After Sunday’s game I actually found myself thinking back to some low times as a fan, oddly enough. You know what I’m talkin’ about… back to the days of Heatley’s ugly and drawn out exit, Clouston as ice king, many fans down on Spezza and hoping people like Alexandre Picard would ‘find their game.’ Worst of all Ottawa was still wearing that black SNES jersey.
We fans had enjoyed some very strong years in the early to mid 2000s but back just a couple of years ago it was really sinking in for me that the Senators were making a strong shift into shittiness.

Oh sure, I was still supporting the team and still making it out to what were some pretty painful games. The worst of which was a 5-1 pounding at the hands of the Florida Panthers on a Tuesday night in their black jerseys. MONEY AND TIME WELL SPENT! I mean, I’m a pretty optimistic fan overall but by all indications it seemed that we were in for a very steep and very, very long decline from the President’s Trophy days.
I wont dwell on it too long as I recognize it’s easy to wax on all flowery when your team just won a huge playoff game but thinking back to how recent many of those unpleasant events were I have to say I am feeling very grateful that despite a couple of Pascal LeClaire shaped bumps and thanks maybe to a few bits of good fortune like your talented but spotty diminutive mid-first round pick blossoming into the best defenseman in the game…I have to hand it to Bryan Murray and co. They made this team very fun to watch again…and FAST. I often think “What must it be like as an Oiler’s fan.” All those young fire crackers collected over years and then at the end of another brutal season your reward is, well, time for another high draft pick. That year that “earned” Ottawa Mika Zibanejad at sixth overall was hard enough. The Sens brass have built a team so solid that a squad comprised of half of the farm team is still a post season contender. And all without ever having to come in worse than 25^th.  Cant really call it a fluke anymore when MacLean actually got a better result with less. Anyway, speaking of Zibanejad, let’s get into it…

Obviously Pageau was the story of game 3 and we will get to him hey IM NOT MADE OF TALKING ABOUT STUFF EVERYONE’S TALKED ABOUT ALREADY!!! I want to point out that Zibanejad is now getting 20 minutes of ice time and he’s earning it. It would seem Mikachu has earned increased trust form his coaches and as such essentially doubled his ice time. I notice Zibanejad every game and even if he’s not getting the goals he is certainly attracting attention. Montreal appears to have a very tough time answering to Zibanejad’s size and strength. I love watching the Swedranian Bull routinely shrug defenders off his back Mario Lemieux style and work to get the puck to Silfverberg (whom he shares beautiful chemistry with).
It isn’t as if Zibanejad has been a slouch out there with 2 assists in 3 games. That’s not bad at all for a rookie but goals are what puts the pee-pee in fans pants (just…terrible writing here today). No question there will be a lot of focus on the diminutive JGP tonight (Note to JGP: Be careful out there buddy, this team is immune to disciplinary action! ITS A GREAT LEAGUE!). Anyway, if there is a lot of pressure to shut down Pageau I hope that opens things up a bit for Zibanejad as I am confident he can get something done. Big game for him I think.

You got me feelin’ Pageautions
Okay here we go. Judging by the way he was playing during his initial call up I just had a feeling this kid was ready to explode out there. I mean sure it’s still very early and I believe it was Winfrey Churchills who said, “Those who fail to learn from the Regins of the past will Bobby Butler in the future.” But you know what? Sometimes unexpected rookie sensations DO actually work out. We cant always be sad-sack realists.  It’s fun to be excited! PAGEAU UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE™! Regardless of what happens tonight or in this series no one will ever be able to take that game away from Pageau or the ever growing history of the franchise. Most dominant franchise win in the playoffs, a 5-0 line brawl, a rookie hat trick and of course, the “PAGEAU, PAGEAU, PAGEAU” chant (in my opinion one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen happen at SBP). Pageau was a key in a night where I felt we saw the entire franchise move closer to a new chapter.

Can you believe Ottawa was out shot last game?
Despite all the story lines floating around out there I think this game is about goaltending yet again. Anderson is going to have to be very, very good again as my inkling is that Montreal is going to employ a strategy of going hard to the front of the net and trying to bang home rebounds. The Canadiens have made it no secret that they think that Andy is a “first save” goalie and if you can get a rebound off of him and on your stick you can put it behind him. It will be up to Andy to stop those pucks from rebounding but also up to the large lads in front of him to make sure they cant get in too close, particularly the sneaky Gallagher (who’s comedy is terrible) and Subban who likes to jump up in the rush (and on his hits). No telling which Carey Price we will see. Your guess is as good as mine.

So In A Roundabout Way What I’m Trying to Say Is…

Despite how satisfying that game was for we Sens fans lest we forget that one game before Ottawa was positively dominated. The complete 180 that they made between games 2 and 3 has me as excited as I am nervous about tonight. In fact, Ottawa has only looked particularly good in 1 of 3 games thus far. That’s not to say that game 3 wasn’t a turning point but if we tune in tonight to see Ottawa with their foot off the accelerator we could have a tied series again and a much different scenario on our hands. The good news is the game they did look good in was a particularly inspired performance, the kind you can build momentum around. Ottawa’s going to have to come out as hard as they did on Sunday, no question.  Keep it simple stupids. Hit, skate and score.

Go Sens Go!

And now this… 

More gold from Steven! Enjoy the game everybody!

“Let me be your hero…”

Hi everyone,

I’ve had Spin Doctors “Two Princes” stuck in my head for I am NOT kidding you, four straight days. I’m hungover. LETS DO THIS.

We have a lot to talk about. I suppose I will get it out of the way off the jump

A Tale of Two Hitties

I will go on the record (that no one asked me to go on) saying I thought Gryba’s hit was a legal but devastating one. For those opposed I asketh thee this: “What gentlesir/madam was Gyba supposed to do instead of lay that hit?” Was he to step out of one Montreal’s best forward’s way? Delicately poke check the puck off of his stick? That was a trolley track pass from Diaz a la LaRose + Skinner = Cowen that we saw in Jared’s first game back. Like the Cowen-Skinner hit, I call it the Andy Sutton Special. “Five minutes for being humongous.” Eller is no shrimp but examine Gyrba’s positioning. I’ve seen many a head hunt and I cannot call that one of them. Hockey’s an incredibly fast game to the point that the NHL has added A WHOLE OTHER REFEREE to keep track of it in recent years…also O’Rourke is a terrible referee. I am willing to accept that in the moment at ice level that hit probably looked dirty. Eller laying knocked out in a quickly growing pool of his own blood did nothing to help anything. Fine. Gryba gets the gate. What I find laughable is now with the advantage of multiple angles of replay that he’s still getting a hearing with the Shannahan. Rediculous.

You know what hit was not so clean?

I don’t like how Subban jumps into the boards and I don’t like how his elbow goes right to the head of Neil. But that hit makes the highlight’s package and PK is celebrated for “being fired up tonight” why? Because Neil pops up like nothing happened. What am I trying to say here? I’m saying optics play a huge role in how a play is perceived apparently. If you’ve ever worn a hockey elbow pad you know how hard they are. If Subban concussed Neil and knocked his teeth out he gets the gate. Fortunately, he appears fine after the play (though I didn’t think he looked quite right after) and life goes on.  I never, ever relish seeing a player get hurt. I think it’s terrible what happened what happened to Eller. I hope he makes a full recovery but much like fighting after throwing a hip check I’m confused by the aftermath of this thing. In a game this fast with players the size of Gyrba or Sutton or Chara I say this: Players. Will. Be. Hurt. On. Clean. Plays. I point the finger at Diaz for a very stupid play that endangered his teammate.

NOW ONTO THE ACTUAL GAME: 
So good things and bad things. Let’s start with a few quick bad points.
-Ottawa looked HORRIBLE in the second period. In my mind this game had the potential to be a blow out. They are not going to get away with 20 minutes that bad very often. That game lived and died to the play of Craig Anderson. The goals surrendered to Bourque and Gallagher we’re beauties. Craig Anderson was the game’s hero. I was worried he’d be shaky after taking that puck the grill but he remained Steady Ruxpin in the crease. Hail Andy.
-The Sens gave up 50 shots BTW…on the heels of praising Anderson’s play…bros, don’t force your goalie into making 48 saves. Good God.
-And that power play. Forget trouble setting the table there was one power play that was pretty much played exclusively in Ottawa’s zone. Just unacceptably bad. There were a lot of thing’s I am not feeling great about considering this is a 7 game series.

Good points:
-Latendresse scored SUCH a troll goal. The only person laughing more than me when that went in was Latendresse himself. Those are the kind of Flugly goals that Lats is going to have to score if he’s going to be a factor against such a speedy team. That one had to hurt for Habs fans.
-You have to love that Marc Methot had the same stat line as Erik Karlsson last night. I actually thought EK had a few shaky moments to be honest. He had a goal and an assist, played a ton of minutes was a plus three…all good BUT I actually think he can play better. Which is ultimately great news for Ottawa.
Can you believe Mika Zibanejad is a rookie? I mentioned this yesterday but I cannot get over the chemistry he has with Silfverberg. I like their line with Latendresse.

Am I A Terrible Human Being For Even Mentioning This?
Hit controversy aside, how huge a loss Lars Eller is for Montreal? When the smoke clears on this thing that is not a player you want to see get injured in game 1. Not only one of their best players but one of their biggest.

The Price is Wrongderson…or whatever.
Tonight will be another goalie battle. Regardless of last night’s result, each game is a new one. A blank slate. Keep in mind Ottawa got their asses kicked in 4-2 by the Rangers in game 1 last year and bounced back with a 3-2 OT win in a much, much tighter game 2. I still don’t take Price lightly but if the Sens can get to him early that will be massive for momentum. The interesting thing with the Bell Centre atmosphere is that yes, undoubtedly it is the most electric building in the league…but if stuff starts going wrong I think it can also be the quietest. That’s the trade you get when you have fans as emotional as the Canadiens’. After that Silfverberg goal last night you could really feel the air exit that building even on TV. Of course the other delicious possibility is that if things go really shit for the Habs that base of passionate fans have a tendency to take out their frustrations on their own guys. After all this is the team I’ve seen boo their own side for not converting on a powerplay against one of the league’s best PKs in a game THEY WERE WINNING. Two home losses would be crushing for them. Especially after a game as frustrating as last night’s. With back to back games it’s not like Ottawa’s powerplay is going to miraculously get awesome overnight. I basically think we’re going to need yet another masterful performance from Anderson and continued scoring to pull this one out. If they can do that it would be beyond huge for the series but Montreal is going to come out trying to win one for Eller. Ottawa’s going to have to keep it calm on their side and take them out of it early.

Steve says that he photoshopped in my real eyes and glasses for this picture. Creep show! I will give that the paisley vest is accurate but the colour is off. I’m more of a fuchsia man. Also, I would never wear so few jewels.

Now,
Before I start I’ll be the first to admit that before the Sens victory in Boston put them in seventh place I was not overly optimistic about the playoffs. Maybe it’s the hundreds and hundreds of dollars I’ve spent on playoff tickets the past few years and never so much as getting to see a win talking but the last few times the Senators have made the post season they have been less than successful. Look, I’m not trying to be a bad fan here. I’ve BEEN there all these years: #myredisyourred #unitedintown #hockeymakesourbed all the things! But you saw what happened in that Penguins – Islanders game last night! That’s been us other years! I don’t know how this stuff works. My guess is as good as yours as to how this series will shake out (THANKS FOR READING!). Montreal is a really good team but I think Ottawa has a pretty damn good chance against them. Let’s get into it!

Forwards:

One disadvantage these teams both face here is that they are each missing their elite number one centre. Jason Spezza is still recovering from back surgery and in Montreal…uhhhh…
But the seriousness. These two teams might play a similar game but one glaring difference is definitely that the Habs can put the biscuit in the basket. Leading Ottawa point getter Kyle Turris wouldnt even be in Montreal’s top 5 in scoring. And they’ve scored by committee too with 8 players putting up double digits in goals. Impressive in such a short year. Not so fast though. Does anyone else get a bit of a sleeping giant vibe from the Sens? Its not like Ottawa is devoid of scoring talent. They routinely pepper their opponents with shots and when they get going they have the ability to load up on goals. See: 5-1 victory over Montreal earlier this year. Ottawa has their Habs killer in rookie sensation Daniel Afredsson and Montreal traded away Sens killer Erik Cole but I still give the edge to the more productive Canadiens. It will be up to to Craig Anderson to stem the tide (as usual)

Defense:

For my insight and analysis on this whole EK vs. PK thing please see this helpful video.

Outside of the E vs. P thing Montreal also possesses Andrei Markov who you know, scored more points than everyone on Ottawa’s roster. So there’s that. The biggest hole in their D corps is that they are missing the bruising Russian Alexei Emelin. Ottawa dodges a lot of devastating hits thanks to this guy missing the series. They’ll need to be physically imposing and bully their way into the zone. Zibby I’m looking at you. Outside of the offensively threatening PK and Markov there’s some stalwarts like Josh Gorges and a bunch of misfit toys like STANLEY CUP CHAMPION TOMAS KABERLE.
Ottawa’s D is an interesting combination of youth and experience. Fun fact: Did you know if you add the ages of Jared Cowen, Erik Karlsson and Eric Gryba, multiply them by two and subtract Patrick Wiercioch’s age you get the same age as Sergei Gonchar’s youngest granddaughter? It’s called MATH PORN. Look it up in a dictionary about differnent kinds of porn that arent porn. Moving forward, despite a D squad with a bunch of green horns and a guy who used to play for Columbus, Phillips and Gonchar combine for 229 games of post season experience. Look to those two guys to keep their heads if things get rough for a game or two. Add to that the Senators have an elite Penalty Kill and allowed the fewest goals against in the East this year. A silver lining of all those injuries was that it forced Ottawa to get their shit together big time defensively. I have to give the advantage to the Senators here.

Goaltending:

Okay can we stop pretending that Carey Price isn’t a really fucking good goaltender? Talking a gang of shit is fun but let’s not kid ourselves that a team that has as much trouble scoring as the Senators is going to be in pretty tough against Price. His numbers might not be Anderson-like this season but honestly he is a player I hope does not heat up for Montreal. He finished the year pretty poorly but the playoffs present a clean slate and he shouldn’t be taken lightly. The same goes for Anderson, he hasn’t been quite up to the non-human level since his return from injury but I am confident that we will see the guy who was Ottawa’s best player in last season’s series against New York. You have to give the edge to Anderson here but the Sens difficulty scoring goals makes the matchup closer than I am comfortable with.

Coaching:

Coaches are humans that make all kinds of sports decisions.

 and now this…

Smooth Jimmy’s Step Up To Get Your Rep-Up List:

• Cory Conacher: Conacher got off to a great start with Ottawa, carrying on from his great rookie campaign that begain in Tampa. CC’s dwindling ice time over the ever-important last stretch of the season suggests MacLean did not like elements of Conacher’s game. If I were to guess it was on the defensive side. He’s still showed flashes of awesomeness like his heads up flip pass to Turris for his empty netter against the Bruins but Cory’s going to really have to earn his ice time out there it seems. I really hope he does as we’ve all seen the chances he can create with Zibenejad and Silfverberg.

• Kyle Turris: I noticed teams really going after Turris physically lately. Barring a Brandon Prust head punch special, at his REPORTED 6 foot 1, 195lbs Turris will get to enjoy being a decent sized forward in this series. I don’t know though, I’m not so sure he’s only one inch shorter and three pounds lighter than Lars Eller. Whatever, the point is he ain’t exactly lining up against Jordan Staal up in here. I’ve been a big defender of Turris this season feeling he was thrust into a very tough job. The playoffs are a whole other beast and we are going to see if Turris has that extra gear in his daddy pants role. Turry put up respectable if pedestrian numbers this season (though his production is actually up slightly from last year) but I think he can do a bit better. Anyone who watched him closely knows that his 118 shots contained more than a few Condra-level heartbreakers. That’s not to sound like I’m going into this series down on Turris. He’s not invisible in the playoffs clocking 3 points in 7 games against NY including a sweet snipe I needn’t mention. He was very by all accounts Phoenix’s best player in the playoffs in 2011 with 3 points in 4 games but this year is much different. He’s going to have to be the guy at forward. He’s not only going to have to create chances for Milo and Alfie (OR WHO KNOWS WHAT LINE SHUFFLING SPICE!) but he’s ultimately going to have to find a way to bury more of those shots.

• Milan Michalek: Another player who can struggle with the odd goal drought and considering he’s not exactly Adam Oates with the helpers out there, Milo needs to be that 30+ goal calibre guy he showed us he can be last year. Of course he wont be getting dishes from Jason Spezza but when the game is speed there’s few faster than 9MM. Back from an apparently much needed knee scope Michalek looked proper down the stretch but he needs to show he’s a great winger with or without his typical linemates. As an Ottawa Senator this a skill he’ll likely need in the future…when he’s in the lineup.

• Jakob Silfverberg: Known for his slow starts that gain momentum, Silfverberg is not going to have the luxury of time in the post season. Despite his status as a rookie Jakob knows what it takes to go the distance in the playoffs as last year he Captained his Byrnas Fluurgendorffs (?) all the way to the Whatever It’s Called Cup of the Swedish Elite League. After starting the year in Binghamton for 34 games and moving up to play 48 more on a compressed schedule for Les Big Boys it’s no secret that Silfverberg looked a little gassed toward the end of the season. His play has had a little more life of late but that rookie line is going to need his possession skills in full effect if its going to be a factor against the Canadiens. Zibanejad and Silf have been on some pretty psychic shit at times this year. If this line can get clicking again that could cause big problems for Montreal.

• Eric Gryba: The microscope is going to be trained tight on Grybes by fans and media alike simply for getting picked to play over Patrick Wiercioch. Considering the high flying game that Montreal plays, I personally think it’s a bit of an odd choice to go with Gryba but…Trustache. Maybe the coaching staff thinks the puck moving game is covered with Karlsson getting 45 minutes a night already and Gonchar enjoying top scoring honours among Ottawa defensemen this season. Regardless of the decision to go with the rookie Gryba over …the other rookie Wiercioch the onus is now on Gyba to prove he deserves to keep his spot in the line up. One bad game and MacLean knows he has a very capable replacement (or three) waiting in the wings.

• GUILLAUME LATENDRESSE: Alright, I fronted hard on this guy since he got signed but you know what? Since recovering from his whiplash (..ugh whatever moving forward…) problems I grew to like Gui alright. He has pretty great hands and despite his speed issues he finds his way to the front of the net where he’s most effective. He’s also proven he can set up a faster skater charging toward the goal with a beautiful pass. So yadda, yadda Latendresse is p. good. P. Good (copyright) doesn’t mean irreplaceable though. A contract renewal in Ottawa is not exactly guaranteed for Lats. Consider the talent like Stone, Prince, Puempel, Noeson et al on the creep-creep coming into rookie camp in the fall. Latendresse, a heralded draftee of the Canadiens (or as I call it “Skilled Player with the Frenchest Name Selected”) was anointed “Le Sauveur du Mont-Royal”, rushed into the league and promptly booted to the wilderness of Minnesota. My eyes are going to be on Latendresse to see how he reacts to facing his old club. Gui hasn’t exactly been a playoff ruler with a Reginesque 1 assist in 12 career post season appearances skating to a -7 rating. The playoffs are a breeding ground for unlikely heroes and this is the perfect opportunity for Gui to emerge as one. Should he be a big fat zero (see what I did there) he doesn’t give the Senators much reason to give him millions upon millions more dollars. Criticized in the past for issues with motivation, Gui has the opportunity to stick it to the club that told him to hit the trails.

Secret Hobo Spices:

• Jean Gabriel Pageau: Look, I dont want to overdo it here, he’s played 9 NHL games but speaking of potential heroes flying under the radar…I have a really good feeling about this kid. He plays a solid, responsible game but there’s a wee bit of magic in that silk scarf of his (what the fuck am I talking about at this point?).

• Z. Smith: Maybe he’ll get the odd point, maybe he wont but look for Zmith to be out there punishing the Canadiens every chance he gets. Zack was made for playoff hockey and I’m thinking he’ll quietly be a difference maker out there.

• Colin Greening: Scored the quietest 8 goals this season. Greening has the speed, size and versatility to be a big factor. The quietness of his 8 goals and 19 points comes from a tendency to disappear for long stretches. Which Colin Greening will we see? I’m hoping the surprising game breaker kind.

Welp, that’s all. Now ish gets Real. GO SENS GO!!!!

WELCOME! 

So as you well know, the Sensphere is all atwitter over the news of Jim O”Brien’s healthy scratch tonight against the Washington Capitals.

OKAY Erik Karlsson is back. I don’t even know what to do with myself. What can I say that hasnt aleady been said? All the emotions are happening. After my preview of the recent match against Carolina I predicted that in his return Jared Cowen would take a glorified twirl around the ice and make sure the old hip feels okay in a Borowieckian 12 minutes of ice time.  I think we can say after 20 minutes that included a thunderous hit, 2 fights and a number of beastly defensive plays that I should go back up into my tree house and shut up. THANKS FOR READING!

And now James would like to issue a statement:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely apologize for not wearing my Erik Karlsson jersey to the bar the night of his devastating injury suffered from noted piece of human garbage Matt Cooke. Since I decided to stop washing my Peace Tower logo Sens t shirt during the entire cup final run of 2007, I have been aware that my superstitious actions control the outcome of sporting events that I am interested in, namely those of the only sports team that matters, the Ottawa Senators. By not wearing my Karlsson uniform I not only endangered the outcome of the game but put his health at risk and feel incredibly lucky that he has found a way to recover quickly. I can assure you, my fellow fans, this will not happen again. #lalala” 

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy exciting story line aside, the Pittsburgh game did not go very well and shit is starting to get extremely real up in here!
Not everyone was terrible in that game (gotta love Zibanejad these days) but have you seen the Sens trying to look so fancy this season? They did not look like Paul MacLean’s team that game. Forget this running after Matt Cooke stuff, you know what I dont want to see distracting the team? MARC METHOT ATTEMPTING A FUCKING DROP PASS. That happened. Obviously his partner was NOT expecting it. Even if Erik Karlsson solely gets power play time tonight it will be a welcome change simply because he loves to shoot. Ugh, guys, with the cycling already! To quote the Scotiabank Place crowd “SHOOOT!!!”  Just brutal with the extra man. Speaking of which…

Craig Anderson’s Been Terrible at the Point on the Power Play! 
Been hearing a lot of ragging on Anderson’s play since his glorious return. With so much on the line it’s hard not to get a bit rattled watching the Sens make things a little too “interesting” down the stretch but… Andy aint the problem. The Sens as a team have put up 2 goals in their past two losses. There is such a thing as momentum in hockey and putting up 1 goal a night tells your goalie “hey we expect you to have a shutout” Nah. You have to score more than one goal to win hockey games against most teams….especially the Washington Capitals!
Like the whole Cooke thing, the return of Karlsson has created a circus surrounding him that does distract from how important this game is. Punching a playoff ticket is something Ottawa should do, you know, sooner than later. All the good vibes in the world aren’t going to win this game…well what do I know maybe they will…but still win you guys. I cant takes this no mores. The Capitals are a team that is not going to be easy to defeat on the road but lets hope that having the past couple of days off has given Ottawa a chance to get it together after some disappointing performances. Tonight’s the night. Ottawa can do it! They’ve proved they can do it without Karlsson now let’s see them do with him back. Welcome back Special Little Guy!
Enjoy the game. As usual, I will be eating my feelings on twitter. Seriously hold me.