"How to Destroy Your Image in Ten Easy Steps" by Pierre
Gauthier
He was known in these here parts as "The Ghost", and rightly so.
Although Pierre Gauthier was respected for the minor miracles he
pulled off during his three years as GM in Bytown, local fans and
media never really felt comfortable with their 'petit' leader.
This was a man, after all, who was as talkative as a mute monk
with tape over his mouth, and as honest in his statements as that
other guy up on Capitol Hill.
So when word got out in the early stages of the off-season that
Gauthier had quit his post with the Ottawa Senators hockey club,
Sens faithful braced themselves for what would follow. And, true
to form, it wasn't pretty.
Without boring you with the minor details (we'll leave that up to
Kenneth Starr), Gauthier explained that life as an NHL GM became
too much of a strain on him and his family, so he decided to quit
while he was ahead and spend more time with the wife and kids.
Noticing a tinge of sincerity in his voice, we all embraced his
'courage', and wished him well.
Fast forward to today, and most of us are still trying to pull
the fishhooks from out of our mouths. Before we could all say
"Time Magazine's Man of the Year", Gauthier now sits as president
and GM of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Apparently, life as a
hockey executive in California isn't quite as hectic, even with
double the workload. That's up for debate. But there is one
undeniable truth in this whole saga: Gauthier treated Ottawa fans
like a bunch of suckers.
Since Day 1 with the Sens, there was much speculation that
Gauthier would one day desert the club and return to his original
stomping grounds with the Walt Disney, er, Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
He still owned a home in Anaheim, returned there as often as
possible, as was continuously hailed within hockey circles as the
man who would one day replace Jack Ferreira as the Ducks GM.
'Stop the presses', Gauthier would scream, 'I'm not going to
Anaheim. Jack is my friend, and I would never want to see him get
fired for little ol' me. Besides, I like it here in Ottawa, and
I'm dedicated to seeing the Stanley Cup return to hockey's
birthplace.' And we believed him...sort of.
If there is any loser here, it is Gauthier. He'd better pray to
the Almighty above that his Ducks become playoff contenders
pronto. For should he one day find himself unemployed, who's
going to hire somebody with such a lousy reputation for lying to
his real boss - the fans.
Conspiracy Theory?
One last note on the Gauthier fiasco. Let's take you back to the
dog days of winter, 1998. It is days before the trading deadline,
and Sens fans (and your ever-faithful Nosebleeders) are screaming
for the team to go out and hire an enforcer to help protect their
stars in Alexei Yashin and Daniel Alfredsson. Notable thugs like
Stu Grimson and Sandy McCarthy are available, but Gauthier
proceeds to sit on his hands. The season ends, and Ottawa gets
bounced around like a rag doll in their second round series
against the Washington Capitals.
At the time, Gauthier explains that he is content with his team's
chemistry and didn't feel the need to disrupt it with any trades.
And, once again, we believed him....sort of.
What's our point? Take a look at the Ducks current roster, and
you will notice a familiar name in the lineup that wasn't there
in the pre-Gauthier days - Stu Grimson.
Conclude as you see fit.
A Breath of Fresh Air
With the Gauthier shenanigans behind us, Sens fans welcomed the
team's fifth GM in Rick Dudley. Dudley, if you recall, played for
many years with the Buffalo Sabres and even coached them during
the early 1990s. His impressive track record with the IHL's
Detroit Vipers was enough to convince Senators brass that he was
the man to lead the Sens into the next generation.
But if you were expecting some sweeping changes out of Dudley,
forget it. "I feel my biggest job here is to build on what we
have. I really didn't see any reason to go out and make any major
changes," Dudley recently explained in an Ottawa Sun interview.
Despite those words, Dudley nevertheless realizes that the Sens,
although sound on defence, desperately need help on offense. So
far, Dudley has brought in the likes of Andreas Johansson
(formerly of Pittsburgh), David Oliver, and Stephen Leach.
Nothing Earth-shattering, but a respectable start.
Comings and Goings
The Sens front office wasn't the only area which saw new blood
injected in preparation for the season.
On the bench, Ottawa lost a future head coach in Craig Ramsay,
who left to take the assistant's position in Philadelphia. This
was a key loss, as many credit Ramsay for building the Senators
solid defensive gameplan. However, Ottawa more than made up for
Ramsay's departure by hiring former Toronto Maple Leaf head coach
Mike Murphy.
Murphy endured a tough season last year having to put up with the
oft-critical Toronto media, but make no mistake, he is a quality
coach who deserves to be in the NHL. More importantly to the
Senators, Murphy brings aboard a certain expertise that the team
sorely lacked last year - penalty-killing. Last year, the Leafs
were sixth in penalty-killing and second on the road at 89%.
Compare that to Ottawa, who ranked 16th overall. Not
surprisingly, Sens head coach Jacques Martin recently appointed
Murphy to handle the team's special teams.
On the ice, the most notable change in the lineup was the
departure of Randy Cunneyworth. Cunneyworth was given his walking
papers in the early part of the off-season, and promptly joined
the club which originally drafted him way back in 1980, the
Buffalo Sabres.
Unfortunately, Buffalo recently left Cunneyworth unprotected and,
when he wasn't picked up by any clubs, gave him his unconditional
release.
If the Nosebleeders were King for a Day, Cunneyworth would be
re-hired in the Senators front office. This guy is a natural
leader, and his presence and experience would do wonders in
whatever capacity he is given.
The Injury Bug Striketh
Good lord, it's not even two games into the season, and the
Senators roster is already depleted with key injuries. In fact,
this streak of bad luck happened even before the first puck was
dropped in the silly season.
Prospect Marian Hossa went down with a torn ACL in his left knee
during the Memorial Cup final last May and isn't expected to join
the club until December.
Then, prior to camp, word gets out that Sens defenseman Janne
Laukkanen - who complained of abdominal pains last season - would
require corrective surgery that would keep him out until
December, as well.
Follow that up with a fluke injury to star forward Daniel
Alfredsson - who ripped the MCL in his knee after his skate got
caught in a groove in the Corel Centre ice days before the team's
first exhibition game.
These injuries not only mean more pressure on Martin and his
staff to pull a few miracles from their hats, but it also puts a
lot of demand on guys like Radek Bonk, David Oliver and Stephen
Leach to step up big and prove to Senator critics that they
belong on the team.
Say It Ain't So, Alexei
Just looking at the Senators official roster the other day, it
wasn't all of the new faces that first caught our eye. Listed
under Alexei Yashin's mug shot: "Favorite Musical Group - The
Spice Girls."
Alex, tell us it was a misprint. Puh-lease.
Trivia Time
Speaking of the Sens lineup, here's an interesting fact. During
last year's amazing playoff run, the Senators became known as
'Canada's Team.' But, ironically, the Senators list only 10
Canucks on their roster, second fewest in the NHL.
Which team currently has the least number of Canadians on its
roster? Answer at the end of this column.
One Word: Putz
Just a few words to our friendly neighborhood NHL schedule-maker
- what did Ottawa Senators' fans ever do to deserve such cruelty?
Other teams got to kick off their season with classic rivalries
to help jump start fan interest. In Toronto, Buds fans got to
celebrate the final season opener at the historic Maple Leaf
Gardens with an Original Six tilt against two-time champion
Detroit Red Wings. Montreal initiated its 1998-99 season with a
classic against the New York Rangers. The Rangers, in turn,
opened their home schedule against the hated Philadelphia Flyers.
Heck, even Florida fans were able to indulge in early state
rivalry as their Panthers took on Tampa Bay.
As for Ottawa? Sens fans get to dive headfirst into what promises
to be an exciting season with their home opener against....the
Nashville Predators.
Can you feel the goosebumps, people?
Putz, Jr.
We can't help but knock on poor little Alex Daigle just one last
time. Daigle was in Ottawa over the off-season bragging to
anybody within earshot that he and former Baywatch babe Pamela
Anderson Lee were an item. When shock jock Howard Stern asked
Pamela of this on his TV show just this Saturday, Pamela shot
back without hesitation, "No."
Alex, you don't need to win us over with your fancy cars, cool
threads, and Hollywood connections. We don't like you, and never
did. Now be gone with you, once and for all.
Floating High in Mile High
The Senators kicked off their 1998-99 season with a big road game
in the Rockies against the Colorado Avalanche.
Coming out of a week in which the team shacked themselves up in
Banff, Alberta, for some quality team-building exercises, the
Sens bolted out of the gates with an impressive 4-3 victory.
Sens defensemen were the keys to this victory. Wade Redden banked
a shot off the Avs' Alexei Gusarov with just a minute and 22
seconds left to give the Sens the win. In addition to Redden's
winner, Ottawa got two goals from Chris Phillips, who is proving
once again that he is a future Norris winner.
* This was only Ottawa's second season-opening victory in seven
years. The last season opening win? Their inaugural 5-2 victory
over the Montreal Canadiens in 1992.
* Ottawa has only lost once in the last 63 regular season games
in which they led after two periods of play.
Just As We Suspected
The Sens' win over Colorado was partly due to goalie Patrick
Roy's uneasy relationship with his newly downsized goaltending
equipment.
For years, critics have argued that Roy's success was only due to
his enormous equipment that seemed to cover up the entire net
plus half of the upper deck behind him. With new regulations in
place forcing goaltenders to wear only league approved equipment,
Roy looked...well...human.
"I noticed a big difference," said Sens goaltender Ron Tugnutt.
"He looked really tall and skinny and uncomfortable."
But Tugger was quick to defend Roy. "Realistically, we're talking
about the best that ever played the game...I'm sure he's going to
be able to adjust and get back to the way he plays."
Can we say the same for Trevor Kidd? Stay tuned, folks!
Foote to the Head
The ugliest part of the Sens-Avs match came courtesy of Colorado
defenseman Adam Foote's stick. Sens star Alexei Yashin was
carrying the puck up ice while being harassed from behind by a
Colorado player. As they neared the Avs' blue line, the puck fell
into their skates. Yashin looked down to try and fish the puck
out. Just as he looked up again, Foote came crashing into
Yashin's face, stick shaft between both hands at mouth level. Had
Yashin not been wearing a mouthguard, Yashin would still be
fishing for missing teeth in the upper deck of McNichols Sports
Arena. This hit was about as ugly as Gary Suter's
knock-to-the-noggin on Paul Kariya. In the end, however, Foote
was only given a double-minor by referee Dan O'Halloran.
Scratchin' Our Heads
More discouraging than O'Halloran's apparent cataracts was the
reaction of the Ottawa Senators, both on and off the ice, to
Foote's stupidity. True to their form as the least penalized team
in the league last year (and perennial Cinderellas), the Sens
simply turned the other cheek. In fact, Sens GM Rick Dudley had
the opportunity to send video replay of the incident to Colin
Campbell, the league's new VP of After School Detentions.
Instead, they decided to forego registering a complaint. The
reason? As Sens bench boss Jacques Martin explained: "(Colorado)
plays Buffalo on Tuesday."
Ah, let's get this straight. The Sens decided not to pursue
disciplinary action against an individual who could have easily
sidelined the Sens' star player indefinitely, because pursuing
such action against the aforementioned individual would possibly
jeopardize Colorado's ability to deny division rival Buffalo's
ability to earn two points? Did we get that right, Jacques?
The playoff stretch run, we can understand. The third game of a
seven month, 82-game marathon, we can't.
Bob Probert, take us away.
A Howlin' Time in Phoenix
Yashin mouthwash aside, the Sens were happy to escape Denver with
a win. And that enthusiasm was evident as the Senators blew into
Phoenix and emerged with a convincing 4-1 victory.
This was a game completely dominated by the Sens from start to
finish. About the only entertainment Coyotes' fans got out of the
game was the chintzy fireworks display during the opening
ceremonies, which isn't saying much.
* How bad was it for the Coyotes? Even Radek Bonk figured in the
scoring with a low wrister that beat Nikolai Khabibulin just a
few minutes into the second period.
* Talk about a bad start. The Sens built up a 3-0 lead before the
midway point of the game, all at the expense of the Coyotes' big
free agent signing, defenseman Jyrki Lumme.
Yet Another Bunch of Putzes
Those of you who know the Nosebleeders know how much we dislike
Sports Illustrated and their obvious ignorance of the game of
hockey. Well, step aside SI, you've got company.
In an obviously futile attempt to preview the upcoming NHL
season, ESPN.com predicted that Ottawa would not make the
post-season this year, mainly because of the departure of winger
Pat Falloon, which they described as a "major loss." ESPN even
goes so far as to predict that Sens bench boss Jacques Martin is
on "thin ice."
Exactly who is doing ESPN's hockey research?
Drumroll Please
The Pittsburgh Penguins currently sport the least number of
Canadians on their roster, with only nine. With the likes of
Marian Hossa, Daniel Alfredsson and Janne Laukkanen returning
over the next few months at the expense of Canadians like Patrick
Traverse, Phil Crowe and David Oliver, Ottawa can easily overtake
the Pens for the league lead by early winter.
The team with the most Canadians? The San Jose Sharks with 23,
followed by Montreal at 20.
A Dedication
The Nosebleeders dedicate this column in the memory of Stephane
Morin, the 29-year-old former Quebec Nordique who died last week
of a heart attack during a game in Germany. As a Nordique, Morin
played with current Sen Ron Tugnutt and Jacques Martin, who was
an assistant coach.
Our sympathies go out to the Morin family.
