Sens Waive Goodbye to Gerber

Martin Gerber was placed on waivers by the Ottawa Senators this afternoon. This revelation is about as shocking as finding out an adult actresses has "had some work done". Given that Gerber was sent to Binghamton a week ago on a "conditioning assignment," the writing was pretty much on the wall as per his future with the organization. The Swiss national will no doubt clear waivers as the market for $3.7M back-up goaltenders has dried up. These are tough economic times, after all. Once he goes unclaimed, you would have to think he will be hopping on a plane to Europe. While playing in Binghamton is an option for ol' Marty, the Senators would probably rather give the playing time Gerber would receive to their developing prospects. Although both of their AHL goalies are sub-standard, and the B-Sens are in playoff contention for the first time since the lockout year, so anything is possible. Bryan Murray will sit down with Gerber Monday when the two will plot out his future.

Count me among those who are disappointed with how the Martin Gerber Saga has played out. While I became one of his detractors many moons ago, there was once a time when I mistakenly believed him to be just what this franchise was looking for. I will be the first to admit I thought bringing Gerber in was a good move at the time. It was before I had Centre Ice, and thus before I got the chance to watch a lot of Hurricanes games. My scouting notes on Gerber while he was in Carolina were comprised of one dominating performance against team Canada in Torino, a few impressive nights against the Sens, and maybe one or two more games here or there. I mean, ya I saw him flake out in the playoffs against the Habs, but everyone said he had the flu and his stats were great in Anaheim. What could go wrong, right?

Well, apparently just about everything. Gerber never really performed consistently and ended up being surpassed by three different goalies during his stay with the Senators. 2007-08 was likely his best year, one where he was the club's starter by default as Ray Emery imploded. Gerber was lights out during the Ottawa's 15-2 run in October-November of 2007, and played pretty well in the playoffs despite Ottawa losing to Pittsburgh 4-0. However, Gerber was unable to play up to his potential on a regular basis, and he drew the ire of fans and analysts accordingly. Gerber's huge salary acted as a weight tied to the ankle of GM Bryan Murray and John Muckler before him, limiting the ability of those men to make roster moves, particularly since he made himself un-tradable by preforming poorly. With all the talk about how gosh darn perfect Detroit is, people should be reminded that numerous media outlets reported Detroit offered this guy more money than Ottawa in July 2006. It would be interesting to see where both teams would be right now if Gerber had taken the pay day rather than opting for the pressure of a Canadian market. Coulda, shoulda, woulda, though.

Gerber's reign in Ottawa has been synonymous with soft, deflating goals and he can now add an unceremonious departure to his legacy. If I had to sum up his exodus in a sentence, I would look to the words of King of the Hill's Kahn Souphanousinphone: "Long, painful, boring death!"