Hey, Bo$$, need a title for this here Sens/Caps story…OY VEY….but seriously, have you SEEN The Dogman’s TSN profile pic? Feast on THIS….
FIND ME A BETTER PLAYER PICTURE THAN THIS. FIND ME ONE (Brian Elliots weird spit string picture doesnt count. I’m talking wink and moustache class here people)
ENJOY THE GAME!
James
Release the Krackhead…BOOOOOOOOOOOM
I am warming up to this trade I suppose. A huge part of such warming comes with the fact that the trade DONE been made and there’s no undoing it now so might as well think of some of the potential. If you take into account a lot of the prospects looking to move up next season it almost seems like the Sens have two whole sets of teams in the works let alone just a log jam at defense (keeping in mind that Filatov was just sent back to CCCP Srebrenica and DaCosta demoted), the Sens have bodies. I think there’re a lot of exciting players in the mix and logically there’s not room for urrybody. Someone, someone likely very good, was going to get flipped at some point and we as fans would do our jobs and get angry. The real rub of this situation (and I mean in a bad way) is the pedigree and potential of the guy who got flipped. I think if we fans were a week ago leaked the knowledge that a Sens rookie was on the move and asked to make a list of most likely to be traded at the top and least likely at the bottom Rundblad would be more certain to be found in the basement than THIS GUY. Listen, it HURT to hear Rundblad was gone. I got a text from Steven walking down Rideau street and was literally stopped dead in my tracks by the news. I was just saying to someone on Friday night that after attending a few games the last couple of weeks that it appears that once Rundblad can start making his decisions just a split second earlier he could approach Karlsson heights of dominawesomeness. Similar to the Filatov situation before him, I don’t think I’m alone in having the notion that we barely got half a look at the kid’s game. Gone is the organization’s prime prospect AND A Pick. And a pick. You guys, is this the worst or is it not necessarily the worst?
Some people are saying this is Murray cow towing (does ANYONE know what that means? Sound off in the comment section or @wtyky with answers/suggestions) to a playoff push. What? I don’t really see acquiring Kyle Turris as that at all. I think that the deficiency at centre has been the most talked about issue of this season (and the off season: see our HOTTT preseason predictions in the achieves for more! Or don’t!) and Murray has been upfront in communications with the media that he was still looking to add a top 6 forward via trade. Yes, Foligno has been filling in admirably at centre and yes Regin is back and YES DaCosta and Zibanejad (who’s 18 btw) are waiting in the wings but I don’t really believe most NHL GMs think about things like this. I think Murray might see it more as…
1. By around this time last year Spezza was juuuuust about ready to shut ‘er down for an extended period on the IR which saw the team win ONE motherfucking game in a month without him.
2(a). Peter Regin cant even take draws right now because his shoulder has been reconstructed using melted down California Raisins figurines.
2(b) He has a winger who just took TWO knee on knees in a couple days potentially taking draws against the likes of Malkin/Staal, anyone on the Bruins, Scott Gomez (KIIIIIIIIIIIIDDIIIIIIIING but you get the idea)…Im sorry but …yikes
3. Zibanejad looking really awesome but far from ready at 18 years old. Maybe they want to give him 2 years to develop. No need to rush him…like Kyle Turris was uhhh…moving on… Ottawa needed more depth at centre for sure just hot holy shit that was a spicy toaster strudel of a price tag. One sunny side I will offer up about the pain of seeing a 2nd round pick – and this is coming from the guy who has said all year, ‘do what you gotta do Murray just DON’T SURRENDER PICKS, is that … by trade deadline, that pick will be recovered. Right Kuba!?
A lot of bandwidth has been spent on the “Emergence of Jared Cowen” being the impetus of this trade. YOWZERS I hope that’s not the case. That would be on some “what have you done for me lately” type shit that saw Da Costa getting thunderous applause at the introductions at the home opener for scoring one goal and Gonchar and Kuba getting booed for playing poorly in the first week. In the coming years I think we’ll see, as we are seeing now, that Cowen isn’t some Phillips/Carks style shutdownbot 3000. The kid was told to “contribute more offensively” in his last year at Spokane and posted 48 points in 58 games up 18 from a still respectable 30 in 59 the previous season. The kid’s not just a bulldozer, he’s got a little swag. Maybe the organization has more faith in Weircioch than we realize. Maybe this has less to do with blue line mobility and more to do with leaving the offense to King K, Cowen, maybe one other (Gonchar sticking around?) and looking more to bolster the CRYSTAL CLEAR defensive lapses the team suffers from with the likes of Lee, Borowecki, Gryba, Blood…I don’t know. Im just saying…maybe in the end they sold high on….well, an incredible asset.
That said: Maybe they sold stupidly low. I think one of the most painful things in the inevitable comparisons in years to come is that even if Turris works out well, we WILL be forever a touch burned on this trade. In that all Sens fans that are smart and good looking and have the same opinion as me, know that Rundblad is going to be amazing. It will always suck to see him excelling on another team a la Brooks Laich…but maybe more so.
The Filatov debacle is still smarting like …I don’t know…getting kicked in your area by Condoleezza Rice? And this feels like this situations could be Filatov on steroids. To get burned AND lose Rundbald will be…well it will be Bryan Murray’s retirement party no doubt.
So it seems Murray paid up to win the Turris sweepstakes. I suppose that unlike Filatov there were actually sweepstakes to obtain him…so that’s nice. Also unlike Filatov, Turris, I think is a lock for the top 6, more ice time, is not a flight risk and will more opportunity to play, though for his sake I hope they integrate him slowly as there will be a need for some adjustment time. Go easy in the meantime everyone. At least the Sens will improve in the shootout.which should come in handy when Auld is in net. OHHHH and Turris will reportedly be wearing number 7. Sound off in the comment section whether you think this is MORE delicious or LESS delicious than him wearing number 91.
Here we go…
Varada
Most of my thoughts are documented in that hate-tastic rant from the weekend. (And you know I’ve got to hate something to post on a weekend.) But I’ve had a couple of days to think about it, to weigh some of the excellent opinions and reactions on the web, and to consider my position from new perspectives. And yeah. I still hate this trade.
I’m excited to see Turris. I’m glad I availed myself of that Groupon for Sens tickets, because now I get to see him in action on Thursday. (Side note: was this trade all a way to sell more Groupons?) Nothing against the kid, center depth is important, and I’ve said all year that it’s only a matter of time before Spezza spends at least a few games hurt, and I’m not sold on Regin as a 20 minute a night man, at which time you either recall DaCosta (playing pretty well in the AHL, by the way) or play Zack Smith as your first line center. So we have options now that we didn’t before. And this is good.
But if there was any year that could be sacrificed in the name of having a truly terrifying team 2-3 seasons from now, it’s this one. Yeah, Cowen is playing great, and Karlsson is the new sliced bread. But that doesn’t mean there’s no room for Rundblad. It means you can roll a solid defence without having to play your top pairing to death.
As for the whole thing about Gonchar and Kuba coming back…really? Gonchar and Kuba who everyone has been mentally trading in their head from the moment they were brought in? Or maybe one of the best prospects in the game should have been traded because Phillips was re-signed? Ugh.
This is a huge risk. Massive. And it might work out, but we don’t even really have a sense of what “working out” looks like. If Turris puts up, what, 30 points, how will we feel? I have hopes for this trade, but the value just doesn’t seem right.
Right, so every hockey talking head is currently flapping their gums about how Bryan Murray went all Bryan Murray and totally mortgaged the sens promising future/destroyed an orphanage/cancelled Star Trek TNG. I’m here (well, here, not here) to tell everyone to chill out. Armchair GM-mmetry is a staple of hockey fandom and folks have a right to do a bit of head scratching, (okay so my melon is admittedly a bit raw) But let’s see if we can spin this a little more to the positive. Considering how many poop jokes I make I can’t honestly consider myself an actual journalist so any semblance of hockey analysis should be taken with a shot of Wisers (Tryin to get my hand’s on J. York’s hooch money there)
1. David Rundblad is awesome or wait, was awesome, or wait he’s going to be awesome? Totally confused here, it was obvious David was having problems with the lack of time and space big strong NHL forwards are encouraged to impose on young blueliners. This led to an abundance of risky curl-and-drag moves on the opponents blueline. Is this problem insurmountable? Heck no, he’s going to be a good player, that’s not up for debate. What was questionable was how this team was going to impose a defensive system with MacLean being forced to constantly avoid playing Karlsson and Rundblad at the same time. It appeared that having an abundance of risk takers on the back-end was not in Murray’s 2012-2015 strat plan. To me, this boils down to one of those early season fantasy moves, where you either deal from a position of strength or sell high on a guy.
2. The bust as myth. Quick think of any underperforming high draft pick and don’t use the word “bust”. It’s a death sentence in hockey, one that’s all too frequently tossed around. Doesn’t matter what kind of team/system/organization they were drafted to, the ice time or line mates they were provided. Don’t live up to the hype and fail to prove the talking heads right for fawning over you prior to the draft and the onus falls squarely on your shoulders. I can understand how Sens fans might be a bit sensitive thanks to our current relationship with one Nikita Filatov, but those of you screaming that Filatov never got decent ice time or line mates (yes I just hit Jesse Winchester with a rolled up newspaper) can’t possibly be grading this deal a loss so soon? Filatov and Turris are mutually exclusive.
3. Character issues, Kyle Turris is a terrible human being. I know right? How dare a young guy over value his production and make an ill-advised career move? What youngster hasn’t made questionable career moves? (not just hockey but in all lines of work) He found his ice time limited and was dangerously close to being labelled a draft bust. So he decided to look out for number one. He used his previous production as leverage. (it’s the only leverage a player will ever get) My point is go ask your boss if you can have more money. Back so soon? What they didn’t think you deserved it? Hmmm, maybe they were wrong about you? Maybe you’re not a team player? Hey what’s that they’re putting in your personnel file? Ruh-roh. C’mon gang, Murray isn’t building a Midget AAA team here, he needs a second line centre with mitts and skill, maybe he won’t end up doing an oil changers commercial or be labelled a room guy (I’m more of a bar guy, if you’re wondering) Character is overrated, most of the talented NHL players are either the product of well orchestrated PR campaigns or tremendous assholes. If it means more points, then bring on the assholes! (do not enter that last line into IMDB!)
4. Future considerations. Think about a few unknowns going into this deal. Particularly with realignment. Murray needs to construct a team capable of winning a playoff series against the Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs (gah!) in the not too distant future. Maybe Murray is envisioning a team with top-end talent up front and size on the back end. (not saying Rundblad was tiny but he didn’t exactly play big) Given the big cheese’s propensity to deal this might only be the start. I think the puck moving defenceman experiment might end at Karlsson and Gonchar. Lastly there was quite an incendiary article from professional hockey troll Ryan Lambert on Puck Daddy basically calling the coyotes GM the crown prince of hockey management. My retort is that Phoenix, just like every team that stockpiles young talent, will one day be forced to back up the brinks truck to keep guys. This includes us. Maybe Murray thought he can reason with Turris during negotiating his new deal and thus made this move to avoid the potential disaster of having to decided between Rundblad, Karlsson and Cowan. (and you guys thought Redden v Chara was gut wrenching) If we have to debate between paying our special little guy and our special huge guy James will never get down from the bell tower.
Bottom line is it’s another high risk, potentially high reward type deal. Ottawa has young blueliners in the system and no one close to Turris’ potential in the middle. You want to build a champion, you don’t do it with the Bobby Butler-Eric Condra-Peter Regin-Stephane DaCosta poo poo platter. You swing for the fences, I can live with that.
NOW COME AT ME TROLLS!!!!
One good thing about this trade: TSN dusts off the ol’ “Capital Gain” headline.
Okay, so let’s take the following epithets: “Build from the net out.” “Slow and steady rebuild.” “Five year plan.” And put those in a basket and then just sort of pitch them flaming into the night sky. Because the dream scenario of having three elite defensemen capable of playing 20+ minutes a night, playing solid two-way hockey, and driving the offense for years, of combining them with solid goaltending, and of complementing them with available and affordable 20-goal scorers, is now null.
It’s not that I don’t agree that the team has its share of depth on the backend, or that forward depth is a priority, or that Cowen and Karlsson are both working out wonderfully, or that the options for the 2nd line center pivot in Zibanejad, DaCosta and Regin are seriously lacking at the moment. It’s just that this isn’t the right time to trade a bluechip prospect, isn’t the maximum yield for that trade, and isn’t the right time for the franchise to be taking on more risk.
It’s the Vermette situation all over again: a good player, who you know you can turn into an asset that will help the team, is flipped in the name of winning now. Like the Vermette trade, this could burn Ottawa in a big way.
Remember where Karlsson was halfway through his first season? Sent down to the AHL for some conditioning, looking small and overmatched, he showed flashes of offensive brilliance but was thought to be a player who might only be used selectively. And if he turned out to only be a powerplay specialist, no one would have minded if he were traded at the time for a player who could “help the team now.” After all, the team had yet to admit that it couldn’t compete. The playoffs were in sight.
And thank god that never happened. Karlsson’s value is now at its height, and he’s a cornerstone of a team rebuild. All the more reason why Rundblad might have become expendable, but two questions:
1) Why trade Rundblad now, after a third of a season, when in a season or two he might be at his most valuable? You’d think Karlsson now might get more than just a Turris-like reclamation project. If Rundblad comes anywhere close to Karlsson’s current state, one thinks he might have gotten much more.
2) Why trade the pick that turned into Tarasenko for Rundblad only to trade Rundblad two seasons later for a player looking less likely to succeed than Tarasenko? If this club is lacking in offense, the players available at the time of the draft might have provided the same services, and without two or three seasons of wasted development.
There’s no doubt that Turris is an elite prospect – or, at least once was – but Ottawa shouldn’t be taking these kinds of risks at this point in the rebuild. Rundblad was as close to a sure thing as you could get. And he’s traded, well before he reaches full value, for a lottery ticket. It’s almost as if the team is caught up in being a bubble team and is fantasizing about that sweet playoff revenue. Gotta pay for that scoreboard, I guess.
Oh yeah, and they needed to throw in a second round pick! Which could very well turn into a very high pick if the team plays more like people expected them to! Perfect.
I taint never scared
Hi each and every buddy! Welcome to this thing about tonight’s game! Okay, so, coming off a uhh…less than successful tilt against the Bostonian Brewhahas, the Sens take on the Pennsylvania Penguins in what promises to be an ice bath of exotic delights. Right? That’s a thing. LETS. MOVE. ON.
Mandatory Concussed Star Player Section:
Yeah, we’re all bummed out on this. What’s writing about this going to do? Get well soon, EVERYBODY.
Battle of the marshmallow legs (What? Goalie pads kind of look marshmallowy):
Tonight Craig Anderson makes his…I don’t know…90th start in a row? Does anyone get the feeling that Andy starts a few too many games in a row sometimes? Then as a result he’ll have a bit of a burn out game? Was Boston that game? I don’t know. The defense made some serious flubs against the B’s but on the other side of the meatnormous omelet, for a guy so good at shootouts you think he could stonewall a one on one at least 50% of the time. Anyway, let’s see how it goes, its not like I’m saying lets put (I’m just going to assume former Penguin) Alex Auld in instead. So…let us pray?
Pittsburgh will start good goaltender who I still can’t believe got picked no.1 overall Marc Andre Fluery. Apparently Marc Andre “can’t hurrs what I am saying because he has hisStanley cup ring…pluggings one of his h’ear.” That said, Tim Thomas, MA Fleuy is not and I as team consultant encourage of the taking of 50 shots like they did against Beantown.
Santa With Muscles:
Last time these two teams met, Nick Foligno engaged in some flumbling AND bumbling all over Fluery. This was amazing to witness because it was during Movember and Foligno could not have looked more like Inspector Clouseau at the time. Fluery was no worse for wear but as you may remember BryMurr got in a bit of a war of words with Penguins star Sidney Cronston after he delivered quite the elbow to the head of our lovable little scamp in retaliation. Foligno was not injured by Sid the Squid (trademark children’s show idea) butMurraypromised to ice the likes of Ziebart Konopka, Matt Carkner and Christmas Neil. Hopefully this results in aLOTof goals. No but seriously bros. Contain Matt Garbagecooke (he cooks and eats garbages) but can we not hurt them on the g’darn scoreboard tonight? That’s all I want. A little scoreo here and there.
Hopes and Dreams:
Spezza take the wheel. Also, get well soon Erik Karlsson’s ability to get his dynamite slapshot to hit the net. Michalek aint there to redirect them no more.
Puck drop is scheduled for the opening faceoff. The game will be broadcast on a television station….Im thinking BET.
“Lets quit the horseplay and get down to brass tacks, Dracula” – President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Varada
To be honest, the Sabres now remind me of the Sens that recently had to be dismantled. Some dangerous players here and there … a little too much money distributed all around making it impossible for team to live up to expectation, too much reliance on one player and if they don’t measure up…they become the scapegoat (Spezza for us, Miller for them). There’s a fair amount of skill on the team but not the kind that has the opposition shaking in their shoes during warmup. Buffalo’s play last night reminded me a little of the “Let’s waste our power play cycling so we can see if Kovalev can fart something cool looking” stuff that had me ripping up my program in frustration watching at SBP. Management wise, Buffalo seems to share the Pre-rebuild Sens’ trademark combination of complacency AND tinkering that had us all calling for Murray’s head last year, though maybe Buffalo has a little more going in the way of young guns getting ice time than the Sens did a few years back.
Speaking of management, I don’t know what Lindy Ruff has pictures of D’Arcy Regier doing but it must be even HOTTER than whatever Bryan Murray has pictures of Melnyk doing! Same set of pictures maybe? But seriously ladies and germs, that guy has enjoyed a more secure tenure than Noam Chomsky at MIT! *bows and falls on face, while curtain closes over my corpse to everyone’s delight* As Sens fans we know it’s a dangerous game when you have entrenched management, a lot of high priced players (more than a few of them very good) and a perennial “good shot at making the playoffs.” It can lead to some real dragon chasing that can leave you waking up from a few seasons’ too long bender wondering where your pizza line went and what the hell Kovalev’s clothes are doing all over your floor while he’s singing Maroon 5’s “Moves like Jagr” in the shower. As a fan of a divisional rival, I say, keep chasing that dragon Buffalo! Maybe we’ll see you in the upcoming McCain Delicio Rising Crust Pizza Presents New Mediterranean Style Vegetarian Presents Eastern Conference Sector B Playoffs! Don’t run Miller out of town in the meantime!
What a fizzle. In a rebuild year, when you would think this team could afford to gamble on the development of a supremely talented player with incredible pedigree, Nikita Filatov was played on the fourth line with Zenon Konopka as his center, given ten minutes of ice time a game, demoted to the AHL twice, healthy scratched numerous times, and now, finally, is being loaned to the KHL, where Senators management has little hope of monitoring his development or deriving any value whatsoever for the third round pick sacrificed to bring him in.
I don’t know, maybe he’s a coke dealer? What other explanation can there be for the fact that Colin Greening starts game after game on Spezza’s wing–even after going on a mind-numbing cold streak–and Filatov is summarily dismissed by team and fan base alike or lacking the finer points of the game? I can accept that perhaps he hasn’t bought into the system enough. I can accept that his attitude might need an adjustment. I know he needs to get stronger, both with and without the puck. He’s not where he needs to be yet. But if he’s still a prospect, how is this not expected?
Multiple sources are reporting that Ottawa plans to qualify him when his entry-level deal expires after this season, but realistically, what signals have been sent that there’s a place for this high-end prospect on the Ottawa Senators’ roster? Do you get the sense that Filatov has been extended even a fraction of the trust the team’s own picks have received?
It seems already that there are players who have earned the benefit of management’s doubt, and Filatov is just not one of them. There might be plenty of reasons why this is the right decision. But hopefully some measure of communication is extended to Senators fans, who were excited to see what an infusion of skill might bring to a team who is still one Michalek or Spezza injury away from basically getting shut out every night.
Photo of the Sens taken in the third period
James
Hey, its December somethingth today and you know what that means? Hockey season is still happening! Well, gentlethuggz, it has been just a whirl of wind the past couple of weeks hasn’t it? Just…whirling with wind. I hate to start a Roundtable of Death in the midst of some struggles in Sensville but perhaps it’s for the best to have some Real Talk right now during this rebuildy season. So what are we liking, what are we not so much liking, what art we loving what art we loathing? Let us live and laugh and love together. . . uuugh I am unbearably weird.
Liking:
-Even though this has been a week that has REALLY challenged my easy, breezy, beautiful outlook of “HEYYYYY it’s a rebuild, win or lose it’s all good” the games have still been really exciting to watch. Even in some seriously heartbreaking circumstances. Funny when a team can score (especially late) how much more bearable a loss can be.
-Stumbled a bit the last couple of games but couldn’t help but notice Karlsson’s solid defensive play of late. Unfortunate that Ovie scored that admittedly badass winning goal on Our Special Little Guy as Karlsson was kind of making him his step-nephew all game up to then.
-Erik Condra quietly contributing.
Not so much liking:
-Really getting hemmed in all up in the defensive zone. All up in. In must situations, most notably on the power play. I’ve noticed that the once mighty PP can be completely derailed by being extremely tenacious with the defenders when they are either behind Ottawa’s net or are looking to begin a rush in the defensive zone. Maybe it’s the youth being exposed here or maybe the book is out on the Sens PP strategy. Just check as tight as you can on the breakout and watch them freeze up.
-Not liking how I got hypnotized and suddenly expected Zack Smith to put up a point a game and unfairly feel disappointed all of a sudden if the dude isn’t a game changer. Relax, me. Cant say he didn’t make it hard NOT to expect the world from him.
– Alex Auld showing why he’s played for like …11 frigging teams last night. Looking forward to Uncle Robin’s Goalie Hunt to start next season. But oy, last night, man, Auld in the shootout. Memories of the last two years. Cant go side to side at all. I mean in all it’s a bad game for Alex (AND COMPANY) but… when it reminds me of the last two season’s? it’s really bad. Bounce back bro, Andy cant start every damn game.
Loving:
-Nick Foligno. He’s our generation’s Zack Smith. No, really, I’ve always been a fan of this guy but I cant deny he’s been incredibly frustrating over the years. Guy couldn’t work any frigging harder game in and game out but … he dooooesnt always get let’s say…return on his investment. People who follow the team closely have seen the flashes of what Lil Nicky (great movie, GREATER nickname) can do. He’s scored some of the craziest goals I’ve ever seen (I think most of them in the preseason though). Nice too see him playing some of the best hockey of his career lately and props for not diarrheaing the bed at centre position. Also, new development…guy has tankish hitting qualities! Keep it up!
-In brief: Michalek keeping it up, Alfie finding his inner slapshot, Cardiac kids style comeback lone bright spot in garbage dump of a game in Jersey last night.
– Heard we’re getting a new scoreboard at the end of the month. EFF YES! FINALLY no more watching the game on the ice!
Loathing:
– Gonchar injury. I really hope Tintin isn’t out long after going into the boards seriously hard last night. Not only would it be a blow to the power play but to the team in general. Case in point, Filip Kuba. No denying the team game has suffered considerably since the veteran backend’sman (new slang) went down with … I don’t know…whatever he’s frigging hurt with this time. I like me some Jared Cowen and all but you can see giving him like 46 minutes a game, Mmmm might be pushing it a bit for a guy who’s only been in the NHL a couple months. Help us Dave Hale. Help us. Wherever you are.
– Can we not get a little bit of a competition going twixt Bobby Butler and Filatov? I know they play different wings and until recently MacLean has had a lineup that was doin big thang$ but has Butler really been a part of that aide from that one game against Calgary this year? Would love to see some healthy/unhealthy competition between these two.
-Zenon Konopka last night. Getting kicked out of important faceoffs, getting unnecessary penalties at literally the worst times to go down a man…ive been easy on Zenon till now but I had my “what is this guys purpose on this team?” Moment last night.
Varada’s Korner
waaaaaaaait for it....
Coming off the Win-In-Peg…………..RIGHT…………GUYS? the Sens look to stay in the middle of the Eastern Conference pack tonight against Texa$. Before I get this blogparty starrrrrrrrteeeeed, I just want to say:
Sens, if you’re reading this, which I know you are, because youre always mentioning that on the twitters, and at our personal hangouts, that I am really proud of you boys in red, white, some sparkly gold, black, and occasionally off white as well, that it is now December and you’re sitting in… well…tightly clinging to 8th seed in the East. 8th. Ahead of the likes of the Tampa Bay Thundersticks and the Washington Das Kapitals. Look, this is NHL hockey its a wild circus sometimes, the Boston Brewing Company was in like worst place a month ago…then decided to basically not lose anymore and punched everyone in their area, meaning, a lot’s going to change over time but I still wanted to offer my thanks for your very respectable/ fun to watch hockey up till this point. This is a team with a lot of rookies, a new coaching staff, a new system, some old dudes, a lot of weakness down the middle and it’s for these reasons that you guys were picked by pretty much everyone except Adnan at SilverSevenSens to finish dead last in the East. But you’ve got too much fight in you, don’t you guys? Don’t listen to the pouters, the doubters and the snouters. I’m probably not alone in thinking after those 2 early blowouts that it felt like a taste of things to come all, “Wow, 2011-2012 is going to be ‘February of last season’ bad.” Nope, been pretty good. Regardless of what happens, it has been DAMN fun to watch this team (more fun than last year already) and I hope they can keep it going.
Tonight’s matchup:
So our beloved Senators are in Texa$ to take on the Christmas Stars in a battle of the bubblicious teams. You guys, does anyone know anything about Dallas that they’d like to contribute before I start this thing?
Battle of Booms from the Point:
Former/Future AHLer Sheldon Souray has turned heads this season in this reclamation season with the Starrz …oh …oh wait, sorry, sorry, I thought this was 10 games ago. It’s not 10 games ago? Oops, Souray has ZERO points in 10 games after coming out of the gate something fierce. Now, usually I’d just make fun of the former all star and be done with it but I bring up his cold streak because I find that the Sens have a way of helping players/ teams break out of their stupid slumps. You know what I mean, friends? Like, Eric Staal will score against Ottawa and out comes the “Eric Staal, with his first point in 19 gaaaames…his last goal came against Ottawa.” You notice that? Anyone see 24/7 last year? Aaaaaanyone see Bridges of Madison County? I don’t know, watch out for this guy. He’s got a streak he’s looking to break. Erik Karlsson, hopefully intact after last game, looks for his 400th assist this season. Our special little guy is RIPPING it. Can Rundblad get in on a little bit of the Swedish magic?
Battle of the Under the Radar and SUB under the radar forwards:
Apparently, no one knows who Julia-Loui Eriksson is. I do because I used to play fantasy hockey back in the old days when I thought I cared about something like that. Anyway, with 22 points in 24 games, yeah, Loui is putting up Nugent-Hopkins type numbers – yup that is already a thing. Definitely a guy you might want to hip check in the face if possible. Dogman I’m lookin at you. Now moving one step BELOW under the radar, who the hell is Jamie Benn? Maybe I don’t follow the West even more than I though but I have no idea who the guy who has TWENTY THREEEEE points in 24 games. I’m telling you guys, this West? She moves, in mysterious ways. I also hope Mike Ribeiro has a terrible game because he seems thoroughly unlikable.
The Sens counter with Milan Michalek who I think counts as an under the radar guy outside of Ottawa. Guy is nails and no one gives a crunch but you know what? You know what Milano? You just go in there…score your goals and keep looking like a husky. As for our Sub-under the radar guy? Wait till these pricks get a load of Zack Smith. You know NO ONE knows who that guy is in the West. Even his name is inconspicuous. Maybe he’ll even get more power play time? You laugh now but it seemed to work a little bit there, last game.
Dans Le Filet:
Kari Lehtonen is currently on the injured reserve with a case of BEING THE NEW PASCAL LECLAIREITUS. Seriously folks, this guy goes down more than <insert latest answer to Paris Hilton joke fodder> *Takes bow, accepts award for terrible comedy/blogging* So anyway, let me just go on Askjeeves.com and find out who the backup for Dallas is….loading….loading…..ANDREW RAYCROFT!!! HES STILL IN THE NHL? Wait, maybe this isn’t so great as if anyone is looking to snap a cold streak I am almost CERTAIN it’s Raycroft. Move over Souray.
Dharma and Craig Anderson *shrugs, polishes terrible comedy award* looks to make his billionth start for Ottawa and as such can move into a tie for third overall in wins for goaltenders! Cool eh? Still not over that Lehtonen joke? I know. Just….the worst.
ENJOY THE GAME!
Welcome To Your Karlsson Years 