Our next podcast will not occur until the first week of January, but I've had a number of emails from readers who either don't have Itunes, can't subscribe to our podcasts or for whatever reason, can't access our RSS link and download the podcasts from there.

Consequently, I've decided to post the individual links here to allow you to download them from the main site. To save the individual podcasts, just right click on each individual link and save them to your computer.

Episode 1 -- Joined by special guest and the first owner of the Ottawa Senators, Bruce Firestone.

Episode 2 -- Joined by special guest and author of Yahoo! Sports' Puck Daddy blog, Greg Wyshynski

Episode 3 -- Joined by special guests Michael Sharp and the Senators' 2009 first round pick Jared Cowen

Episode 4 -- Joined by special guests Ian Mendes of Sportsnet and Dany Heatley Speedwagon of the Scarlett Ice blog

Episode 5 -- Christmas edition of the podcast.

In retrospect, even though they were without Alfie and Spezza, Ottawa’s 3-2 shootout victory over the Northeast Division leading Buffalo Sabres shouldn’t have been that surprising. Ottawa was playing a team that they have historically had success against and Buffalo has struggled offensively this year. When you factor in the fact that Ottawa was due for a bit of a bounce back game following their 8-2 loss to the Penguins, the recipe for victory should have been more transparent. That being said, I expect a bit of a letdown tonight and will pick the Canadiens since they are on a 4-game winning streak and will dress a lineup that features the hot-handed Jaroslav Halak and a returning Roman Hamrlik and Brian Gionta.

Lineup: Shannon-Fisher-Kovalev; Michalek-Regin-Neil; Ruutu-Kelly-Cheechoo; Keller-Winchester-Donovan; and Pascal Leclaire will make his third straight start for the Senators.

Alfredsson's No Dominator

After the Bryden bankruptcy situation in 2003 in which Alfie deferred salary so that the Senators could afford to pay their players, it's not like the Senators organization needed any more affirmation that Alfie's a team player first. Well, here's another quote from the captain regarding whether or not he'll attend the Olympics if he's not healthy...

“It’s not going to be a decision where if I’m 50/50 I’ll go anyway. I’m only going to go if I feel I can play 100% and help the team. I’m sure they don’t want me to go, either, if I’m not playing games (for Ottawa) and playing fully before. I don’t see that being an issue at all."

It's unjust how Hasek has a ring and a gold medal.

Trouble At the Mellon Arena

I received an interesting email from a Penguins fan in Pittsburgh who had this to say,

Hi guys. I am a season ticket holder for the Pittsburgh Penguins. On the Wednesday, Dec 23rd Sens at Pens game at Melllon Arena, one of your faithful was unjustly ejected from the game after doing absolutly nothing wrong. I know it's a 10,000,000 to 1 shot of finding this guy. But if I do find him ( I have a photo of him), I want to offer him free tickets to the next Pens versus Sens game in Pittsburgh. I know its a longshot but any help from you will be appreciated. Thanks and merry Christmas.

If anyone knows who was thrown out, please fire us an email and we'll put you in touch with this Penguins fan. Thanks.

I have come to a few revelations this holiday season: One, I realized that Innis & Gunn, a Scottish oak aged beer is delicious and two, the Hockey Gods have invariably had it in for this season's version of the Ottawa Senators. There's simply no other explanation for the inordinate number of bad things that have transpired this year.

It started in the summer time when the front-running Dany Heatley requested a trade. At the time, I thought it was the great news. Ottawa could rid itself of a physically gifted but mentally deficient player who had no interest in becoming more than the one-dimensional, numbers obsessed player who cared only about his own production and statistics. After Ottawa went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007, Heatley fell into that athlete trap that typically followed a team's success. He always wanted more. More money, more first powerplay unit minutes, more cross-ice passes for one-timers so that he wouldn't have to skate and exert effort in the offensive zone. And when he wasn't getting enough of one of these things, he picked up his ball and went home to Kelowna. A place where he remained recluse and selfishly threw his former coach under the bus and single-handedly killed his inherent back-to-back 50-goal trade value around the League. So you can't blame me for being a bit resentful that Ottawa only received Milan Michalek, the expensive and unsurprisingly unproductive Jonathan Cheechoo and a 2nd round pick in return for Heatley.

And who could forget this team's anemic powerplay or the team's inability to draw a penalty. Bryan Murray and Cory Clouston are being portrayed as whiners by the national hockey media and Alexei Kovalev isn't upset that he wasn't selected for the Russian Olympic team because he said he wouldn't mind "having the 10 days off." . (Uh, Alexei...what about those first 30 plus games of the season?)

Sure, there have been some good stories on this year's Senators team. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the ridiculously productive season that Mike Fisher has had thus far. However, had you told me before the season that by late December, that Ottawa would be sitting in the seventh playoff spot in the Eastern Conference while Spezza/Shannon/Cheechoo/Kovalev would have a combined 15 goals and that Matt Carkner was logging top four minutes on defence, I'd have thought you were crazy. And the injuries! Oh, the injuries. How this team has managed to cope and keep its head above water despite encountering significant injuries to Pascal Leclaire, Nick Foligno, Anton Volchenkov, Filip Kuba, Chris Neil, and Shean Donovan is either a testament to Cory Clouston or it's an indication of how inherently flawed each of the Eastern Conference teams are. Or probably a little bit of both.

Regardless, the Senators currently sit in the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference with 42 points but they're also only eight points ahead of the 29th ranked Edmonton Oilers. A small enough margin in which one bad losing streak could not only have the Senators looking on from outside of the playoff picture but also looking up at the rest of the NHL standings. It's a possibility that becomes threateningly realistic now that they're without their number one center, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson, their heart and soul. Chris Stevenson is reporting that Alfie has suffered a shoulder separation and will be out 4 to 6 weeks. When you compound Alfie's injury diagnosis with Spezza's 6 to 8 week absence, Ottawa must face the prospect that they could be without their two best offensive talents for upwards 26 games, the amount of games that will take place between now and the February 14th start of the Olympic break.

According to Bruce Garrioch on Off The Posts, Ottawa's record when Alfredsson does not play -- 6-18-1 (.260) -- isn't flattering. Without Spezza and Alfie in the lineup, Mike Fisher's line will now garner the attention of the opposition's best defensive tandem moving forward. The question of whether Fisher can continue to produce in light of these circumstances is likely be the decisive factor in whether or not the Senators can stay competitive enough to remain in the playoff picture.

From a short term perspective, the aforementioned two injuries could be devastating in a oh shit, I may have taken some painkillers and driven my Lincoln Navigator into a fire hydrant and tree and I may have been saved by my Swedish wife who smashed out the back window with a 9-iron kind of way. But hey, at least it's slightly less embarrassing.

I know there are going to be a slew of bleeding heart Senators fans who are going to be agonizing over the losses of Spezza and Alfie and to a certain extent, rightfully so. It would be nice to see the Senators back in the playoffs after the way the past two seasons have ended dismally. However, there's also a lot of good that can come of this and have lasting ramifications on the team's future success. It gives the organization an opportunity to develop young offensive players like Peter Regin by giving him top six minutes and responsibilities. And maybe, if the team is lucky, Ryan Shannon can shed his Muckaltian label and contribute with a goal. (Ed. note: Shannon scored while I was writing this piece.)

Personally, I'd love to see a line featuring Michalek, Regin and Shannon that would create some matchup problems against the opposition with their collective speed. Maybe given the increased pressure and larger roles, some the rest of the Senators can learn to be a little more resilient. And by more resilient, I mean toughen the fuck up so that the next time the Captain gets rocked, someone goes out and takes a liberty on an opposing star player. Or better yet, I hope they learn to play with the urgency that they exhibit whenever they play the Buffalo Sabres.

Bruce Garrioch's suggestion that Ottawa needs to trade for an aging veteran like Ray Whitney is not the right choice for this organization right now. Neither Spezza or Alfredsson will be put on long-term injury reserve, so where Bruce thinks Ottawa's going to get the cap flexibility to take on a contract like Whitney -- $3.55M for season -- is beyond me. Ottawa does not even have the good fortune to be in a position to be give up young prospects or draft picks to secure an eight place finish in the East. And similarly, it does not take a Senators savant to notice that while the Ottawa organization has some intriguing forward prospects like Andre Petersson and Jakub Silfverberg, the organization is devoid of an elite forward prospect. Considering that defensive prospects like Jared Cowen and Erik Karlsson probably won't log significant top four minutes until the 2011-12 season, it'd be nice to have a young and talented offensive forward who the organization could move forward with in conjunction with their development. Besides, if Ottawa starts losing games like everyone suspects, they still have a chance to catch Carolina...

...Relax. I'm just kidding. I'd never condone for the Senators to tank the rest of the season just so that we can wind up with a higher draft pick. That being said, I'd still prefer to see in house alternatives and continued development and if that meant that Ottawa would take its lumps for the duration of the season, I would be okay with that. And please spare me the talk that people won't pay to not watch winners in this city. Ottawa's still in a playoff position and people still haven't paid to watch them thus far. Besides, I'm a firm believer that if a hockey market had a good understanding of the direction of their organization, they would still pay and support it. Look at the Blackhawks, or the Capitals, or the Penguins. You cannot convince me that a young and exciting team could not sell in this market.

My point?

Aside from Mike Fisher's season thus far, this season just hasn't been in the cards for the Ottawa Senators. Hell, even my respect and appreciation for Fisher has been marred a bit by this article that indicates that he likes the rock band Creed. It's just been that kind of season with circumstantial bad luck in every turn. But now isn't any time to start feeling sorry for ourselves, it's a time to make fun of other Sens fans who are running around like Chicken Little and complaining that the sky is falling. The sky isn't falling, it's just an opportunity to test and gauge how well our team can handle some adversity. No longer can this team be dependent on Alfredsson and Spezza to carry the offensive workload. To have any chance at success while they are out, they're going to have to fluidly rely on one another but they're also going to have to outwork, outmuscle, and outhustle their opponents for every single game night. And in the long run, Sens fans will be better for it.

Since I was at a Christmas party last night, I wasn't able to watch last night's 8-2 debacle in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for Pascal Leclaire, he can't get some cosmetic surgery to repair his goals against average. More important than that scoreboard spanking was the fact that Daniel Alfredsson sustained an injury to his shoulder that many are speculating could sideline him for weeks. Oddly enough, Tim and I joked on our Christmas edition of the podcast that Ryan Shannon was such a favorite of Cory Clouston that all he had to do to usurp Alfie from the top line was score one goal. Well, apparently there's another way.

Without Alfredsson and Spezza in the lineup, the only positive to come from this situation is that Bryan Murray will now have something else to complain about besides the officiating. The real challenge for this team moving forward is whether the team's abundance of capable third and fourth line talent can keep this ship afloat long enough for their best offensive forwards to return.

Best of 2009

Alright, so Tim and I were talking in the studios this past week and we thought it'd be a good idea to come up with a recap article that touches upon our favorite articles/comments/ideas of 2009 and wanted to extend the opportunity to the readers to voice their opinions on stuff that they enjoyed on this website, on other Sens websites or prevalent news stories. If you're interested in contributing, float us an email or leave a comment here with your favorite article, favorite comment, favorite reader, Photoshopped image, quip, or give us your thought(s) on the past calendar year. On behalf of Tim and I at The 6th Sens, we want to wish everyone a safe and happy holidays. Have a merry Christmas. (Even you Chris Campoli.)

Podcast: Episode IV

On short notice, Tim and I jumped back into the studios to record a Christmas edition of the podcast. As part of this week's episode, we look back at the past week's events and discuss Christmas gifts and New Year's Resolutions for the players, staff and media. To listen to the podcast, you can stream or download it using Itunes. Or you can right-click on this link and save the file. Here's the tracklisting for the episode: Joey Ramone What A Wonderful World; Sloppy Seconds Lonely Christmas; The Ramones Punk Rock Christmas; The Descendents Christmas Vacation; Bruce Springsteen Santa Claus Is Coming to Town; Tom Waits Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis;

Ottawa Senators (18-14-4) vs Flightless Birds (25-11-1) @ the Igloo Mellon Arena, 7pm Eastern Time; Television: Rogers Sportsnet

One of my favorite memories as a child was standing in line with my father waiting with all of the other Senators fans to claim our season tickets over at the Ottawa Senators main offices on Moodie Drive. Even though it was a long process, it was an exciting place to be. Everyone in line was decked in Senators swag -- fans were donning Senators pins, jerseys or t-shirts. I sported the white Senators jersey that featured the Parliamentary logo and was used to promote the return of the Senator to the nation's capital. And to this day, that jersey is still hanging up in my closet.

I remember my first Senators fan experience like it was yesterday and two things in particular stand out. One,  I can recall the hours spent waiting in line before my father could finally put in a claim on which seats he wanted at the Civic Center. As a child, long waits were the worst. I could not stand them. Think of Mike Fisher's lack of patience with the puck last year and multiply that by about 150. In a nutshell, that was me.

Secondly, I remember the genuine and almost child-like enthusiasm that my father had for the entire duration of the wait in line and how it made the wait worthwhile for me as a young child. In retrospect, I can't recall ever seeing my father this enthusiastic. He loved the game of hockey. Just loved it. But his enthusiasm for buying tickets went beyond the game, I think he also relished the opportunity to buy a block of four seats and split the cost with his best friend and older brother. It also worked out favourably for me because my dad's brother had a son who was the same age as myself. I knew that if my cousin and uncle were going to a game, the likelihood of me going to the game with my dad was greater.

I remember that for one game in 1995, the four of us attended a game at the Civic Center in which the Senators ran a promotion for the upcoming Jean Claude Van Damme movie, Sudden Death. At the conclusion of the game, the Civic Center staff weren't handing out individual posters, they were handing out boxes of posters. They couldn't get rid of these things quickly enough. My cousin and I didn't care though, we grabbed as many posters as we could. Forget Crosby, Jagr, Lemieux and Malkin, I still consider the most memorable moment in Penguins franchise history to be when Jean Claude Van Damme's character, Darren McCord, averted a terrorist threat by stopping a penalty shot that was awarded to the Chicago Blackhawks.

As is the norm on game day, here is my prediction that is featured as part of James Gordon's Ottawa Citizen Prediction Panel (that will eventually be posted some time today)...

3-2 Ottawa

The matchup between the Penguins and Senators should be labelled as the Battle of the Badly Abbreviated Team Names. The return of Chris Neil will hopefully light a spark under a team that needed one after a listless third period against the Bruins and to further that thought, I hope he avenges Matt Cooke's hit on Shean Donovan. Neil's not the only returnee to the lineup, Pascal Leclaire should make his first start in weeks and hopefully he'll be a little more cognizant of where the puck is on the ice.

Lineups

No one has Tweeted any lineup updates thus far, but what I do know is that Pascal Leclaire will make his first start in weeks and Chris Neil will be returning as well. I'd imagine that it's likely that Neil will assume Josh Hennessey's slot on the fourth line.

Depressing Quote From Yesterday

"I don't know. I can't really control what the fans are doing, if they're booing me or not. I played hard when I played for Ottawa, I always did my best and the organization, at that time, chose Wade Redden and I was fine with that and I had to move on. So when they decided to sign Wade instead of me, I had to move on and obviously management back then — John Muckler and company — they made it look like I went for the money, but that wasn't the case. Basically I liked my chances and options that I had in Boston and that's why I chose Boston and I still believe in that and it's just too bad that they made it look, to the fans and to the public, like I went for the money." ~ Zdeno Chara, Hockey Capital

iPhone & Mobile Application

For those readers who like to check out the website via telephone, there are now mobile applications that will enable better browsing capabilities for The 6th Sens. To check out these applications, follow this link.

X-Mas Edition of the Podcast

I'm hoping to edit and post the podcast that Tim and I recorded sometime later today or early tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that.

Our good friends over at Silver Seven Sens have an article up detailing how Erik Karlsson scored his first NHL goal. Interestingly, they've elected to break the video clip down and give some intricate details about how the play developed. The inclusion and use of player names and the level of analysis used are enough to put Bob Cole to shame. We at The 6th Sens were so inspired enough by Peter's post that we've decided to pay homage to Silver Seven Sens and systematically break down how the Mike Fisher / Carrie Underwood engagement rumour came to pass. (Ed. note: Even their use of the first person plural has rubbed off on us.)

It may have taken a little longer than he would have liked, or that many had expected, but Mike Fisher may have been given carte blanche to get into Carrie Underwood's pants in the near future. How it happened will likely be forgotten if his career plays out as Senators fans and brass expect him to but if it in any way affects Fisher's production, we will all lose here. That being said, why not take a closer look at how Fisher's alleged engagement to Ms. Underwood has developed while it's still fresh in our minds.

It started off with a Tweet on Twitter. Bit of a weak-looking rumour, a user under the name Colin Peter tweeted that he attended a Christmas party with Fisher's cousin, who received a call from family to share the news. Got that? It's the patented friend of a friend rumour! Regardless, he did what was most important: He planted a seed. But more importantly, he left a smiley face at the end of his Tweet. Congratulations to mike fisher and Carrie underwood! We just got the call at our family Christmas get together :)

After Peter made the Tweet, Fisher's Wikipedia page had been updated to indicate the change. Meanwhile, someone hadn't taken the time to update Carrie Underwood's Wikipedia page or her personal website apparently, they were too busy trying to hold private conversations with Colin Peter after he had protected his account due to mass attention. If not for the work of one dedicated fan who claimed that Peter had confirmed the news in a private message, this rumour may have died a slow death.

With these Tweets in the Twittersphere, the attention has drawn mainstream media outlets toward the rumour -- and away from common sense -- in an effort to chase the news. Once the Twittersphere had dried up, the mainstream media looked to the celebrity blogs and websites for some confirmation that they had wasted 15 minutes of their lives trying to chase down the truth in a classic friend of a friend rumour.

Cue the Monday morning Senators practice. We've heard a lot about the engagement rumour, but haven't had much of an opportunity to let Fisher have his say and poo poo these rumours. Hopefully Fisher's comments can follow up the perfectly-timed deletion of Colin Peter's Twitter account so that Sens fans can breathe a little easier knowing that a Mike Fisher engagement has been postponed.

And the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch has confirmed the rumour:  This morning, a source close to the couple confirmed to the Ottawa Sun that Fisher popped the question and Underwood has accepted the proposal. Great. Brace yourselves for an onslaught of Carrie Fisher and Princess Leia jokes. And God forbid that some Tony Romo parallels are drawn if Fisher's production begins to wane.

Minnesota Wild (17-14-3) Vs Ottawa Senators (17-13-4) @ SBP, 7:00pm ET; Televison: CBC

“We spend two weeks trying to break in skates,” he said. “I’ve never heard of anything like this in my life. When I first heard about it, I thought it was some kind of a joke.”

Havlat also questioned whether they should play.

“How tough is this going to be on the goalies? he asked. “They have to get comfortable in their equipment.” ~ Martin Havlat via Ottawa Sun

There is no Ottawa Citizen prediction panel for today's game but that won't stop me from making a 4-2 Ottawa winning prediction.

Martin Havlat can talk all he wants about how the Minnesota Wild are at a disadvantage now that their team has had all of their equipment burned because of a fire. But it's not the first time in history, a team has re-upped their equipment and swag and gone onto to do some great things. Does anyone remember Gordon Bombay approaching his boss, Gerald Ducksworth, to sponsor a hockey team? And does anyone remember how the team immediately showed signs of improvement by tying their next game? Exactly. A complete makeover can in fact be directly correlated with a miraculous improvement in ability and skill. Okay, granted, it's a Disney script. However, the important lesson here is that if there's precedent, then there's nothing for Havlat to complain about. And who knows, maybe the rest of the Western Conference can come down with measles so that the Wild can sneak into the playoffs too. The NHL, where anything -- other than a suspension to a star player -- can happen!

Reason #1 Why Cory Clouston is Awesome

When asked whether or not he thinks it's fair that the Minnesota Wild have to play tonight's game with new swag or with an AHL goalie who has his own equipment, Clouston responded with this gem, “Ask Pascal (Leclaire) if he has any sympathy for bad luck.”

Line Combos & A Goaltending Note

The line combos look to be the same from the past two games.

Michalek - Winchester - Alfie

Regin - Fisher - Kovalev

Ruutu - Kelly - Cheechoo

Campoli - Shannon - Hennessey

Mike Brodeur will be starting in nets.

Dave Schreiber Retiring From the Airwaves

Senators Owner Eugene Melnyk has declared that today will Dave Schreiber Day at SBP and in a classy move, the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch has procured letters from the NHL, the Senators, Steven Harper, the 67's and Larry O'Brien. We at The 6th Sens would like to also congratulate Schreibs on a glorious broadcasting career and wish him all the best in the future.

This might make my gameday prediction for the Wild on Saturday. All pictures are courtesy from The Score...

Earlier this season the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch dedicated an article that championed Mike Fisher's candidacy for a Team Canada Olympic roster spot. At the time, even the most ardent of Senators supporters dismissed Garrioch's notion like it was one of his Sunday rumour suggestions. Although Fisher was producing at such a torrid pace, he was also a notoriously streaky offensive contributor who was coming off a disappointing 2008-09 campaign in which he only registered 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points. For Sens fans, there wasn't a question of if Fisher would stop producing, it was a question of when.

A funny thing has happened though, as the midway point of the season and as the Olympics draw near, Fisher's production hasn't waned. His torrid start has carried on and Fisher's still producing at close to a point-per-game clip. Through 31 games, he has 15 goals and 13 assists and is well on his to shattering his 2006-07 best 48 points. Even outsiders are noticing Fisher's production as TSN's resident number cruncher, Scott Cullen, has Fisher listed as the second most productive Canadian born center in the NHL behind Sidney Crosby this season. Cullen uses a complex formula to determine player rankings that are based on statistical production and are intended to value the impact a player has on the game.

While Fisher has always exhibited a physical dimension and some defensive prowess, his offensive numbers have allowed Fisher to surpass or at least be on par with other Team Canada bubble candidates. Have a look at the numbers...

• Mike Fisher -- 33 GP, 15 G, 13 A, 28 points, +9
• Brendan Morrow -- 34 GP, 13 G, 10 A, 23 points, +1
• Shane Doan -- 35 GP, 7 G, 12 A, 19 points, -6
• Brad Richards -- 32 GP, 10 G, 27 A, 37 points, -1
• Jeff Carter -- 31 GP, 11 G, 14 A, 25 points, -3
• Mike Richards -- 33 GP, 13 G, 14 A, 27 points, +4
• Martin St. Louis -- 34 GP, 6 G, 29 A, 35 points, -7
• Patrick Sharp -- 31 GP, 9 G, 15 A, 24 points, +10
• Jonathan Toews -- 26 GP, 9 G, 12 A, 21 points, +15
• Jordan Staal -- 35 GP, 10 G, 11 A, 21 points, +6

To help petition and raise public support for Mike Fisher's candidacy, a website called Mike Fisher for Team Canada 2010 was created. Here is the website's mission statement,

Hey, Steve Yzerman, GM of Team Canada, I believe Mike Fisher deserves serious consideration for Team Canada in Vancouver. He skates fast, hits hard, has a nice scoring touch and is having a career year with the Ottawa Senators. He's a team player through and through and his heart for hockey is as big as our country. Go for the Gold, GO CANADA GO!

Fisher 2010. Lend your support!