All Guts, No Glory - Sens 3 Isles 2

Folks, the Senators are back.

Maybe not the Senators you've all become accustomed to in the high-octane 2000's, but instead, the edgy, hard-working and high spirited teams of 97 and 98 when they were fighting every game for respect... and a playoff spot.

On a night when it was clear that the high-end skill guys like Alex Kovalev, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek were still trying to work the rust off, it was (again) the lesser known soldiers who forced coach Cory Clouston to play them more and more as the game went on.

It all started with the "Big Rig" Chris Phillips blasting Islander Tim Jackman down with a hard hit in the first period.

Then, Anton Volchenkov delivered John Tavares the cliche "Welcome to the NHL" moment when he absolutely crushed the rookie near the boards.

The tone was set.

Que up the Chris Neil - Peter Regin - Jonathan Cheechoo line. They not only got the Senators first goal, they dominated the game.

When Matt Carkner scored in the second period to give the team a 2 goal lead and after Pascal Leclaire absolutely stoned Tavares with a mind-bending pad save in the same time frame, it pushed the fans over into downright giddiness. They were actually giving Leclaire a standing ovation, but you got the sense that they were just releasing about 2 years of pent up energy and nervousness.

Playing before them was a team that was giving it their all, awkward mistakes and all, and the fans were feeding off of it. Big time.

If this was last year, Martin Gerber would have let in that Tavares goal. The Senators would have been the ones picking themselves off the ice after a nasty hit at the blueline. The fans would have been waiting for the next thing to go wrong.

But tonight it seemed like they were finally expecting things to go right for a change.

And they were given that chance because Cory Clouston has changed the attitude and philosophy of the team.

Whoever is playing well is going to play a lot. And it was not just about the minutes. In fact, neither Neil, Cheechoo or Regin played more than 14 minutes, but it was the timing of their shifts. Clouston played them at important times in the game, when he needed a goal and when he needed to keep goals out.

Maybe it's that minor league mentality. Clouston comes from the AHL, a league filled with guys busting their asses to make it to the big show. That's the culture and Clouston seems to have brought that attitude to the NHL. He knows these types of players - guys like Neil, Carkner, Shean Donovan et al.

He trusts them just as much as he trusts the established NHL guys like Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher. Even skilled players who have put in their time in the minors like Regin and Ryan Shannon get Clouston's respect, and that's a big difference from the philosophies of past coaches like John Paddock and Craig Hartsburg who either played their established stars into the ground or adapted a passive system built on trying not to screw up.

Clouston's teams go for it, grinders and superstars alike.

And could it be more fitting than the team's ultimate grinder, Mike Fisher, to get that overtime goal?

Funny thing is, I think the fans were expecting the Senators to win once it got to overtime.

And that might be the most refreshing change of them all.

Black Aces 3 Stars

1. Chris Neil
2. Pascal Leclaire
3. Matt Carkner

Honourable mentions: Mike Fisher, Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips.


Notes

Matt Carkner is starting to remind me of another Ottawa Senator from a long time ago who snuck up on everyone to become a fan favourite. And that player is Lance Pitlick. Remember him Sens fans? Carkner is bigger and more mobile than Pitlick ever was, but it's all in the attitude. Pitlick was a guy who toiled in the AHL with the Hershey Bears for a long time, on top of a full career at college. Pitlick was also a guy who kept it extremely simple - put pucks off the glass and put guys into the boards.

Not to be a Don Cherry sycophant or anything, but there's something about that rugged Canadian type of player that every Stanley Cup team seems to have one or two of. Ottawa has had a few of these guys up front (Fisher, Neil and even Alfie from "Moosejaw, Sweden") but it's been awhile since they've had one on the back end who can play over 15 minutes a game.

There's a danger in overhyping a player like Carkner, but in Ottawa, with his breed so rare, it's becoming a revelation to see what they've been missing......... Back in 1997, my old roomate Andy Sheath got a job at the Corel Centre and from downtown would take a bus as close as he could and then walk a ways through fields and snow. One day a pick-up truck stopped at the side of the road and waved him over. "Geez buddy, you must be freezing your balls off! Are you headed to the rink?" It was Lance Pitlick. When Andy (who was not a hockey fan) got home, he asked me if I've ever heard of a guy named Pitlick? "Umm...yah dude." Apparently Pitlick was on his way to practice at the time and didn't think twice about picking up some grubby looking guy freezing his balls off in the middle of winter. Now that's character......

If bench chatter is any indication, it looks like Carkner and rookie Erik Karlsson have hit it off. At least twice in the first two periods, the cameras centred on the two laughing it up and giving each other fist bumps. Then again, Carkner seems to be making everyone laugh. He had the trainer cracking up on the bench after his second period goal............

Alex Kovalev started slow again but by the 3rd period, he was starting to control the play. This guy is going to be a great player for this team, but you might have to wait while warms up first..... Alex Picard almost took Alfie's head off with an errant deflection in the 2nd period. Luckily the puck hit the captain in the shoulder and he didn't have to make a trip to the dentist like Milan Michalek did after the game in Toronto....... A guy who never gets enough respect, from myself as well, is Chris Phillips. The guy plays hard every single night and we just take it for granted now that he'll put in a solid, if unspectacular game. For a guy who goes up against the other teams best forwards every single night for the past 5 or 6 seasons, he makes very few mistakes. He's Ottawa's own version of Glen Wesley and should be a career Senator..... Speaking of contracts, let's hope Bryan Murray doesn't waste a second getting Volchenkov extended before this summer. Just give the guy what he needs and put it in the rear view mirror. He may not play for a long time due to his style of game, but he'll be your rock for 4 or 5 more years at the least......

Does anyone really care that Ilya Zubov has made a trade request? After Dany Heatley, does it even register on the Richter Scale? It will be tough for Binghamton, but not for anyone else..... A lot of missed calls on the night, most of the obstruction variety. The NHL has changed their Director of Officiating to Terry Gregson this season. You just hope that the standards don't start to slip. But then again, you got the sense that the refs were trying to atone for missing the puck hitting the mesh just before Regin scored the first goal of the game. It should have been disallowed and maybe they gave the Isles some leeway after that. But there's no excuse for letting Doug Weight hit Volchenkov from behind right in front of your eyes......

Got to say it: That was Jonathan Cheechoo's best game in a Senators jersey by far. He seems to be getting more involved at the front of the net and that's a great sign. That's where he's scored all his goals so far in his career. For such a likable character, you can only hope that he keeps going in the right direction. He has a chance to be a fan favourite down the line here.

Donovan Breaks The Spell

The star players can't do it for you all the time.

And tonight in Toronto, it was the role players who ignited a sluggish and disinterested team after a terrible first period which was hard to watch for all but the hardcore hockey fan.

Both Ottawa and Toronto looked afraid to make a mistake and the 1st period was a snorefest because of it with each team managing 8 shots that were barely noticed.

Then Anton Volchenkov crushed Leaf rookie Victor Stalberg at the Senators blueline. The Swede did not return and the hit seemed to take the wind completely out of the Leafs

The momentum led to Shean Donovan cutting down a puck from mid-air with an axe like swing where it dropped past Jonas Gustavsson - a garbage goal - but those are often the ones that change a game around.

Donovan, a guy who was a healthy scratch the first game and the first on the list of many who expected a player to be shipped out of town, did what he was supposed to do and crashed the net and caused chaos around "The Monster".

It worked.

With the bubble burst, Ottawa started to assert themselves and the Captain broke the game open by scoring on a rare penalty shot, taking the place of Milan Michalek who not only was fouled, but lost his two front teeth on the play and had to go to the room to get checked out.

Yet, the win was a strange one.

This is not the Senators team that forechecked aggressively and tried to skate other teams into the ground during the end of last season under Cory Clouston.

Even after opening things up with a couple of goals, the Senators played it fairly safe, content with loading up the bodies in the neutral zone and waiting for the Leafs to make mistakes.

It worked against the seemingly hapless Leafs, but will it work against the Flyers or the Penguins or the Capitals?

Alex Kovalev showed flashes of his all-world skill towards the end of the game and looked almost dominant on a few plays. He made at least two cross ice passes that were barely believable, but his recipients couldn't cash in, including Nick Foligno who was sniffing around the net all night.

Jason Spezza is impressing with his newfound willingness to play meaningful defence - he was often the forward helping out behind his own net - but offensively he is struggling a little like his teammates.

Interestingly, Jonathan Cheechoo finally showed a pulse in the third period and actually crashed the net on one occasion. We all knew he wasn't a great skater, but did anyone really expect to see a guy who would be hard pressed to beat Jason Allison in a blueline to blueline sprint?

But it's two games, and Cheechoo is going to get all the opportunity in the world to get himself back into shape. It's clear that he is not physically right - whatever that implies. Something is just off with him right now. If he doesn't get going, how soon will it be until he finds himself in the press box watching Donovan skate in his place?

If anything, tonight demonstrated the value of a guy like Donovan. He can sit for five games. He can sit for 35 minutes. But when he's on the ice, he always makes something happen with his speed, grit, and heart.

It was a game that, despite the early schedule, meant a lot to whoever could win it.

Now the Senators can go into their home opener on Thursday with the press and fans off their backs but the Leafs are now entering the chaos zone where the coach plays egotistical games with the media, the young players are shell shocked and the fans believe the sky is falling after only 3 games.

But that's not Ottawa's problem any more.

Black Aces 3 Stars of the Game

1. Anton Volchenkov
2. Daniel Alfredsson
3. Shean Donovan

Honorable mentions go out to Pascal Leclaire (who makes it look easy), Jarkko Ruutu (a team high 3 shots - and a nasty cheap shot on Mike Komisarek) and Matt Carkner (who has replaced Jason Smith and Luke Richardson quite nicely).

Opening Night Shakes

There's no reason to sugarcoat it. The Ottawa Senators played a lousy game.

Looking like they were skating in 2 inches of mud, the Senators couldn't seem to get anything going in either the 1st or 3rd periods. And when they did get their chances in a fairly decent 2nd period, Henrik Lundqvist was outstanding for the New York Rangers.

There's lots of excuses if you want them. Starting on the road. A long layoff after their final pre-season game. New players still trying to find chemistry.

It doesn't matter. If there were butterflies, they should be gone now.

Pascal Leclaire was really good in goal despite the 5-2 score. He made some really difficult stops but had no chance on most of the others

Rookie Erik Karlsson looked like a rookie. It was obvious that he was very tight in the early going and was just trying not to make a mistake rather than play his usual high octane game.

And when you try not to make mistakes, you make them by the bushel.

His passes were so carefully placed that they had no zip on them and he occasionally got his signals crossed in his own end, in one instance leading directly to a goal by Brandon Dubinsky in the 1st period.

But he made up for that mistake by backchecking ferociously and stopping a breakaway by Artem Anisimov in the 2nd and seemed to snap out of his trance late in the 3rd by making some nice passes to forwards going at full speed.

He'll be better once he realizes he's an NHL player and stops being so starstruck.

Matt Carkner really impressed by playing exactly the same way he did in the pre-season. He looked like a veteran out there and even had two really good offensive chances early in the game by choosing to take two hard shots which Lundqvist had to stop with some difficulty. Carkner then went on to fight Donald Brashear late in the 3rd after jawing with the Ranger enforcer all game and did well in the scrap.

Otherwise, there wasn't much to see other than a hockey squad looking to uptight to really play their hustle and puck pursuit game the way they meant to.

Next up, Toronto.

NOTES

THEY FIXED THE SOCKS!!!!!!

It seems the Ottawa Senators are intent on spoiling us all of a sudden. First, they bring back the Senators theme song at the start of games. Now.... they fixed their freaking ugly socks.

BEFORE

NOW

Finally.

I'm not sure what the Senators were thinking with that previous design but they are now back in the fashion good books. I haven't had a chance to see if Calgary or Tampa Bay have also done the same thing with their similar looking socks.

One thing I do know about Calgary, their retro uni's look fantastic. It seems like the tide is finally turning from the dark and dreary 90's when bright colours died off in the NHL. With Philly, Calgary and Edmonton rehashing their 70's and 80's style jerseys, the NHL is starting to "pop" on television once again. Dark and subtle tones don't look good on television. Bright, classic colours with clean, straight stripes do.

It's just too bad Theo Fleury isn't around to put that bright orange jersey on again.

***

The conventional wisdom that always gets spouted on sports talk radio shows is that the NHL is a sub-par league, struggling financially, marketing inept, and run by a commissioner who doesn't know what he is doing.

As is the case with most cliches that talking heads can spout to their audience without actually having to do any research, that "conventional wisdom" is dead wrong. In fact, Gary Bettman is being hailed as a genius among all sports owners, not just NHL owners, first for breaking the players union during the recent lockout (David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail recently said the union has degenerated into a "laughingstock") and for winning big over renegade poacher Jim Ballsillie.

People point to sore spots such as the Coyotes mess and the lack of a truly national television deal in the United States, but in essence, the league has never been doing better, both on and off the ice.

Globe and Mail business writer Brian Milner sees an NHL that is thriving in a global recession.

"...as the league embarks on its 92nd season, indicators point to a sport that is more than holding its own in the increasingly fierce battle for the shrinking entertainment buck.

League revenue stands at a record high. Ticket sales are holding steady even as prices rise in some markets, and star players are drawing big crowds. The sport is enjoying a resurgence in some old hockey towns such as Chicago and Boston, while the Montreal Canadiens sold this year for a record price. Television ratings are picking up. "

He notes that some Southern teams are still struggling but the core of the league remains strong, protecting it from what was once thought to be an inevitable implosion.

For many, especially elitist Canadian hockey snobs who believe the league should be a tiny, regional operation not much bigger than the CFL, Gary Bettman can never be given credit for anything.

But in truth, Bettman is now revered in the sports ownership world, along with his associate Bill Daly, the deputy commisioner. Beating Ballsillie means that a legal court has affirmed the right of professional sports leagues to determine, to a large extent, where they can operate their own franchises.

If, as a Canadian hockey fan, you feel that Bettman has insulted Canada by not allowing the Coyotes to move to Hamilton, just think of how much more protected the existing Canadian franchises are from someone coming in and trying to move them to the United States.

Small market fans in Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary should be sending thank you notes to the commish, not hate mail.

"Other NHL governors also declined to speak, or rather gloat, publicly. But several had plenty to say anonymously.

“I don't care if our share is $5-million [for the legal costs and the Coyotes' losses this season],” one said. “I'll send a thank-you note along with the cheque.”

Another owner said he “will gladly pay the bills,” because “this could have set a very dangerous precedent for all sports franchises.”

-Globe and Mail

Rookies and Veterans In The Melting Pot

All the buzz in town is about Bryan Murray’s comments that some veterans better step up their game in training camp or else risk losing their jobs to rookies.

It’s a typical and usually successful GM move to try and light a fire under some players but that type of thing always backfires in a market like Ottawa where certain influential radio hosts and columnists take it as a green light to go on a negative feeding frenzy, and the latest guy pegged to be “run out of town” is Chris Kelly.

To hear the Over The Edgers, you’d think the Senators were in the midst of a horrible December slump and that Chris Kelly was missing practices and getting into road rage incidents with attention seeking senior citizens with personalized license plates.

Except it’s training camp.

What are we talking about? Training camp? “Practice? We talkin’ about practice?”

It seems that no matter what Kelly does this year, he is going to get thrown under the bus for daring to have a contract over 2 million dollars and not score 50 goals.

Presumably, Jesse Winchester can do what Kelly does at a fraction of the price, but that doesn’t take into account how popular Kelly is among his teammates and the excellent contributions he can bring to the team once the games start to mean something. Kelly is a proven veteran and deserves some respect. He was part of the most successful team in the history of the franchise who brought Stanley Cup final action back to the capital.

To rip a guy for having an underwhelming training camp is fine but don’t infer that he has lost his value because of that. We are supposed to judge players on their contributions during real games and not get obsessed with who showed up to an optional skate or who was the first guy off the ice at practice, like the Ottawa media seems to be stuck on.

But the Senators are at a point where they have way too many forwards and three players knocking on the door. Those players are, of course, defenseman Erik Karlsson, Matt Carkner and forward Peter Regin.

All 3 deserve a spot on the Senators roster, ahead of the likes of Brian Lee, Christoph Schubert, Zack Smith and Alex Picard and not just because of their training camp performance. They deserve to be there because they all supply a certain need on the team.

Karlsson is obvious. If he doesn’t make the squad, something is truly rotten in Denmark.

Regin has been coming on for two years now and is a complete player who seems to fit well as a centre on the Mike Fisher line, giving the Senators 3 skilled centres who can all score points.

If there is any justice and common sense in the world, Carkner will be the 6th defenseman. That would give a perfect balance to the top six – 3 defensive defenseman and 3 offensive defenseman.

I’m a believer in Brian Lee but the Senators need Carkner more than Lee right now because Karlsson, Chris Campoli and Filip Kuba already fill the offensive role.

Add in the fact that Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov, as big and tough as they are, will never be accused of having a mean streak. Carkner has a doozy and Ottawa hasn’t seen that since Zdeno Chara left town.

The solution?

Send Lee to the minors because you can (due to his two-way contract). He will have a chance to play in the future and it won’t hurt him. The AHL is a hell of a league.

Waive (or if you can, trade) Christoph Schubert. He needs a fresh start with a team that will allow him to be a defenseman.

Picard? That’s a tough one. He is too good to try and sneak through waivers. Injuries will come and the team will be glad to have someone like Picard in the stable. Yet, with the team fully healthy, what does he provide that Campoli, Kuba and Karlsson can’t? Not much.

But if you deal both Picard and Schubert, you deplete your depth.

Do you keep two extra defenseman? In a cap world, that doesn’t make sense.

Sadly, this probably means that Carkner will be sent to the AHL.

While Winchester is out with an injury to start the season, that allows Murray to at least delay a decision on where Shean Donovan and Kelly fit. Nobody wants to see Donovan go anywhere but the only way to avoid that is to move someone else out.

Rumblings and strange chatter that Chris Neil and Jarkko Ruutu are in danger can only be described as mystifying. Neil was unfairly lumped in with those veterans who were having mediocre camps by some but he has gone out and done his job perfectly on the ice – defending teammates and being a presence along the boards.

Ruutu is being paid next to nothing and there are very few players in the league as good as he is in the pest role. Taking away physical, heart and soul players is not the solution in Ottawa. If anything, the Senators could use more sandpaper, not less.

***

Have to point out an interesting article penned by the blog Blood Red Army who points out the evolving negativity of the mainstream media towards the only franchise in town. Some very good points:

"Honestly, what is it with the sports media in Ottawa? We are exactly nine days into training camp and I am already sick to death of the negativity being spewed towards the Ottawa Senator players.

Last night during the Team 1200’s pre-game show, Ottawa Sun journalist Bruce Garrioch and ex-NHL'er Mike Eastwood completely ripped Jonathan Cheechoo apart. This is a player who landed in Ottawa one week ago, and has yet to play a single meaningful game here. We all know he’s coming off a very disappointing season and has been on a downward slide since the 2005/06 season, but does that really give people the green light to drag his name through the mud? According to these guys, he’s been just awful and is totally out of shape. The fact that we were told he spent all summer working out and getting ready for the season was supposedly a total lie. And apparently he misses every single shot on net during practice, too.

Why?! What is the point in that? Give the guy a chance to get into the swing of things. At the very least, don’t write him off before the season even starts!"

Peter Regin Trumps Zack Smith In Battle Of Rookies

Going into training camp, there were two young rookies who were going to get every opportunity to make the Ottawa Senators. Erik Karlsson was the smallish but highly skilled 19 year old and Zack Smith was the gritty and tenacious 21 year old who was ready to take the next step after a short apprenticeship in the AHL.

Why am I talking in the past sense? Because, maybe, just maybe, the decisions on these two players have already been made.

Karlsson is now a lock to make the NHL right away. He has probably surpassed expectations and is already the most skilled blueliner the Senators have under contract. There is no doubt that he has already bumped Chris Campoli from his spot with Filip Kuba on the number one power play. He can skate effortlessly, make sick tape to tape passes at nearly every opportunity and has a heavy shot from the point. And so far, his size has proven to be a minor issue in his own zone. He's too crafty to be caught in a vulnerable position on the boards.

On the other hand, Smith has had a relatively quiet camp - not bad, but not great. The Senators clearly covet his toughness but the faster and more skilled Peter Regin is just too good not to keep at this point. It's crystal clear that Regin is NHL calibre now and could end up being one of those surprises that helps teams get over the top. Remember when David Krejci came out of nowhere in Boston last year? A line of Mike Fisher, Nick Foligno and Regin looked particularly dangerous against Montreal on Saturday night and may be kept together, giving the Senators 3 lines that can score.

Regin is a complete player and, unfortunately for Smith, his time is now. Still young and on a two-way contract, it looks like Smith could use another year in the AHL to get more assertive.

So where is that toughness going to come from if not from Zack Smith? If there's one thing the Senators haven't lacked this pre-season, it's toughness. Heart and soul Senator Chris Neil destroyed Nick Tarnasky of Florida while Matt Carkner and Jeremy Yablonski have gotten into multiple scraps - and won every single one of them.

With Yablonski only likely to see spot duty this season in the NHL (and even that is a longshot), the logical candidate is Carkner.

As discussed on the Team 1200 pre-game show, Carkner looks like he may have played his way into Christoph Schubert's job as a "swing man" (Schubert is likely to be put on waivers before the season starts). Carkner is exactly the type of player the Senators need now and have always needed. A tough as nails defenseman who plays the game simple and mean.

He can play forward if needed to but Carkner may get a spot on the blueline as it is now. The pairings could work like this:

Phillips -Volchenkov
Kuba-Karlsson
Campoli - Carkner

Spare: Alex Picard

Or if Picard, who has had a good training camp so far, gets that last top 6 position, Carkner can be one of those guys who plays every other night and fill a valuable role on the team, either at forward or defense.

Just listen to his last name.

Carkner.

You can't help but be reminded of Terry Carkner, Matt's older cousin who played for a long time in the league with teams like the Flyers and the Red Wings while racking up over 100 PIM's nearly every season.

As they say, it takes different ingredients to "bake a cake" and guys like Chris Neil, Jarkko Ruutu, Shean Donovan and Matt Carkner compliment skilled players like Alex Kovalev and Jason Spezza.

Ottawa has never been mean enough, except maybe just after the lockout when they had Zdeno Chara, Brian McGrattan and Vaclav Varada along with Neil and Ray Emery. Only Neil remains from that ornery group but the Senators have a chance now to compete in a tough Eastern Conference that boasts the Chris Pronger led Flyers and the Brian Burke assembled Maple Leafs.

So even if Peter Regin makes the team at the expense of Zack Smith, the Senators have a good character guy in Matt Carkner to keep the opposition honest.

Sore Thumbs

I am a grown man who has disturbingly become addicted to a video game. And that game is EA Sports NHL10. Blogging? Forget it. Human contact? What's that?

Has anyone ever tried the Be A Pro Mode, where you take a shift and then sit on the bench like a real player? Probably the funnest thing I have ever done outside of accidentally kicking Henry Rollins while being hoisted aloft at a Rollins Band show in Ottawa in the early 90's.




Black Aces will return once I get just a few more games in....

Heatley Traded...And The Lessons Learned

The inevitable has arrived and Dany Heatley has been granted his wish by being sent to the San Jose Sharks today (along with a 5th round pick) for wingers Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo and a 2nd round pick.

In short, a fantastic trade for Ottawa GM Bryan Murray, even if he was forced in the end to accept Cheechoo, a player he did not want in the deal by most accounts.

The real centrepiece for Ottawa is certainly Michalek, a player I mentioned as being a must in any trade involving San Jose (though Ottawa did not get Logan Couture as I had hoped they would).

The breakdown on Michalek is very good: The 24 year old is signed for the next 5 seasons at a very reasonable cap hit of 4.33 million. Considering his once heralded status as an elite prospect (he was picked 6th overall in 2003) and his obvious skills and power-forward size, getting Michalek is a very good return for the petulant and unhappy superstar that Heatley had become in Ottawa.

Michalek has yet to hit 30 goals in the NHL and his career high so far has been a modest 66 points in his breakout year of 2007. Yet the consensus is that Michalek will one day be a 30-35 goal scorer. He is also very fast for a player of his size and by most accounts has a great attitude and a desire to excel. The Sportsnet scouting report calls him a "low maintenance" player who is "polished at both ends of the ice".

Certainly more was expected of Michalek in San Jose but, as often happens, young players can sometimes be slower to develop and may not get optimal ice-time on squads stacked with veteran star players. The situation in San Jose over Michalek's career has certainly been like that, with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau leading the way and a young gun in Devin Setoguchi nipping at his heels. In a way, Michalek was a bit of a "tweener" and might find himself a better fit on the Senators, who have always needed a power forward since their inception into the league.

The options for Michalek, a natural left-winger, are endless. He would look equally at home with Jason Spezza (Michalek spent some time with Thornton on the wing two seasons ago) or as a complimentary big-body on a line with Mike Fisher. One nice stat is Michalek's 6 game-winning goals last year, matching his power-play total.

After some serious knee injuries early on in his career, Michalek has been fairly healthy and durable recently, playing no fewer than 77 games the past four seasons.

Jonathan Cheechoo on the other hand, is coming in as a once dynamic goal scorer (56 goals in the year after the lockout) but has seen his totals and role on the Sharks plummet ever since. Since his breakout season, Cheechoo's goal totals have dropped consecutively in 3 straight seasons - 37 to 23 to a lowly 12.

The former Rocket Richard winner lost his spot on a line with Thornton and was a minus 3 with the President's Trophy winners last year. His skating and defensive acumen have always been criticised but his skills are too good to totally write off just yet.

It's obvious that Murray, after having a face-to-face meeting with the disgruntled Heatley yesterday, decided to accept a player he didn't want in order to get Heatley out of the organization. Murray told the Ottawa Sun "I did spend some time with him yesterday. When I looked him in the eye I knew I had to trade him"

Heatley didn't want to be here anymore and the weekend was turning into a complete circus with reporters in a complete frenzy over the situation. What once looked like an unpalatable player in Cheechoo just a week ago now seemed like the only solution to the entire mess. Even if Cheechoo turns out to be a bust, the Senators are only stuck with him for the next two seasons at a cap hit of 3 million. It's a risk, but a mid-priced one worth taking.

On the money side, the trade is essentially a wash. Heatley's 7.5 cap hit goes out, Michalek's and Cheechoo's cap hit of 7.33 million comes in. The Senators save some pocket change and get rid of an albatross that was becoming heavier by the day.

But now what?

For Ottawa, the staggering number of NHL ready forwards they already have increases by one.

The following are locks to play barring a trade:

1. Alfredsson
2. Spezza
3. Kovalev
4. Michalek
5. Cheechoo
6. Fisher
7. Kelly
8. Neil
9. Ruutu
10. Foligno
11. Winchester
12. Shannon

The following will essentially be fighting for the healthy scratch position:

13. Donovan
14. Smith
15. Regin
16. Schubert
17. Zubov
18. Bass

So what and who is going to give?

One solution could be to trade Chris Kelly and let Jesse Winchester assume his role on the club. Winchester is tougher than Kelly and is quickly getting better although Kelly is well liked in the room and is a great penalty-killer. Murray wasn't happy having to give Kelly over 2 million a season and that price tag will make him equally harder to move.

Another factor is that prospects Zack Smith and Peter Regin are both probably ready to make the NHL. Organizations don't like to let their prospects stagnate in the minors and generally try to move out dead wood to make room on their roster for cheap young players. Both Smith and Regin (and possibly Cody Bass) fit that bill but who is the dead wood?

Shean Donovan is certainly not dead wood and plays a great veteran role on the team as a tireless worker and a speedy fourth liner. He deserves better than to be sitting or put on the waiver wire. Getting rid of Jarkko Ruutu is not going to happen because he plays a singular and important role on the team as an agitator and a physical presence, something the Sens need more of, hence their enthusiasm for Smith.

Can Murray turn around and deal Cheechoo to another team desperate for offense? It's possible but not likely anytime before teams submit their final cap-payrolls to the league at the start of October. Barring a fantastic training camp, Cheechoo is unlikely to land that coveted spot on Spezza's wing. Kovalev, Michalek, Alfredsson and Foligno will all give him stiff competition.

Cheechoo may get some good time on the Senators second power-play unit, a spot that Heatley was very unhappy to be in. He might also be a good fit with Fisher on a third or second line.

As for Heatley's departure, no one is going to shed a tear, let alone myself. Yet, I don't feel the wrath for Heatley was warranted to the degree that it got to. It's a common occurrence for NHL players to complain about ice-time and ask for trades. Just ask Senator defenseman Chris Campoli who did both in Long Island just last year. Yet no one is calling into question his values.

Regardless, it is best for both sides that this situation has now been resolved and perhaps the Senators community, both fans and media, can put down their pitchforks and start supporting the team in a more positive manner.

The notion that the Heatley situation was affecting ticket sales, an opinion not rejected by new team president Cyril Leeder, is probably true but not in the way you think.

For the longest time, the fans and media have been quick to jump on a very negative bandwagon and make pariahs out of certain players for reasons that are shaky at best. In turn, the Senators organization has not taken actions to defend their own players and thus, the product that they are trying to sell to the public is devalued. The players are the product and need to be promoted and protected, just like any other asset.

People barely recognize the charitable work these "millionaire" athletes do for the community and are instead judged by their lifestyles and any innuendo that can be attached to them.

Certain radio programs on the Team 1200 spend countless amounts of capital personally attacking these same players, eroding the very product that the station paid handsomely for to broadcast the games and attract sponsors. Yet the Senators sit on their hands and let the rot set in. Maybe the Senators do complain or even threaten to opt out of their agreement with the station, but it doesn't seem to be working if that is the case.

If Leeder can do anything better than his predecessor Roy Mlakar, he can get out in front of negative stories and try to better protect the product he is trying to sell to ticket buyers. If he is complaining about no one buying tickets, maybe it's because they have a negative view of what you are selling to them, regardless of how the team is doing on the ice.

By and large, NHL players are great guys and the Senators need to do a way better job of telling people about this and using their considerable influence to impart that to their media partners.

People will gladly pay money to watch entertaining hockey played by respectable members of the community. They won't pay money to watch "spoiled athletes" who only care about money and "party" their careers away. It doesn't matter that this type of athlete barely exists in the NHL, let alone in Ottawa. If the public perceives them this way, they won't support the team.

After all these brutal, painful lessons - Daigle, Yashin, Emery, Redden, Heatley - perhaps now the Senators and their fans can get on with what is really important - winning hockey games and keeping the organization healthy and vibrant in the capital of Canada.

First Salvo In Battle Of Ontario - Rookie Edition

It wasn't a heated playoff game in April between the two provincial rivals - in fact you couldn't get more removed than a rookie game - but it must have been satisfying all the same for Senators fans to see their temporary squad roll over the outclassed Leafs 7-1 in Kitchener tonight.

And while many of the big names performed really well - goalie Robin Lehner being the best example - some other lesser known players finished off the tournament with an exclamation point.

As I noted after the first rookie game against Pittsburgh, Erik Condra really caught my eye, but tonight he grabbed everyone's attention with his inspired, gritty play and his "Gordie Howe Plus" hat-trick - 2 goals, 1 assist and a fight. It's hard to say if Condra will be able to put up a lot of points at the pro level but he will definitely be a leader and an agitator. Because of his age and enthusiasm, Condra should be a really good AHL player this season for Bingo, perhaps filling a role vacated by Zack Smith, should he make the big squad.

Another player who had a great game was camp try-out Brandon Svendsen, who last played for the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL after finishing a four year run at Bowling Green University where he was an assistant captain. Svendsen (who was born in Minnesota, not Sweden) can really skate and drove to the net all night despite being one of the smaller players in camp. He may get some consideration for Bingo and comes with a reputation as a good penalty-killer from his time in college.

Mike Hoffman really impressed again and makes you wonder how he slipped to the Senators in the 5th round, especially after scoring 52 goals last year in the Quebec league. His determined drive to the net during a play in the 2nd period forced the Leafs to take a penalty and the Senators exploded for 5 goals soon after that. If Senators fans are still upset that Antoine Vermette was traded, don't worry. Hoffman will be his replacement in 2 or 3 years. If you really want to wish for the moon, Hoffman could even end up a player like Simon Gagne or Mike Cammalleri. That's pushing it, but it's not out of the question. He'd have to get a lot stronger but his skills and skating are not in question.

I didn't talk about Kyle Wharton after the Pittsburgh game, but that might be because he's hard to notice. And that's a good thing. He seems really solid in a Chris Phillips kind of way and he even got tossed when he delivered a crushing elbow to John Kurtz. On the play, Wharton had just gotten rid of the puck in his own zone when Kurtz came steamrolling in from the point long after the puck was gone - at least 2 steamboats. Wharton pushed back but his elbow caught Kurtz right on the button and the Leaf went down with his face hitting the ice flush and bouncing off in a sickening fashion. Kurtz skated off on his own but the cameras showed him trying to turn into the wrong room before a trainer pushed him in the right direction. He was in Disneyland for a while there.

Other Senators who had good games were Shea Guthrie (an Almonte, Ontario native and former Islander draft pick who is here on a try-out), Erik Karlsson (no surprise), Craig Schira and, of course, goalie Robin Lehner.

He was even better tonight against the Leafs than he was against the Penguins last Monday. In two games he's let in one goal and made excellent stops all the way. He is inevitably going to end up in the Soo in the OHL this year, and be a bright spot on a bad team. But he should be in the main training camp where he'll get a chance to turn some more heads.

With Jared Cowan, Lehner and Hoffman, the 2009 draft may go down in history as one of the Senators best. And that's not including 2nd round pick Jakob Silfverberg who is also highly touted but still in Europe.

On the Leafs side, you have to appreciate the game 7th overall pick Nazem Kadri played tonight. He seemed like the only Leaf who was embarrassed and started throwing his body around even though he's not known as a physical player. If anything, Kadri woke the Senators back up after a sluggish start to the 3rd period, but it's easy to see why the Senators coveted the London Knight at the draft - and why Brian Burke made sure to get him before Ottawa got the chance.

New 67's Sweaters

Every team in the CHL is switching over to the Reebok Edge uniform style and the 67's have a couple of new designs they'll wear this year. Hate to say it but the 67's sweaters put the Senators cartoonish duds to shame.

Just swap out the 67's logo with the Senators original 2-D logo (or the current "O" shoulder patch) and you'd have a winner. That black 67's sweater is one of the nicest in hockey, let alone the juniors.

You can check out every new CHL sweater here.

Sens Rookies and Old Hasek Stories...

A couple of quick notes on the Ottawa Senators 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the annual rookie tournament which was shown on Rogers locally tonight:

- Right off the start, rookie goalie and 2009 draft pick, Robin Lehner (46th overall) looked really good and made some highlight reel saves throughout the game. It's probably no surprise to some as Lehner was the number one ranked European goalie going into the draft and his father is a renowned goalie coach who instructed Ranger superstar Henrik Lundqvist early on in his career.

It was strange, but Lehner looked dominant and about as close to an NHL goalie that a rookie from Sweden could look like in these circumstances. You really noticed his quick legs as he made multiple stops by shooting out his pads in that butterfly style and his rebound control was almost perfect.

It's only one game in a rookie tournament, but Lehner couldn't have gotten off to a better start in an Ottawa uniform. He's going to stay in North America this season and play for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL.

- Erik Karlsson was the other star of the night and was silky smooth as expected, scoring a nice goal from the point on a laser beam shot. He's a great skater and looked calm and cool at all times.

-Others who impressed were Mike Hoffman, a speedy forward who scored 52 goals in the Q last year. Bryan Murray snagged him with his fifth pick (130th overall) and that may end up being a steal if Hoffman develops as hoped. A lot of you might wonder how a guy who scored over 50 goals in Major Junior could drop to the 5th round but the wide-open QMJHL is notorious for players putting up wild offensive numbers but then falling back once they face professional competition. Hoffman is a little small (175 pounds on draft day) but he has wheels and hands that should take him far.

Peter Regin looked great in the 1st period and then kind of disappeared until the late going of the 3rd. He looks like an NHL player to me, more so than Zack Smith who didn't really do much except get into a nasty scrap at the end of the game. He looks a little like a Cody Bass clone but I'd have to see him in more games to really get a take on his game. Bryan Murray and the organization are really high on him so that says a lot for his chances. He wore the captains "C" on the ice tonight.

Geoff Kinrade and Craig Schira looked solid on defence and Erik Condra really stood out for me out front tonight. His name was mentioned every time he was on the ice and he seemed "pesky" for lack of a better term. The product of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey program, Condra will surely make the Bingo Senators this year and hopefully make an impression there. I really like his game and hope he makes some noise this year.

- Not much in the negative vein except that Jim O'Brien continues to underwhelm. I'm just not sure what O'Brien really does well and he was invisible most of the night. He did have a great year with Seattle in the WHL last year and will get a chance to play more games with Bingo this season. But it's hard to believe that O'Brien was a 1st round pick (29th overall) back in 2007. Maybe I'm wrong about O'Brien and he ends up being a good checking forward in the NHL someday. We'll wait and see.

The entertaining game ended with a series of scraps, one of which left try-out prospect Brett Parnham dazed and confused at centre ice. He had to be helped off the ice by teammates after getting cranked pretty good by a Penguin player whose name I now forget. Parnham ended up with 50 goals for Oshawa last season and played 7 games for Rochester in the AHL. He could end up as an over-ager with the Generals again this season.

For those who are interested, Rogers is showing the Senators first real exhibition game next Tuesday against the Florida Panthers. It will be interesting to see who survives rookie camp to make the main camp which starts this weekend.

***

Just flipping through some old Hockey News yearbooks and came across this hilarious piece about Dominik Hasek from the 98-99 edition. Hasek was then just coming off two consecutive MVP trophies, four Vezina's in five years and an Olympic gold medal in Nagano. He was also about to lead the very ordinary Buffalo Sabres to the Stanley Cup final, only to lose on a controversial goal by Brett Hull of the Dallas Stars. In other words, Hasek was by far the best player in the NHL at that point. Yet....

"Sure he's quirky. A few years ago, during one team huddle at center ice, someone noticed Hasek down on all fours in the corner of the rink. His gloves were off. "So it was like 'What the hell is this guy doing?' " remembered Rob Ray. They yelled to him. "Dom, what are you doing?" " I'm playing chess," came the reply. Apparently, he was melting out squares of the chessboard with the body heat of his fingertip. Hasek denies the story. "They thought I'm playing chess, " he said, "but I was playing with the snow on the ice because it was a boring practice."

I love Hasek, man, I love him...

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?

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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.

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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.