Turnaround

Going into last night's game the Sabres had not lost in regulation. Well, now they have. Sens came out with a solid, if not slightly overzealous effort. And won going away 5-2. Buffalo got a couple late powerplay goals, one a 5-on-3 advantage. Everything appeared rosey as all lines were playing well. Auld had a shutout going well into the third period. Defense played much better. A nice level of deperation was shown by all lines.

 

The bad side is too many penalties. Some were 'necessary' penalties that prevented a goal, and the Sens PK is very good. And I accept the occasional penalty for aggressive play. Or Fisher fighting a guy for what appeared a knee shot on Alfredsson.  But there were also some lazy play and retaliation penalties thrown in there too. Coach won't like that.

 

Auld was good, but also gave away the puck too much. He's an adventure when handling the puck. Fortunately none of those gaffes ended up in the net, so its fine. I'll give Auld a pass, since he has only played his third game this season. But I would like to see that type of unnecessary scoring chance eliminated. If he keeps up his solid play, Gerber will be riding the pine this season.

 

Apparently, the Sens owner has a horse ranch in Florida, which is their next game on this road trip. Melnyk is a less-annoying Mark Cuban of the NHL, too much of a fan at times and heavily invested in the team. He holds an annual lunch for the players at his ranch and it is scheduled before the Panthers game. I can't imagine the atmosphere if they had lost their fifth game in a row. One game does not make a season. But with a ton of pressure by the owner and facing a hot opponent, the Senators stepped it up. Now they just have to bring it with more frequency/consistency.

Suck

Well, I don't know what to say other than my team sucks right now. The Sens dropped their 4th game in a row last Saturday. Auld was pretty good, for taking so many shots and powerplays; he kept them in the game. Everyone else was frustrating. It's not like the team can't be good, but they are only good for flashes. Slow starts are the norm right now. And playing from behind hasn't been the Senators' strong suit. I'm worried 'cause this may lead to an unnecessary, drastic trade. Not time to push the panic button yet...

 

UFC 90 was horrible. I was pretty amped about watching Anderson Silva destroy somebody. So, when he just danced around for two rounds I wasn't amused. Then seeing Cote blow-out his knee for no apparent reason, was about the strangest finish I've ever seen in a fight. All the write-ups agree that it was a weird fight. I wonder what Silva was thinking? Is he bored? Dana White said that the fight was like a bad dream, I agree.

Random NHL update

A couple highlights from this week. Roenick had the deciding shootout game winner for the Sharks, over his old Philly squad. JR still has sick breakaway moves, if not breakaway speed. The shootout suits him. Brodeur got revenge over Sean Avery, shutting-out Dallas for his second shutout of the year. There's a countdown about him passing Patrick Roy in all time wins, and he should get it this year. I think he's also sneaking-up on 100 shutouts, or something crazy like that. Brodeur is the man. I have tons of respect for the guy. Speaking of goalies, the Sens and Kings continue to have issues. Labarbera and Gerber look soft at times. Gerber has had trouble with the first shot in most games, and has allowed some soft, back-breaking goals. Granted the team defense is up and down, but the soft goals are VERY soft. Naturally, the back-up Alex Alud will be getting his chance and it's tonight against Anaheim. If he's superman, he gets to start tomorrow too. I wish Gerber well, but the bottom line is that the team needs solid goaltending and if it's at the expense of Gerber getting a demotion, so be it. To add to this mess, Brian Elliott is tearing it up in the AHL and has yet to lose a game. 5-0-1. So, don't count the #3 goalie out either.

Blah

I've been waiting for hockey season to start for months and now that it is here I'm not too excited. Maybe it's the weather, still a bit too hot for hockey. Or maybe it is the gloomy economy getting me down. I just haven't been into the swing of things yet. Most likely, it was the Sens early start to the season and them only playing once in 10 days. Like their start to the season, I'm a little uninterested so far.

Underwhelming

Not a whole lot to say about the Senators. After looking pretty competitive in the first two regular season games, in Sweden, the Sens have looked very mediocre. At times the team looks good, but it is only for 20 minute stretches at best. Everyone is inconsistent. Defense, scorers, goaltending. But to be fair, Auld has only played one game and he was consistent. Grinders Nick Foligno and Jarkko Ruutu have been pretty solid. The rest of the team is a merry-go-round; always up or down and only going in circles.

At least Hartsburg has called his team out and challenged them. It's still early, but never too early to spank the team into action. This is exactly why they brought him in as the new coach. I look forward to results. Actually, I am expecting results.

RIP Kevin Ferguson

Well, the Kimbo hype-train has left the station. Dana White and 99% of the MMA world had called this one right, he was an over-hyped fighter that wasn't that good. Good for him to ride the 15 minutes of fame and cash-in. Now, the only thing EliteXC has going for it is the girls. I would like to see the Carano vs. Santos fight. Also, they are giving Eddie Alvares a lightweight title shot next month. But other than that, there's not a lot of future for EliteXC. I see their next move as signing Tito Ortiz, and who really wants to see that?

3 points

Well, the overlooked and underappreciated Senators got 3 of 4 points in their first two games in Sweden. The first was a penalty filled affair, but the Sens PK looked very sharp and aggressive. 5-on-5 the Sens struggled with the outlet pass, but fortunately, they didn't play much 5-on-5. Gerber was shaky.  Actually, I felt the Gerber was bad. He allowed goals on weak shots from bad angles at key points in the game.  A great way to deflate the team. But the Sens lost in overtime and at least got a point.

Game two featured a very sharp Alex Auld. He's a lot bigger than Gerber and fills the next. Auld was two seconds from a shutout and it was a powerplay goal at that.  The guy isn't awesome, but made the first shot stops that you expect. The defense was there to support him. I think the Sens will start him next game, or at least should. Heatley was impressive. He laid out to block a shot on the PK. The fact that he was even out on the PK was amazing. He actually hit a few guys too. But it was his all-world finishing ability that still amazes. If you saw him one-time a bouncing puck into the upper corner of the net, you might assume it was lucky. But he does it was a scary regularity.

The new look defense played very tough. I like the style of the team so far, even though the chemistry isn't quite there. Neil and Ruutu caused havoc, as expected. I am impressed with Winchester. I think he went undrafted and was a late-blooming college player that the Sens signed late last season. Well, the guy has turned out to be a stud along the boards. He almost always comes away with the puck or moves it effectively. I think he's a guy to watch.

New Uncle

Well, I'm quite proud to be a new uncle again.  I got word that everything went well and Baby Cole has arrived.  I'm glad everyone is healthy and happy; and that Kalani will have a sparring partner. 

 

On the sports front, the Senators open up their NHL season in Sweden against the Penguins. It's a nice homecoming for Alfredsson. The Sens had a pre-season game against his old Elite League team the Frolunda Indians.  Quite the home crowd.  So, I have two regular season games to watch this weekend and I'm pretty stoked. On the MMA front, Kimbo and Carano are fighting tomorrow, they are aways an interesting side-show. Tickets for the UFC fight in November has proved nearly impossible to get, so we are shooting for the December event. Wanderlei is fighting in that one, so I'm happy if we see it live; and it's a great excuse to go see Cole!