Tip of the Hat / Wag of the Finger

I think I could drink a whole pit of coffee and not think of a single especially interesting storyline for tonight's game against the Boston Bruins, when compared to the Ottawa Senators' last game against the Nashville Predators. That game is still stuck in my mind. Too bad they lost.

And it's hard to say that results are not mixed when your team climbs back into a game that they were down 3-0, and manage to lose 6-5.

Tip of the Hat:

Philchenkov:
Each of them scores about three goals a year, and it's safe to say that Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov have never scored a goal in the same period. They were +4 and +3 respectively on the game as a whole. That's to say nothing of their defensive contribution so far this year, which has been outstanding.

Jason Spezza:
With three assists against the Predators, Spezza effectively shut up Nick Kypreos and everyone else that was questioning his offensive contribution. (C'mon people, he always has twice as many assists as goals by the end of the season.) The media hoard has moved onto Jonathan Cheechoo now--I'm sure they're just checking names off the roster.

Nick Foligno:
He certainly had his most visible game of the season against the Predators, being both offensive threat and effective pugilist. His penalty trouble came at the worst time in the game, but that can be forgiven if he maintains this pace.

Wag of the Finger:

Matt Carkner:
He made Bryan Murray look like an ass by coming up with his worst performance of the year immediately after signing that nice new contract. He was ineffective as an aggressive hockey player and slow on defence. Sorry Matt - better is expected of full-time NHL defencemen. PS: He was a game-worst -4 vs the Preds (Hat Tip to Anonymous commentor in last blog).

Pascal Leclaire:
I'm as big a PL fan as anyone on earth (planned tattoo: "PL 4 Life or 'till 2012! woo!") but allowing three goals in the first period is unacceptable. I know, I know: the Sens were playing like total crap, but that doesn't excuse a goalie letting six goals get past him. I fully expect him to be back on track tonight against the Bruins (edit: Apparently Elliott gets the start in net tonight. Thanks commentor!), but if he lets in three during the first period, no amount of magic-goal-light-on-ice will save the Sens.

Jonathan Cheechoo:
Just score one goal. Please.

If you're a Twitterer, send me your thoughts during tonight's game @sensarmyblog

Live Blog Tonight: Pregame thoughts

I'm hosting a bit of a Sens get-together tonight and the laptop will be open for all comments from a group of opinionated Sens fans.

It's going to be madness. Tune in to this blog during the game for some live blogging madness.

Comment #1: Why is the Sens game tonight NOT IN HD?! ...I'm pissed.

Comment #2: I hate to say it, but Nick Kypreos made a good point on Hockey Central. It seems the Sens' coaching staff have been angling to turn Ray Emery into the #1 goalie since the All-Star break.

It kinda sucks for Martin Gerber, who has a better record and better GAA than Emery, but the team has to get behind whomever they play best in front of.

Comment #3: Just heard on TSN that Dany Heatley is pointless in the Sens last four games. Maybe we should be blaming some losses on him.

Memo to Nick Kypreos: Eat my ass

Dear Nick Kypreos,

You know nothing about hockey, unless it's the Toronto Maple Leafs. When the Ottawa Senators declined an 'offer' from the Florida Panthers to acquire Gary Roberts, Kypreos declared that he had lost all respect for the Ottawa Senators. This is stupid for three reasons.

First of all, this implies that Kypreos had respect for Ottawa in the first place. I think we all know that his love-in for all things Maple Leafs is evidence enough this is not the case.

Secondly, it assumes that Florida was asking the same in return for Roberts from both Ottawa and Pittsburgh. Conspiracy theories are always fun, but I will reference Don Cherry as a citation for the following statement: Jacques Martin did not want to give Ottawa a major factor in the repeated defeats of the Martin-era Senators to the Maple Leafs. Why would Martin offer Roberts to the man who fired him (John Muckler) without trying to gouge as much in return as possible? Especially if the opportunity is there to trade him to Pittsburgh--at a time the Penguins looked to be Ottawa's first-round opponent.

Finally, Roberts wasn't the decisive factor. He pissed all Sens fans off, scored a few goals, threw some borderline hits (which probably should have been penalized if the refs weren't so sorry Roberts is such a poor skater), bitched at the refs constantly (once again, for some reason unpenalized despite the lack of a letter of his left shoulder), and apparently helped the young 'Burgh whippersnappers, but none of it really helped. The Pens lost the series.

In a related story, Oleg Saprykin didn't look like such a bad move, after all. This goes out to all the folks responsible for berating Muckler for this blockbuster (that means you, Ottawa Sun): Don't judge a move until you see what it's brought. Sappy played a solid game last night, and in game four, and probably should have had a goal or two in those matches. Furthermore, he looked like he was willing to take a hit once in a while, and has some darn good speed. Ottawa didn't need a slow old-timer to lead a team with solid internal leadership, they needed (more) offensive depth.

In an unrelated story, Anton Volchenkov might be my all-time favourite Ottawa Senators player. He is certainly giving Norm Maciver a run for his money. Let's take a look at his first-round statistics:

• Points: 4 (1G, 3A)
• Hits: 16
• Blocked shots: 14

What more can you ask for? His one goal was a game-winning goal, too... incredible. Game five was a testament to his toughness; after Roberts appeared to hit Volchie's elbow and bend it the wrong way, "the Big Defenceman" (Bob Cole's nickname for Volchenkov, as well as all other Ottawa Senators defencemen) barely missed a shift, and returned to play the last shift of a 3-0 game rather than staying in the dressing room on a precautionary basis. Still incredible.

Now... awaiting the second-round opponent. Stay tuned for a "Ottawa Senators Eastern Conference Semi-Final Opponent Watch" update later tonight.