goal (his first in the NHL) near the end of the third to put the Sens back within one in a see-saw battle right to the final faceoff in the Leafs zone with less than ten seconds remaining.

A few thoughts the Sens coaching staff can take with them after the short but brutal road trip are probably these:

1. Da Costa is an NHL player and a top-six forward who's going to put up points. Despite getting cleaned by Phaneuf, this guy rarely gets taken off the puck when he's on the rush. I've said it in about 5 or 6 posts dating back to the rookie tournament, but the one word that best describes Da Costa is "sneaky".

2. Erik Karlsson woke up tonight and is back on track to put up some huge totals.

3. Daniel Alfredsson needs to be on the first power-play unit, not Nikita Filatov. What were they thinking? Also, Alfie is back to his old self. Took this team on his back in the third. What else is new?

4. Sergei Gonchar needs to get better very quickly if they have any chance of turning this around. We all saw his mistakes on the goals, but he wasn't very good on the power-play either. Zero shots recorded and I don't remember any being blocked.

5. It really is a problem that Matt Carkner is out with an injury. The Sens just can't put muscle on guys in their own zone and it's costing them big time. Turnovers are killer, but so is the fact that nobody on the Leafs or Wings were even remotely worried about going to the net or into the corners with the likes of Karlsson, Filip Kuba, Brian Lee or Gonchar. Carkner isn't exactly fleet of foot, but sometimes you don't need to be when you're laying the lumber on guys trying to get close to Craig Anderson. Jared Cowen is doing a good job on his own but he needs some help.

Black Aces Senators 3 Stars

1. Daniel Alfredsson
2. Jason Spezza
3. Erik Karlsson

All right, short post tonight. Happy Thanksgiving. See you Tuesday, a little older, a little wiser, a little fatter.

Konopka Brings His Act To Town... And Other Strange Rookie Dinner Tales

I like the Zenon Konopka signing, most of all because I like watching tough hockey teams who stand up for each other, but where are all these forwards going to fit?

For arguments sake, let's say the top 12 forwards are:

1. Alfie
2. Spezza
3. Michalek
4. Filatov
5. Foligno
6. Neil
7. Regin
8. Butler
9. Winchester
10. Greening
11. Smith
12. Konopka

You might argue a player here or there, but that's a good approximate of what we will probably see (Ryan Shannon must now be officially out).

Where does that leave Mika Zibanejad, Stephane Da Costa, Erik Condra and Roman Wick? And that's not to mention that GM Bryan Murray says he wants Jakob Silfverberg to stay in North America. Da Costa and Condra in particular are going to be in tough to make a lineup that they may have expected to be on opening night. Zibanejad can go back to Sweden with Silfverberg and it would probably be the best for them anyways. But at least Murray has created some heavy competition here among the forwards, but if Nik Filatov somehow doesn't work out (even though my guess is he will), the Senators will be a little bottom heavy with third and fourth liners and lacking a distinct threat past their first line.

But why get nervous in July?

As for Konopka, I once worked at a fairly decent restaurant downtown Ottawa and was working the night the Anaheim Ducks had their "Rookie Dinner" here in town during the 2005-2006 season. There are a lot of insane stories I could tell about that night, but I don't think it's wise to subject my readers to such abject debauchery. Yet I remember Konopka very well. He had just been called up to the NHL a few nights before and was one of the official rookies along with Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Francois Beauchemin (who had played some previous NHL games in seasons past but was still considered a freshmen and fit enough to pitch in on the enormous bill).

Let's just say Konopka is not a shy person. This guy was the life of the party, running around the room and causing all sorts of madness, making a greying Scott Niedermayer shake his head a few times (that I saw) and leading the rookies at the front of the room in a sing-along which was part of their initiation. Guys like Perry and Getzlaf looked at their feet uncomfortably and warbled out of tune with goofy smiles but Konopka held his head high and sang his heart out in front of veterans like Keith Carney and Sami Pahlsson.

It was quite the sight, and later on Konopka was the victim of a vicious sour cream shoe-check administered by Mr. Pahlsson.

My gut feeling is that Konopka is going to be an important part of that dressing room, now that he's a proven veteran, and it will also let Matt Carkner and Chris Neil stay on the ice more often, rather than having to platoon nights throwing the gloves.

Right away he'll be a fan favourite due to his Ottawa 67's and Brian Kilrea connection, and he's an underrated player who can usually break pucks loose in the corners, or at least leave a few bruises if he loses the battle.

In short, you'd rather have a warrior like Konopka wearing your uniform than seeing him line up against you with that shit-eating grin plastered all over his face, warning you to keep your head up in the corners.

I'm sold.

Weekend Notes

Hockey violence is apparently “hurting the game” and the NHL’s image, according to everyone with access to a microphone and a word processor, yet the NHL has never been so popular in both Canada and America. Ever. 

The ratings are breaking new records on both sides of the border. The salary cap has gone up every year since it was instituted because revenues keep going up. Everyone involved is getting rich, with the exception of a few southern-based organizations having ownership problems. Both the owners and the players have a CBA that dictates exactly how much money each side makes and the playoff races are the most exciting among all 4 major leagues, not to mention the playoffs themselves. Yet, there is no league in the world which goes through so much needless and boring self-analysis than the NHL. The game is better than it's been for the last 25 years but people can't help focusing on what's wrong with it, rather than what makes it such a great sport.

The fact that the NHL is fast, physical and somewhat dangerous is what makes it great in the first place. The masses clamoring for a "culture change" seem to forget that they already won the biggest battle, and that was to get the league to install Rule 48 banning blindside hits to the head. It's only been in place for less than a full season and already people pretend like it's always been there, and that the NHL has done nothing to curb concussions. Nothing could be further from the truth. That was a landmark rule change and it's impact can not yet be properly assessed.

Any further legislation made in a panic is not the right way to conduct business. But if the pressure becomes unrelenting, change will become inevitable and everyone will have to live with the consequences, even if it means the game itself becomes worse. It's too bad. Suddenly, hockey has turned into an intellectual and moral debate and nothing could be more boring. Have you listened to the Team 1200 lately in Ottawa? The Senators don't even exist anymore. It's 24/7 headshots and how the NHL is a "bush league". We hear interviews with lawyers and doctors. Journalists who have never written a hockey article in their life are suddenly experts on the NHL and have no qualms telling Gary Bettman how to run the league. NHL hockey used to be an escape from politics and other serious issues, a way to unwind and enjoy a Saturday night. Nothing wrong with that. Now it's just a huge drag like everything else. What a shame …..

.....Bettman easily delivered the most cutthroat line of the year when he subtly threatened Air Canada that NHL clubs could, at any time, stop using their charter services in response to the Montreal-based company sending out a ridiculous letter to the commissioner threatening to pull their sponsorship dollars. I’m guessing the executives will now crawl back to their desks with their tail between their legs as most opponents end up doing when going against Bettman. Love him or hate him, he never loses. He crushed the NHLPA so badly that its very existence was in doubt only a few years ago. You think he’s going to blink when a sponsor, who is apparently getting a sweetheart deal on the naming rights for the Maple Leafs rink, sends a reactionary letter trying to tell the league how to conduct their business? I’m sure they had a good laugh about that one in New York. That’s why it’s no surprise Bettman received a five year extension back in November. He's not going anywhere folks.....

..... Oh no. Poor Brian Elliott. The Avalanche got destroyed by the Ducks last night and Elliott let in six goals. His save percentage on the night was .818. Since joining the Avs, Elliott is sporting a bloated 4.40 GAA, an .875 save percentage and an 0-4 record in 5 games (he was yanked in one game which gave him a no-decision). What happened to this kid anyways? Both Cory Clouston and Bryan Murray mentioned that Elliott was under a lot of "pressure" when he was forced to carry the load in Ottawa, but it looks like that pressure has only increased in Denver. If you think about it, how tough would it be to get traded to a team where the only thing anybody knows about you is that you couldn't get the job done for your last team and now you have to go in and save the day for your new team. To make things worse, the goalie you got traded for has turned into the China wall and people are saying the Senators stole Craig Anderson from the Avs. There is a very real possibility the Avs don't offer Elliott a qualifying offer this summer to retain his rights. Where Elliott could go from there would be anybody's guess.....

..... Incredible debut for new Senators goalie Curtis McElhinney (say that 5 times fast) against the Lightning last night to give the Sens four straight road wins. I've wasted a bit of virtual ink saying the Senators need to go after an experienced back-up to Anderson next season, like Johan Hedberg or Mathieu Garon, but maybe McElhinney could make a good case for himself down the stretch. If the Senators could get goaltending like this next season, the playoffs are definitely possible..... Don't look now but Marek Svatos had 5 shots on net last night. He's starting to look better but needs to start getting on the scoresheet. If he could ever get comfortable, this guy could be a steal for Murray..... I know, I know, Brian Lee is playing well. Now let's see him do it from the start of training camp to the end of a season. I'm still skeptical..... Chris Campoli is +5 since joining the Blackhawks and has 2 assists in 5 games..... Jarkko Ruutu has 27 hits in 9 games for the Ducks since the trade but only 8 PIMs. I'm thinking he's enjoying life under Randy Carlyle a lot more than Cory Clouston....

....Speaking of Clouston, interesting piece from the Sun's Don Brennan today where he criticises Clouston for not giving Erik Condra and Erik Karlsson a chance to complete hat-tricks against the Devils and the Panthers this week by keeping them nailed to the bench with the opposition net empty. He even got a league executive saying, “(Clouston) just has blinders on,” said a league executive...“He just doesn’t notice.” It's a good point, but Clouston insulates himself from criticism by winning lately, and he deserves credit for that. You can get away with being "unliked" by your players if you win, but the act gets very old when the losses pile up. The odds caught up to coaches like Mike Keenan and Ken Hitchcock eventually. At the same time, nice coaches don't last long if they don't win either. Craig Ramsay in Atlanta is having a tough go at the moment and may not be back if the Thrashers miss the playoffs. Maybe you need to be somewhere in the middle to have lasting power, like Barry Trotz in Nashville and Lindy Ruff in Buffalo. Then again, neither of those guys have Cup rings. I guess it helps to have good players, no?....Not that he would have been available anyways, but Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma's new contract extension snuffed out the 0.01 percent chance he could have ended up behind the bench in Ottawa next season. Everybody I know who watched HBO's 24/7 series immediately recognized how good of a coach he really is. The Pens have hardly missed a beat after losing both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Probably doesn't hurt that they absolutely stole James Neal and Matt Niskanen from Dallas for Alex Goligoski.....

....I have a guest article up at Local Tourist Ottawa, a great site you should check out if interested in all things Ottawa. The piece is a general history of the Senators and geared towards maybe a more casual fan than may normally check out Black Aces (meaning I don't expect any emails telling me what an a-hole I am from their readers, like I get from time to time with mine!). Thanks for the invite, Jessey.....

....And lastly, how fun is it to watch this group of young Senators night in and night out? And don't tell me these guys are only playing good because there's no pressure. Guys like Bobby Butler and Erik Condra are trying to make this team for next season. There's no bigger pressure than trying to establish yourself in the NHL. The way they are performing is exceptional and should be giving guys like Nick Foligno and Peter Regin a few incentives to come into camp next year ready to fight for their jobs.

Ruutu's Final Act

With the expected news that well liked agitator had finally been traded - to the Ducks, where he'll fit in perfectly - it gives us our last chance to play these classics, starting with the radio call by Dave "The Voice" Schreiber and Gord Wilson of Ruutu's scrap with the Thrashers Jim Slater back in 2008. The fight was a beauty, but the call was even better.



Here's the video of the scrap with a slightly less exciting call. Ruutu may have been primarily an agitator, but he also backed it up by fighting and rarely lost a tussle when he did.



He was also a very willing participant in the Battle of Ontario, even though the rivalry had cooled a little by the time he came on board. Ruutu is an underrated hitter and here's the proof.



The timing for Ruutu's deal is a little tough for fans, with the annual Sens Skill Competition on Monday. Ever since Ruutu's been here, he's been the star of the show. Who could forget this classic with the wig and the puck on a string. Genius.



Ruutu is also the only Senator player to do something as awesome as this:



And finally, Ruutu had his own hilarious tribute song before he even got to Ottawa. If this gets in your head, you are doomed.



It was inevitable that Ruutu would get traded due to the poor state of the team and his UFA status, but the Finnish agitator was an important player on this team for the short time he was here, and provided a lot of bizarre entertainment for Sens fans.

He'll be missed.

Black Aces Vintage - Ducks Edition

Tough loss for the Senators on a night they deserved better. Jonas Hiller was incredible for the Ducks with 39 saves.

The one real bright light for the Senators - and he's been building for a while now - is Milan Michalek, the forgotten man.

Coming off a major ACL surgery, Michalek has been pretty much invisible so far this season but he seems to have turned a corner here and is starting to create a lot of chances and get a few points.

He's signed for three more seasons and the Senators will be hoping that this is a preview of what he can do next year. I'm sure Bryan Murray would rather hold on to the winger instead of peddling him at the deadline, if only to prove that he did get something valuable in return for Heatley.

The Senators looked motivated and organized tonight but at some point, they are going to have to win an actual NHL hockey game.

How good would Jason Spezza look on this team right now?

***

With the rare appearance of the Anaheim Ducks in town, here's a special edition of Black Aces Vintage, Ducks style, with some old-school artifacts from the Disney movie that came to life as a hockey team.

Before Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, there was Paul Kariya. The Ducks first bankable star, Kariya was a human highlight reel in the early part of his career before a vicious Gary Suter crosscheck to the face in the 97-98 season took the wind out of his sails.



He was never really the same afterwards, although still a very good player for a long time. In fact, his greatest moment came much afterwards in 2003 when he was bulldozed into unconsciousness by Scott Stevens in game six of the Stanley Cup final, but returned later in the game to score a big goal to cap off a Ducks win to force Game 7. An amazing moment and one of the more dramatic scenarios ever in a Stanley Cup final.



Kariya was a serious kind of dude but was somehow convinced to take part in the NHL's set of commercials in 1996 where the slogan being pushed was "The Coolest Game On Earth".  Obviously, the NHL's marketing department has come a long way since then. Peas?




This isn't exactly vintage, but just try and remember the Ottawa Senators in a Stanley Cup final. It just seems like a long time ago. Here's Chris Pronger laying out Dean McAmmond in Game Three with a sneaky elbow. Unbelievably, this isn't the worst thing that ever happened to McAmmond on the ice. He would later be nearly decapitated by Steve Downie in a pre-season game.



To lighten matters, here's the Ducks mascot Wild Wing in a 1995 pre-game stunt gone horribly awry. Classic.



Clearly, this incident inspired Will Ferrell in Old School. Go Cougars!



Another time Wild Wing, who often descends from the rafters to get the fans riled up, got stuck on the way down and was trapped for a while in front of horrified children. I couldn't find video of that one. Bummer.

And yes, this really happened. Ottawa's own Jason York in the worst NHL jersey of all-time.

Senators Hit Rock Bottom In Awful Season... Changes Around The Corner

One more loss in a season that's already on the trash heap.

One more embarrassing loss to the hated Toronto Maple Leafs in Ottawa's own rink.

At this point, one more loss is basically meaningless, but it does start to push this bad-luck (and just plain bad) Ottawa Senators team to the point where everyone involved can't help but think of the future, and more importantly, who will and who won't be coming back.

And with the trade deadline not far away now, a lot of these clearly defeated players won't make it to the end of the season in a Senators uniform. Possibly even the coaching staff won't if Clouston can't even inspire a heartbeat in his team for a pride on the line game against the Leafs.

That's how bad it is right now.

So much for New Years cheer.

The Senators have five pending unrestricted free agents who are regulars on their roster, and it's now safe to say that at least four of them won't be returning next season: Pascal Leclaire, Alexei Kovalev, Jarkko Ruutu and Ryan Shannon. They're as good as gone, one way or the other.

GM Bryan Murray (if he somehow keeps his job) will be trying to convert all of these assets into some kind of return at the trade deadline, even if it's just a late round pick. Leclaire is all but untradeable but there should be at least some interest in the other three UFA's.

The fifth UFA is lifelong Senator Chris Phillips and he is the only one who has a chance to return next season. With they way things have turned out this, partly due to the struggles of Sergei Gonchar and Erik Karlsson (early on in the season only) combined with the multiple injuries to Filip Kuba, Phillips has played way too many hard minutes this season and it's starting to eat away at his confidence. Phillips has always been best as an anchor on the second pairing but now, along with Matt Carkner, he's the only defensive defenseman left on that back end and now he's fighting the puck, resulting in uncharacteristic giveaways. But what are the Senators supposed to do? They have to play Phillips into the ground because he's all they have.

As much criticism as Phillips is getting this year, imagine if his minutes were being played by anyone else on this defense? If Bryan Murray can somehow fix Gonchar or bring in another player to take some defensive heat off, then Phillips is definitely worth bringing back. Whether that happens or not is a big question. Of all their pending UFA's, Phillips would bring back the most in a trade. And there's your problem.

Murray watched Anton Volchenkov walk away for nothing even though he had a chance to move him at the deadline. He may not want to make the same mistake with Phillips, but then again, the Senators don't want to see another life-long Senator and his veteran leadership leave the team. Not re-signing Volchenkov was clearly a big mistake by Murray, but then you could say not trading him when he had the chance was just as bad. It's the exact same situation with Phillips all over again.

The stakes are high to say the least. If I had money on it, I'd say Phillips stays and gets re-signed to a three or four year deal before July 1st. Just a hunch.

Which brings us to Filip Kuba. With a group of youngsters like Jared Cowen, David Rundblad and Patrick Wiercioch, there's no room here (or desire) to keep both Phillips and Kuba. Yet Kuba is the skater with one more year on his deal, not Phillips. Gonchar is going to be hard to move because he's playing terrible and he's on a 35+ contract for the next two seasons. It's doubtful he's going anywhere, or possibly thinking of retiring with the Russian Olympic games coming up very soon. Even if he did retire, the Senators would still be paying him and eating valuable cap space.

So here's saying it's Kuba leaving in the off-season. He's been steady but never really excelled that much ever since the Senators thoughtlessly moved a young defenseman in Andrej Meszaros for him due to a contract squabble. Meszaros, as most young defenseman do, went through some expected growing pains with Tampa but now leads the NHL in plus/minus for the Flyers, plays over twenty minutes a game and has a cap hit of 4 million, just $300,000 more than Kuba - basically peanuts.

Kuba is a much better player than he's showing this season and is definitely still feeling the effects of some major injuries. A lot of GM's would still be interested in the all-around game Kuba can provide when healthy and with only one more year left on his deal, it's conceivable Murray may be able to move him in the summer, or perhaps as early as this trade deadline.

Another player under the gun will be Brian Elliott, who continues to show that he is not capable of being consistent over a long span of games. Even if Robin Lehner is not ready as early as next season, it doesn't mean the organization will just ride Elliott one more season. That just won't work anymore. He's a restricted free agent, and no doubt will get a qualifying offer, but the Senators would certainly like to bring in an established veteran rather than cross their fingers yet again that Elliott will find that consistency everybody has been waiting for. Elliott will still be cheap enough to be a backup goalie, but unless Lehner can't be denied anymore, look for a change in the crease. Tomas Vokoun is unrestricted this summer. So is Ilya Bryzgalov. Either might be a fit if they take less than 4 million on a very short term deal. And there's certainly no guarantee either would, with Vokoun likely being the cheaper option of the two.

Of course, if the Senators decided that a complete rebuild is necessary, no one is safe, except for maybe Erik Karlsson.

But the team may decide to just do a quick blood transfusion. If you count Kovalev, Leclaire, Ruutu and Shannon as already gone, it wouldn't be a stretch to also see an RFA like Chris Campoli get moved, along with the aforementioned Kuba and Elliott and of course the constantly embattled Brian Lee who needs a fresh start somewhere else. Right there you have eight players on the move with both cap space and most likely draft picks or new roster players coming back. That would mean a lot of core guys return but with a completely new supporting staff.

And that's not even including the expected change in the coaching staff, none of whom have contracts for next season.

Basically, it's possible to change the look of the team without burning it to the ground. But then again, a lot of people might suggest doing just that.

What's certain is that everyone's future on this team will be debated fiercely in the coming months while the season continues to slip away.

NOTES

As tough as it is to say, Clouston sitting Jarkko Ruutu in favour of Bingo call-up Jim O'Brien for the last two games was the right move. It was refreshing to see someone skate north-south all game long and battle viciously for pucks the way O'Brien did on Friday night against Columbus (he wasn't as noticeable against the Leafs). Ironically, that's what Ruutu was once good at but you have to wonder if all the losing has taken the edge off of Ruutu's game. He's not even much of a pest this year. He will certainly look good to a lot of teams come the trade deadline and here's betting that a little playoff action will restore Ruutu's spirits. But as it stands right now, he's not going to be on the Senators next season. Might as well get a young guy like O'Brien in there and see what he's got. One thing you also like to have about O'Brien is his size. He just looks big out there and when he's moving, it's like a train derailing. He's got a bit of a Mike Ricci thing going on too. The Senators may want to keep him around for a bit longer to see how he progresses........Nice to see Matt Carkner getting a little facetime on the groundbreaking and very popular 24/7 HBO series. In the third episode, they showed a close-up of Carkner pummeling Eric Godard of the Penguins on Boxing Day and the immediate aftermath on Godard's face in the dressing room afterwards. Not bad for a guy once destined to play his entire career in the minors..... Nearly everyone playing in the East is bidding a fond farewell to Maxim Lapierre, recently traded from the Habs to the Anaheim Ducks, about as far away as he could go in the NHL from Montreal. Not many players are more hated than Lappy, who apparently wasn't happy with coach Jacques Martin. With Lapierre and P.K. Subban, that was just too much personality for a Martin coached team. At least one of them had to go.......Andy Sutton has had an up and down season in Anaheim, but one teammate, youngster Luca Sbisa, is learning a lot from the veteran on and off the ice and took time to send some kudos his way recently. It's interesting to wonder how this Senators team would have looked early on if Sutton was back there bashing heads instead of Filip Kuba this season. But I'm no expert or anything..... Calgary Herald writer George Johnson perfectly summed up the atmosphere in the Calgary rink after the dour Darryl Sutter was finally put out of his misery as Flames GM.

"The mood around the rest of ol' Dome wasn't nearly so sombre. Walking through the catacombs, winks. Smiles. It was as if ... the Berlin Wall had just fallen. One employee said it felt as if the building itself has just enjoyed a huge exhale."

Was Sutter really that grumpy? The real sad thing in all of this is that Sutter was allowed to guide this team into free agency this past summer when it was clear that he had already done some major damage with the terrible Dion Phaneuf trade and the equally ridiculous Matt Stajan contract. But as they say, better late than never. Sutter was, and is, an excellent hockey man (better as a coach) but he seemed to be stuck in pre-lockout hockey. No doubt the Flames suffered for it and now they have an aging Jarome Iginla without a real team around him. If you want to look at it fairly, the Senators are in a similar situation with Daniel Alfredsson, maybe worse with Alfie's age, but at least Ottawa has Erik Karlsson, Robin Lehner and a handful of can't miss defense prospects in the system. The Flames can't boast of a similar hope. It could get ugly for a long time there unless Jay Feaster finds a way to turn the whole thing around. On a side note, it must sting Sutter a little that Feaster is the one taking his job, seeing that Feaster is the one with the Stanley Cup ring after their battle back in 2004 between the Flames and the Lightning.....

Happy New Years

Senators Finally Score Some Goals

Isn't it funny how one night, one game, can make the trail of bad ones behind you seem to disappear for a while. Certainly, the Senators and Alexei Kovalev are hoping that's the case.

The Senators took a big step ahead in this early but magnified season by beating the Phoenix Coyotes 5-2, falling just a goal short of giving their fans some free pizza, but giving them some much needed hope all the same.

The Senators record now stands at 3-5-1 and they have a chance to get to .500 at home if they can beat the Panthers on Thursday and the Bruins on Saturday. With a lot of the small things starting to go right, that's a realistic scenario for a team that has gone through a confidence draining slump to start the season.

Of course the big story will be the coming out party of Alexei Kovalev, but what may be more important is the play of a few defenseman, most notably Erik Karlsson who looks like he has some of his swagger back out there on the ice. He had an important power-play goal to kick start the game and despite a few giveaways, he is starting to look like a different player than the one who many were calling to be returned to Binghamton just this past week. The call-up of the steady David Hale to play with Karlsson has given Cory Clouston a third defense pairing that actually seems to be working, allowing Sergei Gonchar and Chris Phillips to stay together and get some kind of chemistry going.

Chris Campoli has been very good lately, even though it looks like his role is going to be that of depth player and not an offensive one. By working well with Matt Carkner, the Senators defense seems to have settled down into something workable going forward, and that is going to be the biggest factor in this team getting better. Before your team can score goals, you need your defensemen to break the puck out of the zone with consistency. With that happening tonight against the Coyotes, you could see the chances start to come for the forwards.

Also interesting was Clouston flipping Gonchar and Karlsson on the points during a late power-play. While it may prove to be a challenge for Karlsson playing his off-side (although he is a right handed shot), it may do wonders for Gonchar to play on the wall he's been used to for close to a decade. It's an interesting development to watch.

On the strength of Kovalev's big game, Peter Regin managed two much needed points and that line, along with Nick Foligno, was plus 2 on the night, and for the first time this season, Clouston had three lines that all looked capable of scoring.

Frankly, that's somewhat of a miracle.

Black Aces Senators 3 Stars

1. Alexei Kovalev
2. Daniel Alfredsson
3. Brian Elliott

Honourable Mentions: Erik Karlsson, Chris Kelly, Peter Regin, Nick Foligno, Chris Campoli, Matt Carkner and newly minted 1000 game man Sergei Gonchar.

Since we haven't done so yet this season, here's the totals so far (games that I don't write about still get the 3 star treatment unless the game was a debacle and no points deserved to get awarded - which has happened three times so far this season)

Black Aces 3 Stars Season Scorecard

1st Star - 3 points
2nd Star - 2 points
3rd Star - 1 point

Alfredsson – 7
Leclaire – 5
Ruutu – 4
Elliott – 4
Fisher – 3
Michalek – 3
Kovalev - 3
Foligno – 2
Gonchar – 2
Karlsson - 1
Regin – 1
Spezza - 1


NOTES

Call it bad luck: Number 55 Sergei Gonchar being associated with Sammy Hagar because of that song "Can't Drive 55" (which was inexplicably a big hit in '84). The Senators understandably used it as the track for his 1000th game tribute video before the opening faceoff, but will they begin to use it as his "goal song" too? We will probably find out soon enough.... Do you think Glenn Frey's "The Heat Is On" was erased from the music database at the Kanata rink? If not, maybe they should play it every time number 15 Zack Smith scores a goal this year. Just for old time's sake....

It seem like ages ago when the Coyotes used to go out onto the ice wearing this monstrosity of a jersey....... Dave Tippett has proven to be a very effective coach, especially in a rescue operation like the one in Phoenix, but the Coyotes used to be a bit more fun to watch when Wayne Gretzky was running the bench. Sure, they were terrible, but Tippett's teams are only slightly more watchable than a Ken Hitchcock led squad......Speaking of Hitchcock, could he be back in the NHL if John MacLean can't sort out the New Jersey mess before too long? Talk about an obvious fit.....

Hard to believe it's never happened before - someone mixing up Matt Carkner with Terry Carkner. At least I haven't heard it yet. Sens colour man Denis Potvin made the mix-up during tonight's game, but that's somewhat understandable. Just like Matt, Terry was a tough defenseman who was last seen playing for the Panthers at the end of an 858 NHL game career. Also like Matt, Terry was a local boy, born in Smiths Falls. Apparently, they are "third cousins"...... And finally, a Senators game against Ilya Bryzgalov gives us an excuse to resurrect this classic video of Bryz talking about Chris Pronger returning to Edmonton as a Duck after requesting a trade a few years ago. This never gets old...