Once Again, Underrate Anderson At Your Own Peril

It was a strange feeling waking up today and immediately hearing that Senators fans were somehow talking about a goaltending controversy heading into the Montreal series.

And when I say “strange feeling”, I mean that feeling where everyone around you has gone backwoods crazy and that sane people would be smart to stay off social media like Twitter to avoid permanent brain damage in the next few days.

All of this after a game where Robin Lehner steps in to relieve clear-cut first-string goalie Craig Anderson in a back-to-back situation, plays fairly well, allows two goals - one of which was soft - and suddenly he’s the guy to beat Carey Price.

Please.

It was the same thing going into the season. Everyone was doubting Anderson because he hadn’t played hockey overseas during the lockout. Mainstream columnists were openly calling for Lehner to start in net. I felt the same way then as I do right now – Underrate Anderson At Your Own Peril.

It’s the shiny new toy syndrome. Lehner is popular with fans because there’s no blemishes. He hasn’t been around long enough to write a postcard home, let alone supplant one of the best goaltenders in the entire league this season.

I just don’t get the logic or even the emotion behind it. Anderson almost singlehandedly carried this team to the playoffs when he was healthy but all Lehner had to do was finally beat the Boston Bruins after 5 tries and suddenly he’s a groundswell candidate to lead this team past the Habs.

Now, I realize I’m exaggerating to make a point here. Most Senators fans (I assume) are still counting on Anderson, a possible Vezina candidate in the prime of his career, to start the series and hopefully they’ll be cheering him on out there.

Yet the fact that the argument is even out there tells me this goes beyond just a few radio hosts trying to drum up content for the next three days, waiting for this first-round series to start. It tells me that this city hasn’t fully embraced Anderson as a fan favourite, and that astounds me.

Sure, Anderson isn’t exactly a bubbly personality or cozy with the local media, but neither is Lehner. I’m not sure there’s been a more stonefaced interview with the media than Lehner since Dany Heatley (no comparison to Heatley otherwise - relax). He’s a serious dude with little time for pleasantries. And that’s fine. But it doesn’t explain his popularity with fans as opposed to Anderson.

Rather, it’s the unfortunate trap of falling in love with prospects because they’re new while the veterans – the guys who will actually win you a playoff series and the Stanley Cup – are old news and don’t appeal to the new breed of hockey fan who watches hockey games through their Twitter feed instead of their own eyes.

Lehner is going to be a good, if not great goalie one day. Anderson is a great goalie TODAY. How is there even a debate about this? Because of one game where Lehner only let in two goals?

It’s amazing what you can come up with when you overthink the game to the point where up is down, and elite goaltenders can become bums overnight. It’s just amazing.

Sens Fans Suffer More Indignities Than Your Average Stooge

Worst case scenario happened last night for the Senators.

They lose another big game where they desperately needed two points and in the process managed to let Matt Cooke go untouched, allowing him to have a strong game and assist on the goal that buried them in the third period.

And the topper is the Winnipeg Jets beat the Sabres to move within one point of the Senators and Rangers.

Basically it couldn’t have gone any worse for Ottawa.

Fans were worried that the Senators would be too distracted by Cooke to focus on winning the hockey game, but that wasn’t the case at all. It all boiled down to Cooke’s first shift of the game where he declined a challenge from Chris Neil and took a mild but penalized hit from Eric Gryba, resulting in a power-play that the Senators killed off. That was pretty much it for dealing with Cooke. They lost the game because Craig Anderson was human and they can’t score goals to save their lives, especially on a power-play that’s one of the worst we’ve seen in Ottawa for many years.

Yet there’s still that lingering narrative out there today that somehow Ottawa blew this game because they were focused on Matt Cooke. I didn’t see that last night, but I did see a Senators team that gets tight when faced with an important game, much like they looked against the Leafs last Saturday and a few Saturday’s before that.

It just FEELS like this organization can’t win the games that are most important to the fans. For sure they’ve won huge games before... many of them. But the ones that hurt the most linger in the memory. And it’s usually against the Toronto Maple Leafs or against a team that has somehow done them physical harm (before the Penguins it was the Rangers).

It’s tough for fans to endure that kind of humiliation time after time. I’m sure it’s tough on the players too but they live in a bubble far removed from anything the fans can experience. We don’t truly know what it does to the players so let’s not even pretend. But we do know how the average fan feels.

They have to endure that co-worker who comes in the next day wearing a Leafs jersey with a shit-eating grin on his face. They have to walk to the parking lots out of SBP with Habs fans chanting “Ole, Ole” like marauding gangs of drunken idiots. They have to watch a guy like Cooke, protected by the instigator rule, wipe his dirty, muddy sneakers on the Senators living room carpet and walk away unharmed.

Oh, I realize every team’s fanbase goes through this from time to time, but it’s only in Ottawa that their beloved captain gets booed in his own rink. It’s only in Ottawa that a head coach openly jokes about scoring a goal early to “take the fans out of the game”.

And just when it seems there’s an opportunity to reclaim lost pride, to gain more respect from their fanbase, we see a game like we did on March 30 when the Senators don’t show up to play the Leafs in their own rink on a nationally televised game on Hockey Night In Canada. We see a game like last night where they can’t beat a Penguins team that has almost all their best players on the sidelines and more motivation than they’ll ever need in Matt Cooke and a playoff spot waiting to be clinched.

That’s a bit of a mean-spirited thing to say because the Senators did show up to play last night against Pittsburgh and were once again beaten by a better goalie. And they’ve proven themselves all season long by winning hockey games when injuries said they shouldn’t.

Yet, like I said, it’s those painful losses that leave the biggest impression, and Senators fans are as familiar with those as anyone.

A playoff spot awaits this team with games left against Washington, Philadelphia and Boston. Chances are the Senators will still pull this off. But it all loses a bit of luster when you enter the party through the back door. A big win against the Pens and a big hit on Matt Cooke would have been going through the front door, making an impression around the league. Instead we get hand-wringing and excuses.

As some would say, as long as you get to the party, anything can happen. So let’s see what happens this week.

***

You can argue both ways on that Eric Gryba interference penalty on Matt Cooke. You can say it was a battle for the puck and it shouldn’t have been called or you can say Cooke didn’t get a chance to battle for it and the right call was made. I don’t think it was either. To me, that was the refs telling the Senators that Cooke was off-limits. It was sending a message that the Senators weren’t about to turn this into a rodeo with Cooke as the clown. If this was a Columbus-Florida game, that call doesn’t get made. But the refs read the paper like everyone else and no doubt discussed the Cooke situation in their pre-game huddle. They were going to call the first contact with Cooke if it even looked slightly sideways and that’s what they did. Like it or not, the rules protect the weasels better than a tough guy can protect his star players in today’s NHL.... I totally get the Pens point of view that what Cooke did to Karlsson was an accident, so why should he have to fight? I don’t think Marian Hossa should have had to fight for accidentally swinging his stick into Bryan Berard’s eye many years ago. But everyone knows Hossa is a clean player who wouldn’t be able to defend himself in a scrap. Not so for Cooke. He’s known as a weasel (albeit a reformed weasel) who has the ability to fight but often won’t. When you take out a Norris Trophy winner, someone like Cooke has to expect to answer for it. He’s twice turned down Chris Neil for a fight. That’s just a complete lack of character on Cooke’s part. No sense in beating a dead horse here so let’s move on....

.... Despite the gloom on Tuesday, the Senators can look forward to having Erik Karlsson back in the lineup as early as Thursday against the Caps. If this team truly needs a breath of fresh air to blow away the stink of the last two games and the off-ice crap that came with it, Karlsson is the guy to do that. He’s only been in Ottawa a few years but already he has a sort of myth building around him. He’s always smiling and happy, but that smile has an air of cockiness that someone like Jarome Iginla doesn’t possess, the only other guy I can think of who can light up a room day after day. He’s got healing powers beyond even Alfie levels and he has the franchise on his shoulders right now.

Bring on the sunshine.

It’s Not One Or The Other - Sens Can Win AND Say Hello To Matt Cooke

A lot of leery Senators fans today, worried not only that coach Paul Maclean will dress the big bad Matt Kassian, but that Sens players will be so bent on revenge against Matt Cooke that they would gladly lose the game if it meant they could deliver a scalp to Erik Karlsson’s empty locker stall.

Many think the two concepts are mutually exclusive. Not so.

The Senators can challenge Matt Cooke to fight and still win the hockey game. There are fights every night in the NHL, many of them for much lesser transgressions than what Cooke did to Karlsson. It would even be weird for someone not to challenge Cooke.

I seem to remember that the last time someone stood up for Karlsson in a big way was Matt Carkner making an example of Brian Boyle in last year’s playoffs. That energized the Senators in a big way and they won that game, with most players citing Carkner’s efforts as a turning point.

Best case scenario for Ottawa fans tonight against Pittsburgh would be Chris Neil scrapping with Cooke at centre ice in front of 20,000 screaming fans and then Alfie scoring a couple of goals to put the Penguins away.

That’s what I’d call “entertainment”. Not sure why everyone thinks only one of these things can happen, to the exclusion of the other.

Of course it would be stupid for Ottawa to take countless penalties trying to get at Cooke. But they can hit him hard every shift and challenge him to go in the traditional hockey way without getting an instigator. If Cooke declines, that just looks bad on him and will further cloud his reputation. If he obliges, then we’ll see what happens.

Clearly, Ottawa needs to come out of this game with two points and if it means watching Cooke decline to defend himself, then the Sens just need to let it go for now. But to not challenge this guy would be a woefully inadequate, almost embarrassing response from the Senators players.

The Backhander: Cowen’s Return A Painful Affair For Carolina, A Game-Changer For The Sens

Jared Cowen’s first few shifts against the Hurricanes weren’t a complete disaster, but they weren’t out of the pages of Lloyd Percival’s Hockey Handbook either. His surgically repaired hip apparently wasn’t bothering him, but it seemed like his skates were untied and his hands were swollen. A tough giveaway, a fall into the boards and a few botched breakouts indicated a ragged first game back was about to unfold. Nothing unusual for a guy who’s missed the last 5 months.

Enter Jeff Skinner.

Cowen caught Skinner accepting a suicide pass and skated right through him. While the nerds immediately spent the next hour analyzing the hit frame by frame to see if it was “legal” or not, the rest of the home crowd stood on their feet appreciating the sight. Cowen was back.

He didn’t waste time looking at the refs while Skinner lay on the ice. He shook his gloves free almost instantly knowing that someone would be coming for him. It turned out to be the 180-pound Chad LaRose who bravely took on the 230-pound Cowen and got fed multiple times for his effort.

After sitting for 5 minutes, Cowen looked strong and confident the rest of the way and even took on tough guy Kevin Westgarth in the next period. In a perfect world the Senators would rather not have Cowen getting in too many fights – that’s why they got Matt Kassian – but Cowen’s a big boy and can take care of himself if he needs to. It’s almost better that he got all of that stuff taken care of right away. There’s no bigger test for your body than getting into a scrap, let alone two, and Cowen came out of it fine.

Outside of Chris Neil and Marc Methot, the Senators didn’t seem to have the capacity to deliver those sometimes game-changing hits that can intimidate the other team. But with the return of Cowen, the acquisition of “little ball of hate” Cory Conacher and knuckleballer Kassian, this Senators team seems a little meaner, a little edgier and a lot more exciting to watch.

Even without Erik Karlsson back – whom GM Bryan Murray indicated was “close” on Sportsnet last night – the Senators defense is already transformed with just the addition of Cowen. Suddenly size is an asset, especially with rookie Eric Gryba getting a little pressure taken off by Cowen’s return. Spreading around those minutes (and size) will help Chris Phillips and Sergei Gonchar going into a possible playoff berth and Cowen will be a strong presence to put up against Alex Ovechkin for example, or Milan Lucic, depending on who Ottawa ends up facing in the first or subsequent rounds.

If you somehow add Karlsson into that group, you got a hockey team.

And to think only a short while ago this team was in a place where Mike Lundin returning to action was seen as good news.

***

IF they clinch a playoff spot, and IF the team is healthy enough to do it, I would think that a few guys won’t be making that last trip to Boston on April 28 to play the postponed game. Namely Daniel Alfredsson and Gonchar. Those are two vets who have largely contributed to keeping this team alive through all those injuries this season, and will be even more valuable in the playoffs. A Sunday at home with their families, resting for a first-round series sounds pretty logical. Yet there’s going to be significance to that game regardless if it will mean anything in the standings. It’s the only one on the schedule and will no doubt be emotional for all those attending in the wake of the Boston attacks. It would not surprise me if those two vets would want to be there anyways....

... With the Sens in a position to be real Cup contenders as soon as next year, it would make sense to re-sign Gonchar this summer. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time but he’s really made me appreciate his game this season. He’s just so consistent every night and largely goes underappreciated outside of his lengthy scoring streak earlier this year. He’s never been fully embraced by Senators fans but Gonchar would be missed more than people realize. Even if the demand is two more years on a deal, that’s a contract Murray should be comfortable with taking on. Gonchar doesn’t look old to me and the same goes for Alfredsson. These guys could even have off-years and still help you in the playoffs with all the experience they’ve earned. Gonchar coming back would eat into Gryba’s games total but injuries will always give that seventh defenseman an opportunity. And the balance will be there with Gonchar – three offensive minded D-men and three defensive types. Sounds like a good fit to me.....

.... No league’s fans complain more about their own sport than NHL fans, and so it was no surprise that all we heard was shrill whining about the imminent announcement of 6 outdoor games next season. Yes, endless complaining about games that will instantly sell-out, that will bring in record revenues to the league and will sell a years’ worth of sweaters and memorabilia in every host city. What a disaster. Fire Gary Bettman for having the audacity of making everyone unfathomable amounts of money and raising the profile of the league. Clearly he’s an idiot and everyone tweeting from their couches with Dorito stained fingers knows more about the “integrity of the concept” than he does. And if we ever get a game in Ottawa at Lansdowne Park, I’m sure Sens fans will stay home because the novelty has worn off.

Please.

Karlsson’s Zapruder Film Moment Comes At The Perfect Time

The video was strange, almost as if it was taken clandestinely by a reporter crawling along behind the boards at the Sensplex, squeezing by metal barriers and catching a shaky image of Erik Karlsson with skates on, just moments before security guards got a hold of him by the collar, fed him a few rabbit punches to the spleen and tossed him outside into the Zamboni ice-shavings.

That reporter was Dan Séguin of the CBC, shooting vérité style with his phone on Monday morning, capturing the images that warmed the blood of every Senators fan around the city. Even though it looked like found footage from The Blair Witch Project, it’s already stoked the “what if” scenarios around town as the playoffs approach with Ottawa still in the running for a first-round appearance.

What if Karlsson had the same mystical, almost unspeakable healing powers of Daniel Alfredsson?

What if Jared Cowen, who’s been skating confidently for a while now, comes back around the same time. What if Jason Spezza’s back rebounds back into shape like a slinky all of a sudden? What if Milan Michalek just needed that one last surgery to fix his Bobby Orr knees forever?

What if the whole damn puzzle fell into place at the exact right time about two weeks from now?

If you think about it long enough you can almost convince yourself it’s about to happen and suddenly you’re high-fiving people in your office who you haven’t talked to in three weeks. Spring madness reigns for a moment and you almost forget this Senators team is on a four game losing streak and just four points up on the 9th place New Jersey Devils. And there’s still half of this hellish road-trip to endure, not to mention a return date in Boston Garden waiting at the end like a bully named Chongo standing by your locker in high-school with a shit-eating grin on his face.

This thing isn’t going to be easy to pull off.

The odds are still in the Senators favour to make the playoffs but having all of these guys ready to play is another thing altogether. I’m an eternal optimist, much to the eternal annoyance of my wife, but even I’m wondering if this is going to end up creating expectations that can’t be met.

All of this wishful thinking can’t help but remind you why everyone is so wishful in the first place. And that’s because this Ottawa team stinks lately.

That’s not to say they stink generally. Just lately.

And that’s fine. They almost deserve the right to stink after the amazing, determined season they’ve treated us to so far. Most fans would have been happy with a lottery pick and few memorable games from the rookies after half the team got rolled out of the rink in stretchers. Now they have a chance to see a few playoff games, or at the minimum, a battle to the end of the regular season that should be fun to watch regardless of the outcome.

But still, right now they stink.

Kyle Turris can’t score and can’t eat enough hamburgers to keep from wasting away. The power-play is tough to watch. Most games it feels like you’re watching the 1996 Florida Panthers play the 1995 New Jersey Devils. There’s a fight here and there but nothing that seems heated enough to be exciting. The Toronto Maple Leafs are doing well, thanks in part to many shellacking’s of the Senators along the way.

Kaspars Daugavins plays for another team now and the only barking you hear is coach Paul Maclean ordering players off the ice so they can’t have fun with their “stupid pet tricks” anymore. It’s business time.

The Senators have hit a dry spell both inspirationally and physically. They just seem tired out there and it’s tiring to watch.

But there’s always that “what if” floating out there, skating cautiously at an Ottawa practice rink while CBC reporters crawl along ceiling girders trying to capture a glimpse.

And there’s always tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Until there isn’t another game to play, there’s always another game to play.

Murray-Yzerman Friendship May Have Paved The Way For Bishop-Conacher Deal

Interesting move by the Senators today, trading big Ben Bishop to Tampa Bay for small rookie-of-the-year candidate Cory Conacher and a 4th round pick.

You might remember that Conacher was the subject of pre-game segment on Hockey Night In Canada a few weeks back detailing his battle with Type 1 diabetes and going undrafted before catching on with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate in Norfolk last season and winning the Calder Cup. It’s a surprise that Lightning GM Steve Yzerman would trade a Calder Trophy candidate but clearly he’s desperate for any kind of goaltending. He’s got a good one now in Bishop.

So what does Ottawa have in Conacher?

He had 39 goals and 80 points in the AHL last season and 9 goals so far this year in the NHL. Clearly, Bryan Murray thinks he might have a goal-scorer in Conacher, and a young guy who the Senators coaching staff can mould for the next couple of seasons. At only 23, Conacher fits right in with guys like Zibanejad, Silfverberg, Karlsson and Cowen. He also has one more year left on his entry level contract and will be a restricted free-agent after that.

In essence, instead of grabbing a first or a second rounder for Bishop (as rumoured), Murray got a player who can step in right away and possibly score some goals, Ottawa’s biggest weakness right now. Even if Conacher doesn’t light it up the rest of this season, the potential exists for him to develop into a 20 or 30 goal scorer next season or soon after.

You can’t underestimate how important that is to Ottawa considering that Milan Michalek might be slowing down with recurring knee injuries and Daniel Alfredsson retiring in the next year or two.

In the short term, Conacher is likely to take away minutes from a forward already in the top 6. Identifying who currently plays in the top 6 is not exactly clear due to Paul Maclean switching his lines so often, but Latendresse might see less time. It is strange that Ottawa would choose to go for such a small player after not matching up very well against the big Boston Bruins, but goal scoring is so important that you can look beyond size, especially when Conacher has already proven he can battle and defy the odds. Everything I've seen and read about Conacher is that he goes hard to the net, takes hits to move the puck and doesn’t ever seem intimidated on the ice.

One image that keeps popping back into my head is Steve Yzerman and Bryan Murray talking in the stands on March 23 during the game day skate of the Ottawa-Tampa game. That’s the same day HNIC showed the Conacher piece and the day before Yzerman fired coach Guy Boucher. Yzerman used to play for Murray in Detroit and you can speculate that the Lightning GM may have been asking for advice on what to do with his struggling coach. Murray might have related his experience with having to fire Cory Clouston once the team gave up on him, which seemed to be happening to Boucher in Tampa Bay. Yzerman has been known to seek advice from more experienced people he respects, such as Wayne Gretzky when putting together the Canadian Olympic team a few years ago.

It might have been that Yzerman’s prior relationship with Bryan Murray led the way to this deal we saw today. You have to remember that both Ottawa and Tampa will be playing in the same division next season so this deal could end up haunting one GM or the other. Inter-divisional deals are much more common than they used to be, but I’ll speculate that a mutual trust and respect between the two GM’s made this deal a lot easier than it would have been for other teams.

One thing we do know is Ottawa is going forward with both Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner, and it hardly seems like they've weakened themselves at that position despite parting ways with Bishop.

Sens fans will keep their fingers crossed that we'll finally see some more goals to help the two goalies they have left. Conacher is going to help and could end up being a big part of this Senators team in the years ahead.

Best Bets and Homerun Chances For Sens On Deadline Day

The trade deadline approaches. You know Ottawa is going to do something, even if it’s just a 7th defenseman going back and forth. Here’s a few guesses (and one or two Hail Mary's) at who might land in town:

Ryan O’Byrne (D) – Colorado: Bryan Murray must have had a huge scare when both Marc Methot and Sergei Gonchar got temporarily banged up. This team is a near-lock for the post-season and Murray can’t rely on Erik Karlsson or Jared Cowen magically getting healthier for April. He has to make a move for a rental just to have some bodies for when the games get really painful. He won’t lock himself into a defenseman with multiple years unless he’s young. Big and somewhat mobile O’Byrne (6’5”, 234 pounds) is a UFA this summer and has 19 games of NHL playoff experience with Montreal, and was part of the Hamilton Bulldogs AHL championship team in 2007 where he played 22 games during their Calder run. He’s had a tough year in Colorado, even being made a healthy scratch recently, but he’s a perfect fit for Ottawa. He still plays about 20 minutes a game for the drowning Avs.

Jordan Leopold (D) – Buffalo: It’s pretty easy to just stroll down a list of UFA’s this summer and pick obvious candidates for Ottawa, but Leopold would provide a smooth skating d-man in one of their pairings, probably replacing the need to play both Mike Lundin or Andre Benoit. Leopold has 59 playoff games on his resume. He’d help Ottawa and would be a nice fit on the second power-play unit. Too bad he’s a left shot though. Buffalo won’t be eager to give Ottawa anything helpful.

Robyn Regehr (D) – Buffalo: More of a longshot because, like Leopold, Buffalo will want something decent in return and won’t take less from Ottawa, a divisional rival. He’s the kind of established player you’d want in a playoff run but I don’t see Ottawa swinging hard for him. He’s got a no-trade but you’d think he’d jump at an opportunity to play a few extra weeks somewhere. Complications aside, he’d look at home in a Sens uniform as a rental.

David Rundblad (D) – Phoenix: Don’t laugh. It could happen. My pal came out with this the other day and the idea stunned me for a moment. The Coyotes don’t have a goalie for next season with Mike Smith a pending UFA. Ottawa has 3 good/great ones in stock. I don’t have to tell you the talent Rundblad has. This would be a mind-blower but it almost makes a bit of sense because the Coyotes already have both Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle locked up long term. That being said, I have my doubts Ottawa will move a goalie before July.

Ales Hemsky (RW) – Edmonton: This would be Bryan Murray’s homerun shot provided he doesn’t steal someone like Martin St. Louis from good buddy Steve Yzerman. Hemsky has one year left at a modest $5 million and would be that guy who replaces Guillaume Latendresse in the top 6. It’s a big longshot but Edmonton would be chasing a goalie if they were sane. A healthy line of Spezza, Michalek and Hemsky is a tempting thought. You could say the emergence of Jakob Silfverberg shores up that right wing spot nicely but how many years does Alfie have left? Hemsky would be a needed injection of pure skill into your top line. And you just might be able to get him for less than you think.

Jaromir Jagr (RW) – Dallas: Could you imagine Jagr in the red and black? I can’t, but Murray brought in Alex Kovalev so there’s a precedent here. One of the best hockey players of all-time as a deadline rental? You could do worse.

The Babe

Back when pro sports wasn't taken as seriously and you could do cornball things like this.

I'd like to see a Sens version of this, perhaps with Alfie running Chris Neil over with a zamboni.

This Only Happens In The Movies

Smarter writers than myself have already run out of things to say about this Ottawa Senators team. After another comeback victory, another injury to a key player, and another two points towards a likely playoff spot that nobody believed they could grasp, this story has so much momentum that words of context can’t really capture it.

And that’s probably because there is no context for it. At least in recent NHL memory. You can relate more to the 2013 Sens by watching a Sam Peckinpah movie than anything else. Last night against the New York Islanders was like a replay of The Wild Bunch.

Down 3-1 going into the 3rd period with energy lacking and Marc Methot, one of the Senators strongest players this season, out with what looked like a fluke knee injury, the Senators looked done. Surely this was one insult too many. Fans were looking at the AHL roster for defenseman and finding nobody. You also have to remember that the news had just leaked out that morning about Milan Michalek getting knee surgery. People were making jokes about Luke Richardson suiting up again but nobody was really laughing.

Incredibly, it seemed to get worse for a fleeting moment, even though the Senators scored right away. Patrick Wiercioch shot the puck from the blueline and it sneaked into the net off a Jakob Silfverberg tip, but Wiercioch was run over and was gasping for air on his knees as a celebration. Thoughts of Andre Benoit being the Senators 3rd best healthy defenseman sent a cold wave of paranoid fear through the minds of Sens fans everywhere.

Luckily Wiercioch is young and bounced back the next shift. If I had been hit like that I’d still be on the ice doing the doggy paddle.

Then this Senators team quietly went back to work and added three more goals, led by the always steady but strangely underrated and underappreciated Sergei Gonchar. People seem amazed at his strong play of late but have somehow forgotten that he’s been one of the best defensemen of his generation and will be a Hall Of Fame candidate once he hangs it all up. He’s never gotten that respect in Ottawa despite playing basically the same solid, smooth game he always has. Of course, he’s not as dynamic as he was during his prime with the Capitals and Penguins, but like Daniel Alfredsson, he’s so smart with the puck that he creates in other ways now.

It’s been amazing to see so many rookies breaking through this season, but it really comes down to the leaders guiding them through and making huge plays with the game on the line. Alfredsson and Gonchar are self-explanatory. Chris Phillips and Chris Neil play the exact same way every night and the oldest vet of them all, coach Paul MacLean, must be a goddamn soothsayer in that locker room. It’s almost scary how his players respond to him. What if this team was completely healthy and played with the same spirit? You’d be talking about the Stanley Cup this year, not next.

But we’re getting carried away here, as we usually do.

There’s no word on Methot as of this writing, but he’s likely to miss some time. Jason Spezza is still out with wild rumours of setbacks in his recovery. Erik Karlsson is already on summer vacation.

The truth is nobody knows how this is going to turn out. We could be talking in a week about how badly this thing finally went off the rails. But somehow it hasn’t yet and the playoffs get closer by the day.

You get the sense that nobody will really care what happens when or if they get there. Just the idea of surviving until that point seems to be enough – more than enough – for everybody right now. That’s the story. That’s the whole plot of this strange movie. Endurance.

Trust me. Watch The Wild Bunch and you’ll see what I mean.

Notes

Would anyone be truly surprised if Gonchar signed a one-year extension? I’m sure he’s looking for a two-year deal but there’s a chance he wants just one more season so he can play in the Olympics. Barring more catastrophic injuries, the Senators will be a Stanley Cup contender next season. Lots of incentive for Gonchar to stay. But will Murray want him? Tough to say. You win Stanley Cups with veterans like Gonchar but Wiercioch has developed so quickly that there may not be room. Ottawa survived losing Filip Kuba. Murray may be thinking along those lines for next season..... Denis Potvin was at his best in Long Island last night calling the game alongside Dean Brown for Sportsnet. As the Senators penalties began to pile up, you could feel Potvin getting agitated with the refs (as he has all season) but it wasn’t until Eric Gryba got called for high-sticking late in the second that Potvin had truly had enough. “No...no...no....no!... no!.... NOOOO!!!” was his immediate response. I have no idea how Dean Brown kept it together after that but I wasn’t able to. .... The refs did have a tough game, especially when they called Matt Kassian for “roughing”. In reality it was a solid, clean hit on Radek Martinek that should only be a penalty in basketball. It stung even worse when Lubomir Visnovsky scored on the ensuing power-play to put the Isles up 3-1. At that point it looked like the Sens just didn’t have anything going for them but we all know what happened in the third period.

.... Speaking of Kassian, it’s absolutely terrifying how big he looks out there on the ice. For his first goal as a Senator he just went to the net and nobody was able to move him. Not a bad tip on the Gonchar shot either. Guys like that don’t even really need hands (except for fighting). Sometimes a body as big as a bus is all you need in certain situations. If Kassian wants to be in a certain spot on the ice, he can go there and nobody can really do anything about it outside of Zdeno Chara.... Phillips played over 27 minutes last night after Methot went down to injury. Clearly, that’s a bit much but I don’t see Phillips struggling when he plays big minutes. There’s a myth out there that Phillips should have limited time to be effective but I don’t really buy it. Over time he might wear out but he’s playing as good as he ever has in a Senators uniform right now.... Woah. Kyle Turris is flying out there right now. He almost scored a goal on a play that would have been on every end of year highlight reel.

Remember When...

The Backhander – Wild Night In Kanata Has Everyone Arguing

Let’s not call it a gong-show, but Monday night’s Sens-Bruins game was a pretty wild affair and a lot of issues came up that had people arguing into the morning. Here’s a stab at 3 of the big ones:

On Daugavins shootout attempt: Loved it. I’ve been a fan of the shootout since it was introduced in 2005 (in fact, I’d love to see it extended to 5 shooters per side) and every so often you get a memorable moment like this. It was a ridiculous save by Tuukka Rask, one of the best of the year. That puck was stopped by a skate blade on the goal line. It doesn’t get closer than that. You kind of feel for Daugavins because he knew if this crazy move didn’t work he’d be hearing about it from everyone. I’m sure the Bruins had something nice to say on his way back down the ice and Daugavins even said he felt “like a fool” in the room afterwards. He shouldn’t. He came as close as anyone to winning that hockey game and if anything, it just adds to his strange charms as a hockey player. He’s got the bark after the goals, and now he’s got this on his permanent record. Coach Maclean was laughing about it afterwards, so don’t expect any repercussions. Maclean’s answer when asked what he was thinking during the attempt – “buckle up” – was probably the funniest thing he’s said all year. And he followed it up with “but he’s Latvian, so I never know what’s going on.” The fact that Daugavins felt comfortable enough to try a move like that probably says more about the coaching staff and the great atmosphere they’ve created around this hockey club than it does about Daugavins. Half the guys in the league would love to try something like that during a shootout but their coaches would be waiting at the bench to choke them if they did. Not Maclean. Something tells me he was very happy to get that single point against the best team in the Eastern Conference. Those single points in OT losses have been vital for Ottawa this year as they struggle to keep bodies in the lineup. Take away those 5 OT points and Ottawa is tied with Winnipeg for 9th in the East.

On Neil – Kelly collision: People calling this an intentional knee by Neil don’t know what they’re talking about. This wasn’t a case of Kelly trying to avoid a hit and Neil sticking out his knee to catch him – which is what a kneeing penalty is in the first place. The two collided and Kelly’s knee buckled. It could have just as easily have been Neil lying there in pain if he wasn’t more braced for the hit than Kelly was. To hear some Senators fans vilifying their own player was pretty sickening. No one felt worse about it than Neil and you could see that on his face. It’s a tough game and people get hurt all the time. Doesn’t mean there was anything dirty about it.

On the Visor Instigator Rule: There’s a big uproar about this seemingly obscure rule because Ottawa’s been dinged twice in a row, first with Chris Phillips and now last night with Patrick Wiercioch. In both cases, the players did the right thing stepping in and fighting for a teammate. That’s what tight teams do. The fact that they didn’t stop to think that they were wearing a visor just means they acted on instinct and didn’t hesitate – another positive sign. In both cases, the Senators killed the extra two-minutes so no harm done. As for the rule itself, it does seem unfair but you have to remember that it was put in place because visors are certainly dangerous in a fight, especially if one gets cracked or if it cuts someone’s hand open. The tradition was that fighters would remove their helmets anyways because nobody wanted a broken hand, and it was a respectful thing to do in the situation. That respect level has gone by the wayside and a lot of fighters are more concerned with getting the first shot in rather than making sure it’s a fair scrap. To be honest, I don’t really know the solution to the visor rule, but something’s got to give if the league wants everyone to wear protection out there. Fewer enforcers in the league means that more non-fighters find themselves in spontaneous scraps, and a lot of those guys are wearing visors (smartly). We’re going to see more and more of this if guys like Phillips and Wiercioch have to be the ones to fight the battles. People love that enforcers are going extinct, thinking that fighting is following them out. On the contrary, it just means that other guys are doing the fighting even though they really shouldn’t be.

And finally... could you have picked two guys who needed a goal more badly than Guillaume Latendresse and Kyle Turris? Latendresse’s goal celebration was something out of primal scream therapy. That was a lot of frustration, anger and tension being exploded into the glass after that beauty deke in the first period.

The Backhander - Grim Scene In Sens Loss Sets Off Another Dead-End Fighting Debate

It’s somewhat rare to see someone actually get knocked out in an NHL hockey fight, but that danger is always there when 200 pound men start punching each other in the face. Just ask Nick Kypreos. And last night we all saw 6’5, 230 pound Leaf enforcer Frazer McLaren drop 6’3, 204 pound David Dziurzynski with a vicious blow to the chin, resulting in the Senator lying face down on the ice with trainers rushing to his side. It was ugly. No question about that.

Makes you wonder what Dziurzynski was thinking by taking on a bigger and clearly superior fighter like McLaren. Well, it’s actually not that hard to figure out. McLaren allegedly asked him “to go” and Dziurzynski obliged, partly because he wants to do whatever it takes to stay in the NHL and also because he found himself in a bad situation where backing down from a challenge would have made him “lose face”.

Such is life when a team like the Senators, without a real enforcer since Matt Carkner departed for Long Island, faces a team like the Leafs with a couple of guys looking to justify their role and give their team a lift. If Ottawa had signed or at least replaced Carkner with a similar player, chances are Dziurzynski doesn’t have to fight in that situation. He may have wanted to anyways and there’s nothing you can do about that, but generally an enforcer like McLaren won’t fight a regular, smaller roster player if there’s a guy like Carkner on the other team. That’s the way it works. Or supposed to anyways. McLaren doesn’t want to be known as a guy who takes on a smaller player and would have challenged Carkner in that same situation last year. But the problem is that there’s no natural partner for him on the Senators. So he asks Dziurzynski to go and that’s what you get sometimes – a mismatch that results in a sickening injury. You could tell McLaren felt bad about it and looked upset heading to the box as Dziurzynski lay there.

And then you look at it from the Senators perspective. All year they’ve watched their star players fall to injury and been outmatched physically at times because Zack Smith and Chris Neil aren’t fighting as much because their team needs them on the ice. Facing their biggest rival, a young AHL’er like Dziurzynski wasn’t about to back down even though he must have known he was in tough against the big Leaf. This also resulted in Neil having to fight the bigger Colton Orr (Carkner's former sparring partner), and even though Neil got the better of him in a close one, the Leafs ultimately win because Neil goes off for 5 minutes and that’s not a fair trade for a player like Orr.

Often, playing an enforcer just evens the odds up. If the two tough guys go at each other, they cancel each other out and the game goes on. In this situation, Ottawa lost both Dziurzynski and Neil, two guys who actually contribute points and quality minutes. The Leafs didn’t really lose anybody who would make much of a difference. So like it or not, employing an enforcer can really take some pressure off your team and serve as a deterrent. Sometimes it can actually lead to less fights, if you follow the argument to its logical end, or at least mismatched fights that lead to ugly scenes like we saw last night in Toronto.

In the end, Dziurzynski made his own decision and knew the risks. All players do. That’s why most of them don’t fight. It’s extremely hazardous. If you relate it to the visor debate, some would say that the league should just take it out of the player’s hands and ban fighting (and legislate mandatory visors, which I support wholeheartedly). Yet time after time, players share a much different view than the guy pushing a pencil for a living. They take all the risks, they want the choice. They keep saying they don’t want mandatory visors. They also keep saying that fighting is part of hockey and useful in certain situations. They’ve never wavered from this and show no signs now, even though player safety is pretty much the only issue we hear about on a daily basis.

It always comes down to fans and media thinking they know more about the game than the players do. That’s all it is. How else do you explain the chasm in opinion? The public can’t understand why anyone ever has to get hurt in a game, yet the players don’t even think about it. It’s just an accepted risk that they gladly take on for millions of dollars.

Take the emotion out of it and that’s what you come to realize. At some point there’s nothing left to argue if the guys who actually take the risks don’t have a problem with it.

Notes

.... Dziurzynski was credited with 3 seconds of ice-time last night. I don’t know if that’s a record but if it’s not, he’s only 2 seconds off of it..... Somehow Kyle Turris wasn’t credited with any giveaways on the stat sheet last night, which only proves how stat guys don’t always get it right. He had at least two blatant ones that I can recall but it felt like a lot more. Another tough night for #7. If it wasn’t for his faceoff ability, some of his recent games would have been a complete wash. If anything, it gives the fans a new appreciation for what Jason Spezza brings to the team when he’s healthy. Even when Spezza has a bad game by giving up the puck in the offensive zone, he’s creating 3 or 4 chances a period. Good news is that it sounds like he’s going to be back sooner than many thought. That’s going to give Turris a lot of room out there and a lot less pressure, which should naturally lead to goals. Hopefully it’s not too late for the Senators by that point..... Erik Condra only racked up 11 minutes and change of ice-time against Toronto and it’s been like that 3 out of his last 4 games. Yet he always seems to be on the puck or creating havoc out of nothing. I’m no coach, but you’d like to see Condra around the 15 minute mark most nights, even when there’s not a lot of penalties to kill. Somehow, Condra ended up a +2 last night, leading the team. The last game against Toronto on Feb. 23 he was +3. He hasn’t had a game yet this year where he was any worse than -1. ... Congrats to good guy Ray Emery for setting an NHL record with 10 straight wins to start a season. Nobody deserves it more... And finally, RIP to Stompin’ Tom Connors. One of my most treasured pieces of vinyl is the Stompin’ Tom Live At The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. I always thought of him as a modern Canadian Woody Guthrie. Have a drink for him next time you get the chance. I know I will.

The Backhander – Silfverberg’s Frightening Shot... Turris’ Frightening Stats

Another game the Senators should have lost on paper and another game Ottawa managed to steal two points from. Unbelievable. I was sure the Canadiens were going to halt the Sens four game win streak on Monday night but every time I think this Ottawa team is due for a letdown, they grind another one out and leave the fans celebrating on their way back to a parking lot of frozen cars. And while they get a goaltending hero every night – this time it was Ben Bishop with 44 saves – one of the unheralded players always seems to come through. On Saturday against the Leafs it was the struggling Colin Greening. Last night it was Peter Regin in the shootout who left Carey Price on his back, wildly swinging for a puck that was already behind him. He also clanged the post just before overtime ended. And before that it was Dave Dziurzynski stunning everyone in the building, including Price, by putting a laser beam into the Montreal net without a deflection or anyone screening the Montreal goalie. It was old-school hockey, coming down the wing and burying one. Dziurzynski is a complete surprise. He’s big, he’s fast, he had 7 hits in one game against the Rangers last week, and now he has 2 goals in just 6 games. He looks like an NHL hockey player despite not having any kind of pedigree. He kind of reminds me of a smaller Brian Boyle or one of those horses from the WHL who end up in places like Anaheim or Dallas. I really wonder what happens if he keeps playing this well and the Senators get some forwards back from injury. It would be tough to send this guy down, but you also don’t want to take out Kaspars Daugavins, who seems to be the player’s very own team mascot. It’s easy to see how much the rest of the players love the guy. When you get Sergei Gonchar laughing on the bench, you know you must have some kind of charm going for you. They lost some character with Zenon Konopka and Matt Carkner but Daugavins is pretty good on his own. The barking after a goal might be the best secret celebration the rest of the league hasn’t caught on to yet. Maybe that’s because he doesn’t get to do it very often....

..... Forgive me another Mark Messier story, but when you talk about a guy getting a bench going, you have to talk about this one. In the late Peter Gzowski’s 1982 book “The Game Of Our Lives”, which follows the young Edmonton Oilers around for the entirety of the 80-81 season, he tells a story about Messier sitting on the bench and starting his own chant, “Here we go Oilers, here we go”, over and over again, until the rest of the team started in with him. Now imagine an entire Oilers bench, in the middle of a National Hockey League game, chanting “Here we go Oilers, here we go...” like they were a bunch of beer guzzling, Canadian-tuxedo clad fans in the nosebleeds. That story still blows me away. I can’t exactly imagine Jonathan Toews or Sidney Crosby doing that, but you never know nowadays with the Harlem Shake craze taking over sports....

..... 2 points in the last 9 games for Kyle Turris is a tough stat to carry around, especially when you haven’t scored a goal since January 25th against Tampa Bay, a stretch of 16 games. There’s no problem with his skating or his hustle (nobody seems to be trying harder than Turris out there) but he’s finding life hard in the Jason Spezza role, as anyone would. I’m not saying he needs a “reset” like Greening had, but maybe a game on the second or third line to get away from the other team’s best defensemen would allow him a little more room out there. Seems like all he needs is one to go in, and maybe a change of linemates would do that for him. Paul Maclean always has the option of Regin in the middle if he wants to shake up Turris a little.... With that being said, who needs to shake up a team on a 5 game win streak? But they were badly outplayed by Montreal and eventually that will catch up to them. They need Turris to create offense. Not like I needed to tell you that.... There was a little bit of handwringing over Chris Neil’s penalty late in the second period which led to Andrei Markov’s tying goal. Not a great call by the ref’s but some fans gave it to Neil anyways. How quickly they forget he made the beauty cross-ice feed to Dziurzynski for the Sens first goal. Neil is always going to take penalties because he has to play that way. The ref’s are always watching him and make reputation calls all the time. He more than makes up for any bad penalties with the work he does the rest of the game. He was credited with 8 hits last night, twice the amount of anyone on either team. He’s having another great year....

..... Again, Jakob Silfverberg’s shot continues to amaze fans and horrify goaltenders. Smart move by Maclean to get him out first in the shootout. Price actually got his glove up in time but the shot was so hard and fast that the puck just barrelled over it. Maybe it was me but I thought Price looked a little spooked out by that. I know he’s a different type of player, but doesn’t watching Silfverberg remind you of when guys like Marian Hossa, Erik Karlsson and Martin Havlat started out in Ottawa? You would get these little glimpses of scary, scary skill from game to game and watch them slowly put it all together. That’s exactly what it’s like with Silver right now. It’s frightening to think of a power-play with Karlsson, Silfverberg and Mika Zibanejad a few years from now. Hell, maybe even Alfie will still be out there, still playing keep-away on the half boards.

Senators Season Verging Into Absurd, Surreal Territory

We’ve seen our share of gutsy teams in Ottawa since 1992, the year this team was reborn after an equally gutsy campaign by the expansion forefathers who heard “it can’t be done” more than most of us can remember. The 96-97 team with their little Buddha statues and sticks-in-the-toilet routine are still beloved by those who were there to see it.

The ’98 team who defied the “experts” and upset the heavily favoured New Jersey Devils in the first round were just as memorable. The organization soon morphed into a highly-skilled but Velveeta soft team that couldn’t handle the Maple Leafs when it mattered most, until Brian McGrattan KO’d Tie Domi and cured the existential crisis of thousands of neurotically damaged Ottawa fans.

Then there was last year’s group of kids, picked by most to be the dregs of the Eastern Conference. They somehow made it to the playoffs, but all it took was a never-ending rollercoaster of comeback victories, slumps, streaks, someone named Erik Karlsson, and ultimately, a Game 7 loss to the Rangers in the first round. But it was the most inspiring group of players to wear the Red and Black since the days of Steve Duchesne and Ron Tugnutt. They were more like a gang than a hockey team.

After last night’s strangely emotional win over the Rangers, with Craig Anderson’s year nearly destroyed by an out of control Chris Kreider slamming into his leg, this hobbled and broken team is clearly making the city proud.

You could hear it in the arena as the crowd tried to resurrect a stunned team in the immediate wake of seeing Anderson, their MVP, get carried off the ice on one good leg. You could see it when Ben Bishop dramatically waved off Kreider seconds after the victory was sealed. You could see it on Kaspars Daugavins’ face as he barked his way down the Senators bench after accidentally scoring between Henrik Lundqvist’s legs. The whole team was in genuine hysterics as the Kanata crowd went to gong-show levels. Even Paul Maclean allowed himself a little smirk, knowing his boys were about to “get away with one”.

Meanwhile, John Tortorella’s reddening face looked like a slapped arse.

He knew his team was beaten by a group of guys who simply wanted it more than the Rangers did. He could look down his bench and know that only Ryan Callahan played as hard as Daniel Alfredsson or Zack Smith did in that game. Other clubs will both admire and hate the Senators for nights like this. Everyone loves an underdog and knows that this organization is going through hell with these injuries, but it also makes them bad when their superstars get beaten by a bunch of AHL’ers named Dziurzynski, Gryba and Wiercioch. Who?

It’s strange to see so many headlines about Alfredsson possibly leaving town once the “inevitable” Ray Bourque syndrome comes into effect. What I saw from the captain was complete focus, and after the Jakob Silfverberg and Daugavins goals, a beaming smile, like the kind of smile a Dad would have on his face. I see a guy who loves his role on this team and in this city. I don’t see a guy who will jump ship even if the team starts tumbling down the standings. I know he says “never say never”, but I got my money on the never.

But is this all just a temporary dream... a group of players with their backs to the wall giving their one last defiant push before reality sets in? Maybe.

Maybe not.

I have to admit I thought it was over when Marc Methot tried to help Anderson up off the ice and the goalie collapsed like he was Mike Modano getting tipped over in a stretcher back in the 90’s (remember that?). Even before Anderson, I, like everyone else, thought the season was over after arriving at the Toronto airport from a week in Cuba without internet only to be greeted by a giant television screen showing me Karlsson’s Achilles tendon being severed over and over again. People brushed past me oblivious as I stared at that screen, my carry-on barely dangling from my fingers and my new tan draining back to white.

Yet these guys just keep at it, chipping away a period at a time. This is a case of stats not being able to tell you the whole story. It’s the intangibles - that near-mythic entity that modern hockey writers all too often spurn for cold hard numbers - that you have to follow if this team, this season, is to make any sense at all.

I don’t pretend to know how this team wins games anymore. I just enjoy watching it.

And I’m betting you do too if you’ve come here to read this.

The Backhander – Bald Heads...Bad Luck... Big Risks

A Senator who’s definitely growing on me – Patrick Wiercioch. I thought his last two games against the Devils and Islanders were the best I’ve seen him play all season. The guy wanted the puck and made plays out of his own end with some confidence. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I’ve sort of flip-flopped on him since his early start where I thought he was weaker than Andre Benoit and Mark Borowiecki. Maybe it’s his size that gives him a little more presence but I like him the most out of those three to have an impact the rest of the way. But then you have to look at Eric Gryba who played almost four more minutes than Wiercioch on Tuesday against the Islanders and had five blocked shots. It’s good news/bad news for the organization because if Erik Karlsson and Jared Cowen weren’t hurt, we might not have even seen these guys play a single game so far, but next season this blueline is going to be both skilled and tough – and hopefully healthy....

.... You have to think that GM Bryan Murray wishes he had played the safe hand and made a move for a veteran defenseman at the start of the season when Jared Cowen went down. There were questions about inexperience even then but Murray gambled a little bit without insurance and is now dealing from a position of weakness. If, God forbid, another Senator d-man went down in the next week or two, what the hell is he going to do at that point? Mike Lundin doesn’t look any better than Wiercioch or Benoit and there’s a long grind of games ahead of this banged up team. A minor deal to bring in a guy with over 200 games experience could help this blueline survive the next two months and just possibly hold onto a playoff spot (don’t laugh – it could happen). Nobody’s going to replace Karlsson but if they’re going with a “grind it out” philosophy the rest of the way, they’ll need more bodies back there. Sergei Gonchar is getting hammered every night along the boards (he's a definite target with Karlsson out) and if you lose him, say goodbye to whatever shred of hope this team has left. You can’t do anything about bad luck but enough is enough. Make a deal....

... Whatever happened to Guillaume Latendresse? Nobody even mentions him anymore. People will talk about Ottawa’s injuries and don’t say his name. He’s a ghost right now..... How is it that Colin Greening has 0 penalty minutes so far this season? For a guy his size to have 0 PIM’s makes you understand why the Senators coaching staff need him to get more involved. If you’re doing things right, you’re going to take a few unavoidable penalty minutes along the way. Not surprisingly, after being a healthy scratch a few games ago, Greening looks motivated of late and against the Islanders had 5 hits and a goal. The last time he had as many hits in a game was also the last time he scored a goal – January 27th vs Pittsburgh where he collected 6 hits. In 10 of his 16 games, Greening has been credited with 2 hits or less. This guy didn’t become known as one of the most fanatical workout machines on the team just to be a perimeter player trying not to make mistakes. He needs to string together some good games real soon.... Dave Dziurzynski, who got his first career goal against the Islanders on Tuesday, is wearing #59, not the most glamorous number. The only other Senator to use it was Erich Goldmann, who played in a single NHL game in the 99-00 season and was drafted out of Germany by Ottawa in 1996.... Speaking of German born ex-Senators, good ol’ Christoph Schubert is in the German league playing for the Hamburg Freezers. Schubert was +30 for Ottawa in 06-07. The guy could hit like a train too....

.... The skinhead look has been somewhat rare in the Senators short history, but Andre Benoit and Craig Anderson are doing their part. Hey, Mark Messier, the most famous cueball in NHL history, is my favourite player of all-time so I’m not looking for a cheap joke here. But off the top of my head I can only come up with a handful from Ottawa’s past. Bryan Smolinski and Alex Auld come to mind right away. Actually, that’s all I can remember. I want to say Denny Lambert but I think he might have had hair when he was in Ottawa. Can you think of anyone else?.... On the other side, Daniel Alfredsson is doing a pretty good lion impression lately and Zack Smith and Karlsson can grow it too. But it’s tough to top the early 90’s Senators when they had Mike Peluso, Darcy Loewen and Dave Archibald among others following the dignified lead of Dougie Gilmour, Brett Hull and Jaromir Jagr.... Tough day for Lindy Ruff. Everyone knows this guy is a hell of a coach and the crap he had to endure in Buffalo with players leaving, ownership changing and bad signings would have destroyed a lesser man. Only a coach like Barry Trotz has a comparable record of keeping afloat bad teams over a similar period. Ruff’s greatest moment in Buffalo might have been the summer of 1999 at a team rally after the tough loss to Hull and the Dallas Stars when he concluded his speech with the two words “No Goal”. He was a hero after that. Now he’s the scapegoat. I’m usually not one to cry over coaches getting fired. In fact, I get annoyed when most pundits go immediately to the “it’s the player’s fault, not the coach” line. Sometimes it’s true, sometimes it’s not. I think Bryan Murray was right to fire all three of John Paddock, Craig Hartsburg and Cory Clouston. But in Ruff’s case it does feel weak. If Jarmo Kekäläinen is looking to start fresh with a new coach next year in Columbus, he’d be crazy not to go after Ruff.

More Ryan O'Reilly To Ottawa Rumours Begin To Fly

I think it was only a couple of weeks ago in this space that I speculated on why the Senators should be interested in Colorado RFA Ryan O'Reilly. Turns out they might be, according to Bruce Garrioch, and it makes sense. Who wouldn't be interested in O'Reilly? GM's fall all over themselves trying to draft guys with both high-end skill, grit and realistic captaincy aspirations. Not surprisingly, Garrioch says the asking price from Colorado is high. As will be the money O'Reilly will need on a new deal.

But do you actually part with someone like Mika Zibanejad? I pulled that name out of thin air but obviously Ottawa would need to part with at least one of their top prospects, so Zibanejad is worth discussing. In a way, a guy like O'Reilly, 22 years old, would be accelerating Ottawa's partial rebuild a little better than Zibanejad, 19, at this point (Zbad was a healthy scratch against NJ incidentally) because of O'Reilly's modest experience, not to mention stats. The Sens have some prime guys like Jason Spezza, Milan Michalek and Craig Anderson all in the 28-31 years of age range, a few older vets like Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips who need to win NOW and a whole slew of rookies and under-25's who have yet to really make a significant mark in the NHL.

You could call that balance, or you could also call it a case of bad timing. Are the Senators trying to win a Stanley Cup now with Spezza, Anderson, Alfredsson, Michalek and Erik Karlsson (who is magically in his prime at only 22) or are they rebuilding with Jared Cowen, Jakob Silfverberg and Zibanejad et al? It's a bit of a balancing act for GM Bryan Murray who can't afford to waste the prime years of a special player like Spezza while he waits for a bunch of 19 year old's to gain experience (not that he has much choice at this point).

You only have to look at the deal Murray made for Kyle Turris last year (a trade I initially abhorred for the same reason a lot of people would be revolted by the thought of trading Zibanejad). He sends rookie David Rundblad to Phoenix for a guy with some similar experience to O'Reilly (but worse stats) looking for a fresh start. That little jump in age allowed Turris to play a big role immediately and helped propel Ottawa into the playoffs where they came within a few goals of advancing to the second round. Rundblad may still end up being the better player in the long term but the effect Turris had on Ottawa immediately can't be ignored.

I'm not saying Ottawa should definitely part with a prized prospect for O'Reilly, but if they do, the Senators could have a hell of a team next year as long as the injury situation doesn't repeat itself and Craig Anderson remains a rock back there.

Yet whenever someone like O'Reilly is available, you can predict about 29 different journalists from 29 different hockey cities will be writing an article linking the team they cover to the guy on the trade block. There's not one team, including Colorado, that doesn't need someone like O'Reilly. Even Boston, who has a dressing room full of O'Reilly's, would always make room for one more. It would be the same with Mike Richards, Gabriel Landeskog, Scott Hartnell or David Backes.

The chances that O'Reilly actually ends up in Ottawa are slim in part because Colorado will ask for the moon knowing that the Senators are desperate for healthy players and have more high-end prospects than most teams. Murray is a sensible guy. He will balk at anything that could potentially undermine the drafting effort he made since becoming GM in 2007.

Or will he?

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NOTE: I'm just back from vacation and still trying to clear out the cobwebs and absorb the mind-destroying news of Erik Karlsson's season ending injury. The posts on Black Aces will pick up as the week goes along and I get my family's 35 suitcases unpacked to my wife's exact specifications.

The Backhander Feb. 6 - Vacation Bound

Note: I’ll be out of country on vacation for a week so Black Aces will be back around the 15th or the 16th of February while I’m getting inebriated in the sun without an internet connection. In my head I’m already on the beach but I thought I’d get in a few words before I head out.

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The Senators next three games at home are all winnable – Carolina, Winnipeg and Buffalo – before they go into Pittsburgh on a back-to-back next Wednesday. If they could get those six points, or even 5 out of 6, Ottawa will have a comfortable cushion on a playoff spot that will offset some expected dry spells without Jason Spezza in the lineup. It’s a certainty the Senators will lose games directly because they don’t have Spezza driving the offense. He’s that important. But if you get on a roll here at home and beat the teams you should, it really gives this team breathing room while they wait for #19. They could lose 3 or 4 games in a row later this month and still be alive. Carolina will be tough but Ottawa has better luck with them in Kanata than they do in Raleigh. The Jets straight up stink on the road, even though they stole one in Ottawa last January. The Sabres are a mess right now and Ottawa always plays them well. Six points is not out of the question.... Which makes you wonder if Ben Bishop is going to get one of those games. My guess is he gets the Jets on Saturday but or maybe even Buffalo on Tuesday which would allow Paul Maclean to save Craig Anderson for the Penguins the next night...

Strange how hockey fortunes go. Peter Regin was given a chance as a second line centre and looked intimidated and ineffective in two consecutive losses against Carolina and Montreal. Next game he gets dropped to the fourth line and starts making great plays, resulting in two assists and an increase in shifts and ice-time. Is it a coincidence or is it the sudden decrease in pressure? Whatever it is, it’s working. I doubt Regin will get another chance to play in the top-six until the Sens lose a game or two and the chess pieces are moved around, but there’s nothing wrong with having a playmaker on your 4th line going against the opponent’s worst defensive pairings. There’s a really good hockey player hiding in Regin (remember Sidney Crosby praising him a few years ago after their last playoff meeting?) but we’re all still waiting for him to appear. I don’t know why I’ve spent so much time talking about him this week Regin is an interesting guy. You get that gnawing feeling that even if he doesn’t prove himself and the Senators let him walk this summer, he’ll show up somewhere and be a top-six guy eventually..... Nice to see Daniel Alfredsson back. It took him a few weeks but he’s been dangerous for the last two games and was the best player on the ice against Buffalo last night – or was it Erik Karlsson who deserves that status? The scary thing is Karlsson thinks he hasn’t played his best game yet. Imagine if he played in Toronto or Montreal? There wouldn’t be a bigger name in hockey right now.....

.... Thank the hockey gods that we get to witness at least one or two franchise train wrecks every years. It’s kind of a nasty thing to say, but it’s undeniably fun to see a team like the Washington Capitals collapse, the same way a lot of fans surely enjoyed Ottawa’s own disaster zone a few years ago. I don’t want to see someone like Adam Oates lose their job, but it’s fascinating how once great teams can fall on such hard times. It wasn’t that long ago that Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green were the hip kids of the NHL. Now they’re openly ridiculed with non-D.C. fans cheering on every loss, wondering how far it can go before all hell breaks loose. I know that when I read out of town hockey news, I’m immediately checking out the Washington, Buffalo or Philadelphia papers ahead of anything out of San Jose or Chicago. There’s not much to say when a team’s going good, the same way I find it harder to write about Ottawa after a win than it is after a loss (as you can see by this slight piece of fluff today). There’s a lot of people kicking Ovechkin and Green on their way down, but if Pittsburgh was similarly struggling, there would be a lot of sympathy for guys like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The reason? The Caps stars struck fans as cocky, even arrogant. The same can’t be said for Crosby and Malkin who have always appeared more humble.... Speaking of fallen stars, it’s hard to watch Tyler Myers play hockey nowadays. The Sabres, and their long suffering fans deserve a better fate than seeing their future franchise player come unravelled like that. Lindy Ruff has to get that kid back on track or he’s going to finally lose his job. Even Ryan Miller can’t bail out a defense that’s playing that poorly.

See you folks next week.

The Backhander – Feb. 4th... Regin Wasting Opportunity... Refs Wasting Our Time

What would Ottawa give up for a chance to trade for Ryan O’Reilly? No one is even suggesting Ottawa is considering such a deal, nor Colorado who seem intent on playing hardball with the RFA as Montreal did with P.K. Subban, but if he does become available he’s the type of player Murray would love to have here. Most GM’s would feel the same way. Would you deal Mark Stone as part of that package? Most fans would instinctively scream “Nooooo” because parting with prospects and draft picks is seen as treason nowadays, but Murray had a lot of success with Kyle Turris, a player who was locked in a philosophical or personality clash with his previous coach in Phoenix, Dave Tippett. Not much difference with O’Reilly except that it’s over money this time..... Tough to see Peter Regin struggling to create offense when he knows this may be the biggest opportunity of his career with Jason Spezza out. In the last two games he’s looked timid and frustrated, even pedestrian. Stats aren’t everything, but his are downright ugly. 9 games, 0 points and 41% in the faceoff circle. He does have 15 shots, good for 8th on the team but then you look at guys like Chris Neil (23 shots) and Erik Condra (20 shots) and wonder why Regin doesn’t have more. He had a chance to shoot on a 2-on-1 against Montreal on Sunday but forced a pass back across the ice which was picked off. You could feel his confidence derailing into the side of a building on that play. Time for a change on that second line? Maybe Stephane Da Costa gets a chance in that spot, but it’s not clear where he’ll play until Maclean addresses the media about it. My guess is Regin gets a little more time.... On the positive side, even after 2 losses in a row, Daniel Alfredsson is looking better. It might have been his best game against Montreal on Sunday and he was all over the puck. Takes a while to get those old bones warm, but once he’s at the level he can get to, expect some goals to come on the powerplay....

..... It seems a shame that in order for Guillaume Latendresse to get back in the lineup it will likely mean Kaspars Daugavins sits. There’s just something about the energy Daugavins brings on that fourth line which makes you want to see him play most nights, but that’s not going to happen..... Cam Ward is killing me in my hockey pool. Every year I pick a dependable goalie and every year that goalie falls apart in the first few months, putting me miles behind the pack. Last year it was Ryan Miller. Why didn’t I pick Luongo?..... Timing is everything and it’s unfortunate for Ottawa that Spezza’s injury and Jakob Silfverberg’s growing confidence are intersecting. The two struggled a little playing with each other for the first time but it would have been interesting to see if the chemistry started growing once Silfverberg got more comfortable, which seems to be happening now. The team can’t score but Silfverberg looks like he’s starting to get a feel for the games and would have figured in on two Ottawa goals on Sunday if it weren’t for the worst blown call of the year. The league is erring too far on the side of caution and it’s screwing with the brains of the refs. The spirit of the goalie interference penalty is to protect them from forwards crashing the net as a tactic for goal scoring and causing severe injuries like Grant Fuhr suffered when Nick Kypreos bowled him over on purpose in the 90’s. It’s not there to call off goals on minor technicalities such as a slight bump, and especially not to allow Carey Price to skate out of his crease, bump a forward like Silfverberg and have a perfectly good goal disallowed. We’re getting into soccer and basketball territory here and it’s downright sickening to watch. This is not just an isolated blown call. This is the mindset of a league that’s been bullied by whining goalies like Ryan Miller and battered by the press for violence and as a result we see ref’s blowing their whistle at almost anything. You’ll see it more this season and Ottawa won’t be the only team victimized by it....

.... Gotta admit, I had some real doubts about Montreal. Rookie GM, bringing back Michel Therrien and playing hardball with P.K. Subban. So far it’s all worked out and they look like a different team. They’re tough, they can skate with anybody and their goalie might be the best in the league. They look like a playoff team to me..... This lack of scoring and Spezza’s injury are doing a pretty good job of masking Ottawa’s real need, which is still on defense. Patrick Wiercioch, Andre Benoit and Mark Borowiecki have done a decent job back there but on most nights they’re just surviving, although I think Benoit has been the best of the bunch. When Sergei Gonchar went down with the flu, you could see the strain on the pairings which resulted in Erik Karlsson trying to do a little too much and the power-play looking noticeably weaker. And I don’t think Paul Maclean really feels Borowiecki in particular is ready to be a regular, by yanking him in and out of the lineup. This team would look much better with one more veteran back there and Mike Lundin doesn’t strike anyone as the solution, although it’s wrong to write off a player who hasn’t even tied his skates yet. Kurtis Foster would have been a nice addition to this team when he was available but that ship has sailed. Mark Eaton anyone? It’s not as if there’s a whole swath of veteran defenseman available for Bryan Murray to pick up, but there were a few immediately after the lockout. There’s no panic now, but that can change rather quickly.

The Pocket Rocket - Henri Richard

11 Stanley Cups in 20 seasons. That's over .500.

Insane.