The man is a beast! (Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photography/OSHC)

Good Times

Daniel Alfredsson scored twice in a come from behind victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

The game was presented on the CBC and as such I was able to watch it between dry walling a hole in my living room.

The Sens are rolling along at full speed, even without Jason Spezza in the lineup, however things aren’t as happy as they seem.

Is There Anyone Alive In Here?

I’m not going to mince words, this isn’t a serious problem yet, however it bears looking into.

The team is starting to slip in it’s attention to detail and sooner or later it is going to cost us. Right now the lack of good D, the casual turnovers and all around sloppy play are sidelined by the ability of certain players (Daniel, Dany) to jump on mistakes made by the other team. Coupled by our (insanely) winning streak and best opening to a season ever, this gives the team no cause to correct itself.

Why fix what is still essentially a winning formula. No, no, scratch that. It’s almost a free pass to two points.

This type of game plan won’t last for long. By the time the Christmas break is done, teams will start finding their groove and sloppy holes will be closed.

Perhaps a nice road-trip to the defensive minded west coast might smarten these guys up a little.

200th Career Point For Fish! (Photo: Jana Chytilova/NHLI)

Late Late Late

Work has conspired to keep me from the blog the past few days. Hopefully my schedule will settle down soon. this post will be short.

Two More Wins = 12-1!

What can I say, I couldn’t see Saturday’s game but the scoresheet showed Ottawa being as dominant as they normally are.

Sunday’s game was enjoyed by my buddy and I down at Gracies.¹. It was nice to see a game again with a few pints. I’d like to get down on Tuesday to represent for the Leafs game, but my little girl is sick. She’s the priority.

Kobasew

Who the hell is this? He is a legitimate threat to us this season being the only Bruin to score on us this year.

Fisher

So is FIsh streaking or does anyone put between Alfie and Heater just look better automatically? What does that say about Speeza and his new contract?

Just saying is all…

Grace O’Malleys↩

Thanks to BoO¹ for the nod…

Bryan Murray Is A God!

Jason Spezza signed a seven year contract extension worth $49 million dollars. There is a no-trade clause and it break down to $7M per year.²

I am speechless.

But… How does this bode for Wade?

Battle of Ontario↩
TSN : NHL↩

I couldn’t resist…

Groin Troubles…

The first (of many) injury to a marquee player this season has landed on Jason Speeza’s back, or rather his groin.¹ He hurt it whilst practicing on Tuesday.

Officially this doesn’t really matter much as the statement above is a falsehood seeing as Kelly, FIsher and McAmmond were out already. (In fact they might be back tonight!) The real question is how does this affect our game.

Last year, when Spezza was out we turned it up a notch as Heatley took over. Speeza almost didn’t make it back in the lineup and trade rumors abounded.

This year, we’re on fire, and there is not much room for improvement (at least in the standings). I predict, that the long layoff between games, coupled with the rusty return of a few regulars who haven’t seen much (if any) action this season, aggravated by a missing groin will combine to produce our second loss this season.

Not the best way to start month # 2, especially after going 9-1. I’ll be happy to be proved wrong of course.

TSN : NHL - Canada’s Sports Leader↩

A Valient Effort… (Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photography/OSHC)

The First Loss Is The Hardest To Take

Some could say that a team finally found our achiilles heel seeing as we’ve got a target on our back this season. However the reality is that our record versus the Hurricanes has never been very good. Loosing something like the last five of six matches to them.

So is it any wonder that we lost? Yes and no. Not having seen the game, I can’t comment on anyone’s play. But from the NHL’s live update of the game it looked like it was a pretty close game overall.

In the end, Ottawa did stage a 3rd period comeback but it couldn’t complete it as Staal found the empty net at the final minute mark. I feel good that an effort was made despite the futility.

Alfie’s Point Streak Ends

Daniel Alfredsson’s point streak ended last night as he was unable to help on the scoresheet, officially at least.

So what does this mean for our Captain? Not much. The sky is not falling. The heavens have not parted. He will be back. I doubt much will knock him off of his drive this year. He looks too much like the Captain we saw during last year’s playoffs.

Spezza’s Assistance

It’s official, Jason Spezza leads the league in assists. Normally I wouldn’t care so early in the season, but when is Jason going to get his first goal already? It is his year to shine and I think he needs to step things up again like he did last winter. Jason is looking much like Jason of a year ago wherein the talk became one of whether he should be moved. Hopefully his new found fame isn’t affecting him.

The Road Ahead

As expected the boys lost a game this season. The NHL is not a league like the NFL where a team can have a perfect season. We will always have losses on the books. The question is what kind of loss is recorded.

Blowouts can happen these days pretty easily. But a character loss is one where the trailing team nevers gives up. I think our team is showing that they never give up anymore.

Call this one a loss, but one of quality.