"Matt Duchene has the kind of face any Mom would love. The kind of face you’d see in the 50’s selling Wrigley’s Doublemint or Neilson’s Hot Chocolate. The Haliburton, Ontario native has the look of a kid who’d knock on your door on a winter afternoon and say “My Mom made you this apple pie. She say’s Muurrrry Christmas!” and then turn around and trod through the snow with his mittens hanging limply on a string from his sleeves. He’s only 27 (which is close to being considered “ancient” in today’s NHL) but he doesn’t look much different than most of the 19-20 year olds who invade league rosters year after year. During interviews he likes to wear his ball-cap backwards, and he smiles politely and speaks clearly. On the ice he’s undoubtedly a superstar – or at least has the skills of a superstar – with a ridiculously short stick that allows him to control the puck in tight around the net like almost no one in the game today. I don’t know what Zdeno Chara would do with that stick. He might eat it I suppose."
The trade deadline approaches. You know Ottawa is going to do something, even if it’s just a 7th defenseman going back and forth. Here’s a few guesses (and one or two Hail Mary's) at who might land in town:
Ryan O’Byrne (D) – Colorado: Bryan Murray must have had a huge scare when both Marc Methot and Sergei Gonchar got temporarily banged up. This team is a near-lock for the post-season and Murray can’t rely on Erik Karlsson or Jared Cowen magically getting healthier for April. He has to make a move for a rental just to have some bodies for when the games get really painful. He won’t lock himself into a defenseman with multiple years unless he’s young. Big and somewhat mobile O’Byrne (6’5”, 234 pounds) is a UFA this summer and has 19 games of NHL playoff experience with Montreal, and was part of the Hamilton Bulldogs AHL championship team in 2007 where he played 22 games during their Calder run. He’s had a tough year in Colorado, even being made a healthy scratch recently, but he’s a perfect fit for Ottawa. He still plays about 20 minutes a game for the drowning Avs.
Jordan Leopold (D) – Buffalo: It’s pretty easy to just stroll down a list of UFA’s this summer and pick obvious candidates for Ottawa, but Leopold would provide a smooth skating d-man in one of their pairings, probably replacing the need to play both Mike Lundin or Andre Benoit. Leopold has 59 playoff games on his resume. He’d help Ottawa and would be a nice fit on the second power-play unit. Too bad he’s a left shot though. Buffalo won’t be eager to give Ottawa anything helpful.
Robyn Regehr (D) – Buffalo: More of a longshot because, like Leopold, Buffalo will want something decent in return and won’t take less from Ottawa, a divisional rival. He’s the kind of established player you’d want in a playoff run but I don’t see Ottawa swinging hard for him. He’s got a no-trade but you’d think he’d jump at an opportunity to play a few extra weeks somewhere. Complications aside, he’d look at home in a Sens uniform as a rental.
David Rundblad (D) – Phoenix: Don’t laugh. It could happen. My pal came out with this the other day and the idea stunned me for a moment. The Coyotes don’t have a goalie for next season with Mike Smith a pending UFA. Ottawa has 3 good/great ones in stock. I don’t have to tell you the talent Rundblad has. This would be a mind-blower but it almost makes a bit of sense because the Coyotes already have both Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle locked up long term. That being said, I have my doubts Ottawa will move a goalie before July.
Ales Hemsky (RW) – Edmonton: This would be Bryan Murray’s homerun shot provided he doesn’t steal someone like Martin St. Louis from good buddy Steve Yzerman. Hemsky has one year left at a modest $5 million and would be that guy who replaces Guillaume Latendresse in the top 6. It’s a big longshot but Edmonton would be chasing a goalie if they were sane. A healthy line of Spezza, Michalek and Hemsky is a tempting thought. You could say the emergence of Jakob Silfverberg shores up that right wing spot nicely but how many years does Alfie have left? Hemsky would be a needed injection of pure skill into your top line. And you just might be able to get him for less than you think.
Jaromir Jagr (RW) – Dallas: Could you imagine Jagr in the red and black? I can’t, but Murray brought in Alex Kovalev so there’s a precedent here. One of the best hockey players of all-time as a deadline rental? You could do worse.
I think it was only a couple of weeks ago in this space that I speculated on why the Senators should be interested in Colorado RFA Ryan O'Reilly. Turns out they might be, according to Bruce Garrioch, and it makes sense. Who wouldn't be interested in O'Reilly? GM's fall all over themselves trying to draft guys with both high-end skill, grit and realistic captaincy aspirations. Not surprisingly, Garrioch says the asking price from Colorado is high. As will be the money O'Reilly will need on a new deal.
But do you actually part with someone like Mika Zibanejad? I pulled that name out of thin air but obviously Ottawa would need to part with at least one of their top prospects, so Zibanejad is worth discussing. In a way, a guy like O'Reilly, 22 years old, would be accelerating Ottawa's partial rebuild a little better than Zibanejad, 19, at this point (Zbad was a healthy scratch against NJ incidentally) because of O'Reilly's modest experience, not to mention stats. The Sens have some prime guys like Jason Spezza, Milan Michalek and Craig Anderson all in the 28-31 years of age range, a few older vets like Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips who need to win NOW and a whole slew of rookies and under-25's who have yet to really make a significant mark in the NHL.
You could call that balance, or you could also call it a case of bad timing. Are the Senators trying to win a Stanley Cup now with Spezza, Anderson, Alfredsson, Michalek and Erik Karlsson (who is magically in his prime at only 22) or are they rebuilding with Jared Cowen, Jakob Silfverberg and Zibanejad et al? It's a bit of a balancing act for GM Bryan Murray who can't afford to waste the prime years of a special player like Spezza while he waits for a bunch of 19 year old's to gain experience (not that he has much choice at this point).
You only have to look at the deal Murray made for Kyle Turris last year (a trade I initially abhorred for the same reason a lot of people would be revolted by the thought of trading Zibanejad). He sends rookie David Rundblad to Phoenix for a guy with some similar experience to O'Reilly (but worse stats) looking for a fresh start. That little jump in age allowed Turris to play a big role immediately and helped propel Ottawa into the playoffs where they came within a few goals of advancing to the second round. Rundblad may still end up being the better player in the long term but the effect Turris had on Ottawa immediately can't be ignored.
I'm not saying Ottawa should definitely part with a prized prospect for O'Reilly, but if they do, the Senators could have a hell of a team next year as long as the injury situation doesn't repeat itself and Craig Anderson remains a rock back there.
Yet whenever someone like O'Reilly is available, you can predict about 29 different journalists from 29 different hockey cities will be writing an article linking the team they cover to the guy on the trade block. There's not one team, including Colorado, that doesn't need someone like O'Reilly. Even Boston, who has a dressing room full of O'Reilly's, would always make room for one more. It would be the same with Mike Richards, Gabriel Landeskog, Scott Hartnell or David Backes.
The chances that O'Reilly actually ends up in Ottawa are slim in part because Colorado will ask for the moon knowing that the Senators are desperate for healthy players and have more high-end prospects than most teams. Murray is a sensible guy. He will balk at anything that could potentially undermine the drafting effort he made since becoming GM in 2007.
Or will he?
***
NOTE: I'm just back from vacation and still trying to clear out the cobwebs and absorb the mind-destroying news of Erik Karlsson's season ending injury. The posts on Black Aces will pick up as the week goes along and I get my family's 35 suitcases unpacked to my wife's exact specifications.
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.
Any number of outlets can tell you just how brutal and embarrassing tonight's bulldozer job was. I was at the rink for the first time this season and I can't remember a more subdued crowd since The Eagles put everyone in the building to sleep back in October of 2003.
Can't take any positives out of tonight except for some handsome jerseys and some vastly improved eats at the busy concession stands (I think everyone in my section ate a smoked meat sandwich in the first period, which unfortunately made the place reek like a dutch oven).
The Senators just need to go out and drown a few cold ones tonight and forget all about it.
Just one question still nags at the back of your head: Why did Paul MacLean change a winning line-up, especially after the team seemed to come together in an emotional win against the Wild?
It's seems convenient to ask that question amidst the ashes of Thursday night, but weren't many asking themselves that question well before puck-drop?
Perhaps Friday will bring us some answers. Or just more indigestion.
The Senators again displayed a gutsy come from behind effort that now seems to be some kind of DNA trait that wasn't there last season. Maybe coach Paul MacLean stamped it onto them by some of the hardest practices these players have ever seen, or maybe it's the young legs, but whatever it is, the Senators are suddenly more tenacious than Rudy Ruettiger.
But it wasn't easy yet again. This time the Senators were fighting a home rink that was in a peculiarly nasty mood, booing their own players, booing Dany Heatley, even booing the mayor (although that might have just been the OC Transpo riders - don't blame them). They dominated the Wild but the breaks were going against them and the mood got even blacker as Sergei Gonchar got singled out by the crowd on the power-play, making things worse for the team than they already were (more about the ugly reception the fans gave Gonchar and Filip Kuba later).
But the comeback was started by Chris Neil who looked like he was born just to play in this one game. It was incredible. Neil began by yapping with Heatley off a faceoff in the Wild zone near the start of the second period. Then he delivered a punishing hit to Clayton Stoner that would have topped Dion Phaneuf's stapling of Stephane Da Costa if it was only in the middle of the ice instead of behind the net. One of Neil's best hits in a long time:
He kept after Heatley all game, backchecking on a Wild rush so he could be shoulder to shoulder with Heatley and sent him to the ice amidst the roar of the entire rink. He took a handful of other runs at #15, cut the Minnesota lead to 3-2 with a huge goal that gave the Senators life, and finished +2 with 2 points and easily led the team with 8 recorded hits (they must have missed about five).
Something truly feels different about this spirited team, if only because they actually won a game in a shootout and didn't choke when faced with adversity. As TSN panned both benches before Milan Michalek took the first shot, the Wild looked nervous but the Senators were loose. Like some kind of miracle that these eyes have yet to see, all three Senators shooters scored, with Daniel Alfredsson capping it off and raising his arms in triumph as he glided along the boards.
Like I said, unbelievable game. If you saw it, you know exactly what I mean. It's way, way too early to call it a turning point, but that was a huge game for the Senators to win.
Black Aces Senators 3 Stars
1. Chris Neil 2. Colin Greening 3. Nick Foligno
Honourable Mentions: Jason Spezza, Peter Regin, Filip Kuba, Chris Phillips and Stephane Da Costa.
NOTES
...David Rundblad looked solid in his first NHL game, playing a surprising 20:59. He'll likely get a chance to stay in the lineup ahead of Brian Lee because he did some good things offensively. Erik Karlsson played over 28 minutes and just kept getting stronger after a weak opening. Peter Regin played a strong game, skating well and going 10-7 in the faceoff dot. No chance he comes out of the lineup for either Bobby Butler or Nikita Filatov. His line with Nick Foligno and Chris Neil looks like a keeper....
...One thing we don't miss about Dany Heatley - the constant hoarking on the bench, especially those deep ones where it looks like he's about to hurl....Can't get over the fact Ottawa fans would take the time to lustily boo two of their own players - Sergei Gonchar and Filip Kuba - during player introductions. Real classy guys. You got 'em good. Yup. Embarrassed them to the max. Their families were likely watching. Hope you feel better about yourselves.....Good to hear Dean Brown ask coach Paul MacLean if any player "filled his role better than Chris Neil in the first two games". MacLean was quick with the praise, as expected. Neil doesn't get much credit for the role he plays but when he's doing his job well, and that's pretty much every game, he's one of the most effective in the league. He can fight. He can play. He's a leader. He sticks up for his teammates. He's entertaining. Can't ask for much more than that....
....Tons of awkwardness all around. Home team players getting booed mercilessly, Mayor Jim Watson gets booed, Heatley takes a spill during warmups and gets a big reaction from the fans, and then TSN shows a clip from practice of coach Paul MacLean going down hard to the ice on his back. Probably didn't help his mood much.....You have to wonder if Nikita Filatov's play in the first two games really warranted his scratching, or was it something else? Practice habits? I don't pretend to know but he seemed to be giving an honest effort in the games, even if he wasn't creating a lot of chances. We've all heard about MacLean screaming at Filatov and fellow healthy scratch Bobby Butler in practice the other day. Maybe there's something to that, maybe not. But I thought he played okay overall. Maybe that's the difference with MacLean. Okay isn't good enough anymore....
....As if the Sens don't get teased enough about their antiquated scoreboard, it begins to repeatedly malfunction at the start of the second period and TSN's Gord Miller has a laugh and says "Shades of the old Civic Centre". Isn't that just fitting with a dozen or so original Senators on hand....Some good news. No Nickelback goal song this year at the rink. The bad news: Nickelback is still writing songs. No one is safe yet....
...Great interview with former Sens GM and club founder Randy Sexton on the Team 1200 pre-game show where Sexton retold the old story about how Bruce Firestone, Cyril Leeder and himself were having a cold one in the locker room in 1988 after a beer league game when Firestone said they should try to bring an NHL team to Ottawa in any future expansion. Sexton said he and Leeder spit their beer out on the floor at the idea, which was somewhat similar to my reaction when I heard they had suceeded. I was too young to spit out any beer, but my jaw hit the floor and so did my father's. Haven't been able to shut it since.....It would be sort of interesting if Sexton some day made his way back into the Senators organization in a role similar to what he has in Pittsburgh right now as Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting. Stranger things have happened. Certainly, Sexton is a much more rounded hockey man than he was when given the thankless task of building the Senators post-Mel Bridgman..... Speaking of scouting, I've been reading Shane Malloy’s 2011 book“The Art Of Scouting”, and in it he says the consensus among most NHL general managers and directors of amateur scouting is you have to get two NHL players from every entry draft. Just two from seven rounds in total. Doesn’t seem like a lot but some teams have a hell of a time doing it. Malloy quotes Mike Futa, an L.A. Kings scout, as saying “It’s the only job where you can be right 15 percent of the time and be ruled a Hall of Famer (..) and if you hit on 2.5 home runs every draft, you are par with some of the best scouts ever.” If we quickly apply that gold standard to the Senators, we can see that they already have one player from the 2011 draft in the NHL – Mika Zibanejad, and some very likely prospects to do so as well such as Matt Puempel, Shane Prince and Stefan Noesen. Their 2010 draft, where they only chose four players is not looking as good but Mark Stone will probably play in the next two to four years. They also dealt their first-rounder to the Blues to grab David Rundblad who made his NHL debut tonight and looks to have a good career ahead of him. The 2009 draft has already seen Jared Cowen and Robin Lehner play some games. They’ve used three players from 2008, two of them regulars in Erik Karlsson and Zack Smith (Patrick Wiercioch being the other prospect on the bubble). In 2007, the last year of John Muckler’s reign as GM, the Senators again only had four picks and the only one to get any games is Jim O’Brien but he may not end up being an NHL regular at any point. Before 2007, every Senators draft produced at least two players who took part in at least one NHL game, either with Ottawa or with another team. Not all of them became regulars, but they made the show. That’s an impressive record….
…. I don’t know what it is about Brian Lee, but the fans in this city have fallen head over heels with the young defenseman and have nearly elevated him to martyr status. When fans first heard rumours that Lee would be a healthy scratch for the match against the Wild, the boards and the blogs lit up with indignation, as if they themselves were somehow the victims of a terrible injustice. Lee is a solid 6th or 7th defenseman on the periphery of being a regular. He may play better than Sergei Gonchar or Chris Phillips during any given game, but overall he can’t provide what those two can when at their best. It won’t be permanent. He’ll play plenty of games for the Senators this season and contribute where he can. If he keeps playing solid when he gets the chance, he'll force the coaching staff's hand. To get so upset about it strikes me as completely bizarre and unwarranted. Same thing happened with Martin Gerber and Jonathan Cheechoo. This town seems to love the underdog, which is admirable, but we’re beginning to lose perspective here….
….Wouldn’t it be something if Semyon Varlamov proved to be a better number one goalie this season than Tomas Vokoun? It’s entirely possible considering Vokoun is 35 and Varlamov is just 23. You can also imagine Varlamov giving Colorado that same surprise goaltending Craig Anderson did a few years ago and sneaking into the playoffs. Washington was so lauded for their off-season moves that you know at least one of them is not going to pan out as well as the pundits predicted. Not saying it’s going to be the Vokoun deal, but you never know. The hockey world has a weird way of evening things out after all the hype has died down….Speaking of the Avalanche (still a terrible name, though not as bad as the “Wild”), if Milan Hejduk had played his career in the East with those same numbers, he’d be a household name in hockey. Instead, he keeps on scoring goals year after year in near anonymity (11 seasons with 20 or more)….. Columbus just can’t afford to miss the playoffs again, not after being so aggressive in the summer. This team desperately needs something positive to happen to them. But they’re 0-3 to start the year. Uh oh…..
It was one of those dreaded pre-season games where both teams barely showed a pulse for 60 minutes but rookie hopeful Mika Zibanejad buried a perfect cross-ice feed from Brian Lee behind a flailing Tuuka Rask for the overtime winner, sending a somewhat sparse and antsy crowd home on a high-note.
It wasn't the prettiest game to watch, and for a while it looked like none of the young players on the Senators were really advancing their cause over one another, but there were some performances that began to stand out as the night wore on.
Of the forwards, Erik Condra had the best overall effort after sitting against Toronto on Monday. It was fitting that he was wearing Chris Kelly's old #22 on the back of his sweater because Condra was doing a lot of the same things Kelly used to do in Ottawa, except faster and more aggressively. I don't know what it is about Condra that I like so much but to me he's just a born hockey player - good at just about everything and the most well rounded young player the Senators have except for possibly Colin Greening (and likely Zibanejad soon enough).
It was clear that coach Paul MacLean liked what Condra was doing as the winger played almost 20 minutes and was a buzzsaw every single shift.
Peter Regin was solid again (he and Condra were both crowding Rask when Lee scored Ottawa's first goal) and Nikita Filatov showed some flashes of speed and hands even though it's clear he needs to bear down with the puck more in the offensive zone (as opposed to what his early critics are pointing to and that's his play in his own end, which was just fine by the way - more on that later). Filatov didn't seem to handle having two Bruins in coming at him when he had the puck just past the blueline and he bobbled it during a few offensive chances which petered out. Still, he has lots of time to get a little more confidence as he gets comfortable. Not since Martin Havlat have the Senators had a player who will be able to bring fans out of their seats in one quick blaze of speed and hands. He's only going to get better if everyone is patient.
Stephane Da Costa was sneaky good again, showing that same skill and patience he had in spades during the rookie tournament. He's a bit like a waterbug out there, cutting into dangerous parts of the slot with the puck and never really getting his head taken off. I have to say his playmaking skills are a complete surprise to me but he can also wire the puck. He's a bit unpredictable and he looks like he could play in the NHL right now.
And of course, Zibanejad. Like the first pre-season game, he struggled with faceoffs and sometimes looked nervous out there. But then he does things like take the puck around a defenseman by putting it between his feet as he cuts around to the net for a backhand (which he didn't get off), or putting a laser beam by Rask which is not an easy thing to do, even for veteran NHL goal scorers. He ended up with a very quiet 5 shots on goal, second only to Da Costa's 6.
It's going to be so close whether he goes back to Sweden or not. If he could put together a couple of games where he's more of a consistent presence, he could be here to stay and someone like Nick Foligno could be in trouble because of it.
Not much to discuss as far as defenseman go. Brian Lee played a great game obviously although I've rarely seen a defenseman take so much physical abuse on the ice. I don't know what it is about Lee but people love to hurt this guy and I thought Lee got a little shaky late in the game before recovering and making that huge play to Zibanejad for the goal. Lee has certainly put his name back into the hat and may end up sticking around anyways if David Rundblad needs some time in the AHL, a likely scenario.
NOTES
…. Great to hear Shean Donovan on the pre-game shows this pre-season. No offense to Mike Eastwood, who’s a smart hockey analyst, but Donovan is a little less grumpy in that role, and he’s got that “aw-shucks” demeanour that actually works quite well amidst the more sarcastic takes of Bruce Garrioch and Gord Wilson. But clearly Donovan knows what he's talking about and once he gets going, a lot of hockey experience comes to the front. There’s a good balance and chemistry on that show right now. Hopefully the Team 1200 keeps using Donovan throughout the season…..Quite a lengthy breakdown after the first period on the TSN panel on what went wrong with the Cory Clouston led Senators. Aaron Ward went on the record saying that he was once rumoured to be going to Ottawa in a trade but desperately didn't want to go because he had heard too many bad things about Clouston. Bob McKenzie also said the Senators were basically split down the middle - those who didn't like Clouston personally and those who didn't like his system. Wow. At least Marc Crawford stuck up for poor Cory at the end but the toothpaste was already out of the tube you could say.....
…..Welcome to Ottawa kid. It only took a single exhibition game for one of the guys on the Team 1200 Sportscall show to paint Nikita Filatov as a player who doesn’t work hard on defense and won’t be able to follow coach Paul MacLean’s system. It was also said there was little hope of the youngster changing anytime soon, if ever. Which is strange, because I watched Filatov carefully in the game against the Leafs on Monday night and it looked to me like Filatov was skating hard into his own zone and backchecking every time he didn’t have the puck. His legs always seemed to be moving and he played an overall positive game with two assists. In fact, he was one of the best players on the ice. Then this morning they were giving it to Filatov again, this time on the morning show, suggesting that Francis Lessard cleaned out Filatov in a scrimmage yesterday because Filatov is “too cool for school”. Really? Are we doing this again Ottawa? After one exhibition game? How many times do we need to go down this path? Do we always need one player to rip apart mercilessly all season long for imagined slights against the hockey gods (ie. not being a humble fourth liner with a lunch pail in your hand)? If you want to rip the kid, fine, but at least give him a month into the season before you bury him. Now I’ve become more understanding over the years to the realities of sports talk radio, realizing these guys have to fill multiple hours with talk that engages fans and they’re paid to have opinions whether you agree with them or not. I get that and I try not to jump up and down in disbelief like I used to on this blog, knowing they have a tougher job than I do. I wouldn’t be able to do it half as well, so take my opinion as you will. But after just one exhibition game? Come on guys.....
.....I've been looking for an excuse to show some obscure Bobby Orr collectibles I've come across lately and with the Boston Bruins in town, that's a good enough reason. If you click on the image to see the details better, you'll notice those freakishly long twigs are "Fully Jointed Bendable Legs". It also claims the figurine is in the "Boston Bruins Official Uniform". Uh, not even close , but it's rad anyways.
A rare image of Orr doing endorsements in a Chicago Blackhawks uni. I'm guessing this pinball machine would be worth a tidy sum in 2011.
Bobby Orr lemonade. Could you imagine Sidney Crosby lemonade in 2011? No. You can't.
The NHL lunch box was a treasured item when I was a kid. I had a Gretzky one but this Orr model is about as perfect as you can get.
If you want to see more vintage Bobby Orr stuff like this, check out the very rad BobbyOrrCollector.com of which one or two of these images are from.....
……I’ve spent the first 35 years of my life not drinking coffee and shaking my head at all the addicts around me. Now, for some random reason, I’ve become a complete addict this summer (think Will Ferrell in Kicking and Screaming). Suddenly, I totally get it. I can sit and write 5000 words with the power of a couple cups of coffee. I feel like I’ve wasted so much time on the sidelines of life with a decaf tea in my hand…..Geez, everyone is having a good laugh over the Semyon Varlamov trade which landed the Caps a first rounder from the Avalanche. But Varlamov is a hell of a good goalie prospect. The price was high but he could end up being the franchise goalie for that team for the next ten years or more. I bet he surprises some of the naysayers this year…..
…. Been reading quite a bit about possible realignment for next season with the Winnipeg Jets expected to move to the West and it’s interesting to try and predict what the NHL will do here. To me, you have to let Detroit come to the East ahead of Columbus and especially Nashville who reside in the Central Time zone to start with. There’s also lots of talk about going with two divisions in each conference, one with 8 teams and one with 7 per conference. If they do that, here’s how I think it could and probably should end up:
EAST
Division 1
1. Ottawa
2. Montreal
3. Toronto
4. Boston
5. Detroit
6. Buffalo
7. Philadelphia
Division 2
1. NY Rangers
2. NY Islanders
3. New Jersey
4. Washington
5. Pittsburgh
6. Carolina
7. Tampa Bay
8. Florida
WEST
Division 3
1. Winnipeg
2. Minnesota
3. Chicago
4. St. Louis
5. Columbus
6. Dallas
7. Nashville
Division 4
1. Vancouver
2. Calgary
3. Edmonton
4. Phoenix
5. Colorado
6. Los Angeles
7. San Jose
8. Anaheim
Basically, everyone is working in their own time zones divisionally in this scenario with the exception of Columbus who are in the EST but will be playing CST teams. But it’s impossible to please everyone with so many teams clustered in the East and franchises spread all around the vast West, so one or two teams will have to take what they’re given. The Red Wings deserve the first opportunity to move East because of their history and status as compared to recent expansion franchises like Nashville and Columbus. It’s also strange to see the Flyers and the Penguins playing in different divisions but the Penguins have a strong rivalry with the Caps as well and that can be exploited better going forward. One solution might be to drop Buffalo from Division 1 and switch with the Penguins so all the New York based teams can play against each other and keep the Pennsylvania rivalry intact. Also, those uneven divisions are just crying out for an expansion team for each conference. The NHL might be having visions of big-time expansion fees in the coming decade to round out the league at 32 teams. Quebec City or a second Toronto team in the East? KC or Seattle in the West? I used to be strongly opposed to more expansion, but I’m not as firm as I was before. Expansion can lead to more scoring in the NHL because talent gets diluted and the dominant players will be having those extra shifts against guy who would otherwise be playing in the AHL. That’s not a perfect theory however as recent expansion did little or nothing to boost scoring. It worked in the 80’s when the WHA folded and merged with the NHL. Many feel a dilution of talent necessarily means a dilution in the product but it’s conceivable it could have the opposite effect.
After now having sat through close to an hour of interviews on Sens TV from the first day of training camp, I think it's safe to say that there's an entirely new and upbeat atmosphere around this Ottawa team, despite no one in the hockey world believing they can achieve much of anything this year except battle for a lottery pick for six long months.
You can see it in the faces of guys like Nick Foligno, who of anyone maybe has the most to be worried about with all the new guys gunning for his job. Yet, like everyone else, Foligno seems genuinely convinced there are better times ahead. Erik Karlsson held court for reporters and smirked his way through a few light-hearted answers, looking bigger and more muscular than he has in his previous two seasons here.
Speaking of that, has anyone caught sight of Chris Neil yet? I don't think he's ever looked as lean and mean as he does this fall. Expect Neil to fully embrace his leadership role on this young team and be able to concentrate more on playing hockey now that Zenon Konopka is in town to share the role of policeman with Neil and Matt Carkner.
The sense I get is that these players are loose but focused, perhaps breathing a little easier now that they are out from under the weight of Cory Clouston and his very particular way of handling hockey players. You get the feeling that it's now possible for these guys to have fun again and enjoy the game. Like Daniel Alfredsson said in an interview today, there were a lot of negative feelings in that locker room the past three years and a fresh start with a new staff is exactly what they need right now.
Basically, the atmosphere is perfect for these players to go out and surprise everybody by winning games they shouldn't. We've seen many teams do that year after year when they were counted out. In recent years we've seen Colorado and Phoenix defy expectations. Why not Ottawa? To me, they are just as talented, if not more than when those teams broke out of their ruts (although the Avs fell right back in to one last season).
There's too much skill and leadership on this team to completely tank in the East. Sure, you could point to the Oilers last year and say they had all the skill in the world but they still struggled under lowered expectations.
But the Oilers didn't have veterans like Daniel Alfredsson, Sergei Gonchar, Chris Phillips and Chris Neil, guys who know what's required to win NHL games on a consistent basis.
In short, Bryan Murray didn't raze this team to the ground and go completely young. There's a balance here that has the potential to lift this team provided both the young and old play up to their abilities and they get a little lady luck along the way with injuries.
Besides, Alfie beat Karlsson in a tennis game the other day. Young punks have nothing on this guy yet.
Let's just pretend Senators GM Bryan Murray desperately wants Gabriel Landeskog in this year's draft. I don't know if that's the case - maybe he's dying to get Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Ryan Strome or any of the other top prospects. I won't even presume to make an argument as to who is better, simply because I'm not a scout and I don't see enough junior games to give you an educated opinion on a bunch of 18 year-olds.
But for argument's sake, let's say he wants Landeskog and he's targeted Florida who have the 3rd overall pick, likely where Landeskog will go if Adam Larsson or Hopkins go 1-2 as expected. It's a possibility the Avalanche see Landeskog as their next Peter Forsberg and bypass Hopkins because they already have a number one centre in Matt Duchene. Maybe.
But what would Murray have to offer Panthers GM Dale Tallon in order to pry that third overall pick away?
Of course, it starts with Ottawa's 6th pick. That's a no-brainer. The Panthers need to come out of this draft with an elite prospect and the cutoff seems to be in the top 10, if not lower. They could still get one of the guys they want with Ottawa's 6th pick but they might also be able to get a roster player or two who can help them right away as they desperately try to get back into the playoffs after a 10 year absence.
To see who Ottawa might be willing to give the Panthers, we first have to figure out who they wouldn't trade.
In my humble opinion, the Senators won't move the following players:
Alfredsson, Spezza, Michalek, Neil, Butler, Greening, Z. Smith, Phillips, Karlsson, Carkner, Cowen, Rundblad, Anderson and Lehner.
That still leaves a short list of players or prospects they would move for the right deal but there are a few players who Florida wouldn't take as part of any package. That includes Filip Kuba (who could be bought out anyways)and Sergei Gonchar.
What we're left with, and what actually might make sense, is a package of Nick Foligno or Peter Regin and Patrick Wiercioch or another prospect already in Ottawa's system.
The 6th overall pick, a possible 25 goal scorer in Foligno and a long-term prospect in Wiercioch would be a pretty good return for Tallon to simply move down three spots and still get a blue-chip player in the draft.
Is it enough? Maybe not.
Foligno could play for the Panthers right away and in an expanded role might score some goals for them. That's at the top level of his curve but he also might just prove to be a third liner on a team filled with similar players. Tallon could be looking for more of a home run than just getting a character winger like Foligno.
Regin might appeal to Tallon a little more (if he was paying attention to the 2010 playoffs) and the Senators must know they have a highly skilled player who simply fell victim to the dreaded sophomore jinx. Regin is going to be a top-six stalwart, and soon, but would he be worth sacrificing if it meant getting a future captain like Landeskog?
If Landeskog turns out like many think he will, of course it will be worth it. No question.
You don't get very many chances to get elite players like Landeskog or Hopkins (or Larsson for that matter, but it's unlikely the Senators would bypass an elite forward for another defenseman). You can set your organization up for the next ten or fifteen years with guys like that. Foligno is certainly not going to be that type of player. Regin will be good, but no one is saying he's going to be a franchise player.
Landeskog would also be a good fit with Ottawa simply because they already have a boatload of Swedish prospects and a current Swedish captain who also happens to be the most popular player in the history of the team. The Swedish contingent coming together in Ottawa certainly mirrors the success that the Detroit Red Wings have with Swedish players. And rumour has it that Landeskog's favourite team growing up was the Ottawa Senators.
It's a marketers dream.
In short, if Murray has Landeskog rated as their number one priority for the draft, expect him to throw the kitchen sink at the Panthers in order to get that 3rd pick (or at the Av's for their second slot).
But Dale Tallon is not in the business of doing other teams favours. Ottawa would have to part with someone they likely don't want to see go.The Senators may like players like Strome or Jonathan Huberdeau enough to stay exactly where they are in the draft.
Yet Murray's past suggests he's not afraid to make a big trade. He's also not afraid to move players once thought untradeable (see Mike Fisher, currently tearing it up for the Predators in the playoffs).
Solid move by GM Bryan Murray today to get goalie Craig Anderson under contract for the next four years at an average of just over 3 million a season.
What this team needs now, perhaps more than ever in their franchise history, is stability in the net and this deal gives them that going forward.
As Murray said today at the press conference, the tumultous year for Robin Lehner has hurt his progress after bouncing around from league to league and not being able to win the starting job in either scenario. And that's not totally suprising given his age and the circumstances.
So far, the Senators "rebuild" with youth has shown results right away (though it's always a bad idea to equate late season surges with success the following season) but the one position you don't want to have inexperience at during these upheavals is in the net. That's why expansion teams always go with veteran goaltenders, because they know there are going to be tough nights and even longer stretches where losing is going to be inevitable.
Anderson has already proved that he's a good, if not great, goalie in this league. Some critics have pointed to his tough start in Colorado this year but it's obvious that their problems were far deeper than goaltending.
Already I'm hearing a negative reaction from fans on the call-in shows due to the length of the deal, but it's not like Murray was going into this negotiation from a position of strength. Anderson doesn't owe Ottawa a thing and he could have simply said that if he didn't get that fourth year, he'd just go to July 1st and see what the market offered. Smartly, Murray didn't balk and got Anderson under contract for very little money when you look at what other starting goalies are getting in this league.
With the setbacks that the 19 year old Lehner went through this year, there are no guarantees he's going to be ready at anytime during the length of Anderson's contract. Most goalies don't crack the NHL until their mid-20's anyways.Lehner has plenty of time to arrive in the normal, routine way that other starters do.
If he does somehow battle his way to the top spot in the next two or three years, it's not as if Anderson's contract is so huge that moving him would be impossible.
Overall, a necessary and positive move for this organization going forward.
And call me crazy, but doesn't it look like Murray is going to be around in his role for at least another season?
I'm not calling him Lazarus, but it's pretty close.
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.
Isn't it strange how things work out. The Devils Brian Rolston (much like his team) was left for dead earlier in the season. He was put on waivers back in December but has clawed his way back and Jacques Lemaire, who coached Rolston for the 90's version of the Devils and also in Minnesota, has put him back among the top six and Rolston has become one of their most important players again. Rolston was once universally considered the NHL's most underrated player but once he started getting paid for it, he actually became overrated. Now he's back to being underrated. One thing he never lost was that cannon of a shot. He can absolutely rifle it. He also tied Jason Spezza for the most shifts among forwards tonight with 27.....
.....Did anyone see Bobby Butler accept that pass from Spezza about two minutes into the second? He collected it behind his back going full speed over the blueline and managed to get a shot on net. Incredible....Then about 3 minutes later Erik Condra outdoes Butler and scores the first goal of the game by doing a spinerama in front of the net and scoring off the rebound by smacking it in out of the air while falling to his knees. Are you kidding me?.....Fittingly, Condra got the game winner late in the third on a beauty feed from Spezza..... Am I wrong or has Chris Phillips gotten his game back ever since the contract was signed? He was the best defenseman on the ice tonight for either team....
…. Just guessing here, but I think Peter Regin will be back in form next season. He had a classic bout of the sophomore jinx, which is more of a mental roadblock than it is a physical one, but try telling that to his surgically repaired shoulder. Regin might also want to consider changing his number from 13 to anything else. Number 12 is free right now…. Had a dream I was hanging out with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger last night. Keith fell asleep and I asked Mick if he wanted to watch a Senators game. He frowned and walked out of the house. What does it all mean?......I always find it funny that fans constantly second guess general managers for picking a certain player in the Entry Draft every June. Like they think the GM should listen to them before they listen to their army of professional scouts who travel thousands of miles and rack up years of experience watching thousands of hockey games and go through endless meetings where every prospects strengths and weaknesses are analyzed to death. But no, listen to the dude who works at KFC and has never watched a junior game in his life. Essentially, isn’t the entire blogosphere a little like that too? Myself included. What did Chris Farley once say? “I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull’s ass but I’d rather take the butcher’s word for it.”….
…..Over the years, you can’t really say the Senators have been hurt by injuries more than other teams, but for close to a calendar year, this team has been decimated by important players getting seriously hurt. Go back to the end of last season and you have Alex Kovalev, Filip Kuba, Milan Michalek, Pascal Leclaire, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Peter Regin and now Matt Carkner going down with long-term injuries. And you also had Mike Fisher playing at about half-speed through most of this season with an “upper body injury” before he got traded to Nashville. No team could survive that and, obviously, the Senators were no exception. Having a healthy Brian Elliott didn’t help either…..
....The Senators should consider bringing in current Devil Johan Hedberg as a backup to Craig Anderson next season (presuming Anderson signs here). He had a couple of tough years with a bad Thrashers team but he's always been a reliable goalie for 30 games a year and seems to be well liked wherever he plays. He may end up staying in Jersey because he's been strong when Martin Brodeur's been hurt, but he would look good in a Senators uniform. As I've mentioned before, Mathieu Garon of Columbus would also make a good backup. Both are free agents this summer....I'm not saying Craig Anderson's new mask is ugly, but it looks like something Ricky from The Trailer Park Boys would design if he had the chance. But it didn't seem to hurt Anderson's game. He stopped 31 of 32 shots against a Devils team desperate to make the playoffs. Get this guy signed yesterday....Luckily for the Devils, the Sabres lost to the Penguins tonight.
Chris Phillips first goal of the year to give his team a two goal cushion over the Flyers in the third was perfect timing no matter how the next two days plays out for the franchise defenseman. It could be his last goal in a Senators uniform and it at least gave him a chance to hear the fans roar for him one more time (he's scored some big goals over the years). It also reinforced just how popular the Big Rig is amongst his teammates. He was mobbed by the players on the ice after his point shot beat Brian Boucher, and the celebration continued on the bench with seemingly everyone wanting to go over and congratulate him, including the coaching staff. It's been a tough year on and off the ice for Phillips and it was nice to see a huge grin on his face again...... Speaking of Phillips, if he's traded, who's going to be the guy to stand by the bench after every win and glove tap every player who comes off the ice? Just like Lyndon Slewidge winking and giving the thumbs up, the Sens theme song and half hour parking lot waits, the Phillips glove tap after wins is a Senators tradition we don't want to see lost......
.....It's too bad both GM Pierre Gauthier and coach Jacques Martin are unavailable for the Senators in their current rebuild. The last time the Senators were in a similarly bleak situation was about halfway through the 95-96 season when it looked like the first attempt to build a winner was going backwards after a hot start in October. New GM Gauthier brought in Martin in late January and the Senators made the playoffs the following year. Martin would be the perfect coach for this current Sens team. During his time with Ottawa, Martin ably handled young defensemen like Wade Redden, Chris Phillips, Stan Neckar, Karel Rachunek and Anton Volchenkov. Ironically, Cory Clouston has been criticised for being too conservative with the all the offensive players on his team, but with a young defense coming in next season, that's the type of system they are going to have to implement. While I doubt Clouston will be around next year, it's almost certain Martin won't be available unless the Habs colossally implode down the stretch here, and that's just doesn't happen on a Martin coached team. I'm convinced Martin could coach an AHL team to a .500 record in the NHL if he had to. Whoever is coaching the Senators next year might be faced with the same task.......
......Pascal Leclaire. What's to say? The closest Senators fans got to see what he was capable of was his brief stint in relief of Brian Elliott in last year's first round playoff loss to the Penguins. He was unbelievable at times but that was all she wrote. It only seems appropriate that he spend the rest of his Senators career in Bingo, as he owes that organization a lot of man games as they constantly had to ship Mike Brodeur and Robin Lehner to fill his spot, putting them in a tough situation for close to two seasons. I wonder if they have those magically healing hot tubs in the wonderfully modern Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena?..... But hey, that old rink has a lot of history, and not all of it hockey. Here's a partial list of some of the bands who have ripped it up on that stage: Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Kiss, Johnny Cash, The Beach Boys, Tom Petty, AC/DC, Neil Diamond, Motley Crue, Elton John, and most special of all, folks - Kenny G.....
....Speaking of Elliott, I watched most of his Colorado debut against the Oilers, and it was same old, same old. A lot of sitting back in his crease and looking smaller than he really is. I still don't really understand that move by Colorado. The Senators made out like bandits with Craig Anderson in tow. A great move by Bryan Murray, even if Anderson walks this summer. The point is that Elliott is now someone else's problem and the Sens can move forward without that lingering doubt in their heads that was there everytime Elliott took to the ice. Elliott didn't fare much better against Los Angeles today although he did make 38 saves in a 4-2 loss.....Remember Alex Auld and his gold mask? He's been on three NHL teams since leaving Bytown and has only gotten 11 starts behind Carey Price in Montreal, but the new mask he's been wearing lately is a beauty. ..... So is Brian Boucher's of the Flyers. Simple is always better on goalie masks. What's the point of all those intricate designs with details that no one can see?......Great article today by the Sun's Don Brennan about the need to keep Chris Neil in town. Nice to see the Sun not trying to run a player out of town for a change..... Here's hoping the Sens change their centre ice logo after next season (I assume they will go with the All-Star game logo next year). The big cartoon logo doesn't even fit in the circle and the red line runs across it. They should go with the "O" logo at centre ice and have one on each side of the red line like a lot of teams used to do back in the day instead of the "big blob" approach the Sens have taken.
..... Yes, that photo above is former Senator Andrej Meszaros with current Sen Marek Svatos, the context of which I couldn't find. But if they were related it would be a decent candidate for AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com...... Congratulations to Erik Condra on his first NHL goal. That was genuine joy on his face after he potted a sneaky Ryan Shannon feed from the back of the net. When he scored his second of the game off of an Erik Karlsson point shot, he looked more astonished than anything else. With so many veterans on the Senators for the last five years, the sight of a rookie overjoyed at getting his first goal was not too common, although no one will ever beat Nick Foligno's jump in the air to honour his old man Mike Foligno after his first goal a few years back. Even if the Senators don't win many games the rest of this year (or next), it is a welcome sight to see all that youthful enthusiasm that had been missing from this team for a while......With that being said, I still don't like the Chris Kelly trade, but then again I've been griping about the Meszaros trade ever since it happened too. You probably don't want me to go into that spiel again....
....Completely agree with Don Cherry during his segment tonight about NHL linesmen constantly throwing guys out of the faceoff circle. This has been going on for years and it seems Cherry is the only one who says anything about it. When a faceoff takes over 30 seconds because a linesman is tossing multiple guys, you start to wonder if some of these guys are suffering from "referee envy". Just drop the puck......With the Rangers picking up soon to be UFA Bryan McCabe, and the Habs grabbing Brent Sopel last week, who's still in the running to grab Chris Phillips anyways? To me, the Sharks could use Phillips more than anybody, but with the relatively low price that McCabe fetched - Tim Kennedy and a third rounder - the Sens would be much better off keeping the Big Rig. If you don't get a first rounder or an early second, what's the point? I suppose we'll know soon enough how it will all turn out....
Wow. Alexei Kovalev wins the game for Pittsburgh in the shootout with a perfect shot to beat James Reimer. Coach Dan Bylsma is playing him close to twenty minutes in his first two games. He's going to help the Pens, no matter how much he was despised during his time in Ottawa. People tend to forget he was very good for the Senators for a big portion of 2009-2010 and was playing on one good leg for the most of the first half of this season. But he looks strange wearing number 72....
