No Habs No: Lydman, Ponikarovsky, Drury, Rolston, and Okposo

It's a No Habs No! bonanza! I'd fallen behind a bit in writing letters, so I figured I'd just post them all in one giant NHN post to give everyone an overdose on anti-Habs goodness. Featuring Cyrillic characters, more Canadian Tire money, Finnish metalheads, and the other crap you've come to expect from my letters.

Since the campaign began, the Montréal Canadiens have compiled a record of 27-22-8, and fallen to their current position of eighth in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the ninth-place Florida Panthers.

Without further adieu, let's get to letters, starting with the most recent: To above-mentioned Finnish metalhead Toni Lydman of the Buffalo Sabres:

Next up is the second Toronto Maple Leaf to receive a No Habs No! letter, Alexei Ponikarovsky. Because he's a dirty Leaf (no offence, Alex), he receives Canadian Tire money (and because I could only find small bills, he barely receives a full dollar):

Third is Chris Drury of the New York Rangers:

And then Brian Rolston of the New Jersey Devils, a team that is awesome in No Habs No!-ing:

Finally, rookie Kyle Okposo of the New York Islanders:

To support the campaign, you can do any of the following:

1. Join the 290+ fans on our Facebook page.
2. Donate some amount via PayPal to sensarmyblog@gmail.com (I could use the donations).
3. Visit our swag shop.
4. Express support and solidarity by commenting on this blog and at Silver Seven, the No Habs No! Campaign's co-sponsor.

Binghamton Playoff Games In Ottawa

A buddy of mine and I used to do an annual trip to Binghamton to see the Baby Sens play. We haven't done the trip the last few years because we've each got ourselves a baby daughter in the last year or so, and the year before, the spouses were in a family way, so no Bingo trip.

The Broome County Arena is a neat place to watch a game. It's small - only about 5,000 seats, but it gets loud. The beer is ridiculously cheap compared to Scotiabank Place, and the arena and several good bars are within walking distance of the Holiday Inn. It makes for a fun weekend. We actually want to try to time one of these weekends to coincide with a Syracuse home football game, so that we hit Binghamton on a Friday night and Saturday afternoon on the return trip stop in Syracuse for a ball game. Now that's a reasonably priced sports-lover's weekend for sure!

Price of admission to Binghamton Senators games is only about $20 too, so it's easy on the wallet. Folks at the game when they find out you're from Ottawa are generally very friendly and love to talk hockey. Binghamton used to be the farm club for the Rangers, Whalers, and Bruins at various points in time, so the AHL tradition is very strong, and numerous banners hang from the rafters to commemorate past divisional crowns.

When I heard Friday that due to scheduling conflicts the Baby Sens might have to play a home game or two at Scotiabank Place, I was excited. AHL Hockey is not the NHL. It's in many ways a much grittier, tougher game. But being the 2nd best hockey league in the world, the calibre of play is very high, even if the salaries are not. If you have never been to an AHL game, I highly recommend it, and come on - it's the Sens! And it's playoff Sens hockey in a year where all indications are the NHL club won't make it. And it's a great opportunity to see some of our future prospects play, although many of them have had call-ups this year.

Get out and support the farm team if you can - you won't regret it.

Things I Don't Want To Hear About This Off-Season

As the Senators are all but mathematically eliminated following last night's 2-1 regulation loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, I have started to reflect on the 2008-09 season and some of the things that have gotten under my skin.

Accountability. Craig Hartsburg, it was said at the time of his hiring, was brought on to make the players accountable. The problem was that the players that were left on the roster following Bryan Murray's post-season purge last year were not trouble-makers. The problem children of the dressing room had already been banished to Siberia, released or dealt at the previous trade deadline. So bringing in the "bad cop" coach to crack down on players who were already with the program was not only unecessary, but counterproductive. Hartsburg tried to install a defensive system without the requisite parts. He failed to recognize he had an offensively gifted team on his hands and that he needed to play to his roster's strengths, not to his system. This was why he was ultimately fired, not for this B.S. "accountability" issue. The team looked like it had no direction because he had people trying to fill roles that did not suit their skills.

The phrase I NEVER WANT TO HEAR AGAIN: puck-moving defenceman. What? Defensive-minded defenceman are incapable of making a pass? It's such a misleading term. The Sens do not need a "puck-moving defenceman," what they need is a little more speed on the blue line and one or two D-men who are more offensive-minded. If Erik Karlsson cracks the line-up next season and with Chris Campoli and Filip Kuba still around, they will definitely have this element to their defence next season. That leaves the stay-at-home roles for Phillips, Volchenkov, and Jason Smith. The Sens are going to have to decide what they want to do with Christoph Schubert, Brendan Bell, Alexander Picard and Brian Lee. I can't help but think one or two of these guys will not be back.

I have always liked Christoph Schubert, and I was surprised Murray did not try to work out a deal for him at the deadline. There are a lot of teams that would give him regular minutes on their blue line. Contenders? No. But Schubert seems to want a chance to prove himself at his natural position, and he is constantly caught in a numbers game in Ottawa.

The one thing Bryan Murray took care of pre-emptively this spring is eliminated the annual summer griping about the Sens' lack of a #1 goalie. Pascale Leclaire is the best netminder Ottawa has had coming into a season since Dominik Hasek. He may have some injury history, but the emergence of Brian Elliott is a nice insurance policy, although he may have to start next season in Binghamton with Alex Auld still under contract. Of course, Elliott is a Restricted Free Agent this summer, so it's conceivable that he could get an offer sheet. If Brian Burke wanted to make life uncomfortable for Bryan Murrary, he would do just that this summer. The Leafs do need good goaltending...

The Sens only other free agent this summer is Chris Neil, which means there are very few roster spots available for the prospects in Binghamton. The organization, which a year ago appeared to have depleted its depth, now appears solid. Ottawa may miss out on the post-season dance this year, but it should only prove to be a one-year hiatus. If the team (and it should) takes the interim tag off Cory Clouston, they should pick up where they left off this year. And with a full off-season in which to rest, the team should come back hungry for the 2009-10 season.

Welcome to the dead zone

Remember that dead zone that everyone in the media is warning the Senators not to get stuck in? The place where they'll neither get into to playoffs, nor secure a good drafting position? Well, that's where the Sens are stuck now.

Ottawa has dropped out of the magical top-5 draft position and has less than a 5% chance of getting the top pick (If we do land it, please don't draft Andrea Barngani). With one more loss, the playoffs will become a practical impossibility.

To look at the positives, prospects (or are they?) like Ryan Shannon and Brian Elliot are performing beautifully. Combined with a new #1 goalie (or is he?!) coming in next season, things are looking up. Let's not ruin it by looking at the standings and draft position... I'm trying not to.

They'll be off notice on Thursday.

Argument For A New NHL Coaching Award

To be a member of the NHL's coaching fraternity is to work in an environment where the sword of Damacles is forever perched above one's head, waiting to strike. Usually one expects a coaching purge amongst the NHL's bottom-feeders at some point during the regular season, but this year we have seen seven teams change coaches during the season, and five of those teams are in playoff position (as of today).

Some GMs will tell you their team needs a shake-up, and since you can't trade all your players, the coach is the most logical next target. By that logic, the shake-up has had virtually no effect for three of the teams who switched coaches this season: the Tampa Bay lightning have a 0.009 increase in winning percentage since firing Barry Melrose, the New York Rangers 0.075, and the Carolina Hurricanes 0.080. This is by any standard a holding pattern.

One team, the Montreal Canadiens, actually has a worse winning percentage under their new coach. Since firing Guy Carbonneau, Bob Gainey's team has seen a 0.348 drop in winning percentage. By contrast, the team with the highest gain in winning percentage is the Ottawa Senators with a 0.333 change under Cory Clouston.

Pittsburgh's Dan Blysma has a .706 winning percentage since taking over from Michel Therrien. Joel Quenneville was the first new coach, hired only 4 games into Chicago's season, and he carries a 0.552 winning percentage.

Which brings us to the focal point of this article: if being a head coach in the NHL is tough enough as it is, how much tougher is it to be a replacement coach mid-season, when fan expectations and pressure to improve are at their highest?

The coach who took over the worst situation was Cory Clouston. The Senators were 0.292 under Craig Hartsburg, and fans in Ottawa were starting to wonder if perhaps a place in the NHL draft lottery was possible. Clouston's first four games started L-OTL-OTW-W, a gradual progression in the right direction. Bryan Murray did very little in the way of trades, acquiring Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli for Dean McAmmond and a draft pick. His biggest trade came on deadline day when he acquired Pascale Leclaire and a draft pick for Antoine Vermette, a move which actually subtracted from the line-up as Leclaire can't play this year due to injury. And yet during Clouston's 15-6-3 run, the Sens are incredibly 7 points back of a playoff spot with 10 games left to play, still mathematically in it, although it will be very tough to win out.

The fact that the Senators even have a chance is thanks to Clouston, whose demeanour behind the bench reminds one of a young Brian Kilrea. It's something in the eyes. Clouston means business, and the players have responded like gangbusters. But Clouston has also demonstrated a quality quite rare in the game today - the ability to make adjustments on the fly. Whereas some coaches follow a system with an almost religious fervour, Clouston has not been shy to rip up his game plan and go back to the drawing board in the middle of a game. Clearly Bryan and Tim Murrary knew this guy was good, but did they really know he was this good? First he coached the Binghamton Senators into a playoff position before his promotion, and now he has effected an almost miraculous transformation of the big club into a contender, and not thanks to a huge influx of new talent.

If there was an award given specifically to coaches hired in mid-season, Clouston would deserve consideration. I tend to think if there was such an award he would be far and away the front-runner to win it, even if the Senators don't make it all the way to the playoffs.

If the Sens do end up clinching a playoff spot when all is said and done, how scary would they be as an 8th seed going into the playoffs? They are the hottest team in the league over the past 10 games, and seem to be getting scoring from everywhere, and hot goaltending to boot. But can they play error-free down the stretch to give themselves a chance? It's the question on Sens Army members' lips, but I haven't felt this excited about a stretch run since the first year the Sens made the playoffs, when they required a regulation win in their last game of the season against Dominik Hasek and the Sabres to get in... and they did.

Why Sens Management Should Find More Celebs For Players To Date

When Bryan Murray traded to reacquire Mike Comrie from the Islanders, he did not just get a solid second-line centre, he picked up pop star Hillary Duff in the bargain. As Comrie’s main squeeze, the Duffster has been known to show up at games to cheer her man on, just like Mike Fisher’s current GF, Carrie Underwood (although by all appearances she tried to keep her attendance at games incognito for awhile for some inexplicable reason).

Murray should try playing matchmaker and getting Brian Lee set up with Miley Cyrus (when she’s of age, of course), or perhaps getting Peter Regin set up with Duffy. Why, do you ask? Why should we care? Well it’s about filling up seats in Scotiabank Place during a season that was below expectations, where playoffs are a long shot at best. You have only to attend a concert by any of the above performers with your daughter or a niece to see the frenzy caused by the mere presence of these pop idols on stage. It taps into a hitherto neglected potential sector of the Sens’ fanbase: girls who don’t care about hockey.

Mike has a problem. He really wants to go to the Sens game this Saturday, but he knows his wife will bitch about him not spending enough quality time with the kids. His son is a big hockey fan, but his daughter is a big Hillary Duff fan. Problem solved. Mike pitches the attendance of a Sens game to his wife as a means of spending time with the kids, and for them to explore their own interests – namely trying to spot Hillary Duff in the crowd (daughter) or following the game (son). In any case, Mike gets to go to the game and doesn’t have to take grief from the missus.

There could also be some pretty cool intermission promotions, the more celebs Sens players have in their stable. Could you imagine a scenario where Hillary Duff and Duffy slug it out (foxy boxing) to see who truly gets to lay claim of the Queen of Duff? I know some guys who haven’t been to a game in years that would buy tickets just to see that. Or how about the kiss-cam zeroing in on Ms. Underwood and Ms. Duff? Come on ladies, don’t leave us hanging…

So logically this offseason, the Sens should try to acquire Dion Phaneuf to get Elisha Cuthbert in the bargain (assuming she doesn’t move on by then to another player). Right? The only pitfall with this strategy would be going after a marginal player who has a blazing hot GF. Just remember: the quality of the player comes first, the rest is gravy.

Ganging up on the Habs

No Habs No, a campaign created by Peter of this blog and Silver Seven Sens to make fun of the Montreal Canadiens and give away money (Peter's got too much of it, his accountant told him), started a cascade of bad karma for the team. ]

I was in Montreal this weekend and I noticed that even their sports writers and fans are ganging up on the team.

Exhibit A (from this morning's La Presse):

The writer doesn't mention the campaign in the article, but I bet he's heard about it.

In Saturday's La Presse, they used a very misleading chart to emphasize how Jaroslav Halak is much better than Carey Price recently (of course, this was before last night's 5-2 loss). The chart had names and GAA, but not games played or wins. It's kind of cruel. I'm starting to feel sorry for Kovalev and co.

Still, it's hard not to think that this is all karma catching up to Montreal after stuffing the ballot box at the all-star game and singing 'Ole' all the time for no good reason (seriously: it's in Spanish and has no relation to the team).

But that's enough ganging up... Tonight's Sens game against the Rangers should be a fun one, as two teams on winning streaks tangle to see who's got the goods, and who's just messing with their fans minds in the final stages of the season.

If the Sens can pull off a win, I'll take them off notice (they've been on the list since a sad December day). The first time a name has ever been removed from the list. It will be historic.

No Habs No: Daniel Alfredsson

Although I still owe No Habs No! letters to Kyle Okposo, Brian Rolston, and Chris Drury, I was so excited to write one for Daniel Alfredsson that I put it ahead of those other three. Here's Daniel Alfredsson's letter, which is framed and will (hopefully) be hand-delivered to Alfredsson himself along with the mint condition Canadian one-dollar bill promised to any and all Ottawa Senators who score a game-winning goal against the Montréal Canadiens this season:

And here is a photo of it in its frame, along with the dollar bill:

The Canadiens are 25-21-7 since the start of the Campaign, and are currently just one point ahead of the Florida Panthers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. To support the campaign, you can do any of the following:

1. Join the 275+ fans on our Facebook page.
2. Donate some amount via PayPal to sensarmyblog@gmail.com (that frame wasn't cheap).
3. Visit our swag shop.
4. Express support and solidarity by commenting on this blog and at Silver Seven, the No Habs No! Campaign's co-sponsor.

Best letter to write yet.

Ontario: A Hab-not province

You could probably tell from my previous post that I was conscious that some Habs fans would be terribly noisy and probably ruin this game for all the Sens fans in attendance, but our team shut those overly boisterous Habitants up pretty well with a edge-of-your-seat 5-4 win. Ole-ole-ole-ole.

First of all... Brian Elliot, your crazy glove saves are spectacular, and they are giving me heart attacks. On the plus side, you're rarely beat glove-side. On the other side of the equation, you're caught out of position and HAVE to make these saves in order to bail yourself out. It's madness. I hate you and you're amazing.

Great game from Nick Foligno too. He's becoming such a consistent player because of his forecheck and occasional offensive contribution. Under Clouston's system, he's become a very important part of the Senators' game plan.

This was one of Jason Spezza's better games. He minimized his giveaways and was a pivotal player in the offensive zone. Oh yeah, also those goals.

Anton Volchenkov has remembered how to hit people again. That's nice: he's quite good at it. The Sens out-checked the Habs 31-16 on the game, and it showed. The team's overall enthusiasm seems to sky-rocket after Fisher or Volchenkov goes out of their way to clobber an opponent. Keep it up for God's sake.

If I were to credit Canadiens fans for anything, it's in recognizing that Carey Price clearly weaker than Jaroslav Halak in net right now. Thank goodness Bob Gainey's ego won't allow Halak to be the #1 goalie.

Penalty-killing was pivotal for the Sens in this win. Credit to Daniel Alfredsson for some extremely smart plays (he must be one of the smartest players in the NHL) and Chris Kelly for helping the Sens survive some stickey situations.

Despite some defensive lapeses, this game displayed the Sens at their late-season offensive best. There were times when Ottawa was man-handling the Canadiens in their own end. This sort of game makes me think the Sens will be in the playoffs next year.

Ottawa Sun headline: Spezza jabs Habs in the abs!

Live blog delayed

Hello everyone. I'm going to the game tonight so we'll have to postpone our live blog to another time. Now I have to go catch the damn 403 and spend 50 minutes on a bus with drunken loser habs fans.

Go Sens!

Love,
Ben.

Hope springs eternal... for now

Ah yes, Spring is upon us in the nation's capital. The sun is shining, the snow is melting, and young ladies will begin to show skin again soon. Casting off our winter slumbers, the city will soon embrace its full potential in a beautiful sun-shower.

Our hockey team too, is embracing new beginnings and the Ottawa media is now taking note. Cory Clouston is the Senators savior for this season, and has become a symbol of the team's potential (which is often questioned) being unleashed. It's difficult to ignore the stat: A team that was well under .500 with Craig Hartsburg is not 11-6-3 under Clouston's guidance.

The front page of the sports section in the Ottawa Citizen does a great job of illustrating (literally and figuratively) the difference that Clouston has made.

Under Hartsburg, Phillips owned one of the NHL's worst plus/minus marks, a chilling minus-20 in 48 games. Since Clouston arrived, however, Phillips is a plus- nine in 20 games. There are similar spikes in the numbers for Nick Foligno (minus-19, Hartsburg; plus-nine Clouston), Mike Fisher (minus-seven Hartsburg; plus-nine, Clouston) and Anton Volchenkov (minus-13, Hartsburg; plus-seven Clouston)

In the darker days of this season, I've often pointed to Phillips +/- as an indicator of not only his poor play, but as a barometer of the team as a whole. With the team's top defender on the right side of zero in recent games, the Sens are surely headed in the right direction.

Though reporters are asking the right questions to players and GM Bryan Murray about the future of Clouston and the Senators' head coaching position for next season, there really is no doubt about what must be done: Give Clouston a deal. Now. He's inspired the team (albeit in the short-term -- let us not forget the success the Sens had for 20 games under Paddock) and seemed to have made winners out of losers.

Brian Elliot has turned into yet another late-season success story for Ottawa. It will be interesting to see how the goalie situation next year will pan out. Will Elliot stay in the big leagues or be shipped back to Bingo to allow the tandem of Auld and Leclaire to hold down the fort?

Hope springs eternal in Ottawa. I wish the season started a couple

News and notes:

I am accepting articles from possible new contributors to the blog until Saturday. So if you want in, please send me an article. So far, everyone who has sent in an article has been excellent.

We had some great success with last week's live blog on Thursday evening, so join us again this Thursday to shoot the shit and discuss the Senators while they take on the Montreal Canadiens.

No Habs No: Bryan Little

Here is a letter sent to Bryan Little of the Atlanta Thrashers for his game-winning goal against Montréal on March 6, 2009:


The Habs are now 25-20-6 since the start of the No Habs No! campaign, a measly .549 point-winning percentage. They're in sixth place in the East, but they're only two points ahead of the ninth-place Florida Panthers, and four points ahead of the tenth-place Buffalo Sabres. So there is a real possibility that the campaign will have a successful regular season, as long as NHLers continue to contribute as much as supporters like you.

To support the campaign, you can do any combination of the following:

• Join the 270+ fans on our Facebook page.
• Donate some amount via PayPal to sensarmyblog@gmail.com.
• Visit our swag shop (We've distributed a large mug, a long-sleeved tee, value tee, and a baseball shirt so far).
• Express support and solidarity by commenting on this blog and at Silver Seven, the No Habs No! Campaign's co-sponsor.
  

Sens Army Blog is recruiting

The Sens Army Blog was created to be a fun, opinionated space for fans to discuss our team. For this to happen, the blogs need a few good contributors.

My life recently has taken a few turns that have prevented me from blogging as often as I would like, but this is what Homer Simpson would call a cris-atunity.

With this in mind, I'm looking for up to two additional contributors for this blog. Potential contributors should have sound writing skills (grammar, spelling, style), a good knowledge of the team, and the time to contribute to the blog a couple times each week.

To to considered for a contributor slot, send me an article that you would like to contribute to the blog on any topic--preferably not a game review--of less than 500 words. Send your article in its entirety to myersmedia (at) gmail.com with the subject line "Sens Army contributor". Also, if you currently contribute to another blog, then include its infomation.

There is no pay. There is no glory. The SAB has a reputation among the Sens' community as an intelligent and critical look at the Senators. If you would like to add to this reputation, then please shoot me a line.

Live blog vs Bruins

No Habs No: Derek Roy

Sorry it's been so long coming, but this is the letter Derek Roy will receive in appreciation of his game-winning goal against Montréal on March 4, 2009:


To support the campaign, you can do any combination of the following:

• Join the 240+ fans on our Facebook page.
• Donate some amount via PayPal to sensarmyblog@gmail.com.
• Visit our swag shop (We've distributed a large mug, a long-sleeved tee, value tee, and a baseball shirt so far).
• Express support and solidarity by commenting on this blog and at Silver Seven, the No Habs No! Campaign's co-sponsor.
  

Looking back at the deals

I may have come off as disapproving of the Antoine Vermette for Pascal Leclaire deal on Tuesday, so let me make it clear: This was a great deal for the Senators.

In a market where there were very few quality goalies on the market, or becoming free agents in the summer, Bryan Murray found one. Of course, Leclaire will not solve all of the Senators' problems. In fact, I would go as far as saying that he will not solve any of the Sens' problems in the next year. Ottawa has one of the lowest scoring teams in the NHL, and if a team can't score goals, it can't win games--no matter who is in net.

Vermette has not contributed enough to the Senators to warrant his contract. As much as he acted surprised on television, he must have known that he was too expensive for the 11 goals and 37 points he's on pace to collect this year. His name has been in trade rumours for years, and to be honest, this trade is overdue. The fact that Bryan Murray acquired a second-round pick from Columbus as well helps make up for the late first-round pick given to the Islanders in February.

Giving away another forward means that the Sens now must re-sign Mike Comrie--they'll need his points next year. There's no one waiting on the farm to fill in on the second line. No one that can contribite 50 points, anyway.

On the other hand, re-signing Filip Kuba is definitely questionable. I just don't like 3-year deals worth $11-million. They remind me of Gerber...shudder. Though the Senators have definitely struggled to score goals this year, they haven't been tough enough on defence either. Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips have not lived up to their billing as a shut-down tandem this season, and criticisms of Kuba for his toughness are legitimate--even Bryan Murray acknowledged that when he discussed the signing at a press conference.

PS: Gahhh... Steve Downie... you know you're still on notice right? As are the Senators themselves, in case anyone is keeping track. I wonder when we'll forgive them...

Welcome to Bizarro World

...where Martin Gerber is the #1 goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

...where the Calgary Flames have finally acquired Olli Jokinen from whatever cash-strapped team he's on these days (it's like stealing candy from a baby, or punching a hobo in the face).

...where Filip Kuba somehow managed to remain a Senator (still holding out hope for a trade there).

We can only presume that fish will begin to walk and hamburgers will start eating people. Keep an eye out for black Jerry Seinfeld too.

WHAT?!?!?! Gerbs to Toronto!

Wow. They must have absolutely no faith a) Vesa Toskala or b) Their team's ability to miss the playoffs.

Shock at first. Now, an evil smile. Enjoy that albatross, Leafers.

Pascal "the Answer" Leclaire

Is he a #1 goaltender?

I don't mind seeing Antoine Vermette go, the real question is whether Leclaire is the answer in net for the Senators. He's in the first year of an expensive three-year contract.

Just learned on TSN that Leclaire won't even play for the rest of the season? Yikes.

This trade totally plays into the storyline that the Senators only problem in the past has been goaltending. Anyone who has followed the team with a shred of interest knows better.

"The best goaltender Ottawa's had since they've entered the league." says Pierre McGuire.

...and Kuba re-signed? I did not see that one coming.

SIGN-AND-TRADESIGN-AND-TRADESIGN-AND-TRADE!!! Call it the Marian Hossa special. Of course, that's a play from John Muckler's book.

gahhhhh. I should be sleeping. It was a late night last night. Damn TSN rapid alerts.

A friend of the blog posted his view of Leclaire (visit his Ohio sports website):

Jackets fan here. LeClaire is feast or famine: when he's healthy, he can be a franchise goalie. The problem for him has always been that he can't seem to play an entire season without getting nicked up. This year, he biffed his ankle in pre-season, and it was never right. Thankfully for Columbus, Mason stepped up.

When he's right, LeClaire is athletic, if not big in stature. He can move post-to-post well, and did lead the league in shutouts last season. If he can stay healthy, you've got a great goalie for '09-'10.

Brendan Bell hits the waiver wire

One of a few glimmers of light in the Sens' dark season is now open for other teams to claim. Brendan Bell, whose mobility and puck-handling skills on the Sens blue line was an asset on the powerplay, could very well be on a flight to another city in less than 24 hours.

With so many underachievers on the team this year, couldn't the Sens try a little harder to hang onto someone who is over-achieving?

Nice knowin' ya

According to the Ottawa Sun, Filip Kuba would like $4.5 million per season.

I would like a toilet made of solid gold.

I think that any team that gives into this demand will end up regretting it. Call it 'contract year convenience'. See Tom Preissing and his press box pizza-filled gut.