Aug 29, 2006 -- Well my first attempt at video highlights is now available. No big surprise in that it deals with the 2005/2006 season of Antoine Vermette, in magnus opus fashion.

Aug 28, 2006 -- Will somebody please shoot this guy before he makes a trade. It seems Muckler has the hots for P.J. Axelson. Only God knows why? He scored 10 goals last year, which what he has averaged for the nine years he has been in the league. This guy's book has been written...he is going to score 10-15 goals a year until he retires...there is nothing here that we want or need.

On the Sensnation board they were quoting sources saying that the Bruins were demanding a top 4 defenceman and an "NHL" forward. By "NHL" they were speculating Vermette or Eaves, two players who have already hit the 20 goal plateau, in their second and rookie years respectively.

Both of these players in my mind are more than capable of scoring 30 goals this year. For Eaves it is a matter of math...a full season gives him 27 ...add a bit for experience. For Vermette it is a matter of actually playing a whole season with two decent forwards.

Anyways again the fact that the Bruins are "demanding" this confirms to me that the other GM's hold Muckler in complete contempt. It is not just what they are demanding...according to this Brownescombe blog post
Muckler is offering ... offering Volchenkov and Kelly.

I would not even trade either of these guys one for one for Axelson. Next to Vermette, Kelly is probably the most underrated, misunderstood player on the Sens. People forget that Kelly got over 30 points last year, almost as many as Eaves and Vermette and more than what Axelson got.

He may not be as flashy as Vermette but his overall hockey skills, and skating, is equal, if not better, than that Eaves. Unlike Eaves, but like Vermette, he barely played any games where he had two good line mates to work with. He is arguably one of the best pure passers on the team. Again the only problem here was that Vermette was the only guy he could pass to, that could actually do anything with the puck. Do you think McGrattan or Varada could streak behind lead-footed defenders and catch passes at full throttle? Might as well pass the puck to the Zamboni.

Put Kelly with two decent forwards....and please not fucking Heatley who can't play with anybody else but Alfie and Spezz, but any other two forwards...like Vermette and Eaves, then his point totals would double at least He certainly would score 20 goals faster than Axelson would. And then there is the obvious... trading Kelly away breaks up one the most lethal PK units in the league.

And Volchenkov? Look the days of Ottawa having depth on defence are gone, finito...Muckler has pissed it away. This year our depth consists of Schubert, who quite frankly, is much more impressive as a forward that at D. If last year's call ups from Binghampton are any indication ,then the Senators have no safety net in that regards. To give up, what on any other team, is a top 4 defenceman for a perennial 30 point forward is just ludicrous.

With Chara gone we will need Volchenkov's ability to deliver bone crushing, momentum shifting, A-trains more than ever.

Could we use another forward? Sure...but unless this guy can score 30 goals in his sleep, then whoever we get is not going to be worth what we would have to give up.

Aug 28, 2006 -- Ottawa Senators scoring highlights of Mike Fisher, 2005-2006 season.

Aug 24, 2006 -- A reader sent in the following link on Alexei Kaigorodov from a site that covers Russian prospects.

Quite a detailed look and analysis and a complete set of statistics. He sounds to have a little bit of Spezza in him, or at the least, that is the impression I get.

Aug 24, 2006 -- There is strong indication that Kaigorodov (click for scouting report) will be making the trip to Ottawa this year. At least that is what is being reported at EuroHockey.net

This is nothing short of fantastic news! I am sure that any of you who have been doodling with prospective line combinations will understand the significance and impact of this.

Aug 19, 2006 -- In preparation for the upcoming season I have been spending some spare time doodling with potential line combinations. At this stage of course there are all kinds of options and possibilities. Keeping the Big Line together gives one main branch of possibilities. Breaking them up gives another basket of possibilities. The other big unknown will be the recent acquisition of Dean McCammond, signed to a one year deal at .725 million dollars.

Aug 17, 2006 -- Now that the roster is all but finalized one can start to look at potential line combinations. Next to actually qualifying for the playoffs the most important aspect of the regular season is to find those line combinations that bring out the best that the team has to offer. It is the time in which one finds out which combinations work, and which do not. In that regards Ottawa's last season was a complete waste of time. We went into the playoffs with four lines that had, at best, a total of two or three, regular season games together. We might as well have just exited training camp.

One of the key questions that I look forward to being answered is whether we will go back to using the Big Line of Alfredsson-Spezza-Heatley?

Aug 13, 2006 -- I have updated the work sheet to include McCammond. The total cap hit comes to just shy of $43 million so I cannot see any dramatic additions before the season. At this point it is better to let them play and see where we will need extra help for a playoff run and then go for that come trade deadline.

It is disappointing not getting that top six forward as well as not getting to see Kaigorodov who may have been the one to fill that hole.

My overall impression however is that we still have a very good team that will have a lot of speed and thus will be enjoyable to watch. If we can get the line combinations right then we should have no problems scoring goals. It is not partisan optimism to say we could have at least six, if not more, players who will score 30 goals or more this year

Aug 2, 2006 -- From James Mirtle who again does great work we get the following list of forwards who are still available as UFA's

V. Kozlov - Allison - Sykora
Daze - Perreault - Carter
Bondra - Hrdina - Dvorak
Rucinsky - Daigle - Kvasha
G. Johnson

So is there anybody here that can fill our need for a top six forward? In my mind whomever we get has to be a 30 goal scorer, otherwise we might as well have kept Smolinski

Aug 1, 2006 -- Now that the foundation of the team for this coming season is basically set it is time for Melnyk to make those changes that are necessary for Ottawa's continued success. So what I am talking about is the firing of Muckler and Murray.

Jul 31, 2006 -- Came across a link to some sites which cover NHL team salaries.

NHL Team Salaries, and

NHL Analysis.com

Jul 29, 2006 -- Below is an updated salary worksheet. As you may know the salary that a player gets is not necessarily the same as the cap hit. The latter, I believe is calculated as the average salary over the length of the contract. So although Schaefer will get paid 1.7 million this year, his cap hit is 2.1 million. I am not sure if I have all the nuances involved and just haven't had the time to nail it down.

Kaigorodov is still a big question mark. My projected salary here really is in the realm of a wild-assed guess. How much will he cost? Will we even sign him? If we do, can he actually be the number 2 center some people hope?

Jul 28, 2006 -- Schaeffer has been signed for $8.4 million over four years giving an average "cap hit" of 2.1 million dollars a year. This is fairly close to the 2.2 million I projected for a longer term contract. A good signing. I will do up the revised worksheet sometime this weekend. We still need that top six forward.

Jul 27, 2006 -- I am waiting for the Schaefer arbitration hearing to be concluded before putting up the revised salary worksheet. As you know Kelly has been signed (only one year) for .75 million while Chris Neil was signed for 3 years at 1.1 million a year. It doesn't really change the bottom lines from my projections (I had them both at .942 million).

I think Kelly is being undervalued at .75 million and if they had offered him close to a million, he would have signed for longer. A key guy on the PK and someone in my pre-season line up that I have playing as a third line winger with Vermette and Eaves. I would project him as a 20 goal scorer if he could play with those two for the whole season.

I won't begrudge Neil his 1.1 million dollars, but if he was a stock, then quite a bit of good news has been priced in before the fact.

Jul 21, 2006 -- I am sure you have noticed that in certain media quarters, it is fashionable to turn one's nose up at professional hockey in comparison with the other major North American sports leagues. The source comes from a certain breed of American sports broadcaster that immediately puts down anything that is not instantly identifiable as being thoroughly "American". Worse at times you can see it rubbing it off on Canadian broadcasters with inferiority complexes. Thus their willingness to consider "gimmicks" to save the game of hockey or change it to sell it to the Americans.

Jul 18, 2006 -- You can change the "P" on Vermette to a "C" as it has been announced that he has signed a two year deal. The one million dollar cap hit remains the same. Money well spent.

Jul 15, 2006 -- Below is the revised GM Worksheet. According the NHLPA site, Schubert has been signed for .525 million - which is less than the .7 million I had projected. This only confirms to me that Muckler is better at negotiating salaries, than he is at trading players. This is a steal for a player like Schubert who is the team's uber depth player.

Jul 12, 2006 -- Muckler has been quoted as saying that he wants to start the season at $42 million, and leave a reserve for trade deadline acquisitions.

According to my estimates, Muckler should still has about 2.5 to 2.85 in cap space even after the RFA's are signed.

I think it would be better if he took that money and got the best forward he can buy for that amount. With one more top six forward, we would have a very sound line-up that you could ride for the whole season.

Jul 10, 2006 -- Anyone who has done any line juggling in their heads can tell you that the departures of Smolinski and Havlat has left the Senators pretty lean up front. I don't think you will get much debate by saying that our top priority is to sign a top six impact forward. Not a prospect, not a project, not a young player with promise or potential, but a no shit player that we know will contribute from game one.

Jul 10, 2006 -- Havlat and Smolinski are out. Priessing is in. I have not yet included the other two as of yet, as it is not clear to me whether they will playing with the Senators or in Binghampton. We are more or less set at defense. The remaining cap space now definitely has to go and get an impact forward.

Jul 9, 2006 -- Well was just browsing through the SensNation chat board where I found out that Havlat and Smolinksi have been dealt. The link below will take you to the TSN story.

Sens deal Havlat and Smolinski to Chicago

First impressions. The Blackhawk braintrust blew a gasket, signing Havlat for 3 years and $6 million a year. If they think Havlat is the kind of player that can carry a team on his back, then they are in for a rude, rude shock.

Jul 9, 2006 -- A recent article in the Ottawa citizen quotes Muckler as saying,

"Organizations have to think differently in a cap world that expedites player movement and limits payroll to $44 million U.S. The Senators won't exceed $42 million U.S. at the start of the season."

I would think one of the conditions for long term viability is to avoid salary albatrosses. Indeed any salaries that do not give good value has a ripple effect that affects the whole team.

Jul 6, 2006 -- Below is an updated salary worksheet which incorporates the signings of Spezza and Emery.

C = Contracted (Source used was TSN) P = Projected (My Estimation) A = Under Arbitration

Jul 5, 2006 -- In an interview with Bruce Garrioch Chara is quoted as saying

"He [Melnyk]told me the cap is going to be $44 million and they were going to go to the maximum.

So spending the max is a good thing. If my projections are anywhere close it means that there is about $3.8 million dollars in cap space remaining.

Novak was not given a qualifying offer and is thus a free agent, so the plan of bringing him up and concentrating that money on getting a number 2 center is not really workable.

Either through free agency or part of the Havlat deal we are going to have to get another defenceman. Even then it looks like our depth in that area will be non-existent.

Jul 4, 2006 -- It should be obvious to all that Muckler is having trouble off-loading Havlat. Teams are not lining up to grab the supposed elite winger, especially with out a known dollar cost attached to him. That alone suggests that other teams may not share in Havlat's good opinion of himself.

Jul 4, 2006 -- Well I guess Muckler's ambitions have dropped in just 24 hours. According the Ottawa Sun,

"Muckler also said the club is still sifting through the free-agent market for a fourth-line center and a defenceman."

A fourth line center? Why? We are up to our ears in centers. With Vermette and Kelly and Kaigorodov, this is hardly a gaping hole.

Unless of course some of these names are not going to be here?

Jul 4, 2006 -- I am not going to update the chart until a few more names are finalized but one can now take the "P" away from the Spezza slot and replace with a C. Today it was announced that Muckler signed Spezza for two years at $4.5 million/year.

You will notice that the figure matched my "projected" estimate dead on. But not quite. When I projected $4.5 million, it was the first year of a five year deal.

Jul 2, 2006 -- From the Ottawa Sun we get the following from Bruce Garrioch,

"Muckler said he's not done.

The club is still trying to trade winger Martin Havlat, who is a restricted free agent, possibly for another forward.

The Senators could also make pitches to free-agent centres Doug Weight, Jason Arnott and Michael Peca."

While getting Weight or Arnott would be wonderful, I am a little at a loss of where the money is going to come from. I realize that my "projected salaries" may be off a bit, but I think the only real wiggle room comes in what will be required to sign Spezza and Schaeffer. There is not that much to work with when considering the projected salaries of the third and fourth liners.

Postscript. Well only hours after having one's imagination whetted, comes the news that both Weight and Arnott have been scooped up by other teams.

Jul 2, 2006 -- C = Contracted Salary, P = Projected Salary

Jul 1, 2006 -- You know I was taking time between plastering and was fiddling with numbers to see how I could make my wish list come true in light of Redden's salary. I think there are some scary implications coming down the road, especially when it comes time to try to resign Spezza. Anyways it looks like some of my prognostications will have to serve as a private baseline for now, as Muckler has pulled the trigger and done some deals. For details check out the Ottawa Sun.

First knee-jerk impressions? Gerber? I like it a lot

Chara gone to the Bruins for 7.5 million a year? Good riddance and you will have extra time to work on your golf game.

Jun 29, 2006 -- Not only did John Muckler drink the Redden kool-aid, he put on a Santa Clause suit while doing it. TSN is reporting that Muckler is signing Redden for $6.5 million/ year, thankfully for only two years.

As such Redden's salary has joined an elite cadre of players whose performance level and accomplishments Redden does not even come close to approaching.

Muckler's trades over the past year make him a prime candidate to take over from Mike Milbury as the "greatest fool" within the NHL market-place.

There is a very strong possibility, not inevitability, but very strong possibility, that this signing will mark the beginning of the end. A few years down the road the Senators may be like other franchises, like the Capitals, the Islanders, the Blues, the Penguins, the Canadians ... that went from consistent Cup contenders and/or winners to basement beaters. Like bankruptcy, it occurs slowly ... and then suddenly.

The only thing I am hoping for is that the contract does not include a "no-trade" clause. If that is the case, then I would advise Redden to keep his bags packed.

Jun 29, 2006 -- Just to recap. In my GM exercise I have used up 28.92 million to date to sign the majority of the team. 11.08 million of cap space remains. With this we need to find two defencemen to replace Chara and Redden. We need another forward, and we need to fill our number one priority, which is a goalie.

Obviously Jovanovski is no longer a realistic option.

Jun 28, 2006 -- There you are, struggling to put in that built in dishwasher, or however you find yourself spending your summer evenings.. There is a violent pounding on your door. You open it to find a behemoth in a black suit. A limo is idling on the street behind him.

He informs you that there is a crisis over at the Senator's head offices. Melnyk needs to consult with you and right now. Dutifully you let yourself get driven to and led up to the inner sanctum.

There Melnyk informs you that Muckler has been fired and that you are now "the man." "Put the team together" he orders. And oh yes, he reminds you that he has promised the local fan base, a "dynasty".

What do you do? What do you do?

Jun 26, 2006 -- Senators' Quest For Goalie Continues -- Ottawa Citizen.
Clicking the above link will take you to an excellent "state of the union" type report by Allen Panzeri of the Ottawa Citizen on where the Senators are. On one side I am pleased that there seems to be a concerted effort to get upgraded goaltending. To me this is a priority whether we get Hasek back or not. I am a little concerned over what Muckler is prepared to trade away though. According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, Muckler was ready to trade away Havlat, Emery, Philips and a first round draft pick for Luongo. This is a pretty steep price to pay for a goaltender who has not proven himself one iota under play-off pressure. We have no idea if he is another Turcot. Muckler has a thing for throwing in high draft picks to sweeten the pot, and that practice is going to catch up to us.

I am still holding out a slim hope that Huet will be available after July 1.

Jun 19, 2006 -- I don't know when it started but I wish professional team sports, and particularly hockey, would stop this practice of allowing wives, children, and girl-friends/groupies onto the ice when championships are won.

It is, in the end, a competition between men who quite literally battle each other for victory. It is a test and a celebration of qualities that are now too often denigrated in many aspects of our society. It seems ridiculous that the "field of battle" be turned into a nursery school the minute the siren goes off.

Seeing trophy wives and girl friends getting their picture taken kissing the Cup, only cheapens the achievement of winning it. If the little toddler wants to be on the ice with the Stanley Cup, then he better start practicing his wrist shot, because that is the only way anyone should be able to get close to this trophy.

Things hit a nadir when I saw someone plop their rug rat into the bowl of the Stanley Cup for some "cute" pictures. The Cup was made for champions to drink champagne from - it is not a toilet seat for the diaper set.

Jun 8, 2006 -- First Crawford gets hired by the LA Kings. Then Chiarelli, the guy you would expect to fill in if Muckler got the deserved boot, is lost to the Bruins. Then, my favourite pick for coach, Ted Nolan, gets grabbed by the Islanders.

Have no doubt - if Ottawa had had Ted Nolan as coach for the past six or seven years, then our playoff record would make for very different reading.

Jun 7, 2006 -- It is amazing to hear the pundits of every class and salary level talk about the loss of Roloson as if it was just a piece of adversity that can be overcome by digging deeper.

Let me stick my neck out here. It is over. And you know what? It better be over. Because if an eighth place team that has been outplayed in every series can go on to win the Cup, with two of the crappiest goalies in the league, then there is something terribly wrong with the NHL game of hockey. It means all this scheming and planning and analysis and speculation on how to make a team better, is all a colossal waste of time.

Might as well leave it all to monkeys

Quite frankly I think the Edmonton faithful are in denial. Yes they have a chance, yes you have to still play the game, but the Oilers are screwed and they need nothing short of a miracle. They need Lady Luck to come out and literally drench the Oilers with good karma.

To suggest that, without divine intervention, the Oilers are a better hockey team than the Hurricanes, that they stack up well, is sheer delusion. Do they really think the Oilers would be in the finals if Roloson hadn't been standing on his head?

I am not being mean here, but am speaking from experience. Remember when word came out that Hasek was injured? My first reaction was that we were screwed. Of course as time went on I tried to convince myself, and any who would read, that the Sens would still do OK and that we were powerful enough to compensate for the loss. Well the initial reaction was the right one. We were screwed and because we did not have a good enough goalie we did not have that critical mass needed to win the Cup, and we did not deserve to win the Cup.

Neither now do the Oilers.

Jun 6, 2006 -- The 13 Levels Of Losing
Just click the title above to get to the article. Masterful.

Jun 4, 2006 -- Some of the numbers being thrown around for signing Redden and Chara are nothing short of preposterous. According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, Redden is asking for six million plus to stay in Ottawa. The zeitgeist around the league is that Chara can demand even more. So we are talking about 12-13 million dollars for two defenceman. Given that the team will most likely be under a self-imposed salary cap of $40 million, that would mean 30% of that cap would go to only two defencemen.

What really gets to me is that supposedly both Redden and Chara are asking, nay demanding, what changes or steps the GM is going to make to help bring a Cup to the city. Well if I was the GM, I would respond by stating that we are jettisoning playoff under performers who are asking for gigantic and undeserved pay raises.

Even in the surreal world of NHL player salaries 6 million dollars is reserved for that rare defenceman that has proven that they can lead a team to multiple Stanley Cup Championships. Redden and Chara are certainly not in that category. Chara is not Scott Stevens and Redden is certainly no Lindstrum. Indeed their playoff performances over the past five years have been completely under whelming in nature. Redden has been an active participant in way too many season ending goals and Chara has had way too many games where he has been ineffectual, if not a liability.

Indeed if you look at the list of available players through free agency you have to figure you can get a lot more bang for 12 million dollars than two good but vastly overrated defencemen.

Now as I have mentioned I do not have a detailed encyclopedic knowledge of players outside of Ottawa. However I suggest that for 12 million dollars you could get the following: Jovanoski for 5-5.5 million, Jay McKee for 3-3.5 million, Anson Carter 3-3.5 million and still have some change to spare.

Jovanoski can do everything Redden can do plus he adds physicality and in my limited viewing of the Canucks is a much better player in pressure situations. Jay McKee may not have the potential to squish opposing players like Chara, but he is a premier shot-blocker in the league and he certainly did not spend these past playoffs coughing up the puck the way Chara did. The big bonus is getting a forward like Anson Carter, a robust physical player who scored 30 plus goals, and whose play does not falter when up against the stiffer competition of the better teams.

Throwing Carter into our current mix of forwards gives all kinds of promising line combination possibilities.

Now those names are just examples. But in the end 12-13 million dollars should be able to get you two rock solid defenceman and a physical rugged forward that has proven goal scoring capabilities. With a little tough bargaining you may even have enough left over to get a good role player whose stock is down, like say Yanic Perreault, who is always in the top five in face-off winning percentages.

(Note: The "alternate" Senators logo is copyrighted 2006 and is used here with permission.)

May 30, 2006 -- Well if you are coming to the site, that can only mean you are a real Senators fan, a keener.

I salute you.

Well from reading the Ottawa Sun it seems that "Hasek Experiment II" is a definite possibility. A major argument for going this route is money, Of course the performance risk is the same as last year. One, can Hasek regain the form of the Dominator, and two can he get through the season and playoffs without injury. Actually to be accurate I would say the risks are higher as he is one year older and he did suffer another season ending injury. I don't care what kind of shape you are in, when you hit your 40's you just can't do what you could when you were in your 20's.

May 22, 2006 -- A homemade 2006 Senators tribute music video can be found by clicking below (warning it does take a for the video to load)

Sens '06

I found the pictures of Spezza, Heatley and Alfredsson together particularly bitter-sweet.

As an exercise in self-flagellation I went to the "Scores and Video Highlights Section" (See the "more sports" section near the bottom of the links section) and watched the highlights, especially from the first part of the year. That period when Havlat came back from his 5 game suspension to the game he was hurt really was the peak of our season.

A neat little feature is that if you click a player's name you watch all the goals that player scored during the year. Of course one has to watch Havlat's goals. [I had almost changed my mind about wanting him traded, but you know he can't just duplicate that in the playoffs so why bother]

I also took the time to check out the goals of Vermette, Eaves and Kelly. If we don't get any major changes, and that's the way the wind seems to be blowing right now, than any scope for improvement will have to come from the "kids" bringing their game up to a new level.

May 21, 2006 -- Ok, I am not in the best of moods when it come to things "Senators" but I could only describe the "letter to the fans" from the owner as sheer blubbering, and psycho-babble. Most disappointing was to read the following,

May 18, 2006 -- Below is a list of top unrestricted free-agents for this off season. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.

May 16, 2006 -- I played a lot of hockey in smoke filled dingy arenas. In the stands would be men, not fathers watching their sons play, but miners with nothing much else to do but drink, smoke and watch us cream each other. You always had the sense that they were sizing you up, watching to see what you were made of. They were hicks, of course, but they were tough hicks. They would be keenly observant of the line, the path, a player took to get to a loose puck along the boards. All I can say is that if Havlat was playing hockey in those arenas, the way he played that last game against Buffalo, those men would have declared him as a chicken, a coward, as yellow as the bleeding sun.

May 14, 2006 -- Here is a lesson from the past, also involving Bryan Murray. In the 92-93 Season the Detroit Red Wings were also coached by Bryan Murray. They were also filled with talent, also finished second in points in the regular season, and like Ottawa, also made an early exit from the playoffs.

The Detroit fan base went ballistic. Everyone wanted to get rid of Yzerman, and it amazed me even then, how much "legs" that idiotic idea actually had. Well someone from higher management came to their senses. They fired Murray, hired Bowman and kept Yzerman. They went on to win three Stanley Cups.

I suggest that is the route the Senators should take. Fire Murray again. Replace him with a coach that has at least taken a team to the Cup Finals. And keep your best player and top scorer. The mob calling for Alfredsson to be dealt away, should be summarily ignored.

May 14, 2006 -- Well so much for winding things up. Still digesting the season so in no particular order:

Reading the newspaper I noticed that not one sports writer had the balls to call for Murray's head. We are poorly served by the weakest cadre of print pundits in the league. Again imagine if San Jose split up the Thornton line...they would be dragging the coach out by his heels and hanging him. The fact that Murray admitted that he did not give sufficient respect to Buffalo is just another reason to give him his walking papers. Any sports bar fan could tell you that Buffalo was dangerous, and nothing short of bringing our A game was necessary to win.

After Brian Murray the highest priority is to get a goaltender. I know I know...Emery was good, and if everything else was in order we could win with him. The big rub is that when you look at all the remaining teams you soon realize that even if Emery is good, the other team's goaltenders are still better. Getting an establish proven number one is too expensive. The guy to go after is Christobal Huet from Montreal. I don't think this last season was a flash in the pan. He is the real thing, but his lack of a long established track record means he should be available for good, but affordable money. It will be the kind of multi-year deal that at first seems expensive, but as the years roll by will look like a steal. Not only that, but being a Francophone makes good business sense as it will generate French media coverage and be a plus for attracting Francophone fans from Hull (Ok Gatineau).

I will confess that I was one of those that swallowed the rhetoric that our defence corps was one of the finest in the league. Their performance during the playoffs was the biggest disappointment. Chara has proved he is not a difference maker in the playoffs. My lasting image of the second round remains Chara, at the end of Game 1, just standing still while two Sabers zipped by him and got the puck and that tying goal. If he had just taken two strides and gotten in their way, the whole texture of the series could have changed. Chara would be of great value to a team like Florida. Against 70 percent of the teams, in regular season play, Chara would help accumulate those extra points needed to qualify for the post-season. But in the playoffs, whether because of the increased tempo, or his refusal to use his size advantage, Chara is just as often a liability as an asset. He is certainly not worth the salary the market is prepared to give him.

His departure does leave a big hole and we certainly need a top tier defenceman to replace him. To me the best man available would be Jovanoski from Vancouver. He would be perfect for us. He won't come cheap, but the Ottawa GM should at least try to get him, and offer a long multi-year deal with the same amount of money used to sign Redden.

(To Be Continued)

May 13, 2006 -- Well the season ends in a most unglorious and bitter tasting fashion, with a short handed goal against us in over-time, driving the final nail. There will be much finger pointing for sure and why not.

To me this season starts and ends with Brian Murray. His terms of reference were simple ... take the most talented team in the league and win the Cup. Getting knocked out in five games in the second round, does not meet anyone's objectives. As such he should be the first to get the axe.

This is certainly not a knee-jerk reaction. You can go back to almost the very first post of this blog, 175 posts ago, and see that I have been wringing my hands over Brian Murray's ineptitude in organizing and preparing the talent he had available at his disposal.

Are the Buffalo Sabres a better team? No. Oh don't get me wrong - they are a good team, but they don't come close to the talent level we have. But as Dean Brown said they are a team that is "in sync", and the Senators were not.
In fact the Senators have not really been in sync since Nov 30.

Consider that our most "cohesive" line, the Fisher line, was thrown together only two days before the playoffs started.

And we are not talking about subtle stuff here, over the season Murray saw fit to put together, and then destroy the most prolific line in hockey.

Even on that final powerplay I was gnashing my teeth. In round 1 we had the best powerplay in the league because he put Havlat, Spezza, Heatley, Alfredsson and Redden together, what I called the "uber-powerplay". What on earth was a rookie doing out on the ice, in that circumstance, with the season on the line?

So regular readers will not be surprised to hear me say that the first step required is the firing of Brian Murray. We do not need to go through another five years with a coach that is incapable of preparing teams for the playoffs. Brian Murray's entire NHL coaching career is an unblemished record of taking strong teams and ensuring early exits from the post season. He is not Jacques Martin, who took a mediocre team and turned them into contenders, but lacked the tools to take the team to the next level. The organization does not owe anything to Brian Murray.

Indeed if it is not announced soon that Murray is being replaced there is a good chance that this team could implode over the summer.

As far as replacement coaches go the two possibilities that quickly come to mind are Crawford and Ted Nolan. Of course the latter means that Muckler would have to go, and I for one, see no reason to rush to his defence.

Anyways, for me the hockey season is over. I have no interest in following the rest of the playoffs. This was the first year I put this blog together. Indeed at first it was just meant to be a repository for a few letters and that is all. It turned into a bit of an obsession. I would like to thank all those who came to the site and I hope you received some, if not enjoyment, then maybe some insight that helped you shape your own opinions and views of this hockey team.

There maybe a "season in review" piece coming out, but most likely I will not really start putting stuff together again until the next season starts.

I hope you all have a great summer.

May 13, 2006 -- One of the things that has come out in the post game chatter was the lack of ice time for Spezza/Heatley in the third period. I must admit I didn't even notice. When I looked at the box score to try to confirm this, I noticed that both Spezza and Heatley recorded three shots each in the first period, no doubt why I myself had a favorable impression of them.

May 11, 2006 -- Buffalo is sweating. Yes I know they are up three games to one but they are sweating. You could see it by Lindy Ruff's demeanor. You could see it in the way Sabres player's heads were hanging when they got off the ice. And you could tell by the fans who lost it when the final buzzer went off. The Senators are not the Flyers and they know that.

They are sweating.

May 11, 2006 -- It may seem to some that reciting some form of the St-Crispin's speech would be too maudlin or falsely dramatic heading into tonight's tilt in the lion's den. Yet to me the first requirement for a successful come-back is that the team hit the ice with a true "band of brothers" mentality. Murray doesn't have to tell the defence that they have to stop giving the puck up, or Emery that he needs to come up with the big save, or tell forwards that they have to finish their attacks.

The players already know that, and hitting them with motherhood bromides which highlight the obvious will do little to make it transpire on the ice. Sitting players in front of the video machine will not do one iota of good unless they, as a group, know something that the rest of the planet does not, that they can still win this thing. Indeed if I were the coach I would tell them that there is no other team in the league that I would want to even attempt the feat with , that the Ottawa Senators are the only team that can even contemplate coming back.

My biggest concern going into tonight's game is Emery. I cannot help but have the impression that he is playing hurt, that somehow his hip injury has flared up again. There is too much of his play that reminds me of that period in the regular season. His lateral mobility seems non-existent and he seems to be having great difficulty getting himself square to the shooter.

If Hasek was waiting for the opportunity to come in as Ottawa's white knight, then you can't ask for a more opportune circumstance than tonight's game.

One thing about being down three games, is we get to really find out who is who on the Senator's line-up.

May 10, 2006 -- Well as I write this we are down three games to none. As I am sure you all know history has not been kind to teams in this predicament. However, if one were to design circumstances where a come-back was possible, then they would not be unlike what we have here. Ottawa is the better team, and the games have been close even though they have not been playing to their potential. We can win four games in a row against Buffalo if we can get our act together. It just starts with one victory.

May 9, 2006 -- We expect Tom to be back in a few days. He has been watching from afar and perhaps a bit displeased.

May 2, 2006 -- I was just thinking - if Anaheim pulls a rabbit out of its hat and wins game 7, that would mean that all four top seeds of the Western Conference would be out in the first round. Can't imagine that happening too often. Regardless, it does mean the Senators have home ice for the duration. This is good.

Anyways, I will be out of town for a week, so Ottawa will probably be well into Round 2 before the blog gets updated again.

May 1, 2006 -- Well as we wait for the remaining first round series to finish up, one can only watch and begin to imagine who our next opponent will be and wonder what challenges will that team present. Mathematically we will face one of three teams in Round 2.

Apr 30, 2006 -- Tampa Bay was always a consensus favorite amongst most Senator's fans for being a first round opponent and this series bared out their optimism. Tampa was a team with well recognized weaknesses: weak goaltending, hap-hazard defensive corps and lack of depth up front, shoddy special teams. The Senators, the better team, did what it had to do, and exploited these weak points mercilessly and got through the series quickly. Now it has ample time to recharge, mentally and physically, before meeting its next opponent, who will becoming off, at the minimum, a tough six game series.

There are of course many positives that have come out from our play in this series

Apr 29, 2006 -- As has been discussed earlier, finishing your first round early helps give the team it's "fair advantage" for round 2. Rest - mental and physical are the key benefits.

With over a dozen players having scored a goal during this series, you would think I would be a convert to the "balanced" approach to line combinations. It still remains my biggest concern. We have so much depth up front, that even when it is spread out, we would still match up well against a Tampa which has no real defensive scheme, and shoddy goal tending.

Apr 29, 2006 -- Maybe it was because I knew that I was going to have start filling out tax forms, but there was one incident in that Game 4 that really bugged me. It was in the first period, and the referee wanted to clamp down on the pushing and shoving after the whistles. He warned both coaches that if it happened again, he would only take one out and leave that team short-handed. Of course it did happen, and Eaves got the short straw. And you know what? It worked. The players were much better behaved for the rest of the game.

Apr 27, 2006 -- When it was all said and done, the whole game seemed almost anti-climactic. There is little wonder why the Tampa Bay players seem so down - the Senators hardly played their best today, and yet came away with the 5-2 victory in almost pedestrian fashion.

There isn't that much to say. In the first third of the game we basically sucked. We gave the puck away I don't know how many times, and couldn't win a face-off to save our lives. And yet we were only down 2-1.

In the end our big players, Havlat and Spezza made big plays, scoring and setting up some goals, and you could literally see the other side hoisting up the white flag.

It is difficult to imagine having too much difficulty putting this away come Saturday.

Apr 27, 2006 -- Was just rummaging around and stumbled on this video. Just click the link below:

Ingle Wood Jack

Thanks to the chaps at GoonBlog for unearthing this hilarious little gem.

Apr 27, 2006 -- Well first kudos to coach Murray to come to the defence of Neil and Chara in respect to the self-righteous ranting of Cherry. As you know I have had some serious beefs with Murray this season, especially when it comes to how he organizes his people, but in many other areas he is a sharp improvement over Jacques Martin.

According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, Arnason may get a reprieve from the doghouse and be pressed into service if Kelly is a no go for tonight's tilt. One would think then that he would be put in as the fourth line center. (If he puts him on the line with Spezza and Heatley in place of Vermette, I would ... well I would "cringe" to say the least.)

Of course being fourth line center has some challenges all of its own. I never liked Vermette on the fourth line because I felt it meant his offensive potential was being lost to the team. But his time there has shown, although hardly an enforcer, that he wasn't any wall-flower either. Arnason on the other hand, although also having some offensive skills, has often played with a distinct aversion to body contact. An Arnason who is playing well, would be a great addition to the overall depth of the team.

Arnason does not have the luxury of having play-off jitters; he has to hit the ice ready to play. His career, literally, may be on the line.

Of course if Kelly is gone, that would leave a big hole in the usual PK pairings. I could not find the thread, but I remember someone on a Senator's chat board suggesting that Havlat be given his shot on the PK. Given that Havlat started the whole short-handed goal scoring thing for Ottawa, I for one, would think that an excellent suggestion.

I know after the Toronto debacle, I had grave concerns about Murray being able to psychologically prepare the team for play-off hockey. Their energetic performance in Game Three did much to assuage my fears in that regard. Let's hope they come out with the same fire tonight. Winning this game would give us a choke-hold on Tampa, and help us to avoid a long series.

Apr 27, 2006 -- The efforts of Tampa Bay's coach to psyche out Emery, are to me, a sign of increasing desperation. If there is anyone with goalies that can be "got to" then I suggest Tampa Bay has two of them.

Maybe I am looking in the wrong places but I can't believe the paucity of Senator's coverage on local stations. Like bake sales are more important?

I do hope the Senators come out with all guns firing and they keep the pressure on through out the game. All of the hockey I have seen so far in the playoffs shows that "letting up" or sitting on leads, is a disastrous tactic.

Short of the Big Line being put back together, I hope Vermette gets a full game this time with Spezza and Heatley. They looked really good together and I think Vermette has reached the point where he has the potential to "break out" as a recognized new offensive weapon for us.

He was close to this point after the Olympic break where he was starting to score with regularity, but then the injuries happened, and he no longer got to play with Kelly and Schubert, and it never happened. Maybe tonight.

It is not a stat the TV folks key on, especially when the goals are going in by the bushel, but Vermette, in the two games we won, had bravura performances in the face-off circle going 15-7 in the last one.

I hope Smolinksi can pick his game up to just another level. Alfie had a good game, and Eaves looks like he has completely gotten over any rookie jitters. I didn't mention him, but he had a great game as well, potting a goal, and adding some great hits and screens.

As you have probably noticed I don't study the defence that closely so I was a bit surprised that Pothier was a healthy scratch. He certainly wasn't the only defenceman to have a sub-par performance in Game 2.

It looks like it will be a game time decision to see if Kelly will play. If he doesn't, then there is part of me that would like to see McGrattan in there, with Neil at center and Varada. A very "interesting" line for sure. I would not give a plug nickel for Dingman's life. Mind you the way the refs are, they would probably give McGrattan two minutes for "stepping onto the ice". If not McGrattan, then having Martins step in for center would be the way to go ... he certainly has displayed "energy" every time he has had the opportunity to play.

Apr 26, 2006 -- Well there was Don Cherry just turning into a blubbering bleeding heart about LeCavalier and what bravery he displayed. Yah right. The fact is LeCavalier wanted nothing to do with Chara, until the referee got in between them, and then he got all lion-hearted on Chara. Unfortunately for him the ref decided to skidaddle and LeCavalier was soon doing the funky chicken.

They are always yakking about Ottawa's lack of toughness, but whenever Ottawa puts the boots to people they start squealing like stuck pigs. The notion that Ottawa never had toughness is nothing but a myth perpetrated by Toronto based corporate media and swallowed whole by way too many people.

We beat Philadelphia twice in the playoffs. Did we do that wearing tutu's? Hitchcock himself stated that the series with Ottawa was the most physically intense series he had ever experienced, and that was right after they had beaten Toronto.

By the way, what has Toronto done against Philadelphia? Nothing. You know why? Because they were not tough enough. Because they choked. Because they confused "clutch and grab" with "grit".

Apr 26, 2006 -- To me the magic moment of the game came relatively early in the first period, when the entire fourth line was sitting in the penalty box a la the Hanson Brothers. More than anything else, it was a sign that Ottawa had come to play. I know I said they don't hand out points for developing energy, but they proved me wrong.

The Senators went on to put in a dominating road performance. All the elements were there. Ultra aggressive fore-checking, great physical play, great play-making and a transformative effort from our defence corps.

Apr 24, 2006 -- Some excellent, excellent news. The Ottawa Sun reports that Wade Redden will be back in the line-up for the remaining games with Tampa. That is big medicine on a variety of levels. First it should help stiffen the resolve of our defence corps. If one wants to get into finger-pointing mode, then one has to realize that the poor play of our defencemen was the chief reason why we lost our last game. Getting them to play like they can is probably the highest priority for the Ottawa brain-trust. Our defence is the area where we are clearly superior and their play has to start reflecting that.

Apr 23, 2006 -- A bad give away, a bad line change, a bad rebound; three mistakes which the Tampa Bay Lightning pounced on and converted into goals. For all intents and purposes they were the difference in a game that was there for us to win.

Apr 23, 2006 -- It has been reported that Wade Redden has flown back home due to the passing away of his mother, after battling serious illness. Losing a parent you are close to, is one of those events that blots out everything else that is going on in one's life. It is especially sad in this case as Wade's mother was not that old. In sports, there is always a next year, and a chance to start afresh. Here there is only finality and memory. It is the latter that gets you through this difficult time even as it is the source of one's pain. It looks like there is a large extended family involved, and that will be a great comfort in the coming days.

Apr 23, 2006 -- Well actually before talking about the Sens, I can't help but notice that the Sabres/Flyers series looks to be off to an arduous and brutal start. May they go seven with many overtimes!

As for our second game?. Well hopefully "jitters" won't be a problem and we will have more success finishing off our chances. I am hoping that Graham, the Tampa goalie, reverts to form and has an off night. An "easy" game would be great.

I hope we do better on the five on five, which is supposed to be a huge strength for us. Those three Tampa shots off the iron, were a ringing warning to not get complacent.

The Tampa coach was quoted as saying they were going to attack more. That means they should be playing the kind of game that Ottawa likes. At the least, it should make for a great high tempo game.

Apr 21, 2006 -- Superior special teams play carried the day and allowed the Senators to mount a third period flurry and grab a confidence boosting first game win over Tampa.

The powerplay unit moved the puck at will, and by the third period found the range. Havlat broke some long standing ice to get his first of the playoffs, and Spezza threaded the needle to give us the lead. Spezza who seemed hesitant in the first period grew stronger as the game went on. For someone who is always screaming for "concentrated offensive talent" our number one power play was wish fulfillment extra ordinaire. Spezza, Heatley, Havlat, Alfredsson and Redden. Now that's what I call bringing a bazooka to a knife fight.

Fisher got the back-breaker, a short-handed effort masterminded by stellar work by Schaefer. Schaefer had a monster game and Emery let it be known that Hasek could take his time recuperating, putting in a text book playoff performance.

I am a little bit concerned that we did not get any even strength goals, and the game was much more even than I would have liked. The best line to my eyes was the Fisher line with Havlat and Schaefer, which as it goes, was the only "Quasimodos - sanctioned" line in use. The most pleasant surprise was our fourth line. And have no doubts why - Vermette showed up to play tonight. He elevated his game to another level without looking like he was playing over his head.. He used his speed to generate offensive pressure both on even strength and on the PK. He was liquid helium with the puck, and looked to be one of the few Senators not suffering from play-off jitters in the first half of the game. Most impressively, according to the ESPN box score, he was a mind-bending 15-4 on face-offs.

There was nothing that happened tonight that makes me a convert to breaking the Big Line apart. Put them together and the one-two punch with the Fisher line would be irresistible, and we could put these guys to bed quickly.

Next game the cross-bars may not be so friendly.

All in all though it was great to get this first win under our belt. A great confidence booster.

Apr 21, 2006 --

Snacks are at the ready. TV screens wiped clean. Recliners at launch position. The wife and I are eager to get this show on the road. For the playoffs, I will probably start taking a slightly different tack to the blog...in the end I don't want to get obsessed over how they win, I just want them to win. At this time of year that is all that matters. This will be our year...it is just a matter of watching it unfold.

(Pre-game postscript: actually we decided to get pizza tonight ...just trying to fill the ether with that positive karma) just two hours to go!!

Apr 21, 2006 -- Like Hitchcock said after a playoff loss to us: there is a huge advantage to getting through your first round quickly. That certainly applies here...as we will, barring a Montreal upset over Carolina, be playing either Philadelphia and Buffalo. Hopefully theirs will be a long series where they really have to pound each other.

Apr 20, 2006 -- I am now watching CBC as Ferguson fires Pat Quinn. That is great. If Toronto really knew what to do to get going in the right direction, Ferguson, an obvious recipient of "name recognition" form of nepotism, would have been the first to go. You had to respect Pat Quinn's ability to get a lot from very little, but even he could not get something from nothing.

Ferguson getting a big vote of confidence from ownership would be music to my ears, as it suggests that the Maple Leaf franchise will be in tatters for years to come.

Apr 20, 2006 -- Western Conference

Quarter Finals

Detroit exploits Roloson
Dallas trounces Theodore (Montreal's Revenge)
Anaheim upsets Kiprusoff
Nashville surprises Thornton

Semi-Finals

Detroit overpowers Anaheim
Dallas beats Nashville

Western Final

Dallas blows by a tired Detroit

Eastern Conference

Quarter Finals

Ottawa disposes of Tampa
Carolina batters Montreal
New Jersey beats the Rangers
Philadelphia beats Buffalo

Semi-Finals

Ottawa slaughters Philadelphia
New Jersey upsets Carolina

Eastern Final

Ottawa sweeps New Jersey

Stanley Cup Final

Ottawa will split it's first two games at home, then lose two in Dallas. They will then win the next two to force a game 7. We will win the seventh game 4-2, the last goal being an empty netter. Schaefer will score the winning goal on an hysterical scramble with seven minutes to go that will hyper extend Dean Brown's vocal chords. He will sound like a drunken madman until the empty netter. There will be one more shriek and then Gord Wilson will have to take over.

Apr 19, 2006 -- Well I guess a low level surprise was that Arnason was not in the line-up in the game against the Rangers. Again with only 4 assists in 19 games he is not an easy sell. But he did come to us with 40+ points and a plus rating playing on a bad team. Those are "Smolinski" type numbers. And everyone, can, from his play with Ottawa, say that there are some skills there.

Although some of the fault may lay with Arnason, I do think that "management" should shoulder some responsibility for not finding him some kind of niche where he could positively contribute. Knowing Arnason's background I have to wonder if he burned some bridges in his "talk" with the coaches after the Toronto game.

Apr 18, 2006 -- Ottawa vs Tampa Bay, Winner: Ottawa

Carolina vs Montreal, Winner: Carolina

New Jersey vs New York, Winner: New Jersey

Buffalo vs Philadelphia, Winner: ? Hmm... I will have to think about this one

In the end we will play the winner of the Buffalo-Philadelphia series in the second round.

Apr 18, 2006 -- Well a much more enjoyable viewing experience than our last outing. Heater gets his 50th, we wrap up first place and will draw Tampa Bay for the first round, which I would think will make most fans very happy.

The big feature of the this final game was putting Fisher at center between Havlat and Schaefer. It changed the whole dynamic of the line and indeed one could argue the entire team. And no wonder you had three really good really fast players all on the same line. The Rangers were pylons. They did not score any goals but they were dominate out there, the strongest line on our team.

I cared nothing for the other lines, but if I understand it right, these were temporary game specific combinations.. I certainly hopes so. The Big Line along with the Schaefer - Fisher-Havlat line will provide a 1-2 punch that alone should get us through the first round in relative ease.

Mach 9 also made his presence known on the power-play which rose like the proverbial Phoenix from the ashes. And little wonder. Our first power-play unit consisted of Alfredsson, Spezza and Havlat with Heatley and Redden on the points. Concentrated offensive force. They were near unstoppable and moved the puck around at will.

Havlat looked like his old self. He did not score, but was a threat the entire evening. Just a little time to get his shot bore-sited, and the goals will come in bunches.

Emery's performance will calm down some of the jitters. He looked solid out there tonight.

We will meet Tampa in the first round. I am happy the way that turned out. I am tired of having half our arena filled with opposing team fans.

I certainly don't foresee any problems here. I am quite sure Murray will put the Big Line back together and keep the Fisher line together and Tampa does not have the goaltending to pull off any miracles.

We couldn't help but smile at a little Freudian slip as the announcer identified Havlat, who was doing a rush, as Vermette. Twenty seconds later Vermette was doing a rush. They looked almost identical. Vermette in a way is Havlat, the Havlat of four years ago ... but none the less the similarity in skating style is definitely there.

I certainly hope Vermette does not spend the entire playoffs in purgatory with Neil and Varada. What a waste that would be.

Apr 17, 2006 -- In sphere of military jargon, there is the concept of "key terrain". Now the key terrain is not necessarily the most important piece of ground on the battlefield. It is almost never the objective of the attack. Often it is not even an obvious feature. And yet the key terrain is that piece of ground that you have to control in order to win the battle. It may be a ridge-line that you need in order to launch an attack, or defend a crossroads. It may be a bridge or a ferry crossing that controls whose reinforcements come into the field of battle. Sometimes it is far removed, it's significance only apparent afterwards, when the historians rummage through bodies.

Antoine Vermette is the key terrain for this year's edition of the Ottawa Senators.

Apr 17, 2006 -- Just a quick segment that I wanted to get in before the Rangers game. No need, I am sure, to tell anyone of the blindingly obvious importance of goaltending in the playoffs. Trying to determine if Hasek is back at 100%, and ready to take on the "Dominator's" role is a mug's game at this point. For all intents and purposes, it looks like we will go into the playoffs with Emery in the nets. Yes it could be better ... but it could be a lot worse as well. In that vein insuring that Emery is 100% over his hip injury is magnitudes times more important than the two points against New York.

I would much rather finish in second place in the East but start round one with a healthy Emery, than finish in first and start round one with an Emery whose mobility is still being compromised by his sore hip.

As long as segments 1 and 2 are being implemented I won't care if we lose a game because Morrison was weak, as long as we get a fully recharged Emery for the next game, which will really count.

Apr 17, 2006 -- Every team has its own personality, and characteristics. They all have their own unique nature. In order for that team to play at their best, they must incorporate a style of play that is consistent with that nature. To do anything else is the equivalent of trying to put the proverbial square peg in a round hole. What you get are "problems".

Apr 16, 2006 -- Well as they say, "time is becoming a factor". Our team, so brimming with potential, heads into the playoffs playing some of their worst hockey of the season. Unable to sustain offensive pressure over any period of time, their play has become incoherent and disjointed. There is no sense of seeing players meshing together. We have suddenly become generous in giving up goals, having allowed five to six a game against non-playoff level teams. Our power-play is anemic, and even our PK, once the most consistent element of this team throughout the season, has become ineffective.

With the way we are currently playing, it is doubtful whether we can get through the first round, much less defeat a team like Detroit or a Dallas in a Cup final.

Can we turn it around? Yes of course. Prior to our great run in March, we were also playing horribly, and yet turned it all around with only some minor changes. So we certainly can do the same, and more, in time for the playoffs.

So my prescription for getting well is as follows:

Apr 15, 2006 -- Well you know I have much to say ... but looking over my posts since this blog has started, I can only say that Murray is an idiot so many times, in only so many ways. Murray made it clear that he considered this just another game. Really? Martin was fired for losing these kinds of games. Murray was hired to win these games. Only Neil understood what was at stake and stressed the need for Ottawa to take this opportunity to dispose of the Leafs threat.

Thank God for Martin St-Louis. I would not have given a fig's leave for our chances against the Leafs in a playoff series. Tonight we looked like lambs being sent out to slaughter.

Apr 14, 2006 -- Tampa got one point in a shoot out loss (two posts hit though). Whatever. If Ottawa beats Toronto tomorrow night, we will have eliminated them from playoff contention on their own home ice. Even if they win the two after that, and Tampa loses, the tie-breaker would go to Tampa Bay. But we have to beat them in regulation.

Don't kid yourself. This is the biggest, most important game of the season. We need to reach deep and get that killer instinct that has been lacking in past seasons and put these pretenders away.

Apr 13, 2006 -- I bet you Detroit and Dallas have real lines. Lines that get played game in and game out. Lines where the players are so familiar with each other's movements, that even in the pressure of playoff hockey, what to do and where to go will have been reduced to the level of muscle reflex. They don't even have to think about it. These are teams that have been properly prepared for the play-offs

Ott