Bring Back The Red, White and Black

I've went on and on about how the Senators uniforms are only "okay" and I won't bore you with more meaningless whining on the subject (I don't hate the current uniforms, but they are completely disposable and already dated looking). But my brother pointed out this vintage sweater to me on EBay and it makes me nostalgic for the classic threads the Senators used to wear.

I mean, just look at this amazing sweater. I have no idea why the organization ever discontinued it. It's perfect, yet sadly forgotten.

They have an intimdation factor too. Wasn't it celebrity Leaf fan Mike Myers who said that part of the reason he hated the Senators was that their black uniforms made them look like the Empire out of Star Wars?

And the classic logo. Proud and traditional, and not with a put-on menace and cartoon like feel which the current logo certainly has in spades.




My dream scenario? They go back to this black sweater (and it's white counterpart) with the original logo, and they use the current red one as a 3rd jersey.

Everyone wins, right?

Or am I on my own here? Maybe some of you think the old sweaters are ugly. But then I'd have to question your taste...

Ferraro on Heater...Wishing for Couture...Donovan On Way Out?

Some pretty intense but supportive words from TV personality and ex-NHL star Ray Ferraro on Dany Heatley, courtesy of L.A. Kings blogger Matthew Barry. Ferraro played with Heatley in Atlanta:

“First of all, not only have I been in the (dressing) room, I’ve roomed with Dany. I know him really well and the people that are talking that he’s toxic don’t know (expletive)! They don’t know anything about him …

There’s all kinds of rumors about Dany off the ice. … Everybody does whatever research they do but I’ve known Dany for over ten years now. He had to mature. Absolutely he did and he’d be the first guy to tell you that he had to mature. …He had a terrible year last year because he wasn’t in shape. He signed a 50 million dollar contract in the summer and he kind of went on the “Summer of Dany” I called it. He had a lot of fun and he was going to ballgames and he was a half a
step out of shape when he got to camp and so he had a terrible year….

If Dany has to go back to Ottawa I’m sure he’s going to have to have a meeting with the guys. He’s going to have to mend the fence. But once the fence is mended and game one starts, he’ll be fine.”

Ferraro’s statement, while not absolving Heatley for having a bad year, seems to follow the pattern of every teammate or ex-teammate who all categorically claim Heater is a good guy in the dressing room and a good person. So why the massive schism of opinion between Heatley's teammates and the media (which represents the fans)?

If last off-season was the "Summer of Dany" ala George Castanza, what would you call this summer?

I don't care what anyone says - Alexei Yashin was worse. Much, much worse.

***

If there is a deal to be had for Heatley in San Jose, you’d have to hope that Bryan Murray is insisting on Milan Michalek and Logan Couture in any deal. While that sort of trade would put San Jose over the cap, it might be worth it for them to find some savings elsewhere to bring on-board a 50 goal scorer.

Michalek scored only 23 goals last year and figures to max out somewhere in the mid-30’s (and that's not a bad thing). Heatley would be a big upgrade on that left wing for a team that is going for the Cup right now. Couture would be hard to give up but that’s the price you have to pay for 50 goal scorers.

For the Senators, Michalek is ideal because he is signed long-term for a reasonable salary (5 years with a 4.3 million cap hit) and will be a solid, if not spectacular offensive player with the upside of a speedy power forward. Couture could be Ottawa’s number one centre in 5 years when Jason Spezza may be long gone.

The deal seems fair (even if it puts San Jose in temporary cap-trouble) but rarely are deals as easy to pull off as they are on paper.

***

Suddenly, the Tampa Bay Lightning look like a threat again. With the additions of Victor Hedman, Alex Tanguay and Mattias Ohlund, and a full season under coach Rick Tocchet, the Lightning could be a top 5 team in the conference despite their ongoing ownership saga.

Another thing they have going for them? Lecavalier is only 29 years old.

It’s hard to believe he’s that young but you could say his best years could still be ahead of him. And most of those years will be with a blossoming Steve Stamkos. Their power-play could be deadly. The additions of Ohlund and Hedman will also allow the much (but unfairly) maligned Andrej Meszaros to play more of a supportive role rather than play almost 25 minutes a night like he did last season. And Mesz is only 23 as well. The future looks bright.

The one negative I saw over the summer was the deal that saw Evgeny Artyukhin go to Anaheim for Drew Miller. That is an absolute steal for the Ducks as Artyukhin is one of the most feared hitters in the game today. Miller is a decent two-way player but Artyukhin is one of a kind, even if his offense is not very lethal. I think the deal was a big mistake for the Bolts – but not enough to derail their comeback season.

***

Not to jump the gun, but the Senators have a very good opportunity to get off to a quick start in the early going of October.

The first four teams they face are the Rangers, the Leafs, the Islanders and the Thrashers.

Sure, the Rangers have Marian Gaborik and his groin for at least one game, the Leafs are now the toughest team in the league, the Islanders have, well, a 19 year old John Tavares and the Thrashers actually have a legitimately good defense core this year. But the Senators should be frothing at the mouth to win some games early on after the two brutal seasons and off-seasons they have had to endure recently. With so many people with something to prove (Spezza, Heatley, Kovalev, Leclaire, Shannon, Kelly, Campoli and Lee), a quick start seems to be in the cards.

***

With Bryan Murray's "fan conference-call" today, he expressed quite a bit of confidence in players such as Zach Smith and Peter Regin.

I hate to say it, but it looks like Shean Donovan is going to find it even harder to get into the lineup this season and could even find himself on waivers right before the season along with Christoph Schubert and Alex Picard.

I'm a huge fan of Donovan, as many of you probably are as well, but there are simply too many forwards on the Senators right now. I don't get the sense that Donovan is one of Cory Clouston's "guys" and that players like Smith and Regin will get first shot at those third and fourth line minutes.

For Donovan's sake, I hope I'm wrong. I think he still has a lot of experience, speed and grit to offer the Senators.

Alfie and Senators Losing Respect - Fans and Local Media Share Blame With Players

The annual Hockey News list of the Top 50 players in the NHL (as seen in their yearbook) is read widely around the league and is a fairly accurate reading of where the big-name players stand amongst their colleagues.

And that’s why it probably hurts fans of the Ottawa Senators to see captain Daniel Alfredsson dropped from the top 50 rankings after being named the 12th best overall just one year ago.

In fact, no other player dropped as far as Alfie to find themselves off the coveted list.

The next guy to drop almost as far was Brenden Morrow who ranked 15th a year ago but is also coming off a lost season when he tore his ACL tendon back in November, causing him to miss the rest of the year.

Alfredsson, meanwhile, played 79 games and racked up 74 points to lead the Senators in points, only experiencing a drop-off of 15 points from the year before. And the two players he scored more points than in fewer games - Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza - both made the list at 43 and 47 respectively (though they did drop mightily from last years rankings – Heatley dropped 33 spots!)

So what gives? Where’s the respect for Alfie from the Bible Of Hockey?

It’s probably due to two factors. Once you pass the age of 35 (Alfie is 36), critics tend to expect a major slowdown no matter your past performance. Once Alfie passed that magic age threshold and had a sub-par year statistically, alarm bells start going off and people start treating you like Mike Modano.

Spezza and Heatley are both just entering their primes and fantasy poolers will be much more forgiving of players with that combination of youth and skill.

But they don’t seem to know Alfie, do they? If anything, Alfredsson has gotten better with age and is a much more commanding presence out there than both Heatley and Spezza. That will probably continue for at least this season and most likely next.

Another factor is that the overall respect level for the Senators organization has taken a mind-blowing nose dive since the Stanley Cup final in 2007. The Ray Emery and Heatley sagas have taken their toll, with a big help from an over-reactive and rabidly conservative local media who have so vociferously attacked a few specific individuals (Spezza, Emery and Heatley) that most of the goodwill the Senators built up in the community over the years has been obliterated. People once looked at the Senators as local heroes and good role-models but now they are wrongly characterized as rich party-hearty jerks who are walking targets for overripe fans who learned all they know about hockey from Glenn Kulka and Lee Versage on their lousy but popular radioshow “Over The Edge”.

All of that goodwill squandered over a few missed practices by a young kid and an annoying trade request by a fading superstar.

When the organization looks bad, even the really good guys, like Alfredsson, Spezza, Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly and Chris Neil get less respect in the hockey world.

Instead of Ottawa fans ripping their own team apart year after year over exaggerated slights, maybe they should focus their energies on actually cheering for their hometown boys and giving them the backing they need to succeed on the ice. Remember when you actually liked hockey? Any of you? It can be that way again if you stop imposing meaningless moral standards on your favourite hockey players and just relax your sphincters for a little while.

Just a suggestion….

Now back to your regularly scheduled “Over The Edge” gong show.

Heatley Presser: My Take

What do I think of Dany Heatley's explanations for wanting out of Ottawa?

I guess I believe him.

A lot of people seem predictably angry that he didn't drop a bombshell such as not getting along with teammates or hating the city or his girlfriend hating the city or something sleazy and headline grabbing. They claim that he must be hiding something unsavoury.

Sometimes the truth is boring.

I believe Heatley when he says it's purely a hockey decision. I believe his claims and his teammates claims that he is a good guy and a positive presence in the locker room. Steve Yzerman wouldn't have chosen him to represent Canada in the Olympics if that wasn't the case. Heatley has always served Hockey Canada with pride and distinction.

I believe his claims that he didn't leak the trade request and that he's genuinely upset at the way it has played out in the public.

To me, this is just another case of a hockey player being unhappy with his role on a team and asking for a trade. It happens all the time in the NHL, much more than people realize.

If Heatley says he wants a bigger role on the Senators than Cory Clouston is willing to give him, then it makes sense that he asked for a trade. And it would have even made sense if GM Bryan Murray was the one to initiate the trade talk. There's no sense in having a franchise player and a head coach pulling in two different directions.

Everyone will take the coach's side no matter what the truth is because fans just don't like rich hockey players, plain and simple. Most journalists don't either.

But the reality is never as black and white as it seems. No one can claim to be 100 percent right in a situation like this. But the Senators made a commitment to Cory Clouston (who has proven to be successful at his job) and they have to back him up, even if it costs them one of the league's only consistent 50 goal scorers.

I don't think Heatley's decision to ask for a trade was a good one, but who am I to pretend to know what goes on in Heatley's life and to think that I know what's right for him.

I just don't see any hidden drama here. Heatley has always been a quality player and a quality individual, but business is business.

Heatley is trying to do what is best for his career, as he sees it. Whether you like it or not doesn't really make a difference. The NHL runs on the same principles that our society does - a regulated free market where individuals can largely choose the way and the location where they make their living.

You can try and pretend that your favourite hockey players will play for free and in your city simply for the love of the game, but you'd be living in a fantasy land.

I don't agree with Heatley but I'm not going to froth at the mouth with endless fury over what is an entirely reasonable and common practice of asking for a trade due to unhappiness.

You can. I won't.

I have better things to worry about. Don't you?

The Marleau - Alfie Connection

It's not too far fetched to favourably compare the careers of Ottawa Senator Daniel Alfredsson and San Jose Shark Patrick Marleau.

Both came into the league within 3 years of each other and both have played with only one team in that span, becoming captains and offensive leaders on their clubs. Daniel Alfredsson's career totals are more impressive than Marleau's but considering their respective ages, they will probably end up within 100 points of each other when the crying's all over.

Unfortunately for Marleau, he hasn't crossed that invisible threshold from great player to indispensable franchise player the way that Alfredsson did back in 2007 during the Senators brilliant run to the Stanley Cup final.

Both captains received eerily similar criticism after each playoff failure, with people questioning their aggressiveness both on the ice and in the locker room. Alfie won over his doubters but Marleau is still a work-in-progress.

And now the knives have come out.

Sharks head coach Todd McLellan has announced that Marleau is no longer the captain of the team after yet another disappointing playoff exit by the polite lads in teal.

Who knows? If Alfredsson and the Senators weren't able to turn their 2007 season around after a near-disaster like beginning, maybe the universe would be different and Alfie would have been in a similar situation that Marleau is in now, namely a sitting duck waiting to get traded.

Marleau does have a no-trade clause in his contract but, as Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated points out, his time in San Jose has probably come to an end.

"Marleau's demotion -- think of a guy getting his stripes ripped off in one of those old war movies -- effectively ends his time in San Jose. Theoretically he can stick around -- Modano did in Dallas when he ceded the C to Brenden Morrow, and Vincent Lecavalier actually matured after losing the C in Tampa Bay -- but Sharks general manager Doug Wilson knows he has to change the mix on his team. If he were trying to trade Marleau before, now Wilson must get rid of the player who scored a career-high 38 goals last season.

"Pat is great," a somber (Joe) Pavelski said Tuesday. "This isn't going to take anything away from the kind of character (player) he is. He is probably going to have to come out stronger after something like this. Or (he'll have to go)elsewhere . . . "

Of course, this kind of talk will inevitably lead to the Dany Heatley situation. Would Marleau waive his no-trade to come to Ottawa? We can probably assume Heatley would love the chance to play with Joe Thornton. But then you just start getting into more of the same tiresome speculation that everyone has had enough of by now.

Regardless, Marleau would be a "nifty" little centre for Alex Kovalev or even Daniel Alfredsson himself (who by the way, is only 68 games shy of 1000 for his career - barring injury he'll hit that milestone this season, probably in March or April).

Something to watch.

The Hockeybuzz Fraud

If you read about the NHL on the internet, you damn well know what HockeyBuzz is all about.

Now there is a website dedicated to debunking the Eklund myth and you would be well advised to at least check it out if you are a regular HockeyBuzz reader.

From the front page of HockeybuzzHogwash:

"We hope that after reading you might not COMPLETELY WASTE $20 (or $3 monthly) on hockeybuzz.com for useless garbage, lies and features that are promised but rarely delivered, go give that money to a charity that your favorite hockey player supports and know its going to people who need it…..

- For every 1 rumor Eklund gets correct, he gets approximately 30 incorrect (457 wrong, 15 right for 3.1%)

- He finished off 2008 calender year (exactly 1 year of our tracking) with a 2.3% accuracy rating

- He proved Mike Chen’s theory was ABSOLUTELY TRUE, that his success rating is slightly less than picking a team out of a hat"

Wow. You have to wonder if these types of numbers apply to any other "rumour" sites that are so prevalent nowadays, even a very popular one right here in the Sens blogging community.

To believe that a bunch of mediocre bloggers have "sources" who leak high-level trade conversations is far-fetched to begin with. Plus, if agents or GM's wanted to leak "trial balloons" to float an idea with the hockey world, why would they do it with unreliable bloggers, especially discredited ones? Somehow these bloggers claim to have better sources than real writers like Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger? Right.

To me, it's all a symptom of the ADD post-lockout hockey fan who views loyalty to their hometown players as secondary to hyper-speculation on what they could fetch on the trade market.

Ottawa fans are no different. Sometimes they seem like they would rather see a blockbuster trade than watch a team grow together slowly and win.

Who has patience for that? Trade the bums!!

Notes From The Dog Days...

The Hockey News hasn’t exactly been kind to the Senators this summer.

In their annual ranking NHL uniforms, THN pegged the Senators duds 29th out of 30 teams, just ahead of the infamous “Buffaslug” (aka Donald Trump’s lettuce).

They did not account for 3rd jerseys in their process but even if they did, the Senators might have actually slipped a spot because the Sabres have the nicest 3rd uni’s in the league (the throwbacks with the original Sabre crest).

Always a hot topic around Bytown – probably because the organization changes the sweaters every few years it seems – the uniforms will not be changing this season (including their terrible sock design with the weird angles at the back) despite some hope that the Senators might opt to put the original “O” crest back on their 3rd jerseys instead of the stylized “SENS” font they currently sport.

But stranger things have happened. The organization brought back the Senators theme song to its original spot in the opening lineup after a short but intense campaign led by many blogs around town (including Black Aces). The Senators might be induced to change their look if a similar campaign is started – and by all accounts, it has.

Personally, I’d rather see the team switch back to their original 2-D logo on their red and white sweaters before bringing back the “O” but I’m game for both ideas. The Senators seem to want to cater exclusively to kids in their designs – which is smart in a way – but it leaves the people who actually dish out the dollars for tickets and merchandise having to wear a cartoonish sweater that nobody really loves. Not like Habs or Leaf fans who don’t have to feel childish in their hometown jerseys.

Maybe new team president Cyril Leeder will have more of a traditional bent than his predecessor, Roy Mlakar, who came to Ottawa from L.A. where selling hockey pre and post Gretzky was like selling ketchup popsicles to women in white gloves (to quote David Spade in “Tommy Boy”). Mlakar's time in L.A. was during the peak of the Gretzky era and he took that aggressive vigor into the Ottawa market and did a great job selling the team during the troubled Rod Bryden years. But recently, under the Eugene Melnyk and Mlakar combo, the organization seemed to opt more for gimmicky marketing and ill-conceived promotions. Who can forget the disaster of the actor dressed up like a Roman warrior at centre ice bumbling through his embarrassing speech with a loose helmet and a faulty microphone?

Leeder has been in Ottawa since the Bruce Firestone days and hopefully will realize that the fans are crying out for more traditional, adult-friendly uniforms and approaches. The kids will still love the Senators without a cartoon character on the front of the sweater. I guarantee it.

But sticking to the Hockey News angle, they also pegged the Senators to finish 9th in the Eastern Conference, just out of a playoff spot. And who can blame them really?

With the Dany Heatley situation unresolved and the team currently over the cap limit, no one really knows if this group of players will come together and regain their elite status in the league.
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I think they’ll be in the 4 – 7th place range, especially if they can keep Heatley in the lineup, because not many teams will be able to score as many goals as the Senators if the lineup stays basically the same.

Think of it: Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, Alexei Kovalev and Jason Spezza all being available for your power-play.

The idea is almost sickening in its lethal possibilities. In the East, only Washington and Pittsburgh would be able to offer up similar firepower.

When (or if) Heatley leaves, the team will be worse, at least in the short-term.

And that’s without making any sort of allusion to his character. From a hockey standpoint, the Senators will miss Heatley. It’s hard to dispute that unless Murray pulls off a miracle trade that brings in another elite sniper.

But I don’t want to talk about number 15 anymore than you want to read about it. Until something happens, who cares?

***

Kind of amusing how loved Jason Spezza is right now when only 2 or 3 months ago, most of the fan base wanted him traded.

It’s strange how it works.

Heatley becomes the devil, so that must mean Spezza is a saint. Yet Spezza is still the same player and guy he was when everyone picked on him, save for a wedding ring.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m happy for the turnaround in sentiment. You’d be hard pressed to find a blog that defended Spezza more vigorously than Black Aces the last two seasons. It’s nice that fans are starting to realize they have a superstar player in their midst. But he hasn’t even scored a point this summer, has he?

The same schism happened with Ray Emery and Martin Gerber.

Emery was so hated that it made people love Martin Gerber – for no apparent reason other than the fact that he wasn’t Ray Emery. Yet he was still the same old Martin Gerber on the ice, letting in weak goals and looking like Hardy Astrom the longer his Senators career continued.

You could even say the same thing happened with Daniel Alfredsson and Alexei Yashin.

Alfie was well liked but it wasn’t until Yashin sulked off to Russia that Alfie became “Alfie” to the fans. They still wanted to trade him right before the 2007 playoff run but that's Ottawa fans for you.

So what’s the lesson?

There’s nothing like a good enemy within to rally fans around the team.

***

Notes:

A second-act I’m looking forward to? Jarkko Ruutu’s second season in Bytown. His style of game is so much better when his team is actually winning more games than they're losing. Ruutu and players of his ilk are more effective when they seem to be gloating and become harder to ignore. Too many coaches tell their players to stop reacting to pests when they have the lead……..First prediction of the new season: Brian Lee has a great year and cements a spot on the team permanently, making Alex Picard expendable (if he already isn't) ….. Second prediction: When Brendan Bell hangs up the skates for good, he’ll be hired as a radio personality in Ottawa covering hockey. The kid is really well-spoken, smart and perfectly comfortable in all interviews I’ve heard. Good luck with the Blues, Brendan……



The Senators should retire Frank “King” Clancy’s number for 4 very legitimate reasons:

One, he deserves it. The King was a superstar player in Ottawa for many years and is an NHL legend in the Hall of Fame. He was also the first player to play every position in one game, including goal when Clint Benedict actually had to serve his two minute penalty because the rule book didn't allow a substitution when a goalie was penalized.

Two, it would create more of a link to the Senators history and tradition, never a bad thing, even if critics will say the new franchise has no connection to the old dynastic one. But too late. Former teammate Frank Finnigan’s number has already been retired by the modern team so that argument doesn’t really wash.

Thirdly, it will piss off the Leafs who became Clancy’s adopted team once he was traded. The Leafs don’t retire numbers as a matter of club policy. Instead they "honour" them but keep the number in circulation. What better way to steal a little thunder from Ottawa’s biggest (and now extremely tough) rivals from across the province. Might as well get in the first shot in the Brian Burke era.



Lastly, maybe it will break the curse. When Clancy was traded to the Leafs in 1930, some say the Senators hexed themselves and it’s hard to argue when you look at the modern Senators series record against the Leafs in the playoffs: 0 wins – 4 losses.

In all of my research done in the past two hours, including reference books and the internet, I cannot figure out what number Clancy wore while he was with the Senators. He wore lucky number 7 with Toronto and I'd bet he wore the same in Ottawa.

I'm sure someone out there knows and can fill us in.

$%@! The Worlds!

This has been making the rounds of the blogs but I thought I might jump on as well in case anyone missed it.

One of the most brilliant and hilarious You Tube videos I've ever seen, especially the bit about Spezza's bachelor party.

Thanks to Tweedy for pointing it out to me.

Messy Divorce In Bytown

Amidst all the screaming and self-righteous indignation, we finally get a reasoned and logical take on the Heatley situation from Ken Campbell at the Hockey News who has the balls to infer that maybe Murray could have handled this situation a little better than he did:

"Before any trade was made, Murray could have forced Heatley to waive his no-trade clause unconditionally.....

There would have been nothing preventing the Senators from telling Heatley to write a letter to Central Registry pre-approving a trade to any one of the other 29 teams. No letter to Central Registry, no trade. Simple as that."

He's got a point. Murray approached the trade with Edmonton from a position of weakness, probably just hoping that negative public opinion would force Heatley to accept.

Heatley was well within his rights to not only ask for a trade, but to use his no-movement clause as is spelled out clearly in his contract. It doesn't make him morally right, but it makes him technically right, if you know what I mean. When you take the emotion out of it, the argument doesn't seem as unbalanced as many make it out to be.

I took a lot of heat (pun definitely intended) for saying much the same thing, but as Campbell points out, the contract Heatley negotiated in "good faith" gives him all the power in this situation, like it or not.

"First, he asked for a trade. Well, anyone from a minimum-wage plug to a 50-goal scorer has the right to do that.

He invoked his no-trade clause when a deal he didn’t like became available. That’s another right he has, one to which he and the Senators agreed when they consummated a six-year, $45 million contract extension a couple of months after the Senators went to the Stanley Cup final in 2007. The ubiquitous “no movement” clause is a classic team-killer that will undoubtedly be a major element in the next round of CBA negotiations, but the fact remains it was negotiated in good faith by both sides.

So it’s a bit of a stretch for anyone to believe the Senators might have a basis for a grievance because Heatley put them in such an untenable situation. "

With all that being said, it looks like Heatley's reputation has hit the terminal point around the league. What looks legit in a contract doesn't always matter to a tempestous fan base and a traditional old boys network around league offices who aren't exactly sympathetic to anyone who carries an NHLPA membership card in their wallet.

Kovalev Shocker

This signing really caught me by surprise.

Of all the free agents this off-season, Alexei Kovalev would have been near the bottom of the list of players I expected to sign in Ottawa.

Yet, it's strangely brilliant.

As has been widely reported, fans of the Habs had just completed a "protest" outside the Bell Centre in Montreal to try and force Bob Gainey to resign the skilled Russian.

Now Murray has what will surely be a motivated player in the lineup to terrorize Carey Price and his band of merry midgets for at least 6 games in the regular season.

But what does it all mean?

Is this a sign that a Dany Heatley trade is imminent? Does this mean that Murray is going to take less for Heatley?

I'm not a capologist but this signing puts Ottawa over the 56.8 million cap.

Kovalev will eat up 5 million per year for the next two seasons in both actual paid salary and in cap space.

According to NHLSCAP.com, the Senators cap number is now at roughly $57,545,833. To get that number I subtracted the listed salaries of Cody Bass, Ilya Zubov and James OBrien, three players who will have a hard time making this team.

But that also doesn't include Brian Elliott who needs a new contract and the possibility of Erik Karlsson making the team (in which event one of the 7 current defenseman would be out of a roster spot, eliminating their respective salary).

If Murray could somehow convince Heatley to reverse his trade request and make peace with Cory Clouston, Ottawa will have plenty of firepower to rack up huge offensive numbers.

Even without Heatley, you could probably pencil in Kovalev beside Jason Spezza and that would still be a formidable line on any team.

If you were to pick someone who has almost as good a shot as Heatley, you'd have to put Kovalev into the argument. While Heatley is all power, Kovalev is pure finesse and can put pucks into corners or through goalie's legs before they've even realized he's about to shoot.

But there's a downside too. Kovalev has an unfair reputation as a guy who is streaky and sometimes disinterested. People seem to think that because he has such great skill, he's not allowed to have off games like other players do.

And if there's anything we've learned about Ottawa fans, they are greatly distrusting of skilled, superstar players. They won't find much to like about Kovalev unless he and Spezza really find some chemistry right away. If not, both will have huge targets on their backs to join the likes of Chris Neil, Chris Kelly and whoever else the fans decide they've had enough of.

But this is a good day for Murray. No matter what happens with the Heatley saga, he has ensured that he is not wasting the supreme passing talents of Spezza.

To have a visionary on the ice like number 19 without someone to one-time his passes is like having a nice car with no wheels.

Heatley or no Heatley, Ottawa will still be able to score goals.

Heatley Still Salvageable

Now we have to answer the once unthinkable question:

Is it possible for Dany Heatley to play for the Senators again?

And the answer is, of course, yes.

If Alexei Yashin could do it, Heatley can definitely do it.

While I still think there's a deal out there for Murray to make at some point, it's now a real possiblility Heatley will still be in the red and black.

Many comparisons have been made between the Yashin and Heatley situations, and those comparisons are valid, but is Heatley’s demand worse than what Yashin did to the team earlier in the decade?

No. Yashin’s was worse. Much worse.

For one, Heatley is a popular player among his teammates. Even Chris Neil, who was the most vocal in his disappointment, said Heatley was well liked. Yashin clearly was an outsider in the dressing room during his final year with the team.

Two, Yashin refused to honour his contract. There are no indications from his agents or from the player himself that Heatley will go as far as that. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.

Three, Yashin was a repeat sinner. When he held out in 99-00, he had already put the organization through the ringer a few times with contract holdouts.

Heatley did request a trade from Atlanta but that was, as universally agreed, an understandable and probably necessary request due to the tragic car accident Heatley was involved in. That request had nothing to do with hockey but with trying to get on with his young life. I don’t think bringing up that tragedy is fair game in this context. Others will disagree, such as Citizen writer Hugh Adami, who currently exploited that situation to a sickening degree, but I still think it’s in bad taste.

And as anyone who even remotely follows the NHL knows, players demand trades all the time due to both hockey and personal reasons.

Chris Campoli is one such player on the Senators roster who demanded a trade due to hockey reasons. Yet Ottawa fans aren’t calling him a “despicable” person.

Heatley is also not the only high-profile player to request a trade.

Chris Pronger did it in Edmonton.

Mark Messier did it in Edmonton.

Patrick Roy did it in Montreal.

Eric Lindros did it in Quebec City.

Pavel Bure did it in Vancouver.

Jaromir Jagr did it in Pittsburgh.

And now Heatley has done it in Ottawa. And his reasons aren’t any more shocking than the others before him. To call him a “despicable” person for doing so is completely out of line.

Yes, you should be angry with him and you should let your voice be heard, but don’t act like Heatley is doing something no one has done before.

Bryan Murray and Eugene Melnyk gave him the no-movement clause in good faith and Heatley simply exercised his contractual right to refuse a trade to Edmonton. Guaranteed contracts, the likes of which Heatley and every NHL player have were fought for by generations of players who formed the NHLPA to protect themselves against owners like James Norris and corrupt agents like Alan Eagleson (who was also, unfortunately for many, the head of the PA as well).

Heatley’s contract is valid and so is his no-movement clause. If he doesn’t want to go to Edmonton, he doesn’t have to. If you don’t like it, blame Bryan Murray and Eugene Melnyk for giving him that option.

I realize my position on this will not be very popular but those are the simple facts. Burning a player in effigy, literally or figuratively is just not relevant to the situation.

If Dany Heatley has to eat crow and come crawling back to the Senators, he will still be able to play at a high level and eventually the fans will put aside past problems and get behind the team.

They did it when Yashin came back in 2000 after they got their boos out of the way the first few games.

And despite everyone going completely apoplectic over this thing, there is a chance Heatley could once again pot 50 goals for the Senators.

It would take a massive P.R. campaign by Cyril Leeder and Bryan Murray (and even spurned rookie coach Cory Clouston) to rehabilitate Heatley’s image, and at least a sincere apology from the player himself, but it can be done.

If it could be done for Yashin, who was a much worse problem, then it can be done for Heatley if need be.

Now bring on the hate mail…..

Neil and Murray Come To Their Senses

A Canada Day hangover prevents me from getting too deep into this, but...

Getting Chris Neil signed was the right move for Ottawa and at 2 million for 4 years, the contract is barely above the NHL average.

The fact that Toronto added the likes of Mike Komisarek, Colton Orr and Garnett Exelby made the re-signing of Neil a priority for Ottawa.

In fact, the Senators could still use some more muscle but Murray can't do much until he sorts out that Heatley thing....

Heatley Does Ottawa A Favour By Rejecting Mediocre Oiler Deal

Perhaps, despite all the furor and moronic name-calling (by over reactive writers like Don Brennan), Dany Heatley has actually done Ottawa a favour here by rejecting this terrible trade with Edmonton.

Much like everyone is snickering over how Glen Sather fleeced Montreal's Bob Gainey by unloading the Gomez contract while getting the likes of Chris Higgins and Ryan McDonagh back in the deal, there would be a few hidden smirks with the idea of Murray getting Dustin Penner back from Edmonton.

Penner has been a colossal flop in the City Of Champions and is believed to be out of shape and mentally soft. His size is certainly appealing but Murray would be better off by signing Erik Cole on the market today without having to give up a 50 goal scorer for Penner. That's not to say the player that Murray drafted can't turn his career around, but do you really need to take that chance right now, with the franchise defining trade of Dany Heatley?

The other players in the deal are bonafide prospects, but no one is predicting them to be in the elite category. Cogliano could score 30 goals one day but he is small. Smid is an interesting player who will still get better but he would have already been on his third team if the deal had gone through. He's at best, a second pairing defensive defenseman.

I'm not saying it would have been the worst deal possible, but Murray should be getting something better than Penner in the Heatley deal, no matter the trying and exhausting circumstances.

The real tragedy of the day will be when Chris Neil signs in Toronto, paving the way for the Senators to become one of the softest teams in the league.

With the other bruisers that Burke is inevitably going to sign, Neil and company are going to come into Ottawa's rink and kick the living shit out of them 3 times a year, and do much the same in their own building.

To let a heart and soul player like Neil who actually wants to be in Ottawa, possibly go to your biggest rival down the highway simply because you're squabbling over a couple hundred thousand, is completely unforgivable in this humble scribe's opinion.

The descent into mediocrity continues in the nations capital......

***

Two separate pieces today by Don Brennan of the Sun and Hugh Adami of the Citizen are so over the top in their feigned outrage that they make fools of themselves, rather than make any reasoned arguments why we should be calling another human being "despicable".

Adami even goes the route of interviewing Dan Snyder's father, a crass and exploitative tactic which is simply a chicken shit way of invoking the tragic car accident as a viable tool for a personal attack on the 28 year old without doing it in a direct manner.

The Adami article makes me want to puke.

Small town, small-minded journalism at its worst.

Congratulations To Pittsburgh

The Penguins deserved to win.

They were hungrier and overall a better team than the vaunted but tired looking Detroit Red Wings. While many will be focusing on the juicy Marian Hossa storyline, the real story is a guy like Sidney Crosby being shut out of all the major awards this season but willing his team towards the most important piece of hardware.

That picture with his father above says it all. For all the grief Crosby takes by fans who call him a "whiner" etc., this is why he's the best all-around player in the NHL and will continue to be for a long, long time.

Overall, it was a great post-season for the NHL despite the annoying distraction of back-door "owner" Jim Ballsilly and locally, the bizarre trade request by Dany Heatley.

There's nothing better for a league when its biggest star wins a championship.

We'll be back when there is more Senators news to report on.

Enjoy your summer, hosers.

More Heatley Fallout

In the post below I described the scenario of Dany Heatley not getting along with coach Cory Clouston as "bizarre", but Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun was correct and got the scoop before anyone else as far as I can tell.

According to TSN, who have filled in some of the details, Heatley was particularly upset with his minutes being reduced and being demoted to the 2nd power-play unit:

"The veteran forward became unhappy with his role in Ottawa last season, especially after the Senators made a coaching change. Heatley discussed his concerns about what he felt was the limiting of his ice time, and his shift from the first power-play unit to the second unit with head coach Cory Clouston in the Senators end of season meetings.

Both sides agreed some time away would help remedy the situation. So, the issues were left to settle while Heatley represented Canada at the IIHF World Hockey Championship.

Heatley returned and continued to consider his future before finally approaching Senators management with his trade request."

Many in the media are going to accuse Heatley as putting himself before the team, but this type of conflict happens all the time in the NHL - usually behind closed doors.

Star players don't like to see their minutes drop, I don't care who they are. But it often doesn't escalate to the point where a trade is demanded.

So I'm going out on a limb and guessing that there is a little more to this than just ice time.

Heatley has taken significant heat from the local media (particularly from the Team 1200 radio station which has been nearly rabid in their attack) and his attitude seemed to sour quite quickly. He was often defensive, if not outright surly during his infrequent relations with the media and you could really sense that this young man was somewhat unhappy.

It's unfortunate because Heatley is an elite talent and the Senators are going to be worse off without him.

But if he wants to leave, Murray has to deal him. He risks poisoning the already negative and chaotic atmosphere around this suddenly flailing organization even further.

With Stanley Cup hopes getting dimmer (which is probably not making Daniel Alfredsson very happy) the Senators find themselves in full continental drift at this point in their history.

With loyalty and tradition being casually tossed to wither in Kanata farm fields (uniforms, logos, theme songs, coaches and players), the Senators aren't too far away from a permanent state of mediocrity (although they are lucky to have passionate and caring fans, even if emotion tends to make them over reactive at times).

Bryan Murray is a respected hockey man who deserves some further rope, but even he might be starting to wonder what the hell is going on with this once stable and proud franchise.

Heatley Headed Out?

More bad news for Ottawa (though many will be cheering that another star player is going to leave town).

Dany Heatley, as reported, wants out of Ottawa and the reasons are not exactly clear, although Bruce Garrioch says that it is because Heatley does not get along with new coach Cory Clouston. That sounds bizarre to me but we don't yet know the truth.

Perhaps he simply wants to win a championship, which Ottawa is now seemingly farther from than ever.

Yet Bryan Murray has an opportunity here to at least re-stock his depth and possibly pick up a promising prospect.

But make no mistake. Losing Heatley and his dependable, and often spectacular, goal scoring is going to hurt this team. You are simply not going to be able to replace his 40 – 50 goals in a trade.

It's not going to happen.

Trades like the Heatley for Marian Hossa deal are extremely rare. Yet Murray might (ironically) be able to persuade a top talent such as Hossa to return to Ottawa with the cap space he clears out in any move.

If Heatley is moved for an even higher draft pick (like Colorado's 3rd so Ottawa would be in a position to draft Matt Duchene), then players like Hossa, Martin Havlat, Mike Cammalleri, Marian Gaborik and Jay Bouwmeester would become affordable, but with no guarantees any of those would want to come to town.

Murray might look to San Jose where GM Doug Wilson has already said he is not averse to shaking up his playoff weak team, which could make players such as Patrick Marleau, Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo available.

Can you imagine Heatley playing with Joe Thornton?

Sickening huh?

That combination could be what San Jose needs to get over the top. Heatley has proven to be an excellent playoff performer after tying for the scoring lead in the 2007 post-season.

While we wait to see what Murray does, things look completely chaotic (as usual) in Bytown.

No one knows if Chris Neil, one of the heart and soul players, will sign (or if his heart is even in Ottawa anymore). Reports about Mike Comrie returning are conflicting. Jason Smith may or may not retire. Even President Roy Mlakar may be out the door.

And finally, the Big Three will be officially split up without an elite sniper for Jason Spezza to feed pucks to. Kind of makes the lack of a true number one defensman a minor problem compared to this.

So what is really going on with this team anyways?

My only concern is that Ottawa is slowly turning into Edmonton East, an organization in constant upheaval where nobody really wants to play anymore despite past glories.

To be honest, it's not surprising that Heatley wants out after everyone calling him a bum and a lazy player for the past two seasons.

Stay tuned for more when we hear more....

Pre-Draft and July 1st Notes

The hockey world is buzzing with the story that Ray Emery is about to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers and Bryan Murray made some very interesting quotes to Philly.com writer Tim Panaccio:

“He didn’t have many problems on the ice other than there was a little stretch when he didn’t play as well as he had been playing for us,” Murray said. “He’s a good goaltender. He’s a good athlete. He had issues where he tried to do more off the ice than he should have done.”

Would Emery be a sound investment for the Flyers? Murray was very direct on the matter.

“Well, he wasn’t in Ottawa because he was scrutinized so much,” Murray replied. “He missed a plane in Ottawa and every media person knew about it and wrote about it. When you are late for practice, we have 30 press guys in the stands with TV cameras going. They see that happen."

Another anonymous GM had this to say:

“Every person deserves a second chance and this guy has cleaned up his act,” the GM said. “Tell me you haven’t done something bad when you were younger and got a second chance? Why should Emery be any different?”

For those of you who have followed this blog over the past two years knows that I've always been a big Ray supporter - and that hasn't changed a bit.

This is a great move by Philly and I suspect Emery will continue to play great, carrying over from his All-Star season in the KHL.

Senators Notes

Bryan Murray has made some good moves since admitting defeat and firing Craig Hartsburg.

Among them was hiring a great coach in Cory Clouston who believes in a modern puck-possession game, getting a franchise goalie in Pascal Leclaire and signing 1st round pick Erik Karlsson in hopes of getting the slick young blue-liner into the lineup next season.

But some pitfalls remain ahead.

On paper, the defense still isn’t good enough.

To be considered a contender, you need a clear cut number one guy back there and Ottawa doesn’t have one, no matter how highly you rate Filip Kuba.

For the Senators, it should be Jay Bouwmeester or a similar player through trade - or bust.

Without an upgrade on the blueline, this team should still be good enough to make the playoffs but there is no way they can be considered an elite team anymore. Maybe they get lucky like Carolina and go on a sort of Cinderella run but that's all anyone can hope for at this point.

Yet Murray seems content with his defense core:

"I think our defence is more than adequate now. It's very different than it was at the beginning of last year. We've made our commitments to four or five of them and if we can sign another we will, but my focus is to get a good forward."

He's right. It is more than adequate. But it's not that great either. Murray is in a tough spot due to the cap but if there is even a glimmer of hope to get someone like Bouwmeester, even at a Brian Campbell-esque contract, he should go for it with all the resources he has.

***

According to the Ottawa Sun, Chris Neil is a lot closer to re-signing in Ottawa than he was when the season ended and that's positive news, if only to avoid Neil donning the Maple Leafs sweater this coming year.

With Brad May teetering on retirement and some money to play with under the cap, getting Neil in the blue and white would be a no-brainer for Burke. The signing would significantly weaken the toughness of their divisional rivals and add a player with a ton of playoff experience to their roster.

With Burke in the same cozy division, this is not the time for Murray to be taking chances with the Senators toughness. Already, Ottawa is the softest team in the NHL outside of Buffalo.

Nobody is going to be afraid to come into Ottawa’s building if Murray doesn't sign Neil or replace him with a suitable player. It’s hard to believe that not long ago, the Senators were probably the toughest team in the NHL with the likes of Zdeno Chara, Brian McGrattan, Neil and Mike Fisher getting in opponents faces. Now only an injury prone Fisher remains. If Jason Smith can't return from his knee injury, this team will get run over every single night.

And if someone mentions Cody Bass as the answer to everything, I might lose my freaking mind. He's got heart, but he's not the same type of player that Neil is. Not by a longshot.


NHL Notes

The arrogance of Canadian hockey fans is astounding. We feel it is our divine right to demand that Gary Bettman bow to the wishes of Jim Ballsillie and let him move the Coyotes out of Phoenix and into Hamilton.

Yet these same fans cry and moan that the NHL didn’t do enough to keep the teams in Quebec and Winnipeg. Moving a franchise, no matter where, is heartbreaking for the fans. People in Canada should recognize that and feel some sympathy for loyal Coyotes fans who are going through an uncertain time right now.

If Ballsillie succeeds in his precedent setting back-door style bid, that will lead to all sorts of problems, such as a billionaire deciding that the Senators or the Oilers might look better playing in Las Vegas or Houston.

Letting outsiders decide where the NHL can locate its franchises is sheer lunacy and a terrible omen for Canadian hockey fans. Love him or hate him, Gary Bettman is on the side of stability and reason in this battle.

Hamilton may be a great market for a team, but they should get in line like everyone else.

Second Round Picks

As you may have noticed, there has been an almost complete lack of activity on Black Aces for the past month. We will be back with full Senators coverage whenever there is anything important to talk about but for now, after two years of almost daily blogging, I’m simply enjoying the playoffs and recharging my batteries. Right around the draft, Black Aces will be in full swing again or if anything big happens in the Senators world.

But first we need to get some predictions in. With our usual guest from Blood Red Army, here’s how we see the second round unfolding.


Boston vs. Carolina

Black Aces: Boston
Blood Red Army: Carolina

Washington vs. Pittsburgh

Black Aces: Pittsburgh
Blood Red Army: Washington

Detroit vs. Anaheim

Black Aces: Detroit
Blood Red Army: Detroit

Vancouver vs. Chicago

Black Aces: Chicago
Blood Red Army: Chicago


What was the best series of the first round?

Black Aces: Washington vs. New York
Blood Red Army: Chicago vs. Calgary

Who was the MVP of the first round?

Black Aces: Evgeni Malkin - Pittsburgh
Blood Red Army: Jonas Hiller - Anaheim

Which star player performed the worst in the first round?

Black Aces: Daniel Briere – Philadelphia
Blood Red Army: Evgeni Nabokov – San Jose (although there were many others)

Biggest moron of the first round? John Tortorella, Sean Avery, Donald Brashear, Daniel Carcillo or Montreal fans?

Black Aces: John Tortorella (He should be embarrassed by both his interactions with the fans and the media. Much like Ron Wilson, he thinks he invented hockey. Yet I’m glad he’s around for entertainment purposes.)

Blood Red Army: Montreal fans (Biggest morons in the WORLD)

Which first round team is most likely to blow up their roster for next season?

Black Aces: Montreal (duh)
Blood Red Army: Montreal

***

Our first round predictions can be seen here.

The score was:

Black Aces: 5
Blood Red Army: 4

Oooh so close. Sorry B.R.A. (yes that acronym spells BRA ... loser)

Although I picked Montreal to beat Boston. Brutal.

Who Stays? Who Goes? Who Knows?

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

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

Most Likely To Stay

(Player followed by Cap Hit - not actual salary)

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

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

Pascal Leclaire - 3.8
Brian Elliott - Restricted

Total Cap Hit: (Roughly) 42 million

Possible Trade Bait

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total Cap Hit: (Roughly) 7 million

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

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

Unrestricted Free Agents (May or may not be back)

Mike Comrie
Chris Neil

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trade-wise, well take your pick.

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

Deja Vu

Did you ever notice that the Over The Edge show never interviews players on the Senators?

Their excuse is that the Senators practice during their time slot, but maybe they have a little more humility than we expected. They spend the better part of the year questioning the players manhood's but don't have the guts to talk to them face to face. Fair enough.

They spent the whole show today continuing their extended campaign to run Dany Heatley out of town by playing a benign clip of the player saying he had an up and down year. Apparently the problem is that Heatley knew his stats off-hand and in Kulka and Versage's minds, that is proof that Heater is not a team player.

I'm getting a little sick of commenting on these two radio jocks but at what point does their personal attacks against Heatley and Jason Spezza completely poison the Team 1200's business relationship with the organization?

The Senators are selling a product to fans and are allowing the Team 1200 the luxury of paying to broadcast the games. When the Team 1200 promotes antagonistic attitudes towards the players day in and day out regardless of the facts and against all good taste and balance, how soon does the day come when the Senators go shopping for another radio outlet to broadcast their games?

There is an expectation of criticism when a team or a player does poorly, but where do you draw the line?

Kulka and Versage go beyond any sense of fairness and balance in attacking Spezza and Heatley day after day based on faulty logic and reasoning.

Only when enough people stop buying tickets to the games to watch a bunch of "spoiled rich hockey players", thanks in part to the incessant diatribes of the Over The Edgers to hate their team, will someone like team president Roy Mlakar wake up and smell something rotten with their business relationship with the Team 1200.

***

A disaster looming?

The notion of Chris Neil going to the Toronto Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free-agent would be a total pie-in-the-face to Bryan Murray and the organization who should have gotten Neil under contract a long time ago.

Letting a heart and soul player go is one thing. Letting him go to your biggest rival is unforgiveable. Murray has painted himself into a corner here knowing that Brian Burke has all the money in the world to poach the toughest player the Senators have ever had.

Just give Neil the 2 million and get it over with. He's worth it off and on the ice.

Prediction Time

The Senators are toast but that doesn't mean the world stops.

The playoffs are here and that means some hardcore hockey watching until the marathon ends in early June.

For the annual playoff predictions, I've brought in fellow Senator blogger Blood Red Army to help with the picks.

There are a lot of ex-Senators out there trying to win the Stanley Cup, such as Marian Hossa in Detroit, Antoine Vermette and Mike Commodore in Columbus, Zdeno Chara in Boston and Wade Redden in New York.

Anyways, enjoy the games. I know I will.

Eastern Conference Matchups

Boston vs. Montreal

Black Aces: Montreal
Blood Red Army: Boston

Washington vs. New York Rangers

Black Aces: Washington
Blood Red Army: Washington

New Jersey vs. Carolina

Black Aces: Carolina
Blood Red Army: Carolina

Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh

Black Aces: Pittsburgh
Blood Red Army: Philadelphia

Western Conference Matchups

San Jose vs. Anaheim

Black Aces: Anaheim
Blood Red Army: San Jose

Detroit vs. Columbus

Black Aces: Detroit
Blood Red Army: Columbus

Vancouver vs. St. Louis

Black Aces: St. Louis
Blood Red Army: St. Louis

Calgary vs. Chicago

Black Aces: Calgary
Blood Red Army: Chicago

Stanley Cup Finalists:

Black Aces: Calgary vs. Pittsburgh
Blood Red Army: San Jose vs. Carolina

Stanley Cup Winner

Black Aces: Pittsburgh
Blood Red Army: Carolina

Conn Smyth Trophy Winner:

Black Aces: Marc-Andre Fleury
Blood Red Army: Cam Ward

Playoff Scoring Leader

Black Aces: Evgeni Malkin
Blood Red Army: Patrick Marleau

Biggest Playoff Flop

Black Aces: Boston
Blood Red Army: Detroit

Comrie On The Move Again?

Has Mike Comrie suddenly become the "Dead Man Walking" of the Ottawa Senators?

Quietly, Comrie has begun to disappear into the lineup, playing marginal minutes on the third line and being fairly invisible on the power play.

Comrie hasn't had a point since March 22 against the Rangers (He got one tonight). That was 8 games ago.

Before that Ranger game, Comrie had gone 5 matches without a point. So that math is now 2 points in his last 13 games. In total he has 7 points in 19 games as a Senator.

Not only is Comrie not making a case for himself to stay near his current 4 million salary, he's making himself an also-ran in the unofficial "Comrie or Neil" sweepstakes.

Bryan Murray may only have the money to sign one of Comrie or Chris Neil and right now, it's a no-brainer. Neil is the guy.

Just take a look at tonight's physical match in Montreal. Neil was noticeable all night long in a game that was as close as the Senators will get to a playoff atmosphere. Comrie was tiptoeing through the tulips.

It's clear that Ryan Shannon has outplayed Comrie and has gained the trust of Cory Clouston. That's why Comrie is treading water on the third line.

Comrie is an excellent player at times and he still has a lot to offer a team like Ottawa, but right now it doesn't look like his head is into it. I'm not saying he's pouting at the minutes he's getting, but he's also not proving Clouston wrong by playing his way back up the charts.

I'd expect Murray to look elsewhere to park Eugene Melnyk's money next season. The feeling is likely mutual.

***

Larry Brooks of the NY Post makes a great point about the overblown hullabaloo surrounding Sean Avery's comical Slapshot act with Bruins goalie Tim Thomas:

"Excuse me, but Milan Lucic sticks out his leg and injures a defenseless Nik Antropov by going knee-on-knee midway through the second period on Saturday, and it's Sean Avery who should be suspended for kind of stupidly using his stick to tap Tim Thomas on the back of his helmet during a TV timeout?

The absence of context is the crux of the issue here, just as always. Headhunters such as Chris Pronger and Gary Roberts, who historically injure opponents, are routinely deified, notably by the sanctimonious brigade north of the border, but Avery, who has never hurt anyone but himself, must be banned for the good of the sport? "

To be honest, it's getting a little tiresome listening to the morality brigade trying to kick Avery out of the NHL for even the mildest of incidents.



What Avery did to Thomas was hilarious and solidly in the long NHL tradition of the pest.

The self-righteousness of the punditry when it comes to Avery is getting stale. They complain the game doesn't have enough personalities yet they hammer down every nail that dares to rise up from the grain.

One minute they love Alex Ovechkin and his wild celebrations, the next they want him humiliated for celebrating too hard.

And Brooks is right. The hockey media establishment in Canada thinks they own the game and deem themselves the ultimate arbiters of taste and behaviour. They haven't seen an outrageous personality like Avery before and they don't like it (yet they forget the likes of Eddie Shack and Tiger Williams were almost equal the morons of a guy like Avery. Williams once did the same thing except it was to Scotty Bowman's head when he was on the bench watching the play down the ice. True story. Look it up.).

They try to pin the blame on Avery for the Dallas Star's lost season but in reality, it was not having a healthy Sergei Zubov and Marty Turco playing the worst hockey of his career that led to their downfall.

They've been rid of Avery for a long time now but they completely faded down the stretch on their own.

So save the morality lessons and let the kid goon it up. It's fun to watch.