Let's do away with (the idea of) home ice advantage

You want a home ice advantage? Play better on home ice!

I'm a big fan of TSN's Sunday morning opinion show The Reporters, but I'm a bigger fan of the podcast version. Opinions and information without having to look at Steve Simmons' ugly mug? Perfect! They did a little bonus episode last Sunday discussing the apparent lack of advantage for NHL teams that play at home and I couldn't help but take issue with their way of thinking.

Opinions ranged from a lack of distinctiveness among NHL arenas to the length and flight patterns between cities to even... get this... a lack of effort from heckling fans. Frankly, I think this analysis forgets that there's nothing good and natural about home ice - it's what you make of it.

Finishing at the top of the Eastern Conference certainly didn't help the Washinton Capitals much, and the Ottawa Senatorss having game six against Pittsburgh at home only worsened their record. The last game was played in Ottawa - you'd think it was the Sens who finished ahead of the Penguins.

I think mixing the facts up like this only serve to prove that there's no such thing as home ice advantage - the better team should win whether they're in their own town or not.

In the case of the Caps, playing at home didn't hurt them as much as their goaltending, powerplay, lack of scoring, poor defence... get where I'm going?

Over-analyzing home ice advantage is like asking why the tail is wagging the dog. The reason why it's a seven-game series is because the better team will eventually win. And witnessing the Canadiens scrape their way through these playoffs despite playing only six games on home ice is all the proof that should be needed.

TSN has me confused

Did anyone else see the "NHL on TSN" intro for the season debut Tuesday night? Hearing the "Hockey Night in Canada" theme playing beforehand was pretty darn weird, I think. A Tuesday night is weird enough, but for TSN is just seems weird. I don't think TSN comes close to the prestige that HNIC has.

Speaking of HNIC, I've got to hand it to them for a job well done on the new HNIC theme song competition. The entire show was solid, George Stroumbolopoulos and Don Cherry did a good job hosting. The competition did a solid job building momentum for a new season, too. All five finalists were really good, but the winner is epic--all else (you know, things like history and sentiment) being equal, it's probably even better than the original. To see the award ceremony and hear the song along with the new intro video, visit the CBC website.

Emery good as done in Ottawa

According to a report on TSN.ca:

According to Ottawa Senators General Manager and head coach Bryan Murray, Ray Emery's tenure in the Nation's capital is likely over.

The Senator's top brass met with the media Friday to wrap up what turned out to be a disappointing season. When the subject of Emery was raised, Murray made his position clear.

"My plan is not to have him back," Murray told reporters.

Team owner Eugene Melnyk, who was part of the press conference refused to comment on the Emery situation.

It wasn't difficult to predict that one of Emery or Martin Gerber wouldn't be back for 2008-09, and Murray's choice to go with Gerber in the playoffs showed which goalie was his preference. Not to suggest that Emery isn't skilled, but he's run out of chances with the Senators.

Hopefully the Sens can trade Emery rather than having to buy him out, because say what you will about his off-ice behaviour, he's still an athletic young goaltender with a lot of potential. Another team will certainly take a chance on him if he becomes a free agent; every GM in the league probably has an idea on how to tame an unruly player.

Paddock reflects on Rayzor-gate

John Paddock spoke with the media today, notably about how he would have handled the whole Ray Emery situation differently.

''I should have pulled him off the ice in some of those practices where he wasn't working.''

Emery's work ethic has often been questionned. But more importantly, when he came back from his wrist injury, Ray Emery expected to be handed the number one job right away. That's when the shit hit the fan, if you will, for Emery, the team and Paddock's job.

As Mike Milbury said repeatedly during TSN's trade deadline coverage, part of a head coach's job is to keep his players' focus in check. The Emery situation became a distraction for the team, and Paddock quite simply couldn't handle it.

It's nice of Paddock to admit to his mistake, even though it's too late, obviously. It further proves to me that the right move would have been to go with one of Martin Gerber or Ray Emery and run.

Apparently, Bryan Murray was very close to dealing for Nikolai Khabibulin, but the Russian keeper's back problems put a stop to talks. Maybe it would have been a good move to put Emery on waivers, the way Brian Burke did with Ilya Bryzgalov.

Leave Us Alone TSN!

All I have heard on TSN for the past few days following the NHL trade deadline was that the Sens should have been more active in the trading market and that Muckler's open refusal to give up any players on his roster was not only a mistake but could cost us dearly come playoff time.

At the end of the day the only guy we picked up was Oleg Saprykin who is on pace to break 40 points this season... for just a 2nd round draft pick. Sure this guy isn't going to be heading to next year's all-star game but he is a solid 3rd or 4th line winger and we didn't have to break up anyone on our roster to get him. However my point here isn't whether or not Saprykin was a good pick up, I'll leave that for someone else to tackle... instead what I'd like to touch on is why I support staying the hell away from giving up roster spots for rental players, simply based on our past experiences and the lack of... success... they've brought.

Please indulge me for a moment as we take a trip through memory lane, below are a our trade deadline deals from the past years and an explaination of how the player performed for the rest of the year and during the playoffs....

2000 - Sent Ron Tugnutt and Janne Laukkanen to Pittsburg for Tom Barrasso.
(Barrasso went 3-4 in the final 7 regular season games and 2-4 in the playoffs.)

2001 - Brought in Curtis Leschyshyn & Mike Sillinger for 3rd round pick.
(Sillinger had 7 points in 13 final regular season games, and 0 pts in 4 playoff games.) (Leschyshyn had 5 points in 11 final regular season games, and 0 pts in 4 playoff games.)

2003 - Traded Jakub Klepis to Buffalo for Vaclav Varada.
(Varada has 8 points in 11 season games and 6 pts in 18 playoff games.)

2004 - We acquired Greg de Vries from the Rangers for Karl Rachunek & Alexandre Giroux.
(de Vries had 1 point in 13 regular season games and 1 point in 7 playoff games.)


2004 - Acquired Peter Bondra from Washington for Brooks Laich and 2nd round draft pick.
(Bondra played 23 season games with 14 points and had 0 pts in 7 playoff games.)


Of 6 players acquired at or near the trade deadline, arguably only one really went on to perform for the rest of the season AND the playoffs! (Varada)

So really TSN, your going to have to excuse MY interruption so I can tell you that, as a Sens fan, I don't give a crap that Muckler wasn't willing to deal our players. History shows that the chances of bringing someone in who will make a real difference for us come playoff time, someone who isn't used to our players, our routines or our coaching style... just doesn't pay off in the end. I have no idea if Saprykin is going to help us out, but frankly my hopes lay on the shoulders of the players who carried our team through the tough beginning of the season and who are going to carry us far into the playoffs!


For Sens Army Blog, I'm Kyle.

(Take that TSN!)