"The Heart and Soul of the Team"

...that's what my friends and I call Chris Kelly when we watch the sens. He has to be one of the most under-appreciated players on the Ottawa Senators' roster. The 26 year old man-boy kills penalties more effectively than Spartans kill Persians.

Formerly the captain of the Binghamton Senators, Kelly has settled into a very comfortable niche as the Senators' fourth line centre. He has become one of the Senators most defensively responsible forwards - perhaps second only to the Rt. Hon. Daniel Alfredsson, Prime Minister-designate of Canada.

In Wednesday's game against the St. Louis Blues, Kelly accumulated nearly 16 minutes of ice-time in addition to scoring a goal and notching 2 assists. His PK time in that game was second only to Chris "contact year" Phillips.

Exceptional performances from Chris Kelly and Antoine Vermette (along with a strange bout of temporary blindness from the referees) allowed the Ottawa Senators to win in St. Louis without either of the sens top two scorers recording a point.

If the Senators want playoff success, then they will need similar performances from more of their blue-collar forwards as spring approaches.

This has been Ben reporting live for the Sens Army Blog, in Ottawa.