Message to Mr. Dudley
It's early, less than a month since you visited the fine forests
of the old elk country - referred to as Banff on most maps -
where you allowed the team some bonding time. We are aware of
the naming of Alexei Yashin as captain and of his fine herd of
assistant captains Lance Pitlick, Shawn McEachern, and Daniel
Alfredsson. We are aware of the current injury situation and its
impact on team spirit and team play. And yes, we are aware that
there has been only a wee-bit of time to allow the changes that
you have made to take root or bond so to speak.
Mr. Dudley we write to you today as your faithful. Ones who look
to you to guide the team towards the Holy Grail. Mr. Dudley we
write to you to make but three small suggestions as we end this
month of October and enter into the first full month of the
season. Since you are new to the team we are sure that you have
read the "new hires" guide that talks of the woes of Novembers
past.
Our suggestions are:
* Get an enforcer or two. Yes, there are new rules, but the game
is played by the same old players and intimidation is as much a
part of the game on October 25th, 1998 as it was October 25th,
1997. It will be more so in April, 1998 when the playoffs start.
Let's not go through another season where we let the team's stars
be subject to unnecessary physicality. For the sake of the
future, we cannot let acts of disrespect go unpunished. The
Senators are a young team and have many, many players who are
skating below the market value for their talent. Contract
renewal time for many of these players is but two short years
away (Yashin, for instance, can probably expect to see his pay
jump to two or three times what it is today). Can we afford not
to show these players that we are willing to pay to protect them
as other teams would? The Senators were 24th in a league of 26
teams last season when it came to scoring. Correct us if we are
wrong, Mr. Dudley, but could perhaps a lack of bench strength be
causing just a little hesitation when it comes to giving the
effort out there?
* Deal with the goalie situation. Damian Rhodes is not yet a
starter. He will be someday and we wish him the best of luck.
The Senators were 9th last season in goals-against - not too
shabby. The start of this season, especially the last two weeks,
have left us thinking that maybe the defense had a lot to do with
the goals-against situation last season.
Rhodes entered the season with a great deal of confidence and now
has none. His record since joining the Sens (95-96 acquired in a
trade with Toronto) and basically stepping into the number
one goalie position suggests that he is on the edge of stardom -
we are just not sure how close to the edge.
* Add a sniper. Playmakers and diggers we have. We need a
proven 30 or 40 or 51 (hint - Pavel Bure) goal scorer.
Mr. Dudley, there are currently a number of options open to you
in terms of solving some or all of the above woes - look for help
in perhaps Toronto, Pittsburgh/Las Vegas or further west to
holdouts in Vancouver or Colorado.
Mr. Dudley, we know that it's not Christmas and we are asking for
a lot. We also know that Christmas has a price. We do want to
remind you of the time when you were a little boy and you got a
great toy but it didn't come with batteries. Without batteries
the toy didn't operate as expected so you did your best to play
with it anyway. Soon this wore thin. The day the batteries
came, you had to search for the toy and finally found it at the
bottom of the toy bin. When you got it out and put the batteries
in, it never seemed to operate properly.
We are here to help. Call on us anytime and we will most humbly
partake our knowledge as we recharge our batteries with a $4.50
beer or two.
Yours faithfully,
The Nosebleeders.
Quick Hits
* The Sens early season defensive pairings have been shaken up
with the injuries and coach Martin's effort to have everyone see
ice time. This has meant a few on ice errors leading to goals,
including two against Montreal. With one or two of Radim
Bicanek, Stan Neckar and Patrick Traverse riding the sidelines,
expect to see a deal made soon.
* A bond is growing slowly in the gym as an injured group of
Senators train together. The group's core includes Janne
Laukkanen, Marian Hossa, and Daniel Alfredsson, but it's growing
quickly with the addition of Stan Neckar and Sami Salo.
* Heard off the ice: "That's the good thing about not being
famous, it gives you more free time."
- Patrick Traverse on being passed up for autograph requests as
fellow defensemen Wade Redden and Chris Phillips are hounded.
* Roy Mlakar (properly pronounced muck-lower we think), the
president and chief executive officer of the Ottawa Senators and
the Corel Centre, signed a three-year extension to stay with the
team through the 2001-02 season. Mlakar joined the team in the
1995-96 season from Ogden. He is a past president of the Los
Angeles Kings.
The Start of Something Wonderful?
For their home opener, the Senators welcomed the expansion
Nashville Predators (NHL scheduling centre is reported as telling
Senator brass "somebody had to draw them"). Ron Tugnutt got the
start and the play of the Senator defense combined with the play
of the Andreas Johansson, Vinnie Prospal, Stephen Leach line led
the team to a 3-1 victory.
* The game marked Denny Lambert's return to Ottawa. Lambert, one
of, if not the top Senator enforcer, was picked up in the
expansion draft.
* Yashin played a spirited game. He worked very hard but seemed
to be trying to do everything himself. He could not, or would
not, find his wingers Andreas Dackell and Shawn McEachern. His
play reminds us of times to come at our local rink when we see
great players fail to make the easy pass and all of a sudden look
not so great.
* Andreas Johansson had nine shots in the game and seven in the
first period. His seven shots were a team record for a period.
* Sami Salo lasted two shifts before pulling his groin and is
expected to be out for two weeks. Picking up the slack was Stan
Neckar who played more than 21 minutes. This was Stan's first
game with the team in five months after his contract squabble
netted him a one-year $700,00 U.S. deal.
Some early season changes in the former Kanata farmers' field
include:
* Beer prices have yet again gone up for 14-ounce cups at home
games - the rumor of a weak Canadian dollar having something to
do with it is unconfirmed. The good news here, we think, is that
a 25-cent increase on $4.25 is not as bad percentage wise as 25
cents on $4.00.
* Parking prices are one dollar higher at $9 (to cover higher
maintenance costs), but there are now 125 more parking spots to
choose from.
* Ticket prices have jumped between 4 and 19 percent for the
regular season, but season tickets and game pack discounts can
bring the prices right back down again.
* There are brand new Molson Star Bar Seats in sections 320
through 324. Fans can enter into the 325 seat, 5000 square foot
Silver Seven Brew House for Tex Mex and a pop. No word on beer
prices in there yet.
* Yummy - apparently SpartaCat, the Senators mascot, has a new
hot dog throwing device.
Quiz Time
The 7 shots by Andreas Johansson in one period isn't bad, but
shots mean little unless they result in goals. Who holds the
record for most goals in a game?
A Return to Reality
It was bound to happen. After winning the first three, the
bubble burst as Saku Koivu scored short-handed to lead Montreal
to a 3-2 victory. After a good Senator comeback from a 2-0
deficit, the game was sealed four minutes into the third when
Stan Neckar gambled at the Montreal blue line, allowing Savage to
score the winner. Montreal goaltender Jocelyn Thibault stopped 12
shots in the third and was selected as the game's first star.
Ottawa outshot the Habs 28-18.
* Jason York returned from his rotator cuff injury.
* Montreal native Patrick Traverse bought an undisclosed number
of tickets to the game, including two for his parents who drove
the 11 hours plus from the Gaspe region to see him play.
* Brian Savage played in his first game after agreeing to a two-
year $3.5 million U.S. deal. Stemming from a story in the local
papers that indicated that Savage would consider a golf career if
his contract problems were not solved, Montreal fans took to
calling him the golfer. Savage was once one of Ontario's top
junior golf prospects.
* Phil Crowe got his first start of the regular season. Magnus
Arvedson was sidelined with back muscle spasms.
Feeling Blue
Game two at home brought out 14,293 fans to see Pierre Turgeon
lead his Blues to a 5-3 victory.
Ron Tugnutt was asked when he last saw the team turn in such a
dispirited effort. His response, after pausing, was: "I can't."
Even with six minutes of power-play time in the first period the
Senators were outshot 12-9 and outscored 3-1. Once behind early,
panic seemed to set in and the team never recovered.
* Ron Tugnutt celebrated his 31st birthday by watching the team
go 1 for 10 on the power play.
* Former Sens Michel Picard and Pavol Demitra combined for four
points.
* 1998 'scoring sensation' Radek Bonk netted another one,
bringing his total to two. All this before the month of
November!
* A slap shot from Blues defenseman Al MacInnis off the top of
Stan Neckar's right foot broke a bone. Neckar is expected to be
out for 3-4 weeks.
Leaving the Blues Behind but What Blows In But a Hurricane
Two shots and two goals in the first five minutes shook the
confidence of Damian Rhodes as he was pulled in favor of Ron
Tugnutt. Carolina's Ron Francis and Gary Roberts did not play a
large part in the victory other than helping to keep the
Senators off the scoreboard. The Senators were one for eight on
the power play.
Get a Grip, Man
After the game, Rhodes was quoted as saying that the Hurricanes
victory will stick with him all week, and maybe longer. Two
seasons ago, after some spectacular play, Rhodes was injured and
on his return his confidence was quite shaken. He did not play
during the playoff drive and subsequent first round loss to
Buffalo and was on and off much of last season before playing
great in the playoffs.
Drumroll, Please...
A single player holds honor to this record. Joe Malone of the
Quebec Bulldogs netted 7 on Jan. 31, 1920, at Quebec. Final
score Quebec 10, Toronto 6.
P.S. To Mr. Dudley. A healthy Cam Neely, who is contemplating a
comeback, may make a great Christmas gift to the fan base here in
town.
