Devastating Loss For Senators

Despite playing one of the grittiest playoff games in their history, the Senators lost a heartbreaker to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2.

I don't think I've ever seen an Ottawa team play with such a lunchbox mentality and I've certainly never seen Martin Gerber play as good as he did. He was within minutes of stealing a game for the Senators but got beaten on a wraparound by Ryan Malone with just over a minute remaining.

There were moments in the game when it seemed that Gerber was never going to let another goal in and Sidney Crosby was uncharacteristically quiet while Marian Hossa continued his post-season struggles that have haunted him his entire career. At one point he actually had the puck between Gerber and the goal line and still managed to miss. Senators fans are familiar with that act.

Yet the Senators still lose.

Players like Evgeni Malkin (who is so dominant at times that it's hard to comprehend) and Petr Sykora are clearly outplaying Jason Spezza (who seemed to be playing hurt) and Dany Heatley but role players like Shean Donovan and Chris Neil are beginning to step up and outhustle the Penguins third and fourth liners. Even Randy Robitaille who I skewered in a previous post played a tenacious game on the fourth line with Cody Bass.

The Senators are in a huge hole now and their chances of coming back in this series are slim at best, but they showed their fans that they're capable of playing a grinding game and that's almost unheard of for this franchise in 11 straight years of playoffs.

If Martin Gerber can stay in this type of zone, the Penguins will have a fight on their hands in Ottawa for the next two games.

Stay tuned.

Visions Of Roberts

The guys over at Pensblog have taken the Senators paranoia of Gary Roberts to the extreme by posting an entire team portrait (scroll down a little on the Pensblog to see it) with players on the Penguins eerily resembling Roberts.

That is one of the most insane and funniest things I've ever seen.

Around The League ... Sabres Get Ready To Dump More Salary? ... Nobody Seems To Want Jacques Martin Around Anymore

Henrik Zetterberg was ridiculously good last night against Nashville. If you get a chance to catch this series, Zetterberg is going to take that thing over. He might be the quietest superstar in the NHL.

***

The Sabres have officially put up the "For Sale" sign out on Maxim Afinogenov, who had a brutal season. There's more bad news from Buffalo in the same article as managing partner Larry Quinn is already complaining that the Sabres are spending too much of their revenue on player salaries. Those comments come in light of Ryan Miller needing a big contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer. After seeing Daniel Briere, Chris Drury and Brian Campbell leave town due to money issues, why would Miller even contemplate signing a deal one year before free-agency? He will most certainly have a look around, especially with those ominous quotes from Quinn possibly indicating a drop in payroll in the coming years.

***

.

Jacques Martin is no longer the coach of the Panthers but has been given the option to stay on as General Manager. Nobody knows if he'll stay in Florida or not, but there are still misgivings about Mr.Personality staying on as GM, according to Steve Gorten of the Sun-Sentinel.

"Should Martin choose to stay, it's uncertain how the hiring of his replacement would be handled. Cohen said briefly Friday that Martin would help decide his successor.

However, it's likely Martin would select someone similar to his own personality and coaching style, something which fans and Cohen alike don't feel has worked the previous three seasons. Several players in the Panthers' dressing room were also displeased with how Martin related to them as coach."

David J. Neal of the Miami Herald thinks the whole Martin era in Florida has been a disaster, starting with the firing of Rick Dudley and John Torchetti to be replaced with Mike Keenan and Jacques:

"Captain Olli Jokinen, right wing Nathan Horton and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester .... were said to be most unhappy with their coach and the atmosphere. Too much negativity."

***

.

Even though Islanders GM Garth Snow and head coach Ted Nolan are having a not so secretive struggle with each other, particularly over the case of Jeff Tambellini, Nolan will return next year.

Tambellini is lighting it up in the AHL but Nolan doesn't seem to give him a chance and that's irking Snow enough to talk publicly about it.

If there is one player on which the GM and coach clearly disagree, it's Jeff Tambellini. He scored one goal in 31 games with the Islanders while averaging only 10:25 ice time per game. But he resumed scoring when he returned to Bridgeport, where he is tied for the AHL lead with 36 goals in only 53 games.

"We don't know what we have in Jeff Tambellini until he gets an opportunity to play significant minutes and play on one of the two power-play units," Snow said. "He's a proven goal scorer at every level when he's gotten the opportunity. He's got speed, he's got a rocket of a shot, and he's high-character. We'll see if he can do it at this level."

Frankenstein Won't Miss Game 2

Anton Volchenkov confirmed to the Ottawa Citizen that he won't miss game 2 despite the fact that his regular helmet won't fit over that gnarly monstrosity he now calls a forehead.

15 stitches from an Evgeni Malkin slapshot and the A-Train says he feels "not bad".

Just check out that photo. All he's missing is the Eddie Munster haircut and the bolts in his neck.

That is the second most gnarled Ottawa mug of all time. The best belongs to Andreas Dackell's face after he was crushed into the boards by the Flyers Eric Lindros in the late 90's. If I can find that photo anywhere I'll update this post to show it.

For The Love Of Everything Decent, Drop Robitaille and Bring In McGrattan

It was an astonishing and distasteful sight to see non-presence Randy Robitaille lined up beside Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley for Game 1 against the Penguins. As usual, Robitaille provided nothing, hit nothing and scored nothing.

Finally, Bryan Murray has seen the light and dropped Robitaille to the fourth line and promoted Martin Lapointe to play on the top unit. Lapointe was one of Ottawa's best players in game one and showed the kind of grit and overall nastiness that has been absent from the Senators since... well since 1992.

But why does Robitaille have to play at all? Wouldn't Murray rather have a grinder like the woefully underused Brian McGrattan on the fourth line?

I've never understood the unwillingness of both Murray and John Paddock before him, to put their trust in McGrattan. Teams across the league are playing their tough guys in the playoffs. Anaheim, Minnesota and Pittsburgh with Georges Laraque seem to get by okay without any disastrous results.

Just because Robitaille has more skill than McGrattan doesn't mean he can contribute more. If your team is lacking in skill because of mass injuries, why not load up on what you do have - toughness.

McGrattan is not going to drop the gloves with everyone he see's. He's going to hit guys, over and over and over again, the same as Laraque who was instrumental in the Penguins first goal in game one.

What is Robitaille going to add to the fourth line? Nothing. In fact, he'll weaken them because he refuses to play a physical game.

As of right now, the Senators don't really have an answer for the Penguins firepower. They do have an answer for the Penguins grit and toughness but that answer is sitting in the press box crushing pizza and Doritos.

Get him on the ice and see what he can contribute. Honestly, what do the Senators stand to lose?

Around The League ... CBC Screws Ottawa Fans Yet Again ... Sharks Trying Not To Choke ... Sidney's Doppelganger

For those of you who remain ultra-paranoid about the CBC having an anti-Senators bias, you may not be surprised to learn that the channel chose not to broadcast the game in High Definition last night.

Tomorrow night's game in Montreal is in HD however, as was last night's Calgary-San Jose game.

Apparently the CBC has only two HD "trucks" needed to broadcast the games for those who have the proper TV's and setup. They decided not to send one to Pittsburgh last night. On the other hand, TSN is broadcasting every game in HD.

William Houston of the Globe and Mail says that Ottawa's home games will be in HD but not the games in Pittsburgh.

Is anyone that surprised?

***

You think the Senators have faced some playoff pressure over the years? The San Jose Sharks are again being picked by a lot of pundits to go far but they're already off to a slow start against the underdog Calgary Flames. As George Johnson of the Calgary Herald notes, the Flames have put the seed of doubt in their minds.

"Well, that wasn't exactly a chicken-bone-in-the-throat ga-a-a-g you heard gurgling out of the Sharks -- Game 1 is too ridiculously early to begin predicting any sorts of trends in a series -- but they could be heard clearing their throats, loudly.

This franchise, as everyone is doubtless aware, has slipped on so many playoff banana peels you might believe they played their games in a Chiquita factory. In order to avoid a sordid regurgitation of the past bile, a victory, preferably of the comprehensive variety, was imperative Wednesday night."

***

It's almost too insane to believe, but Flyers goalie Martin Biron will play his first playoff game of his career tonight. And people were questioning Martin Gerber's experience?

***

.

Is it just me or does the Penguins Tyler Kennedy look like a homely little brother of Sidney Crosby?

.

Roberts Goes To War

As expected, a lot of the post-game-one talk is about Gary Roberts and his penchant for burying the Senators. Roberts himself is almost the physical embodiment of all of Ottawa's past failures and now he's reared his battle scarred head out of the abyss.

At least the Senators went after Roberts in the final seconds, with brash newcomer Cody Bass leading the way. The incredible thing about it is that Roberts, as seen here, seems to be challenging the entire Senators team. This guy is unbelievable.




Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gets it right when he says that Roberts is "torturing" the Sens.

"He's got that thing in his eyes," Talbot said. "I don't know what it is, but it's pretty scary." ...

They paid Roberts the ultimate hockey compliment by trying to beat the heck out of him in the final few seconds. ...

"I was at the bottom of the pile, so I don't know who was punching me," he said. "I just knew I was getting hit a lot."

Roberts' puffy right eyelid showed it. It looked as if it were about to explode.

Roberts clearly loved it."

Spezza, Heatley and Gerber Fail To Step Up

It was a brutal beating at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the Ottawa Senators can’t be declared officially dead yet.

There were some positives to grab a hold of… but not many.

After a disgraceful start, Martin Gerber actually played really well in the second and third periods. The problem is that Gerber got his team behind early when he watched a weak backhander by Gary Roberts beat him to the glove side. That was the end of the game right there because the Senators couldn’t capitalize on two 5 on 3’s later in the contest.

Gerber simply has to stop that puck just for the sake of everyone’s sanity and not just because it was a weak shot (and the first shot on net!), but because it was Gary Roberts. The mountain of mental baggage that comes with Roberts versus the Senators is just too much too fathom at this point, yet we are seeing it all over again. Gerber struggled all through the rest of the period and nearly let in a Tommy Salo-esque goal when a puck hit his shoulder and flipped behind his back, narrowly missing the net.

But he stepped up huge with a glove save on the same play that Anton Volchenkov got his forehead caved in by a slapshot and from then on he was stellar. He then went on to let in two more marginal goals at the end of the third period and that was all she wrote.

At the end of the day, Gerber still let in 4 goals while Marc-Andre Fleury let in 0. People will be tripping all over themselves to say that Gerber is not to blame but he didn’t help the team win either.

The playoffs are about results and Gerber didn’t get the job done.

But neither did Jason Spezza or Dany Heatley and this might be an even bigger problem than shaky goaltending. They weren’t particularly bad but they were clearly frustrated at not being able to generate much of anything on offense and that’s not really a surprise. For all of their skill, Spezza and Heatley don’t seem capable of bringing their games to another level the way Daniel Alfredsson can in pressure situations. That’s not to say they won’t, but they don’t seem to be able to ignite that passion that allows teams to get over the hump.

On a more positive note, a few role players such as Martin Lapointe and Shean Donovan had decent games and the Senators showed some physical grit and toughness throughout. Mike Commodore was particularly hard on some Pittsburgh players but he made a crucial mistake that led to a 2 on 1 and a Petr Sykora goal.

As expected, Evgeni Malkin was dominant but Sidney Crosby had a strangely quiet game and gave Penguins fans a panic filled moment when he barreled into the end boards feet first, almost exactly the same way he badly injured his ankle earlier in the season.

The dude was okay.

So what should give the Senators hope for the next game and the rest of the series?

Well, when all is said, it could have been much worse. For large parts of the game, the Senators were competitive and actually seemed to win the second period despite being severely shorthanded injury wise and on the road.

Somehow, somehow…if Spezza and Heatley can find a way to score and they steal a game in Pittsburgh on Friday, things change a little and there could be some reason for optimism.

But until anything changes, the Penguins played like the better team and there’s no reason to think that won’t be the case going forward.

Around The League ... Remembering the Brooks/Tortorella Shit Show ... Keenan's Back To Raise Hell ... And More Grief In Lotus Land

Over in New Jersey, the Devils aren't exactly hounded by autograph seekers when they're out in public. In fact, as the Star-Ledger's Rich Chere notes, not many people even know who the hell they are - not even face of the franchise Martin Brodeur.

"This is the 11th straight season in which the Devils have been in the playoffs, but this may well be one of their most anonymous teams. John Madden said he has been to several hockey equipment/sporting goods stores in the area and wasn't recognized.

Brian Gionta has gone grocery shopping in Verona without being recognized.

Paul Martin recently saw the movie "SemiPro" at Essex Green Plaza and was not recognized.

Jamie Langenbrunner can shop or dine without being recognized most times. And he's the captain.

"You can even go to dinner with Marty sometimes and nobody will know who he is. Or, at least they don't let on that they know," Langenbrunner said. "

Across the Hudson River in Manhattan, the Ranger's most prominent beat writer, the grumbling and antagonizing Larry Brooks, picks the Devils to win in six games. I have to say I agree (in fact, I think New Jersey will win the East outright and that the Rangers are slightly overrated right now).

What I'm most looking forward to is Brooks getting into another public pissing match like the one he had with Bolts coach John Tortorella last year. At about 1 minute into this video, the shit hits the fan pretty good.



***

This is the first chance that Mike Keenan gets to coach in the playoffs since 1996 with the St. Louis Blues. That was the year Wayne Gretzky wore the blue note after getting traded from Los Angeles.

That was a long, long time ago.

So long that a lot of us may have forgotten the antics he used to get up to when the games mattered the most. Jeremy Roenick talks to Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun and reminds us of a funny story that happened when the two of them were together with the Blackhawks:

"In the 1992 Stanley Cup, I got slashed by Kevin Stevens, and Mike threw a cast on my hand and put me in front of the media to get a point across to the league and the officials that I was getting cheap-shotted," chuckled Roenick during a conference call yesterday setting up his Sharks' series with Keenan's Calgary Flames.

"He made me a guinea pig -- it was kind of embarrassing -- but what Mike says, you do. Mike is a genius when it comes to head games and getting into the referees' or players' heads. He's crazy -- very slippery, very sly. He can manipulate a lot of people with what comes out of his mouth. That's just a talent."

***

They are still picking over the carcass of the Vancouver Canucks and columnist Tony Gallagher thinks that coach Alain Vigneault and his stifling style of play has to take some of the blame for almost every offensive player on the team having off-years.

"So here's the bottom line. Every single player who fits into the "offensive minded" or "finesse" category on this team underachieved in terms of
production. ...

Can you wonder why someone might want to question whether Vigneault is capable of coaching talented players? ...

What does it say to Naslund, traditionally this team's leading goal scorer, when he doesn't play on a five-on-three man advantage, something he hasn't done since Vigneault arrived. Is this not a kick in the jollies from the word go? What does it say to Naslund when he's playing with the Sedins and the line is doing well, when suddenly there's a power play and he's yarded off to the second unit in favour of someone who has nowhere near the offensive capability simply because said player happens to shoot right?"

Yikes!

James Mirtle has an interesting post up about the starting goalies for the playoffs and their respective records.

Of all the number one goalies in this years playoffs, Martin Gerber has the second worst Goals Against Average at 3.48 (thankfully for Ottawa, the worst is Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury with a 3.77 GAA).

Gerber also has the worst save percentage of all goalies, with a meagre .854. Marc Andre Fleury is next on the list with a marginally better .880 percentage.

One of these goalies is going to step up and improve on those numbers. Which one will it be?

Black Aces First Round Predictions

I'm not going to go into the reasons for my picks because the papers and blogs are saturated with that type of talk right now and there's no reason to pile on the over-analysis. For Ottawa fans who might take me to task for my Penguins prediction, fear not. I'm terrible at predicting anyways.

Montreal vs Boston

Black Aces Pick: Montreal in 6 games

Pittsburgh vs Ottawa

Black Aces Pick: Pittsburgh in 5 games

Washington vs Philadelphia

Black Aces Pick: Washington in 7 games

New Jersey vs New York Rangers

Black Aces Pick: New Jersey in 6 games

Detroit vs Nashville

Black Aces Pick: Detroit in 6 games

San Jose vs Calgary

Black Aces Pick: Calgary in 7 games

Minnesota vs Colorado

Black Aces Pick: Minnesota in 6 games

Anaheim vs Dallas

Black Aces Pick: Anaheim in 5 games

Predictions Re-Visited.

Like a lot of bloggers, I'm dragging out my pre-season predictions (which you can see in full here) and by the looks of things, I've got some crow to eat.

I picked Buffalo to finish first in the East and the Tampa Bay Lightning to finish 3rd. They finished 10th and 15th respectively. Brutal.

In the West I fared a lot better and only missed Dallas who I picked to finish 9th but they ended up making the playoffs in the 5th spot.

I picked San Jose to win the President's Trophy but that ultimately went to Detroit with San Jose finishing a relatively close second.

I also picked the Ottawa Senators to beat the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup final, and while that's still a possibility, I don't think I'll be making those same picks when I make my post-season predictions tomorrow. Though I might hold on to Calgary. I figure Mike Keenan is due for a good run. I picked him for the Jack Adams award but maybe he'll just pot the Stanley Cup instead.

Around The League.... Pens Looking For Revenge... Buffalo and Carolina Make NHL History For Failures

The Pittsburgh Penguins aren't worried about a sloppy loss to the Flyers yesterday. They want revenge against the Senators on the heels of last year's first round loss.

"It's payback," Staal said. "I think every player in this dressing room wants to give it back to them for what they did to us last year."

By sitting Sidney Crosby for the final game, the Pens made it clear that they're not afraid of playing Ottawa because a win yesterday would have allowed them to play 8th place Philadelphia in the first round.

***

The Washington Capitals have capped a remarkable comeback season (they were in last place when Bruce Boudreau took over at Thanksgiving) thanks to Alex Ovechkin's Art Ross, Maurice Richard and probably Hart Trophy winning season. They now go on to face the Flyers in the first round. But a lot of folks in D.C. are giving the proper accolades to Boudreau as well.

"Boudreau's NHL coaching debut came the day after Thanksgiving at Wachovia Center, where Capitals won, 4-3, on a goal in overtime by rookie Nicklas Backstrom. In the four and a half months since that victory, Boudreau, a coach of the year hopeful, guided the team to a 37-17-7 record, including seven straight victories to close the regular season, and the Capitals ascended from last place to division champion for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001. "

And don't forget what GM George McPhee did at the trade deadline, acquiring Sergei Fedorov and Cristobal Huet. He can also take credit for seeing through the decision to entirely rebuild only 5 years ago as Thom Loverro writes about in the Washington Times:

"When we got eliminated in the playoffs against Tampa that year, we talked a few weeks after the season," McPhee said. "Ownership felt at that time we should tear it down. We were probably going to have a lockout, so let's rebuild it. They asked me, 'Can you do it, and will you do it?'

"We were sitting in Ted's office. I said, 'Yes, we will.'

***

For all the talk of the Ottawa Senators fall from grace, not many took note of the Buffalo Sabres downfall. In fact, the Sabres made some history doing it and joined an elite list of teams who hold some notorious records in the NHL. Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News has the story:

"The Sabres became just the third defending points leader to fail to make the playoffs the next season in the expansion era (joining only the 1970 Montreal Canadiens and 1993 New York Rangers). Buffalo’s 23-point drop from last year’s 113- point finish is the third-highest among Presidents’ Trophy winners since the award was first handed out to the regular-season champion in 1985-86.

And by percentage of points earned, the Sabres’ drop is fourth-highest in the Presidents’ Trophy era. "

***

No one can be happier about the Carolina Hurricanes missing the playoffs than Ottawa GM and coach Bryan Murray. He has been taking all sorts of heat for the four player swap with the Canes that saw Joe Corvo leave Ottawa and excel with his new team while Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore have been perceived by fans and media to have played average (I still think it was a good deal for Ottawa - remember that Corvo had asked to be traded).

That criticism will now be blunted a little with Carolina's failure. Now the Hurricanes are the only team in NHL history to miss the playoffs two seasons in a row after winning the Stanley Cup according to Luke Decock of the News and Observer.

Sens Will Have To Rely On Intangibles To Beat The Pens

After a long, miserable, and uneven season, the Ottawa Senators finally get back to the playoffs where at least they have had some recent success.

A trip to the Cup final last year won’t do them any favours against the Penguins, but it might stir up memories which leads to better focus and confidence.

And they’re going to need it, pal.

This might prove to be the most exciting first-round series in the league because the Pens can score in bunches while the Senators seemingly can’t play consistent defence and have suspect goaltending in Martin Gerber. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a multitude of games that feature 7 goals or more because Marc-Andre Fleury of the Penguins doesn’t exactly have a stellar playoff resume in his young career either.

But it probably won’t come down to goaltending in the end.

If the Senators are being honest and not just playing games with the media, the injuries to Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher are as lethal as you can get. Some are saying that Alfredsson has an MCL sprain while others are hinting that Alfie will be good to go in game 1 and that Bryan Murray is merely trying to keep the Penguins off-stride in their game preparations. Alfredsson has no visible limp when he walks but that doesn’t mean he’s healthy. It’s a long shot, but perhaps Alfie is not as hurt as Murray makes him out to be.

If Alfredsson does not return in the short term, the Senators can start booking their end of year party. The Penguins have two of the three best players in the NHL with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and a genuine power-play quarterback in Sergei Gonchar.

On top of that, they have ample grit with Ryan Malone, Jarkko Ruutu and Georges Laraque. The Senators simply cannot matchup with the Penguins except in two, key areas.

Gerber will have to shed his label as a guy who chokes under-pressure (he didn’t help himself by playing marginal down the stretch) and if he can manage to do that, he might give the Senators the edge in goaltending over a skilled but very green Fleury.

Meanwhile, Ray Emery sits and watches with a Stanley Cup run already under his belt and the cocky attitude that nearly every great goalie has possessed over the years. You couldn’t invent a weirder situation in sports. It’s unprecedented. Look for Emery to get in the net at some point because Gerber’s weaknesses could become too exposed when facing stars like Crosby and Malkin who absolutely feast on rebounds.

The other area is overall experience and the Senators have plenty of that. Even without Alfredsson and Fisher in the lineup, these players have seen and done everything. They’ve lost in every conceivable fashion over the years and somehow managed to bounce back and put it all together for one breathtaking run last year. There is not a crisis that this team hasn’t faced over the last 8 years, from ownership bankruptcy and missed paychecks to getting embarrassed by more experienced teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Now the Senators are the underdogs, but they have battle scars, something the baby-faced Penguins don’t have yet.

It would be a nice comeback story for the Senators but I just don’t see it happening.

Prediction: Penguins in 5 games.

Around The League... Leaf Writers Sweep Out The Ashes... Cote Gains Respect of Fellow Enforcers

The Toronto Maple Leaf beat writers are putting the finishing touches on their annual post-mortem articles, decrying the soiled state of the hapless Buds. Paul Hunter of the Star calls last night's loss to Ottawa "embarrassing".

"Give the Leafs credit for one thing – they're consistent on home ice. They've stunk at the Air Canada Centre all season. It's doubtful anyone will lament the breakup of this edition of the squad when general manager Cliff Fletcher and his eventual successor continue the dismantling process in the off-season.

Last night was just another pathetic reminder of how bad they really are. They cobbled together an 18-17-6 record on their own ice, ranking them 26th in the 30-team league. Only the Islanders, Atlanta, Phoenix and Los Angeles were worse. "

Damien Cox finds coach Paul Maurice's decision to keep Vesa Toskala in for 8 goals a "firing offense".

"Afterwards, there were no speeches, no Grunwald-like public apologies, no shirt-off-our-backs ceremonies, no appreciative tributes to the ever-patient fans. Vesa Toskala, hung out to dry by head coach Paul Maurice to absorb all 60 embarrassing minutes in what may have been in itself a firing offence for a head coach, couldn't get off the ice fast enough. ...

Their "core" has been exposed as flaccid and wildly overpaid. Their management has been discredited and banished, with the team now left indefinitely in the hands of a man fired by the same team a decade ago."

***

The Buffalo Sabres have been officially eliminated from the playoffs and it's the fourth time in six seasons that has happened.

Not exactly a shocker. Gone from last years team: Daniel Briere, Chris Drury and Brian Campbell.

If the cheapness of the Sabres doesn't change, they're just basically a farm team for the other franchises. They put the time and money into draft picks and let them go when it's time to pay them for their success.

Next in line to leave? All-Star goalie Ryan Miller.

***

The best between periods segment on the Ottawa Senators pay-per-view last night was Chris Neil and Brian McGrattan sitting on a couch watching fights by classic enforcers like Bob Probert and Stu Grimson and even commenting on a few of their own taped fights. McGrattan said that Philadelphia's Riley Cote was the best up-and-coming fighter in the league and lo and behold, the current champion Georges Laraque says the same thing in a Dave Molinari penned article.

"He doesn't back down," Laraque said. "He fights open. He's a lefty, and ... he doesn't hold on. He just goes. It's unreal. I respect him a lot."

Ottawa Now Spezza and Heatley's Team

In a hit that will be forever enshrined on next year's Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em DVD, ex-Ottawa 67, occasional drunk driver and assaulter of Ottawa taxi drivers, Mark Bell, absolutely incinerated Daniel Alfredsson last night in Toronto.

The hit was clean and completely legal on Bell’s part, despite the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch calling it an “elbow to the head”. Bell actually caught Alfie’s shoulder, who then smoked his melon off the ice on impact.

Bryan Murray sounded the alarm bells when he declared that both Mike Fisher and Alfredsson would be out for a significant period of time, including the first round of the playoffs which Ottawa can secure for themselves with a point against Boston tonight.

.

This is now, for better or worse, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley's team. Both played great games last night and Heatley seemed to wake up out of a month long slumber and looked like an emotional leader on the ice and on the bench. I've never seen Heatley do so much talking to his teammates. At one point, Heatley and Antoine Vermette got into a super-heated discussion on the bench and Heatley was yapping at Leaf players all night long.

As for the injuries, it’s a mind-warping turn of events but it will be interesting to hear more news about them as soon as the uproar dies down. Maybe they are as bad as Murray says they are, or perhaps Murray was just reacting emotionally and exaggerated their status for effect.

As for the game itself, the Senators pulled out a convincing win over the Maple Leafs with Martin Gerber calm and collected in the nets after looking a little shaky to start the game. Cody Bass was like a rabid wolverine out there, looking more like Chris Neil circa 2003. Antoine Vermette continues to play well under Murray, getting his first hat trick and making all the ladies swoon in the process.

Time is short today so we’ll look in on the Senators after the big game against Boston tonight at the Palladi…. Errrr….. Corel…..Errrr….Scotiabank Place.

Brian McGrattan and Jesse Winchester will probably get a chance to play against a Bruins squad desperate for a victory.

Alfredsson Crushed, Fisher Out For First Round

The Senators beat the Leafs but word is Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher have "signifigant" injuries. Bryan Murray says that both are doubtful for the first round of the playoffs.

Insane turn of events. More to come.

Around The League ... Jokinen Set For Dubious Record ... New Jersey Memories... Penguins Ready To Dominate

It's probably easy for Sens fans to remember Steve Duchesne's goal against Buffalo that put Ottawa into the post-season for the first time in 1997. Over in Jersey, they are remembering the 20th anniversary of John MacLean's goal against the Blackhawks that did a similar thing for that franchise.

"The greatest thing about that year was Johnny Mac's goal," former coach Jim Schoenfeld said. "I didn't even realize until after we won how much that game meant to everybody. I know they hadn't made the playoffs, but I had no idea the emotional investment a lot of people made and how that goal realized so many dreams. The game in Chicago is still my greatest hockey memory.

"In the annals of hockey history it's just a ... footnote. To our little group it was big. Even the Devils have gone on to bigger and better things. But it was a big deal at that time."

Sean Burke, the team's goaltender at the time, agreed.

"I remember the elation after that goal went in," Burke said. "I remember in the dressing room. (Former GM) Max McNab had tears in his eyes."

***

No one in the current NHL has played more regular season games and not one single playoff game than the hard luck captain of the Florida Panthers, Olli Jokinen. Next season, after 11 more games, he will pass Panthers assistant coach Guy Charron for the all-time record.

"It's people's choice. They can judge," Jokinen said. "Probably a lot of people are wondering, 'Why the hell is this guy still staying here?' That's the question I'm getting from all the other players around the league. I feel like the Panthers gave me a chance to be a player in this league. I don't want to let them down and go somewhere else."

***

If Ottawa Senators fans were getting their hopes up about Bryan Murray hiring his old buddy and current Red Wing coach Mike Babcock, they might be disappointed to hear that contract talks between him and the Red Wings seem to be progressing. That's good news for Detroit as Babcock is one hell of a coach. I still think the Wings will crash and burn in the playoffs when the games get more physical but he might be the guy to get them over that hump.

***

The game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers last night was one of the best games I've seen all year. The war between Scott Hartnell and Sidney Crosby was epic. Evgeni Malkin was once again dominant and he reminds me more and more of Mario Lemieux. They have the same size, height, skating stride, shot and reach. It's completely possible that Malkin will turn out to be as good or better player than Crosby. Even Marc-Andre Fleury looked completely different than the goalie who fizzled out against Ottawa last year.

It's the biggest no-brainer to say that the Penguins will completely take over the league starting next year. They might even make a heady run this June.

Easily the funnest team to watch in the league.

It Had To Be The Leafs

It’s unfortunate, but the Senators have to face old demons when they go into the den of iniquity in Toronto tonight with the playoffs on the line.

In the past, the likelihood of the Senators winning an important game against Toronto were akin to Nickelback writing a good song. It just doesn’t happen.

And make no mistake about it. Every hockey writer in the world is licking their greasy press box buffet chops in anticipation of Ottawa making another no-show against the Leafs in what is basically a playoff game in everything but name. It’s a seven game series wrapped into 60 minutes.

That’s how important it is for Ottawa to beat Toronto tonight. Not for the chance of going to the playoffs. But to keep old stigma’s from resurfacing and another summer of ridicule at the hands of the Toronto based hockey media who will be all too happy to point out that the Senators are “chokers” and incapable of standing up to the “character” of the Leafs. And they will be right if the Senators don’t win this game.

Yes, the playoffs are the most important task right now, but do you really think the Senators will survive a beating at the hands of the Leafs tonight?

This is the first must-win game since game 5 of last years Stanley Cup playoffs.

How the hell did the Senators manage to screw up so badly that it had to come against the Leafs?

Of all the teams, why the Leafs?

This will be a good test for Martin Gerber. If he can't excel in this type of game, he's never going to be the answer.

Around The League - Vicious Beatings and The Washington Resurgence

It looks like the already impressive Penguins are about to get a warrior back in time for the playoffs as Gary Roberts is aiming to play on Sunday after missing most of the season with a broken twig. That only adds more ammunition to a team that just might steamroll their first round opponent. Sidney Crosby is back to his usual self and Evgeni Malkin looks like Mario Lemieux out there on most nights. The key guy to watch will be Jarkko Ruutu. He's going to drive opponents insane (just ask Chris Simon).

***

Calgary is booming with workers descending from across the country to work on the Oil-Sands project (ie. the most pollution inducing project in Canada's history) but with that comes problems like massive gang violence and petty crime. Basically Calgary is turning into Canada's version of Detroit. The rivalry between Cowtown and Edmonton remains the same, and a young Edmonton fan found that out when he was beat to an unconscious pulp by four or five dudes in Flames sweaters. Welcome to Alberta.

***

How many of you think of Blue Jacket David Vyborny as a leader? I didn't until I read this column by Michael Arace who pens a nice tribute to an original Jacket who has reached the end of the line in Ohio.

***

People are completely freaking out in D.C. for the Capitals right now. They actually had a sellout last night and the bloggers, who until now have been given game passes from owner Ted Leonsis, got kicked out of their seats because some real media types showed up to eat Uncle Ted's buffet in the press box. For the best Capitals insight and good snapshot of last night's atmosphere in D.C. check out On Frozen Blog's take. It would be painful if this team fell short. It would only be good for the league to see Alex Ovechkin in the playoffs, as Mike Wise points out.

Frustration Mounts ... And A "Prison Night" Proposal

You can't get any points when you get shutout two games in a row and now the Senators are going to have to find a way to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday to ensure they still squeak into the playoffs.

Martin Gerber had another average game but you can't expect this guy to score as well. While he's not stealing games, he's not losing them outright either.

The power-play continues to sputter for the Senators but at least the team showed some tenacity and grit in the last half of the game and if that stays consistent, the Senators should get a win somewhere here.

Of course, not everyone was committed. Randy Robitaille in particular looked weak when he failed to keep a puck in on a power-play with just over ten minutes remaining and the Habs up 2-0. Robitaille simply bailed on the puck when he felt pressure behind him and a few plays later, the Habs had a 3-0 lead.

Another disturbing note is the abject failure of the Senators faithful to avoid getting consistently drowned out by a minority of vocal Montreal fans who simply walked into Ottawa's livingroom with their shoes on, took a leak on the carpet, drank all their booze and sang Na na na na Hey hey hey Goodbye to their hearts content.

Is there another arena in the league where the home team captain gets booed and the visiting goalie gets his name chanted over and over again?

There is no arena in professional sports, let alone the NHL, where this sort of idiocy takes place.

The Senators have had "Military Nights" where season ticket holders give up their tickets to the men and women in service. I propose a "Prison Night" where we empty out the Ottawa jails and stack the arena with the craziest, drunkest sociopaths available and see if those Habs and Leafs fans still find the nerve to take the joint over.

The most insane thought to consider is that the Senators could be virtually eliminated from the playoffs by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

And we all know how the Senators have fared every time they've played a meaningful game against the Leafs.

Get the rye out. This could get ugly.

Fans In Panic Mode, Blogger Kevin Lee Freaks Out Completely

For all the panic that is raging in Ottawa about their beloved Senators possibly missing the playoffs (for the proof, see my description of Kevin Lee's blog at the bottom of this column), it should be remembered that Ottawa is actually closer to 4th place in the East and home ice advantage for the first round than they are to ninth place.

What are the chances that not only the Capitals surpass the Senators, but also Philadelphia and Boston? Not very good.

With a win tonight against a Montreal team ravaged by injuries, the Senators could find themselves in 4th place if the Islanders hold off the Devils to a single point.

The Senators have struggled lately but they are still over .500 in their last ten games with a 5-4-1 record. In comparison the Devils have a 4-5-1 record. Boston is treading water at 4-3-3 while only the Capitals are red hot right now with a ten game tally of 8-2-0.

Even if the Senators can salvage a single point out of tonight's game, they will still hold their ground with only two games left.

Things are tough lately, but the Senators are not exactly falling off the face of the earth.

Yet.

Coach Bryan Murray has already named Martin Gerber as the starter against Montreal and he needs to come up with a big game to keep the ever growing chorus of doubters at bay.

Don Brennan came out in today's Ottawa Sun and predicted that it will be Ray Emery, and not Gerber who will be in the nets for Ottawa's final game of the playoffs.

In tangibles, there's probably not much to choose from between Emery and Gerber. Neither one of them is very likely to win you the Cup on their play alone.

But when it comes to intangibles, Emery has the definite edge. He exudes confidence. He has the experience. He played all 20 of Ottawa's playoff games last spring, and all 10 they had the spring before that. Thirty games. That's a lot of testing under fire.

Gerber has a lifetime playoff record of 1-1. He's totally unproven at this time of year. He's also coming off another sub-par performance, this time showing a slow trapper.

Meanwhile, Emery is resigned to the fact Gerber is the No. 1 goalie in town.

"I don't think you change your mind about things right now," Emery said. "Marty's played well, playing in all the games the past month or so. Right now, he's the guy."

Can't say I disagree with Brennan on those points and I'll jump on that bandwagon right now as well.

But let's be clear. If Gerber proves me wrong, he'll get his share of praise on Black Aces and it will be well deserved. He has a lot of pressure on him right now and it's do or die for him if he wants to remain a viable number one goalie.

.

There's pressure galore for everyone on the Ottawa squad and they might just be running out of gas in what has been an epically long two seasons that peaked with a trip to the Cup finals and bottomed out with two consecutive shutout losses to the Bruins and Leafs which sealed John Paddock's fate.

.

The simple fact could be that the Senators are exhausted, mentally and physically. Even Jason Spezza, who usually giggles like a ten year old boy in every exchange with the media was dropping bleeps yesterday on camera.

.

It's quite clear that Daniel Alfredsson is hurt and the team needs to rest him immediately if they have any hopes of going far in the post-season, a prospect that looks dimmer by the day.

Don't count them out, but don't be surprised if the adrenalin isn't there when it's needed.

---------------------------------------------------------------

By the way, Kevin Lee over at Hockeybuzz has written a ridiculous column castigating a group of Senators players for going out to a nightclub after losing to the Bruins, even though they had the next day off.

.

It's sad enough to see a hockey blogger obsessing about the personal lives of players, but his claim that he's writing it because he wants to see some "accountability" from the players is a joke.

.

Memo to Kevin Lee: Since the dawn of the NHL, teammates go out for beers, win or lose. They are allowed to by any definition.

.

Lee even says that fans should be questioning whether they should buy tickets because of this.

.

Are you serious dude?

.

Worst column ever written. Period.