| 29 January 2009
I don't know about many of you, but I've had this game scheduled on my calendar for good reason. One quick look at the standings should only serve as a reminder for how badly the Sens and Blues have defecated the mattress thus far -- With 32 points, Ottawa's currently tied for 29th place in the NHL and with 42 points, St. Louis is the last place team in the Western Conference. Consequently, there's a lot on the line in tonight's Battle of the Basement -- Good thing it's only available via the NHL Network. If we lose tonight, we may have to rename the Sens Army to the Sens Martyrs.
Let's take a look at what's on the line tonight:
How will Ottawa respond after being embarrassed by the New Jersey Devils? Without question, tonight's result will be far more important than the first game back from the All-Star Break. If Ottawa comes out flat again, it'll be another poor reflection of the character within the dressing room. (Especially after the recent criticisms levied against the team by Coach Hartsburg.) I know the defeatists will crossing their fingers for a loss, but Ottawa really needs to win this game to justify keeping the bulk of this team together. Or, they could win it because if they don't, I'm convinced that Craig Hartsburg will have a coronary.
Jason Smith, who suffered a chip on his shoulder during the All-Star break, will draw back into the lineup after being benched against New Jersey. Hopefully his absence will inspire him to play the emotional and physical game that was advertised when the Sens brought him in during the offseason. Unfortunately, I'm not naive enough to assume that his skating has improved overnight. Smith's slowing down faster than Jessica Simpson's metabolism.
A win tonight would also put the Sens one point back of Toronto. It's almost a win-win situation: On one hand, it'll make Mike Zeisberger and other Leafs fans happy because they feel they have a greater entitlement to John Tavares than Ottawa does. On the other hand, it'll give unhappy Sens fans an opportunity to go into work the next day and shit on their Leaf-supporting co-workers. And once they're done running their mouths, they'll sell their co-worker tickets to the next Leafs/Sens game. Win-win!
But hey, even if the Sens lose tonight the OC Transpo strike is over and Don Brennan's back to writing moronic things like Neil is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, and indications are communication between his agent and GM Bryan Murray has been minimal. He's making $1.2 million US this season, and deserves at least double that. It's almost like everything's back to normal in the Nation's Capital.
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