Happy Saturday and further Happy Hockey Day in Canada! FINALLY, a day where Canadians can take some time and recognize how important the game of hockey is to the fabric of our nation. Right? You? Guys? *dodges running lawn mower thrown at my head* JEEZ cant even joke about that?

No, it’s a very exciting day for each and every last one of us. There is a lot of fun hockey on television PLUS we get to see the prime minister pretend to enjoy taking in a game and other humanoid activities*. There are a lot of games involving Canadian teams which is awesome for me as I hate most of the other Canadian teams! Alright, Habs vs. Leafs! I hope you BOTH LOSE! Lets GOOOOOOO! *dips fists in hot glue and then dips them in broken glass*

Ottawa hits the ice for a 2PM puck drop in what leading marine biologists refer to as a “Manatee Game.” I like to call it a “start drinking at brunch game”. Did I tell you that I am really excited about this professional hockey matchup? Cool, well I AM.

Foist thing’s foist

Can I get a Soulclap for our boy Chris Phillips? Wow, that guy really delivered for his 1000^th game, didn’t he? I feel it necessary to make mention of this as it was pretty much a non-story to most hockey outlets and I want to use our MASSIVE appeal to get this story out into the ether.
I don’t want to harp on this too long, though I am incredible at playing the harp, but I can think of a lot of players who would get a lot of media attention for both A. Playing their 1000^th game all with one organization (a Canadian one at that) and 2. if they scored two goals in said game including the winner… I think that would have been a bit of a talking point if it was all kinds of other players.
I’ll keep the whininess to a minimum (don’t get used to it) and I’m not going to name any names. Just sayin, like much of Phillips’ career, his hard work is off the radar, though something tells me Phillips likes it that way. Anyway, a 2 goal performance in a game that ‘must-win’? Not lost on this guy.

The Boys are Back in Town (and by Back In Town I mean visiting Ottawa for the first and only time this season)

So Ryan Ted Nugent – Sir Anthony Hopkins will be a scratch for the game has he is still not fully recovered from injuries suffered a number of weeks back. You know that olde proverb “One fan’s entertainment value is another fan’s kind of works out as he wont be there to thread passes to Jordan Eberle/Taylor Hall/Whoever all the live long game?” There’s that whole thing. So anyway, no Nugent-Hopkins, I guess the Sens have this one all wrapped u–WAIT WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT… There’s other good guys on the team?
Why isnt everyone talking about Jordan Eberle every 5 minutes? I know the youth movement in Edmonton gets talked about a lot but this kid is RIPPING it. Despite missing time due to knee issues, Eberle has put up a very impressive 54 points in 50 games, with 8 coming in his last 4 games. So, someone…cover that guy.
Also, cover this guy, Taylor Hall. He is also playing quite well of late with 9 points in his last 6 games. Unless he goes on some Scott Gomez tip, Hall will soon eclipse his rookie season output of 22 goals and it would be awesome if he worked toward that goal in games other than this one. Skateface.
Then there’s “top 10 overall draft bust” turned “guy who has 14 points in his last 4 games” Sam Gagne. Yes. Superstar Sam Gagne who you’ve always been hearing about all these years. He’ll be playing. Can he keep his seemingly out of nowhere gaudy point streak up? Let’s bleeping hope not. Those numbers are pure insanity. Kid is in the zone.
So yipes a bit…one good thing the Sens have going for them is that this team still has a lot of growing to do on D and in net.
One way or another, its been a rough road trip for the Oil and they will be “Post All Star break Ottawa Senators level” desperate for a win.

The Boys are Still in Town *air guitar* though youd think they were still on a road trip with one win in 7 games *high kick*

Chris Phillips will be honored at the game for his 1000th game…which was last game. So, you know, honoring stuff!
On the shoulders of Mr. 1000 and Mr. 583 (Spezza) the Sens turned in a very important victory against the Nashville Bar & Grills. If they want to carry their momentum forward they are going to have to do it the same way they did against Nashville: Points on the board. Now, Edmonton may not have Pizza Rinne in net but they do have enough firepower upfront to put a game away on sheer offense. Please dont tell Andy Sutton I said that.

Another key to victory will be “Pesty Nick Foligno” getting healthy scratched for “Regular Nick Foligno Who Doesnt Get Penalty After Penalty Called On Him” Nicky, I love you, but …with the pestiness…it’s not working out. We have enough players constantly getting penalized. Get back to your ‘Winning the game with 2 seconds left’ ways of olde.
I guess Erik Karlsson should get some points because basically, he’s set such a precedent now that if he fails to get a point every single game it seems like a slump.
Speaking of slumps (only real ones) Milan Michalek had a pretty damn good game last game with a crazy amount of missed scoring chances. Todays matchup is his opportunity TO CAPITALIZE ON THOSE FRIGGING CHANCES FOR GOD’S SAKE.
I have a good feeling about Butler, everyone! Whats that? No one cares about my ‘good feelings’. Cool. Understandable.

Craig Anderson gets the start in goal. Presumably, like a BO$$.

So happy Hockey Day In Canada everyone! Enjoy this game!! i think it will prove a very exciting one given how little attention is paid to defending on both teams. Its going to be wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide frigging open!

WTYKY Contest: I will be at the game tomorrow! If you can spot me I will give you TWO large sips of my beer**!

WTYKY Plea: Can you please follow us on the friggin twitters? @WTYKY I’ll be live drunk tweeting all game long (basically bugging the Sens DJ every five minutes) thanks. I’ll help you move one day.

*You do have to hand it to Dear Leader, he is VERY lifelike.

**Must be 19 years of age to enter (I aint no creep), offer only valid if I have more than two large sips remaining of my beer. No purchase necessary, its your funeral, I’m even more insufferable in person.

Live From The Dumpster Behind This Domino’s Pizza Where I Just Relieved Myself In A Very Serious Way…THIS…Is Your (well technically “My” no, that seems selfish…how about, “Our”…yeah we’ll settle for “Our”, yes, I like Our) OUR James Day Preview!

Okay, so, recapping Tuesday’s game preview, I believe I said something along the lines of “the Senators really fucking need to win this game.” Hey, weird news everyone, they did not win at all. Nope, not at all. The Sens will be, I think its safe to say, desperately looking for a very important and elusive non-loss for the home crowd.

So a pretty uneventful game tonight, just trudging along that mid-season grind… *Takes huge pull off of a plastic bag half full of furniture polish* Ahhhhh. Okay, back on track! THIIIIIIIINGS AAAARE HAPPENNNNNINNNNG!!!! Big Gaaaame tonight!!!

Oh you didn’t think I was going to talk about Chris Phillips 1,000th game? Well you’re WRO-OOONG! I am briefly going to discuss it.

It was a heady day that June 22, 1996. All kinds of stuff was going on… President Bill Clinton called for a National Sex Offender Registry, Egyptian director Salah Abou Seif died, Saurav Ganguly scored 131 at Lord’s on his Test cricket debut (though I don’t think I need to remind you of THAT for the millionth time) and Christopher Dartelvin Phillips was taken #1 overall in the NHL entry draft. Twas a draft class that reminds me that the Senators should not invest tooooo deeply in building through the draft. There were some real collar tuggers in that first round including Alexandre Volchov (the ORIGINAL Nikita Filatov), best known for 1.Demanding his COACH call him “The Volchinator” 2.Having such a bad attitude that he played 3 games in his entire NHL career despite having the talent to be taken fourth overall 3.Walking out on his AHL Portland teammates in the middle of a playoff game. That’s not to say Phillips wasn’t a great choice at number one. Very good choice. Just saying, it’s a little more consistent these days but that draft, man…some years it’s the Jeff Skinner of times and other years it’s the Magnus Paajarvi-Svenson of times.

Either way, Big Rig has been there for the Sens as resident team dad and hangdog expression-haver for well over a decade now. As a defensive defenseman, Phillips has been a bit of an unsung guy over the years. I have always said that Chris Phillips must be watched in person to be truly appreciated. His skill set does not often make the sports centre roundup (if he wanted that he should have specialized in ‘being speculation about Toronto’s trade deadline plans’) but any longtime Sens fan knows Big Game Chris has been a strong steadying presence on the back end for what is starting to feel like a generation. Of course, I think it’s fair to admit that I don’t think Phillips has been the same since Anton Volchenkov (THE OTHER VOLCHINATOR) set sail for New Jersey and that there is a looot of term that I’m not crazy about on that new contract of his..but…you know what? Tonight’s Phillips big night and I think he was Ottawa’s best player against St. Louis and here’s hoping he has a similar hop tonight…his special night!

Yep Philips’ special night…except of course for…

Mike Fisher’s heroic jaw making its return to Scotiabank Place for the first time since his trade last February. Crowd’s going to be standing ovationed out! I for one, am pretty happy for Fish AND the Sens at this point. He was the type of heart and soul player that I will always love for Ottawa but in the rebuild process, he was also the perfect type of player for the organization to part ways with if they wanted to move forward. He proved the change was really happening.

We had some funlarious times with Mike didn’t we? Sharing the laughter and love. A great community guy, and life is precious, and God, and the bible. He also ended up getting a $5MM paycheck after the Sens went to the Cup finals. Which is awesome for him.  Being rich looks really awesome. I should know, I watch Cribs sometimes. Did you know that Missy Elliot hollowed out a perfectly good Lamborghini to put a bed inside? You cant teach that in How To Be A Rich Adult Baby School.

After many years with the organization we knew what we were getting with The Fish Monger and it was about 40 points with the dangling potential of 50+. Did we year in, year out expect too much of him? Probably. Was the belief that he was a 3rd line centre with 2nd line expectations accurate? Depends on who you ask but at his price tag we were basically never going to be happy with him. Especially so when you consider his yearly wearing of the “Mrs. High & Wide” sash (see what I did there?). But for his drawbacks guy was a goddamn gladiator for the Sens and left the organization as, deservedly, one of the most beloved players in the team’s history. He’s been given added responsibility in Nashville and I think he’s thriving under it.

What else is going on? Oh yeah, goaltending ALWAYS a thing.

Not sarcastically speaking, in a very surprising turn of events, Alexander Auld will get his first start of 2012 tonight. It’s weird because as much as I was talking about Craig Anderson getting way too many starts in a row, he ended up getting so many that now that Auld is actually starting I don’t think I feel great about it. What’s a girl to do? Watch hockey? Watch hockey. Okay, Auld is in tough as, I’m saying it, Vezina candidate and Olive Garden Pasta dish, Pekka Rinne is in for Nashville. Yeah, he’s enjoying a half decent run…you know, just your average 10-0-1, with a 1.62GAA and .948 save percentage in his last 11 games…so…get well soon Senators scoring ability! We hope you do get well.

Anything else? Something I was supposed to tiptoe around…

Oh yeah, right, Sens are doing really, really poorly right now and Nashville is doing LESS THAN POORLY. So that’s a thing. Me being the kind of guy that I am, I still believe this game is winnable as any game is. No teams go 82-0 or 0-82. That said, a lot is going to have to go right for the boys to take this one. Jason Spezza who has reportedly been battling the flu this past while, has hopefully had some time at home to recover and it will be great timing if he can look like his regular self tonight. Speaking of looking like yourself again, remember when Milan Michalek was a guy who scored all the time? Yeah, would be awesome to see that happen again. Kyle Turris has been making good things happen but tonight’s the night to bury his chances. AAAAAAnd on the subject of burying your chances, Bobby Butler will START the game on the top line with Spezza and 9MM. If he cant get something going quick expect to see his chances get buried in the bottom six. I am hoping to see beloved munchkin and new holder of the “Mrs. High & Wide” title Erik Karlsson put some points on the board after an uncharacteristic cold streak. Brian Lee draws into the line up while Zenon sits…so that’s a thing I guess .

With Rinne in net and Trotz’ disciplined defensive system at full buy in, the Sens are going to need points points points. That’s how this one will be won or lost. Cant be giving up goals early.  Also of note: Shea Weber once shot a puck through the fucking net. Through. The. Fuck.ing. net.

Enjoy the game everybody!