Gimme Shelter

In case you crashed out and missed the final Hockey Night In Canada closing montage of the playoffs, here it is and it's worth catching up on. It must have cost a ridiculous amount of money to license one of the greatest songs of all-time from The Rolling Stones, and it would have been a hard sell to CBC execs considering it was aired in the early hours when only the drunken maniacs and die-hards are still awake to soak up every last visual of the season.

But HNIC does everything with class and that's how they rolled out of another great season on the air. You could put this song to a video of Jacques Martin eating Muslix and you'd still be moved.

There's a few great Senators moments in here, including Chris Neil screaming "Let's see how tough you are in Ottawa!" and, of course, the monstrous demolition of Lars Eller by Eric Gryba in the first round.

Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks, and to an old fave of mine, Ray Emery, for winning the only trophy that matters.



Black Aces will be around offering a take on any major Senators draft news or signings in the next few weeks.

The Backhander - Grim Scene In Sens Loss Sets Off Another Dead-End Fighting Debate

It’s somewhat rare to see someone actually get knocked out in an NHL hockey fight, but that danger is always there when 200 pound men start punching each other in the face. Just ask Nick Kypreos. And last night we all saw 6’5, 230 pound Leaf enforcer Frazer McLaren drop 6’3, 204 pound David Dziurzynski with a vicious blow to the chin, resulting in the Senator lying face down on the ice with trainers rushing to his side. It was ugly. No question about that.

Makes you wonder what Dziurzynski was thinking by taking on a bigger and clearly superior fighter like McLaren. Well, it’s actually not that hard to figure out. McLaren allegedly asked him “to go” and Dziurzynski obliged, partly because he wants to do whatever it takes to stay in the NHL and also because he found himself in a bad situation where backing down from a challenge would have made him “lose face”.

Such is life when a team like the Senators, without a real enforcer since Matt Carkner departed for Long Island, faces a team like the Leafs with a couple of guys looking to justify their role and give their team a lift. If Ottawa had signed or at least replaced Carkner with a similar player, chances are Dziurzynski doesn’t have to fight in that situation. He may have wanted to anyways and there’s nothing you can do about that, but generally an enforcer like McLaren won’t fight a regular, smaller roster player if there’s a guy like Carkner on the other team. That’s the way it works. Or supposed to anyways. McLaren doesn’t want to be known as a guy who takes on a smaller player and would have challenged Carkner in that same situation last year. But the problem is that there’s no natural partner for him on the Senators. So he asks Dziurzynski to go and that’s what you get sometimes – a mismatch that results in a sickening injury. You could tell McLaren felt bad about it and looked upset heading to the box as Dziurzynski lay there.

And then you look at it from the Senators perspective. All year they’ve watched their star players fall to injury and been outmatched physically at times because Zack Smith and Chris Neil aren’t fighting as much because their team needs them on the ice. Facing their biggest rival, a young AHL’er like Dziurzynski wasn’t about to back down even though he must have known he was in tough against the big Leaf. This also resulted in Neil having to fight the bigger Colton Orr (Carkner's former sparring partner), and even though Neil got the better of him in a close one, the Leafs ultimately win because Neil goes off for 5 minutes and that’s not a fair trade for a player like Orr.

Often, playing an enforcer just evens the odds up. If the two tough guys go at each other, they cancel each other out and the game goes on. In this situation, Ottawa lost both Dziurzynski and Neil, two guys who actually contribute points and quality minutes. The Leafs didn’t really lose anybody who would make much of a difference. So like it or not, employing an enforcer can really take some pressure off your team and serve as a deterrent. Sometimes it can actually lead to less fights, if you follow the argument to its logical end, or at least mismatched fights that lead to ugly scenes like we saw last night in Toronto.

In the end, Dziurzynski made his own decision and knew the risks. All players do. That’s why most of them don’t fight. It’s extremely hazardous. If you relate it to the visor debate, some would say that the league should just take it out of the player’s hands and ban fighting (and legislate mandatory visors, which I support wholeheartedly). Yet time after time, players share a much different view than the guy pushing a pencil for a living. They take all the risks, they want the choice. They keep saying they don’t want mandatory visors. They also keep saying that fighting is part of hockey and useful in certain situations. They’ve never wavered from this and show no signs now, even though player safety is pretty much the only issue we hear about on a daily basis.

It always comes down to fans and media thinking they know more about the game than the players do. That’s all it is. How else do you explain the chasm in opinion? The public can’t understand why anyone ever has to get hurt in a game, yet the players don’t even think about it. It’s just an accepted risk that they gladly take on for millions of dollars.

Take the emotion out of it and that’s what you come to realize. At some point there’s nothing left to argue if the guys who actually take the risks don’t have a problem with it.

Notes

.... Dziurzynski was credited with 3 seconds of ice-time last night. I don’t know if that’s a record but if it’s not, he’s only 2 seconds off of it..... Somehow Kyle Turris wasn’t credited with any giveaways on the stat sheet last night, which only proves how stat guys don’t always get it right. He had at least two blatant ones that I can recall but it felt like a lot more. Another tough night for #7. If it wasn’t for his faceoff ability, some of his recent games would have been a complete wash. If anything, it gives the fans a new appreciation for what Jason Spezza brings to the team when he’s healthy. Even when Spezza has a bad game by giving up the puck in the offensive zone, he’s creating 3 or 4 chances a period. Good news is that it sounds like he’s going to be back sooner than many thought. That’s going to give Turris a lot of room out there and a lot less pressure, which should naturally lead to goals. Hopefully it’s not too late for the Senators by that point..... Erik Condra only racked up 11 minutes and change of ice-time against Toronto and it’s been like that 3 out of his last 4 games. Yet he always seems to be on the puck or creating havoc out of nothing. I’m no coach, but you’d like to see Condra around the 15 minute mark most nights, even when there’s not a lot of penalties to kill. Somehow, Condra ended up a +2 last night, leading the team. The last game against Toronto on Feb. 23 he was +3. He hasn’t had a game yet this year where he was any worse than -1. ... Congrats to good guy Ray Emery for setting an NHL record with 10 straight wins to start a season. Nobody deserves it more... And finally, RIP to Stompin’ Tom Connors. One of my most treasured pieces of vinyl is the Stompin’ Tom Live At The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. I always thought of him as a modern Canadian Woody Guthrie. Have a drink for him next time you get the chance. I know I will.

Stan Mikita's Donuts

Lehnsanity Rolls On But Ex-Sens Take The Two Points .... Leeder's Not Bluffing... And Friday Night Game Notes

Chicago 2 Ottawa 1

Give Ray Emery his due.

On Friday night he played his first game in Ottawa since being run out of town in 2008 and didn't show many nerves in helping take two much needed points for the Blackhawks as they fight to stay in the playoffs out West. He had a lot of help from another ex-Sen, Marian Hossa, who has played back in Ottawa so many times that the fans don't even seem to care anymore. But Hossa still looked like the same powerful winger who used to blow the ads off the boards as he roared by, carrying two defenseman on his back on his way to the net.

It was a strange night because at the other end of the rink from Emery was a young goalie who, in many ways, is very similar to the young and brash Emery we all remember from the Stanley Cup run in 2007.

Robin Lehner, a confident kid who clearly believes he's too good to waste away in the AHL, was coming off a shutout of the Boston Bruins and very nearly stole this game from Chicago, making 37 saves, including a big one on a Patrick Sharp penalty shot that he caught in his glove and gave the Statue of Liberty pose for the fans who went predictably berserk in the stands.

If you remember, Emery got his chance to be the number one in Ottawa after future Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek went down to injury halfway into the 2005-2006 season. Now Lehner has temporarily taken over for Craig Anderson after the veteran mysteriously sliced a tendon in his hand fumbling around in the kitchen and Lehner hasn't disappointed one bit.

No one is saying Lehner has stolen Anderson's job but the similarities between he and Ray are too weird not to mention.

If an article came out tomorrow saying Lehner ate a cockroach on a dare from Daniel Alfredsson, would anyone be surprised?

Despite the loss on Friday, there's no way Lehner is coming out of that net for Sunday's tilt against the Panthers.

Looks like Emery is going to get the same chance in Chicago.

Two pretty good stories, and you don't often hear Senators goalies, either current or past, in that kind of context.

Black Aces Senators 3 Stars

1. Robin Lehner
2. Milan Michalek
3. Jason Spezza

***

Leeder Not Bluffing In Fight Against Tax Change

The story about how the Ontario provincial government has asked the Feds to look into possibly eliminating tax deductions on corporate-bought sports tickets seemed to sneak up on everyone but the headlines were pretty grim for Ottawa Senators fans.

Essentially, Senators President Cyril Leeder said the team could outright fold if all those luxury boxes go unsold because of an unexpected change in tax laws. In fact, it’s been hinted some current owners of those boxes are already getting gunshy about renewing for next season in case they can’t write off a portion of the cost as they’ve been able to do in the past. Ontario would reap an estimated 15 million annually from the change according to the Ottawa Citizen, but lost ticket sales for the Senators could, according to Leeder, be catastrophic for the small market team that already has trouble moving their regular seats. If you think Leeder is just being dramatic for the benefit of the press, you may find it interesting that he’s being just as emphatic with internal staff.

Below is an excerpt from an e-mail sent by Leeder to employees of the Ottawa Senators. In an omitted portion of the e-mail, Leeder asks staff to distribute a series of approved letters to all their associates and contact their local MP (“ideally” by phone) as well as Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird (who is the highest ranking local Ottawa MP in Stephen Harper’s cabinet):

“You all have heard by now that there is a proposal being circulated to curtail the tax eligibility of deductions for corporations that purchase seats or corporate suites to sporting events. This was a proposal made by the Provincial Government to the Federal Government. (…) The Federal Government is releasing its latest budget on March 29th and could, if it chose to, amend the legislation at that time. That would be devastating to us.

“I cannot overstate how important this is to us. Please take the time to contact your MP and the two ministers today or tomorrow. When you do, please let XXXX know via email that you have done so and how many contacts you think we can count on for you and your network. We are trying to create a rush of contacts in the next 48 hours.”

Clearly, this is an issue that caught the Senators organization off-guard and the tone of the email is unmistakable – they’re going to the mat on this one. It’s somewhat rare for an organization like the Senators to turn to their rank and file employees to do an ad-hoc public relations blitz, so that should tell you something about how upset the Senators really are about this proposed legislation.

It would be one thing for the microphone loving Eugene Melnyk to sound the death knell publicly, but when the calm, collected and highly respected Cyril Leeder does it, you tend to take notice.

NOTES

How many articles have you read in the past week about why Erik Karlsson doesn't deserve the Norris Trophy? I think I've read about ten too many and it's left me with one thought: Some of these writers are resentful they didn't see it coming. Many hockey pundits were caught off-guard by a young kid they either didn't know too much about or simply had pegged as a small, defensively weak power-play specialist who would never make much of a ripple, especially on a terrible team like Ottawa who they almost universally panned in the summer. The fact that Karlsson escaped everybody's attention until they were forced to acknowledge his amazing season probably feeds into the current mania to discredit him as a favourite for the trophy. How could he be this good if they didn't see it coming? That's the mindset here. Karlsson is making a lot of experts look bad, hence the need to point out why he's not as good as known commodities like Shea Weber that most pundits pencilled in for the Norris last September. Same thing happened to Nicklas Lidstrom early in his career. One day Karlsson will win a few Norris Trophies, but don't count on it being this season. He'll have to pay the price for playing on a team nobody paid much attention to and not already having name recognition....

.... Eric Duhatschek, after another one of those articles trying to explain the "Karlsson problem", went on to other matters and had a good point about the steady decline of offense in the NHL since the lockout:

It is Year 7 now since the lockout ended, which was supposed to usher in a new era, featuring more offence, more attack, and more of the stuff that lifts fans out of their seats. So what happens? Goal-scoring, in that seven-year span, on a per-game average, is slip-sliding away. From a high of 6.1 in 2005-06, it dropped to 5.8 the next year, and then had seasons averaging 5.4, 5.7, 5.5, 5.5 again - and this year, the league is on pace for a new low, 5.3. (...) On Thursday night, in a matchup of the league’s two top teams, St. Louis and Vancouver, it was 0-0 until five minutes into the third period... Maybe time for a second Shanahan Summit. Something’s gotta change.

….. You’d have to think the Senators would have no problem finishing 6th in the Eastern Conference. In that spot, they’re pretty much guaranteed a first-round matchup against the winner of the weaker Southeast Division, currently the Florida Panthers. But it could also end up being the Washington Capitals or the Winnipeg Jets, all teams that are beatable. Dropping to 7th or 8th would mean a much tougher ride with either the Rangers or the Bruins. Yet, NHL history is littered with teams that fell to opponents they thought "favourable". The Florida Panthers themselves proved that back in 1996 as they stormed all the way to the Stanley Cup final against Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche until Uwe Krupp finally buried them in overtime of Game Four. The Panthers had already upset Ray Bourque and the Boston Bruins, Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers, and Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins.....

…. Jeremy Roenick went for the bone marrow when he called Mike Milbury “soft” on live television for saying the Stars Eric Nystrom should be suspended for his perfectly legal hit on the Penguins Kris Letang. But the real laugher was Roenick saying he was going to go get Milbury a “Shirley Temple”. Watching two grown men trying to “out-macho” each other is a little sad, but anything that gives us confrontations between Milbury and Roenick is worth watching. When analysts go at each other, the fans win. It’s too bad Al Strachan is no longer on HNIC’s Hot Stove in the second intermission. I’d love to see Strachan fix the young Eric Francis with one of those patented withering looks and a perfectly timed insult that Francis wouldn’t have a clue what to do with. At least CBC now has Elliotte Friedman who actually likes the hockey players he covers. Strachan was like that as well but unlike Friedman, he seemingly enjoyed getting various owners and management types furious with him, especially Brian Burke who tried to get Strachan fired on various occasions. There’s not much of the old battling journalism spirit left in the hockey world and that’s a shame. When they finally succeed in taking Don Cherry off the air, who’s going to be able to take blowhards like Burke down a peg or two just for the hell of it? …. My three favourite hockey writers of all-time? I’m sure you’re just dying to know. The list changes year to year but right now it’s Strachan, the late Jim Kelley and Red Fisher. I once stood right behind Fisher in a line at the Ottawa Greyhound terminal for a bus to Montreal. I remember finding it strange that Fisher would be taking a Greyhound but then again sportswriters are notoriously frugal. But I also remember fighting with myself whether or not I should try and talk to him. In the end, I didn’t say a word, not wanting to be “that guy” who bothers a complete stranger just so they can stammer and gush a bunch of bullshit. But what I would give to sit and listen to Fisher tell stories over a couple of beers….

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Sens A Happy Group Heading Into Deadline .... Flatten Isles ... Plus Baffling Game Notes

Ottawa 6 NY Islanders 0

In today's Ottawa Citizen Senators Prediction Panel, I took what I thought was a reasonable gamble and predicted a 4-2 Islanders win.

Oooohhh. Just missed.

Okay, so I'm not The Amazing Kreskin but a few things are becoming clear that even near-sighted mouth breathers like myself can see with stunning clarity.

One, the Ottawa Senators are, indeed, far from collapsing out of playoff contention that the now distant 7-game losing streak might have suggested to those prone to outright panic. They've now racked up 9 out of their last 10 possible points and looked completely convincing in the process. People were nervously looking down to Bingo at Robin Lehner but Craig Anderson now has two shutouts in his past three games and people are starting to talk about Jason Spezza as a Hart Trophy candidate.

Two, this team, when running on the right oil, has shown that it's good enough to scare a few people if it can get into the playoffs healthy. And that statement should not be construed to mean this team is a lock for the playoffs. It's possible another team below them grinds it out to the final date on the schedule and pushes Ottawa out of the top eight by sheer will alone. But it doesn't look like the Senators are going to make it easy for anybody and in fact, they may even start taking a trip up the standings to fight for home-ice advantage if they keep getting hot at the right time. With over twenty games left to play and a whole bunch of teams promising to get better at the trade deadline, movement one way or the other is almost a guarantee.

But now we seem to know the parameters. We've seen Ottawa at their worst this season, when the defenseman can't seem to make a pass out of their zone and their goalie can't seem to make a timely save on pucks that are lobbed from the blueline. And we've seen them at their best, when the third and fourth lines step up and get important goals or when Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson and Daniel Alfredsson decide to take over games.

When the Senators have all these things going at once, they look like world beaters. If they can get in, they'll give their first round opponents a fight they won't believe. They still don't stack up to the pulverizing Bruins or the technically perfect Rangers, but if they can avoid meeting either of those teams in the first round, they'll have a chance to further surprise some people.

But again, daydreaming about April in February is a bit of a fool's game. If so much seems to change in just a week's time, what the hell will we be looking at in over a month?

Black Aces Senators 3 Stars

1. Erik Karlsson
2. Jason Spezza
3. Sergei Gonchar

Honourable Mentions: Craig Anderson (I know, a shutout, but that was an easy one), Chris Phillips, Daniel Alfredsson, Brian Lee and Filip Kuba.

NOTES

Seeing Jason Spezza "pop" the water bottle on his beauty goal in the third period reminds you of a better time when those bottles were free to hang out on top of the net without any holder and most top-shelf goals resulted in that camera friendly pop which was a better exclamation point than any red goal-light could hope to be. Sure, those loose bottles obscured overhead camera angles on disputed goals, but who didn't love to see those things go flying into the air when Joe Sakic or Steve Yzerman roofed one from in tight?..... Can't see the Senators trading Filip Kuba or Sergei Gonchar before the deadline. Who's going to play their minutes? If you haven't noticed, after trading David Rundblad the Senators don't have a blue chipper on defense in their system right now. Unless GM Bryan Murray gets a young defenseman in return who can play this season, why does he bother? And why would another team trade a young defenseman already getting minutes for an older player like Kuba or Gonchar? None of it makes sense. Teams don't dismantle on their way to the playoffs. It just doesn't happen. What you can count on however is hockey fans throwing every possible suggestion against the wall to see if it sticks. There's a lot of undercooked spaghetti noodles sliding down that wall right now..... With that said, here's a noodle of my own. I've said it before, and I still think Niklas Hagman of the Ducks is the perfect fit at forward for this Senators team. He'd look good with Kyle Turris and Alfredsson don't you think? Or does my noodle need a little more boiling?...

.....Whenever Senators owner Eugene Melnyk goes on Toronto radio, all sorts of shit hits the fan and today he merely said that Erik Karlsson will end up being one of the greatest defenseman of all-time and that Ottawa will continue to replace older, expensive players with younger, "hungry" ones. Unsurprisingly this was all good fodder for Twitter and the oncoming mania of trade deadline day. So does this mean Kuba and Gonchar are really on the block after all? Always take Melnyk's comments with this in mind: the guy is a big kid who just happens to own a hockey team (think Adam Sandler in Mr. Deeds). He's a "big ideas" man, something that most entrepreneurs are at heart. They like to make big statements while letting other people take care of the technical details. If Bryan Murray goes in front of a microphone and says something similar, then maybe you have a big story, but until then, don't believe the hype.... But then Karlsson goes out and slams in two goals in the first period alone. Okay, believe the hype.....A lot of fans were somewhat worried knowing most teams above and below the Senators in the standings had, in some cases, four games in hand on Ottawa. When you did the math real quick you could see a lot of teams catching up or zipping by the Sens in the standings with those unplayed games. Yet, the old maxim remains true. Games in hand don't mean a thing if you can't win them. The Capitals, Panthers and the Leafs are learning that old lesson well.... There's something surreal yet comforting about listening to "Surfin' Safari" by The Beach Boys cranked to eleven in the middle of February..... Who could have guessed the Chicago Blackhawks would only be three points better than the Senators after both had played 60 games? Does that say more about Chicago or Ottawa?....

......In the much talked about NHLPA Player Poll, two ex-Senators and one current made the top 5 in the Toughest Player category. Zdeno Chara 17%, Brian McGrattan 7% and Matt Carkner 4%. Carkner is getting those numbers on rep alone because he certainly isn't playing or fighting much this season. For some reason, Carks hasn't been the same since that knee injury and now Senator-For-Life Brian Lee has surpassed him on the depth chart for the first time. To his credit, Lee is turning into the ultimate survivor. He should have been traded twenty times by now but here he is having a bit of a renaissance late in the season. Hey, next time Lee goes into the doghouse, remind me not to bury him.....While we're at it, let's not bury Carkner either. This guy made it to the NHL the hard way and will continue to scrape everything he can out of whatever opportunity he gets. He's just a couple of good games away from re-establishing himself as that dependable muscle in front of the net. The guy is all heart and should stay in the organization next season..... In the same NHLPA poll, an astounding 98% of players favour keeping fighting in the game. How will the anti-fighting crowd try to spin those numbers? You can just imagine Adam Proteau and Ken Campbell at The Hockey News office in Toronto locking themselves in a room with two pots of coffee and a chalkboard, desperately writing theories down and scratching them out, yelling at each other in frustration. "For the love of God, Adam, you wrote a friggin' book about this stuff. Don't tell me you got nothing.Throw me a bone here." Then they both slam the styrofoam coffee cups to the floor and start swinging at each other just asTHN editor Jason Kay breaks down the door to separate the two furious pencil pushers. Campbell gets the instigator and he's not happy about it.....

.....One thing Adam Proteau is 100% right about is the negative effect shot-blocking has on the game. In the Feb . 20 issue of THN, Proteau says "The game has regressed to the point where the main target (the net) cannot be reached unless there's an unpredictable deflection, a bad bounce or a player half-fans on his shot and fools the goalie with hockey's equivalent of a knuckleball." Proteau goes on to mention an idea by ex-Montreal GM Bob Gainey which would make it a penalty to block a shot with both skates off the ice in the defensive zone. That would eliminate the sliding shot-block that has proven so effective (but also extremely dangerous). Players would still be able to block a shot with one skate on the ice and one knee down. It's a win-win situation if you ask me. More shots get through to the net, less defenseman getting creamed in the head by shots. As Proteau quotes Jaromir Jagr in the article, fans want to see "six or seven goals a night". I happen to agree but a lot of people continually spout that now tired line of "I love 1-0 games if there are a lot of scoring chances". I don't buy it. Fans want more goals, more hits, more skating, more fights - all the best things the game can offer..... The question was posed by a fan to Hockey Trivia guru Liam Maguire on Twitter: Are body shots allowed under "The Code" in hockey fights, as we saw Isle Matt Martin delivering to Zack Smith in a second period bout? Liam answered yes and said Dave "Tiger" Williams was "going to the body in fights 35 years ago". I went looking for a little video but couldn't find what I was looking for. Yet, I did find this video of a Williams scrap and quite frankly, it scared the hell out of me. Williams of the Leafs and Behn Wilson of the Flyers are a little upset with each other and not even the linesman can get them to stop. I wonder what Wilson said to Williams when they were face to face there.....

......It's been a painfully slow development for Sens forward Jim O'Brien since he was drafted by the team in the first round of 2007, but it looks like that patience is going to pay off for the Senators. The guy has gone from an almost certain first-round bust to a big, strong skating forward who hounds the puck around the ice and has the wheels to actually get to it. In years past, O'Brien was more passive than anything else but now he looks mean out there, almost like a power forward. He was pretty good on the faceoffs this afternoon as well. He's a guy to watch going down the stretch here. Coach Paul Maclean obviously took a liking to an unheralded guy like Kaspars Daugavins. May the same thing be happening here with O'Brien?

Happy Family Day

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Black Aces All-Star Game Vintage

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved the All-Star Game - up to a point.

I'd get all cranked up on soda and stand glued to the spot during the player introductions, always the most glamourous part of the game. In the 80's the "glamour" consisted of bare lights, a rousing 80's keyboard anthem and miles of bad hockey hair. By the end of the first period I'd be in the basement pretending I was Wayne Gretzky and winging tennis balls off the washing machine, the game itself forgotten.

As a time capsule, here's the 1980 All-Star Game player introductions at the brand spanking new Joe Louis Arena in Motor City. Of note, this is Gretzky's first All-Star Game and Gordie Howe's last.



The Skills Competition was like every kid's dream to watch and remains better than the game itself. Here's the breakaway competition from 2002.



Let's go with the shooting accuracy comp in a random year - 1996 - which has all the big names you can think of, plus Brendan Shanahan as a Hartford Whaler being blown away by Mark Messier going 4 for 4.



The 1991 All-Star game may be the most memorable in the past 25 years. Held in Chicago Stadium during the start of the Gulf War, the anthem before the game was a complete madhouse and the roof almost came off the old building.



The following video showing highlights of that 1991 weekend is typical of the production values that the NHL employed at the time - full-on cornball. But there's still good stuff in here, particularly Phil Esposito letting off some kind of flash-bomb taped to the end of his stick during the old-timers game. And you thought Ovechkin's hat and glasses trick was flashy?



Of course, we have to end it with Owen Nolan's called shot against Dominik Hasekin 1997 (with glowing puck). This video shows his last two goals of the hat-trick with the big moment coming about 50 seconds in. Still one of the best things I've seen in a hockey game.



Hope everyone enjoys the All-Star weekend here in Ottawa for the first time.

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.

Positive 24 Hours For Bryan Murray

Some notes on trade deadline day:

Got to say I like what GM Bryan Murray accomplished in the last 24 hours.

Signing Chris Phillips to a reasonable deal for the next three years will help stabilize the young defense the Senators will have starting next season and onwards. Both sides gave concessions: Phillips probably left quite a bit of money on the table he could have gotten in free agency and the Senators granted a no-movement clause in return. Murray said in an interview with the Team 1200 that he was going hard after Phillips and in the end it was the right move to keep number 4 in town for the first phase of the rebuild.

But that Phillips contract necessitated further moves on that blueline, and today it was Chris Campoli who was shipped out of town. This summer may see Filip Kuba traded or bought out if they still need to make room for the likes of David Rundblad, Jared Cowen, Eric Gryba or possibly another top defenseman they snag in the upcoming draft (Murray ended up getting five extra picks in this draft after all the recent trades).

The return on Campoli was phenomenal (a conditional second rounder and 26 year old Ryan Potulny) considering that his stock had fallen ever since being in a package with Mike Comrie for a first round pick and Dean McAmmond. Campoli played somewhat decent this season, but it masks the disappointment that he couldn't find the offensive side of his game since coming to Ottawa. If Campoli is not scoring for you or playing on the power-play regularly, the other aspects of his game are not enough to warrant keeping a youngster from playing in his spot going forward. Knowing that they were going to have a headache of a contract negotiation with him this summer, Murray moved him to the Blackhawks and that's that.

If Kuba is moved out somehow, the Senators could be looking at a top six of Gonchar, Phillips, Karlsson, Rundblad, Carkner and Cowen, and possibly with the much improved Brian Lee still fitting into their plans. 3 youngsters, 3 veterans. A pretty nice balance. But who knows what can happen during free-agency.

Murray also picked up Curtis McElhinney on waivers from Tampa Bay to backstop Craig Anderson for the rest of the season, a prudent move which allows rookie Robin Lehner to get some serious playing time in Bingo.

No one is sure what plans the Senators have for the former Flame McElhinney beyond this season, if any, but this may also be an audition for the backup spot next season. It would be interesting to see the Senators go after Mathieu Garon of Columbus as a free agent to backup Anderson next season (assuming Anderson re-signs, not a given by any means) but that type of speculation is not really my bag.  All of the Senator goaltenders under contract except for Lehner could walk as free agents this summer. That's got to be a worry for management but the summer still seems a ways off.

Finally the speculation and hand wringing can end for both the players and the fans. The deadline is over and there is a month and a half's worth of hockey games to be played.

Personally, I enjoy the post-trade deadline period the most in a hockey season because it just becomes about the games on the ice, not off of it. A lot of fans get their main enjoyment from the "chess match" aspect of player movement instead of the actual games, which is strange to me. No trade deadline day can compare to any day of the playoffs, even if the team you are cheering for is not in the dance.

Contracts don't matter in the playoffs. The players do it for free.

Trade rumours and endless money discussions can go to hell for the next four months.

Too bad they can't stay there.

What Happens Now?

For Cory Clouston, the worst-case scenario has happened.

Losing to both the Hawks and now the Lightning makes him 0-2 ever since GM Bryan Murray said the coach's job status was day to day.

My guess is that Clouston survives, though I don't think that's necessarily what's best for this team. They could use a change behind the bench (in fact they could have used it about a month ago) but without Jason Spezza in the lineup, the Senators are in a hopeless situation no matter who's coaching. What's the point of Murray taking over a team that can't generate any offense?

Maybe Murray will have no choice but to pull the trigger after his public comments earlier this week. Doing nothing will confuse people, but any new coach is going to have the challenge of his life to squeeze some goals out of this team.

Either way, Sunday will be grim for the boys.

Sens Talk Trade, Fans Talk Kovie

The Senators had a very interesting day at the rink on Wednesday, as GM Bryan Murray openly told the press that he was talking trade, then called out trusted veteran Chris Phillips and the struggling Erik Karlsson, then sent Zack Smith down to Bingo, and watched Sergei Gonchar take a painful shot off the foot. Gonchar left the ice for close to fifteen minutes before returning, possibly saving the season in the process (okay, a little melodramatic). Then Cory Clouston threw in a well deserved bag skate for good measure.

Meanwhile the fanbase and the media were busy pointing fingers at all the usual suspects - namely Alex Kovalev, a tired bit that nevertheless gets the readers and listeners all fired up lynch mob style.

Folks, Kovalev is off to a terrible start, but he's not the lone reason the Senators are in trouble here. Neither is it a "lack of effort" on his part, or the team as a whole, as some also claim. I've never bought into that mumbo jumbo and neither should you. Guys who make it to the NHL don't have problems with work ethic. It's a dozen small factors that start accumulating and next thing you know you're at the bottom of the standings and your GM is trying to trade half the team to the Minnesota Wild.

And that was rather interesting. Murray straight up mentioned that he was talking trade with Wild GM Chuck Fletcher, but logic probably tells us Murray is more interested in jacking up the emotions on his team rather than helping the Wild with their own numerous problems.

It's worth noting that Brian Lee was born and raised in Moorhead, Minnesota, but really, that's just the flimsiest of connections and you'd have to wonder what the Wild could possibly see in the young, but diminishing prospect. Yet it's conceivable the Senators, with the right package, could convince the Wild to part with one of their 4 defenseman who make 3 million or more, most interestingly Cam Barker who has yet to live up to his potential as an offensive defenseman other than one good year with Chicago. The Wild aren't using him as a 20 minute guy, giving that time instead to Marek Zidlicky, Brent Burns and Nick Schultz. With an abundance of forwards, the Senators would certainly like to add a physical defenseman who can eat up minutes. Barker is not a bonecrusher by any means but he's fairly big and is a good overall defenseman.

To get a player like Barker or an equivalent, the Senators would have to move about 3 million of salary the other way, a tough task at any time.

Regardless, it's just speculation, but grounded in the fact that Murray didn't leave much to the imagination in his press scrum today.

What isn't speculation is that the demotion of Smith allows Murray to recall David Hale to ostensibly replace Lee on that last defense pairing. I figured this would happen in my last re-cap post, but I thought it could be Lee going the other way, not Smith. Yet it makes much more sense to send Smith and his two-way contract down instead of Lee, eliminating the risk of losing an asset to the waiver wire, even if it means Lee collects his paycheque sitting in the press box.

Still, it was a move that had to be made. Just like Kovalev, it's ridiculous to throw more blame than is needed on young Lee, but Hale is going to go in there and start throwing the body around a little and making opposing players think twice about going to the front of the net. When Lee and Erik Karlsson were guarding that area together, it became a bit of a bad joke. Sometimes, you just have to lay the lumber to someone's back and get in their face, something Lee and Karlsson are just not cut out to do. In Karlsson's case, at least he can provide offense and play on the power-play. Unfortunately for Lee, he wasn't going to get that chance anyways.

Long enough week, anyone?

***

More on Kovalev right from the Bryan Murray press scrum (thanks to 6th Sens for the text):

Q: Bryan, Alexei Kovalev is seemingly a lightning rod for criticism. How would you evaluate him thus far?

BM: Not very good. It looks like his skating isn't where it was last year. I think there are lingering effects from the surgery that he had. I'm hoping that's part of it. I'm hoping that as time goes on and he gets going, it's like Milan. I don't think Milan is quite where he will be. I don't think Alex is where he will be. We need him to be a good player for this hockey team. We need him to be a creative player. He doesn't have to be a star. He has to be creative and help the players that he's playing with, the power play, those areas to get better. He knows he is one of those people who everyone points at. I don't know whether that bothers him or not. I assume it would like it bothers anyone else.

If you look at the play of Kovalev in the context of a guy coming off major knee surgery, you start to see that perhaps there are better days ahead for the former star and maybe just a little more patience is needed from certain vocal fans who, you can just guess, are getting ready to try and embarrass the man by booing him when the Senators celebrate his inevitable 1000th point. I really hope for the reputation of the fans in this great city, that this type of ugly spectacle doesn't happen.

For further reading on Kovalev, here's a great article from Peter over at Silver Sevens, who has a lot of good points to make about the current frenzy over the struggling winger

Sens Win... Fisher Line Dominates...Media's Most Hated... and other notes

At times it felt like the Senators had to climb a mountain to beat the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, but thanks to Mike Fisher and a little lady luck, they ended their short but miserable losing streak, winning a close affair 3-2.

Even more interesting was the line switching that Cory Clouston pulled off once the Senators got off to another slow start. And he even took a big risk by breaking up his best line to do it. But it paid off big time.

Some were calling the Fisher-Winchester-Foligno trio the "fourth line" going into the game, but Clouston didn't take long to yank Winchester and insert Chris Neil on that wing, breaking up the best line the Senators have had so far this season (Winchester dropped down to play with Chris Kelly and Jarkko Ruutu - and even they didn't miss a beat). The new Fisher line then went on to almost single-handedly win the game for the Senators.

Fisher just took over the game in the second period and Clouston kept throwing his line out on to the ice. The first goal Fisher scored was the kind of garbage goal (it flopped over the head of Cam Ward and looped into the net) that the Senators needed to get going.

With a little of the scoring burden off their shoulders, the "first line" of Spezza-Alfredsson-Michalek began to look better and Michalek finished off a highlight reel passing play spearheaded by Alfie. If it wasn't for the incredible play of Ward, the Senators would have racked five goals by the end of the night.

If Clouston keeps the lines the way they finished in this game, the Senators may have finally found the right combinations to roll four units. Going into tonight, the Spezza line looked terrible and Fisher was missing in action.

Even the second unit power-play scored, with Kovalev looking more at home on the right side half-boards. The first unit was still way too hesitant to shoot but you have to think they are going to get it right fairly soon.

The defensive pairing of Sergei Gonchar and Chris Phillips was rock solid except for a two minute stretch in the third where they got scored on twice. They looked very comfortable together and it would be a shame for Clouston to break them up. But that leaves the rest of the defense units looking shaky, with Erik Karlsson still struggling with his confidence.

And we haven't even mentioned the goaltending catastrophe that struck the Senators early in the game when Pascal Leclaire went down with an innocuous looking leg injury. The city as a whole must have groaned at the sight of Leclaire limping off the ice but Brian Elliott came in and did a good job for the most part.

It won't do any good to speculate on what's going to happen in nets going forward, but Leclaire just seems doomed here in Ottawa. There's no other way to put it.

Regardless, the Senators have a chance to go into Montreal and steal one on Saturday, as the Habs will be on the second night of a back-to-back after playing the Sabres on the road on Friday.

It's not been pretty to watch, but this Senators season is lurching forward and getting more interesting every game.

Black Aces Senators 3 Stars

1. Mike Fisher
2. Nick Foligno
3. Milan Michalek

Honourable Mentions: Brian Elliott, Chris Neil, Chris Kelly, Sergei Gonchar


Notes


Clouston needs to stop these game-day goalie announcements (not that he may even have a choice if Leclaire is really hurt). He’s needlessly freaking people out daily by making sure it's always the first thing sportswriters want to know. Nothing produces a media frenzy like a good mystery. Who’s gonna start tonight? Only Clouston has the answers and he’s lording it above everyone. It’s needless, as was his rip job on Leclaire after the Washington game. In Ottawa, it often helps to dampen speculation, not inflame it. It’s like riding a wild horse when having to deal with the local media and fanbase. You need to tame it to get anywhere. In a market like Carolina, you got a donkey that you sometimes need to prod to get some interest. Two different animals, two different approaches. Ripping players publicly might work in Carolina where the only pressure on the team comes from players and management but not in Ottawa where even infant babies know that Ottawa’s goaltending is a nightmare from which they cannot wake..…

It was quite fun listening to the outright disdain TSN colour-man Pierre McGuire had for Alexei Kovalev throughout tonight's game, something he shares in common with many NHL journalists. It got me wondering if there was another current player out there who has taken more abuse from journalists than Kovalev. There are, but not many. If I had to make a top 5 list of the most despised hockey players by the media, it would look something like this:

1. Sean Avery - I'm convinced a lot of media guys would actually like to fight him if they were allowed to. Even Eric Duhatschek.

2. Alex Kovalev - Russians already face an unfair bias (still)  in NHL circles but Kovalev gets called a slacker more often than Spicoli from Ridgemont High.

3. Olli Jokinen - Some TV guys blow into a howling rage just at the sight of his bald dome.

4. Patrick Kaleta - He's the new brat but already inspires a gagging reflex among most scribes.

5. Mikhail Grabovski - Okay, even I would swing at this guy. He's the new Petr Klima.

 
Here we go again department: Get ready to endure another season of obsessive focus on borderline hits and endless cries for an end to “senseless violence” in hockey. All. Season. Long.

Some people are aghast that Niklas Hjamlarsson only got two games for a “hit from behind” on Sabre Jason Pominville and have been in an apoplexy ever since, backing Sabre’s goalie Ryan Miller’s rant on the need for a “culture change” in the NHL. There definitely does need to be a culture change when it comes to deliberate blindside hits to the head (fait accompli thanks to a recent rule change), but why is everyone so up in arms over the Hjamlarsson hit?

He hit Pominville on the shoulder (okay, on the back of the shoulder) in an attempt to knock him off the puck (which was headed to Pominville but never got there). Those checks happen every game in hockey but because Pominville was poorly positioned away from the boards, his head hits the glass and the whole hockey world begins wringing its hands anew. If you watch the replay, Pominville even looks up and see’s Hjamlarsson coming from his side. Watch it again. Pominville made the mistake of thinking he wasn’t going to get hit. Evidently he forgot he was in a hockey game and not in the NBA. Hjamlarsson got a game misconduct. But I'm not convinced he needed to be suspended on a borderline hockey play. A game misconduct was punishment enough. It’s not like they pass those out like candy. It actually means something, even if they don’t lose salary because of it.

What James Wisniewski did was much worse and cheapened the league much more than an unintentional injury did. Maybe it’s time for the handwringers to just accept that hockey players are going to occasionally get hurt playing a game they are more than generously compensated and fully insured for and that there’s no sense getting so bent out of shape because there will likely be another incident tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day.

The same sort of bleeding heart crisis occurred after Calgary Flames enforcer Raitis Ivanans was hurt in a fight last week. Bob McKenzie went on TSN and wondered why it needed to happen at all. As insignificant as that may seem, that McKenzie editorial really signaled the “new normal”, in that there is going to be a serious push to eliminate fighting in the years to come.

After all, once you start penalizing intentional hits to the head, there is no logic that would allow fighting to remain a part of the game for much longer. Once you start defining a clear line about hits to the head, you have to face the question of fighting in the NHL, because that’s what fighting is all about – deliberate hits to the head, blindside or not. I’m sure opponents of fighting are emboldened by recent NHL rule changes because it allows them to address the issue from the backdoor instead of calling for an immediate end to fighting, which usually falls on deaf ears. Once you establish a benchmark against hits to the head, logic dictates that fighting will be up next for a major re-evaluation and eventual ban. It’s inevitable. For some that will be a victory, and certainly the NHL will be a much safer place if that happens. But it won’t be the same NHL we’ve all known up till now.

People will call me a cave-man on this issue, and I was called that a few times last year when I opposed a distinct rule to deliberate hits to the head. The eventual rule change was something I could live with because it stressed the illegality of the “blindside, lateral” nature of the hits that no one likes to see, myself included. If that rule change eliminates the type of over-the-top hits that have endangered the careers of Marc Savard and others, then it has been a success. What I am worried about are the unintended consequences that the rule change could set in motion. It’s too soon to really see the impact but already people are up in arms over what has up to now been a normal hockey play. The Hjamlarsson hit wasn’t even an intentional hit to the head and already there is talk of the need for a “culture change”.

Next up on the agenda: using Nerf pucks. The “Culture Change” industry rolls on….

Who Stays? Who Goes? Who Knows?

Here's a quick look at the Salary Cap numbers of the Senators going into the summer.

I've broken the players into 3 separate groups as you can see below.

Most Likely To Stay

(Player followed by Cap Hit - not actual salary)

Dany Heatley - 7.5
Jason Spezza - 7.0
Daniel Alfredsson - 4.875
Mike Fisher - 4.2
Jarkko Ruutu - 1.3
Nick Foligno - 0.850
Shean Donovan - 0.625
Ryan Shannon - Restricted
Jesse Winchester - 0.550

Chris Phillips - 3.5
Filip Kuba - 3.7
Anton Volchenkov - 2.5
Brian Lee - 1.275
Chris Campoli - 0.633

Pascal Leclaire - 3.8
Brian Elliott - Restricted

Total Cap Hit: (Roughly) 42 million

Possible Trade Bait

Chris Kelly - 2.125 (most likely will stay but would be moved if the right deal came along)

Christoph Schubert - 0.883 (Schubes days as a Sen are over)

Jason Smith - 2.6 (Senators will find no takers for his salary but this may be a blessing in disguise - Smith is a warrior who will be valuable come playoff time)

Alex Picard - 0.8 (I have no idea how Murray feels about Picard but I'd bet he goes)

Brendan Bell - Restricted (He will be cheap and useful - he stays)

Alex Auld - 1.0 (I think he's gone but what do I know)

Total Cap Hit: (Roughly) 7 million

If none of the players on the above list are moved, the total cap hit for next year will be 49 million. That doesn't take into account the salaries due Ryan Shannon, Brian Elliott and Brendan Bell. Shannon will probably make close to 1 million so that at least brings the cap hit to 50 million.

If the NHL's salary cap is in the mid 50's as expected, the Senators will have about 3 to 4 million to possibly entice one or both of the following players who are unrestricted. That won't be enough unless they cut costs elsewhere (such as shipping out Schubert, Picard and Auld)

Unrestricted Free Agents (May or may not be back)

Mike Comrie
Chris Neil

If recent failed negotiations are any indication, Neil is probably gone and Murray has already expressed his disappointment in Comrie for his lackluster play.

The problem is that the Senators desperately need two players just like Neil and Comrie (when they are on their games).

Letting both of those players go significantly weakens the Senators on both offense and in the toughness department. But does Murray want to spend the money?

Hopefully Murray learned his lesson when he went cheap on his defenseman after trading both Wade Redden and Andre Meszaros (again, I'm not saying he should have kept those specific players, but he should have replaced them properly...don't freak out Redden haters).

Sometimes you have to overpay players to keep them from going elsewhere and Neil is probably worth the 2 million required to keep him, especially if you can cut the fat elsewhere on the roster (and especially if the Leafs are going to try to sign him).

Comrie on the other hand is more of a gamble. He has hip issues and his career seems to be on a downward spiral ever since his glory days with his hometown Oilers. He's not worth the 4 million he made this year but he might be a bargain at 2.5 if he retains his form.

It could get interesting this summer due to the fact that Jesse Winchester somewhat outplayed Chris Kelly in a similar role, and he did so at a bargain price. Yet I still feel that Kelly has a lot to offer and by all accounts, he is one of the most popular teammates in the room. His playoff experience can be a big asset to the Senators who are not (and should not be) in a rebuilding mode.

Casting away too many veterans, such as Kelly and Jason Smith could come back to haunt them.

Besides, 2 million is basically the average player salary in the NHL. People get up in arms over 2 million dollar third and fourth line players, but really, that's the cost of players in this league nowadays.

If you can augment that with cheap but effective youngsters, you can remain comfortably under the salary cap and have success that way.

But it would also make a lot of sense for Murray to sacrifice some players such as Kelly and Neil in order to bring in a proper power-play defenseman.

If you're going to weaken your toughness and depth, do it at the expense of someone who will have a major impact on your team.

Obviously, Jay Bouwmeester leads the pack but other unrestricted defenseman who may interest Murray are Mattias Ohlund, Nick Boynton, Phillipe Boucher, Francois Beauchemin, Derek Morris, Jaroslav Spacek, Jordan Leopold and Martin Skoula.

Trade-wise, well take your pick.

Who knows what Murray could get on the trade market. Could Sheldon Souray be available? What about Cam Barker?

Ottawa 3 - Washington 2 on Inauguration Day

Unbelievably, the Senators have just racked up 7 of a possible 8 points going into the All-Star break.

And tonight three new heroes happened to step up in Brian Elliott, Brendan Bell and Dany Heatley after the likes of Jason Spezza, Mike Fisher and Dean McAmmond took turns the previous three games.

A lot of people got their backs up after last Wednesday's Atlanta game when TSN's Pierre McGuire criticised Elliott's rebound control. Tonight, McGuire mentioned it again but ended up giving Elliott the "Monster" of the night award which should prove he's not just picking on the rookie.

And Elliott deserved all the accolades. Without him, the Caps would have won this game in the second period when they outshot the Senators 19 - 3. Elliott stopped 17 of those shots which turned out to be just enough for Bell to clinch it with a power-play goal in the last two minutes.

Craig Hartsburg made a smart decision to move Christoph Schubert back up to forward to allow Bell back into the lineup. Schubert is more effective as a hard hitting forward than an indecisive and mediocre defenseman and Bell is really good at stepping up into the play (although he's risky in his own end).

Not to bring up Martin Gerber again in a negative fashion (he's taken enough hits), but that major roster move seems to have sparked this team. I'm not going to say a "curse" was lifted but a fresh face in Elliott with little to no baggage in that locker room seems to have been part of the short-term cure.

This mini-streak will probably not amount to much as far as the post-season goes but it does give the fans a little hope and the players some life which will probably make the rest of the year much easier to watch.

Those Corona's on a sunny beach somewhere will taste pretty good for the players deciding to take full advantage of a much needed break.

***

Outside of Heatley and Elliott, Jarkko Ruutu was the Senators most effective player in the first period. He goaded Mike Green into a roughing penalty and blocked a shot when the Senators couldn't get the puck out of the zone late in the first. He even made a beauty move around a Caps defenseman but his backhander at Jose Theodore didn't have much juice on it.

This guy is all entertainment.

Who in the history of the Senators would have the kind of mind to wear a long blonde wig , sparklers on his skates and bring out the classic puck on a string routine at a Sens Skill competition?



The only other guy who comes to mind is Andre Roy.

Back in 2002, there was a photo-op during a Sens practice for the players who had been selected to the Olympics in their respective national team jerseys. Then out skates a smiling Roy with a makeshift U.S.A. sweater that has strips of hockey tape crudely spelling out the letters on the front. I think he even made it into a group photo with the all the Olympic guys. The good old days...

***

Blast From The Past

Going through some old clippings I came across this piece written by Bruce Garrioch concerning a major incident back on February 1, 2000 between Joe Murphy and the rest of his Boston teammates and coaches during a game at the Corel Centre here in Ottawa that ended in a 4-4 tie.

Garrioch writes:

"Sources say during a first-period Boston power play, Murphy told (coach Pat) Burns "put me out there, I'll score."

After (Marty) McSorley and Burns told Murphy to "bleep off," the 32-year old winger never played another shift.

The argument continued in the dressing room after the first period.

Burns told the players he wasn't going to put up with "this (crap)" and Murphy went face-to-face in an argument with (teammate Ken) Baumgartner.

Murphy packed up his equipment when the team went on the ice and left the building."

Garrioch also relates the time in Chicago when coach Mike Keenan tapped the then Blackhawk Murphy on the shoulder to send him out for a shift and Murph replied "Joe, Joe's tired."

I seem to remember that Keenan was involved in a bit of a spat with Pavel Bure when the Canucks were in town in the late 90's. If I remember correctly, Bure told Keenan to f@!k off on the bench but if someone remembers that incident, maybe you could correct me in the comments section.

For a building that's only about 13 years old, the Palladium - Corel Centre - Scotiabank Place has seen it's share of drama, both on and off the ice with some utterly strange incidents (and Ray Emery was only involved in about half of them!)

Perpetual Road Trip On The Horizon

Putting Martin Gerber in the nets against Chicago on Wednesday night seems reasonable enough but the decision is also a risky one.

The game is not a must-win by any means but soon enough the Senators are going to be in a tough position schedule-wise.

Starting on December 23 in Philadelphia, the Senators are on the road for 8 straight games to make way for the World Junior Championships here in town. Unfortunately for Craig Hartsburg and company, only the Toronto Maple Leafs are considered somewhat of a soft-touch but the Senators have already lost to them once this season.

What's even worse is that the Senators are on the road for 11 of their next 14 games and also face two separate road trips of 5 and 6 games in February and March respectively.

The moral of the story?

The Senators need to rack up points right now because they are not the type of team that can win an upcoming 6 out of 8 on one road trip. It's just not going to happen.

When Gerber is in the net, who knows what the result will be? I doubt that he provides the best option to win the game but at some point, Alex Auld needs a break.

Now "Super Mario" gets his chance. But he better stop that first shot...

***

More problems for Senators fans. The game tomorrow night is on TSN 2, a channel that is not carried by Rogers Cable. It's not being shown on Centre Ice either. Maybe it's because I live in the city, but I don't know one person who uses satellite cable, which is the only way to watch the game.

Just add it to the already lengthy list of nights this year that fans haven't been able to watch their hometown team. It's starting to feel like we're the Bill Wirtz owned Chicago Blackhawks circa 2000.

At least us Rogers subscribers have about 30 Sportsnet regional channels all showing the same thing - poker and UFC.

***

I keep telling you, with Tampa falling apart, Ottawa should try to get their hands on Mark Recchi. If Ottawa moves a certain forward to get help on defence, Recchi would be the perfect replacement. He's fast, he's cheap, and he's got at least one more playoff run in him. He'd be a great replacement for Cory Stillman (who would have been useful in Ottawa this year) and the time and price couldn't be more right.

***

And for the record, yes, Glenn Kulka disparaged Jason Spezza today on Over The Edge, saying the youngster needs to do more for the team.

Four goals in two games doesn't provide a big opening for criticism but Kulka somehow managed to find the justification. Now that takes pure skill.

Congratulations Kulkster.

The sceptics said it couldn't be done. Even I thought you'd have to go at least one day without it.

But you showed them. Don't ever let the facts get in the way of a good ol' Spezza shitkicking.

***

In case you missed this, Sports Illustrated ranked the NHL's new third jersey's and Ottawa fared poorly, finishing 17th out of 19, just ahead of Atlanta and Dallas. Like everyone else, the main problem seems to be with the "Sens" patch on the front.

Sunday Notes

People were stunned last week when Montreal GM Bob Gainey suggested that the NHL impose penalties on players who leave their feet to slide on the ice and block shots.

Personally, I think it's a brilliant idea and just the kind of progressive thinking that the NHL needs right now.

It would be similar to the illegal defense in basketball and would increase the amount of shots that make it to the net, especially on the power-play when this type of block is used most. It would be another option to increase offense and fend off further calls for the nets to be made bigger, something that nobody really wants.

Plus, it could actually save lives. Anyone remember Montreal Canadien (and ex-Senator) Trent McCleary taking a puck in the throat and needing an emergency tracheotomy? That was from sprawling on the ice to block a shot. The practice is needlessly dangerous and is only one of a thousand tricks that coaches have at their disposal to further take offense out of the game.

Players would still be able block shots standing up and the excitement of seeing someone risk their body in such a committed manner will be more than made up for in action around the net from more frequent rebounds. And don't worry, Anton Volchenkov will still have a job.

***

While we're at it, the league should make a few more offensive-friendly changes for next season:

1. Don't let the penalty killing team ice the puck. Why are they allowed to make an otherwise illegal play just because they have a man in the box?

2. Quit consulting goalies on equipment sizing. Just make them smaller and let them bitch and moan all they want afterwards. They have had way too much influence in the game since the mid-90's and are obstructing all attempts to bring sanity back to the issue. Goalie Roberto Luongo, who wears some of the bulkiest equipment in the NHL, actually threatened to retire if they made the nets bigger, perhaps missing the irony in his two-faced stance on the issue. It has to be smaller equipment or larger nets, one or the other. That's the type of voice the league needs to ignore.

***

The Senators blogosphere now has a new member in Blood Red Army. Looks really good so far, so check them out.

***

On Hockey Night In Canada's Hot Stove roundtable last night, Al Strachan revealed that Tampa Bay co-owner Len Barrie broke all traditional barriers and was actually in the dressing room mapping out power-play strategies on the chalkboard instead of beleaguered head coach Barry Melrose during one of their games in the Czech Republic against the Rangers.

Co-panelist Mike Milbury at first called Strachan's source, reportedly a player on the Lightning, a "gutless puke" for "talking out of school" but also called Barrie's egregious and unheard of tactic "sickening".

Strachan also went on to say that the over/under on Melrose losing his job was around mid-November. It looks like all the predictions about the Lightning becoming a side-show were prescient and not just sour grapes from the hockey establishment who weren't comfortable with a "bunch of cowboys" doing things differently.

Apparently, Barrie was instrumental in the trade of Dan Boyle to the San Jose Sharks because the two played together when Boyle was just a rookie with the Florida Panther and Barrie didn't like his attitude. The only problem is that was almost ten years ago and it's probably fair to say that the elite defenseman has matured a little since then. Barrie seems to be in a time-zone far away from the rest of the NHL anyways. Melrose might have been the most unlikely candidate to get a job coaching in the NHL again outside of Ivan Hlinka.

More questions were asked when the Lightning picked up Matt Pettinger off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks. Pettinger is actually a business partner of Len Barrie in the Bear Mountain Resort near Victoria.

Lost in the carnival atmosphere is the Calder touted Steve Stamkos. What the hell must this guy be thinking?

He has 0 points in 7 games averaging just over 11 minutes in ice time. If you have money running on the Calder, you might want to switch it over to Jakub Voracek of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

***

Stating the Obvious #1: The Senators need a puck moving defenseman soon or they are going to fade into oblivion.

Stating the Obvious #2: Players like Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette are likely bargaining chips now that they've finally shown that they cannot provide secondary scoring like their contracts say they should.

Vermette especially seems stale. Not even getting a shot off on that breakaway against Vesa Toskala was brutal to watch. I'm not sure I've ever seen a player with such speed and skill have such stone-hands in my life. If hitting goal-posts and having pucks bounce over your stick in the slot were bankable, Vermie would be living high on the hog.

***

Slow. That might be one word to describe the 2008-2009 Senators. Sure they have Vermette and Dean McAmmond but no one else would be a candidate for a skating competition at the All-Star Game. Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley seem to succeed despite their skating and the defence is probably the slowest it's been since the mid-1990's.

A player who could help in that department might be Maxim Afinogenov who is apparently on the trading block, but there's no way in hell Darcy Regier would make that deal with a division opponent.

Geez, Martin Havlat would look awfully good in a Senators uniform again wouldn't he? If anything, the Senators seem like they need an infusion of good 'ol European skill players, something they never used to have a shortage of (when they were winning).

But no, you gotta have "character" to play on this team.... I won't go off on that rant again.

The Senators go into Buffalo on Monday night and if you're the squeamish type, I'd avoid watching that one. The Sabres are fast, skilled and confident with great goaltending. The Senators will have to massively overachieve to avoid getting run out of the rink.