Chris Neil And That Old Time Hockey, Eh

Ottawa 4 Minnesota 3 (SO)

Hell of a game. Hell of a night.

The Senators again displayed a gutsy come from behind effort that now seems to be some kind of DNA trait that wasn't there last season. Maybe coach Paul MacLean stamped it onto them by some of the hardest practices these players have ever seen, or maybe it's the young legs, but whatever it is, the Senators are suddenly more tenacious than Rudy Ruettiger.

But it wasn't easy yet again. This time the Senators were fighting a home rink that was in a peculiarly nasty mood, booing their own players, booing Dany Heatley, even booing the mayor (although that might have just been the OC Transpo riders - don't blame them). They dominated the Wild but the breaks were going against them and the mood got even blacker as Sergei Gonchar got singled out by the crowd on the power-play, making things worse for the team than they already were (more about the ugly reception the fans gave Gonchar and Filip Kuba later).

But the comeback was started by Chris Neil who looked like he was born just to play in this one game. It was incredible. Neil began by yapping with Heatley off a faceoff in the Wild zone near the start of the second period. Then he delivered a punishing hit to Clayton Stoner that would have topped Dion Phaneuf's stapling of Stephane Da Costa if it was only in the middle of the ice instead of behind the net. One of Neil's best hits in a long time:



He kept after Heatley all game, backchecking on a Wild rush so he could be shoulder to shoulder with Heatley and sent him to the ice amidst the roar of the entire rink. He took a handful of other runs at #15, cut the Minnesota lead to 3-2 with a huge goal that gave the Senators life, and finished +2 with 2 points and easily led the team with 8 recorded hits (they must have missed about five).



Something truly feels different about this spirited team, if only because they actually won a game in a shootout and didn't choke when faced with adversity. As TSN panned both benches before Milan Michalek took the first shot, the Wild looked nervous but the Senators were loose. Like some kind of miracle that these eyes have yet to see, all three Senators shooters scored, with Daniel Alfredsson capping it off and raising his arms in triumph as he glided along the boards.

Like I said, unbelievable game. If you saw it, you know exactly what I mean. It's way, way too early to call it a turning point, but that was a huge game for the Senators to win.

Black Aces Senators 3 Stars

1. Chris Neil
2. Colin Greening
3. Nick Foligno

Honourable Mentions: Jason Spezza, Peter Regin, Filip Kuba, Chris Phillips and Stephane Da Costa.

NOTES

...David Rundblad looked solid in his first NHL game, playing a surprising 20:59. He'll likely get a chance to stay in the lineup ahead of Brian Lee because he did some good things offensively. Erik Karlsson played over 28 minutes and just kept getting stronger after a weak opening. Peter Regin played a strong game, skating well and going 10-7 in the faceoff dot. No chance he comes out of the lineup for either Bobby Butler or Nikita Filatov. His line with Nick Foligno and Chris Neil looks like a keeper....

...One thing we don't miss about Dany Heatley - the constant hoarking on the bench, especially those deep ones where it looks like he's about to hurl....Can't get over the fact Ottawa fans would take the time to lustily boo two of their own players - Sergei Gonchar and Filip Kuba - during player introductions. Real classy guys. You got 'em good. Yup. Embarrassed them to the max. Their families were likely watching. Hope you feel better about yourselves.....Good to hear Dean Brown ask coach Paul MacLean if any player "filled his role better than Chris Neil in the first two games". MacLean was quick with the praise, as expected. Neil doesn't get much credit for the role he plays but when he's doing his job well, and that's pretty much every game, he's one of the most effective in the league. He can fight. He can play. He's a leader. He sticks up for his teammates. He's entertaining. Can't ask for much more than that....

....Tons of awkwardness all around. Home team players getting booed mercilessly, Mayor Jim Watson gets booed, Heatley takes a spill during warmups and gets a big reaction from the fans, and then TSN shows a clip from practice of coach Paul MacLean going down hard to the ice on his back. Probably didn't help his mood much.....You have to wonder if Nikita Filatov's play in the first two games really warranted his scratching, or was it something else? Practice habits? I don't pretend to know but he seemed to be giving an honest effort in the games, even if he wasn't creating a lot of chances. We've all heard about MacLean screaming at Filatov and fellow healthy scratch Bobby Butler in practice the other day. Maybe there's something to that, maybe not. But I thought he played okay overall. Maybe that's the difference with MacLean. Okay isn't good enough anymore....

....As if the Sens don't get teased enough about their antiquated scoreboard, it begins to repeatedly malfunction at the start of the second period and TSN's Gord Miller has a laugh and says "Shades of the old Civic Centre". Isn't that just fitting with a dozen or so original Senators on hand....Some good news. No Nickelback goal song this year at the rink. The bad news: Nickelback is still writing songs. No one is safe yet....

...Great interview with former Sens GM and club founder Randy Sexton on the Team 1200 pre-game show where Sexton retold the old story about how Bruce Firestone, Cyril Leeder and himself were having a cold one in the locker room in 1988 after a beer league game when Firestone said they should try to bring an NHL team to Ottawa in any future expansion. Sexton said he and Leeder spit their beer out on the floor at the idea, which was somewhat similar to my reaction when I heard they had suceeded. I was too young to spit out any beer, but my jaw hit the floor and so did my father's. Haven't been able to shut it since.....It would be sort of interesting if Sexton some day made his way back into the Senators organization in a role similar to what he has in Pittsburgh right now as Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting. Stranger things have happened. Certainly, Sexton is a much more rounded hockey man than he was when given the thankless task of building the Senators post-Mel Bridgman..... Speaking of scouting, I've been reading Shane Malloy’s 2011 book “The Art Of Scouting”, and in it he says the consensus among most NHL general managers and directors of amateur scouting is you have to get two NHL players from every entry draft. Just two from seven rounds in total. Doesn’t seem like a lot but some teams have a hell of a time doing it. Malloy quotes Mike Futa, an L.A. Kings scout, as saying “It’s the only job where you can be right 15 percent of the time and be ruled a Hall of Famer (..) and if you hit on 2.5 home runs every draft, you are par with some of the best scouts ever.” If we quickly apply that gold standard to the Senators, we can see that they already have one player from the 2011 draft in the NHL – Mika Zibanejad, and some very likely prospects to do so as well such as Matt Puempel, Shane Prince and Stefan Noesen. Their 2010 draft, where they only chose four players is not looking as good but Mark Stone will probably play in the next two to four years. They also dealt their first-rounder to the Blues to grab David Rundblad who made his NHL debut tonight and looks to have a good career ahead of him. The 2009 draft has already seen Jared Cowen and Robin Lehner play some games. They’ve used three players from 2008, two of them regulars in Erik Karlsson and Zack Smith (Patrick Wiercioch being the other prospect on the bubble). In 2007, the last year of John Muckler’s reign as GM, the Senators again only had four picks and the only one to get any games is Jim O’Brien but he may not end up being an NHL regular at any point. Before 2007, every Senators draft produced at least two players who took part in at least one NHL game, either with Ottawa or with another team. Not all of them became regulars, but they made the show. That’s an impressive record….

…. I don’t know what it is about Brian Lee, but the fans in this city have fallen head over heels with the young defenseman and have nearly elevated him to martyr status. When fans first heard rumours that Lee would be a healthy scratch for the match against the Wild, the boards and the blogs lit up with indignation, as if they themselves were somehow the victims of a terrible injustice. Lee is a solid 6th or 7th defenseman on the periphery of being a regular. He may play better than Sergei Gonchar or Chris Phillips during any given game, but overall he can’t provide what those two can when at their best. It won’t be permanent. He’ll play plenty of games for the Senators this season and contribute where he can. If he keeps playing solid when he gets the chance, he'll force the coaching staff's hand. To get so upset about it strikes me as completely bizarre and unwarranted. Same thing happened with Martin Gerber and Jonathan Cheechoo. This town seems to love the underdog, which is admirable, but we’re beginning to lose perspective here….

….Wouldn’t it be something if Semyon Varlamov proved to be a better number one goalie this season than Tomas Vokoun? It’s entirely possible considering Vokoun is 35 and Varlamov is just 23. You can also imagine Varlamov giving Colorado that same surprise goaltending Craig Anderson did a few years ago and sneaking into the playoffs. Washington was so lauded for their off-season moves that you know at least one of them is not going to pan out as well as the pundits predicted. Not saying it’s going to be the Vokoun deal, but you never know. The hockey world has a weird way of evening things out after all the hype has died down….Speaking of the Avalanche (still a terrible name, though not as bad as the “Wild”), if Milan Hejduk had played his career in the East with those same numbers, he’d be a household name in hockey. Instead, he keeps on scoring goals year after year in near anonymity (11 seasons with 20 or more)….. Columbus just can’t afford to miss the playoffs again, not after being so aggressive in the summer. This team desperately needs something positive to happen to them. But they’re 0-3 to start the year. Uh oh…..

Sens Get Cleaned Out, Pick Themselves Back Up

Two games into the season, the Senators are both terrible and wildly entertaining as they staged big comebacks in both matches and almost caught the panicking Leafs on Saturday night. Ultimately they came up short again and are sitting at 0-2 going into their home opener.

Okay, cancel the parade but don't cancel your cable package. It looks like every night has the potential to be either a massive train derailment or a fight filled, goal scoring frenzy. Or both. Quite likely both.

Even when the Senators were getting absolutely hammered by the Leafs in the first two periods, guys like Chris Neil and Zenon Konopka basically went to war in order to salvage some pride for their team. Konopka came as advertised in his first Senators game - yapping, fighting, selling penalties, winning faceoffs and ....yapping a little more.

Neil unfairly got an instigator and a misconduct penalty when he schooled Luke Schenn near the benches in the second period. Neil was going for a change when Schenn stepped into his path on purpose but clearly got more than he could handle. Refs must have felt sorry for Schenn and tossed Neil, leading to the Leafs scoring on the ensuing power-play. Things were hitting rock bottom rather quickly for the Senators, just like it did against the Wings on Friday.

Dion Phaneuf delivered what will probably be the biggest hit of the year on waterbug Stephane Da Costa. The rookie could have lain there like a shattered human being, wishing he was back in Paris strolling along the Seine, but to his credit he got right back up, took a bit of ribbing and probably some short advice from Daniel Alfredsson on the bench. The cameras clearly caught him mouthing the words "my fault" and letting slip a smile.



If the NHL can keep those kinds of hits in the game and eliminate the "Cooke on Savard" type disasters that repulsed so many, both players and fans will certainly be satisfied on both sides of the violence debate.

More encouraging news was relayed by CBC reporter Elliotte Friedman on the pre-game show when he said both Brendan Shanahan and his assistant Rob Blake went back and viewed the Scott Stevens clips that Don Cherry showed on Thursday's now legendary Coach's Corner segment and said that all but one of those brutal hits would be completely legal under the current rules. Only the Paul Kariya hit in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals would have been deemed illegal. Perhaps now some critics can also stop piling on Hall Of Famer Scott Stevens with comments like "those are the type of hits we need out of the game." In fact, we need more of them, and Phaneuf delivered a memorable one tonight.

And a little like Kariya years before him, Da Costa rose like Lazarus and ended up scoring a clutch goal (his first in the NHL) near the end of the third to put the Sens back within one in a see-saw battle right to the final faceoff in the Leafs zone with less than ten seconds remaining.

A few thoughts the Sens coaching staff can take with them after the short but brutal road trip are probably these:

1. Da Costa is an NHL player and a top-six forward who's going to put up points. Despite getting cleaned by Phaneuf, this guy rarely gets taken off the puck when he's on the rush. I've said it in about 5 or 6 posts dating back to the rookie tournament, but the one word that best describes Da Costa is "sneaky".

2. Erik Karlsson woke up tonight and is back on track to put up some huge totals.

3. Daniel Alfredsson needs to be on the first power-play unit, not Nikita Filatov. What were they thinking? Also, Alfie is back to his old self. Took this team on his back in the third. What else is new?

4. Sergei Gonchar needs to get better very quickly if they have any chance of turning this around. We all saw his mistakes on the goals, but he wasn't very good on the power-play either. Zero shots recorded and I don't remember any being blocked.

5. It really is a problem that Matt Carkner is out with an injury. The Sens just can't put muscle on guys in their own zone and it's costing them big time. Turnovers are killer, but so is the fact that nobody on the Leafs or Wings were even remotely worried about going to the net or into the corners with the likes of Karlsson, Filip Kuba, Brian Lee or Gonchar. Carkner isn't exactly fleet of foot, but sometimes you don't need to be when you're laying the lumber on guys trying to get close to Craig Anderson. Jared Cowen is doing a good job on his own but he needs some help.

Black Aces Senators 3 Stars

1. Daniel Alfredsson
2. Jason Spezza
3. Erik Karlsson

All right, short post tonight. Happy Thanksgiving. See you Tuesday, a little older, a little wiser, a little fatter.

Sens Take A Vicious And Cruel Beating In Motown On Opening Night

It was a pretty good joke by the NHL schedule maker.

They threw the team every pundit picked to finish last up against Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk in Motown and didn't even give Paul MacLean a chance to miss his old digs.

But no one said the NHL is fair and the Senators, for all their efforts, basically got choke-slammed from the top rope in an awful second period in which they completely shut down and watched the Red Wings skate circles around them in their own zone. Veterans served up giveaways like they were waiters handing out free spumoni ice cream at the Old Spaghetti Factory (never, ever go to the Old Spaghetti Factory by the way).

In short, it was ugly at times, and right on the money as far as what the critics were saying about this team going into the season. But who's throwing in the towel after one game against a vastly superior team?

There were some positives to take out of crumbling Detroit once the Senators found their legs and their brains by the third period.

Daniel Alfredsson had a lot of jump in those legs and was skating as good as ever after surgery. Stephane Da Costa played exactly like he'd been playing since the rookie tournament - sneaky good. This guy is extremely shifty with the puck and didn't look intimidated at all by the Red Wings. He was better than Mika Zibanejad, but Zbad played pretty well for his first game, throwing a few hits and not making any major mistakes which was probably his main goal. He survived.

Milan Michalek was ridiculously good, scoring two goals, one of them a highlight reel contender. Jason Spezza was the main catalyst for both of Michalek's markers and Nikita Filatov worked pretty hard as the third piece on that line.

Despite one tough play, Sergei Gonchar was skating and passing well. Brian Lee led the team in hits with six. Chris Neil did his job well by sticking up for Mika Zibanejad when the rookie was hit hard by Wing defensman Jakub Kindl. Craig Anderson got torched in the second but had a strong first and third periods.

And lastly, coach Paul MacLean was able to call a timeout during the brutal second period onslaught by Detroit and really got his vets and young players back playing the right way. That is probably a pretty good sign when a coach gets his players to really respong like that when they could have easily called it a night.

So....that's about it.

As Reggie Dunlop said in Slap Shot, "Yeah, we're working on it."

Black Aces Senators 3 Stars

1. Milan Michalek
2. Jason Spezza
3. Sergei Gonchar

NOTES

Poor Dean Brown didn't get to call his famous "Scrambbllleee" until there was 5:35 left in the second period. That might be an unofficial record.....Jason York made his Sportsnet debut and pretty much knocked it out of the park when he took a shot at his old coach and current Sportsnet analyst Doug MacLean by saying the one-time assistant with the Wings was more worried about his hair than anything else when young York played his first NHL game. You'd think the "new guy" would be a little nervous and stick to the basics during his first broadcast but York basically brought his radio game to TV and it worked well. If he's that funny on opening night, what's he going to be like when he really gets comfortable?.....The reason Chris Neil seemed so upset after being called for what looked like an obvious hooking penalty in the second period was because the replay showed Darren Helm grabbed Neil's stick and held it there long enough to get the call. Smart play by Helm.....

.....Erik Karlsson looked awful in the first period by being so soft on the puck breaking out of his own end, obviously trying to win a stickhandling contest. Karlsson had similar troubles in the pre-season but you were able to brush it off because the games were meaningless. He didn't look ready to play in the first 20 minutes but wasn't much better in the second when he gave the puck away behind his own net, leading to Detroit's 3rd goal of the night, scored by Cory Emmerton. He got back to work in the third period and was much better for the most part. Where's the intensity?.... That was a tough few moments to get through when the late Brad McCrimmon's son put on his fathers jersey at centre ice during a pre-puck drop ceremony. Not much to say when you see something like that......

....Current favourite talking head has got to be Steve Kouleas. How this guy isn’t a bigger media star is beyond me but it looks like he’s getting there with his current gig on TSN (a network he was a part of quite a while ago before leaving). The amount of energy he brings to every show is amazing. Never boring. Always brings it. How did the Score Network let this guy get away? His show there with Steve Ludzik at 11 pm was essential viewing for the late crowd….Actually, Kouleas is the second best. Forgot about Ottawa boy James Duthie, the finest in the biz ….

....The Leafs/Habs game on Thursday night wasn't exactly a barnburner. In fact, it was nearly lifeless. Wonder if the almost complete lack of passion or hitting had anything to do with that? Mike Komisarek tried to stir the pot a few times with some physical play but nobody else seemed interested. Per a James Mirtle tweet, the CBC says 1.935 million Canadians watched the game on Thursday. That was nearly 2 million people bored out of their minds until Don Cherry started calling people "pukes" and showing Scott Stevens videos.....The best thing about Cherry is how he can bring a flamethrower to the studio, toss a few grenades into the laps of the viewers and then walk away for a week and not give a crap what the reaction is. Nobody has taken more abuse in the press than Cherry over the years but he’s still the same – unflinching and brutally honest. I’ve always loved that about Don even though I only agree about half the time with him (especially when he goes on those strange right-wing rambles). The people who get so upset about everything he says are being played by Cherry perfectly. He knows the hockey world has rapidly turned against his vision of how the game should be played, but he hasn’t backed down an inch. Nor should he. For all the voices on one side constantly trying to clean up the game (which has been going on for over a century with varying intensity), you need a strong voice for the other side to keep the balance. A lot of fans are now too ashamed to admit they like fighting or big hits in today’s ultra-righteous atmosphere but at least Cherry is still there like the old gunslinger he is. I hope he keeps going for a long time to come. The pendulum of opinion will swing back to his side eventually. It always does. To me, his real love for the game of hockey is clearly evident. The coffers are full of people who tear down the NHL game and criticise it ceaselessly while claiming to be "fans". It's still nice to see someone who clearly loves it, even if it means he gets into endless trouble for speaking his mind .….. Not sure what to make about people’s remarks that Cherry is “too old”, that he’s like a “crazy uncle” or that he “should retire”. How does being old invalidate your opinion or views? It’s one thing to disagree with him but why attack him for his age? That says more about the person saying it than it does about Cherry….

….Geez, booing your own head coach before the puck is even dropped on the season is beyond harsh, yet that’s how Maple Leaf fans welcomed Ron Wilson when he was introduced on Thursday night in pre-game ceremonies. Who are these people that do these things? These village idiots are actually making me feel a tinge of sympathy for Wilson, something I never thought could happen…. Had to love seeing Matthew Lombardi of the Leafs scoring a goal right away after missing an entire year with a concussion. His awestruck celebration was hilarious as he skated to the bench and jumped into the arms of his teammates. If you hadn’t scored a goal in that long, you’d probably do the same thing. According to CBC, his wife couldn’t make it to his first game in a year because she couldn’t find a babysitter. Yes, hockey players and their families have the same problems us schleps do – except with bills….

...Vancouver GM Mike Gillis is so dour and humourless that he makes the Sutter brothers look like the Ringling Bros. Heyooooo...... The Senators should steal the Red Wings arena trademark and re-upholster their seats bright red. Or better yet, how about some barber pole fabric? The Senators have already made the glass dividers in the ends of their rink red. Looks good.... One of the best free agent signings in the past five years has been the Habs signing Hal Gill away from Pittsburgh. Every time I watch him play in Montreal I get more appreciation for his game. Hard to believe it's the same player who looked so hesitant and clumsy in his early years with Boston..... Scary news for the Eastern Conference - at some point late last season and over the summer, Dion Phaneuf recaptured whatever it was that made him such a feared player in his first few seasons. He just has that swagger back. He'll have a big season but will it be enough for the Leafs to make the playoffs? They just don't have anyone to get excited about up front. With apologies to young Nazem Kadri, there's not much in the system either that makes you think that will change anytime soon.....
 
... Will we see David Rundblad make his Senators debut against the Leafs on Saturday night? And if he does, who do the Senators take out of the lineup? Filip Kuba scored a goal on Friday and was decent for a good portion of hi 20 minutes. Is it Brian Lee? (I can envision the hate mail piling up from the Brian Lee Nation ie; every Senators fan with access to the internet.) Certainly not Jared Cowen right?
 
Should be interesting to see if MacLean decides to make any changes.

Watching Datsyuk Is Scarier Than The Exorcist

At one time Pavel Datsyuk was considered "underrated".

It's hard to even imagine that sentiment in 2011 as every sportswriter and radio host goes slackjawed and puck drunk every time they talk about #13.

At this point, has Datsyuk become overrated? Is he hockey's U2? Not a chance. Datsyuk deserves all the praise you can muster.

Take a gander at this overwrought, overdramatic but undeniably amazing video of Pavel Datsuyk highlights. The goal right at the end against the Preds should make everyone want to quit playing hockey. It actually ruined my night when I saw this. Going to call in sick to work tomorrow because, really, what's the point of getting out of bed anymore after this?

Senators Go Up Against Goliath In Season Opener... Plus...Vintage Wings Stuff

Now that we're under 48 hours until puck drop at Joe Louis Arena, the focus for the Senators now turns to the near impossible task of beating the Detroit Red Wings on the road with a team full of rookies.

These two clubs have faced each other 24 times since the Senators re-entered the NHL in 1992 and Ottawa's record against the Wings is 8-13-1-2, which is actually not bad at all considering how good the Wings have been since 1992.

Here's a quick stroll down memory lane of a few of the more recent encounters between the two teams, as rare as those are (although that could change if the Red Wings slide into the Northeast division next year - a very real possibility)

Senators fans won't like reliving this first memory. Johan "The Mule" Franzen dropping a 5-spot on the Sens in Ottawa last season.



Scary move by Pavel Datsyuk in 2008 that doesn't end up in the net. Still...



The Captain puts one home from the point on the power play past ex-Sen Dominik Hasek in 2008. The best thing about this video is colour commentator Greg Millen calling the shot a "seeing-eye dog". Classic.



Not the best quality but you can still see Foligno score one of the nicest goals of his short career.



An HD package of highlights from a game in 2010 at the Joe.

There was a little ceremony before the game where all the Olympians from both teams headed to Vancouver took a turn at centre ice. Obviously a big Swedish contingent on the far right but it's hilarious to see Jarkko Ruutu standing there between two kids with a huge black eye (click for bigger size). Just like the Hanson's in Slapshot when they're standing for the anthem.

I've always liked this pic. From the 2009 Finals.

Brad Marsh played for parts of two seasons with the Red Wings under coach Bryan Murray before joining the Senators for his final year, as seen here.

Let's go back a bit further and check out some vintage Red Wings memorabilia, such as this game programme from 1954.

A souvenir programme from 1931 when the Wings were briefly called the Falcons, playing out of Olympia Stadium which had just opened in 1927.

And let's end it with two of Detroit's biggest legends. Here's the famous 1952 Ted Lindsay photograph where he turns the stick on the Maple Leaf Gardens crowd after scoring the winning goal in overtime during the playoffs. He and Gordie Howe had received death threats before the game, and Lindsay skated to centre ice after it was all over and pulled this stunt.

And this is not Gordie Howe. This the New York Rangers Lou Fontinato after fighting Howe in 1959. Fontinato, otherwise known as Leapin' Louie, was one of the toughest fighters in the game at the time. No problem for Howe as he bulldozed him in what was probably the most famous fight of the original six era, if not of all time.

As defenseman Brad Park once said, “We get nose jobs all the time in the NHL, and we don’t even have to go to the hospital.”

The Elephant In The Room Just Stirred

Some Ottawa Senators fans were probably still digesting their three bowls of Cap'n Crunch this morning when they saw a headline that said "Alfie: This Season Could Be My Last". You could actually hear the stomachs lurching across the capital.

In that article on Sportsnet.ca, Ian Mendes quotes Daniel Alfredsson as saying this could very well be his final year in the NHL and that the captain hasn’t completely closed the door on moving to another team if Ottawa can’t compete this season.

Time to panic, folks. Time to FU**ING PANIC.

Well, maybe not just yet. Remember, Alfie said pretty much the same thing last year when asked if he would ever consider moving to another team. At that time he also made it clear he wanted to stay and win a Stanley Cup in Ottawa. If anything, this is just a repeat of those same sentiments. No reason to return your brand new Heritage Alfredsson jersey you just bought on Saturday (although I wonder if Vancouver fans are itching to order their own Alfie versions come early March).

The fact that he told Mendes that this could very well be his last year is the real bit of news, although most of us can put two and two together after realizing his contract goes down to $1 million next season, a number that many suspect is an out-clause disguised as a salary. That’s not to suggest Alfie wouldn’t play for 1 million. He made most of his money up front in his last contract and if the Senators surprise some people by contending, and if #11 is healthy and putting up points, I think he’ll come back for an encore.

But fans can’t play dumb here. He’s giving direct hints now and a tough season in the capital may be all that’s needed to push him into his well-deserved golf years or into the arms of another welcoming organization.

Yet “fans playing dumb” may just be the thing to fear most in this situation.

And in dumb, I mean having a repeat of what the fans put Chris Phillips through last season when his contract was expiring. I would say a vast majority of post-game callers, anonymous experts on message boards and some bloggers were practically begging Phillips to waive his no-trade clause at the deadline so the Senators could get something in return for his suddenly unappreciated services. It became a vicious little campaign with all sorts of insults and exaggerated untruths being tossed around about loyal #4. Instead of fans being happy that Phillips wanted to stay in Ottawa, a lot of them seemed disappointed that he robbed them of their big trade at the deadline.

Now, I’m not saying the exact same thing will happen in Alfredsson’s situation – he’s much too beloved by even the most curmudgeonly fans (whose sole excitement in hockey seems to come from trades and their ugly, slightly cross-eyed cousin, the trade rumour) – but already the usual suspects will be contemplating just what they can get by selling the team’s heart and soul on the open market. If the team starts losing games, the speculation will get more intense and the campaign to unload the captain will be well underway. It will be unavoidable.

Which brings me to this point: If Alfredsson decides he wants to chase a Stanley Cup with another team by March, then he deserves the chance to do so. On the other hand, if he decides to ride it out with the Senators like the captain of the Titanic, let’s hope he’s given the respect and the opportunity to do so and that there isn’t a repeat of the Chris Phillips situation from last year.

Because that was a sorry, ugly little episode in Senators history you won’t see in any of those heartwarming 20th anniversary videos we’ll be watching all season long.

Carkner Injury Gives Rundblad His Chance

Tough news for Matt Carkner today as the press learned he had surgery on the same knee that slowed him down last season and is out for at least a month. Carkner definitely didn't look right in the brief pre-season action he took part in, and his loss exposes a bit of a weakness on a team without much sandpaper back there.

Jared Cowen is going to be relied upon even more with Carkner out because he's going to be the only real force back there who can clear a crease or lay on the body with authority. Chris Phillips, more of an all-around defenseman, can play that game when he has to but it's not really his specialty. The Senators have always had a mean, physical shutdown player back there, whether it was Zdeno Chara, Anton Volchenkov or more recently, Carkner.

The good news is that Cowen has looked like a vet so far and he's got the size to move bodies back there. It also means David Rundblad gets some more time to try and break into the top 6. Right now it looks like he's out of the first three pairings as James Gordon reported Monday after practice. The top 6 duos are Phillips-Lee, Cowen-Gonchar and Kuba-Karlsson.

Who would drop out if Rundblad were to get a chance? Injuries might take care of that problem anyways, but there's no easy answer right now. The quick answer would be Filip Kuba taking a seat but does Paul MacLean want Erik Karlsson and Rundblad together? I doubt it. MacLean will probably give Kuba first chance to show he can still contribute because he's a veteran and the Sens have two tough road games to start the season with in Detroit and Toronto. MacLean may not want to feed Rundblad to the wolves in the Joe Louis arena just yet. He knows too well what guys like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg can do to a rookie who is only on the outer edge of being truly ready.

Again, all this could change either before game one or immediately after if the Sens get off to a rough start on the road. Maybe we see Rundblad against Dany Heatley and the Wild in the home opener.

***

If Chris Phillips manages to stay healthy and plays every game through early February, he'll log his 1000th match Feb. 4 at home against the Leafs. The boy who was to become known as "The Big Rig" played his first regular season game at only 19 years old against the Montreal Canadiens on October 1st, 1997. In that game he played 17 shifts without a point, but he got his first point at home, an assist, against the New York Rangers three games later on Oct. 15.

His first goal came by the end of the month on Oct. 30 in Miami when the Sens romped over the Panthers 5-2. Phillips put it by goalie Mark Fitzpatrick. Current Sens GM Bryan Murray was also the Panthers GM at the time. I'm pretty sure that Phillips was playing as a forward for this game (as he did occasionally early on in his career) because the Senators defense listed for that night also includes Jason York, Igor Kravchuk, Sean Hill, Janne Laukkanen, Stan Neckar, Wade Redden and Lance Pitlick. That's eight natural defenseman, so Jacques Martin must have been using Phillips up front, although I can't be sure. Other players to score in that game were Daniel Alfredsson, Andreas Dackell, Denny Lambert and Laukkanen. The Sens goalie of record was Damian "The Net" Rhodes.

But whatever Phillips does in the future, it's going to be hard to beat this overtime goal against Martin Brodeur in 2003 to keep the Sens alive in the Eastern Conference Final. Easily the craziest celebration I've ever seen the Senators have. Zdeno Chara nearly delivers the all-time mother of celebratory headshots to Phillips by leaping into the pile like a madman.



Some other milestones that can be reached this year in Ottawa:

If healthy, Chris Neil will pass his good buddy Mike Fisher on the all-time games played list Friday Nov. 11 in Buffalo against the Sabres, which would be Neil's 676th game, all in a Senators uniform. Neil also has 1000 more penalty minutes than the next name on the Sens all-time list, and that name is Chris Phillips with 655 PIMs. Neil has 1683.

Jason Spezza can pass Alexei Yashin for second place on the all-time goals list if he can score at least 27 goals this season to pass Yashin's total of 218. Spezza sits at 192. He's scored more than 30 goals three times so far in his career but he hasn't done that in two seasons. Here's betting he gets it done in 2012.

People talk about Chris Phillips league worst plus/minus last season but the Big Rig is still a healthy +73 for his career. The Sens all-time +/- leader is Wade Redden at +159. Not too shabby.

Daniel Alfredsson is currently the 69th best scorer in NHL history with 1023 points, sitting above names like Jarome Iginla (1006) and Maurice "The Rocket" Richard (965). He's about to pass Alexei Kovalev (1024), Brian Leetch (1028), Alexander Mogilny (1032), Doug Weight (1033) and former Ottawa 67 Bobby Smith (1036). If Alfie has a good comeback season with say 60 or 65 points, he'll be up around 57th all-time passing the likes of Henri Richard, Denis Potvin, Joe Mullen, Keith Tkachuk, Dave Taylor and Theo Fleury. Notice there's a few Hall Of Famers in that list. If he has a great season of 70 or more points, he'll be pushing HOF'ers Glenn Anderson and Frank Mahovolich for the top 55 position. Fellow countryman Nicklas Lidstrom currently sits at 54th all-time with 1108 points.

Hopefully for the Senators, he doesn't add to that total in the season opener this Friday.

Senators Finally Get It Right With Barber Pole Look

With the unveiling today of the long awaited (but prematurely leaked) new third jersey, the Ottawa Senators organization finally hit it out of the park.

Everyone with an internet connection already knew what the sweater looked like, but it's an entirely different thing to see the players actually wearing the full uniform with new pants and socks. (Above and below are photos from a gallery at OttawaSenators.com.)

Literally, there is nothing they could improve on it. After mistakenly getting rid of their original black and white uniforms, they trudged through over a decade with different looks, some mediocre, some downright brutal.

But now the organization has finally tapped into exactly what Ottawa fans have yearned for, and that's a sense of tradition to go along with a traditional look that can rival their bigger brothers to the East and West - original sixers Montreal and Toronto.

For way too long, Sens fans have had to wear cartoonish jerseys while Leaf and Hab fans proudly wore some of the most classic and elegant sweaters in all of pro sports. The current Senators have only been around since 1992 but for most of that time, they made no major attempt to connect to the dynasty teams that won 11 Stanley Cups well before most of us were born.

They aggressively promoted that connection on opening night in October 1992 because that was seemingly all they had to point to. But in the intervening years, they never returned to that theme of tradition that some other teams thrived on in their marketing campaigns.

Not to get all psychoanalytical, but Ottawa fans have had a bit of an inferiority complex for too long because they didn't have the tradition the Leafs and Habs have in spades, and they definitely didn't have a sweater they could buy that would give them a true sense of pride in their team.

That's all changed now. Yes, these are only going to be worn 11 times this season, but it doesn't take a shrink to guess that the tide has already shifted and fans will demand, and ultimately get, a corresponding road version of the current red, black and white home "barberpole" jersey. I would be shocked if there aren't already about 50 amateur designs floating around the web right now, especially since the Senators went off the board and recruited an actual fan to help them design the ones they unveiled today.

It took awhile for the organization to "get it", and they've made some missteps along the way. Remember when they quietly got rid of the traditional theme song they always played when the team took to the ice to start a game? Fans flipped out, petitions were started, and they brought it back very quickly and are still using it now. Perhaps that was a bit of a nudge in the right direction. A theme song doesn't seem very important in the big picture, but there were so few traditions that fans could point to and say "this is unique to us and our team", that the theme song debacle became a real flash point for some. It was a small hint that fans were practically begging for more of the same.

The organization got the hint and ran with it. Now they have a separate website completely devoted to Sens history, a much more traditional and classy looking sweater that brings back the barber pole look that practically defines this city's sports identity, and I'm guessing a few more dollars in their pockets because of it. According to the Ottawa Citizen, more than 3000 people had already ordered one before seeing it in person. Not bad coin if you can get it.

Of note on the new third uni: The pants don't have the red and white stripe down the side but they have the "O" logo on the front of one leg and it looks pretty sharp. They also didn't mess around with the socks and went with thick red and white stripes.

Like I said, couldn't do it any better.

Konopka Still Fighting For A Roster Spot

Right now it's looking 50/50 for new Senator Zenon Konopka to make the top 12 right out of the gate, for a variety of different reasons.

One, he had a slow camp with a minor injury that bothered him in the early going. Two, the Senators already had too many NHL forwards before Mika Zibanejad and Stephane Da Costa showed up and opened some eyes, likely forcing management to keep them around for a longer look. Three, the team is also overbooked at the centre position. Four, they aren't lacking toughness up front with Chris Neil and Zack Smith being regulars (and the league's top heavyweight Matt Carkner on the blueline, although he's also being bothered by injury which has slowed his camp showing).

But I'm betting Konopka will outright work his way onto this team once he gets his chance and shows what he's all about. Training camp isn't where you judge a guy like Konopka's value. He'll be a major spark for this team in the dog days of the season just like he was in Tampa and Long Island where he was very popular. Nobody likes to play against this guy because he's always on, always chirping, always finishing checks, always challenging players bigger than him.

To note: Konopka played all 82 games with the Islanders last year and 74 games with the Lightning the year before. He's an NHL regular, not a guy clinging on to a career.

There's also that comment coach Paul MacLean made when he was first hired that he liked "tough teams" and that he's already talked glowingly about Konopka for his faceoff abilities and highly recommended him to GM Bryan Murray. To me, it sounds like Konopka is one of MacLean's "guys" but that's really just an educated guess. For all I know, Konopka might be eating a lot of popcorn in the pressbox in October.

Somehow, I don't think so.

Konopka has had some memorable run-ins with the Senators in the past and here's a few of them:

Konopka vs. Chris Neil Dec. 2008

Most bizarre moment is when the colour commentator for Tampa says "Konopka likes long fights. Neil doesn't. This is one of the first times I've seen Neil drop his gloves". That's like saying the Germans don't like David Hasselhoff - empirically untrue. Regardless of the broadcast shenanigans, I'm sure Neil and Konopka have already reminisced fondly about this epic battle from a few years ago.



Konopka vs. Chris Phillips Oct. 2009

Zenon gives out a late shot as the buzzer goes and Chris Phillips goes on the attack, but watch Neil just dying to get in there at Konopka. It's really rare to see Phillips this angry as he's usually the picture of calm and stability back there, even when it gets hairy. Not the best fist thrower though. A little noodly.



Konopka vs Neil Oct. 2009

Just a few games later, Neil finally gets at Konopka. This one ends contentiously (how can a fight not be contentious from the start, you might ask?) when Konopka gets upset about a late punch thrown from Neil.



Konopka is going to be a fun player to watch in Ottawa this year. This guy has a presence as an agitator, but one who will do anything for his teammates. In a way, he's the de facto replacement for Jarkko Ruutu (who wasn't in his agitating prime while in Ottawa) but with the added bonus of being a faceoff ace.

Konopka is the forgotten forward right now, but Sens fans will be familiar with his style soon enough.

Rookies Had A Good Run In The Spotlight, But It's Time For The Vets To Take Over

There was a telling moment in tonight's final pre-season game for the Senators just after Daniel Alfredsson buried a perfect wrist shot past Tim Thomas to tie the game early in the third period. The captain finished his skate by the bench and pointed to goalie Craig Anderson at the lonely end of the ice with a knowing smile on his face.

And that's because right before the captain's clutch goal, Anderson, the most important player this year if the team has any hope of making the playoffs, made a critical pad save from point blank range and stopped the score from tilting 2-0 in favour of the Bruins, who were badly outplaying and outshooting the Sens all night long in their home rink.

The rookies like David Rundblad, Jared Cowen (who played 22 minutes, second only to Sergei Gonchar) and Mika Zibanejad finished out the pre-season strong, but the Sens won this game on the backs of the veterans and now the focus is going to shift accordingly starting next week against the Red Wings.

No more fretting about whether this player or that rookie is ready. They'll be ready or they won't be around long enough to commiserate about it. Exhibition game heroes are quickly forgotten if they're playing in the AHL or in Europe by November.

When the puck finally drops on the season, it's going to be all about Alfredsson, Anderson, Spezza, Gonchar and the other vets who have to drag this team back to respectability. The Senators are currently a joke among most pundits around the league who don't even feel the need to explain why they pick the Sens to finish dead last. To them, it's a gimme, an easy prediction pick from the hockey gods.

But I don't know. I have a feeling about Anderson. It just seems like the Senators are due for some good luck with their goalies. The Sens still seem a little soft on defense, especially if Matt Carkner is starting the year off with a nagging injury and Filip Kuba still looking "off" somehow, but Anderson seems like a goalie who can thrive off a lot of shots like he did tonight against the dominant Bruins.

It doesn't take many of those kinds of grinding, opportunistic wins for a team to start accumulating points that all the so called experts don't think they deserve.

***

Here's an interesting take from Tony Gallagher of Post Media about where the game could be headed in the future if the crusade for world peace continues (or rampages) on at its current, soul-annihilating pace:

"This may take a couple of years to come about, but once a significant number of stars have received stiff suspensions ... you will eventually see a reduction in not only illegal hits, but hits period. How far will it go? Well of course nobody knows. Will it get as bad as the all-star game for instance? That’s unlikely, but let’s be clear here, the players are going to be on board with this and for very good reason.

Anything that’s going to reduce the risks of playing the game for big money is going to be welcomed by the majority of players. Hell, why get the crap kicked out of you when you can cruise around the ice without getting hit? Talk about heaven. They’ll essentially be playing Rec league hockey for millions if the hitting is really curtailed and what player wouldn’t be thrilled about that. You get all the rewards without having to take any of the risks. It’s player paradise."

Never thought of that angle. I think it's a valid, if humourous point but I'm going on a hunch here that you, dear reader, will strongly, strongly disagree.

Let The Kids Play ... And More On Brian Lee's Resurrection

A few quick notes on the second to last pre-season game for the Senators:

You couldn't say just two games ago that Mika Zibanejad was a lock to make this team. You can't really say it now either, but we're getting closer. Two games, two sickening highlight reel goals (tonight he batted one out of mid-air), and some big bodychecks have put Zibanejad in a good spot with just one game to go until the hard decisions get made. It probably helped his cause that Peter Regin left against the Leafs with what looked like a hurt shoulder. While Regin (who looked great in camp) can't seem to get any luck, Zibanejad doesn't need any. He already chews his mouthpiece like an NHLer and he's getting pretty good at the fly-by high fives at the bench after goals. Now he needs to work on actually winning a faceoff, but that will come in good time. He may or may not be this year's Jeff Skinner, but it's undeniable that Zibanejad is fun to watch and he doesn't look overwhelmed so far. He sometimes looks like a rookie, but then again he sometimes looks like Peter Forsberg if you've had a couple of beers and a shot of Drambuie. The Senators might as well roll with him to see what else he can do.....

...... In fact, why not play all the kids for at least the first couple weeks of the season? So far in camp, it's the kids who have provided most of the fun moments, from Jared Cowen (who's a lock anyways) to Zibanejad to David Rundblad (as stunned as he looks at certain moments). The Sens are well under the cap so they can afford to carry the max amount of players for a stretch of time. It will mean some vets will sit and they won't be happy with that, but it will also keep the level of competition high within that locker room and bring out the beast in everybody. Don't ask me which vets will sit - Nick Foligno actually looked pretty good tonight - but injuries may very well dictate in the end anyways.....

....... I've been hard on poor Brian Lee in this space the last couple of seasons, and for good reason I might add. But good play is good play, and Lee has been much better ever since getting out of Cory Clouston's doghouse late last season and into training camp under Paul MacLean (as I'm reminded regularly by readers and co-workers). I still don't buy this "shutdown defenseman" talk, simply because Lee has not shown he can be physical enough to really play that role the way it should be done, but he's starting to show he can be a dependable player because he could always skate well and he's making pretty good decisions with the puck. He also has some untapped offensive ability that he showed when he first caught on in Ottawa. Maybe I'm dead wrong and he does earn a regular role this year. If Lee and Rundblad keep getting better, Matt Carkner and Filip Kuba could lose some games, but Carkner would only be made expendable if Jared Cowen turns into this team's crease clearer on the blueline. They need sandpaper and size back there, preferably in more than one player, and that's something that Lee and Kuba won't be able to provide. Injuries may end up deciding who starts the year in the top six, but, begrudgingly, I have to give respect to Lee who is turning into quite a feel-good story after almost being left at the curb last year. I hope he pulls it off, but label me still skeptical for now........

....... Of the three college kids who signed their first one-way contracts this summer - Bobby Butler, Colin Greening and Erik Condra - only Butler has failed to show up so far in these exhibition games. Condra had at least one really good game and has been consistent in the others. Greening is getting better after a slow start, but Butler has been pretty much invisible so far. He was better tonight while playing with Jason Spezza, the centre who helped him to so much success last year, but Butler needs to get going. In case he hasn't noticed, the Sens have way too many forwards who could play in the NHL. He's one of them, but he needs to show the coaching staff he's got his hands working.......

........ Again, let me point out another indicative Nikita Filatov play. The guy opens the third period with a great scoring chance which James Reimer saves off his shoulder and Filatov ends up deep in the offensive zone as the puck begins to go the other way. By the time the puck is back in the Sens zone, Filatov has beaten every other Sens forward back across the blueline backchecking. For all the that's happened in the past, Filatov has showed up to play in Ottawa and he's not taking any shortcuts. Stephen Harper should lock up Bryan Murray in one of his new "super prisons" for absolutely stealing this kid from poor befuddled Scott Howson......

....... Sens management has been effusive in their praise for defenseman Mark Borowiecki and his future as a shutdown blueliner for this team in the next few years. That enthusiasm reminds me of how they were once very high on Zack Smith before he broke through and became a regular forward. Seeing how steady Smith was last year and now in camp where he is tearing it up, that could bode well for "Borocop" in a couple of years. Maybe even some games this year if injuries take their toll. You can already feel the rumblings from management that they have another steal in prospect Mark Stone as well. And then there's Jean-Gabriel Pageau. The Murray's just love those mid to late round guys who end up making them look smart. Who wouldn't?.......

..... Really like the 20th Anniversary logo at centre ice this year at the Kanata barn - much slicker than the too large, dark blotch of the 3-D with the red line through it from past seasons - but I imagine that they will be installing the All-Star game logo at some point in mid-season. Here's a question: Do arena staff just cut out the centre portion of ice, repaint the logo and then re-make the ice in just that one spot? Do they just drop the patch of ice they cut out back in there and patch it up? For some reason, that kind of thing keeps me up at nights......

The Wayback Machine - OttawaSenators.com

Back when the Senators first got their own website in 1996, us internet newbies were somewhat astonished at our sudden access to so much team info. I mean, they had a schedule of games up, a roster listing and players favourite foods. Sens nerds freaked. It was heaven if you could actually connect to the internet with dial-up and withstand the screeching of the modem. Actually, the early Sens site offered up only a fraction of what you can get there now but I once wasn't able to walk or wipe my own ass, so everybody starts humble.

Anyways, courtesy of the Wayback Machine, here's a pictorial look at OttawaSenators.com main page over the years (click on images for bigger size). Note: If you go to OttawaSenators.com on this site, you'll notice that quite a few of the pages still have workable links to other parts of the site at that time. You can spend hours in there, like that movie The Cube.

November 1996: Note the "Senators Moving To The Corel Centre" still under the Breaking News section. They moved to the "Palladium" in January of 96. Slow news year.

December 1997: The Sens have yet to put a player on their main page but they do manage to get the Damian Rhodes mask up, ostensibly because it says "The Net" and this whole internet thing was still in its honeymoon phase. "It's Time To Browse!".

February 1999: Here's a glimpse at a player profile page, Ottawa's own Jason York who, when asked what stick he uses, said "branches".

October 1999: The first fairly cool looking main page the Sens had. I remember this one well. Not sure who that player really is, but I used to think it was Radek Bonk.

December 2000: Back then it was big news that Daniel Alfredsson, Marian Hossa and Radek Bonk were opening up e-mail accounts, as noted on the front page here. Now it's Twitter. In 15 years? Time machine apps.

November 2001: Of the 9 names on the Best Coach In The NHL Poll, only 3 are head coaches today, soon to be 2 (guess who?).

November 2002: Sharp looking banner with Martin Havlat, Patrick Lalime, Wade Redden and the captain, but not the best slogan the Sens have gone with. "Be a Fan!".

March 2003:  March 24 - Senators recall Brian Pothier from Binghamton.

October 2005: The main bit of news that day was the Sens lost their first game of the pre-season. Their record stood at 6-1-0. Those were the days. Dominik Hasek looked pretty good in a Sens uni.

March 2006: The Senators started to use splash pages around this time and they went with a great design here with the Big Z. This was when they were still using their original 2-D logo on the white jerseys and on merch. One day they will realize how good of a logo they actually had and resurrect it in some way. I'd give it 10-15 years.

That's about as far back into the future as we will venture today.

Except for this: Black Aces circa 2005. (It takes a bit to load. Just hit "Impatient" and it will load right away) Looks messy because it was messy.

Rethink On Rundblad

It was only a few days ago that I wrote in this very space David Rundblad was beginning to backslide out of a roster spot and that he'd have to turn it around in a very short timespan to stay in Ottawa to start the year.

Cue the comeback

Today's game was basically a washout for the fatigued looking Senators, but Rundblad really opened my eyes for the first time since rookie camp where I commented quite early that I thought he looked like an NHL player. Of course, rookie camp is an easy time to get suckered into thinking prospects are ready by playing against other prospects who are clearly not.

That certainly rang true as the first stretch of exhibition games showed a clearly hesitant and possibly over-thinking Rundblad who, while pretty good in the offensive zone when he had clear possession of the puck, was also too passive and a step behind the play when defending and reacting to changes in possession.

Not the case today in St. Johns, especially in the third period when Rundblad quickly became the best player on the ice for both teams, excelling during the power play and starting the break outs with ease. Now, it's nothing to get too excited over just yet. Rundblad still has a long road ahead of him to displace a veteran on a one-way contract, but he may very well get the minimum amount of games to start the season before the Senators really have to make a decision on him. And by then he might have solidified his spot due to either injury to another d-man or just old fashioned good play. All they'll want to see is steady improvement in order to keep him around. Today was a good first step for Rundblad. Better late than never.

The game itself was pretty much a bore, maybe because it started at 4 pm Eastern as the majority of us were just getting off work or close to it. I guess that's what PVR's are made for, but now I wish I hadn't bothered to tape the first period and actually sit through it.

Every exhibition season there comes a game when players hit a wall, even the guys desperately trying to make the team. Today seemed like that game in some respects.

Jared Cowen continued his steady and sure progress towards a roster spot, Daniel Alfredsson had some jump and was the best all-around forward for Ottawa as he continues to overcome his back injury, while Mika Zibanejad provided another one of his stunning moments in an otherwise pedestrian game for him. He corralled a loose puck, calmly pulled it to his backhand around Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec right outside the crease and then tossed it in on his forehand, something only a real goal scorer is able to do down low like that.

Zibanejad, just like Rundblad, is not done here yet and remains a candidate to stick around, if only for the first 10 games of the season to see how he does when the tempo gets turned up. Zibanejad has the size, the hands and will to stick, but he just has to get it all together in one package. That could take time, or it could happen tomorrow.

Today's game offered no answers. Just more questions.

2 Pool Spots Now Open

Two people have yet to follow through with joining the Black Aces hockey pool so those spots are now opening up for whoever is interested. It's a Yahoo rotisserie-style league and the online draft is this Tuesday at 8 pm.

The categories are Goals, Assists, PP Points, SH points, PIM's, and for goalies it's Wins, Save % and Shutouts.

It's always a good time so email me at jeremymilks@hotmail.com if you want an invite. I'll send out the invites by Monday night at the latest.

Rundblad Losing Grip On Roster Spot

It's not decision time yet for coach Paul MacLean and GM Bryan Murray, but the Senators are set to enter the home stretch of training camp on Monday afternoon in St. John's against the Jets and a few prospects are running out of steam before the final push.

It's starting to become clear that David Rundblad just isn't going to be ready to start the season in the NHL. The word on the young Swede was promising and he showed great flashes in rookie camp, but so far in exhibition games he seems to be backsliding instead of improving. He's actually pretty good once he has the puck set up in the offensive zone, like on the power play, but the flow of the game is proving to be a little quicker than he is. You have to like his calmness and low-panic level, but the dial may be turned too much the wrong way. He's getting beat to pucks and doesn't seem to anticipate just how fast the counter attack will be once the Senators lose the puck.

Yet nobody should be throwing in the towel on the season for this kid just yet. If he decides to stay in North America, he'll get a chance to get some games in, much like Erik Karlsson did in his rookie year. Karlsson was better than Rundblad at this point in their careers but Rundblad's size and calmness may make up for that as the season goes on and he gets more comfortable.

If this all goes down like it looks it's going to, you can already see the Senators defense taking shape here. Jared Cowen is going to make it. No doubt anymore. He's ready to go. That would leave the Sens with Chris Phillips, Sergei Gonchar, Erik Karlsson, Matt Carkner, Cowen and Filip Kuba as their top six with Brian Lee ready to fill in from the press box (no chance Lee supplants Carkner in the lineup like I've heard some suggest).

It will be a slight disappointment that Rundblad isn't truly ready because that means the defense is almost the same as it was last season with Cowen swapping in for Chris Campoli. Fingers were likely crossed that Rundblad would provide that extra offensive weapon back there but a comeback season from Gonchar and a continued improvement from Karlsson (who is primed to break out big time) will compensate for Rundblad being in the AHL.

As a last point on Rundblad, even if he goes back to Sweden, it really shouldn't be thought of as a major step back. It would be much preferable for him to stay in the smaller North American rinks but that's still a really good league in Sweden and he'll be playing against men once again. He won't develop as strongly as he would here, but he would still be getting better nonetheless. He'll be a player sooner than later. Fans need to be patient.