In the wake of another playoff loss that saw a 102-point Senators team lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the fourth straight time, fans and the organization were reeling. After being outcoached by Pat Quinn and stubbornly refusing to adjust his in-game strategies, there was no doubt that Jacques Martin would be shown the door. Shortly thereafter, Patrick Lalime relocated his talent and defecated mattress to the fine streets of Missourri. When Gary Bettman announced in the 2004 summer that there was going to be a labour stoppage, we knew that there would be silver lining of free agency. Instead, fans were forced to sit through the NHL's labour stoppage and wallow in self pity.

According to Alexander Zaitsev of RussianHockeyFans.com,

Alexei Kovalev, Alexander Frolov, Sergei Zubov and Nikolai Kulemin are going to the Olympic Games in Vancouver as substitutes for the Russian team.

It is not officially announced yet but according to Russian site infox.ru Kovalev, Frolov, Zubov and Kulemin have received the Olympics equipment as well as other players from the official Team Russia roster. It means they are going to the Olympics in the status of substitute players.

Overall Russia will have 9 substitute players, three from the NHL and six from the KHL.

The list of Russian Olympics substitute players

NHL
1. Alexei Kovalev, Ottawa Senators
2. Alexander Frolov, Los Angeles Kings
3. Nikolai Kulemin, Toronto Maple Leafs

KHL
4. Vasiliy Koschechkin, Metallurg Magnitogorsk
5. Alexander Eremenko, Salavat Yulaev
6. Sergei Zubov, SKA St. Petersburg
7. Vitaliy Proshkin, Salavat Yulaev
8. Oleg Tverdovskiy, Salavat Yulaev
9. Alexei Tereschenko, Ak Bars

Thanks to the Senators official Twitter account, it looks like Jason Spezza's return is imminent because the team optioned Zach Smith to Binghamton and Spezza skated on a line with Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek at this morning's practice. With Jason's return against the Bruins, things can only get better from here on in. Right?

According to one crazy cat, they can...

“On paper, at the beginning of the year, this was the elite team, one of the Top 5 teams in the league. Now, they’re starting to show their stuff and I think it can only get better because of all the injured players coming back.” ~ The Euge

As the Senators current winning streak extends and the wins get more and more impressive, it's easy to assume that Spezza's return will have some profound impact on this team. He can add some depth and creativity to a Senators power play that until last night, had struggled mightily this season.

However, the Senators have been able to put together a 5-game winning streak in his absence and their play without Spezza is classic Ewing Theory 101.

Developed by David Cirilli and ESPN's Bill Simmons, the Ewing Theory was formed after Cirilli was convinced that Patrick Ewing's teams (both at Georgetown and with New York) inexplicably played better when Ewing was either injured or missing extended stretches because of foul trouble. The theory consists of the following two points:

1. A star athlete receives an inordinate amount of media attention and fan interest, and yet his teams never win anything substantial with him (other than maybe some early-round playoff series).
2. That same athlete leaves his team (either by injury, trade, graduation, free agency or retirement) -- and both the media and fans immediately write off the team.

The knock on Spezza since junior has always been, he's a great offensive numbers guy who, when he's not producing, has had difficulty affecting the outcome of games. And in his absence, the chemistry that the lines have developed is unmistakable. Freshman Peter Regin has thrived in his role pivoting Ryan Shannon and Alexei Kovalev and Mike Fisher has rediscovered his scoring touch while being flanked by Nick Foligno and Alfredsson. Even the checking line of Jarkko Ruutu, Chris Kelly and Chris Neil has exceeded expectations to this point. In the absence of guys like Michalek and Spezza, the rest of the lineup has flourished when given the opportunity to step up and assume a larger role.

It's why the return of Spezza is a little disconcerting for me. Milan Michalek made his return to the lineup last night against the Blues and was an obvious candidate to play with Spezza since they were paired together before their respective injuries. However, the two haven't combined to produce a goal since Michalek scored in the third period against the Boston Bruins on November 28th. Even though Milan got off to a torrid start, I was never under the impression that he was dependent on Spezza to produce some points.

By throwing Michalek and Spezza together with Alfie, Cory Clouston's effectively reverted Mike Fisher back into a third line checking center capacity by playing him with Neil and Foligno. By keeping up the continuity and bringing Spezza along slowly, there would be no immediate pressure on the team's highest paid player to cut his teeth and shoulder the scoring load.

That being said, I understand why Clouston juggled the lines. They're not static. If Spezza's production fails to live up to his contract, Clouston has alternatives that he easily revert back to.

So here is a topic for discussion for you readers to hit on:

1) How much pressure is on Jason Spezza to prove that he's a top center and that there's life without Heatley?

2) Are you disappointed with the line combinations in his return?

According to Ian Mendes, Milan Michalek's condition has been upgraded and he is now likely to return tomorrow night against the St. Louis Blues. As tempting as it would be to throw him on a line with some skilled guys, the truth is, the team's lines are all rolling right now. Whether it's the Ruutu-Kelly-Neil line, the Shannon-Regin-Kovalev line or the Foligno-Fisher-Alfie line, there's no question that these trios have developed chemistry and confidence thereby allowing the Senators to remain competitive in spite of the team's numerous injuries.

With Michalek drawing in, I would assume that Shean Donovan will draw out of the lineup. Here's hoping that Clouston rewards Zach Smith's strong play with a more skilled linemate in Michalek. (Ed. note: even when Spezza comes back next week, I would love to see him get slotted in with Michalek and either of Cheechoo or Smith.)

A Euge Update?

Thanks to James Gordon, the Sens Army have been blessed by some unintentionally funny Eugene Melnyk quotes like,

"If you really look at it, take any roster in the NHL and wipe out their top line, wipe out one of their best faceoff people, one of their best defencemen and, just for fun, take out their two goalies. Please, what do you expect?"

Hilarious stuff. There's more good news though, apparently The Euge is finally contemplating the purchase of a HD scoreboard. Kudos to The Euge for being receptive to the idea. The last time someone suggested a change was needed, he told fans to blow themselves up.

Milestone For Garrioch

According to Yahoo! Sports' Puck Daddy, Bruce Garrioch accounts for 94% of all trade rumours emanating from the Great White North. Congratulations Boo Boo on this significant achievement. I can only imagine that Al Strachan is shedding a tear somewhere right now.

The summer of 2005 was an exciting time to be a Senators fan. The NHL labour strike had just ended, salaries had been rolled back, Bettman and the league had promised to promote skill and talent through by reinforcing the rules and eliminating clutch-and-grab hockey, and Ottawa's roster was loaded with talent. For the first time ever, the Senators had a legitimate number one goalie who had Hall of Fame credentials. On August 23rd, Marian Hossa who was arbitration eligible and signed a 3-year $18M contract at the twelvth hour before the hearing was dealt by John Muckler to Atlanta for the young Dany Heatley.

Hossa was understandably livid. He was a fan favorite who wanted to remain in Ottawa and had negotiated his deal in good faith. He was blindsided and devastated with the news. As difficult as it was to see Hossa go, fans were blissed out by the fact that Ottawa had rid itself of Greg DeVries' salary and had acquired a Canadian who was labelled as a power forward. Considering that the Senators organization was still reeling from their consecutive playoff losses to the Maple Leafs, fans were ready to see their team lose the stigma of being a soft team to play against. So when John Muckler signed Heatley to his 3-year $13.5M contract, fans were dancing in the streets.

Little did we as Senators fans know that the 2005-06 season would be the most devastating in franchise history. Between Hasek's adductor injury at the Olympics, Ottawa being upset in the second round by the Buffalo Sabres and watching the organization not do everything in their power to resign Zdeno Chara, the Senators were on their road to mediocrity. Only we didn't know it at the time.

Now that Heatley has gone and Hossa has returned to Ottawa, it's interesting to note that karma has come full circle and kicked our ass almost five years later.

Here is my prediction that was featured in James Gordon's Ottawa Citizen prediction panel...

Senators 3, Blackhawks 5

Has anyone else noticed that a good indicator for a hockey team that's destined for big things when past-their-prime actors make a habit of attending games to keep themselves in the limelight? I call it the Vince Vaughn rule. (Case in point - have you seen Matthew Perry lately?) Even though Ottawa has strung together three inspired efforts against some middle-of-the-pack Eastern Conference teams, it's implausible to pick against the League's best team that has strung together a record of 8-1-1 in their last 10.

Expect to see the same lines that were employed against Boston: Shannon-Regin-Kovalev; Foligno-Fisher-Alfie; Ruutu-Kelly-Neil; Donovan-Smith-Cheechoo. Brian Elliott is back between the pipes ce soir and Picard is the odd man out on the blueline.

Returning to the Fold

While Jason Spezza is likely due to return in the next week to ten days, Ian Mendes is reporting via Twitter that Milan Michalek has an outside chance of playing on Thursday night versus the Blues but is more likely to return from injury on Saturday night in a rematch against the Bruins.

"I think what has happened during this period of time is that we've seen some young guys step up and play pretty well, given the opportunity, so maybe our need isn't quite what it was," Murray said.

"You see Zack Smith play (against Montreal), you see Peter Regin play on a regular basis, Nick Foligno looks like he's starting to get back to where he was a year ago.

"I don't know when we'll get a chance to see our full team, when we'll have everyone healthy, but, at the end of the day, it would be nice to see what we have." ~ Ottawa Citizen

As these integral pieces of the roster return, it's going to be interesting to see how Cory Clouston and Bryan Murray handle the young forwards who have proven apt when called upon to play a significant role. Is Peter Regin likely to remain in the Senators top six? Will Zach Smith be returned to Binghamton? Or will Clouston scratch a guy like Shean Donovan and keep Smith around in a fourth line/PK capacity?

Goaltending Coach?

In Elliotte Friedman's latest blog for the CBC, he uses his 30 thoughts bit to hit on a number of Senators related points including the goaltending situation. Here they are:

2. The Ottawa Senators are doing some serious due diligence on Clint Malarchuk. Bryan Murray coached him in Washington, but is contacting everyone he can to determine his state of mind. There is no questioning Malarchuk’s ability to coach goalies. Pascal Leclaire’s best performances came under his tutelage in Columbus, and Roberto Luongo swears by him, too. The concern: Malarchuk’s had some serious off-ice health issues, culminating in an October 2008 self-inflicted gunshot wound. (He said it was an accident.) There are a lot of people rooting for him to make it back.

3. Other possible contenders for the Ottawa job: Tom Dempsey, who was Marc-Andre Fleury’s junior coach and lives there; John Stevenson, who has a history with Cory Clouston and used to work with Edmonton; and Roland Melanson, who is in Florida. That’s not necessarily a problem, because the Senators want a consultant who travels around to see all their guys, rather than a full-time coach.

4. What I would really like to know is this: What is the problem the Senators have with Ron Tugnutt? Last summer, Tugnutt turned down three NHL jobs – Edmonton, Florida, Anaheim – because he wanted to be close to his sons, both midget-aged players. Ottawa is an easy setup for him. He played there and wants the position. But, this is the fourth time he’s applied, and they’re not interested.

5. In Leclaire’s last game, a 6-1 loss to Atlanta, he threw up his hands in frustration after an Anton Volchenkov mistake led to a goal. That didn’t go over well. No one on that team is more unselfish than Volchenkov. You never show up a guy like that.

12. There were rumblings that Daniel Alfredsson would sit out the Olympics to heal up for an Ottawa playoff run. He says no way, not true.

13. Really like when teams bring the players’ fathers on road trips. Laughed Saturday when Hasse Alfredsson was in the concourse when Daniel scored. (He’s probably seen a few.) Daniel said that Hasse – his youth hockey coach – would go harder on him as an example to the players, knowing his son could handle it. Mike Fisher said his father, Jim (never his coach), always accentuated the positive. Clearly, there’s room for different philosophies.

19. No doubt that Jacques Martin regretted saving Mike Brodeur’s career on Saturday night. Last season, as the Panthers GM, Martin brought Brodeur to AHL Rochester. The goalie, 25 at the time, was contemplating retirement.

28. Last year, when Luke Schenn scored his first NHL goal in Montreal, I tracked down his parents for reaction. Tried the same thing with Zack Smith’s parents in Maple Creek, Sask. Their phone was busy for two hours. Who doesn’t have call waiting anymore?