The Universal Cynic

As Winnipeg is finally -- finally! -- awarded a team today, here's a dose of obvious from the old Sun column that I wrote in January, 2005:

Winnipeg might be a city most of us fly over and rarely think about, but at the World Juniors, some of their residents caught my attention.

The between-period segments on TSN were mildly amusing. The network showed shots of fans on the concourse, clutching medals that looked like they were pilfered from a junior high science fair, and displaying more signs than a WWE event. I was just about to flip over to The Score when I heard it for the first time:

“Go Jets Go! Go Jets Go!”

You’ve got to be kidding. How drunk were they? Apparently not so much that they didn’t know what they were doing – these weren’t regular hockey fans. These were Winnipeg Jets fans. They had a cause and a camera pointed right at them. It was a golden opportunity to get the message out.

Jets fan has been battling for nearly ten years to get their beloved franchise back. Since then, they’ve seen their former team become insignificant while it sits in an indifferent city. Now Winnipeggers have a beautiful new building, a seemingly unquenchable fan base and winters that have always lasted nearly 6 months. Why wouldn’t they want their team back – what else is there to do in Winnipeg?

One of the knocks on a possible proposal is the size of the MTS Centre. The building’s hockey seating is 15,015 people, which would make it the smallest in the NHL. However, television cameras around the league constantly display empty seats. We’re guilty of it on occasion, even in Ottawa. The Buffalo Sabres were planning to lower ticket prices for the 2004-05 season, in spite of an increase in payroll. They can’t fill the building. Quality of play is an issue, but so is the size of some NHL arenas. With a smaller building and a built-in fan base, Winnipeg could be on to something.

Obviously a restructured CBA benefits Winnipeg as well – the small markets need all the help they can get. And surely even Gary Bettman couldn’t ignore the sheer volume of Canadian fans taking over an international hockey event in the U.S. You can’t keep forcing hockey down the throats of Americans forever. It’s not lucrative, and has proven to be mostly unsuccessful.

Nearly a decade of support for a franchise that doesn’t exist – how much more proof do you need? Give the Jets back to Winnipeg.

T-shirts, hoodies and more can be found here. The designs are super simple, with no mention of myself or the blog anywhere on the gear. That's the way I like things, and I figured you'd feel the same way. If you have any special requests, hit me up and I'll add them to the store. Enjoy.

...because it's been way too long. (Yeah, yeah...I know. I'm sorry.)

Last night I had a dream that the only way I was able to get proper NHL intel was to hide under a pile of coats at the GM's meeting.

Sadly, when it comes to obtaining information from the source, bloggers often come up on the short end of the stick. That said, being associated with traditional media doesn't always ensure open doors, as I taught you here.

So, imagine my surprise when I discovered I still had enough pull in my strength-of-dental-floss reputation to persuade former Ottawa Senators president Roy Mlakar to speak with me a few weeks ago.

Why are you only hearing about this now? Well, what started out as plans for an interview meant for Puck Daddy on Yahoo! became a very candid, no-holds-barred phone conversation which lasted nearly 90 minutes.

But, here's the rub: It was all off-the-record.

Ram, for all intents and purposes, has "gone dark" since his departure from the Senators organization nearly two years ago. And after talking to him at length, it became clear that he intends to keep it that way for the foreseeable future. Not that people haven't tried to get him to talk, even in situations similar to the one I found myself in that day. He told me that several networks have attempted to chat him up casually, and he shut them all down.

Why he chose to speak to me of all people, I'll never know. Maybe it's because he still thinks of me as that goofy 20-year-old girl on the radio. (The first thing he said to me was, "I miss hearing you on 'The Jim Rome Show.'" I guess you really can't escape your past.)

I knew 30 seconds into the conversation that what we would discuss couldn't repeated in a public forum, or used for any kind of story on Puck Daddy. I thought I would be upset; perhaps I would get angry after I hung up the phone. Surprisingly, that didn't happen. Roy was obviously guarded as our conversation began, but after a while he became candid and rather emotional as he spoke (which isn't necessarily surprising, as Mlakar was/is always a passionate guy).

I actually only had three questions planned - ones that I knew would require lengthy answers. But as we talked, the walls came down on either side. I took the opportunity to ask him everything I had been wondering about, and he answered with a remarkable amount of frankness that was, in short, phenomenal. I hung up the phone with a new perspective on the team that I hadn't had in a long time.

And what did I do about it? Nothing. I kept it that way because 1) I gave Roy my word and 2) it was the right thing to do.

Sometimes I worry that I go too easy on people that I interview - not necessarily in terms of questions, but in the overall set-up. I know that I'm a people-pleaser, so I want to make sure people are comfortable, and I end up explaining a lot of how the interview will ultimately appear to the reader. In one case, I actually went so far as to write up the piece and show it to the interviewee for their approval before filing it - a move that would probably make a J-school professor's head explode. It's likely due to these reasons that I get rave reviews from the subjects when the pieces come out. And, to be fair, when readers did compliment me on my writing, they almost always mentioned my ability to be diplomatic (this was work that had nothing to do with the blog, of course).

Now as I find myself on the outside looking in, I could have been a jerk about my talk with Ram. If you don't have a regular gig, what other way is there to get noticed, but to make a big splash? I could have betrayed his trust to do this. I would have outscooped a lot of people to do so. The cynical part of me who believes that the majority of bloggers out there still lack couth and decorum knows what they would have done. I don't buy the "it's them versus us" mentality in sportswriting - traditional or otherwise. It's very much every man and woman for themselves.

But that splash isn't worth burning a source. I know that from the few years I spent writing for a paper. No offense to the ones who know better, but it's something that your average blogger doesn't have a chance to learn. And speaking simply from a personal point of view, I know it's something that, morally, wouldn't sit right with me. (Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but that's another post for another time.)

I could've used this opportunity to get my name everywhere for a day - maybe longer. But then it would've been over. Would I gain prestige for it? Maybe. A gig? Nope. Roy's anger? Definitely. Give me my source, every time. Give me a chance for insight - a way to flesh out opinions that the run-of-the-mill blogger doesn't have access to. These are the things that make me actually want to keep writing, when more often that not, I find myself wanting to stop. In the meantime, my name can remain largely in the shadows for one day more.

I'm glad he's gone. He wasn't a bad player, but he was never going to be what fans and the club both wanted and needed. Initial reaction to the deal? Sure, that'll do. Talk to me after a) the picks develop or b) they're flipped for something more immediate (and no, while it may not happen this year, it's not out of the realm of possibility).

Anything left to say can be revisited in this post from October 2008. Not being a fan of Mike Fisher was highly taboo for the longest time. This was around the time when a few Senators fans finally started to get it.

Enjoy and have a good weekend.

____________

From "Monday morning Deglaze" - October 6, 2008

Sure, the regular season has started, but a lot of the talk has focused on players not hitting the ice -- case in point, Mike Fisher. No. 12 was recently thrust into the spotlight, due to the fact that his 6-million dollar groin (or "groan", as Rome would say) is acting up again. Fisher did not play in either game versus the Penguins in Sweden, and questions abound regarding the centre's off-season conditioning and overall durability.

It's a very curious thing to see fans suddenly question and criticize Mike Fisher. I say that because, well...privately, I've been doing it for years. To me, Mike Fisher is like There's Something About Mary. Remember when that movie came out? It was a fairly unassuming flick when it hit the theatres, but everyone seemingly went nuts over it. At the time, my friends were driving me crazy, telling me to go check it out. Here's what happened:

Friends: "So? What did you think? Wasn't it the best thing ever?"

Me: (looking at ground)

Friends: "Well?"

Me: "Uh...well...I don't get what the big deal is. I don't get it."

Friends: "WHAT?!? Best. Thing. Ever. What's wrong with you?"

Me: (getting defensive) "I dunno...I guess some parts of it were all right...I just don't understand why everyone loves it so much."

Friends: "Blaaargh!!! Rage...RAAAAAGE!"

Things get a bit hazy at this point. I think someone took off one of their Vans and threw it at me.

Eventually I just began to lie and said I liked it, because I was tired of having people freak out on me.

And that's what it's like to be a non-fan of Mike Fisher -- at least until recently. I had to to express my feelings covertly, during whispered conversations at the Starbucks on Hazeldean. I had to smile and nod my head in silent agreement when everyone insisted he should be the next captain of the team. I had to pretend to understand why every woman (and Don Cherry, apparently) fawns over his blue eyes and chiseled cheekbones.

I didn't get it. I never did. And now I'm mad at myself for not speaking up, because people are finally beginning to see things the way I always have.

Fisher was the one player I couldn't bring myself to properly torch in the column, and it made me bloody crazy. I'd pace in my office, willing myself to openly question his worth. He has yet to break the 50-point plateau, and he's 28 years old. Barring a miracle, it seems pretty obvious that he's peaked. The Senators paid him like a second-line centre (his front-loaded, 5-year, $21-million contract kicks in this season), but he's not capable of playing that role. A lot of that money is paying for the intangibles that No. 12 offers..and that's where the problem lies.

The good guy image. The heart. The grit. The never-say-die mentality. Sens fans have been flat-out obsessed with the qualities Fisher brings to the table, and that's what makes it so freaking hard to get on his case. Don't believe me? Consider this: In the four years that the column ran, I got flack from the Sens front office about my off-the-cuff criticism of one player. Guess who that player was? They never defended anyone else...and frankly, I leveled my guns at pretty much everyone on that team (including Daniel Alfredsson).

Here's the thing: I understand that he's a valuable player from a defensive standpoint. I respect his willingness to play hard. I get that he's a good person. I get that part, okay?

But he's not a deity, and he's not a second-line centre that will ever be worth 6-million dollars. He may not even be a captain -- that spare "A" was obviously emblazoned on Heatley's chest for a reason.

News flash: It's Mike Fisher. Stop looking for something that isn't there. He's physically fragile, offensively limited and his career has nowhere to go but down. Thank God people are finally beginning to understand that.

Super simple, just answer in the comments:

If you're a Senators fan, what do you get out of watching this season's games, particularly when the team appears to be at its lowest ebb? Please be honest - I'm not looking for humour or sarcasm here.

A quick thought on Don Brennan's column suggesting that Ottawa Senators fans show up to games with paper bags on their heads...

Sure, it'll be good for a two-second lead-in to the game highlights on SportsCentre, but then what? In the past few years, the Senators have shown little interest in quelling fans' white noise, regardless of whether it comes in the form of embarrassment, disgust or any other visceral reaction.

In this business - and many others like it - nothing hurts more than indifference, and nothing expedites conflict resolution in a quicker fashion. Am I encouraging it? What do you think? Sure, it's obviously best to ride this mess of a season out, if only to take Bryan Murray's hand off the button during a rebuild. But there's nothing like a crowd of 10,000 or less in "Hockey Country" to show that this nonsense won't be tolerated.

So take the bag off your head, get out of Scotiabank Place, and go do some grocery shopping. Just because the Sens aren't productive doesn't mean you have to follow suit.

More later.

From last night's genius via The 6th Sens, and now Malkin to the Kings has blown it up. Look out...it's the Huge Euge. You might want to go and secure any nearby brick walls.

This is an idea I pilfered from my dear friend - and Sporting News Radio superstar - Sean Pendergast (um...I mean Brian Beckner...), but tweaked just a bit to make it my own. (You can take the girl out of traditional media...) Anyway, I think you'll catch on quick. Let's get started, shall we?

* Hockey ultimately benefits from Canada losing at the World Junior Hockey Championships, because competition, not dynasties, are the lifeblood of any sport. FACT.

* TSN's bloated coverage of the tournament, combined with this country's bravado (largely shouted into a vacuum of indifference) has made it difficult for me to support Team Canada. FACT.

* Team Russia's celebrations should always be watched with subtitles. FACT.

* The swearing by NHL players/coaches on HBO's 24/7 never warranted such a bombastic reaction. FACT.

* 24/7 provides completely unguarded insight into NHL players' lives. CRAP.

* The only way you're going to see the true side of a player is with a NannyCam. FACT.

* Regardless, fans are happy with this unprecedented access, and love to hear players swear because it's "fun." FACT.

* I don't get it. FACT.

* The answer to the first Blind Item in this post is indeed, Pierre McGuire. FACT.

* This idea, of course, is... CRAP.

* Chris Phillips will be traded before the end of this season. CRAP.

* Chris Phillips' trade value is far less than the bright-eyed optimists would assume. FACT.

* Erik Karlsson is proving that he can be effective at the NHL level as an offensive defenceman. FACT.

* In the process, Karlsson is picking up some very bad habits (i.e. attempting to cut a swath to the net through four opposing players, inevitably leading to a turnover). FACT.

* Ottawa Senators head coach Cory Clouston will be fired before the end of the season. CRAP.

* So will Bryan Murray. CRAP.

* Why would Mr. Eugene bother now? He'll just let them walk in April. FACT.

* A meddling owner combined with a flailing team means you'll hardly have your pick of the litter when it is time to replace the front office. FACT.

* Cory Clouston shouldn't be the head coach, but he can't be expected to get blood from a stone. The talent just isn't here. FACT.

* The Sens have hit rock bottom. CRAP.

* Talk to me when you've missed the playoffs for a good five years or so - barring a major overhaul, that's where this club is headed. FACT.

More later.

The New England Patriots are once again favored to win a Super Bowl.

So, what else is new? Are you going to tell me that Pats quarterback Tom Brady is married to some hot supermodel and that head coach Bill Belichick is still donning the grey hoodie?

Oh.

Well, to no one’s surprise, the NFL super bowl picks provided by BetUs and their odds makers are expecting the Pats to win it all again.

If you haven’t been keeping track, the Patriots have already won three of the last nine Super Bowls and came about one play from winning a fourth. Needless to say, they have been the most dominant team over the last decade and even though it’s tough for dynasties to exist in the NFL (given the salary cap and revenue sharing), the Patriots have been about as close to it as you can come.

This year, it didn’t look like they’d be in contention when they started the season with a young defense and a so-so offense. Then they traded away potential Hall of Fame wide receiver, Randy Moss, and they have only gotten better.

And if you’re wondering how the golden boy is doing, Brady is having another ho-hum year. And by “ho-hum”, I mean he’s only thrown for 29 touchdowns versus four interceptions, and is among the leading candidates to win the Most Valuable Player award.

When you factor in that the Patriots already have the best record in their conference and have three easy contests left, they should be able to lock up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. When you add it all up, it’s pretty understandable why they are favored to win Super Bowl 45.

The season might be winding down but it likes like Brady, Belichick and company are just winding up for another patented run.

(Ed. Note: The preceding post was provided by BETUS.com)

Oh my, Ottawa - this is the stuff of your worst nightmares. A well-known hockey name has been broadcasting to others that the Senators GM position is his "dream job", and he's just biding his time until he gets a proper crack at it. But why wouldn't he want to be in the city he's more associated with? That's easy - they hate him there. Now I didn't say he's in the running...just that he wants it something bad. And that's creepy enough to think about, isn't it?

And I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but one of the names being whispered as a replacement to Cory Clouston won't leave you jumping for joy. That said, if he comes, the Senators will sell him as a winner - they just won't mention how long ago it happened.

More later.

As if the Ottawa Senators needed to find new ways to embarrass themselves -- get ready, because here comes "Flickgate."

You are probably aware that Matt Carkner is not my favourite player on the team. But personal dislike has nothing to do with this. As the video shows, Carkner wipes his forehead post-scrap, and flicks his fingers as he skates by the Rangers bench.

Whether it was sweat, blood or a combination of both, it really doesn't matter. This is vile, disrespectful and undisciplined behaviour, and I sincerely hope the league cracks down. Furthermore, Matt Carkner needs to cease with the ridiculous excuses, man up and apologize. Immediately.

Via Twitter, from super blogger, The 6th Sens:

"Is this how The Driver feels being a Chargers fan? Want (the) team to lose (so ownership has no choice but to) gut the braintrust?"

In a word, yes. He doesn't want his team to lose, per se, but he knows it's the only way to get things to change. Plus he's totally sick of looking at the slouchy knee-high stocking around Norv's neck. It's the exact same thing with the Senators - he's felt that way for three years, and is pleased that people are, as he says, "catching up."



P.S.: In case you missed it, Torontoist has the transcription of Don Cherry's introduction of newly appointed Toronto mayor Rob Ford in all its hideous glory. Did you know that when Cherry was nominated for CBC's "The Greatest Canadian", Bret Hart was his celebrity advocate? Bret wore pink in the then-WWF with the Hart Foundation! Now we're through the looking glass, people!

* I've been asked if a post on Dany Heatley is coming, in conjunction with his first visit back to SBP this week. The short answer is yes, but it will be appearing on Yahoo!, not TUC. Watch for the link on Twitter on Thursday.

* Mr. Eugene's short conversation with Elliotte Friedman prior to the Leafs-Sens game on Saturday left me wanting to jam my head into a snowbank. "Buckle up - we're going all the way this year?" Yes, I understand that optimism is nice, and a necessary characteristic for any owner, but that was downright embarrassing. An anonymous reporter remarked to me afterward, "If you don't talk to Melnyk before noon, those are the types of conversations you end up having with him." Um, ack?

* If you haven't seen it already - very sad news to report, as Five For Smiting is calling it quits. Paul was always my favourite Senators blogger, hands down. His writing was always thought-provoking, hilarious and he's been one of my biggest supporters (especially when the chips were down) from Day 1. If you appreciated his work the way I did, please go to his site and drop him a line. (By the way, the battle is on to get him to join Twitter....starting now.)

More later.

I just got off the phone with Ottawa Senators' VP of communications, Phil Legault and Chad Schella, the team's director of player services. Both were willing to speak on the record to me and offered an official explanation regarding the Daron Richardson press release, which was discussed the previous post.

According to Schella, the Richardsons came to the decision to release the details of Daron's suicide after discussions with their medical team and chaplin. "We never would have released it otherwise," Schella said. "(Luke and Stephanie) approved the statement and the specific words that were used. We've tried to help as much as we could."

The decision to pull the release from the website was made by the Senators PR department, as well as the club's president, Cyril Leeder. "We decided that two hours would be long enough to for it to stay on our website," Phil Legault said. "Obviously, once the statement gets out to the media, it's out there - you can't take it back, but we were also trying to be respectful for the family's sake."

When asked if the team had received any negative feedback regarding the release, Legault said that there had been none. "The family has been applauded for their bravery (in releasing the information.)"

There you have it. Much thanks to Phil Legault and Chad Schella for speaking to me, and credit to the Ottawa Senators organization for being willing to do so.

More later.

The past week has been the hardest one in my short writing career, which is ironic for two reasons: 1) Nothing happened to me and 2) I didn't write anything.

It was the events and the indirect actions of others that left me confused, angry and altogether unsure of my place and ultimate future in this business. Even now, I can't discuss the situation completely because of the repercussions it may cause, but I'll do my best.

It all started with the sudden and shocking news of Daron Richardson's death. The 14-year-old daughter of Luke Richardson died last weekend, and the news of her passing shook the hockey world to its core. The revelation that it was a suicide was hard enough to swallow so soon -- however, it was the details from the Senators' initial press release that truly caught everyone off guard.

I was taken aback by it, as were others in the business (Twitter truly is a glorious tool, as it allowed me to communicate quickly with reporters in the press box and those on the air at the time). The biggest questions: "Why was there so much detail in the release? Why did we need to know the cause of death and the breakdown of how/where/when/by whom she was found?" It was only something to ponder, until I checked in with my source, who is part of Luke Richardson's inner circle, and was aware of Daron's death before it had been made public. I told him of the details in the press release. "How do you know all that?" I told him it was all in the statement. "That wasn't supposed to get out," he said. Several hours later, the Senators had pulled the original statement from their website (the link above is the Google cache version as it appeared in the release). It was then that I knew that someone had (allegedly) made a very large mistake.

In the days that followed, my source helped me trace back through the fallout - and information released - from the death. Suddenly, I became privy to far more about this investigation that I ever expected.

But what could I do about it? Nothing.

These are the dilemmas that we should discussing in online media. Bloggers v. print in the press box? I don't give a damn about that. Why doesn't someone talk about the foibles of trying to get sources in the police department, or whether you can use a source's scoop if they gave it to you while intoxicated? When is the right time to approach a grieving family about the details of their child's death, and how do you know if you even have to gumption to do something like that without seeming like a monster? How does one question the rationale of a professional sports franchises' decision to release such graphic information, and do so without the protection of an employer, in case they want to ban you from the press box? In the same vein, how do you call them on their (expletive) for pulling the release - a clear-cut sign that they know they were in the wrong? Am I doing it now? Is this enough?

Don't talk any more crap to me about press box dilemmas. Don't tell me that I owe guys like Chris Botta a great deal, even if he did get the short end of the stick. He didn't teach me how to handle a situation like this. And as the lines between traditional media and blogging become more blurred by the day, these problems will become our new-school reality. But the question remains - how do we deal with them? Something tells me the old-school guys aren't keen to reveal what they may have learned in J-school, although I'm not sure what happened to me this week would've been covered in any class.

More later.

OK, so with travel (Vancouver and Houston), work and now the flu, I've been out of commission for a while. Sorry about that. Much thanks to Dany Heatley Speedwagon for holding up the fort at Yahoo! while I was flying around the continent like a maniac.

Anyway, post to come in the next 24-48 (hopefully) on the last week or so - travel, the sports reporters panel at Carleton University this past Monday with Ian Mendes, Sean McIndoe of Down Goes Brown, James Gordon of the Ottawa Citizen and yours truly, my visit with 5-time Smak-Off Champion, dear friend and Houston radio deity Sean Pendergast and more. And I guess I should say something about the Senators, right? How about that local sports team?

More to come, Cynics. Good to be back. Stay tuned.

...because I get to listen to Theo Fleury sing in just under 3 hours.

Who wants to sit like bumps on logs and not call Jason Spezza's off-season conditioning into question, because he's been saddled with a groin injury so early in the season? Sounds like a good time, yes? It's not like they could really use any offensive presence, seeing as Ottawa is 29th in the league in average goals per game with 2.00 (New Jersey is last, with 1.75). And in continuing with criticizing the guys who aren't playing, here's an take on Spezza from a well-known retired NHL player: "(Jason) Spezza was one of the easiest guys to play against in the league. He's soft and he's scared." Nothing we haven't heard before, except for the "scared" bit. Your thoughts?

Meanwhile, over at The Hockey News, John Grigg tells us that a trade isn't enough to fix the Sens. Who wants me to push him over Elaine Benes-style with a "Get OUT!" response? I always zero in on defence, because I'm obsessed with blueliners. I know people were concerned with goaltending, but where did they think the scoring would come from? I think I've made my thoughts regarding Mike Fisher's offensive tendencies quite clear, and Kovalev has been a lost cause since he arrived. Obviously, there are variables - we assumed Spezza would be playing, and that Milan Michalek would pick up where he left off. That said, even if they were, it wouldn't be enough to keep the Sens' heads above .500. There are too many things wrong, and it's going to take significant upheaval to make it right.

Sigh. It's difficult for me to comment on the Oilers' cheerleading controversy without seeming like I'm having a Camille Paglia moment. Truth be told, it has less to do with feminism than you might think. Full disclosure: I have never been a cheerleader. I've been asked (most notably by a Sun Media editor who thought it would be "fun" for me to perform with the 'Gades), but I've never gone through with it. The reason? As a dancer, I've always felt that cheerleading was bull(expletive). If these girls are doing even less than your standard female with pompoms, and basically standing in the stands while yelling, what purpose do they serve? (For the record, the Oilers have stated that cheer, dance, and gymnastics experience is helpful, but not an asset.) The NHL's female fanbase continues to grow steadily - men should be contented enough to look at them. If not, too bad - last time I checked, there was still a game going on. Look, if the tables were turned, and the teams were placing attractive men in the stands, I'd sooner they turn their attention to more relevant things - like improving the concession menus. *cough* Scotiabank Place *cough*

More later.


UPDATE: A reader, who was very upset with this post, my work and my "Mickey Mouse blog" in general, insists that he has the inside track on all things Sens. (I know - I really set up his credibility, right?) Anyway, this guy insists that Spezza hurt his groan (that one's for the old-schoolers) during the team's training exercise at CFB Petawawa. And what better place to look for corroborative evidence than the Sun's own Don Brennan, right? Here's a clip from Oct. 8:

"Could be wrong, but I don’t remember Spezza having a sore groin BEFORE he started pulling tanks, repelling and jumping off 50-foot platforms at CFB Petawawa."


Do I believe any of this? Meh. It's hard to pinpoint the exact time of the injury - various reports mention groin problems before, during and at the end of training camp. Camp began on Sept. 17 and the Sens' trip to Petawawa was on Oct. 4. That said, it does bring up a Chewable: Let's say for the hell of it, that Jason did hurt his groin on a team-building exercise. It would stand to reason that the Senators would want to keep it hush-hush, and hell, even let someone like little old insignificant me take shots at Spezza's conditioning instead. Anything to protect the image of the club, and not expose a major mistake.

More later.

Yesterday, the Ottawa Senators announced that there were fewer than 4,500 tickets available for tonight's game vs. Carolina. Yes, you read that number correctly.

Naturally, the excuses started rolling in. "It's a mid-week game!" Uh, Thursday games have been commonplace in Ottawa for years, and people have continued to show up. "It's early in the season!" If you are part of the majority of fans who bitched and moaned about the lack of all hockey all summer, you would think you'd be getting your ass out there every chance you got. "It's Carolina!" You claim to be Senators fans, yes? Go and see your home team. "They're 0-2-1!" Sigh. And you get pissed off when the critics call you "fair-weather." Next?

The reality is the Senators have always relied on walk-up business. The days of the 12,000+ season ticketholder fan base, post-Cup run, was short-lived and it won't be returning any time soon. Based on the way the year has opened in Ottawa, the Senators better come with some heavy promotional gimmicks, because this isn't going to be pretty - especially when the evidence appears on a national broadcast via TSN tonight.

More later.

The news is out: I'll be contributing a consistent dose of snark and estrogen representation over at Puck Daddy. The dear Mr. Wyshynski, a man who, on occasion, has seen me far drunker than I'd like to admit, was kind enough to take a chance on this bitter Quebecor reject, and for that, I salute him.

If you'd like to bookmark my vitriol over at Yahoo!, use this link. Meanwhile, here are my predictions for the Eastern and Western conferences, which are just bound to piss you off.

As usual, you'll still find me here, and on Twitter. As you were, cynics. More later.

Another year, another power-play perimeter game from the Sens. We all know the drill: Passes along the boards/blueline, shoot it to the man down low on the right side, and await the garbage goal. It's the Greg Carvel special.

The thing is, the man down low used to be Dany Heatley - remember? Well, it's interesting to look at the stats before and after No. 15's departure in the power-play department for Ottawa. In 2008-09, Ottawa was 10th in the league, with a PP percentage of 19.5. Last year, they dropped to 21st, with an average of 16.9.

Based on the pre-season, it appears that Carvel is going with the same plan. Regardless of whether there's an improvement on last year's numbers, would it kill the assistant coach to try something new? In the last four years, the Senators have yet to finish above 10th place in PP%, and three of those years saw Heatley at the helm, which likely boosted the numbers. Collapse down low, get a man in FRONT of the net - it's hardly rocket science. Carvel's been here so long, everyone already knows how Ottawa is going to play it. Not only is it predictable for the opponent and boring for fans, but lately it's proven to be ineffective for the team.

Go ahead and chew on that.