Business As Usual

There's no point in rehashing the same old story. The Senators lost because they lived up to their billing as the lowest scoring team in the National Hockey League. Not much is going to change until Bryan Murray brings in some real offence.

How long can he wait? Forever?

Sorry for the brevity, but is there anything more to say?

***

It makes much more sense to think of Antoine Vermette as a role player similar to Sami Pahlsson in Anaheim. When the Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007, Pahlsson was one of their best players simply by being the best defensive forward on the ice during every series.

When you imagine what Vermette could be, think back to Jere Lehtinen in his prime (or even a Kris Draper but with a little more skill). Vermette is not going to score 30 goals but he can be a hell of a speedy defensive forward, possibly even a Selke nominee down the road.

The problem is that he's being paid like a second-line offensive forward and he's in a tough situation with the fans and Ottawa management because of it. Pahlsson only gets 1.4 million in Anaheim but you could say that they both play a similar role, even though the expectations are different. That's why Vermette is a likely asset to be traded. GM's love defensive specialists but they don't necessarily like to overpay to get them.

Bryan Murray has a small window here where Vermette is still considered by many to have offensive potential. At the end of this year, if Vermette hasn't scored 25 goals (and he won't), his 3 million salary for next year will be unpalatable to both Ottawa and any other trade partners around the league.

If Vermette can somehow reform his image from an underachieving offensive guy to an underrated defensive force, he might still have a bright future in Bytown. But that money is a big stumbling block.

***

It's become Chris Neil's trademark to flash that toothless grin during every scrap he's in and tonight was no exception as he was smiling all the way through his fight with Chicago's Troy Brouwer after taking a healthy run at Patrick Kane. Then there's Jarkko Ruutu. He's always smiling too but he's got a full gleaming set of choppers that makes him look a little like a shark. That's got to be infuriating - a guy who's so chippy having a perfect grill. ....... There's a new book on the original dynastic Ottawa Senators called "Win, Tie or Wrangle" written by local hockey researcher Paul Kitchen. It's received at least one glowing review and hopefully it winds up under a few Christmas trees this year, including mine......... Chicago coach Joel Quennville is a pretty snappy dresser behind the bench. Purple shirt, metallic green tie. Almost as nice as his players who wear the nicest jersey's in the league...... Speaking of which, imagine if the Hawks designed a 3rd jersey where their side profile "Chief" was turned to stare straight out like the Senators current Spartan logo? It wouldn't happen because even a team with a stormy past like the Blackhawks know that tradition and simplicity far surpass gimmicks and endless alternate logos in building a brand. Someday the Senators will go back to their original side-profile logo and wonder why they ever changed in the first place. It's sad when you realize that teams like the Florida Panthers, the New Jersey Devils and the Carolina Hurricanes have more easily identifiable logos than the Senators. Are the Senators headed down the long and dirty road that the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks have trudged through over the years? Falling head over heels for every new trend that happens to come along? Man, we're already there.

Perpetual Road Trip On The Horizon

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

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

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

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

The moral of the story?

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

***

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

***

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

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

Congratulations Kulkster.

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

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

***

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

A Minor Setback

I don't have much time to write anything lengthy after getting back from the game tonight, but it should be said that no one should be freaking out over the sudden-death loss to the Florida Panthers.

Ottawa played a strong game against an equally fired up Florida squad and hit a few posts while being the recipient of some bad calls (and more importantly, some non-calls in the third period).

Losing games you should have won is all just part of a long season. I saw nothing in their game that represented a step backwards but just a few bad bounces that made the difference.

Daniel Alfredsson in particular played an inspired game and the Big 3 looked dangerous all night. It was also nice to see Anton Volchenkov laying a couple of major hits, something that he has gotten away from in the last year or so.

But damn, that Jay Bouwmeester would sure look good in black and red...

Sunday Notes

For all the doubts that still exist about this Ottawa team, there is a palpable feeling right now that things are somehow different from the confused and unconfident group we saw at the start of the year.

Just listening to Daniel Alfredsson's post-game interview on the Team 1200 would have allayed the fears of even the most hardened pessimist.

He seemed almost jubilant at times but it wasn't just the afterglow of a single good game. You could hear the relief in his words as he traced back over the past 7 or so games and pointed out that there had only been one average effort in the whole lot and that was the loss against the Islanders last week.

When the captain is happy, the rest of the team must be too. For a change, they look like they are having fun again.

Despite everyone's brave words, it was clear that the negative atmosphere from the second half of last year was still weighing on the core players and that the new additions were too busy trying to adjust to a new team and city to do anything about it right away. But slowly, a hardened team is starting to emerge.

I really like how Craig Hartsburg is not too proud to change his mind, altering some concepts he brought in from the start.

The first was the idea that Martin Gerber was the number one goalie and that all he needed was a vote of confidence and a stretch of games to prove himself. Hartsburg let Gerber play himself out of the spot and that was that. Alex Auld has taken over and Hartsburg hasn't played around since. The rumours of trading for the expensive Nikolai Khabibulin seem almost absurd at this point.

Hartsburg also paid lip service to the notion of having to break up the top line to spread the offense around. Even when they were losing, he kept them apart to try and see if the team could come through it. When it became clear that this team needed some offense, he changed his course and now the Senators are inching their way up the standings.

Hartsburg could have extended the misery of this team if he was too hard-headed but he's shown that he's of the modern variety of coaches - adaptable and capable of motivating his players without resorting to the bag skates and the media call-outs (his early mistake of putting public heat on Spezza aside).

I said after the Atlanta win that the contest against the Penguins would be real test for this team and they came through with top marks. Now with some careful moves by Bryan Murray to bring in a little more skill, this team has the potential to do some damage down the line.

***

Eric Duhatschek has a good quote from Buffalo Sabres president Larry Quinn on how the NHL can break through into the American television market:

“I talked to the NFL guys last year,” said Quinn, “and I asked them: How did you change your game from the off-tackle, three-yard running play and scores that were 13-10 to what you have right now? And a wise old guy said to me: It's very simple. Roone Arledge walked down the street and said to Pete Rozelle one day: Listen, I have this idea. It's called Monday Night Football. I can make you lots and lots of money, but here's what I can sell: I can sell quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. That's what I can sell to the American public.

“Well, if you look at what we do, we sell goaltenders. I think it's fair to say, both Canadians and Americans, that's not what they love about the game. They love Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Guy LaFleur and Jean Beliveau.”

According to Kelly, if the NHL could get goal-scoring up in the seven-per-game range, that might be enough to make the long-awaited breakthrough on television in the United States."

He's right. The goalie worship, which started around the time Patrick Roy won his first Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1986, is way overboard. How else can you explain Roberto Luongo, despite winning zilch in his NHL career, being more of a star than any single player on the Detroit Red Wings roster?

***

More goals might help the ratings, but is it too late for the Phoenix Coyotes? According to the Globe and Mail, the franchise is on the brink of bankruptcy. ... Jim Lang of Sportsnet actually hissed and booed at the Senators third jersey's when showing highlights of the Pens-Sens game this morning. Then again, this is the guy who thinks "slobberknocker" is a catchy phrase which must be repeated every time a home-run has to be described during the baseball season. ... Ron Maclean and company probably want their first-intermission commentary back as they went on and on about Jason Spezza using an all-composite stick and said it was the reason he was having trouble controlling the puck. Except Spezza uses a wooden blade jammed into a composite shaft and ended up with a hat-trick by the end of the afternoon. Whoops......While he had another great game, Spezza might have the ugliest moustache on the team. That thing is brutal.....If you ever feel the need to torture yourself, just listen to the post-game show on the Team 1200. It is the worst collection of phone callers outside of the weekday Over The Edge show. Unbelievably, people still found opportunities to vent their Spezza hate, saying that his latest scoring exploits only increases his trade value. .... How many of you at home for the game were contemplating making an irate phone call to CBC when 2:00 rolled around and they were still showing a curling match? Only a play or two was missed but you can bet that the Toronto Maple Leafs would never have to endure a similar problem. .... The Penguins are good now but wait until they get Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney back from injury. At that point, they may become Eastern Conference favourites.

Sens Rink Sometimes A Danger Zone

With news that a guy fell out of the 300 section down into the 200's last night at Scotiabank Place, it brought me back 3 years to a story I actually had to cover for the Ottawa Xpress about a guy who took a flying hot dog in the eye from the "Master Blaster" of Spartacat.

Thankfully he ended up being okay but it might have been the funniest story I ever had to do. He was genuinely upset about the whole thing (and rightfully so) but I could barely keep a straight face during the interview. It was just so ridiculous.

"I took a hot dog bazooka right in the eye. It was wrapped in tin foil and a cup, I think, I don't know. I didn't even get the hot dog in the end. It landed in the aisle and someone must have grabbed it. The people sitting next to me were like 'Holy cow, are you all right?' because the impact was pretty loud. "

- Ottawa Xpress

The thing that breaks me up to this day is that he was so bummed that he didn't get to eat the hot-dog. He also resembled a certain singer of the band Journey. A real good guy with a really funny story.

***

It looks like the war is over. The Senators theme song is a goner and the ad-hoc campaign to keep it playing during the game openings is dying a slow death to the much flashier and hipper Rev Theory.

But for those who remember, and who want to relive the good ol' days, here's the MP3 of what is now just a dusty old relic.



It was corny, but it was ours.

Somewhere, a single tear falls down Jacques Martin's face.

The Big Breakout

With the big win tonight, the Senators made their Long Island loss on Saturday look like a minor blip in their steady resurgence.

Losing on the road is a given for every team over the course of the season. But bouncing back with wins at home (albeit against a struggling Atlanta squad) shows some fortitude and the Senators may now be slowly turning things around with 3 straight home wins and 8 points out of a possible 12 in their last 6 games.

The big line really let loose tonight but they've accounted for nearly 50 percent of the team's goals all-season, so that's not so unexpected.

What really stood out was the play of guys like Jesse Winchester, Brendan Bell, Anton Volchenkov and Mike Fisher.

And let's not forget Shean Donovan who cranked a team high 7 shots at backup Ondrej Pavelec.

But no one should get too excited. People were on the ledge after Saturday's loss and they'll be popping the champagne tonight. But the real test will be Saturday's game against the Penguins who are now just starting to hit their stride after an uneven start.

***

I may owe Jesse Winchester an apology. Just a few posts ago I said that it might be inevitable that Winchester and Nick Foligno find themselves in the minors if the Senators trade for some veteran help. Then Winchester gets in two scraps and plays chippy all night, looking like a real NHL'er. What can I say? I was wrong. I still think Foligno might need time in the AHL but now he'll probably get a hat-trick on Saturday. That's life in the blog writing business ........ Jarkko Ruutu was a little quiet tonight and probably for good reason. Once Dany Heatley opened the scoring early in the first, it would have been counter-productive for Ruutu to wake up the Thrashers who were playing their second game in two nights. He'll be at his best on Saturday versus his old team, the Pens......... Not that Sidney Crosby will be intimidated by the likes of Ruutu. Crosby looked like he was going to drop the gloves with the Rangers Colton Orr tonight until Brooks Orpik stepped in. ............ For what it's worth, Christoph Schubert played really well tonight on defense, but so did everybody. He still might have a future with the team if injuries strike. You never know...... You want my take on the Avery thing? I agree with Matthew Barnaby from TSN in that he should have been fined and not suspended. "Sloppy seconds"? It was totally crude and stupid but is it worth all this fuss? Some newspapers wouldn't even print the words "sloppy seconds", instead using "ex-girlfriends" in its place. Really? But at the same time, I wouldn't want Avery on my team. He's amusing when he's somebody else's problem.......... Now that the Senators have won, what are they going to talk about on Over The Edge tomorrow (today)? Who are they going to tell to work harder? Who are they going to demand to be benched?

Roberts and Recchi a Good Fit For Ottawa

I know that Ottawa has much bigger needs than a couple of past-their-prime warriors, but down in Tampa, Gary Roberts and Mark Recchi only make 1.25 million each this season.

With Tampa sinking even faster than the Senators, could either one of these veterans be plied away for a bargain? Perhaps for a Christoph Schubert who would be able to rejoin his best friend Andrej Meszaros in the Sunshine State?

Recchi (who is having a great year and inspiring his teammates) can still skate and would look good on the second power-play unit. Roberts ... well, he's 42 and injured but he might still have one more playoff run in him.

I know, I know, it's crazy. Players like Nick Foligno and Jesse Winchester would probably get less time or even be sent to the minors.

But if Bryan Murray is going the character and experience route, he couldn't do better than these two. And they might just be available, given that Tampa seems eager to make move after move.

I'm just saying, that's all...

Roy's Right

As usual, Roy MacGregor is right on the money in his Saturday column for the Globe and Mail.

It's nice to see someone with a real writing job inject some sanity and intelligence into the Senators universe where skill has been on a rapid decline, partly driven by irrational fan antagonism towards star players in the red and black.

Now Roy is not saying that players like Alexei Yashin and Alex Daigle should have been retained. Far from it. But that's where the root of the deep distrust of skilled players began in Ottawa. In particular, the deep scars in the fans psyche from Yashin's no shows in the playoffs (remember 2001 and the Shayne Corson shadow) are still being felt today. Only Daniel Alfredsson has escaped the wrath of the fans, and even he just barely survived.

I feel comfortable in saying a majority of fans wanted Alfredsson out of town as late as December 2006. When the Over The Edger's (my new euphemism for the legions of reactionary Sens fans, aptly named after the equally obnoxious local radio show) finally run Jason Spezza out of town, Dany Heatley will be the next to get the knife in the back.

Count on it.

Most people have already forgotten that Alfredsson, Spezza and Heatley all tied for the playoff point lead during this team's ONLY Stanley Cup run but at least two of them are still having their manhood questioned by mobs of short-attention spanners.

As Roy pointed out in his article, maybe fans really do get the team they deserve.

***

I've said it before, but one of the best hockey books ever written is MacGregor's "Road Games", chronicling the Senators disastrous first season in the NHL. It's a must read for Senators fans. If you think the team is in the dumper right now ....

Sunday Notes

If (or as some believe, when) the Senators don't make the playoffs this year, they might look at their record against the Islanders and realize that's where those important points slipped away.

Coming into this campaign, the Senators had only lost 11 times in their whole existence to the Islanders but now they've lost their last three and 4 out of 5 going back to last season.

And this is an Islander team currently without Rick DiPietro and Mike Comrie. Something is still not right here.

I'm not sure that there is any sort of scoring slump to break out of. Outside of the Big 3, nobody on this team seems capable of pitching in consistently.

And you can't blame the loss on the Big 3 here either. They did their part. They were responsible for both of the Senators goals. But who's helping them out?

Antoine Vermette is a lost cause and now possibly untradeable. Mike Fisher is playing great and is probably the hardest working guy out there. But he's not a natural goal-scorer. He contributes in other ways although Bryan Murray has put him in a position (second-line centre) to fail even if he plays his best.

Then you go to....

Wait. There's no one else on this team who is even expected to reach 40 to 50 points.

Maybe that's the problem.

***

I am already sick of the Brian Burke story. I have nothing against the guy but today's Sun has two articles on the guy who (as Al Strachan likes to point out) "invented hockey". That matches the amount of stories they have on the Ottawa Senators.

Hey, in a town that allows its own captain to be booed by Leaf fans in their own rink, I guess that's just the way she goes.

***

The latest media tirade against Jason Spezza came from Bobby Clarke. He complained that players don't fear playing against Spezza because he can only make you look bad by "making plays" but won't lay a hand on anyone.

What, you mean like Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, Mike Modano, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Pat Lafontaine, Ron Francis, Joe Sakic, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Elias and Jaromir Jagr?

If it was good enough for them, why not Spezza?

Bobby Clarke is full of shit and always has been.

This is the same guy who said about his head coach Roger Neilson, who was stricken with cancer in 2000:

"The Neilson situation - Roger got cancer - that wasn't our fault. We didn't tell him to go get cancer. It's too bad that he did. We feel sorry for him, but then he went goofy on us."

How is anyone supposed to take him seriously after that?

And where is Bryan Murray? This guy should be dropping a few F-Bombs on Clarke to the media in defense of his star player.

Could you imagine guys like Pat Quinn, Glen Sather or Brian Burke allowing Clarke to get away unscathed after having their star players ripped like that?

Murray loves to be blunt with the media only when he's ripping his own team. He doesn't seem prepared to defend them in the same manner.

And that's pretty soft, don't you think?

***

Brian Lee still doesn't look right out there. And I don't think he'd fare too well in a moustache growing competition......... Contrary to public opinion, Nick Foligno is having a bad year. He's got great character but is he really an NHL forward on a majority of other NHL rosters? I doubt it. He needs more playing time and that can only come in the AHL. But what other options do the Senators have right now?..... Mike Fisher really impressed me the last two games with his forechecking and gutsy effort. Whatever rumours are out there about trading this guy should go away. Fast.......... A lot of people are upset about another Senator game not being shown on Hockey Night In Canada but can you blame them? The games this year are as boring as any New Jersey or Columbus sludge-fest....... Islander rookie Josh Bailey seemed afraid to make eye contact with Jarkko Ruutu after getting a stick in the back as the two were coming off the ice at the same time. His expression was priceless, as if to say "Who the hell is this guy and why is he smiling at me like that?"

Saturday Notes

Now that Alex Picard is out of the lineup with a jammed wrist, call-up Brian Lee has a chance to show that he belongs in the Senators organization and to make management think twice about including him in a package for an established NHL power-play quarterback.

There is no doubt that the Senators have been disappointed in Lee this year after a poor training camp and an even worse stretch of games in the regular season that saw him get booted back to Bingo to get his game - and head - in shape.

After looking solid during his late season call-up last year, Lee seemed afraid of the puck and afraid of taking a hit in the new campaign and did nothing to stop the criticisms that Ottawa blew their 2005 draft where they chose Lee over the likes of Anze Kopitar, Marc Staal, the late Luc Bourdon, Ryan Parent and even Steve Downie.

Bryan Murray has since revamped his scouting staff after taking over from John Muckler and Brian Lee doesn't seem to fit the Murray mould. Not helping Lee is the fact that he only has 1 goal and 5 assists in 16 games with Bingo since being demoted. That's simply average and that's not going to get Lee a permanent spot in Ottawa.

I think that the team is already looking to the arrival of Erik Karlsson rather than waiting for Lee to suddenly transform into a saviour on the blueline. Lee is a player that the Senators might regret trading but he has some value right now.

It's up to Murray to decide if he wants to cash in on Lee now for some immediate help or be patient and play the waiting game.

I'm not saying it's a make or break game for Lee, but if he doesn't play well, he might not get a chance to do so in a Senators uniform again.

***

Also called up was Zack Smith, who has exceeded expectations and might be the most NHL-ready Senators prospect in Bingo if you listen to management. He leads the B-Sens with 9 goals and is 6th amongst AHL rookies in points. But the word is that Smith will only play if Shean Donovan is out with one of those ridiculous undisclosed upper-body injuries. If teams are allowed to get away without telling anyone what the injuries are, why do they even have to disclose if it's an upper or lower body injury?

Why can't they call an ankle sprain a concussion? If they are allowed to half-lie to the media and thus the fans, you might as well let them go all the way.

It's a joke.

***

I'm not sure if Luke Richardson is planning to shave off his team-bonding moustache now that he's been forced into retirement but is there anything more symbolic (and genuinely sad) than the idea of Richardson standing in front of a mirror shaving it off and knowing that he's crossed over to the other side?

He's had a great career and it would be especially nice if the Senators organization honoured him with a video presentation similar to what they did for Wade Redden at their next home game.

I know he was only with Ottawa for a year and bit but he's a homegrown player and it would be a classy move by the Senators.

To be honest, I'm getting the chills just thinking about it. But then again, I'm the guy who cried like a little boy when the Rangers retired Mark Messier's number. And when they brought him back from Vancouver. And when he started crying at Gretzky's Ranger retirement. Basically every time he has to try and get through a press conference.

Did I ever tell you that Mess is my favourite player of all-time?

***

Richardson was involved in a nasty confrontation while with the Leafs when Minnesota North Star Dino Ciccarelli was criminally charged after hitting Luke over the head with his stick in 1988.

One of my favourite quotes of all-time came from Dino describing his brief two hour stint in jail after being found guilty.

"The first thing I saw was a big fat cop eating a jelly donut. Then I stood around signing autographs for the other poor guys in there."

Check out a series I ran last year of Classic NHL Quotes over the years right here.

***

Sergei Samsonov scored the overtime winner for Carolina against Philadelphia last night but it was only his second goal of the season.

It's been a long time since Samsonov and Joe Thornton came into the league together with Boston after being taken only 7 picks apart in the 1997 draft. After Samsonov won the Calder trophy as best rookie while Thornton struggled to a 3 goal, 7 point performance, some were saying that Samsonov would turn out to be the real superstar.

Boston cashed in on Samsonov's potential at just the right time. As part of the package from Edmonton, they got the Oilers 2nd round choice who they used to pick Milan Lucic.

That might be one of the reasons (along with the Dustin Penner mistake) that Kevin Lowe was pushed out of hockey operations into the President' s role earlier this year.

***

Speaking of the Flyers, their throwback 3rd jersey's are the nicest in the league next to the Oilers and the Islanders vintage sweaters.

I really love the vintage all-white nameplates too.

Even The Political Junkies Are Coming Down On The Senators

You could look long and hard but you will not find a more frank or critical piece written on the Ottawa Senators and their recent history than the sledgehammer that Jeffrey Simpson brought down today in the Globe and Mail.

Perhaps it takes the perspective of the outsider which might be the reason that no local beat writer has taken on the task of penning such a thought out and all-encompassing take on the Senators precipitous drop of the last two seasons.

Jeffrey Simpson is not usually a hockey writer, in fact he's a "national affairs columnist", but you wouldn't know it by the depth of his knowledge on the Senators and their recent travails. Some might be tempted to tell Simpson to "stick to his knitting", but when a writer of his stature drops an atomic bomb on a team from out of nowhere, it’s something that should be taken notice of.

I agree with a lot of what Simpson says here and I have written about many of these issues in the past but I also think he went too far in some cases and I’ll point them out as we go.

There is so much to wade through here that I thought I’d go through some of the main points of the story, line by line. You might not have the patience for this sort of thing but during a slow week, I think that this type of story merits attention.

***

Jeffrey Simpson: “They have burned through two coaches — John Paddock and Bryan Murray — and are not responding for the third, Craig Hartsburg. He whips them like a mule, but a mule is a mule. It can speed up a little under the whipping, but it remains a mule.

The Senators won Saturday 4-1 against the New York Rangers, offering a spirited effort. They won the only way they can, given a limited amount of talent, playing a chip-and-chase game and outworking their opponents.

The days of a fast, skilled Senators team are over. Apart from the trio of Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley, they have nothing but pluggers up
front.”

Black Aces: I think Simpson might be exaggerating for effect when he says “a mule is a mule” in the case of the Senators, but in essence, he’s right. Hard work can take you far but you need skill to win in the NHL, especially when most teams play very similar systems. The Senators can probably scrape into the playoffs if they play extremely hard-nosed every night but that very fact makes them just one of many teams in the same position. The last team to win a Cup without an elite defenseman was Carolina but they made up for that with a team deep in forwards who could score.

Lumping Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette in with the “pluggers” is probably unfair but they have to take the criticism because they haven’t produced this season.

As for Simpson’s suggestion that the players aren’t responding to Hartsburg, I think he’s dead wrong. Not since Jacques Martin has this team played in such a structured way (in stretches, mind you). If anything, Bryan Murray just took off the reins when he came in and was able to win games on pure skill alone. John Paddock was a complete disaster in his short time as head coach and it would take someone more knowledgeable than me to figure out what kind of system he wanted to implement, other than to play the Big 3 to death.

Hartsburg’s challenge is much bigger than his predecessors and he deserves more time to mould this team in his image.

Simpson: “Senators fans are smart. They can see the team for what it is, a shadow of yesteryear's dynamic units, crippled by a long series of management errors under general managers John Muckler and Murray that have finally caught up to the franchise.

It's a team with only three bona fide scorers, two backup goalies, four sixth defencemen, no speed on the back end, little secondary scoring, not much size and, chillingly, little help on the farm.”

.
Black Aces: Senators fans are smart? If they were so smart, why are they so outraged at the play of the team thus far? Smart fans would recognize that losing Andrej Meszaros and Wade Redden without proper replacements would mean trouble. Instead, these fans cheered those moves and were dumbfounded when the team couldn’t move the puck efficiently through the neutral zone with solid passes that were once taken for granted. These are the same fans who want to trade Jason Spezza every time the team loses. They once wanted to trade Daniel Alfredsson too.

Smart fans? Please. (I’m mostly talking about the vocal minority of insane callers to the Over The Edge show on the Team 1200. I realize most real fans don’t bother writing blogs or calling radio programs.)

Simpson says that the team has “four sixth defenseman”. I’m not sure out of the three who he’s describing as a sixth defenseman – Chris Phillips, Filip Kuba or Anton Volchenkov but he’s wrong on any one of them. I would call them all third or fourth defenseman and that’s no disrespect. It’s just that they’re not elite offensive players although Kuba has surprised everyone with his point production.

Simpson: “The start-again strategy would require a new general manager. One intriguing choice would be Steve Yzerman, who played some hockey before turning professional in Ottawa and is popular in the city.”

Black Aces: Wow. That name, Steve Yzerman, just sort of jumps out at you and until Simpson said it, I haven’t heard his name linked to Ottawa in even the wildest of rumours. Obviously it’s just speculation on Simpson’s part, but if ever Melnyk decided to change GM’s, wouldn’t Yzerman be a perfect fit in this town?

To be clear, I don’t think that Bryan Murray deserves to be fired and one of the positives is that he’s managed to lock up the core of the team to long contracts. Some might see that as a negative but it will probably pay off down the road, especially when Alfredsson departs in four years. Spezza and Heatley are still young and will be playing in their prime for the Senators for years to come. That alone will give them a chance to win every year.

Simpson: “Muckler had inherited a brilliant team and proceeded to erode its foundations. Sami Salo, still a top-four defenceman for Vancouver, was traded for Peter Schaefer, who is no longer in the league. He blew the draft after the lockout, in which the Senators got a huge break by picking ninth. He selected Brian Lee, who remains in the minor leagues, while passing on other players such as Marc Staal and Anze Kopitar, now young stars. …

Chara, Redden, Havlat, Corvo, Eaves. For these players, the Senators have nothing to show today. No team so mismanaged can remain competitive. Coming up empty for these five, coupled with indifferent draft picks, plus those end-of-season Muckler trades, meant that past mistakes suddenly caught up with the Senators.”

Black Aces: It’s easy for Simpson to look back at the Salo trade now and say it was a bad move but Schaefer was a good pickup who was effective for a number of years in a defensive role and occasionally on offense. Salo was injury prone when he was traded and the Senators didn’t suffer on the backend as they had the likes of Chara and Redden in the mix with a young Volchenkov and Meszaros soon on the way. If no one had ever heard of a salary cap, then yes, the trade looks bad now. But they got good mileage out of Schaefer and they still have Shean Donovan so it hasn’t been a complete wash like the brutal Havlat deal or the Chara free-agency loss.

I do agree with Simpson on Muckler though. The seeds of the fall were planted in that brief era when he let Chara go for nothing. If Muckler had kept Chara, maybe Bryan Murray, his successor, would have been forced to play hardball with Mike Fisher or even trade him to stay under the cap, but this team would be in much better shape regardless.

Simpson: “So did the demise of Ray Emery, the goalie who showed promise of evolving perhaps into a solid No. 1, only to play himself out of the league through what are euphemistically called "off-ice" distractions. He is now playing in Russia.”

Black Aces: Simpson only devotes one line to Ray Emery. And that’s probably about all it deserved. Emery might have been the biggest scapegoat in recent NHL memory and the overblown fuss about his “antics” last year were mind-boggling. Emery didn’t help himself but the local media went out of their way to destroy this guy. Now it’s on to Spezza I guess.

Simpson: “Gerber had played for Anaheim when Murray ran that organization. Apparently, he liked Gerber and argued for signing him to the albatross contract.”

Black Aces: I’m not sure if Simpson has some insider information on this one but it seems strange to blame Murray for Muckler’s mistake just because Gerber and Murray once worked together. Murray has enough on his plate and can’t be blamed for this contract. He also brought in Alex Auld who is playing great right now so it sort of makes the Gerber problem moot at this point.

Simpson: “The team will not make the playoffs with the current mess, so existing or new management either has to make short-term trades to try for rapid, if ephemeral, improvement; or clean house, fall further to the bottom, and try to put together in three-to-five years the kind of team that not so long ago was the envy of the league.”

Black Aces: “Cleaning house” doesn’t seem to be a logical option at this point. The Senators have a trio of forwards in Spezza, Heatley and Alfredsson that are at an elite level. You could never get full value in a trade for either of those players. The way forward is to build around them.

The Senators are still a valid team to make the playoffs in their current form if they scratch and bite for the rest of the season and keep to Hartsburg’s defensive game plan. But they need a few vital upgrades to turn into a challenger. You’d be surprised the difference a real puck-mover would make on the back end for this team - on the power-play and in 5 on 5 situations.

If Auld can keep playing well, they could do some damage in a playoff series. In a way, the Senators are a bit like the Toronto teams who used to knock them off in the earlier part of the decade – a couple of high end skill guys surrounded by a lunch-pail crew with tons of character and a few irritating pests for good measure.

There are worse places to be.

Like Tampa.

At least the Senators don't have their nickname on the front of their...errr.. nevermind.

Lemaire Rips Goalies ... and Liam Macguire Calls Hossa a Prostitute

Here's one I didn't see coming:

Ultra-defensive Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire has come out swinging against the goaltenders of the NHL and their (still) gargantuan equipment:

"Now you look at the goalie, they look like they are going to war,” Lemaire said. "The game has changed because of the goaltender equipment. It's not because the guy is tall. Ken Dryden was 6-foot-3. He was a big guy. But when you looked at him, he looked like that lamp stand over there -- thin. That's how he looked (to opponents)." ...

"It's not for protection," Lemaire said. "It's to stop the puck. If it's for protection, they can get a lot smaller. Ever hear of Kevlar? Stops bullets. Let's go to the police station and get them vests. They'll all be OK."

- NHL.Com

Go to the police station and get them vests? Amazing.

Every blogger or fan sort of has their own personal pet peeve that they keep on about incessantly and mine has always been the ridiculous goalie equipment and the snails pace that the league is going at to change it.

According to Kay Whitmore, the league's goalie supervisor, it now looks like the NHL is about to make a bigger step next year in that they will judge the legality of equipment based on the individual goalie's size and not league-wide maximums.

"There will be more changes next year with more proportional fittings for protection only. We have to get back to the beginning of what equipment was for in the first place."

***

Not sure how many heard it in Ottawa but "trivia expert" Liam MacGuire was on the afternoon call-in show and called Marian Hossa a "hockey prostitute" for signing with Detroit instead of Pittsburgh.

If Hossa was a "prostitute", why would he have only accepted a one-year deal in Detroit instead of the other major offers that were on the table? I guess you could call it a one-night stand but...come on Liam.

That was brutal.

Macguire also managed to call Andrei Kostitsyn something that sounded like "Kozeenittsen" (obviously on purpose), belittled Zdeno Chara for not fighting Georges Laraque the other night (after Milan Lucic turned him down) and said that he doesn't like the Red Wings.

Anti-Euro bias perhaps?

Anyone who has had the distinction of listening to the trivia whiz when he makes his infrequent visits to the booth knows that he's more of a Euro-baiter than Don Cherry. Yet Cherry somehow manages to entertain while MacGuire just sounds like a redneck with an ugly disposition.

It's too bad because he's great at telling stories about old-time hockey. But I guess they didn't have many Euro's then.

Sunday Notes

He had only one assist in the game but is there any doubt that Jarkko Ruutu was the real star of the Senators win over the Rangers yesterday afternoon?

That shark-like grin never left his face all day as he drove players like Paul Mara and Colton Orr to outright attack him and take ill-advised penalties, the first of which directly resulted in Jason Spezza's game opening goal to put the Rangers on their backs right away.

Even the linesman got in their physical shots at Ruutu after he was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for hitting Mara near the end of the first period. Right after the hit, one of the linesman freaked out and threw Ruutu to the ice and gave him a few spirited shoves once he had him pinned. Now that's called being an "agitator".

***

As for the new sweaters, I'm probably with the majority of "Senators" fans in that I find the word "Sens" on the front to be the weakest part of the jersey. I can understand that the organization didn't want to put an "O" on the front to avoid people calling it a "zero", as in "zero Stanley Cups", "zero character", "zero fun" or whatever the current criticism will be.

But the "Sens" script is somewhat weak and they could have went for the often used but still sharp Ranger design which spells out the whole team name on a sharp angle down the front.

I do like the stripes on the elbows - it's almost barberpole style if you look real quick - and they finally fixed their damn socks by dumping the grotesque "Tron" style angles they use for their regular outfits. This time, the stripes go all the way around and look like real NHL uniforms instead of gimmicky minor league fashion statements

It's not a disaster by any means but it's not a home run either. Black seems to look good on the Senators and unlike the other teams who switch to black for their third jersey's (dulling the league's look in the process), the Senators can lay claim to it being one of their original colours.

***

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Wade Redden got a modest standing ovation to congratulate him on 11 great years with the team. If you were listening to call-in radio shows, reading blogs or scouring Senators message boards, you'd think fans were ready to throw batteries at the guy from the stands but it's a good reminder that the vast majority of Senators followers don't feel the need to write blogs or call the radio shows. They watch the games, go to work the next day and get on with their lives.

Something we might all need to do huh?

***

Ilya Zubov got sent down to Bingo and it wasn't because he played badly or because one of Chris Neil or Mike Fisher made a miraculous recovery. The Senators don't play again until next Thursday and they get to save a little cash with Zubov off the payroll.

The conspiracy theorists might say that the Senators could be interested in Wade Belak who was put on waivers by the Florida Panthers yesterday. Belak, known as a really good locker room guy, could provide that missing muscle on the fourth line and (now we're really stretching) be a familiar face for Mats Sundin when he decides to pick the Senators.

Far fetched? Definitely. But not impossible. The Senators would get one of the first dibs on Belak because of their lowly position in the standings.

***

You think the Big 3 have it tough being the only real scoring option on the Senators this year? Imagine being Rick Nash in Columbus or Ilya Kovalchuk in Atlanta over the past few years.

The strange thing is that neither of those players are actually leading their team in scoring. In Columbus, youngster Derrick Brassard has one more point than Nash and in Atlanta, Kovalchuk is tied for the team lead with the ancient Slava Kozlov and the 21 year old Bryan Little.

How long until both Nash and Kovalchuk get worn down by all the losing? Maybe we're already seeing the signs.

***

The biggest moment so far in the season has to be Milan Lucic of the Bruins beating the tar out of Mike Komisarek on November 13.

Since then, the Bruins are running the board and the Canadiens are falling apart. Georges Laraque tried to goad Lucic into a fight last night but the young Cam Neely clone wisely declined and ended up scoring a big goal later in the game. It was revealed afterwards that coach Claude Julien told Lucic not to fight anybody.

“Do you think we’re going to send him against probably the toughest guy in the league?” said Julien, who told Lucic before the game not to fight. “I know Georges Laraque was doing that because he was told to. Georges is not that type of guy. He respects the young kids, he knows what it’s all about. There was no way it was going to happen.”

The Real Deal To Be Unveiled Today

While it's no big secret, this is probably the best picture so far which shows what the Senators jersey's will look like when they unveil them this afternoon against the NY Rangers (photo from Icethetics).

I'll reserve my thoughts until I see them in action.

Kids Say The Darndest Things

So that's two spirited games in a row by the Senators with the exact same result and now many will be wondering what happens next.

Is it time for Bryan Murray to make a move to bring in help?

What does he focus on? A second line forward who can score or a powerplay quarterback? Are those types of players even available? Why would anyone want to do Ottawa a favour and take their problems on?

It's got to be a miserable time for Murray with his back up against the wall here. He doesn't have many guys he can trade without opening up another hole on the team but there are a few tradeable assets like Antoine Vermette and Christoph Schubert who could realistically bring in help without hurting the long-term future of the team.

Vermette had another one of those maddening games where he just couldn't score despite having chances that many players would kill for. Twice he completely missed the net when he was in alone on Carey Price, once during the game and once during the shootout. And growing a moustache is not going to magically teach him to be clutch. It's too bad because he's a really good defensive player and a popular teammate, but Murray might need to give both Vermette and the team a new look and Vermie may still be popular with other GM's.

As for the game tonight (which was basically a Montreal home date in everything but name due to the massive contingent of Habs fans booing the Senators all night long), there were a couple of real strange calls (both involving Anton Volchenkov) that must have been totally frustrating for Craig Hartsburg. First they disallow Volchenkov's go-ahead goal on a delayed Montreal penalty-call because they thought the Montreal defenseman touched the puck. But as Gary Galley emphatically pointed out on the Sportsnet broadcast, the play is only supposed to whistled dead when the offending team gets possession of the puck and not if they simply make contact with it.

Then Volchie gets high-sticked which causes blood to stream from his nose but the penalty is two minutes instead of four. I'm not sure how the NHL can explain that one but it doesn't matter in the end.

It was a commendable effort by Ottawa but until they can get some more natural goal scorer's on this team, there are going to be many nights like this.

So this is how the other half lived while Ottawa was cruising along the past decade, huh?

Missed Opportunities ... And Other Notes

Okay, so maybe, just maybe I was a little rough on Craig Hartsburg for his shootout strategy.

I haven’t said a bad word about him yet this year so I figured I might as well start with the nuclear option.

But the main point of what I said remains true: He didn’t go to his best players when the game was on the line.

Jarkko Ruutu might have a great shootout percentage but Hartsburg still should have went with Dany Heatley.

Heatley has expressed his desire to be more of a leader and this was a chance to let him go in and prove it with the game on the line. Hartsburg went for statistics but he should have went the “intangible” route.

It would have been a huge moment if Dany Heatley went in and scored. Who knows what that could have led to heading into Thursday’s match against the Canadiens. Even if he didn’t score, at least he’d have been put in the position to help this team and he’d be judged on the outcome. Now it’s not black and white. It’s a murky grey.

Even Henrik Lundqvist was surprised to see Vermette and Ruutu, but he wasn't complaining:

"I like the challenge of facing their best players" in the shootout, said Lundqvist, who agreed that he didn't really get that chance Monday night. Asked if he was surprised to see Ruutu lining up, the goaltender replied: "Heatley, Alfredsson - yeah, surprised. Not disappointed."

- New York Daily News

I don’t think that leaving Daniel Alfredsson on the bench was a very inspired move either and to me, this ranks right up there with Ron Wilson’s decision to pull Vesa Toskala and insert Curtis Joseph, because of Joseph’s better statistics in the shootout. Toronto didn’t have much to lose at the time but Ottawa had plenty to lose against the Rangers and in this way, it’s somewhat more damaging.

Now the winless streak is at 5 and the end may be nowhere in sight. I’ll continue to support Craig Hartsburg because I think his system is good for this team but his decision making has been too “by the book”. Trying to force some secondary scoring backfired on him badly. The theory was sound but it never felt right.

It was the same as last night. He looked at the stats and made his decision – something that could only look good on paper.

It still doesn’t feel right.

***

Bruce Garrioch has been speculating about Mattias Ohlund being available and it's pretty easy to see why it makes a lot of sense.

While the Canucks only have 4 defenseman under contract for next year (Bieksa, Salo, Mitchell and Edler), they all will make over 3.25 million each . That's a heavy cap hit for your top 4 and Ohlund won't likely take a paycut to stay in town as a free agent.

Ottawa on the other hand have 5 defenseman under contract (if you count Brian Lee) but only 2 make over 3 million (Phillips and Volchenkov). Ohlund would be a good fit on the ice and on the accounting sheet.

If Vermette is one of the guys going the other way, as has been speculated (and wished for by many), his 3 million salary would make him the second highest paid forward on the Canucks of players under contract for next year.

Of course, the Sedins are unrestricted this summer and will probably get a signifigant raise from their 3.75 million salaries. There's also a lot of whispers that Marian Gaborik might make his way to Vancouver if he gets to free agency.

You have to wonder if a team that already has a few similar players would really want to take on Vermette's contract. If he's not going to break out like everyone has been waiting on for years, 3 million is pretty expensive for a penalty killer.

***

I got a chance to watch most of the Sharks-Predators game last night and the fights that broke out were unbelievable. While the game wasn't as out of control and entertaining as the Boston-Dallas tilt from a few week's back, it was still filled with some big time nastiness.

Jordin Tootoo, who we'll hear from a bit later, starts this melee by sucker punching Brad Staubitz, and then Jody Shelley and former Senator Greg DeVries get it going. DeVries does okay here but he ends up in big trouble during the rematch.



Now things get out of hand. The next three fights are all within ten seconds of each other if you go by the score clock. This is Joe Thornton taking on tiny Scott Nichol. Nichol doesn't care about the size difference and just wails away.



Now Staubitz and Tootoo finally get together. Tootoo gets hammered a little but watch how he throws with both fists. Crazy.



Now this one ends it all. DeVries gets destroyed in the rematch with Shelley and probably has his nose broken. Not pleasant to watch.



***

Ruutu was at his agitating best last night and probably crossed a line by shooting a puck at Lundqvist after he blew his shootout chance. Brandon Dubinsky didn't hold back:

"Just let him run his mouth and be ineffective," Dubinsky said. "That's just the way he is. He's pretty careless on the ice. I don't know, he's an idiot."

-New York Daily News

EDIT: Bob Mackenzie wrote a piece today about the "late" Ruutu shot and explained in detail how, if the puck had happened to find a way in the net, it would actually have counted.

"If Ruutu had scored on that bad-angle and seemingly late shootout shot, it would have counted.

According to NHL rule 25.2 on penalty shots, or shootouts if you will, that was still a live puck and Ruutu was within his rights to shoot it at Lundqvist.

"The original loss of the puck was not on a shot,” NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkon told TSN. "Therefore, the puck is live until it comes to a complete stop or the puck completely crosses the goal line."

***

Speaking of trade possibilities, Jay Bouwmeester is off to a bad start for the Panthers:

"Of greater concern is that he has zero goals and five assists through 16 games and has a team-worst minus-6 rating. Bouwmeester, who continues to lead the NHL
in average ice time (28:45), started slow last season, too, but finished with a career-high 15 goals and 22 assists."

-Sun Sentinel

What are the chances of Jacques Martin helping out the Senators by dealing Bouwmeester to them? Probably nil.

Hartsburg Blows It

There can be no sane reason for Craig Hartsburg deciding to put Jarkko Ruutu and Antoine Vermette in the shootout ahead of Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson.

He already made the decision to reunite the Big 3 and, in a sense, put the team in their hands once again.

So why does he try to get cute with the game on the line?

Ruutu on the shootout? Ahead of the Captain who scored the only goal of the game?

Vermette? The guy has already proven over the years to be a master at choking, twice failing to convert prime scoring chances earlier in the period, once on a breakaway and once off a nice setup by Spezza by the side of the net.

It was a horseshit move by Hartsburg and it absolutely ruined what could have been a character building game by a team that was fighting tooth and nail all night to break out of their hellish slump.

Think of it.

With the game on the line and with the chance to end the losing streak (that is threatening his and his GM's job) he decides to sit the team's two best natural goal scorers.

It defies description. Actually, no it doesn't.

It was pure fucking garbage.

Some positives:

Alex Auld was great again. Brendan Bell showed that he deserves another game or two and made nice, easy plays all night. Ilya Zubov played another solid game and he looks like a much better option than the struggling Nick Foligno at this point but injuries to Chris Neil and now Mike Fisher probably means that there's plenty of spots to go around.

In my humble opinion, the Senators worked their asses off tonight and it still wasn't good enough. The fact that they managed to get a point should not dissuade Bryan Murray from making a big move here and Antoine Vermette should be the main chip they cash in.

I suspect the fans reaction to Hartsburg's minor league bullshit may get ugly between now and Thursday when the Senators give it another try.

But for now I need some Thorazine...

Starving For Skill, Not Work Ethic

Since I last had the time to sit down and post something, all hell has broken loose in Ottawa after two straight losses to the New York Islanders, a team that most prognosticators had as fresh meat for the Senators dine on.

Now is probably a good a time as any to panic so I might as well add to the frenzy.

This is not just a good team on a modest losing streak. It's much more complicated than that.

It's not just a matter of the players working harder. From what I've seen, this team has worked harder this year under Craig Hartsburg than they ever did under John Paddock or Bryan Murray. To just blame the work ethic only ignores the obvious structural problems of the team.

I've said it so many times that I'm probably boring you all to death, but this team is just not skilled enough and they're just not fast enough.

It's that simple.

They've got loads of character (allegedly...) and a trio of star players who want to win more than anyone. But this team is just not elite anymore and the sooner that Bryan Murray realizes he's made some grievous mistakes and makes a move to get some flash and dash, especially on the blueline, the better this team will be.

They need to revamp that blueline with at least two guys who can execute simple transition plays. The only player who can reasonably be expected to move the puck with some skill on the blueline is Filip Kuba and it's not like anyone can compare him to Scott Niedermayer, or even Wade Redden, despite his surprising point total. When the forwards can't get the puck in the neutral zone to start their break out, they expend twice as much energy fighting for the puck all over the ice. You think they look worn out now? Wait until January.

Alex Picard is regressing at a shocking rate and Christoph Schubert only has a wildly erratic but hard shot to rest his laurels on. Both of these players wouldn't be missed, in the short term or the long term.

As for the forwards, it's been a depressing run for the Big 3 and they have to be better one way or the other.

In the short-term, Hartsburg should just swallow his pride and reunite the big line, just to try and end this miserable streak. I understand the idea of trying to spread the offense around but if having the big line together improves your chances of winning, Hartsburg has to do what's best for the team here.

He's tried to go one way and he failed. Good coaches know when to admit they're wrong and change things. The Senators only spark against the Islanders came when he re-united the line in the 3rd period.

Chances are he'll remain stubborn and split them up for the Rangers on Monday night.

If that's so, I don't like their chances against a confident and superior New York team who have no trouble creating plays from their backend with skilled rushers like Redden and Daniel Girardi.
Ottawa doesn't have an answer for these types of players and unless Murray fixes his mistakes, the Senators won't have an answer for any of the upper level teams in the Eastern Conference.

Picking The Bones Clean

Craig Hartsburg is new in town and can't really be expected to know the history (and undeserved baggage) of Jason Spezza in Ottawa like the rest of us.

But when the coach publicly criticised his star player in an honest effort to light a fire under the team, he unwittingly set off a firestorm that was laying dormant, ready to be ignited.

Since his former coach, Jacques Martin, called him a "boy" playing a men's game, Spezza has been one of the main punching bags for irate fans and snarky radio hosts. Now that fellow targets like Wade Redden, Ray Emery and Andrej Meszaros have been shipped out of town, Spezza has the spotlight all to himself and everyone is taking turns getting their cheap shots in.

The criticisms were always never far from anyone's lips but when Hartsburg went public with his tried and true motivating tactic, he seemed to legitimize those ideas and now it's a free-for-all.

Take the radio show "Over The Edge" on the Team 1200.

You get to listen to ex-WWF wrestler Glen Kulka rage and ramble about how Hartsburg should be benching Spezza (?!!?) (despite the fact that Hartsburg singled out Spezza for praise after the Montreal game) and that Ottawa's star players don't work hard enough for his liking.

His cohort Lee Versage does nothing to raise the level of conversation and laughs out loud when Kulka hangs up on callers who disagree with him. When the Senators lose, it's always because they aren't "working hard enough". When they win, they talk about the CFL for three hours.

The resentment towards many of the players on the team has reached epic proportions, flamed by the cliched ramblings of media types like Kulka and Versage who appeal only to the lowest common denominator of fan.

Nobody knows where the PR control is on behalf of the Senators. Roy Mlakar is often on the radio but he doesn't lift a finger to defend any of his players against these types of unfounded attacks. Bryan Murray doesn't defend anyone except Martin Gerber. Yes, these are big boys and they can take the heat, but what kind of atmosphere are we creating in this city for hockey? Is it even fun anymore for people?

Someone who is respected by the fans and media, like Daniel Alfredsson or Mike Fisher, needs to step up and defend their teammates before this ugly and negative atmosphere totally engulfs the franchise like it did last season and starts turning off the casual fans from buying tickets.

And don't tell me it's the same in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal when their teams are losing. I've lived in all three of those cities and it never gets as personal and vindictive as it does in Ottawa. Those cities appreciate skilled players and tend to stay loyal, even during the hard times.

In Ottawa, it's just a continual exercise in character assasination. It must be tiresome for all these "experts" to be so angry all the time.

It's just a game after all, isn't it?

***

It's seems to be half and half.

Some are repulsed by Jarkko Ruutu's waving to the Montreal crowd routine and some are amused.

I'm definitely in the latter. Some people take this game way too seriously.

It was funny.

The same way it was funny when Alfredsson pretended to throw his stick into the stands in Toronto.

If Ruutu really upset you by doing that, your pants are on way too tight.

***

Speaking of being uptight, some people are actually complaining that this amazing goal by Mike Ribiero on Tuesday night could be illegal (because of the non-forward momentum of the puck). What? I'm not sure what he was doing with that "shush" thing towards the L.A. bench afterwards though. Ribeiro has always been a bit of a hot dog, and not in a good way. Still a beauty goal though.



***

The crusade continues:

I wrote about how the NHL should honor some of it's more modern greats by renaming some of it's major trophies back in May and now Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night In Canada has written a really good piece on the same subject.

I only suggested 3 changes - the Hart to the (Gordie) Howe, the Art Ross to the (Wayne) Gretzky and the Norris to the (Bobby) Orr. Friedman ended up making the same choices (no-brainers) but he goes much further and wants to rename virtually every trophy except the Masterton.

I would be a little more careful than that but it's still a good idea whose time has come.

Outclassed

It was a brutal game to watch if you're an Ottawa Senators fan.

Outclassed in every category, the Senators were simply unable to answer the far superior speed and skill of the Canadiens.

And it's not like they didn't "work hard" as everyone will be questioning. They simply don't have the proper personnel to compete at an elite level.

Take Chris Higgins - Ottawa doesn't have a guy like Higgins anywhere in their lineup. Antoine Vermette is supposed to be that guy but Vermette was blessed with hands of stone despite being able to blow by people with speed.

Take Mike Komisarek - He dominated the game tonight and handled big players like Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley with ease. Ottawa has no answer for a player like that.

Take Georges Laraque - Ottawa has some middle-weight agitators who can scrap but no nuclear weapon like Laraque to enforce the peace.

Sadly, Ottawa used to have these answers but they were either let go or dealt away.

But that's in the past. What does Ottawa need to change to have success now?

For one, Alex Picard showed tonight that he is not the answer on the power play. He played his worst game of the season but it was eerily similar to the rest of matches he's played in. Hesitant with the puck and hesitant with the body. He's like Andrej Meszaros on a bad night, minus the size and physical play.

If Bryan Murray could work some trade magic, he'd definitely like to bump Picard from any sort of major responsibility with a bona-fide confident offensive defenseman.

It was surprising to see Craig Hartsburg sticking with his lines even when it was obvious no one had anything going tonight. Should he have united the Big 3 for the third period? Should he do it starting next game?

He won't but he probably should.

At this point, the team needs goals. They've shown that they can play defense and stick to Hartsburg's system. But now they need an injection of skill and the only way that's going to happen is if Hartsburg swallows his pride and re-unites the big line while he waits for Murray to do his job and get some skill back on this team before it's too late.

This squad could do some damage down the line if they had some real secondary scoring and a proper power-play quarterback. Hartsburg's system is effective but without the goals, it doesn't really matter. Alex Auld played one of his best games of the year but still got blown out of the rink. That's gotta be disheartening.

Even if it means players like Jesse Winchester and Nick Foligno have to take a back seat or sit out, the Senators need players who can score goals and that's going to have to come from outside the organization.

***

One small pleasure derived from tonight's loss - Jarkko Ruutu waving goodbye to the Montreal fans with a big smile after getting ejected in the third period. I nearly choked on my beverage when I saw that.

***

I'm at the edge of sanity with my hockey pool goalies. First Marty Turco's career goes into the dumper. Now Chris Osgood trumps all his crappy performances this year by letting in 7 goals against the Pens tonight after leading big throughout the game.

Have you ever seen a grown man cry?

Reaction All Too Predictable

It's not that I have a problem with Craig Hartsburg challenging Jason Spezza to be a better player, it's just that it gives the whackjobs a reason to come out of the woodwork with their predictable "Trade Spezza" rants that clog up the sports radio airwaves.

Spezza is now in a position with the fans where he has to be perfect in order to avoid being thrown under the bus night after night.

Hartsburg is simply trying to antagonize that top line to play better with so many "4 point" games coming up against the Habs and the Rangers. It's a tactic to get Dany Heatley and Antoine Vermette going just as much as it is about Spezza.

People forget that it wasn't that long ago when Hartsburg was heaping praise on Spezza for being the hardest working player on the team at a time when he needed a confidence boost after the fans were after him for a bad giveaway at the start of the season.

But now Hartsburg's ploy opens the door for "commentators" like Glen Kulka to call him "soft" and not his "type of player" live on the air to his similarly reactive audience.

It's simply a stereotype of Spezza and one that is not based in reality. But in lieu of a more sophisticated knowledge of the game, the overplayed cliches will have to do for lazy fans and media personalities.

***

Someone else is taking up the worthy cause of getting Pavel Bure into the Hall Of Fame. It's a crime that Bure was not inducted today alongside Igor Larionov and Glen Anderson, especially when there were two player slots still open.

I wrote a couple of times about the Bure snub which you can read here if you like.

***

How long until the shit hits the fan in Florida? As Panther beat writer George Richards puts it, the team is miserable and defeated from years and years of losing and this season is no better.

"This team, for lack of a better term, is a mess. You can see it in their faces when they come into the rink. They are a beaten bunch. You can't help but feel bad for their rookie coach, a guy who has to deal with this and try and figure a way out. This team almost has to play perfect hockey for 60 minutes -- and even then they may not win."

If Jacques Martin can't convince franchise player Jay Bouwmeester to re-sign in Miami, how long until his job is in jeopardy?

***

Marian Hossa is still taking some heat for leaving Pittsburgh and it's one of his ex-teammates, Max Talbot, who can't seem to drop the issue.

"Oh, yeah," Talbot said. "There's [anger]. You can't forget about something like that because everybody in the organization and [the players], we expected him to come back. We thought he was comfortable here, and he was really good with [Sidney Crosby as his center], and stuff.

"The way he left was kind of, [a blow] to the heart, but you have to live with that. ... You have to respect his decision, but, for us, it's not the best thing that could have happened."

For the record, almost everyone else quoted in the article thought Hossa was a great teammate.