Posted by Gord Wilson on December 29, 2007

Season's greetings, everyone. The last home game of 2007 features the Senators hosting the Washington Capitals, in this, the 38th game of the season. Senators are coming off an impressive 5-2 win over the Islanders in a game that saw the big three, Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson, absolutely dominate.

Alfredsson was named the game's first star, Spezza No. 2 and Heatley No. 3. These three will make  Ottawa the first team in the NHL to have three players with 50 points. Right now Heatley is the only  Senator with 50, while Alfredsson and Spezza come into this game each with 48 points.

Jason Spezza is the second-hottest player in the NHL right now as far as point-scoring streaks are concerned. He's riding a nine-gamer, with eight goals and 19 points over the stretch. Only Scott Gomez of the Rangers has a longer streak ... 10 games, but Scott only has 14 points over that stretch.

Senators will welcome Joe Corvo back into their lineup tonight. He's missed the last three with a groin injury. And Brian McGrattan is back after being a healthy scratch the last three games. Cody Bass and Lawrence Nycholat have both been sent back to Binghamton. Both did a terrific job with the big team,  prompting head coach John Paddock to say that both proved they could be called up at any time.

Martin Gerber makes his  27th start and fourth straight. And let me say this about that, regarding Ray Emery. He's not, NOT as much of a distraction to the team, as many would think.

Capitals took the opener of the four-game series between these two clubs, winning 4-1 here in Ottawa  on Nov. 8. Olie Kolzig starts in goal. He's 9-14-3 lifetime against the Senators. Ex-Senator prospect  Frederic Cassivi will serve as the backup. Brent Johnson has an injured knee. Cassivi arrived from the minors today and  nearly had to play in Johnson's equipment. Seems Cassivi's pads got hung up at customs today.

A 7 o'clock faceoff tonight, with Dave Schreiber and yours truly with the call, all along the Team 1200 radio network.

Enjoy the game everyone.

cheers, gord

Posted by Gord Wilson on December 27, 2007

Greetings everyone from the bowels of Scotiabank Place on this, the 27th of December. If  you're  enjoying time off, I hope it's time well spent. Senators haven't had  much time off, but their time at the  rink certainly has been well spent. Going  8-1-1 in their last  10 games is a testament to the depth of the organization and the willingness of others to elevate their play.

No Volchenkov, no Eaves and no Joe Corvo (out tonight for his thirrd straight) means others have been given more ice time and taken advantage of it. Namely Shean Donovan and Christoph Schubert. Both have seen their ice time increase by about five minutes  per game and neither has missed a beat.

No changes are expected for the Senators tonight as they host the Islanders. Martin Gerber starts in goal, Brian McGrattan is expected to be a healthy scratch. That  means Cody Bass plays his sixth straight game.

As for the Islanders, they come to town winners of three straight, including a 4-3 overtime win over the Leafs last night. They're the lowest scoring team in the NHL, yet still have a winning record at 18-15-2.

Rick DiPietro has been in goal for 16 of those 18 wins but won't play tonight. He's out with a knee injury.  Wade Dubielewicz gets the  nod. He stopped 22 shots in 45 minutes of work last night against the Leafs.

Despite losing the first  game of this four-game series with the Islanders at the end of November, the Senators have enjoyed a great deal of success against New York in the past.

In fact, Ottawa has lost only five of its last 43 matchups with the Isles.

Game time tonight is 7:30, this one can be seen on  A-Channel, yours truly and Dean Brown with the call, and can be heard  all along the Team 1200 radio network, with Dave Schreiber and Shawn Van Allen.

Enjoy the game everyone,

cheers, gord

Posted by Gord Wilson on December 26, 2007

Season's greetings everyone, from lovely Buffalo, New York. The Senators' two-day break is over, and it's back to work for the team that's led the Eastern Conference from wire to wire.

Senators went into their Christmas break feeling pretty good about themselves, following a 3-1 win over the Rangers in New York on Sunday night.

Coach John Paddock shortened his bench and juggled his lines early, and found some impressive combinations. Shean Donovan was someone who found himself skating with different players, and he made the most of the opportunity. Playing with Antoine Vermette and Chris Kelly, Donovan perhaps had his best game in a Senators uniform. That trio will be together again tonight.

And it looks like Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson will stay together. Mike Fisher is expected to centre Chris Neil and Randy Robitaille, and the final line will consist of Dean McAmmond, Nick Foligno and either Brian McGrattan or Cody Bass.

Joe Corvo made the trip here to Buffalo, but is still bothered by a groin injury, so Lawrence Nycholat is on his way here.

Martin Gerber to start in goal.

The Sabres come into this game having won six in a row.  They can move from sixth in the conference to fourth with another win tonight. They'll get Tim Connolly back this evening. He's missed the last two games because of the flu. Apparently, all he's eaten the last few days is a cracker.

Ryan Miller starts in goal. Bruce Garrioch and I had an interesting chat with him this morning. He says he's very excited about playing the outdoor game Jan. 1 against Pittsburgh. And he'll be wearing a special one-game only mask for the game. After that, he'll auction it off. You can read more about it on his charity website, Thesteadfastfoundation.com.

Game time tonight is at 7'oclock and, as always, this one can be heard all along the Team 1200 radio network with yours truly and Dean Brown with the call.

Enjoy the game everyone.

cheers, Gord

Posted by Gord Wilson on December 22, 2007

Greetings everyone ... short blog today, I'm fighting a lousy virus that's made me sound like Marg Simpson. Wonderful hair, but lousy voice.

Senators have returned home for one before heading back out on the road for a game against the Rangers tomorrow night.

Tonight, it's the Blackhawks paying a visit for the first time in a few years. This is the one and only meeting  between the two teams. Hawks are a young, exciting team that's getting a tonne of mileage from their young players. They come to town  with a 16-15-2 record and seeded 13th in the Western Conference.

Senators remain in 1st in the East with a 22-8-3 record. They saw their six-game winning streak come to an end after a 3-2 loss to Atlanta on Thursday. After that game, coach John Paddock didn't hide his feelings about the performance of several players.

Now, despite the  loss, four Senators extended point scoring streaks. Daniel Alfredsson now has 15 points in scoring in 10 straight games, Dany Heatley with 10 points in his last six games, and Jason Spezza has a five-game streak on the line. He has 15 points over that stretch. And Randy Robitaille has  three points in his last three games.

The Hawks come to town fresh off a 5-2 win over Nashville on Wednesday. They're led by rookies Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews. Kane leads all rookies with 32 points.

Ex Senator Martin Havlat is back after a shoulder injury and has 11 points in 11 games.

Nikolai Khabibulin will start in goal for Chicago, while Ray Emery starts for Ottawa.

A  7 o'clock faceoff, with yours truly (Gord, not Marge) and Dean Brown with the call.

Talk to you tomorrow from New York.

cheers, gord

Posted by Gord Wilson on December 18, 2007

Greetings, everyone, from cold but sunny Boston. Senators arrived here yesterday for their third matchup this season with the Bruins.  So far, two one-goal games, both seeing the Senators come out on top. The previous two matchups have been low scoring affairs, and this one should be no different. Under Claude Julien, the Bruins are playing a very stingy defensive style.

Senators come into this one with a bit of an injury problem. Mike Fisher didn't make the trip because of a strained oblique muscle. He joins Anton Volchenkov and Patrick Eaves back in Ottawa, working with  conditioning and player development coach Randy Lee. Coach John Paddock says the club is now without  three of its top 10 players. But he says it's also an opportunity for others to step up.

Senators lines tonight will look like this ... 

15-19-27

20-22-11

71-37-25

10-58-16

No change with the defence pairings.

Martin Gerber makes his 22nd start, and third straight. This year, he's a perfect 2-0 against Boston.

The Bruins will counter with Alex Auld, who's gone 4-1 with a 1.40 goals-against average since being acquired from Phoenix earlier this month. Bruins have some injury problems of their own. No Patrice  Bergeron, who's still  sidelined with concussion problems ... and no Andrew Alberts, who's been experiencing  headaches of late. I'm told the world is moving at a much slower pace for Bergeron, who's  showing up at the rink a little bit more, but is nowhere close to returning.

Here in Boston, we stay downtown and right next to a theatre, so when time permits, I'll try to squeeze in a flick every now and then. Last night, I went and saw I AM Legend with Will Smith. I give it a thumbs up ...  but don't sit beside anyone who might at all be a little jumpy or nervous. Their screams might  scare you a little more than the movie.

Game time tonight is at 7 o'clock, this one is on Rogers Sportsnet, with Dean Brown, Garry Galley, and Ian Mendes, and of course can be heard all along the Team 1200 radio network with yours truly and Dave Schreiber.

Oh, and one final note, my condolences go out to the Chevrier family. The sports world lost a great one today with the  passing of Don Chevrier.  Don's booming voice was the original TV voice of the Senators  back in '92. He worked the games with Greg Millen and the late Brian Smith.

Enjoy tonight's game everyone, and we'll talk to you Thursday from Atlanta.

Posted by Gord Wilson on December 15, 2007

Greetings everyone from the friendly confines of Scotiabank Place. Nice to be home ... albeit only for one day.  After a very successful road trip that saw the Senators secure 9 of a possible 10 points, the  Senators have returned  home for a game against the Atlanta Thrashers. This is game 3 of a four-game  series, with Ottawa winning the first two games 3-1 and 6-4. The 6-4 win was the game Nov. 1, when  Ottawa had a 5-0 lead, then watched it  slip away as Ilya Kovalchuk scored three in the third period to make things closer than it should have been. In any case, it was a win.

Senators are coming off an impressive two-game stretch that saw them outscore Carolina and Pittsburgh by a combined 10-1 score. As impressive as the offence was, so, too, was the goaltending, led by Martin Gerber. He was particularly brilliant in the Pittsburgh victory, making 13 saves in the first period alone.

Funny little story about that game ... Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza each had a pair of goals, Spezza  finished with four points. Naturally, reporters wanted to talk to  both players after the game.

Daniel Alfredsson had but one assist in the game, but it was a milestone 800th point of his career. He saw reporters huddled around Spezza and Heatley and walked by, wondering aloud if anyone wanted to talk to him. None of the reporters knew he had just picked up his 800th point, so he got a bit of a chuckle over that. In any case, congrats to No. 11.

As for tonight's game ... we'll find out later today whether Brian McGrattan is able to play. He injured his shoulder in a fight with Georges Laraque on Thursday.

Martin Gerber will start in goal, he's 14-4-1 on the year. Johan Hedberg is expected to start for Atlanta.  Thrashers were 4-0 losers on home ice to Toronto last night ... they've now lost three straight and are back to two points below 500.

Here's a little bit of trivial news to help you get through your day. The artwork on Hedberg's mask, primarily a moose because that's his nickname, was done by a Swedish artist named Dave Gunnarson. He's also done the work on Henrik Lundqvist's mask and ... Martin Gerber's painted mask that he's yet  to use.

Now you know the rest of the story.

All right, 7 o'clock faceoff tonight ... as always, it can be heard on the Team 1200 radio network, with yours truly and the man himself, Mr. Dean Brown.

Enjoy the game everyone.

cheers, gord

Posted by Gord Wilson on December 13, 2007

Greetings everyone from a wet and soggy Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Senators arrived here in good time  last night following their 6-0 win over the Hurricanes in Carolina, and they obviously brought with them a pretty good frame of mind following one of their more complete games of the season. Last  night was a  night that belonged to the Senators ... they controlled that game from start to finish.

When the team's mood is good, it's reflected in attendance at the next day's optional morning skate.  Following  last  night's game, there were no fewer than a dozen players on the ice this morning, including Martin Gerber, who again gets the start tonight. Coach John Paddock told me this morning that Ray Emery leaving the nets last night did not come as a complete surprise to him. Emery has been bothered  by this hip strain for a little bit of time now.

In any case, great job by Gerber, stopping 31 shots to share the shutout, and not even pick up the win. I joked with him afterwards, telling him he should have allowed two goals, just to pick up the win. He said he thought about it.

No changes to the Senators lineup or line combinations tonight.

As for the Penguins, this is their first home game following a pretty successful road trip that saw them  win three out west, then close with an 8-2 loss to Philadelphia on Monday.

And remember what I mentioned in yesterday's  blog ... that inexplicable hockey mystery that afflicts  teams coming back from a long road trip ... they never seem to play well in their first home game back.

We'll see what the Penguins have tonight.

This one is on Rogers Sportsnet with Dean and Garry, yours truly and Dave Schreiber have the call all along the Team 1200 radio network.

enjoy the game everyone.

cheers, gord

Posted by Gord Wilson on December 12, 2007

Hi  everyone, and greetings from beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina. I know you don't want to hear this, but temperatures were expected to reach about 80 F today. Not a cloud in the sky and the first thing  that caught my eye on my  way into the rink this morning were the 3 Harley Davidson motorcycles parked outside the players' entrance. Nice way to come to work almost every day.

In  any case, the Senators are here in Raleigh for the first time this year, set to play the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time this season. I'm sure you all remember the first matchup ... Canes  waiting in Ottawa for a Thursday night game while the Senators were playing the night before in Atlanta.

Ottawa lost that game 5-3 and it was their first  loss after opening the year with 5 straight wins.

Senators looking to extract a little revenge here tonight and they come into this game feeling pretty good about themselves, following  wins in Sunrise, Fla., and Dallas last week. The Dallas game was particularly impressive, because the  Senators displayed the type of defensive commitment we haven't seen in a while, but a commitment that's necessary to win games. 

Tonight's game is going to take much of the same. The Canes are one of the better skating teams in the league, and they like to run and gun ... they're the only club in the league with 4 players with 14 goals or more. Their offence is spread out, so Ottawa is going to need all hands on deck for this one.

Ray Emery makes his 9th start of the year and 4th in a row. Defence pairings won't change, at least at the start of the game.

Forward lines look like this ... 15-19-27; 71-12-11; 20-22-25; 10-37-16.

Depending on how this game unfolds, watch for Dean McAmmond to move around a little tonight. Same for Antoine Vermette. This type of game is right up his alley ... lots of skating.

Senators power play may play a role in this one. Canes are dead last in the NHL on the penalty kill.

Carolina is coming off a 5-game road trip of its own ... and you know the old saying, teams never play  their best when they return home from a long trip. No one can put a finger on why, it  just seems to work out that way. We'll see if that's the case tonight.

This one is on TSN, with Chris  Cuthbert and Glen Healy on the magic lantern ... yours truly and Dean  Brown have the call on the Team 1200 radio network.

Enjoy the game everyone, talk to you tomorrow from Pittsburgh.

cheers, gord

Posted by Gord Wilson on December 5, 2007

Hey  everyone, short blog today because of the quick turnaround in games. Obviously, the Senators would have liked a better result than the one they got in Tampa last night, but there were some positives to come out of the game. The third-period comeback was impressive, as was the play of Ray Emery. He stopped 25 shots and gave his team a chance to win. He also showed us an edge that we  haven't seen this year. That said, for the first time this year, Ray gets to make back-to-back starts.  He'll go again tonight and he's already beaten the Panthers once this season. In fact, Ray is 5-1 lifetime against Florida.

Same line combinations, and defence pairings as last night, at least to start the game.

And the start will be the key. Senators are 14-1-1 when scoring first this year. They're 2-6-2 when they don't.

Panthers won't be in a good mood today, either. They've lost their last two, both on home ice, and Jacques Martin worked them very hard at practice on Monday. Tomas Vokoun starts in goal for them.

And  finally, is it me, or have you wondered why the Senators haven't tried something different in their  shootouts.  They're 1-3 this year and have lost their last three.  Next time, do the rally cap thing, helmets on backwards ... do something, please.

7:30 start tonight on A-Channel with me and Dean. Schreibs and Shaun Van Allen have the call on the  Team radio network.

enjoy everyone,

cheers, gord

Posted by Gord Wilson on December 4, 2007

And so begins a stretch of five straight games on the road for the struggling Senators. And on the road  may be the best place for this team to regroup, refocus and remind themselves that they're better than  their recent record would indicate.

Senators are winless in their last six games, four of which have been played at home. Coming into Tampa early has allowed the team some much needed 'together' time. Players quietly talk about what's  happened on the ice ... veterans get together with some of the younger players, slumping players get a  chance to take a deep breath and try to regain their touch in perhaps a more relaxed atmosphere.

Senators  held a  good practice  yesterday, sloppy at first, but it picked in the latter stages with some pretty intense defensive zone coverage  drills. Lines at practice  yesterday looked like this...

15-19-27

71-12-11

20-22-25

10-37-16

Don't be surprised if we see some changes with the defence pairings. And  Ray Emery makes his 6th start of the year, he's 4-2 lifetime against the Lightning.

I went to the Bolts' practice yesterday. Despite coming off a 4-1 home-ice win over the Bruins on Saturday, coach John Tortorella was at his vocal finest on the ice. He's loud and gets the players' attention. He's also a treat to deal with from a media standpoint. Entertaining and to the point.

The first period could be the key for the Senators tonight. Almost more than anything, they need a good start.

This one is on Sportsnet with Dean Brown and Garry Galley, yours truly and Dave Schreiber have the call of the game on the Team 1200 radio network.

Enjoy everyone, talk to you tomorrow from Sunrise, Fla.

cheers,

gord

Posted by Gord Wilson on December 1, 2007

Okay ... so slump is in the vocabulary of the Ottawa Senators. No doubt about it, this team is getting what  it  deserves  when it comes to wins and losses. During the team's terrific start, Coach John Paddock  warned about winning  games that perhaps the team shouldn't have won. But the players  "found" a way to win.

Such has not been the case over the last  7 or 8 games ... specifically the last 5. But there's a reason why they call the game of hockey "a game of inches."

Three times in the last game, the Senators hit a goal post. Twice in the first period by Dany Heatley, and once in the third by Andrej Meszaros. If  the puck was an inch or two the other way ... the outcome could have been much  different. That's just one of the subtle differences between how things have gone for the Senators over the past couple of weeks, compared to what  was happening during the first few weeks.

All right, so now life begins without league shot-blocking leader Anton Volchenkov. Huge loss, to say the least.

Christoph Schubert now gets his chance to play defence on a regular basis. And he'll team up with Chris  Phillips. Here's the stat worth remembering ... and I'll revisit this when Volchenkov returns to the lineup.  Schubert has seven blocked  shots. Volchenkov leaves the lineup with 96.  It'll be interesting to see where Christoph is at when the A-train returns.

Doesn't look like there will be any line changes for today's game. 15-19-11, 27-12-25, 20-22-71 and 10-37-16.

Gerber gets the call in goal. He deserves the chance to bounce back. 

Rangers come to town without pest Sean Avery. He's out with an injured wrist. Rangers are  9-4-1 with him in the lineup ... 5-5-1 without him.

Senators  2-0 against New York this season, with wins of 2-0 and 3-1. Jaromir Jagr has the one goal scored. He's scored more goals and points against the Senators than any other player. Schubert and  Phillips have their work cut out for them.

Next time I blog, I'll have tan lines. Off to Florida this evening. Sorry about that.

cheers, gord