Just wanted to wish everyone a very happy halloween today/tonight. I hope everyone has cool costumes, and if you were soemthing Sens/hockey related, or see someone rockin soemthing Sens/hockey related that looked cool or was funny, send em in and I'll post them this week.
I was minding my own business on Tuesday's game vs Phoenix at the 2nd intermission, when I saw this. At first I thought, no it can't be, I must be seeing things. No way would a 50+ year old man be rockin a pink womens jersey, but after a few seconds I realized it was indeed true. I was speechless. This was sadly the best picture I could get, but you get the idea.
The Sens get their first back to back victories, beating the Florida Panthers 5-3 tonight, in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score might indicate. The team as a whole played pretty well again, scoring 5 unanswered after bing down 1-0 early.So with the win tonight, my predicting record is an even 5-5 through 10. Good to see the boys get it together for back to back wins, and even more importantly, starting to show a better effort. Day off tomorrow and then Boston Saturday in a divisional tilt. On to the next one.....
With 1 goal and 1 assist, as well as a +3 on the evening, Milan Michalek wins the night.
Thoughts?
The Sens are back at it tonight, trying to get consecutive wins for the first time this season, as they take on the Florida Panthers tonight at 7pm at SBP. The Senators are looking to build off an impressive performance in the 5-2 Tuesday win against Phoenix, while Florida is trying to recover from a 3-1 defeat to Toronto, in which the winning goal should not have counted.
It was 4-2 in the 3rd period of last night's game and we were on a 5 on 3 man advantage. I wasn't thinking much except let's put one in and seal the much needed victory. The puck went back to the point to Gonchar, then down to Kovalev, who proceeded to make an amazing cross crease pass to Alfie for the tap in goal that was caught by the camera in the picture above.
Last night was Sergei Gonchar's 1000th career NHL game, a game which we won 5-2. He recieved a silver stick and a painting my Tony Harris. Gonchar celebrated the milestone with an assist. Congratulations to Sergei and his family for hitting 1000, let's hope he has a great rest of the season. Here's a pic I took for you guys in case you didn't happen to be at SBP.
Ok I admit it, when I'm wrong, I say so. So earlier today when I predicted the Coyotes would beat the Sens 5-2, it was a typo. I really meant the Sens would win 5-2, um are you buying that? You're not eh. Ok forget it, let's move on, this was one time I'm glad to be wrong, err I mean right.So a win is a win, and at this point I will literally take any we can get. Let's hope we get this kind of play and effort on Thursday against Florida too.
With 2 goals and one beautiful assist, Alexei Kovalev wins the night.
Thoughts on the game?
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The Sens are back at it tonight, in a rare game with the Winnipeg Jets, errr I mean Phoenix Coyotes at SBP, puckdrop is 7:37pm on Sportsnet. The Sens appeared to have turned the corner with a nice 4-2 win on the road in Buffalo on Friday night, but then came home and played like an OHL team on Saturday night against Montreal, and frankly, it was an embarassing, humbling game for all involved. The Senators look to rebound tonight against a sneaky good Coyotes team.It looks like Brian Lee will be watching this one from the press box tonight, with David Hale still taking his spot in the lineup. I have to say these lines look a little wrong to me. Do we really need Winchester on the 2nd line? Tonight is also a small piece of NHL history, as Sergei Gonchar will play in his 1000th game, so hopefully he plays well and shows me why I used to wanna have a heart attack everytime he had the puck. He used to kill us, I wanna see him kill someone else now.
Prediction: The Coyotes should be tired, they're playing in the east, which is never good for a west coast team, and they played last night in Montreal, losing in OT, so they should be tired. They get a boost with Shane Doan returning tonight from suspension though, which should fire them up with their captain back in the lineup. I don't know what to make of PHX, they beat us last year in their barn and they surprised everyone making the playoffs, they have a nice little team ful of youngsters that are performing well, so we shouldn't take them for granted. Hell at this point I would count on a W against the 67's, even if PHX will play their backup. I see no reason right now that we suddenly get it back on track, Sens lose 5-2. I'm now 4-4 this season with 1 exact score predicted.
Thoughts?
This was taken at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, on the momentous night that Alfie scored his now legendary hat trick and 1000th career point, sent in by a reader. I'm not quite sure what the owner is tryin to convey with the name on the back, but it seems appropriate since this is a douchey jersey foul, so he has now lowered the bar even more. And as we all know, using the iconic 11 on a Sens jersey is always a no no.
Just when you think we may have turned a corner, this happens. What a total pathetic effort on home ice in a huge game. We just didn't show up period. I'm embarassed.
Last night sure felt great didn't it? A much needed road win against division rival Buffalo, and Alfie hitting 1000. It couldn't have gone any better, well except in net of course. So the Sens are back at it tonight, against another division rival in Montreal on Hockey Night in Canada at 7pm. The Sens are looking to make it 2 in a row and get their season back on track, can they do it? Tune in tonight to see, but I think they'll be ok.
He becomes the 75th player in NHL history to hit 1000 career points. Of course, he did it in style, scoring a hat trick. I even called the way he would hit 1000 with 5 minutes of game time left. Simply put, he is the franchise and a legend.
So there we go, the sky is not falling, at least not for one night anyways. The Sens needed a win tonight and they got it, after a much better effort, though the score doesn't indicate how dominant the Sens were most of the game. Almost the whole team played hard tonight, especially impressive after Jason Spezza was a late scratch and did not suit up.Obviously the big news tonight is Alfie and his 1000th point and righfully so. The team as a whole played so much better tonight. If we can win tomorrow against Montreal, we'd be right back into the thick of things. Enjoy the win tonight, back to work tomorrow. Everyone have a drink for Alfie tonight.
With a hat trick and his 1000th point, Daniel Alfredsson Wins The Night.
Thoughts?
While only 6 games into the season, it may be a little early to call game #7 a must win, but that's exactly what it is. We are already in dead last place and can't afford to fall to 0-4 in our division tonight. It might seem like a cliche, but cliches are cliches for a reason, and I see us needing to sweep the weekend games if we want to get back into the thick of things. If we lose is our season over? No of course not, but you can't allow yourself to get farther and farther behind, or you'll never catch up. It seems fitting that our rivals the Sabres are our opponent while we try and get things back on track doesn't it?The defensive pairing will look a little different with Hale in the lineup and will be:
For the Sabres it will be:
The defensive pairings will be:
Prediction: This is a tough one. If we're being honest, both teams are struggling and need a win badly, and anytime these 2 teams play, it's always fireworks that can be hard to predict. The Senators usually own the Sabres, but Buffalo ruined our home opener by beating us. The Sabres are also without Jason Pomminville with a concussion, so that helps. So what team shows up tonight? I have faith the Sens will bring their A-ish game tonight and win a close one 3-2. My record so far is 3-3 this year with zero exact scores predicted correctly.
Thoughts?
Earlier today, I sent a shoutout to my boy Jeremy Roenick, congratulating him on his induction tonight to the US Hockey Hall Of Fame. I went on about how awesome JR was, and how what a good guy he was. Well right on cue, JR saw my tweet and my post congratulating him and thanked me and retweeted of course.
For anyone that regularly reads this site, this will come as no surprise, but today is a very big day for my all time favorite hockey player Jeremy Roenick. Yes I have numerous times gushed about my man crush for JR and how absolutely kind he is to his fans, so it's my pleasure to give back.
We all have known the struggles of Alexei Kovalev, easily one of the most frustrating players of all time. This little parody is awesome and pokes fun of him from the popular Dos Equis ad's about him being the most interesting man in the world. I'm sure by now you've seen them. To enlarge the picture just click on it. Thanks to Derick G for sending this in.
So healthy scratch Zack Smith was sent to Binghamton today, and David Hale was re-called to the big club. Wow, what a big move, we should be a dominant team now, after adding the NHL vet who couldn't crack our awful defensive lineup from camp. I just don't see this doing much for us at all.
With the Sens in dead last place in the NHL, and with no game until Friday night in Buffalo, there will be a lot of time to discuss what has lead to our shortcomings so far. Is it goaltending? Coaching? Offense? Defense? Special teams? Lack of discipline? Lack of Chemistry? The answer is yes, the reality it is all of those things. We haven't been good in any aspect really.These are just a few ideas off the top off my head to shake things up. What do you guys think should be done to try and get us back on track? Let's hear em.
The other day I asked you to have some fun and caption a photo of Pascal Leclaire being injured yet again. Well with last night's loss, we are now the officially in LAST place in the NHL. Yay us!
If you didn't catch this game consider yourself lucky, as it was a disaster from start to finish. We fell behind early after TWO stupid penalties and never got back in the game, falling 5-2 to the Pens. This brings the Sens record to a 1-4-1 record through 6 games, not good.Honestly, the whole team looked lost. I can't even really blame any one player, as the entire squad played with no heart or urgency. I can only imagine how mad triple C must be. This is a poor, poor start to the year and I don't have much positive to say at the moment. I will leave the comments to you guys.
Though no one really deserved it, with his one goal and 997th career point, Daniel Alfredsson wins the night.
Thoughts on the game tonight and the start to the season?
The Sens are back at it tonight, as they make their first appearance at the new Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, hoping to put an ugly start to the season behind them and get back on track against Crosby, Malkin and company. This should be a good game, and offers the Sens a chance to get some minor revenge for last years playoff loss to the Pens. This will also mark Sergei Gonchar's first game back to the team he called home for numerous years, hopefully the Pens fans do him right and give him a nice ovation, which I'm sure they will.
Everyone loves to point to statistics to help prove who's the best in the NHL, but sometimes the numbers don't say it all. If you happen to have glanced at NHL.com stats leaders, you'd see a weird name at the top.
You might want to go to the weather network, because apparently hell will be freezing over soon. Your eyes do not deceive you, yes that is the Toronto Maple Leafs in first place overall in the NHL. Now let's keep in mind this is only 4 games in, which leaves them 78 games still to blow it, but it just doesn't look right does it? Especially when you look all the way near the end and see the Sens in 27th place in the league, though we're really tied for LAST OVERALL but ahead of Buffalo and Jersey because we've played one less game so far
The Sens are in la belle province tonight, as they take on the Habs in Montreal on hockey night in Canada at 7pm. This isn't a must win by any means, but we've already lost both divisional games this year, so getting on the board in that way would be nice.That of course means that Zack Smith will be a healthy scratch yet again for some reason. The D pairings remain the same as last game.
Prediction: The Sens and Habs always play spirited games and look for Kovalev to have a big game tonight in his return to the Bell Centre. If we play the way we have for the last 2 games, we should get the W. At this point it depends what team decides to show up. I'm going for the latter, Sens win 3-1.
Thoughts?
Pascal Leclaire unbelievably was hurt in yet another freaky bizarro accident last night, so time to have a little fun with this photo I took of him being injured. The game is simple, caption this photo. Make it funny annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd go.
The Sens dominated early, scored midway, choked for 5 minutes and then held on to get their first win of the year, 3-2 over the Carolina Hurricanes. It was a much better effort for the team overall, though if you can believe it, less than 5 minutes into the game, Pascal Leclaire was injured in yet another bizarre way and was forced to leave the game. I know what you're thinking, I am thinking it too.So the first felt pretty good, though we barely won. But in the end, all that matters is the 2 points, not how ya got em. We have shown signs of strong play without many of our star players performing yet, which is a good sign. On to la bell province on Saturday.
With 2 goals, Mike Fisher wins the night.
Thoughts?
The Sens return home to SBP tonight, for their 2nd home game of the young season, looking for their first win against the 2-0 Carolina Hurricanes, puck drop is 7pm on TSN.With that lineup, there isn't really a 4th line, but a bnunch of 2nd lines that can hopefully wear down their opponent. On defence, it remains the same, though struggling soph Erik Karlsson is on the bottom pairing with Brian Lee tonight. Pascal Leclaire is expect to start for the Sens.
Prediction: Sens need a win badly and have shown a much better effort lately, but Carolina historically always gives us trouble. They've travelled a lot of miles and must be jet lagged to some extent, which makes them a nice opponent tonight. Sens win 4-2 fo rthe first W of the season. Don't forget to boo Joe Corvo all night either Sens fans.
Thoughts?
Many of you had emailed me asking why Alfie did not play a shift in OT on Monday. Well the answer was he left the game because of an injury. But being the amazingly quick healer that he is, he won't be missing any time and will play tomorrow against Carolina thank god. I imagine if we were 3-0 and not 0-3 he might be sitting out. Let's hope he doesn't injure himself anymore than he already is.
Last Thursday, Jarkko Ruutu rode the zamboni down elgin to mark the start of the season. By now, we all wish the season hadn't started yet, but nevertheless, it was cool to see it ride down the Sens mile. I didn't have time to post it last week but I thought it was cool and a few people had asked me for it, plus it's an off day. To see more pics from the cruise click here
It's been awhile since I've done one of these, but I happened to come across this one and I couldn't resist. I saw an ad for the TV show Degrassi and the kid on the right was on the screen. I thought to myself, man he looks familiar but I couldn't place him until a few weeks later. He looks like Sen Nick Foligno.
Unfortunately, I did not get to see this game, as I was busy with Ms Mayor and her family eating Thanksgiving dinner. From what I've been told, we looked much better tonight, which is good news, even in the loss. I also heard Leclaire played well again, but was definitely at fault for the OT winner by Ovechkin. At least we got our first point of the season.
The Sens are back at it today on Thanksgiving, hoping to get their season back on track and fast. After 2 very subpar performances, there is plenty of criticism to go around, with everyone but Leclaire being on the recieving end of it. Here's a thought, how many of you thought if we were 0-2 to start, that it would be everyone's fault BUT our goaltending? Ya me either. It hasn't looked pretty so far this year, and with facing the league's best offense tonight, it could get ugly. Most of the people who have mailed me are just hoping we don't let it 10 tonight. Ah overreaction at it's finest, yet with the real possibility of it happening if we don't sharpen up our game and fast.There has also been rumors floating around about some defensive pairings being siwtched, but no confirmation as of yet. Interesting to see Kovalev will begin on the 4th line tonight, after literally being invisible through 2 games. Zack Smith will take his place on the 2nd line, while Regin also really continues to struggle and will stay put on the 4th as well.
As always when playing the Caps, you can't hope to stop them, but simply contain them. With firepower from guys like Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Green and many others, the Caps can score with the best of them and in a hurry.
Prediction: A 0-3 start would be semi disasterous and would leave us in a small hole to begin the season already, but I have little evidence to suggest we will turn it around against one of the league's best teams in Washington. Honestly, I'm not even hoping for the 2 points, but just a better effort,w hich is sad for a pro hockey team, but this si where we're at right now. Sens dopn't give us anything to be thankful for tonight and lose 7-3.
Thoughts?
All in all, we have it pretty good don't we? So sit back, relax and stuff your face with turkey and stuffing, and get ready to watch the Sens take on the Capitals.
Everyone has something to be thankful, so take a minute and find something that you're fortunate to have. All the best to all of my readers and their families. Happy thanksgiving everyone.
Thoughts?
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Mike Fisher is doing quite well for himself lately, especially now, as he has signed with athletic apparel maker Under Armour, to endorse their products on a 4 year deal, as per Uptown Hockey, who represents him. That's pretty impressive for a guy from a small market team, though I'm sure a lot of it has to do with his increased visibility due to his very high profile wife. That explains why he was wearing a UA hat when he was with her, the perfect time to get the most eyeballs on the company when you're photographed.
Seemingly out of nowhere, the Senators long time doctor, Dr Chow, made a surprise visit to the Sens season opener against the Sabres on Friday. This came as quite a shock, as no news had been made public that he was even out of the hospital at the time. The crowd did the right thing and the sell out audience gave him a standing ovation. This was quite remarkable of course, because at the time, his injuries were very severe and it was thought he wasn't likely to make it.
Game? What game? As far as I'm concerned tonight did not happen. I'm serious.
You know it's hockey season officially, when the Battle of Ontario happens. Tonight, the Sens are in Toronto, hoping for a much better performance than last night's season opener against Buffalo, a 2-1 loss.
There's been a movement lately, a group of people who dislike Toronto, and more importantly their "hockey team". It's been a growing problem of arrogance and self entitlement for no apparent reason, until now. Someone has decided to step in and do something about it. It first came to my attention from Sens Town buddy and 88.5 Live personality Jen Traplin. The rest is history. Here's what Spank Toronto is, and why you need to join like yesterday. We welcome 88.5 Live's Katfish Morgan to tell us about it and some of his favorite hockey moments too.
The day is finally here. After a long offseason, the regular season is finally here, as we take on long time rival, and divisional foe, in the Buffalo Sabres. I'm just happy to have real hockey back, with players I recognize and actual points on the line. It's nice to be able to write an actual game day preview again.and the defensive pairings will be:
Prediction: Sens are missing their top centre, and arguably their best player, which is never good. We all know that Alfie will bring it every night, but Spezza usually makes the difference in our team. When he's playing well, we play well. The Sabres are a good team and have a better goalie, but we continue to own them for some unexplained reason. It should be a tough game, as it always is when these two teams meet up. In the end, it's opening night and I can't pick against the Sens. Ottawa wins 5-3.
Thoughts?
With the season opener tomorrow, the guys at Norml clothing have come up with a custom New Era fitted to celebrate the new season. It is limited to 36 hats and goes on sale tomorrow at the store on 184 Rideau. I have to say it's pretty sharp looking, and if you want to stand out and still rep the Sens, here is the perfect chance. I highly recommend scoopin' one up tomorrow, but remember to be quick, these won't last long.
The 2010-11 opening night is less than 48 hours away and we have no idea who will be our starting goaltender ahhhhh!!!!
A few weeks ago, I asked you readers to help me make a decision on what player to get on the back of my new jersey. The winner was Erik Karlsson with 26% of the vote. So after weighing the pros and cons of an EK jersey, I made the decision and pulled the trigger on it. I just got it back a few days ago, so here it is pictured abover. Thanks for everyone's help, I appreciate it.Thoughts on the new jersey and the happenings of today?
The fake season is over and it's time to hand out the very prestigious Brandon Bonchenski Award for Pre-Season Excellence to this seasons winner, as is the tradition here in the Senators blogosphere. In the end, there were 3 excellent finalists. One of them was expected and two guys came out of nowhere. I took into consideration many things, such as expectations heading into camp, points, overall play and impact on the team. So without further adieu, the 2010-11 Bochenski Award winner is Nick Foligno.With his now infamous goal seemingly everywhere, local Binghamton station talked with Kaspars about how it went down. As one would expect with a local small town tv station, the production value is OUTSTANDING, especially how they make him re-create the famous move over and over and over and over and over again. Eat your heart out Rogers 22 and CJOH. You wish you had their budget.
Thoughts?
While it appeared that David Hale had made the final roster the other day, it isn't quite so, as he has been put on waivers. Now this story for the Ottawa Citizen seems hilarious. We will see soon if he is claimed by another team, or if he will remain Senator property down in Binghamton. The rationale behind the decision allegedly, is that Brian Lee will get the cahnce to start with the big team finally, and if Hale is to be taken off waivers, they'd rather it happen now so they can move forward, since he was very likely to be sent down once Kuba returned.This has been making the rounds everywhere online the past 24 hours. It is a pre-season shootout goal by Binghamton Senator Kaspars Daugavins. It is quite the flashy, creative goal isn't it? You will remember Kaspars as a guy who got called up for a couple games last year, played in the Olympics for Latvia, and then was promptly one of the first guys cut from the 2010-11 training camp. Will his career blow up? Unlikely. But at least he now has an internet clip that will go down in infamy.
Thoughts on the impressive play?
I think everyone can agree that pre-season can be boring. They play too many games that don't mean enough, the players check out and the play can be downright sloppy at times, especially when you're forced to pay regular season prices most of the time. So some people look for other means of entertainment at a game, the Sens would call this entertainment value. You know, the ideal of even if the Sens don't win, you feel you got your money's worth because you felt entertained by other things. I am not one of those people. I go to watch the game period, not to see people dance or stupid giveaway contests etc.
Now this video was taken on Saturday, in an 8-5 Sens win against the New York Rangers. It is an alleged Sens fan (he actually works for the Sens and is pretending to be a regular fan) lip synching to Journey's "don't stop believin", which was a hit in the 80's and has seen a resurgence in popularity due to it being in the last scene of The Sopranos. Anyways, this was the 2nd time they showed him doing it and you know why? Because the crowd went CRAZY for him when he did it the first time.
I kid you not, in a game that had 13 goals and 8 by the home town team, by far the loudest cheer was for this guy mouthing the words with cheesy actions to a song that is 30 years old. I only wish I was kidding. It may have been the least proud I've ever been of our fans. It was embarassing.
What is the appeal of it? Did it take some special talent to mouth lyrics and make cheesy gestures? I just don't get why it was remotely interesting, let alone worthy of the loudest cheers of the night.
Maybe next time you guys should save yourself a bunch of cash and just stay home and watch American Idol on Tv instead.
Thoughts?
Just when you wanted to sorta feel bad for a guy making more in one year than you ever will in your life, this happens. As per HNIC's Jeff Marek, as a result of being sent to the AHL, Wade Redden will not have to contribute 18% to the escrow account, which means he will bank an extra 1.17 million each season. Wow! I guess in some cases it does pay to be bad.
After the fun and success of the ongoing Sens Town fantasy football league, I figured why not have a hockey one too. It only makes sense right? If you're interested in joining you can do so by clicking here. The draft will be Wednesday night at 9pm. Hope to see a lot of you there, should be fun. Feel free to email me with any questions at senstown@gmail.comWhat a weird game, one of the sloppiest one's I've seen in quite awhile, with the Sens winning a wild one 8-5, ending their fake season on a high note. It was a crazy back and forth game, with not one, but TWO unlikely Sens notching hat tricks, in Chris Kelly and Zack Smith.
For those of you who didn't get to see the game, you're lucky. Pascal Leclaire was AWFUL! And I do mean awful. Between him and Brian Elliott, they might be our downfall. Can't we ever have one decent goalie ever? It's just not fair. This could have been an 8-0 win. If we want to be real about it, Robin Lehner was our best goalie at camp bar none.
Other thoughts from the game:
So the final squad is set. Jared Cowen was sent back to junior (the right call), David Hale made the team (also the right call), Bobby Butler, Patrick Wiercioch and Cody Bass were all sent to Bingo ( definitely the right call). The only questionable call was keeping Ryan Shannon in my opinion. I just don't see any spot for him whatsoever in our lineup. Also it appears Brian Lee will start the season as the 7th dman, thanks to his fresh 1 way deal no doubt.
With both guys having hat tricks tonight, Zack Smith and Chris Kelly win the night.
So there you have it, thought on the game and the final team?
The Sens are finally playing their final fake game tonight, as they close out their pre-season against the New York Rangers. They are conming off a 5-4 shootout loss last night, against the same New York Rangers. Tonight will be the last chance for a few hopefuls on each team to make an impression and show they deserve to be on the roster, which could mean a spirited affair at SBP ce soir.The defensive pairings will be:
Interesting to see that Regin is now getting 4th line minutes after not building on his excellent finish last season. I will also look forward to a Big Rig/EK pairing, should be interesting to see how they play off one another. Hopefully we can somewhat get back into regular season form tonight.
The Rags have left most of their big guns in Manhattan, but former Sen Todd White will be in the lineup fighting for a job, and super soph Michael Del Zotto will also be dressing. Martin Biron starts in net and Lundqvist backs him up.
Thoughts on the game tonight?
The Sens are in the big apple tonight at the world's most famous arena, as we take on the New York Rangers in our 2nd last fake game this year. The game is at 7pm and it is available on centre ice, but if you want to watch it online, you can do so by clicking here at game time.The defence will be:
Thoughts on the matchup?
The Ontario Securities Commission tribubal ruled today that Sens owner Eugene Melnyk did NOT break the law while he was at the helm of Biovail. They did however scold him, saying that "his conduct was contrary to public interest", which basically means we think you're guilty but can't prove it.
