Sens Army...Wounded

Mike Brodeur stepped into the Senators lineup and low and behold - pitched a shut out. The Sens took down the Rangers in a battle of struggling offensive teams. Lets not read too much into that. The Rangers have been shut out twice in the last 2 games both by goalies named Brodeur, although one may be a little more seasoned then the other. The next game he started again and he stoned the Habs in Montreal. Boarderline impressive. It was good to see the quick healing Captian Daniel Alfredsson back in the lineup.

The shutout win broke a 5 game losing streak by Ottawa that has seen them fall from a decent 6th place position to 8th and on the brink of falling out of a playoff position...if the season were to end today.... (I hate when people say that).

At this point I am resigned to the fact that the Sens are not the greatest team that they have ever fielded and that they really are not that good. Players at both the pro and minor league level are not top end and that is something that fans here in Ottawa are not used to. The rash of injuries that has hit the team has not done anything to help the situation. When you are not a great team and then you take out some $20 million from your a top scoring line in its entirety and you goal tending, struggling as it may be are out it is tough.

When you have a tough time scoring 2 or more goals a game and your goal tending is considered doing a better job when they allow 4 goals in a game it is no wonder why your team is in a big slide.

The fact that this team continues to lose man games due to injury makes it very hard for line to gel, players to click and in turn play a cohesive game. When, at one point or another you are missing a Spezza, Alfredsson, Michalek and throw in Brian Elliot, Pascal LeClair, Chris Neil and Nick Foligno for a spell it is of little wonder about the woes in Sens Army. It is getting to the point where maybe it is just worth playing out the string of games and become a seller not a buyer and maybe try and position yourself better for the draft and free up some money going into free agency. Clearly there needs to be a restocking of talent in the minors so when we need help some is available and they need some sort of a consistent scoring threat. Maybe that is too much for Bryan Muray to do but if that is not possible he may be closer to the hot seat then ever before.

I don’t want to see the team just give up and mail it in. Hard work and good games are a must but if they have a chance to better themselves for a quick turn around next season then maybe they need to look at that.

Quick Hits

USA A-OK: Martin Brodeur embraces the Stars and Stripes. Anyone else concerned that the potential number one goalie at the Olympics this February for Team Canada just passed his test to become an American citizen? Nothing like having the pride of wearing the Maple Leaf on the chest of your jersey that was brought to you by a Bald Eagle. I know the dual citizenship thing is just a paper and legal issue but the timing could have been better. Maybe doing this after you play for you country would look a little better. There is no question that he is a true Canadian but this close to a major international competition is questionable. Either way we will see Marty in Vancouver this winter.

Tiger accident over and done with: All Tiger Woods has to do is pay a US$164 fine and accept the deduction of points on his licence then case closed. What led up to this point is nobodies business but he and his wife. The only thing that we should be concerned about is when this affects his play. Since he pulled out of his own tournament we as fans deserve to know the extent of the injury, but the events that led to the situation is a private issue and that should be respected. Gossip is so big in our society and always has been and as much as we all like to hear the dirt there needs to be some level of privacy involved. If there are issues at home, lets hope it gets worked out, nobody wants to hear a Phil Hartman type story. Maybe there is no fire near this smoke and it is just a misunderstanding. Only real issue is that keeping quiet only fuels idol and damaging speculation.

Jets bring in Yanks manager Girardi to teach Mark Sanchez how to slide: Seriously? There is no one in the Jets organization that knows how to slide correctly. And even if there isn't the best you could do is Girardi? I guess Jeets is busy with his Sportsman of the Year award but there must have been someone better. Even in media driven New York this is a weak attempt to get a good public relations story...this is not good PR it is just weak.

Take that! Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun had to leave the game on a stretcher after his teammate, Keith Ballard, whacked him across the head with his stick in frustration after an Ilya Kovalchuk goal. If that hits Kovalchuk and not his teammate he would be looking at a 20 game suspension. I don't think that he should be let off the hook. The league wants players to be responsible for their sticks, should it matter who gets hurt during a reckless and careless act? What if it was the ref? At the very least the team needs to do something publicly to show that that kind of behaviour is not to be tolerated.