A Ray of Hope?

Well, well, well.... the Sens head in to the All-Star break with 7 out of their last 8 possible points while beating top conference rivals Montreal and Washington in the process. The team currently sits 12 points out of the final playoff spot with about half the season left to play. Boding even better is the fact that the Sens have 2 to 4 games in hand over teams above them in the standings. Win those games, and the team all of a sudden is within 6 or 8 points of the 8th and final playoff seed.

The arrival of Brian Elliot has really sparked this team who looked hesitant with both Gerber and Auld in nets, although they did look a little more comfortable in front or Auld for a short stretch.

Just knowing that their goalie will bail them out of mistakes allows the team to play more aggressively and offensively minded.

Mistakes are magnified when they end up in your net 90% of the time.

For those Sens' "fans" who were hoping to tank and get a lottery pick, I say, "move to Long Island or Tampa Bay and enjoy your Hedman or Tavares." There is no way the Sens, even if they dress the entire AHL lineup will finish worse that Tampa or the Islanders. The Leafs suck large and are finally achieving to their capabilities (sorry Tim) and the Penguins are struggling mightily and could fall further. That leaves the Sens with a 3-6 pick at best anyways. Why not go for it and try to make the playoffs? It's not like any of these first round draft picks will help the team next year. (right, Steve Stamkos?)

In any draft, picks 3-12 in the first round are a wash and if you have decent scouting, you can get the better player with a later pick (Marian Hossa and Martin Havlat).

I believe Bryan Murray is waiting another week or so to see how close the team is from 8th place in their conference to decide if he is a buyer or seller at the trade deadline. I would not be surprised if he becomes a buyer prior to the deadline and grabs a puck moving defenseman to make the final push if the team is within striking distance.

By the way.... thanks to Coach Craig Hartsburg for finally listening to fans and bloggers alike and playing Brendan Bell instead of that lunkhead Chris Schubert on defense as well as taking Mike Fisher off the point on the power play among other things. Thanks, coach.... keep reading the blogs and forums out there for advice and maybe you'll still have a job here next season.

Matt Carkner Called Up From Binghamton

Could this mean a trade of Christoff Schubert in imminent? They both play a similar role with Carkner being the more physical of the two. It is hard to see another reason to call him up besides replacement of a recently traded player. There must be a forward coming back in the prospective deal hence the need to bring up a defenceman from the farm to fill in for Schubert. Stay tuned.
In other news, rumours continue to swirl that coach Craig Hartsburg is about to be replaced by Pat Quinn. Quinn and Sens' owner Eugene Melnyk were seen chumming it up during the World Junior Tournament with Bob Nicholson of Hockey Canada never far behind. Perhaps Nicholson steps in with the Sens to guide them through a youth movement with a very deep draft coming up. Does anyone know young talent more than Bob? I doubt it.

Fisher not scoring.... or is he?

Reports today speculate that Carrie Underwood was sighted as the recent Sens/Leafs game to watch her.... get this.... boyfriend, Mike Fisher.

Could the Underwood curse be affecting Fish as it did Dallas' QB Romo?

BULLSHIT!!! Leafs beat Sens

The true sign that you are insane is when you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. I think Sens' coach Craig Hartsburg is now officially insane. Why is Mike Fisher still playing the point on the power play? Why did this great, wise coach pair Jason Smith with Anton Volchenkov? They both play the same game and are slow as molasses in January. Why is Gerber still in the NHL? This guy never seems to know where the puck is. The Leafs' second goal was soft, their third goal was a wrap around you could see coming from the upper deck and he never even reacted to the first goal.

Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno were the best Senators on the ice and I think I actually saw Antoine Vermette hit an opponent. The effort was there from the players but Hartsburg was simply out-coached by Ron Wilson. Everything from his choice of starting goaltender to his line combinations and matching. Using a rested and previously struggling Vesa Toskala versus using the Swiss Cheese known as Martin Gerber was Wilson's coup de grace. Toskala was superb in the win and was probably the main reason his team has 2 points.

Let the drive for Tavares begin in earnest.

Do or Die Road Trip Begins

After the Sens last game in Philly, The Sens have a daunting task ahead of them to get themselves into the the Playoff race. The Philly game gave me heart attacks, hope, joy, elation then utter frustration. The team found yet another way to lose. Daniel Alfredsson of all people gave the puck away with a boneheaded play to gave away also a hard fought point and effectively kill the Sens comeback. The Chris Phillips goal moments before to tie the game late in the third period sent me in to an amazed euphoric happy dance only to throw myself to the ground, riling in agony mere moments later. Some strange coaching moves in this game, including pulling a successful powerplay unit off the ice after on 25 seconds of time and scoring a 5 on 3 goal. More ammunition for the Fire Hartsburg Petition, perhaps?

If this road trip yields less than half of its possible points, look for big changes on this team. Firing Hartsburg is one option as is the always mentioned and incredibly stupid move to trade Spezza. This is a guy whose talent is so rare and under the right coaching, is a superstar. He was drowning under Jacques Martin, flourished under Bryan Murray and is struggling, albeit in a minor way, under Craig Hartsburg. Spezza is what he is and when allowed to play his game, he will mature in to one of the greatest playmaking centres in the game.

What I do see transpiring and as a more sensible option is trading Antoine Vermette and Brian Lee to Florida for Jay Bouwmeester. Jacques Martin's man crush on Vermy is legendary and he may see Lee and a project who could help replace the loss of Jay Bo. If Bouwmeester is dead set against signing in Florida, which is reported to be the case be his father of all people, GM Jacques is not dealing from a position of strength and this would probably be the best deal he will see as the Sens are also dealing from a weak position. Hopefully the Sens can sign Jay Bo to a decent contract in the 3 year/$16million range after the trade. Here's hoping. Good luck in the road trip, boys. You have the tools to succeed and if you put it all together, you WILL make the playoffs and could last a round or two.

Great Effort! - Sens 5 - Stars 4 (OT)

And Gerber almost blew it. Chalk it up to another poor decision by coach Hartsburg for starting this clown. The Sens "netminder" almost completely wasted a decent performance against a struggling Dallas Stars team. Had it not been for Marty Turco being equally bad at the other end, the Sens would have lost.
Hopefully, the team can build on this moral victory and have some success on their upcoming road trip.
The line juggling continued to with varying degrees of success. Jason Spezza and Antoine Vermette both scored, however, were on the ice for 3 Dallas goals. Foligno looked super with his new linemates.
The fact that no one stuck up for the captain getting absolutely creamed speaks volumes about the team play here. Someone at least has to go talk to the offending Dallas player. Even better, someone drill him on his next shift. Alas, neither transpired.
The fact that the Sens needed overtime to beat a depleted and struggling Stars squad speaks volumes, but two points are two points and hopefully some of the slumping players can build some confidence from the effort. At least the team looked like it was trying. You have to start somewhere and that's as good a place as any.

Don't forget to visit our Fire Hartsburg page.

Fire Hartsburg Petition

We have created a petition to send to Sens management and ownership to have coach Craig Hartsburg put out of his misery and sent down to the minors.

Read the reasoning and sign the petition here.