Posted by Nick Foligno on December 23, 2008

We begin a stretch of eight straight road games tonight in Philadelphia and I think it's going to be nice. Obviously, you want to be at home as much as possible but it'll bring us closer together and it's one of those things where you have to make sure you're working hard to attain your goals. It's going to be tough going into someone else's building and playing hard but we've just to make sure we're ready for the challenge each and every night.

This is my first really long road trip with the Senators and I think it's going to be a lot of fun and a lot of hard work as well. Those are not easy teams we're going to play against out west and we've got to make sure we're ready. I think the guys are looking forward to it for sure. It's going to be something different, we'll have some new teams to look at and I think we're really excited about the challenge.

I've never really been out to western Canada. I've only been to Vancouver. It's going to be really nice to go out there and play in a different kind of atmosphere. They all have pretty good fan bases, so I'm sure the games are going to be exciting. Hopefully, we'll get a win in Philly tonight and then get on a roll and play pretty well on the road.

After tonight, we have a couple of days off for Christmas and I'll be going home to Sudbury. It's only five hours away, so I'm planning on spending time there with my family and relaxing. Then I'll come back on Boxing Day and get ready to go. I'm very fortunate to have a home base so close to where I'm playing right now. You don't get very many chances during the season to get back home so when you do get a few days off, you want to get back there and see the family.

While we're away, the world juniors will be going on in our building. I'm sure Jason Spezza will keep tabs on it for us. He's our resident stats guy, like everyone says, but I think a lot of us are going to be watching. It'll be pretty interesting. It's great for the city and we wish we were here to watch it in person but it's going to be great hockey and the fans who go to the games are going to enjoy it. It'll be a lot of fun to see who's going to come out on top.

Posted by Mike Fisher on December 20, 2008

We made our annual Christmas visit to CHEO earlier this week, and it's something we all look forward to each year. It's always fun coming here and seeing the kids. They're here year after year and it's tough for them to be going through what they're going through, but it's good for us.

For us, it's a good opportunity to help the kids out or put a smile on their faces. It definitely cheers us up. We've been going through a tough stretch in the last little while and seeing these kids really puts things into perspective for us about some of the things that are important. Especially around Christmas time, which is a big deal for a lot of people. Some of them won't get home for Christmas, which is really important.

It's not always easy seeing kids dealing with what they're going through. For us, it makes you appreciate your health and how fortunate you are to be healthy. You don't take things for granted. But at the same time, these kids are all smiling with great attitudes. Some of them, you don't know what they're going through. But they don't let it affect them and it's really touching.

We always get a lot more out of it than we put into it and these kids are great. The kids make it all for us. Some of them, we see year after year and there are new kids that come in and out of the hospital. They're the ones that make it enjoyable for us.

Posted by Antoine Vermette on December 4, 2008

You may have heard that we have a bit of a moustache-growing contest going on in our dressing room and wonder how it all got started. I saw Dany Heatley was growing a moustache and I thought it was pretty good and that we should all do that. A couple of guys, we went around to get it going. I know Shean Donovan tried to do that in the past, so I knew a few guys were already interested in it. Everybody kind of bought in and here were are, growing a ’stache.

Some people are suggesting it's about team unity and you could say that, I guess. More than anything, it's just a little fun among the guys. We’re all doing it. I don’t know what it really represents but so far, so good.

Who's winning right now? It’s a good question. We’ve got a few good ones. I think Nick Foligno’s got a good one and mine is pretty. Martin Gerber has got a pretty full one. Chris Phillips is going to grow a nice one. A few guys are up there. The day we started, Philly had just shaved so he started with nothing, but he’s going to catch up pretty quick.

We've got a number of new players on the team this year and you try to make things jell as quickly as you can. You want to do it right. You want to build some identity and some team structure on the ice. We’re all coming from different systems and different backgrounds with each team. On that side, it’s a little bit of a process but slowly, we’re getting there. Off the ice, the guys are great and it's been easy to adjust to having them here.

I've played with a lot of different linemates this season and In general, I don’t think it’s that hard to do. When you play with certain players, they have their tendencies and sometimes it’s tricky. The game is pretty fast and different guys do different things in different areas. When you’ve got new players on your line, you try to play to your strengths and make the most of the little tricks that we each can bring.

The main thing is to try to look at the big overall structure that our coach, Craig Hartsburg, is trying to bring in. If we all buy into that and work hard within it, usually you’ll see most nights that you’ll be successful.