Welcome to the 07-08 Regular Season…

Notes:

• Ottawa starts Gerber¹. It seems that Ray needs a bit more time to recover…
• Wade Redden & Mike Fisher are back in the lineup tonight.
• Toronto has a goalie crisis (again)!
• As good as the attendance is for the Premier game in London, how much better would it have been if at least one of either the Leafs or Canadiens were playing?
• Anyone else find it odd that the season has started and many teams are still playing pre-season games?

Regardless of the limping towards the begining of the season, it will be a very interesting one…

TSN.ca↩

Small Consolation Ain’t It?

Congrats to Finny¹ who wins The Scores’ Stanley Cup Final Blogger Pool²!

Here are the official results as compiled by Bob Coatsworth:

Ben from SensArmyBlog was the heavy favorie after getting two thirds of the big line in Spezza and Heatley by way of the snake draft. Who knew they’d be such non-factors? (sigh)

My secondary victory was propped up by a mean combination of secondary scoring anchored by the mighty captain Alfredsson and Fisher. Amazingly only Priessing didn’t notch a point. Here are my final stats:

Oh well, no prizes for me! Same time, same place next year peeps?

Blogger Pool Results↩
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Girl With A Puck↩
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Sens Army Blog↩

Game 5

Where’d My Team Go?

Seriously, I knew winning this game was going to be a hard sell, but c’mon: where did the Ottawa senators get to?

Three guys don’t make up a team.

• Were there a ton of unreported injuries?
• Was there a serious illness running throught the team?
• Did they nap too long during the TV break between the third and fourth rounds?
• Did Gary Bettman call up and remind Muckler that he owes him a favor or two from those heady days in Edmonton?

My expectations of this game were laid out a week ago when we were blanked by Jiggy. I knew we wouldn’t take the cup home and I just wanted a little bit of effort.

Thankfully I witnessed the effort firsthand in Ottawa for Game 3 and I was duped into thinking that we’d make a series of it. At least until Game 4.

Today I knew it would be a longshot for us to make it back home with part of me saying that if we forced Game 6 we’d definately get to Game 7. But with lacklustre plays and the palpable absence of to thirds of the big line, the writing was on the wall.

I’m disapointed but I’m okay with it. We had an incredible run with a bunch of guys who played better for the latter half of the year when they needed to do so. No one believed that we’d go this far.

No one believed that the city of Ottawa (and others) would get so worked up over this team.

It’s time for bed, this ones done. Give me a few days and I’ll have lots to say.

Congrats to Anaheim, you guys looked great all series.

Alfie, nice effort tonight. You done us proud.

There are more than a few people out in the hockey world who contend that what Daniel Alfredsson did at the end of the second period when he shot his puck at Scott Niedermayer was what awoke the sleeping giant within the (formerly mighty) Anaheim Ducks.

I contend that while it was a boneheaded play, I can’t believe that Alfie wanted to hurt a friend of his, or in the very least someone he has a lot of respect for, but perhaps rather he wanted to send a message to the other team by make it a close miss. You know like in baseball when a pitcher aims at a batter’s head to make him move back from the plate.

The intent was there, clearly Alfie looked at the clock, and aimed at the opposing player. I just don’t think he expected his aim to be true. (Perhaps it wasn’t and he merely missed his mark and this shot just went wide of the net?)

Regardless of intent, there was no sleeping giant from Anaheim during that game. Once again Ottawa couldn’t find it within themselves to play at the level they were required to do to compete with the Ducks’ squad. Anaheim has been able to do what no one else has this post season. Put Ottawa in a losing position and at the same time, get ahead on the mental scoresheet.

Tonight I will be watching the game in hopes of a better offering from the team I support. I don’t know if any sort of line changing voodoo will help tonight, certainly the Fisher clones aren’t ready from the factory yet so the team will have to find a way to supress their suck-a-tude one more game. If Ottawa can take an early lead then the big drinker in the stadium will start to get on the Ducks’ minds.

There is only one thing I place higher than hockey these days and it is my family. Tonight during Ottawa’s biggest game of the season I will be watching (if the CBC’s stream works over my wireless connection), without audio, as I sit outside my baby’s room giving her comfort as we sleep train her. So I’ll probably be online for the live game log over at BoO.

I think Ottawa will need a few more lucky bounces than I tonight!

Game 4

Ouch, Baby, Very Ouch

I’ll post my reaction tomorrow, after I wake up from this nightmare. So close, so close, but you have to play more than one period.