Short post tonight.

Habs coach Guy Carbonneau said that he was going to play Jaroslav Halak until he lost a game. Does this mean David Aebischer is getting their next start? Or does that rule only apply when Cristobal Huet comes back.

In any case, the boys hit the century point mark with their win tonight against the Habs. The boys had a very strong game against a team that is still struggling to clinch a playoff spot. They kept the pressure on and took advantage of their chances. Also Ray Emery made an absolutely ridiculous and perhaps one of the most luckiest saves ever on Mark Streit. The goal posts were probably his best friends tonight as the Habs kept on ringing them off the iron.

Mike Fisher had a strong game with two goals and an assist and Mike Comrie had a goal and two assists. I suppose the trend of the boys winning with Wade Redden in the line-up continues.

Fifty! Fifty!
- Dany Heatley is slowly but surely inching towards the 50-goal mark with an empty netter. Vincent Lecavalier got his 50th notch tonight against the hurricanes. I hate Vinny.

- Emery played his 100th game for the Senators and Peter Schaefer had his 100th assist as a Senator. Dean McAmmond played his 800th career game.

Labels: dany heatley, home win, mike comrie, mike fisher, montreal canadiens, ray emery

I was reading the flurry of articles that came out after Wade Redden's groin injury forced him out of the game against the Bruins on Tuesday, which resulted in an Ottawa Senators loss and some interesting numbers came out:

After Tuesday's loss to the Boston Bruins, the Senators' record without Redden is now 6-11-1.

With him in the lineup, it's 39-13-7.

This can be interpreted in two ways: 1) The team knows that Redden's been struggling lately and has to play a better defensive game to help him out with his confidence. Or, 2) Despite his questionable choices and his poor clearing attempts he is just THAT AMAZINGLY AND UNDENIABLY VALUABLE TO THE TEAM.

Normally, I would lean towards number 2. After all, that's how he has become my [former?] favourite player on the team. Given the recent development that maybe he had been playing hurt all season and that's the reason for his struggles, maybe we were all just being too hard on him. But that's the price you pay for getting such a hefty pay-cheque every season [$6.5 million a year, to be exact].

I don't know what to make of it because I think he brings something to the team beyond good hockey sense. He wears an 'A' for the team and I'd say that it's well-deserved. If ever that gets called into question I just think back to the first playoff series against Tampa that season. Redden was not in the lineup for the second game due to personal reasons and the Senators ended up losing that game. He came back for the third game and went on an absolute tear and was named first star of the series. The second series he too struggled, just like the rest of the team, which was most likely the rush wearing off and him finally coming back down to earth and the weight of everything that had been going on finally sinking in.

It used to be easy to notice the change in the team whenever Redden was on the ice. Whenever the team was down or in a pinch, Murray would send Redden out and everybody would calm down, knowing everything was going to be all right. He has that calm and disciplined presence that's very beneficial to the team. I haven't seen that same effect lately but the numbers with him in and out of the line-up sure is compelling evidence.

I don't want to think of this team without him, should we lose him in a year's time to free agency. I simply can't. He's too much a part of this team's identity. The detractors will say that's the problem. The team needs a new identity if they ever want to win when it counts. But I highly doubt that if he was on the market, there wouldn't be a team out there willing to offer him a very generous contract, despite his struggles as of late. The team has found a way to win despite his struggles yet they continue to stand by him and see his value. That to me is all the indication I need.

However, I could have done without this:

"We're a better team when I'm playing," he said. -- Via Canoe.ca

Come on man, you're killing me here:



News and Notes...
- Dany Heatley missed his second straight practice but will be a go for the game against the Habs tonight. Apparently he tweaked his ankle on some bad ice after a Christina Aguilera/Pussycat Dolls concert the night before. According to Christoph Schubert who was on OTR yesterday, Andrej Meszaros went to that concert. Watch yourself Mesz, you're already in the doghouse!

- NHL says no thanks to Summit Series Revival. Yeah it sort of takes the grandeur and mystery out of it knowing they're not evil commies anymore.

- The Hockey News gives you some indicators that maybe your team ain't going to be in the playoffs:

10 Leading scorer traded for patio set

9 Fewer blood stains, more grass stains

8 Water bottles now filled with Teriyaki marinade

7 Training staff very concerned about your putting stroke

6 Team highlight reel includes baby pictures

Labels: musings, random, silliness, wade redden, waxing poetic

I was going to wait until I got home tonight to make a post, but this article from the Toronto Sun just made me laugh so loud I think people in the lab are wondering whether or not I'm actually doing work.

I'm not, am I ever?

Meet Frank, he died in 2001 at the age of 71 but used to be an FBI agent who became the NHL Chief of Security in 1970. Basically, his job was to scare the young'uns from doing drugs at a party and the dangers of becoming some poor child's baby-daddy.

He came complete with a trench coat and grainy VHS tapes. Oh, he'd wheel the VCR into the middle of the locker room, fiddle with the volume and force players to watch his little fear-mongering vignettes.

Colorado Avalanche defenceman Ken Klee called the acting "terrible." He remembers a scene in which a woman enters a hotel lobby holding a baby and tells the player, "This is your son."

[snip]

Klee also remembers a "scary" scene that involved a player drinking too much and waking up next to some vile woman who was blackmailing the poor dear with photos of him and a naked man. Now that's effective. Nothing like a little homo-eroticism to scare an NHLer straight. -- Rest of Article via TorontoSun.com

So the article is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek and hilarious but good ol' Frank was just trying to help the boys. The divorce rate among professional athletes is around 65% - 70%. That's your fun tidbit of the day.

Anyways, I'll have an actual post up later tonight. I promise!

Well wishes to HG who is going in for surgery today and Christy who is recovering from knee surgery.

Labels: general, hilarity, miscellaneous, off-topic

Not much to say about this game because I had a religious studies paper to write and we had an interesting chat over at Battle of Ontario about electives to take in university and the plight of group work. I will let the sad, but extremely adorable salt and pepper shakers do the talking.

The truth is, I'm not too concerned about this loss because the boys have a nice cushy playoff spot now. Still, it's never easy to see your team lose. They were off to a promising start with Dany Heatley getting the boys on the board early only 55 seconds into the game. The good news is, this bodes well for him repeating another 50-goal season.

The Devils, Penguins and Senators all have the same number points but since the Devils won their game tonight as well, they stay second in the conference. The Senators are still fourth since they have more wins over Pittsburgh.

For those who care about the Eastern conference playoff race, the Leafs rolled over the 'Canes, 6-1, Jersey won over the Isles, Florida won over Tampa and it looks like the Rangers will lose to the Habs.

Notes and Stuff...
- Wade Redden was a scratch for an alleged "lower body injury". If you haven't figured it out, we've been on a break for awhile and if the reason he's been playing crappy was because his groin never healed properly, than he definitely should sit out. However, if he can come back and go on a tear and make a big impact, he'll be amazing for the team.

- Zdeno Chara was warmly greeted by a sold out crowd at Scotiabank Place with a chorus of boos.

That's it, and if I can't do any smack talking, I'll let Happy Bunny do it:

Labels: boston bruins, dany heatley, home loss, loss

Milo Ventimiglia and Hayden Panettiere from the show 'Heroes' with the Stanley Cup


^{Milo: What is this strange, silvery thing?
Hayden: Ooooh shiny, must have! Preciousssss...
Milo: No, Hayden! It might explode!}

Picture and more can be found here.

Sorry by my apparent lack of real posts lately but it's coming down to the stretch drive both for the boys and for school so posts are sort of quick and sparse lately.

In happier [?] news, the CBC gets to keep Hockey Night in Canada until 2014:

As part of the new deal, the CBC will maintain exclusive Canadian coverage of NHL games on Saturday nights, including traditional doubleheaders and more regional telecasts.

The CBC also retains exclusive Canadian coverage of the Stanley Cup Final, the NHL All-Star Game and the annual NHL Awards, and continued coverage of Canadian teams in the playoffs, ensuring national coverage of all Canadian clubs involved in the post-season.

Also, a multimedia package including live and on-demand video streaming of all CBC's hockey broadcasts will be available online at CBC.ca in the near future. That means fans in Canada will be able to watch any Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on CBC.ca, regardless of what game is being broadcasted in their area of the country.

The A-Channel Senators Primetime Player Profiles are up on their website. Did you know that Dany Heatley is a history major? And that Wade Redden is a part-owner of a company that makes Wakeboarding equipment?

Addendum at 8:04 PM - Thanks to the Toronto Star, I now know more about Mats Sundin than I cared to. He's available, ladies! I think this is the appropriate time to bring this out again:

Labels: cbc, celebrities, general, hockey night in canada, off-topic, silliness, stanley cup

I am so proud of my housemate G as her devotion to the Senators has prompted her to buy the new special edition Gatorade that is out. The labels features all 6 Canadian teams with a couple of hockey cards thrown into the mix. There aren't any Leafs ones in the pictures and it wasn't even my doing. When I came back from the weekend they both happened to be gone:






If G is willing to part with them, the hockey cards were of Daniel Sedin and Daymond Lankow. Any takers? I only drink the orange Gatorade as well so I think I'll just drink the stuff and send the label to Jordi.

Labels: general, marketing, miscellaneous, random, silliness

^{Dany Heatley says: 'Can't Touch This!'}

Dear boys, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for peaking at the right time.

The Ottawa Senators concluded the last game of their mini-road trip in Tampa today and gave the Lightning a right-shellacking. After the game was tied 2-2 off of a goal by Dan Boyle [his second of the night], the Senators offence awakened and the boys laid 5 unanswered goals to cruise to a victory.

The unfortunate thing was that this game started at 7:30 p.m. while the Buffalo vs. Toronto game started at 7:00 p.m. but CBC wasn't carrying this game. Dang it!

Heatley probably realized that he was never going to reach another 50-goal season if he didn't you know, start scoring goals again and pitched in with two tallies tonight. Dean McAmmond is continuing his strong play and making himself a nice campaign as to why the Senators should keep him around with a goal tonight as well. Joe Corvo and Patrick Eaves are making their way out of the deep, dark vortex that is Bryan Murray's doghouse and both had very strong games. I guess that means Oh Nose Freakin' Saprykin can look forward to more visits to the pressbox.

The best player on the night was probably Christoph Schubert, the man was +4 on the evening and only had 8:25 in ice-time tonight. He had a goal and two assists tonight which was good enough to be named first star. Way to go, Schubie!

All in all, this kind of play is promising to get set for a long play-off run. The boys are playing very smart, disciplined hockey and kept the offense and chances coming despite being up a couple of goals. To be fair, they did benefit from some weak goaltending on Tampa's part as Marc Denis was not having a good game and was chased after letting in 5 of 23. Johan Holmqvist was scratched with the flu and Kari Rammo let in 2 of 5 shots in relief of Denis.


This and That...
- With the win, the Senators have clinched their 10th playoff appearance.

- Whenever Heatley scores, I have Stuntman Stu's voice announcing it in my head: "Dany HHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!"

- The boys will play the next two games at the Bank against the Bruins and Canadiens before going on the road to face the Isles and Devils. Their second last game will be against Pittsburgh at home and their final game of the season will be against the Bruins in Boston.

- Here's a nice little gem to end your night on a high note. Thanks to somebody's craft video editing skills, here is the infamous Martin Gerber slash on Chris Phillips. Big thanks to Bethany for finding this one.



And as promised, here is the new Gatorade commercial with Sidney Crosby. Who knew his brain was really a balding middle-aged man. Thanks to Robert L of Eyes on the Prize for this one:



Good night, my dears!

Labels: christoph schubert, dany heatley, dean mcammond, joe corvo, patrick eaves, road win, tampa bay lightning, win

Gold star for whoever gets the subject reference.

If you'll notice, we have a new layout up and running. If you happened upon the site last night it was probably up for 2 hours before I got crazy nostalgic and actually started to miss my old layout. I don't know, we've been through some good times, we have!

But anyways, I figured it was time to move on and to celebrate the new layout, here's Daniel Alfredsson beating up Doug Gilmour.



Thanks to Aurora for finding the clip.

Speaking of Swedish people, Ingmar "W" Bergman has a very hilarious and absolutely non-cliched filled interview with an Anonymous Swedish NHL Hockey Player. I posited the theory that it might be Alfie because he knows the labour process very well, isn't very tall and Alfie does on occasion show signs of a somewhat questionable sense of humour.

It inspired me to make this:



Except you know, you can switch the colour scheme for the appropriate fandom.

Labels: daniel alfredsson, general, miscellaneous, off-topic, random, silliness, silly admin business

Originally, I had this really long-winded post about the state of the Senators today, whether or not they were ready for the playoffs, yaddy-yaddy-yadda.

And then blogger ate my post. I hope you're satisfied, BLOGGER! Actually, I more or less blame the Internet in Mississauga. Thanks alot, ISP.

So then I decided to take a stroll through YouTube to find those Senators PrimeTime Player Profiles that A-Channel played during intermission on their game broadcasts. Unfortunately, I think somebody learned how to work the levers of the Internet and made people take them down

Instead, I present to you some of the Senators' greatest hits. They're both oldies, but goodies. I'll see if I can recover most of my actual post after dinner. In the meantime, start your weekend on a high, funny note!

Raj Binder meets the Ottawa Senators:


Mike Fisher takes on Darcy Tucker


There's also a new Sidney Crosby commercial out for Gatorade. This one is about a billion times more complex and unnecessary. Basically, it takes place in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Crosby is leading a rush into the offensive zone and we are taken into Crosby's "brain" and the complex processes the little magical hockey fairies that make up said brain go through to tell him what to do. Yes, it really is as ridiculous as it sounds. I'm sure it'll be up on YouTube sooner or later so we can fully appreciate its ridiculousity.

In Actual Senators' News...
The boys can clinch a playoff spot with a win tomorrow against Tampa.

Labels: blogger might hate me, general, mike fisher, miscellaneous, off-topic, raj binder, random, sidney crosby

The Senators made it a season series sweep in their last game against the Panthers today, winning this contest 4-2. The boys came out strong today, jumping out to a 4-0 lead early, chasing Panthers starter Ed Belfour from the net after only 9 shots from the Senators.

The boys made the most of their chances early. Patrick Eaves is making a strong case for himself for Bryan Murray NOT to banish him to the press box anymore with a goal and an assist. Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley broke their point scoring drought with a strong game. I've also been impressed with Dean McAmmond's play. He's been contributing when it counts and making the most of his ice time.

Yes, the Senators did let the Panthers get close with two unanswered but it's nice to know that a 4-goal lead is generally safe for the Senators.

In this edition of 'Who the Senators are Alienating Now...'
Bryan Murray says "I ain't no lyin' man!" and Sidney Crosby says: "Up Yours, Old Guy!". Or something to that effect.

- Finish the sentence with Ray Emery. He's so tough, he doesn't even need to close his eyes when he sleeps.

- Peter Schaefer likes to train in the mountains.

A Little Bit of History...
A nice blurb from the Ottawa Senators website:

On Tuesday, Senators defenceman Wade Redden and forward Peter Schaefer were unveiled as two of the Top 40 players in Brandon Wheat Kings history. Fans voted Redden as the second-best player, behind high-scoring left-winger Brian Propp, to ever skate with the Western Hockey League team. The WHL’s top rookie in 1993-94, Redden played three years in Brandon, scoring 27 goals and 153 points in 178 games.

While Redden cracked the Top 10, Schaefer was among the next 30 former Wheat Kings who were not ranked in the vote. Over four seasons in Brandon, Schaefer scored 124 goals and 291 points in 200 games. He was named to the Canadian Hockey League all-star team in his final year in 1996-97.

Well...that's a nice confidence boost, I guess.

Something in the Water?
The amount of people being taken off on stretchers isn't anything less but disconcerting. For those who missed it, here's last night's tilt between Colton Orr and Todd Fedoruk. Fedoruk took a vicious punch to the head and got knocked out right away.

Labels: bryan murray, dany heatley, florida panthers, jason spezza, patrick eaves, peter schaefer, ray emery, road win, sidney crosby, this is getting ridiculous, win

A.K.A. Murray vs. Murray

I'm not going to lie guys, the score probably should have been much different than this. And it's been awhile since we've actually been the beneficiaries of absolutely horrid officiating, since it's the general belief that bad officiating hurts us all! But dang, did the referees and video review guys all collectively decide to take a nap on the job or something?

If you guys haven't seen the highlights by now, what are you waiting for? Basically, two Blues goals that clearly did cross the goal line were both disallowed for any x,y,z, number of reasons you can think of. The first one was disallowed because the refs thought that Gerber made the save, but the replay showed the puck clearly crossed the line. Both teams thought that Gerber made the save and went right ahead to line up for a face-off. Play resumed but then 33 seconds later, the referees and video goal judge decided to review the play. However, the goal was deemed unreviewable which means the goal didn't count.

According to Rule 78.6, once a game has restarted following a stoppage of play -- in this case when Gerber held onto the puck -- a replay can't award or disallow a goal.

So, essentially, the review of the goal was just a way for everyone to say: "Why yes, the referees DID in fact SCREW IT UP". Nice.

Mr. Magoo said that the puck did indeed cross the line but since the play had already continued, they couldn't award a goal. Again, nice.

The second disputed goal came about a minute later when the referees said that the puck was covered before it crossed the goal line and the refs had already blown the whistle. Magoo said that Martin Gerber already had the puck covered but David Backes used his stick to push Gerber's glove over the line so it shouldn't count. I only saw the replay once, so I wouldn't know if that's true or not. But dang, the Blues sure got the butt end of everything last night.

Despite all of the controversy, the boys saw very solid play from their 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines. The top line was kept off the scoresheet completely and the PK was awesome with Chris Kelly and Antoine Vermette both pitching in short-handed goals. In a recent poll of Globe Sports writers, Kelly was 6th in voting for early considerations for the Frank J. Selke award for best defensive forward. I guess he's upping his campaigning efforts.

To further the "absolutely weird" quotient of this game, when the Blues were carrying the puck into the zone, the puck was sliding by the Senators bench. Vermette, who was sitting on the bench at the time, reached over the boards and started sweeping at the ice with his stick like he was curling or something. Isn't that a penalty of some sort? Bench Interference?

Anyways, here are the two disputed goals. You can judge for yourself but even I'm willing to concede the Blues got majorly screwed:





Oh Bryan Murray, you magnificent bastard:

"I have to tell you, I don't have a lot of sympathy," Senators coach Bryan Murray said.

Technically with this win, Gerber hasn't lost his last 5 starts in regulation. Does this mean we have a goalie controversy now?

Seriously guys though, silliest game ever? Although congratulations to the Senators for winning in St. Louis for the first time in uh...8 years.

Labels: antoine vermette, bryan murray, martin gerber, road win, st. louis blues, this is getting ridiculous

Ray Emery is on the cover of The Hockey News this week. Get yours now!

I'm catching up on my Sens Underground episodes and was delighted yet extremely surprised to hear them reading my e-mail in their Podcast. Had I known it was going to be all over the Intra-webs, I would have tried harder to be wittier. Thanks, guys!

In Disciplinary News...
Colin Campbell gave the Wheel a spin and it had landed on a 5 game suspension for Jordin Tootoo punching Stephane Robidas. The decision came down late this afternoon.

Here's a number of things to consider:
- It was horrible to see Robidas taken off on a stretcher, but he was the one who skated in after Tootoo checked Modano looking to start something.

- Tootoo should have protected himself, but was a punch to the head really necessary? If Robidas was making a motion to start throwing some punches, Tootoo could have just raised his stick or his hands to protect himself. The fact is, he threw the first punch and I understand something like that can only be reactionary but it still stands that he gave the man a concussion.

- Is anybody counting steamboats for how long it was Modano already let go of the puck before Tootoo came in? Tootoo got a double-minor for roughing on Robiads but no penalty for the hit on Modano.

Quote of the Day...
Goes to my housemate G: The Union Market at school gives away free coffee for the first 10 people to answer their daily trivia question. Today's question was:

"Who is the star of the movie '300'?"

G: Martin Brodeur?

Hey, if the trailer is any indication, that's not technically wrong.

Labels: general, jordin tootoo, miscellaneous, publicity, ray emery, suspension, wheel of justice

That's from the movie I watched tonight, gold star if you get it. Congrats to Elly for knowing that Boondocks Saints was my St. Patty's Day movie.

Unfortunately, it's all too indicative of our shoot-out woes. Have we ever scored in a shoot-out? Like ever?

Despite the actual outcome of the game, I don't think it's enough to panic. The boys had to play catch-up pretty much the whole entire game. Not because the Pens were necessarily out playing them, more so because Ray Emery wasn't having a very strong game. The Senators out-shot the Penguins 35-19 but couldn't get enough past Marc-Andre Fleury.

Wade Redden is making an impassioned plea to get back in our good books as he scored the tying goal in regulation with only 5 minutes left in the game to force OT. Antoine Vermette ended his goal-scoring drought and Sidney Crosby finally got his first career goal against the Senators. Maybe Emery wasn't that strong in net but he did stop Crosby in the shoot-out. Jarkko Ruutu scored the lone shootout goal that stood up to be the winner. I'm still holding on to the hope that the extremely important league officials that obviously read this blog will take my advice to scrap the shootout and just go for a dance-off to decide ties.

So for those keeping track, with the win the Penguins are now tied with the Senators for fourth in the East since the boys did pick up a point tonight. The Senators are still seated as 4th because of a higher win percentage. Is it too much to hope for that the Pens leap-frog the Devils in the Atlantic so we don't face them in the first round? Not that the Devils are any easier but I'm frankly a little frightened by the Penguins right now. And I have about 18 of them sitting in the living room ready to feast on me.

Hockey Night in the House...
- TSN had Kings vs. Ducks on the Tube tonight and we were watching bits and parts of it. We can make fun of the Kings all that we want now but they've got the makings of a very good team in the future.

- For all of those who voted in the Onrait vs. Duthie Wit-Off, thanks! And your official winner is James Duthie. He will be taking on Greg Ross of Sportsnet on another slow hockey day over here at Scarlett Ice HQ.

Labels: antoine vermette, los angeles kings, pittsburgh penguins, ray emery, road loss, shoot-out loss, wade redden

Meaning Jordin Tootoo should remember he's not a boxer and Stephane Robidas' head is not a punching bag.



Maybe hockey will be on ESPN again!

And the St. Louis Blues should stick to hockey and not the other Canadian national sport, curling:



"HAS ANYONE SEEN MY GROIN?". Brilliant.

Jordi, if you miss Ville... he makes an appearance.



Will add to this post later if I'm not lazy or studying...

Labels: jordin tootoo, miscellaneous, random, silliness, st.louis blues, this is getting ridiculous

Gold star for the movie reference.

You know what's weird? Usually when HNIC is on my housemates and I plant ourselves in front of the T.V. and play some drinking games. Given that it was St. Patrick's Day it would have been the perfect excuse to drink but today we actually opted not to. We like doing things against the grain I guess.





The Senators were at home to the Flyers tonight before the start of a long road trip. They were looking to sweep their season series against the Flyers today and did just that. However, it wasn't the strongest game from the boys but they got secondary scoring from their second and third lines.

Mike Comrie was one of the few players using the Pink Stick during the game for Tribute to Hockey Moms weekend and tallied a goal tonight. Just as he did last year. Joe Corvo seems to be getting his confidence back as he played a much stronger game tonight.

Martin Gerber is now 8-0-2 in his last 10 starts and was also in goal for the previous games against the Flyers and managed to get another win. It's encouraging to see that he's able to be reliable back-up and give Ray Emery a much needed break. We're going to need to be firing on all cylinders for our tilt against Pittsburgh tomorrow.

Bits and Bytes...
- Dany Heatley's scoring streak ended at 16 games.

- Derian Hatcher, yes that Derian Hatcher, has now scored twice in his last two games.

- Don Cherry talked about the Pink Sticks campaign today before the game. He mentioned that the campaign was in memory of Phyllis Gretzky and he added "...for Rose". Made me misty-eyed a little. Over 500 players in the league played or warmed-up with the Pink Sticks this weekend as part of the second annual Tribute to Hockey Moms for Breast Cancer research. You can bid on these sticks to support breast cancer research on this eBay page.



To celebrate St. Patty's day I dyed my hair red and watched the movie where the quote comes from. Now I'm off to bake chocolate cupcakes.

Labels: don cherry, home win, mike comrie, philadelphia flyers, win

If you guys didn't know already, I'm somewhat of a nerd and I think my Jhonen Vasquez references more than confirms this

Margee, the gorgeous and talented genius behind SportSquee allowed me to get my fangirl on and I am proud to say I am the SportSquee's Featured Fangirl of March. It's high on extreme fangirliness content!

Miscellaneous...
Facing Off: Q&A with Jordan Staal. According to Jordan, their youngest brother Jared is the biggest Mama's Boy:

Q: Which of the four of you is the biggest mama's boy?

A: Everyone says it is me, but I have to say it's my little brother [Jared]. He was always that little brat that goes screaming to mom after we don't even touch him, so I would have to say him.

As someone who is actually the youngest in her family, "don't even touch [him/her]" translates into: "Keeps in a headlock until oxygen is no longer available".

- Some Leafers Get their "game faces" on. If Ottawa is the city fun forgot, as many Leaf Fans like to remark, then Darcy Tucker is obviously the man fun forgot. I did sort of enjoy Wade Belak's comment about Matt Stajan though.

- I'm sure many of you have seen the Flames picture where Dion Phaneuf and Mikka Kiprusoff is doing their best pimp impressions, but the Theory of Ice Editorial Staff has probably the best commentary on it.

- The Battle of Ontario is getting into the merchandising trade and is asking those who are artistically inclined to submit some Leafs/Senators themed shirt designs. I was supposed to be studying for a mid-term this week but a couple of nights ago in moments of extreme procrastination I decided to whip up some designs inspired by the Razor vs. Razor battle. I really don't like how these turned out since I only spent a couple of minutes on them. With the picture of the razor, it actually looks a little emo-ish to me. Now, I can certainly see Andrew "Nobody Loves Me" Raycroft getting his emo boy on, but Ray "The REAL Razor" Emery needs something by far more ghetto-fabulous. Thus the inclusion of the word "Bitches" in his design.





Uh....about that studying.

Labels: jordan staal, miscellaneous, off-topic, sherry needs a life, silliness, squee

Gold star for whoever gets the song reference. Come on, this one's easy!

Going to keep this one short because I have a midterm on Saturday that I've barely studied for. The Senators completely dominated this game, perhaps taking advantage of an Islanders team that was without their number one goaltender due to "general body soreness". Yeah, I've had that too before. Isles back-up goalie Mike Dunham was in net for all five goals and was replaced by Wade Dubielewicz [try saying that five times], a call-up from Bridgeport. Dubielewicz only faced 8 shots and managed to stop all of them in his debut. The Senators exploded with 3 goals in the third period coming within 1:16 of each other. That's a new franchise record for all of you history buffs out there.

Ray Emery's shutout bid was broken with 5:03 left in the game from the Prince of Darkness himself on an Isles 5-on-3. Chris Neil scored the third marker for the Senators tonight but had a goal disallowed after the referees made a questionable tripping call against him. Too bad too, 6 goals and a win and it would have been free pizza for the Scotiabank Crowd [another sell out at 19,989].

This and That...
- Neil got his 100th career point with his goal tonight. He now has 11th on the season.

- Guess who was on the ice for 4 out of 5 of the Ottawa goals? Tom Preissing who is now definitely padding his league leading plus/minus rating. I don't know how he does it.

- Guess who was on the ice for the last Islanders goal? Number 6 and 14. Maybe we should separate them or something.

- I'm entertained by the fact that there's someone the Isles named Frederick Meyer IV. He just sounds like a Duke of some sort. Does the number go on the jersey too?

- More proof that Sportsnet is run by homers:



Yes, because whenever the Senators win, it's not because they actually want to. I would like to see this map that they have hanging in their offices where Toronto is the centre of the universe.

- Salad Almost Killed Christoph Schubert. Okay, not really but that is a nice article on the Senators' defenseman sometimes forward. Did you know that Brian Pothier thinks he's awesome? If Pothier thinks he's awesome, how can anybody else not think he's awesome?


^{I don't think that's an effective way to cool the Red Hot Emery down}

- I really needed the Devils to win against the Pens last night so they wouldn't jump ahead of us in the standings. Stolen from American Hockey Fan, I now know why Martin Broduer didn't make a lot of saves last night:



In the wrong coloured jersey, no less.

Labels: chris neil, home win, New York Islanders, ray emery, tom preissing, win

Got this little e-mail from my Sens Insider newsletter today and this part made me chuckle in an extremely bitter and ironic way:

Ottawa Senators head coach Bryan Murray is pleased with the improved play from two of his top defencemen during last night's 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the New York Rangers. Down 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Senators stormed back to win, and the contributions from defencemen Wade Redden and Andrej Meszaros were a big reason why.

So they've been sucking, but last night they haven't sucked as much. Meszaros is a -11 and Redden is a +2 on the season. That's a hard fall from the league leading +34 and +32 they were at the end of last season.

Now don't get me wrong, I will most likely foolishly defend Redden until the day I die or he pulls a Chris Pronger on us, whichever comes first. I'm trying to be understanding and keep the faith and there are probably a million reasons why these guys are slumping so badly lately. I don't want to be making excuses for them but I can't exactly completely denounce them either. I suppose this is just a step in the right direction. Baby steps.

The Salary Cap Revisited...
With the lastest NHLPA scandal I thought we'd take a trip back in time to '93 when Gary Bettman stepped in as commissioner. In the 1993-1994 season they were still under the old CBA finalized in April 11, 1992. John Ziegler was fired in June of 1992 and replaced by interim president Gil Stein before Bettman stepped in.

At this time the owners were still championing for a salary cap and this was based on two contracts: Eric Lindros and Alexandre Daigle.

As many people know Lindros was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques but being a big baby or being afraid of French people, he opted not to play. The Flyers traded for him and the Nordiques in exchange got the following: Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, (the Notorious) Chris Simon, Mike Ricci, Kerry Huffman, Steve Duchesne, a 1st round selection in 1993 that would turn into Jocelyn Thibault, a 1st round selection that was later traded to the Washington Capitals in 1994 (Nolan Baumgartner), and $15,000,000 cash.

The Flyers, in turn, signed Lindros to a contract of $18 million over 3 years with a signing bonus of $2.5 million. He had become the highest paid player in the game and he hadn't even played a single game yet.

In 1993, the Draft That Never Happened saw Daigle go to the Ottawa Senators. His rookie contract had two parts to it. The first section saw a salary of $1.05 million to $2.65 million over four years and a $2 million signing bonus over those 4 years. The second part included an extra $4 million for marketing.

While a a salary cap never resulted, the league did decide on the rookie salary cap of $875,000 - $1.075 million over three years for all entry level contracts.

And that's your history lesson of the day.

The Pink Sticks Campaign...
The Pink Sticks Campaign for breast cancer awareness and research is back again this year with many hockey players, including many of the Senators taking part:

The second annual Tribute to Hockey Moms will take place from March 16 to 18 and, once again, the Ottawa Senators will take part in the fundraiser to help fight breast cancer.

NHL players will use pink sticks created by TPS Hockey, as well as other stick manufacturers, during practices, pre-game warm-ups and games. Afterwards, the sticks will be autographed by the players and auctioned off with proceeds being donated to cancer research through the NHL/NHLPA's Hockey Fights Cancer program and its Canadian charity partner, the Canadian Cancer Society. Last year's inaugural campaign raised more than $150,000 US.

Ottawa Senators forward Mike Comrie is proud to take part in the campaign.

"Losing my mom to breast cancer was the hardest thing. Over the years, I've scored what I thought were big goals, but to score a goal last year using the pink stick for my mom will always be the greatest for me."

For more details, please visit the pink stick section of www.tpshockey.com

Ray Emery is Fierce...

^{Ottawa Senators goaltender Ray Emery strikes a pose during a photo shoot with Freestyle Photography’s André Ringuette for an upcoming issue of The Hockey News.}

Wonder what Tyra would say. Actually, I don't.

Hax0rs.
Okay, unless my eyes fail me, our dear friend Mike Chen may have been attached by hackers?

Don't forget to vote in the wit-off!

Labels: andrej meszaros, economics, general, miscellaneous, wade redden

Now if that doesn't sound like the name of an emo band, I don't know what does.

You know who's definitely not emo? Me. Well, at least not about the game and my boys tonight. About the pile of work I have yet to do? Yeah, that.

But this is a time for jubilation! You know what's better than blowing a two goal lead? Coming back from a two goal deficit as the Senators showed a lot of gumption coming back and refusing to sit on their laurels after Michael Nylander got the best of them twice.

It's like this game was tipped on its head from the style of play the boys have been displaying lately. And trust me, I'm not complaining. Poor defensive play bit them in the butt early in the game and they once again had Ray Emery to thank for bailing them out.

Everybody was either freaking out or pointing to the recent third period collapses. I do believe Jay over at Battle of Ontario refused to step away from the ledge until the fat lady sang tonight. I don't want to say that one game is any indication that they've turned it around but it just goes to show that they are capable of rallying back, a quality that maybe wasn't as apparent last season.

And apparently, the Senators aren't the only ones good at coughing up leads:

The Rangers, who had a seven-game point streak broken (5-0-2), squandered a 2-0 lead for the sixth time in 18 contests and sustained their 21st one-goal loss. Most of the advantages, including in a 3-2 overtime loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday, were given up in the third period.

.

Dany Heatley continues to be a contender in the scoring race with two assists tonight and extended his point-streak to 15 games.

Oh Noes!
-
Ricky D had to leave the Isles vs. Habs game in the first after colliding with Steve Begin

After the suckiness that was the Senators' trade deadline, Hockeygirl tried to comfort me by encouraging me to think of fun nicknames for Oleg Saprykin. I've decided that if he ever had a bad game, he would be thus dubbed "Oh Noes!". Ladies and gentlemen, OH NOES didn't even have a chance to have a bad game as he was a healthy scratch.

The Pittsburgh Boys!
"It's a good day for hockey, as Pittsburgh has finally reached a financing deal for a new arena. Judging by this picture, it'll be where Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux will debut their new boyband, the Pens-Street Boys:



New Rules and Guidelines
- There is a new Draft System in place starting at this year's draft for lottery placements that essentially places more emphasis on playoff performance. Also, there is a new format for Men's Hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. It's all pretty confusing but once I read it through thoroughly, I'll attempt to explain it in an entertaining manner with Venn diagrams, flow charts and possibly sock puppets.

Wit-Off Notice!
Just a friendly reminder to vote in the Onrait vs. Duthie Wit-Off!.

Mr. Onrait was informed about the wit-off from a concerned fan about the seeming tension between him and James Duthie and he had this reply:



Don't know if that'll sway the voting either way. Duthie's currently in the lead though.

Labels: dany heatley, new york rangers, pittsburgh penguins, ray emery, road win, win, wit-off

^{From the always brilliant Instigator}

That's the best part of goalie fights! The ridiculousity of these extremely puffy people trying to land a blow.

Wit-Off: At a Deadlock!
If you guys haven't yet, I suggest you guys throw in a vote over at the Onrait vs. Duthie Wit-Off. Unfortunately we are yet again at a deadlock and a champion cannot yet be declared. Polls will close at the end of this week!

A Train in a Cage!



Anton Volchenkov left in his third shift of the game against Toronto on Saturday after he got an elbow in the face courtesy of Alexei Ponikarovsky. He'll be in the line-up against the Rangers tomorrow though. Apparently, Volchenkov's nose was broken from the hit...but they popped it back into place. No big deal!

Quest for the Cup!
NHL.com is starting their Quest for the Cup series with all things Stanley Cup related. Read and hear about the Carolina Hurricanes and their journey to the promised land and try not to pay too much attention to the hint of bitterness that they're fighting for their playoff lives this season.

Some Fun Cup Facts...

• Was crafted in Sheffield, England
• Was purchased for 10 guineas ($48.67 at the time) in 1892
• Has appeared on talk shows, including Late Show with David Letterman, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Meet the Press with Tim Russert, Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Late Night with Conan O'Brien
• It takes 13 years to fill the ring of the Stanley Cup with names of winners
• Names misspelled on the Stanley Cup -- Adam Deadmarsh was spelled Deadmarch -- but later was changed; the only misspelled name to be corrected
• Some other misspells on the Cup that never have been corrected: Jacques Plante's name has been misspelled five times, (incl. "Jocko," "Jack" and "Plant"); Bob Gainey was spelled "Gainy" when he was a player for Montreal in the 70s; Ted Kennedy was spelled "Kennedyy" in the 40s; New York Islanders was spelled "Ilanders" in 1980/81; the Toronto Maple Leafs was spelled "Leaes" in 1962/63; the Boston Bruins was spelled "Bqstqn" in 1972
• Name scratched out - "Basil Pocklington," father of former Edmonton Oilers owner, Peter, put his dad's name on the Stanley Cup in 1983/84; today, on the Cup, one can see a series of "Xs" over his name
• To have one's name engraved on the Stanley Cup certain requirements must be met. A player must have at least 41 games played with the club or one game played in the Stanley Cup Finals. However, in 1994 a stipulation was added to allow a team to petition the Commissioner for permission to have players' names put on the Cup if extenuating circumstances prevented them from being available to play.

Here's another gem from The Instigator regarding the Cup:


Controversy!
Saskin Sent on Paid Leave of Absence. Frankly, I have no idea what's been happening. I don't know if Saskin was in the wrong or anything and nobody does. I, obviously would like to believe he did nothing wrong but what really bothers me is that they're letting Chris Chelios win! CHELIOS! Does that not upset anybody else?

Labels: anton volchenkov, general, miscellaneous, stanley cup, wit-off

I woke up this morning with full intention of calling my boys out on their display of crapitude lately but I decided that we needed something more light-hearted and look at that other rivalry.

It's been debated and discussed, a battle that's raged on for well...months I guess. But who is funnier on TSN? Jay Onrait, host of the evening loop of SportsCentre and the genius behind the live TradeCentre Blog which has become a cult classic? Or James Duthie, the host of NHL on TSN and Tie Domi and Maggie the Macaque's babysitter?



In the spirit of Fame Tracker, we shall assess Duthie vs. Onrait on a point system. Winner gets a congratulatory e-mail, a poorly photoshopped certificate of authentication and get to move on to the next round of the Wit-Off versus Greg Ross of Sportsnet to determine who is the resident Wit of the Canadian Sports Television...o sphere.

The Gig...
James Duthie -
- Has a prestigious gig with NHL on TSN...+5
- With Bob McKenzie...+1
- With Pierre McGuire...-1
- With Glenn Healey...-1
- With Darren Dreger...+2
- With Tie Domi...-5
- With Maggie the Macaque...-3
- Seems to hate Maggie as much as the rest of us do...+2
- And that's it...-1

Jay Onrait -
- Has a regular shift on SportsCentre, the most watched Sports News program in Canada...+7
- It's usually the the 2 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. loop...-3
- Often with Dan O'Toole...-1
- Or Bryan Mudryk...-1
- Host of President's Choice Raptor's Basketball...+2
- Basketball?...-1
- No seriously, basketball?...-1

The Connections...
James Duthie...
- Can summon anybody on demand through his magical Blackberry. Especially useful during TradeCentre...+5
- Can call Brad Richards up for Jelly-fish related advice...+3
- ...Brad Richards?...-2
- Brad Richards...+1

Jay Onrait...
- Nobody worthy of note...they're probably basketball related. Ergo, nobody worth mentioning...-3

The Most Important Category - The Wit
James Duthie
- Has a regular column on TSN.ca that's always very entertaining...+3
- Rarely updates it though...-2
- This:


...+5
- And this:



...+2

- Simply aren't enough of those...-1

Jay Onrait...
- Has a regular blog on Tsn.ca that's always very entertaining...+3
- Updates it pretty regularly!...+2
- This:

Jay

Ryan Smyth signed 5-year extension for a reported 27 mil.

- Steph

So I guess it's official then. "Eklund" is a woman and her name is Steph.

...+5

- And this...:

10:16 - As a montage of Sheldon Souray plays you can hear that "Movin on, movin on" song by the All American Rejects. I think that's who sings it. I don't really care to be honest.

...+2

10:42 - Yes! A Cybulski appearance! James throwing to James. "C-Balls" is live from the Air Canada Centre. He points out Wellwood, Tucker and Peca could be back for the start of the playoffs if the Leafs make it. C-balls is asked by Duthie if Marty Biron is on the ice practicing with the Sabres who are in town. C-balls makes a "head swerve" and reports that, no, he is not on the ice. Duthie says C-balls should be on Dancing With The Stars because of the graceful head swerve. I agree. I'm calling it right now. James Cybulski would win "Dancing
With The Canadian Stars" hands down. Holly Horton would be a close second. "Snake" from Degrassi would be third.

...+3
- Likes the Arcade Fire...+1
- I hate the Arcade Fire...-2

Final Tally
Duthie - 13 points
Onrait - 13 points.

Well, it looked like Duthie was going to run away with it based on the strength of his gig but Onrait made a game of it with his subtle brilliance.

So voting public, what should be the tiebreaker? Force them into a dance-off? Judged by the next column? Or, a simple democratic and fair and balanced vote based on who's suit you like better or think is better looking?

So many choices! Choose wisely.

Labels: general boredom, james duthie, jay onrait, miscellaneous, sherry needs a life, silliness, wit-off

To be honest, I didn't watch this game. I went to watch my friend's play instead. All I have to say is that the Senators gave up another lead, ergo, that's another night on the couch.

Seriously guys, how hard it is?

I thought we snapped this trend on Thursday. Just because you guys did it once doesn't mean you have any right to get cocky now. It's just disappointing. I'm placated that they got one point out of this night but they really can't start slacking off. Ever. There are no easy games from here on in and I'd really appreciate it if they could at least show some semblance of taking things seriously.

Sorry, that was over wrought and emotional. I really didn't mean for it to be. Glad to see Ray Emery is back to form. Sorry the rest of the team failed to show up in the third.

In Other News...
I was left taking care of the new addition to the house today. His name is Alfonzo:






AKA, Alfie Jr. My housemate won him at a Fellowship night and I'm in charge of babysitting while she goes home for the weekend.

Sorry your namesake couldn't pull out a win for you tonight, hun. At least he wasn't the one that was sucking.

Is it bed time yet?

Labels: alfie, loss, ray emery, shoot-out loss, toronto maple leafs

It didn't happen today, everyone! The boys didn't screw up a cushiony league!

Is it too early to declare that the boys are back in town?

Really, with how the last couple of games went, it was easy to dismiss the early two-goal lead the boys had in this game as "par the course". But whatever it was that happened in these past couple of days to get the boys back in line, it seemed to have worked. At least, for now. Perhaps it was because it was it was against the Leafs and the Senators will always get up for games against them. I'd like to think it was because because of Coach Orion wringing them out.

Whatever the case is, I like it!

The boys struck early and fast with two Powerplay goals from Mike Fisher. Of course having a two goal lead is not indicative of anything for these boys and neither is a three goal lead which was a short-handed tally from Dean McAmmond. Only one of the goals tonight was even strengthened, which may be cause for concern for our 5-on-5 play but heck, at least our powerplay isn't broken anymore.

To be honest, I had to write an essay while this game was going on. I checked the score in the first intermission and when I saw that the Senators had 23 shots on goal just in the first period, my eyeballs nearly popped out of my head. When the likes of Fisher and McAmmond are scoring, you know that everything is clicking and the boys are chipping in where necessary. Our defense is still leaving me on pins and needles though, some of the turnovers that's been going on has been very unsettling.

Although I suppose it's more appropriate to ask where the Leafs' defense went tonight. If Hal Gill is the leader of the Army of Skanks, does that make Bryan McCabe Karen?

Around the League...
- The Battle of Ontario game day thread was happening as always and it quickly turned into a brief conversation about Jason Spezza's giggling. Apparently it's okay if I giggle and I sort of have to after tonight because, tee-hee!

- Patrick Eaves and Brian McGrattan were both scratches again tonight. Eaves needs to get back in the line-up soon and I'm hoping he's been scratched so he can rest some bumps and bruises.

- How many games is it now that Pittsburgh has managed to push into extra frames?

- If any of you catch the highlights between the Predators and Flames on SportsCentre, they'll talk about how the commentators of FSN South weren't even paying attention to the game and talking about lunch. The best part? When there was a scoring chance and the commentator said, very enthusiastically: "SANDWICHES!"

- New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders got a little chippy today with Chris Simon bunting Ryan Hollweg in the face with his stick after Hollweg laid him into the boards:




I imagine Colin Campbell is cuing up the wheel as we speak:

Labels: army of skanks, dean mcammond, home win, jason spezza, mike fisher, toronto maple leafs, wheel of justice, win

Though she stated that she didn't want to give anything away, Johnson said that the network's first hockey-related profile will focus on Sidney Crosby eating veal and creamed spinach prepared by Roker On The Road host Al Roker. Other hockey players now contractually obligated to make appearances on shows include Chris Drury on Food 911, Martin Brodeur on Calorie Commando, and Alexander Ovechkin on Dinner: Impossible.

Helmet tap to Bleu, Blanc et Rouge who also had this up

That might not be a bad idea, I know at least 3 more people who watch the Food Network than people who know that Versus actually exists.

Labels: comedy, humour, silliness, the onion

After last night's poor performance, I borrowed HG's HGcopter with full intention to give my boys a wringing. If you're curious about what was said, just scroll to the part of the clip where Coach Orion is chewing out his team.

Honestly! How hard is it?

You couldn't even blame Jason Spezza for that poor performance yesterday, he wasn't even there. The Pittsburgh Penguins, stubborn in their youthful naivety are not going to give up, no matter how deep the hole is. Ray Emery hasn't completely flat-out sucked but he hasn't been displaying the skill and athleticism that earned him the number one 'tender job. Martin Gerber hasn't gotten any better but that doesn't surprise me. Although what did surprise me was that he's actually much better in Emery in the shoot-out. Would a goalie switch be too controversial and risky?

In any case, our defense has completely taken a vacation and I'd like to know why. Wade Redden hasn't been quieting the critics who feel that he has no in no way earned his contract this season. And try as I might to defend him, there's no denying he hasn't been the cornerstone of the defense as he should be. Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov have been easily outplaying him, but their role is different from his and he needs to step up and lead the others. Andrej Meszaros is in the definition of a 'sophomore slump' and has been letting undisciplined play get in the way of his usual sound hockey sense.

I feel like we're back in the dark days of November when it just seemed like nothing was clicking for the boys. But I'm told this will only make them stronger. I know this team has character, even if the nay-sayers and detractors say other wise. I know they're capable of coming back and winning the series against the Leafs because they've been through November when they were struggling to get to .500. There were lessons to be learned from that losing streak, they were supposed to be stronger after facing adversity learning. They learned to succeed without their top forwards because they have character and they want it. And they may be without him for a little while:

Jason Spezza did not skate Wednesday. He stayed off the ice and continued treatment on his back. Spezza says he is hopeful to play in Thursday's game against the Maple Leafs. Spezza, who is currently on an 11-game point streak - injured his back while trying to get out of his car. He says it is not related to the back surgery he had in the summer.

Brilliant. Maybe it's just better if nothing came easy for them. There are lessons to be learned in losing.

It just tastes bitter when it goes down.

In Happier News...
My boys might be sucking a nut lately, but I'm happily in third place in my Yahoo! pool now. All season I've been floating around 5th-7th and now I'm proud to say I'm in the top 3!

It won't last though, this week I'm up against the league leader and I'm rightly getting my butt handed to me. I just had to save it to share my joy:



What are the kids up to?
The ISS Rankings for the 2007 NHL Entry Draft are out and toping the list is Alexei Cherepanov who is currently playing for Omsk in the Russian Elite League.

Seeing these birthdays make me feel old.

By the Way...
To all of my lovely friends I promised NHL Hockey Sticks too, this week they are selling Kipper and Vinny. Apparently next week they are doing clear outs so they should have some of the previous sticks available. I saw Alexander Ovechkin and Joe Thornton sticks in the display case but wasn't testy enough to ask for those ones specifically. I'll try again next week so Liz, don't worry you will get your Ovie and Jordi, you will get your Joe. Hopefully.

GO SENS GO!

Labels: 2007 draft, defense, general, mighty ducks 3, off-topic, rants, yahoo pool

Sorry, there will be no post-game post tonight. Sherry is too busy bleeding to death after stabbing herself with a spare fork she found behind the couch.

I think a night on the couch for the boys is in order.

As you were.

Labels: panic metre, pittsburgh penguins, shoot-out loss

His name is Martin Biron and he doesn't lie and he doesn't whine:



Sidney Crosby on the other hand...

Sens vs. Pens preview...
vs.

I've obtained some special, super secret footage of the Penguins practicing:


<sup>From left to right: Colby Armstrong, Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal...um, some defensemen and Marc-Andre Fleury in net...with a blue scarf


The rest of the penguins...they probably don't matter</sup>


Gary Roberts looks on like a proud papa


Practicing some drills


Oh look, Crosby fell. What a surprise.


Georges Laraque is coming to beat you up.

Okay, maybe I should try to get some work done now.

Labels: martin biron, pittsburgh penguins, sidney crosby, silliness

See? Not everybody on Buffalo and Ottawa hate one another:



Hat tip to Heather B. for finding this gem

But sometimes, love can go horribly wrong:



Poor Gerber, can't do anything right.

The only thing Sportsnet is good for is the hidden gems of snark on their website:



Happy Monday!

Labels: chris phillips, general, martin gerber, miscellaneous, sportsnet, tom preissing

This game sucked. Sucked like a Hoover.

Really, given that the Senators were riding such a hot streak and the 'Hawks struggling in their last 10 games, they should have had this game. The boys were leading 3-1 for most of the game before deciding that a two goal cushion was enough and letting the game slip them by.

It's easy to look at the stats and say that Martin Gerber lost the game, but the two 'Hawks goals were both off of brutal giveaways on the part of the Senators. These kind of defensive lapses need to stop if they plan on going far in the playoffs, especially since their first round is against a Pittsburgh team that has been lighting it up. I will however, blame Gerber for almost hacking off Chris Phillips' hand before the shoot-out. Thanks alot, Gerber! Take out our best defenseman, why don't you?

Jason Spezza had a brutal game and Antoine Vermette, despite getting a goal this afternoon needs to step up his game. He isn't finishing his plays and he wasn't driving to the net at all. Patrick Eaves was once again a healthy scratch and I'd rather have him in the line-up than Vermette unless he's going to start playing better. That being said, Eaves is apparently still nursing a couple of bumps and bruises. Oleg Saprykin was probably the best player on the ice. Oleg Freakin' Saprykin. I think that's going to catch on.

Daniel Alfredsson was driving hard and the Senators had a great game in the second half of the first and the second period but decided to have a third period collapse that has become an unwittingly trademark of our boys. Oh and sucking in the shootout. Isn't Brian McGrattan supposed to be pretty good in the shootout? It couldn't possibly be worse than what we throw out every other time.

All right, so clearly I'm being too dramatic about this but if the boys really want to prove that they're a different team, they cannot play like they did this afternoon. The boys aren't going to get any help, they have to step it up themselves and they are capable of it. No offense against Saprykin but he cannot be your best player every night. FREAKIN SAPRYKIN!

Other storyline of the night, Martin Havlat, Patrick Lalime, et cetera, et cetera.

Actually, despite the suckiness of the outcome of the game, there were apparently some highly hilarious game moments as detailed here, including Peter Schaefer having to stick handle past an ice girl and Mike Comrie channeling his best speed skater impression.

Taking One for the Team
I hate McDonalds. When I started university I banned fast food from my diet and instantly felt better.

That being said, when they're giving away NHL Hockey Sticks I can't necessarily say no. Not to mention that awesome McDonalds Hockey Bash contest. So, some of my housemates and I went to McDonalds yesterday for lunch, while at the same time hoping nobody we knew saw us.

The sticks are pretty useless but they're pretty adorable. Aesthetically, the plastic tube is pretty nice. It sort of looks like a pipe bomb.







Oh and I totally have a solution about the whole overtime/shoot-out thing. I think that there should be two periods of Overtime and if after that it's still tied, the game should be decided by a dance-off.

Home team gets their pick of music.

Labels: chicago blackhawks, loss, panic metre, road loss, shoot-out loss

I'm listening to the Senators take on the Chicago Blackhawks [a.k.a. the Chicago Havlats] right now and they're down 1-0. It's still early though so I'm telling myself to keep the faith.

And speaking of faith, when is a better time to talk about our lecture with Paul Henderson!

For those who don't know, Henderson scored the game-winning-goals in the last three games of the 1972 Summit Series. He had a long career in both the NHL and WHA but is probably best known for his heroics in the Summit Series. After his retirement from hockey, he has done a lot of work for Campus for Christ ministries and other Leadership and motivational speaking ventures.

The lecture yesterday was sponsored by Campus for Christ at McMaster so obviously Henderson spoke a lot about his spiritual life and how Christianity has helped him through some of the frustration and uncertainty he felt throughout his life and career. He also told some entertaining stories about his playing days. During the 8th game of the Summit Series, while the game was tied 5-5, he called his linemates onto the ice and the only reason they listened was because they thought it was the coach. He also said that the reason he left the Leafs for the WHA had a lot to do with clashes with then Leafs owner, Harold Ballard.



Apparently, the Canadian team initially never took the Russians seriously because the Toronto Maple Leafs scouts that were scouting the team told them that the Russian players were small and unfit and that Vladislav Tretiak couldn't stop a football. He said that was probably why that the Leafs hadn't won a Cup in 40 years. I thoroughly enjoyed that story.

We spoke to him after the lecture and he talked about some ministries he does with current NHL players such as Jarome Iginla, Joe Sakic and Shean Doan. Did you know Markus Naslund was a Christian? I didn't. He also seemed genuinely interested in Campus fellowships and such. It was a very interesting look at another side of hockey. Spirituality and religion isn't really something that comes up in hockey but obviously that's an aspect that's really important and probably makes a big impact on what type of player and leader they are.

Henderson's a very nice man and introduced himself when he noticed I was sort of just standing there, waiting patiently for him to finish signing jerseys and pucks. Unfortunately I didn't get to ask him whether or not he and Bobby Clarke still went golfing together. He was just so nice and that just seemed too rude. Also unfortunate, he was wearing a Leafs jacket. I didn't tell him I was a Senators fan.


^{Yeah, the blur got me this time}

Linkage:
Legends of Hockey - Paul Henderson
More about Henderson's spiritual life

The Senators just tied it with Oleg Saprykin's first goal as a Senator. Well, that's one more than Tyler Arnason had.

Hockey Drunken Night in Canada:
If the Senators aren't playing on Saturday or they're playing an afternoon game on Saturdays that's on the CBC, we usually like to plant ourselves in front of the T.V. and take in the evening game [usually a Leaf's game] and the Western conference game. As per a tradition started on Hockey Day in Canada, we formed a drinking game in a bid to make the game more entertaining since we usually have no vested interest in those games. The guidelines for yesterday were:

A drink everytime...
Leafs vs. Sabres:
- Bryan "Bench Him" McCabe gave away the puck.
- Ryan Miller left his crease when he shouldn't have.
- Mats Sundin shoved somebody after the whistle went.
- Derek Roy fell down for no good reason.
- Anybody fell down for no good reason.

Flames vs. Oilers:
- Dwayne Roloson got run into and embellished.
- Dion Phaneuf hit somebody.
- Ales Hemsky doesn't shoot.
- Anybody fell down for no good reason.

We were going to add "everytime Darcy Tucker looked pissed off", "everytime Bob Cole and/or Harry Neale said something that could be taken as an innuendo", and "everytime either one of them forgot someone's name" or "everytime Greg Millen said something stupid"...but we didn't have enough alcohol in the house.

Labels: 1972 summit series, chicago blackhawks, drinking games, general, miscellaneous, oleg saprykin, paul henderson

I've always thought that Colin Campbell doled out punishments by spinning a wheel of some sort. So, I got up early this morning to sneak into his office to take a picture of his Wheel of Justice. From the same famed people who brought you the Panic Metre, Presenting, the Wheel of Justice!



So this is what Maggie the Macaque does during the season.

I just realized I might need to amend the Panic Metre now that the Trade Deadline is over. I'm sort of hoping that we won't end up reaching Code Yellow before the season is over. Better not jinx it.

Labels: colin campbell, miscellaneous, silliness, wheel of justice

I was thrown off by this game being on a Friday since it's been awhile since the Senators played a Friday game. Also, I try to have a life on Fridays so I almost forgot this game was on.

Ergo, this game never happened. Let's move on!

All right, fine. Some quick hits about the game:

- People in Atlanta are still bitter about Dany Heatley because they were booing him all night. Fine, I guess. But he got two goals tonight, so how do you like him now! [Probably even less]

- Ray Emery, from what I can tell, did not have a good night.

- The Senators had a 2-1 lead going into the third and something happened. And it wasn't a good thing.

- Earth to defense, earth to defense!

- The team lost but both Heatley and Jason Spezza kept their point streaks alive to 10 games. Heatley had two goals and Spezza had one assist.

Bet you never thought you'd see this again. Actually, I was sort of hoping we wouldn't have to but I think it was starting to miss the attention:



To bring you into the weekend, here's a special profile on Spezza. A-Channel has a series entitled Senators Primetime where they feature player profiles during games. Watch him laugh as he makes sushi!



Actually, I think I've been to that restaurant. Their sushi isn't very good.

Tomorrow there's a Road Hockey Tournanment at my school and while I'm not participating in the actual showdown, I will be attending a special lecture given by none other than Paul Henderson. I'll let you know whether or not he and Bobby Clarke like to go golfing together.

Labels: atlanta thrashers, dany heatley, jason spezza, loss, paul henderson, road loss

First off, the good news is that HG is back! And not soon enough!

As a note, there are new blogs to be had in the sidebar, some of them way overdue. Sure gave me a nice exercise in alphabetizing.



If there's anybody out there who means it everytime he smiles, it's Ryan Smyth. Which is why it's so nice to see that he's excited to be with the Islanders. I admit to not being an Oilers fan but there's a reason why Smyth is called 'Captain Canada' and his passion and enthusiasm for his team and for hockey is something you wish you could see from everybody. I usually can't stand people crying or getting blubbery but seeing his press conference you can tell he meant every word he said. He wasn't just turning on the water works for show and as fan service like some others have done.

It got me thinking about who was the "heart and soul" of the Ottawa Senators and I don't think there is a consensus among Senators fan as to who that is and I wonder if that's a problem. Nay-sayers [i.e. Leafs fans] will probably say that the Senators neither possess heart nor a soul so that's not much of an issue and to which I say, I have sporks and I know how to use them.

I have to admit this trade deadline I got off easy. I didn't want to say goodbye to any of my boys and I didn't have to. If they end up faltering that's just the price you pay. When Peter Pocklington sold Wayne Gretzky, it was an indication that anybody could be traded and we all should have learned that by now. Despite that, seeing Smyth get traded was still a major shock.

$100,000 was the price that they couldn't agree on and in the cruel world of business, $100,000 is sadly significant enough. It's a dollar amount, it's a tangible expenditure. Unfortunately "heart and soul" doesn't have a dollar amount attached to it simply because it is priceless. And I guess there's no room for that in business.

I'm not going to debate the technicalities behind this trade because I don't know anything about it behind the scenes. It did worry me a little as Don Meehan is also Wade Redden's agent and if given a choice, many people wouldn't be surprised if I said that I thought he was the heart and soul of the Senators.

I'll give you a moment to stop laughing and collect yourselves.

I know he's sort of been sucking a nut lately, heck, even he knows it, but I'm not without my reasons. He's been with the Senators since the start of his career and when he was UFA in the off-season, he made an genuine effort to try to get a deal done with the Senators. He was willing to take a discount so that the club could resign both him and Zdeno Chara. Seeing that Chara managed to get $7 million a year from Boston, I'm sure Redden would have been able to fetch the same amount on the open market.

When the Senators were bounced from the playoffs by the Sabres, he was rather candid about the fact that he needed management to show him that they were willing to commit to winning before he could commit to the club. Some fans were upset about the fact that he was sort of throwing the club under the bus when he himself wasn't that stellar in the Buffalo series either. But he was just saying what I'm sure we were all thinking: it gets harder and harder every year to be perennially disappointed. It's hard to be in a leadership situation where you're expected to have all the answers which is why Daniel Alfredsson never seems to get any love from the press at times either about his 'leadership qualities'. You want the leaders to be honest about the team's performance and to see what they need improvements on, yet at the same time it can be seen as not being encouraging enough. I guess it's just a matter of interpretation.

I feel like a bad fan sometimes when I'm critical of my team and whether or not I've earned that right simply by being a fan is debatable. But you simply can't turn your brain off when you see him turn over the puck way too easily or doesn't get back in time to stop a rush because you know they're capable of doing better. Of course everybody knows there were many a-times that he's been in the proverbial doghouse over here at Scarlett Ice HQ. Still, if he were traded or signed somewhere else I'd truly be devastated.

So tell your favourites that you love them and you appreciate them. Tell them lots, because you never know what can happen. The fact that the Oiler fans [well most of them] sent Smyth off to the Isles with their love and support is probably what's making the transition easier.

The Smyth trade also earned me a free cup of coffee today. Our student union coffee shop has "Trivia of the Day" questions and the first 10 people to answer get a free cup of coffee. The question today was who was recently traded to the New York Islanders. Best part of my day. Sorry Oil Nation, I didn't meant to profit from your loss.

Neither Here nor There
I've been steadfast in my belief that Antoine Vermette or Patrick Eaves was too steep of a price to pay for Gary Roberts but clearly Bryan Murray disagreed as he gave Eaves the night off last night to make room for Oleg Saprykin.

To me, that seems as a bit of a waste. Eaves was in a bit of a slump but he's a talented young player who shouldn't be riding the pine pony. Gosh, send him down to Binghamton if you think you'll get more out of Saprykin, Lord knows they could use the help.

Poor Vermette is mired in a slump as well, which is a shame because from the game yesterday you can see that he's great at creating chances and has great offensive instincts. When he's on, he's on fire, which is why according to Pierre McGuire he was one of the most sought after players at the deadline. John Muckler refusing to move them should be a ringing endorsement to their skills so they had better step it up.

To cheer you guys up, here's a gem the ladies at No Pun Intended have found. I try not to like the Staal brothers [actually, Jordan has kind of won me over] but how can one not love a good pillow fight?



I think big brother won that fight though.

Edit 10:22 p.m. EST: In this edition of "Moments in Ridiculousity", all five games that have ended so far tonight have been decided in OT or in a shoot-out. RIDICULOUSITY!

Labels: antoine vermette, eric staal, general, jordan staal, miscellaneous, oleg saprykin, patrick eaves, rants, ryan smyth, wade redden, waxing poetic

I have to admit the subject line is from Nelly Furtado's song "Maneater", only because I heard them play it at the Bank from the TSN broadcast. I'm usually pleased with the musical soundtrack at SBP since they're pretty good at playing bands that aren't as mainstream. This Top 40 stuff is music I would have expected at the ACC. As a side note about this song, the first time I saw this video on T.V. I literally fell asleep.

After all the hype about the Ottawa Senators being the hottest team since the All-Star break, combined with the general consensus being that John Muckler dropped the ball on deadline day, I was sort of tense and unsure of whether or not I was going to take in this game. The Senators and Hurricanes have met three times so far this season and in every game so far, the road team had come out victorious. Since the Hurricanes were on the outside of the playoffs looking in, they desperately needed that trend to continue.

However, that can't be done if your team fails to show up. Back-to-backs are never easy, especially when there's travel in between. The Senators set the tone early, being extremely physical early and creating a lot of glorious scoring chances. The Hurricanes were knocked off the puck way too easily when there was any resemblance of pressure. The Senators displayed a strong effort, and even if this wasn't a complete lights out, run and gun game, it was still enjoyable to see the boys playing so well together. To be fair, the Hurricanes were M.I.A. for most of it.

So basically, the game was kind of boring but given the result, I won't complain.

After the excitement and fireworks of last week, Ray Emery managed to quietly do his job and came up big. Despite winning the game against Buffalo on Saturday, he was still shaky and it was not his strongest game. Emery made some great saves tonight including a ton on Hurricane Powerplay chances. The 'Canes outshot the Senators 14-6 in the last frame. Were it not for the strong play of both goaltenders, the score could have been much different.

This and That...

- Pierre McGuire doesn't do as much commentating as he does sound effects.

- Tim Gleason collided violently into the boards, injuring his arm after trying to beat out Chris Neil for an icing call. According to McGuire and Gord Miller, this will only add more fuel to the fire for Don Cherry on Saturday night.

- Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, who both scored tonight have both extended their point-streaks to 9 games.

- Oleg Saprykin made his Senators debut but wasn't much of a factor, amounting for just over 7 minutes of ice-time on the fourth line. I'm cautiously optimistic about this guy as he shows some promise and alot of speed. It does take time to get acquainted to new surroundings and I'm not ready to declare him this season's model of Tyler Arnason. Actually when Arnason came in he was actually pretty good the first couple of games and then tapered off. I'd be more pleased if the opposite were true for Saprykin.

- Happy Birthday to Cam Ward, who would usually celebrate his birthday February 29th, but given that it won't happen this year, he celebrated it today in Ottawa. I hope you treated yourself to a Beaver Tail. Officially, he is 5 and 3/4 years old.

- In yesterday's tilt against the 'Canes, many people might have found it odd and risky that Bryan Murray sent out Jason Spezza in the dying minutes of the game when the Senators were protecting a one-goal lead. It clearly worked in their favour though and according to Gord Miller, Murray's inspirational words to Spezza were: "Don't screw this up". Hey, sometimes you just got to keep it simple.

- By the way, I think next time we should just decline the PowerPlay. Really.

Labels: bryan murray, cam ward, carolina hurricanes, dany heatley, home win, jason spezza, ray emery, win