You know when you’re sitting down to sip at a snifter of Mrs. Butterworth’s gelatinous mash LIKE A GENTLEMAN and you’re just about to write a James Day Preview (your name is James in this story) about how the Ottawa Senators played a statement game against Montreal and what happens? Jason Spezza dies and that just dominates the news cycle for the next couple of days. Now you have to come up with something new. Think you/me THINK…I know…

TONIGHT IS A STATEMENT GAME!!!

It really is though. As much as that last game was one too: A divisional rival on a winning streak with a hot powerplay rolls into town and are stymied by a masterful performance from Craig Anderson and plenty of goals from throughout the depth chart. Yes, they will have Gonchar back in the line up tonight and that’s a plus but unlike last game there’s a new pressure to get it done without the possibility of the teams #1 centre coming back any time soon. Though Carolina is not as much of a threat as the streaking Canadiens were per se, there’s something about games against the Hurricanes. They are never a walk in the park. Jeff Skinner has 5 goals by the way. Cover his shit.
I know the Senators can’t be expected to win every game (esp the 4^th game of the week on the road on probably the league’s most noticeably shitty ice) but each W they put up now is one less they have to under the pressure of the end of season playoff race. I’m really excited to see the FaceSmasherz line of Greening-Smith-Neil do their thing. Would love to see Smith get one tonight. Something tells me their’s a quiet confidence in that dressing room that they can keep this ship afloat in the absence of Spezza. A victory would do wonders to further build that confidence.

Can We Talk About How Amazing Erik Karlsson Is?

Although he had one assist on the night how much of a frigging BO$$ was Erik Karlsson all game long against Montreal? He deserved more. Is there anyone that he doesn’t make look a step slow? Numerous amazing plays each period. I don’t know if he has a third lung no one knows about or what. The guy played 29 and a half minutes and didn’t even look bagged at any point. Twitter was all atwitter (last time I use that) about how it was dumb of MacLean to play him for 9 minutes in the third period even though the game was well in hand. That’s a pretty good point but I am interested to see if that even matters with this kid. He’s on some Weapon X shit. With Spezza out, Karlsson will be doing double duty as first pairing defenseman and first line centre. I feel fine about that.

Heyyyyyyyyyyy Guillaume Latendresse Has Already Missed Time Twice and the Season Isn’t Even Ten Games Old

Since he was acquired I’ve spend a fair share of time poking fun at Tender Willy. Injury this, Fatendresse that. It was all in good fun. For all my “get ready for the Dollar Store Version of Cheechoo” posturing I was hoping deep down to be pleasantly surprised by a solid but not flashy out put from Latendresse. His performance so far hasn’t been the worst or anything, he’s been slow out of the gate but that was to be expected. What’s worrying me is that he’s already missed two games. One for injury (eeee) and tonight the flu. Now, obviously Gui-Gui cant help getting the flu but as Papa Alfie showed against Washington even the best players don’t quite look their best when they return “healthy enough to play.” I foresee Latendresse getting his game together suffering a bit of a set back so mentally preparing for more of the same from him.
Zibanejad NOT Za-bin-ejad…You Fuckin’ Idiots.

Kid’s looked dynamite out there. Bringing a game of strength, speed and getting kicked out of the faceoff circleocity. He said something interesting before his first game regarding what advice the coaching staff had given him about his game. He said they wanted to see him play less tentative to go out and make things happen. Not defer to others to dictate the play. I have to say you can really notice he’s doing that and the results speak for themselves. I guess playing with Eric Condra gives you a shoot-first mentality. For real though, Condra has been quietly awesome out there. Very excited to see Condra and Zibby playing together again they’ve gelled nicely. Speaking of dictating play, I cant imagine how hard it is to be a rookie and suddenly start the season on a line with Spezza and Michalek and not shit yourself and just try to get the puck to one of the guys how had over 30 goals before Malkin strips you of the puck. That said, if Silfverberg just played with a bit more of that intensity he showed in Binghamton, I think he’ll start rolling. He’s been bumped down to the 4^th line to start the game but that’s not the worst thing in the world. Takes the pressure off him a bit and hey, Zibby was playing bottom six the last two games and he made things happen.

Every Game I’m Anderson’ Every Game I’m Anderson’
Anderson gets the start A DOI OI OI OI OI OI OI OI. Thought they’d give this one to Bishop but I’m just going to leave that there because I don’t want to jinx it. Someone stupid starts for Carolina. How hard is this team to like. They even have Alex Semin now.
ENJOY THE GAME!

Oh, hi everybody. I’m sick and in bed LET’S DOOOOOOO THIS!

My Father Always Said The Saddest Thing In Life Is Wasted Talent

Just kidding I’ve never met my dad because he’s professional basketball player. Remember when the Washington Captials were considered a perennial cup contender? I’m not saying they’re a bunch of Laydown McGillicuddys  (help get #laydownmcgillicuddys trending worldwide!) but squeaking their one win on the season past the Buffalo Sabres has these guys flirting with Bronze Game status. There are obviously still some very dangerous players on this team but are they as threatening as they once were? I’m looking in your general direction Alex Brovechkin. Look, I find it kind of hard not to love this guy but imagine for a minute he played on the Senators. How bummed out would you be with him right about now? I mean, people seem disappointed in Spezza so far this year and he has 5 points in 5 games. Meanwhile in Washington you have this generational talent at forward and guy had fewer points than defenseperson Erik Karlsson last season. Even Ol’ Spezz had the dignity to make sure to beat that total just to save face. And don’t give me this “coach lost the room” bologna. We’re talking about Alexander “scoring while sliding on his side backwards” Ovechkin here. Even Dani “slowest guy on the team / can he even see properly out of that one weird eye?” Heatley put up better numbers whilst hating Clouston in a “diminished role” on a much weaker team in his final nightmare year in Ottawa. What I’m asking is: was last season’s output a fluke or are we going to start seeing a serious decline in this player’s output? Yes, all players tend to trend downward as they age but there are a lot of comparably aged/talented players in the league right now that aren’t getting sonned by their team’s version of Mike Ribeiro. Speaking of which: Nick Backstrom you are aware that you get more ice time than Mike Ribeiro, yes?

Oh Looook the Curtains Are On Fire!

So, as much crap as I just talked about the Capitals, it would seem that the Sens will be without the services of Jason Spezza tonight. So…eek.

Still, it feels pretty good to have a player that is quickly emerging as a viable fill-in for the oft injured Spezza in Kyle Turris. Am I anointing him a 1^st line centre? No but dude is positively flying out there so that’s a plus. Here’s to hoping Turris can stay hot and hold it down while Spezza recovers. This is something that he might have to get used to doing with the compressed schedule. It’s not just up to Turris though, with Alfredsson’s adamantium bones back suspiciously quickly from the flu (I’m at home with a sore throat today and I don’t even want to make lunch) and Latendresse already having missed time, I’m going to guess neither of those dudes will be at their best tonight. That’s not even mentioning Smith getting his head caved in on Sunday.

Now, I’m the first guy to preach patience but I think Ottawa needs a big game from Jakob Silfverberg tonight. Yes, he’s got a goal and he’s looked pretty good so far but tonight would be a big time oportunity for him to put it all together a little bit.

Celebrate the Moments of Our Lives

How are you planning to celebrate Peter Regin’s 6th game without serious injury? I’m hoping it’s by cheering his first point on the season. Seriously though I’m just glad the organization has gotten over this whole “depending in any way, shape or form on Regin emerging as a top 6 forward” phase. What’s that? Regin was filling in for Spezza at practice today? What me worry.

According to the projected lines for tonight’s game Chris Phillips will be on the 3^rd pairing which can only mean one thing: Paul MacLean’s been getting my emails!!! What? Big Rig ain’t as young as he used to be I like seeing him get fewer minutes on the first game of two in two. Seems like a good call to me. Wiercioch draws back into the lineup which is very exciting but enters at the expense of Andre Benoit. Fair trade off but I just want to point out that I think Benoit has been a pretty good call up. Big up A.B.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Raphael Boroweicki deservedly hangs onto his spot and will play alongside Gonchar. I thought Gonchar was fantastic against Pittsburgh. I hope he has someone to impress on Washington as well. Meanwhile, Marc Methot and Erik Karlsson remain my favorite thing. After a Ross and Rachelesque “will they or wont they” Mika Zibanejad will indeed dress tonight. I don’t expect much as he’ll be facing a significant adjustment but welcome his fresh legs and youthful enthusiasm to the bottom 6.

Heyyyyyy Craig Anderson is Rocking a .073 GAA & .975 Save Percentage So…

Guys TAKE ADVANTAGE while he’s en fuego. I was troubled to hear Craig Anderson’s post game comment that he thought he let the team down by not stopping maybe the entire league’s most threatening trio of shootout bastards in the game against the Pens. The fact that Ottawa was an impressive 2/3 in the shootout and lost is telling of how hard it is to stave off Neal, Crosby and Malkin in succession. More important to me was how Andy rose to the much greater challenge of keeping the Senators (how formal!) in the entire game. We all griped about how weak the defense was going to be and bro-bro is holding down a goal a game. Ottawa totally has a good chance tonight. We were a few Erik Karlsson shots finding their way in from taking the last game so expect a fired up Special Little Guy tonight. Dude seemed FURIOUS with his performance against Pittsburgh.

Please submit your post game screengrabs of TSN.ca using the Headline “Capital Gains” Regardless of the Outcome of this Game to: https://twitter.com/wtyky also please follow us and not unfollow us!

Enjoy the gains!

Ladies, ladies, ladies, ladies, laaaaaaaadiiiiiiies. And Gents. Lets get this started by talking about what everyone wants to talk about because lets each and everyone one of us remember that this is the discussion both here AND on twitta, I want to talk about feelings. Here goes, I am definitely on board that it was frustrating that, according to @whamcity’s stats thing, Guillaume Latendresse didn’t capitalize on any of the over 700,000 scoring opportunities that he had against Florida but I think that it’s awesome that he is getting scoring chances. What would be more troubling would be if he was Cheechooianly invisible out there. His timing definitely seems a bit off but after that pass to Turris in Monday’s game I have hope. I don’t think a week of training camp and 3 games is enough for Stella to Get His Groove Back after two years off. After all, I don’t even think Spezza, Alfie (THERE I SAID IT), or even Silfverberg are operating at 100% yet. This isn’t meant as an insult. I’m just speaking to how despite a 3 and 0 record, I don’t even think we’ve seen this team fire on all cylinders yet. I still count Latendresse as a much more obvious case of this than anyone else on the team.

(Come here and check this out: listen up, according to a delightful Francophone I know, I have been informed that Guillaume is French for William and Latendresse is French for The Tenderness…By the power sweatervested in me by the WTYKY Heartless Corporation I hereby rename him Tender Willy. – Speaking of which, Latendresse will not Laten Dress for tonight’s game due to a minor injury……….Prognosis: tender wil— Kaspars “THE ROOSTER” Daugavins fills in.

With Latendresse sitting this one out we will get to see what a Regin-Turris-Alfredsson line looks like. This could potentially be a tough break if for Tender Willy (try it out with your friends!) if this line looks great tonight. Totally possible the way Turris is positively flying out there. On a positive note,  imagine a 3^rd line of Latendresse, Smith and Greening? They would be pancaking youngins…well, until both Regin and Latendresse are injured long term or course.

Big Ben (ugh…I know just work with me here…) gets his first start of the year. No pressure homie. Youre only auditioning for your very identity between a starter who is currently rocking a GAA that is not even a whole number and a AHL all star rival who might actually murder you. I think Bishop will do well but Steven Stamkos is like a version of Alex Kovalev that isn’t 40 years old and hasn’t been playing in the KHL for two seasons so… different challenges…different needs. Looking forward to picking apart Bishop with yall regardless of performance!

Who plays goalie for Tampa bay? Anders Lindback. They are both tall. Insiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. 

In terms of debuts, Im more interested to see how Mark Borowieckipedia holds up in his season debut. Patrick Wiercioch, who draws out of the lineup for Borocop, has looked positively NHLian in the past three games. Im hoping for the good problem of them both doing well though they are drastically different players. Keep an eye on Boro’s passing…bit of an overlooked element of his game if you ask me…whats that? No, no one asked? He looks a bit like a ninja turtle in a good way! 

Talkin’ bout Karlsson (Karlsson) Karlsson (Karlsson) Iko Iko An Nay fsdafl;kajsdga;dhlbkfjd g Talkin’ ‘bout Karlsson’s Great!

Thank you, thank youuu. Music everyone. Karlsson is really, really frigging good. I am considering taking time out of watching the video of his goal from last night to check out tonight’s match up. With 4 points in 3 games Karlsson needs to step up and continue to be the best player on the team. How do you coach this kid? “You there, Strawberry…hit a homerun!”

The Tampa Bay Lightening pose the biggest challenge to the Sens season thus far and they have been kind of killing it alllowing 2 goals in 3 games. This is in part why I have had so little of substance to say here! The Sens numbers are basically near impossible to maintain for a long period of time and they did also play last night but expect a fired up Regin to make some noise early on. I hope you enjoy the game more than this preview!

A behind the scenes look at what the contract negotiation process with Alex Kovalev looks like.

Some Notes on Saturday’s Game
So as Paul MacLean stated, despite it appearing on paper as a convincing win, the game on Saturday looked a bit like the dog’s breakfast which is a saying I’ve only ever known as “the dog’s dinner” but what’s important here is that a dog ate a delicious and balanced though not aesthetically pleasing meal.

Those two hit posts early on could very easily have had that 1^st intermission looking way, way different for the Sens’ chances. Craig Anderson is thus the big X Factor (copyright) for tonight. He was undoubtedly shaky at first but for the majority of the game he was solid flashing that impressive glove of his and not repeatedly using his blocker to turn his saves into rebound festivals.

Team-wise there was enough rust out there for sure but if having a shaky game is Andy allowing one goal and a 3 point night from Karlsson I’ll buy that for a dollar. I think we all enjoyed the game of Marc Methot in his debut and did whatever the opposite of enjoying is for Guillaume Latendresse’s. This of course could balance out entirely if Methot gets the home crowd jitters and Latendresse clicks a bit more with his new linemates. One game at a time for these newbies (just kidding I will continue to unfairly judge both these two and all players on a game to game basis). I don’t know about you Eddie but I am just as nervous for this game as I was the last one.

On Why We Shouldn’t Boo Kovalev Featuring a Fascinating Side Bar About the Hidden Dangers of Sodium

First thing’s first, tonight will you be wearing your authentic on ice SNES flying squirrel/clown arm Alex Kovalev jersey that you got for free for bringing your old batteries to the recycling plant? Y/N?

SARCASM ALERT: Okay, as we know large groups of human beings are incredibly smart and reasonable.
Hockey games are no exception (See: Jets fans booing Erik Karlsson to a 3 point night Saturday, See also: Jets fans booing Jason Spezza DURING that incredible set up for Kyle Turris last year). As such, expect a fair portion of fans to boo Alex Kovalev when he touches the puck tonight. Before I go on let’s be clear about something: Now that we’ve celebrated your Bat mitzvah, your father and I, who are both very proud of you, are going to make an effort not to interfere in letting you make your own decisions. Emit whatever sound you wish at this sporting event because after all it’s your personal journey. And hey, the booing, I get it. The Kovalev era in Ottawa was a frustrating one in all sort of ways. Sure he made way, way too much money but I don’t pay him so that doesn’t bug me so much about it in the long run. In fact, I’m pretty okay with it because his tenure here was so short. Happy is the shitty contract that can be traded for a conditional 7^th round pick not even two full seasons into it. Playing under Clouston…and…could there be a worse combo of player and coach? Kovalev put up pretty respectable numbers in his time in Ottawa. Considering he was in his mid-late 30s occasionally injured and even spent a small portion of his time in the bottom 6 his 76 points in 131 games isn’t horrible. Don’t get it twisted it isn’t great either. Of course those numbers are admittedly deceptive as long cold snaps are disguised by multi-point performances. Anyway, my question here is: Is Kovy boo worthy? Seems a bit of a stretch to me. Further, if you’re really interested in seeing Kovalev flounder I think the best thing to do is just ignore him. As we experienced the now 39 year old Kovalev’s greatest challenge seems to be motivation to play his best on a nightly basis. Booing him might help him wake up and as his time in Ottawa showed; when Kovalev is up for it he can be as dangerous as he wants to be. If you want to potentially help light a fire under him your father and I certainly aren’t going to stand in your way because you’re a grown woman who makes her own choices now but be warned of the immortal words of AK27, “Comes the shootings, comes the goals.”

Working Together to Take Fewer Penalties…for All of Us
Hopefully, les boys will play a more disciplined game tonight and stay out of the box. I thought some of those calls were of the bologna variety and even on that ugly Chris Neil hit I have to say I think that dude turned his back on Neiler at the last second. All the bitching in the world doesn’t take away from the fact that Ottawa spent a lot of that game in the box. The refs made it clear that the 2013-2013 season is going to have be played so fresh and so clean (clean). A lot of teams would have buried the Sens with that much powerplay time. It’s ill advised to put all that pressure on 46 year old (looking) Chris Philips and the rest of the D corps. A parade to the penalty box will only take the life out of the building right quick.

Bonus Giveaway News
A reminder to those attending the game tonight, a free sample draught of Molson Canadian comes with a free sample of diarrhea the next morning.

ENJOY!!!

Steve has been making images in Switzerland during the lockout to stay sharp!

My beautiful, beautiful babies. How I’ve missed you.

The season premier! It’s been so long that I’m sure you’ve forgotten how insufferable I am! I’ll bet you’re so excited that you could even read a James Day Preview! Hey everyone it’s Hockey Christmas! Just because there was lots of yelling doesn’t mean that your mommy (Gary Bettman) and your daddy (Donald Fehr) don’t still love your money very much. They’re just going to live in different houses for the next 10 years. Now come take Weird Uncle Eugene’s hand and he’ll treat you to a one dollar popcorn and you’ll pick up the full priced ticket to the greatest show on Earth: A glorified half-season of NHL hockeyyyyy!!!!

Mercifully, our boys start off their season in exotic Winnipeg before several months of playing Buffalo again and again and again and again sets in. So let’s get to it…who are the Jets and how much are they going to cost me in taxes?

More like JUMBO JETS….you…see…what…I…did…there…question mark.

Okay let’s start this off classy. How many Dustin Byfugliens does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Give up? He’s overweight! *hold for applause* That’s a real issue though right? We’re kicking off a season where we’re asking people like Martin St. Louis’ Legs if they’re in game shape and meanwhile Big Buff was caught on camera looking like he’d been steady wrecking a Big Buff(et) in the off season.
Now, in fairness, Dusty (that’s what we call him at the Arby’s I used to work at before I got caught eating too many Big Beef and Cheddars) had a few extra months off before training camp. Did he spend them getting trim in the gym or was he working on his guacamole dip backhand? Either way he sure as hell wasn’t playing overseas. Does it matter? He was pretty huge last year and still put up 53 points in 66 games (YIKES). Will Ottawa be made to look like fools when they see what a clapper from the point with 300 lbs behind it looks like?  Or will he be left wheezing behind Erik Condra who’s fresh off a stint in the tier 3 German ELITE league…which according to their website is “definitely not a league an NHL player can go point per game in while drunk.” I’m just playing they don’t have a website. Either way, it may be time to double…no make it triple cover Byfuglien…in a delicious candy coating. I need to stop talking about this. Huh wow, went that whole thing without talking about Kyle Wellwood.

No but seriously are the Winnipeg Jets a thing? Not even trying to be a dick about it.

This team is weird. People either pick them to make the playoffs or finish in the bottom 3. Sure, star power-wise the New York Rangers they are not but there are still some pretty damn good players on this team. I mean on their depth chart Mark Scheifle is a fourth line player. That’s not to be taken lightly.

A bit of an X factor for me with the Jets is the thought of Evander Kane going into the season as a very talented player who might have a chip on his shoulder. I needn’t bore you with the details but his relationship with Winnipeg(‘s press) has been strained to the point that whoever’s the Winnipeg equivalent of Donii Brennan called Kane out for not showing up to camp 3 days early. Sounds like a young guy with scoring touch who might be trying to showcase to other teams what he can do. The rest of these dudes may be a mix of solid NHLers like Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler or Bryan Little and dudes I’ve basically barely heard of (Chris Thorburn?) but don’t get me wrong these guys seem to know how to score by committee and boasted 10 players who got goals in the double digits last year. They could sneak up on you. Speaking of which…

LOOK OUT ERIK KARLSSON EVERYONE’S WATCHING YOU ALL OF A SUDDEN!

I don’t know if you caught this amazingly bitchy exchange on TSN ‘tween Aaron Ward and Ray Ferraro about the pressure teams are going to put on Erik Karlsson this season but I’m with Ward on this one. My take is, yes, Erik Karlsson did indeed unexpectedly win the Norris trophy but that was only at the end of the season. At 78 points he had an incredibly consistent year. Are you trying to tell me that halfway through the season any self respecting team held a pre-game video session that failed to mention “oh, and you may want to cover the incredibly fast defenseman who has over 50 points”? EK was a top pairing 1^st unit power play blueliner all season I have no idea why the pressure on him will be any different this year. And don’t try to say they will be harder on him physically DAAAAAD because he’s always been small and what NHL hulk isn’t going to exploit that regardless. C’mon Special Little Guy get in there and keep making the other team look like your biological son.

 Goaltending Non-troversy

Cool, so Craig Anderson gets the start. Get used to it. Guy started over 60 games last year. Baring injury, I don’t expect that to change all that much. I think Bishop will serve as a serious upgrade over Auld and the Sens will use having a backup goalie who can handle getting spot duty to their advantage but with Lehner’s two way contract I don’t see the goalie controversy everyone does. I keep hearing that Lehner is backing up Andy up because they are shopping Bishop. Okay. So, that was fast if true.

On the Jets side I’m just going to say Ondrej Pavelec will get the start as I don’t even know who their other goalie is. Let me look it up..ah, its Al Montoya…so as I said Ondrej Pavelec will get the start. Don’t pull your groins fellas!

Heyyyyyyyyyy one game into the season and I’m already tempted to talk about injuries!

It will be great to see Regin and Latendresse get a clean slate, finally stop answering questions and just play. Seriously, I basically haven’t seen either of these guys play in a really, really long time…segueeeeeeeeeeeeee…its not just about how those guys will shake out it’s about all thems guys. Finally, my friends, the good stuff, the real story of the Ottawa Senators’ season is about to get underway. All of our questions will slowly be answered. Who will surpass expectations, who will be run out of town and who will continue to be overlooked Colin Greening? Let the fun begin and OOH AHH SILFVERBERG SENS GO… did I do that right?

ENJOIX!