Live Stream Ottawa Senators vs. Atlanta Thrashers March 28, 2009

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Live Stream Ottawa Senators vs. Atlanta Thrashers March 28, 2009

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The Daily Wrap Up - Thursday March 26, 2009

Apparently certain goalies are taking March madness a little to literally. They're not quite as scary as Kirstie Alley at Pizza Hut when they make a last call on their lunch buffet, but it's still shocking to see the fits Martin Gerber and Tuukka Rask are throwing over calls from the officials. It always makes me smile when players lose their cool, as what do they feel they can accomplish by throwing a milk crate or shooting a puck at an official? Best case is you don't get suspended, and worst case if that you do. Doesn't seem like a lot of upside, but when you're angry and have the ability of a teenager to deal with it, the results that ensue definitely make for some interesting clips on youtube.

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A bit of a disappointing game to watch last night. The first two periods lacked any real intensity and the outcome means the Senators cannot afford another loss. It's too bad that the team squandered all those games against the New York Islanders earlier in the season, but there is no point in playing the "what if" game as nobody can change the past (with the exception of Michael J Fox and he didn't return my calls).

The Daily Wrap Up - Wednesday March 25, 2009

The Hockey News - Discusses why every team will not win the Stanley Cup.

Montreal: I wonder if Hiroshima fielded a competitive Japanese baseball league team in 1946?

Ottawa: Actually. You know what? If you give me 1000:1 odds, I’ll bet you a dollar the Sens will win the Cup. Go Senators!

Montreal is going up in flames. Florida is not faring much better, but their play seems to be a lot more consistent. That alone should be the reason why Florida has every advantage over Montreal in making the playoffs.

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The Expositer - Washington Capitals sniper Alex Ovechkin is making no apologies for the celebration that followed his 50th goal last week.

The Russian star followed through with a plan to put his stick on the ice and pretend to warm his hands over it. It sparked a debate on how far celebrations should go in the sport.

"If you win the lottery -a million dollars -you go to the bar and drink a lot," Ovechkin said Tuesday before the Capitals' 3-2 shootout loss to the Maple Leafs. "I scored 50 goals and I just celebrated."

In all honesty, he's an over-exuberant youth. Nothing wrong with that. If you don't like it, then go out and try and hit him. Stop whining about it and get him back in the game, that is if you can catch a piece of him.

The Daily Wrap Up - Tuesday March 24, 2009

Looking at a breakdown today in the Citizen of who the Senators are playing between now and the end of the season, they are in tough. Slightly more so than the Florida Panthers, but if the Senators can somehow make the playoffs, the run they will have gone on to get in will mean they are red hot, and ready to go! Also looking at some statistics, the Sens chances of making the playoffs are now 1.1 percent.

SportingNews.com - Time to look at the power ranking again, as the Senators are finally moving up!

23. Ottawa Senators (25): You can't help but wonder how different Ottawa's season would have been if Cory Clouston was brought in to coach a couple weeks sooner.

The current hot streak has helped the Senators break the 25th place threshold, and boost them over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Although all I want in the draft is to pick ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs in every round, I would rather go on a hot streak and do as well as possible.

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Open question to the readers:

When did Bruce Garrioch become a reliable source in the NHL? I always thought he was a bit of a joke, but Mark Spector (whose website I really enjoy) seems to consistently be using Garrioch's articles on his website as reliable rumour talk.

The Daily Wrap Up - Monday March 23, 2009

 I wonder what Brian Murray has in store for Alexandre Picard, Brenden Bell and Jason Smith going forward.  Clearly the 5 other defensive spots are taken and all that is left is one spot between them.  Unless Jason Smith is traded, he will take that spot, but is there a market available for his services anymore?  Or will Murray let Bell walk for nothing and let Picard sit in the press box next year?  It's a bit of problem, but stocking up on middling defenseman will do it to you.  The simplest solution is to sign Jay Bouwmeester then rid the team of 'c' level defenseman.  Get to it Brian.

Playoff Watch - It's time that we all faced facts and allowed for the possibility of a playoff berth.

7. NY Rangers 73 84
8. Montreal 72 81
9. Florida 72 80
10. Buffalo 72 76
11. Ottawa 72 74
12. Toronto 73 73

Buffalo if easy enough to catch, but the combination of Montreal and Florida makes the situation so difficult.  With only 10 games left, we will find out if Florida made the right move in keeping Bouwmeester and if Montreal really will self-destruct.  My thoughts are no, and yes.

The Daily Wrap Up - Friday March 19, 2009

The original version of the daily wrap up is brought to you by Ovaltine.  Don't forget to drink your Ovaltine!

With the Senators winning last night, they are moving one step closer to drafting behind the Leafs.  And just imagine how long Ottawa fans would whine if the Leafs top pick was amazing and the Senators to pick Daigle'd out.  The whining would be incessant.

Hockeysfuture.com - Marcus Foligno will be entering this year's draft and he looks to be rising.

The coaching staff is impressed with the young Foligno’s steady improvement and his eagerness to rough it up is evident with 96 penalty minutes (fifth on the team) this season.

“Marcus is a power forward and has the physical presence,” said Sudbury associate coach Bryan Verrault. “He works hard, competes and makes people pay the price. His work ethic is there and he brings it on every day. He will do anything to help the team and play any position we ask him to.”

He has not shown to be as offensive as his older brother Nick, but he may develop into a Milan Lucic type forward.  Probably going in the second round, he would be a great addition to Ottawa, as I would love to see them get a true power forward on the team.  His offensive game could always develop as he gets older, but his work ethic and toughness cannot be questioned.

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Canoe.ca - Team toughness is something that I would love to see the Senators adapt.  Andre Roy discusses how the Calgary Flames do it.

"This is the first team I've played on that anybody will fight. (Nobody will) back down," said Roy, who was signed last summer to take over as the team's heavyweight after the departure of Eric Godard. "In Tampa, I was pretty much the only guy that would fight. Anyone else, it was pretty rare.

"Here, it's like every game there's a different guy almost."

Fifteen current Flames have scrapped at least once this season. As a team, they sit fifth with 57 fighting majors.

This is quite an interesting stat.  If the Senators could ever adapt a team toughness attitude like this, I would be ecstatic.  It would really eliminate the need for Chris Neil who has turned into an extremely one dimensional player.  The fact that 15 players have dropped the gloves means that they look out for one another and anyone will answer the call.  Very interesting.

The Daily Wrap Up - Thursday March 18, 2009

The original version of the daily wrap up is brought to you by the letter F, because that's what our chances of drafting a top 5 pick are looking like, F'd.

I also thought I would take a look at the standings today.  I put it off over the past month because I know the odds are so badly against Ottawa.  The issue right now is that there are too many teams between Ottawa and eigth spot in the playoffs.  It would take 4-5 teams going on a losing streak for the Senators to slip into the playoffs.  But it's still possible!

google.com - Although not directly related to the Senators, this news does affect owner Eugene Melnyk and his bid for an MLS franchise.  And it would adversely affect the Senators in a positive way, as owner Eugene Melnyk would have less time to interfere with the Senators, should he ever get an MLS franchise, thus helping GM Brian Murray.

Major League Soccer may wait until the next round of expansion before it awards Ottawa a franchise, MLS commissioner Don Garber said Wednesday.  Vancouver was awarded the league's 17th franchise on Wednesday. Ottawa, St. Louis and Portland are vying to become the league's 18th team.

But Garber said Ottawa city council hasn't decided yet if it will spend money on a soccer facility or a stadium for a new Canadian Football League team. "We don't yet have a positive vote in Ottawa so it's less likely Ottawa would be that 18th team," Garber told reporters. "It doesn't mean they can't be either the 19th or the 20th."

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mlive.com - Ken Holland is not quick to re-sign Marian Hossa or Johan Franzen.  This is good news as one of them could become available via free agency.  How good would Franzen look in an Ottawa uniform playing with Fisher and Alfie? It's really just a pipe dream, but one I would love to see.

"Given the uncertainty of the economy, I'm moving slow," Holland said Wednesday. "But it's not only the economy. It's about team building, it's about our philosophy. We can keep Franzen and Hossa, but then we'll have to let a whole lot of other players go. I don't know if that's the answer to being competitive. But if I can get a number that I think allows us to have one extra player, you start to think more and more about doing something. Right now, I'm not really close to where I'd like to get to with either side."

The Daily Wrap Up - Wednesday March 18, 2009

Welcome back to the original version of the daily wrap up.

Apparently the role of spoiler sits well with the Senators after all.  I still cannot understand how Buffalo thought taking 9 (or 7?) penalties and barely mustering double digit shots would help them sneak into the playoffs.  A great game for the Senators, and as Lindy Ruff stated, embarrassing for the Sabres.

TheHockeyNews.com - If the draft in 2008 was re-done today, here is how it would now look based on how that years prospects looks now (excluding people playing in the NHL).

1. Nikita Filatov, Columbus, 6th overall, 1st in FW09, plus-1 slot in draft re-do
2. Cody Hodgson, Vancouver, 10th overall, 2nd in FW09, plus-2
3. Jacob Markstrom, Florida, 31st overall, 3rd in FW09, plus-20
4. Colin Wilson, Nashville, 7th overall, 4th in FW09, minus-1
5. Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis, 4th overall, 5th in FW09, minus-4
6. Erik Karlsson, Ottawa, 15th overall, 7th in FW09, plus-3
7. Tyler Myers, Buffalo, 12th overall, 9th in FW09, minus-1
8. Zach Boychuk, Carolina, 14th overall, 16th in FW09, no change
9. Jordan Eberle, Edmonton, 22nd overall, 17th in FW09, plus-6
10. Evgeny Grachev, N.Y. Rangers, 75th overall, 19th in FW09, plus-57
11. Chet Pickard, Nashville, 18th overall, 22nd in FW09, plus-1
12. Tyler Cuma, Minnesota, 23rd overall, 24th in FW09, plus-4
13. John Carlson, Washington, 27th overall, 27th in FW09, plus-7
14. Colten Teubert, Los Angeles, 13th overall, 30th in FW09, minus-7 d
15. Michael Del Zotto, N.Y. Rangers, 20th overall, 32nd in FW09, minus-2
16. Joe Colborne, Boston, 16th overall, 34th in FW09, minus-6
17. Kyle Beach, Chicago, 11th overall, 39th in FW09, minus-12
18. Jake Gardiner, Anaheim, 17th overall, 40th in FW09, minus-7
19. Mattias Tedenby, New Jersey, 24th overall, 43rd in FW09, minus-2
20. Jake Allen, St. Louis, 34th overall, 45th in FW09, plus-6
21. Thomas McCollum, Detroit, 30th overall, 57th in FW09, plus-1
22. Greg Nemisz, Calgary, 25th overall, 59th in FW09, minus-4
23. Vyacheslav Voinov, Los Angeles, 32nd overall, 60th in FW09, plus-1
24. Aaron Ness, N.Y. Islanders, 40th overall, 71st in FW09, plus-8
25. Patrick Wiercioch, Ottawa, 42nd overall, 74th in FW09, plus-9
26. Cameron Gaunce, Colorado, 50th overall, 75th in FW09, plus-16.

The Daily Wrap Up - Tuesday March 17, 2009

With the Senators winning five out of the six past games and sitting just of the bottom five in the NHL, its really becoming more obvious that Tavares and Hedman will not be coming to Ottawa.  Evander Kane, Nazem Kadri, Brayden Schenn or Matt Duchene will probably be playing in Binghamton, unless the Senators continue their futile climb up the standings, but out of the sweet spot of the draft.

ESPN.com - It's funny how taking away the pressure from an NHL team can really bring out the best.

The bottom five teams in the Eastern Conference have only the faintest of odds to make a run at the postseason. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Atlanta Thrashers, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders are all but mathematically eliminated from the postseason. But their combined records over their past five games are 16-6-3.

It's Chris Campoli who has been the real find for Ottawa, though. Since coming over in a trade with the Islanders, Campoli has eight points in 11 games. He may seem unappealing because he is minus-19 for the season, but remember he was minus-20 when he left the Isles, so he is actually plus-1 as a Senator.

Chris Campoli may have a long way to go before his defensive game is up to par, but no one can doubt his offensive instinct.  Every game there are at least two - three times where he jumps into the rush, and puts himself into a good scoring position.  He will be scary once he gets his timing and hands up to speed with his instincts.  Hopefully he can mature into something more than a number 5 defenseman, which is all I would currently pencil him in for.

The Daily Wrap Up - Monday March 16, 2009

Let the debate between tanking the final 20 games of a season and receiving a high draft pick vs. barely missing the playoffs, getting a middle of the road draft pick, but potentially bringing momentum with them to start the beginning of the year begin!

It boils down to momentum and team chemistry (potential) vs obtaining one of those coveted top three draft picks. My preference if for the momentum, as good players can be found in the top 20 regardless. Either way, it's in the hands of the players now.

yourstittsville.com - After an article profiling the grade 10 'super student' came out, it is clear that Alexandra Power is a dirty, dirty liar! (whose pants may or may not be on fire)

She is an enthusiastic student who loves to read, travel, visit museums, attend concerts and the theatre, play computer games and watch hockey games (Her favourite Ottawa Senators player is Christoph Schubert).

Fact: Christoph Schubert does not have any fans.

Here's a little tip: it's true that writing fictitious statements are the base of any good resume (or article profiling you), but maybe you should make your lies a little less obvious. Even something like 'ability to catch bullets', may be a tad more plausible.

The Hockey News.com - The end of staged fights does not necessarily mean the end to all fights.

Maybe guys like Derek Boogaard or David Koci will be effectively legislated out of the game, but players such as New Jersey’s David Clarkson (15 goals, 28 points, 127 PIMs through 67 games) and Steve Ott of Dallas (13 goals, 33 points, 108 PIMs in 50 games) will live on, because they have value outside of fighting.

I'll say this much, I almost prefer watching two players who rarely fight going at it. Something about seeing mistakes, and fights with some emotion in them really makes it more interesting. This instead of watching two players who fight each other with the technical proficiency and know-how of amateur boxers. The heavy-weight fights are so technically sound that nothing interesting ever happens.