Former Habs tough guy passes away and...

The man that wrote the work description for an NHL tough guy, John Ferguson, the former Hab enforcer passed away Saturday after his battle with cancer.
Ferguson was not an enforcer like we see in today's hockey, but he could also score, play the power play, penalty kill and many other things, one thing he was respected and feared. Toronto Maple Leafs, forward and tough guy, once told me '' I ''hated'' Ferguson, he use to beat me up all the time.'' Well Eddie, maybe you deserved it.

I only got to see Fergie play in his last year, it was the miracle cup run in 1971. In the off-season, he and Serge Savard owned horses and would enter races at Blue Bonnets in Montreal in the late 60's and early seventies. Ferguson was an assistant coach with Harry Sinden in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviets.

After his playing career, Ferguson went on to become an NHL executive in New York with the Rangers, in Winnipeg, where he convinced his old buddy Savard to play a few extra years from 1981 to 83, before Savard himself become and NHL executive with the Habs. Ferguson made stops in Ottawa and San Jose, where he was a scout.

His son, Ferguson Jr, is the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and both have been seen together at times in the Air Canada Center. My deepest sympathies to the family. Fergie, you will be missed and thank you for the memories.

The cap is not working like it's suppose to

Last Friday, was the second anniversary of the new CBA, on that day two years ago, we all were jumping with joy, finally we would be getting hockey back, that lock-out was over. We thought at the time, the NHL had gotten the business under control, but as we have been seeing in the last two years, it's far from that, the same crap that cost us a year without hockey is starting over.

Why you may ask ? Well it's simple, the cap under the present structure, is not protecting the small markets as it should of. Oh yes, shoot me, but there is revenue sharing. I forgot about that. Well explain to me then, why two teams in the NHL's biggest market, New York, were among the sixteen teams in 2005-06, earning below the league average in revenues ? In that same year, league revenues were 2.265 billion, divide by 30, it comes up to 75.5m per team. The Devils and Islanders, registered 63 and 56 million. Because they play in that market, they are not eligible for revenue sharing.

This past season, the NHL reported that revenues had gone up 7%, do the math, that means the per team average went up to 80.7 m. The problem is that the cap limit is based on the league revenues, minus the benefits times 56 % and divided by 30, you have your cap limit and floor, the difference between both cannot be more than 16 million. So let's do the same exercise, but create the cap limit based on the per team average revenues. We will use the 2006-07 revenue base. So 80.7 million minus 2.5 million for the benefits, that total times 55%, comes up to 43.5 million. So last year's cap limit would not of been as large, if the same exercise had been used. So with that formula the cap limit would not of gone up as fast, but gradually. That is how a real cap system should work.

High rent district and...

A week after the UFA frenzy, here are the highest cap hit for each team that has players counting for 5 million and plus in the cap count for 2007-08 season.

For those who don't know how the cap hits are calculated, it's by day, this even if the team is not playing.The number of days are determined in the lenght of the season.Last year, it was 187 days, which likely be the same this season. The count starts on the first day of the season and ends the last day. I'm listing below the players with the highest cap hit for each team and beside it, will be his cost for a day.

Eastern Conference

Atlanta Thrashers >>> Kovalchuk , 6,389,286 > 34,167.30
Hossa, Marian 6,000,000 >32,085.56
Boston Bruins Chara, Zedno 7,500,000 > 40,106.95
Savard, Marc 5,000,000 > 26,737.97
Buffalo Sabres Vanek, Thomas 7,142,857 > 38,197.10
Florida Panthers Vokoun, 5,700,000 >30,481.28
Jokinen 5,250,000 > 28,087.87
Montreal Canadiens Markov 5,750,000 > 30,748.66
Hamrlik 5,500,000 > 29,411.76
New Jersey Elias 6,000,000 > 32,085.56
Brodeur 5,200,000 > 27,807.49
NY Rangers Gomez 7,357,143 > 39,343.01
Drury 7,050,000 > 37,700.53
Ottawa Senators Redden 6,500,000 > 34,759.36
Philadelphia Flyers Briere 6,500,000 > 34,759.36
Timonen 6,333,333 > 33,868.09
Gagne 5,250,000 > 28,087.87
Pittsburgh Penguins Gonchar 5,000,000 > 26,737.97
Tampa Bay Lightning Richards 7,800,000 > 41,711.23
Lecavalier 6,875,000 > 36,764.70
St.Louis 5,250,000 > 28,087.87
Toronto Maple Leafs McCabe 5,750,000 > 30,748.66
Sundin 5,500,000 > 29,411.76
Kubina 5,000,000 > 26,737.97
Washington Capitals Kolzig 5,450,000 > 29,144.38

Western Conference

Anaheim Ducks S.Niedermeyer* >>> 6,750,000 > 36,096.26
Pronger 6,250,000 33,422.46
Giguere 6,000,000 32,085.56
Schneider 5,625,000 30,080.21
Calgary Flames Iginla 7,000,000 37,433.15
Tanguay 5,250,000 28,087.87
Chicago Black Hawks Khabibulin 6,750,000 36,096.26
Havlat 6,000,000 32,085.56
Colorado Avalanche Sakic 6,750,000 36,096.26
Smyth 6,250,000 33,422.46
Theodore 5,333,333 28,520.50
Colombus B Jackets Federov 6,080,000 32, 513.37
Dallas Turco 5,700,000 30,481.28
Detroit Lidstrom 7,600,000 40,641.71
Datsyuk 6,700,000 35,828.88
Rafalski 6,000,000 32,085.56
Los Angeles Blake 6,000,000 32,085.56
Minnesota Gaborik 6,333,333 33,868.09
Phoenix Jovanovski 6,500,000 34,759.36
San Jose Thornton 6,666,667 35,650.62
Nabokov 5,375,000 28,743.31
St-Louis Karyia 6,000,000 32,085.56
Vancouver Luongo 6,750,000 36,096.26
Naslund 6,000,000 32,085.56

*No news about Scott Niedermeyer officially retiring. If he does and the Ducks pay him the last two years of his salary,it will count in the Ducks cap count for both seasons. If he walks away and no money is paid out, the salary comes off the books. The Flyers are in a similar situation with Keith Primeau.

The Salary Cap and ...

The NHL in October will be in it's third season under a salary cap system. In 2005-06, the first after the year long lock-out, the cap had been set at 39million. In year two, it went up to 44 million. This season as we know it will be at 50.3 million.It's risen 11.3 million dollars in two years, and if estimates are true it could go up to 62 million.That is scary.As the upper limit goes up, so does the minimum.The difference between the two cannot be larger than 16 million.

The players are fine with this cap system, as their salaries are linked to league revenues, so the more those revenues go up, so does the cap and their salaries. The money forked out in the last three UFA seasons are a good indication of that. The danger is that if the cap keeps going up at this rate, it will bleed the smaller markets, espacially non traditional ones in the United States. Oh did I mention there was revenue sharing ? Big deal, all it does, is help those markets i mentionned assured they can reach the minimum limit, it does not permit them to compete. So as you can see, the lock-out was all for nothing. Remember the season after the lock-out, when every team in the league had painted the words '' Thank you fans'' on the ice? The league should have them paint '' Thank you suckers'' for this coming season. I'm sure i'm not the only one with that thought in mind.

For cap numbers and Q & A's on the CBA, you can go to NHLSCAP.COM.

Habs make good pick-up

The Montreal Canadiens made a good pick-up in signing UFA Roman Hamrlik. He will bring stability to the Habs defence, and is a better puck handler than Souray. The Habs also signed right handed center Bryan Smolinski, who had finished the season in Vancouver when dealt at the trade deadline. Smolinski knows the NorthEst division, having played in Ottawa for several years before being dealt to Chicago along with Martin Havlat.

I hope Brian Burke knows what is doing in signing Todd Bertuzzi to a two year contract for 4 million per season. Big Bert played only 15 games last season with Florida and Detroit. If Bertuzzi can gain his 2005-06 shape where he scored 25 goals and totaled 71 points, it will be a good signing for Burke, if not it could turn into a nightmare for the Ducks.

Darren Dreger from TSN, breaks down Daniel Briere's contract. I think in the next CBA, the league should limit contracts to five years or make sure they don't overlap into the next one. Contracts are insurred up to five years, after that the player must purchase their own insurance. Just to say, Briere thirteen years ago was about to play junior hockey in Quebec for 60.00$ a week, and now is a multi-millionnaire.

My good friend Spector, makes good points in his soapbox comments about the UFA signings in the last two days. François Giguere in Colorado, Glen Sather in New York, Paul Holmgren in Philadelphia and JFJ in Toronto will be nervous guys next year, they will be hoping that their off-season moves will payoff quickly, if not the natives will get restless and demand their heads or trades, but wait, I can't trade, no cap space, the contracts are sinking my ship. I guess a pink slip may be less expensive then.

Daniel Tolensky at HockeyBuzz.com, wrote a good article, that should be read by fans all over the NHL. The avalanche of coin we have seen over the last few days, makes you wonder if the lock-out was worth it.

Signings to date

Brian Rafalski goes home and will play for the Detroit Red Wings for the next 5 seasons. the deal 30 million at 6 million per season.

Brière Joins his buddy Biron in Philadelphia for the next 8 seasons, for a whopping 52 million, he will count for 6.5 million in cap space.

Ducks sign Mathieu Schneider to a two year contract for 11.25 million, he will count for 5,625,000 in cap space, most likely we have seen the last of Scott Niedermeyer in the NHL.

Capitals sign Tom Poti to a four year contract at 3.5 million season.

San Jose give a three year extension to Joe Thornton, 21.6 million, combined to this year's salary, will make for a cap hit of 7,067,500 for the next four years.

Todd White signs with the Atlanta Trashers for 9.5 million over the next four years at 2,375,000 a season.

Cap Limit set at 50.3 m for 2007-08

The NHL and the players Association announced that the cap limit for the 2007-08 season would be established at 50.3 million. In the CBA there is a provision for both sides to apply a 5% inflator, without it the cap limit would of been established at 48.5 m. Note: Teams can go over the limit up to 10% during the period of July 1st and the end of training camp, must be cap compliant by the first day of the start of the season. How much does your team have to spend ? Before we take a look, a note of caution: The below numbers are approximative numbers and are not official numbers. Also, they do not take into account possible bonus payouts from the 2006-07 season, which will count against a team's upper limit for 2007-08. It's just to give you an idea of what General managers have to ''play'' with. It's not the bible and not to be taken in that way, for entertainement and information purpose only. If the NHL would stop being so shy at showing us the real numbers, we would have a better idea at to expect. Mr.Bettman show us the numbers.

Here we go, the Eastern Conference.

NorthEast Division
Team	Cap hit 07-08	Players signed	Cap Space
Boston	39578000	16	10722000
Buffalo	28434000	13	21866000
Montreal	30572000	14	19728000
Ottawa	40565000	15	9735000
Toronto	43607000	22	6693000
Total	182756000	80
Average /Team	36551200	16
Atlantic Division
Team	Cap hit 07-08	Players signed	Cap Space
New Jersey	30231000	11	20069000
Islanders	21128000	10	29172000
Rangers	27053000	13	23247000
Philadelphia	42163000	19	8137000
Pittsburgh	26892000	12	23408000
Total	147467000	65
Average /Team	29493400	13
South East Division
Team	Cap hit 07-08	Players signed	Cap Space
Atlanta	28756000	10	21544000
Carolina	42633000	21	7667000
Florida	28816000	10	21484000
Tampa Bay	34350000	12	15950000
Washington	20281000	12	30019000
Total	154836000	65
Average /Team	30967200	13

Western Conference Estimated cap space for 07-08
Central Division
Team	Cap hit 07-08	Players signed	Cap Space
Chicago	31561000	13	18739000
Colombus	34428000	16	15872000
Detroit	32099000	15	18201000
Nashville	27964000	13	22336000
St-Louis	28233000	14	22067000
Total	154285000	71
Average /Team	30857000	14.2
NorthWest Division
Team	Cap hit 07-08	Players signed	Cap Space
Calgary	35621000	14	14679000
Colorado	30016000	16	20284000
Edmonton	26919000	11	23381000
Minnesota	34110000	13	16190000
Vancouver	40552000	14	9748000
Total	167218000	68
Average /Team	33443600	13.6
Pacific Division
Team	Cap hit 07-08	Players signed	Cap Space
Anaheim	37107000	16	13193000
Dallas	38447000	15	11853000
Los Angeles	24305000	11	25995000
Phoenix	27430000	13	22870000
San Jose	35550000	17	14750000
Total	162839000	72
Average /Team	32567800	14.4

The UFA market frenzy and...

Yes folks, that time of the year is back again, the unrestricted free agents are looking for jobs, and their price could be high.Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Scott Gomez, Ryan Smyth and Sheldon Souray will be the most sought after UFA's in this year's market frenzy. They are all Eastern conference players, I'm sure some Gm's will them to go west young men. Briere could be the only one staying in the East,either in Buffalo, Montreal or Philadelphia.

How much are they worth and long will their contracts be for ? I'm sure General managers know the exact amount limit they can spend in 2007-08, as the Board of Governors approved it last week, but has not been made public yet, but it could be between 48 and 50 million. They must be careful as I think the cap may stay at that amount next season, I doubt the league revenues will go over the 2.4 billion dollar range, which would bring the cap higher next season, a question of logic, the revenues have shot up quickly in the last two seasons, they might be due for a drop. Teams will not be able to bring up ticket prices anymore than they have, because fans won't be able to pay a higher price and they risk having empty seats.

Getting back to my question, how much are the top UFA's i mentionned above worth ? We may get answers to that question starting Sunday at noon eastern time. Stay tuned.

Cap Spending in 2006-07

Even though the cap has risen twice in the early life of this CBA, spending on average is not that high, even with some contracts taking up 7.8 million dollars in cap space, the average spending last season was, 41,741,000.00 for the league. Eastern conference teams spend 41,161,133.33 while Western conference teams spend 42,320,866.67 . In 2005-06, the average cap spending was about 36 million. These are not the league's official numbers, but I'm sure they are not too far from the true figures, these are cap numbers and not actual salary.

Claude Julien and...

Former Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils coach, Claude Julien to be confirmed by the Bruins today, according to Fluto Shinzawa from the Boston Globe. A press conference will be held at the TD Banknorth Garden today at 10.30 am. Julien was fired by Lou Lamoriello with less than a week left in the 2006-07 season.

Speaking of Lou Lamoriello, he should be naming his new coach soon also, may even do it this weekend during the Draft. I suspect, and this is just speculation on my part, but I would not be surprised if we see the return of familiar face behind the bench next year. Yes I think , Pat Burns may return as the Devils coach. Double LL, has been known to pull out rabbits from his hat in the past, stay tuned.

Jeremy Jacobs named as chairman of the Board of Governors

The Owner of the Boston Bruins, Jeremy Jacobs, was elected as the new Chairman of the NHL's Board of Governors. The same Board, rubber stamped the new cap limit, which should between 48 and 50 million. Jacobs is taking over from Harley Hotchkiss of the Calgary Flames, who had held the position the last twelve years. He was instrumental in helping draft the present CBA.

Would Bolts Trade Richards For A High Pick?

Bruce Garrioch of Sun media, mentions that he has heard from league sources that Tampa Bay Gm, Jay Feaster could dangle forward Brad Richards as trade bait in order to get a top pick in tomorrow's first round of the 2007 entry draft in Colombus. Feaster must of forgotten that Richards has a no trade clause in his contract. It won't happen, the Hawks already have 34, 161,000 million in salary under the cap, and have at least 9 more players to sign to be within the limit of 23 players on the roster. I doubt the league would approve such a one way trade.

Why is Bettman so scared of Canada?

Toronto Star columnist, Damien Cox, Threw the book of common sense at NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman, as why he did not bother to invite Jim Balsillie to the Board of Governors meeting, so that he could make a pitch to the Governors for his bid to purchase the Nashville Predators. Even the greatest player in the history of the NHL, Wayne Gretzky, got in to the Nashville situation, "If the franchise is able to move into that area, it'll be tremendously successful," speaking of the Hamilton area. I would think, that in Gary Bettman's mind, if the Predators moved to Canada, he would have to admit that hockey in Nashville is not working, but also would see it as making it even more difficult to obtain a national broadcasting contract in the US market. Gary, wake up, hockey is a regional sport in the US.

I sometimes wonder who is more clueless, Gary Bettman or George W.Bush. Which leads me to quote the great Jackie Gleason in one the of the Smoky and the bandit movies '' I remember when a pair of boobs were two dumb guys. '' I guess it speaks for itself.

Where Top UFA's could land and...

As the NHL prepares its future in entry draft on Friday and Saturday in Colombus, let's take a look at the UFA market, that is due to open in a few weeks.

Matthew Ryder from Spector's hockey trade rumour site, in his last ''End to End'' for 2006-07, established a list of where the top UFA's could play next season. If I disagree with his prediction,I will file a note.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere: Resigns in Anaheim, for 5.75m
Slava Kozlov: Resigns with Atlanta at 3.5 m
Note: His former team, the Red Wings, may show some interest in bringing him back.

Keith Tkachuk : 2.5 m and signs with the Blues.
Note:I doubt that the Blues re-sign him, as they will want to go with a youth program. He could land somewhere, but it won't be in St-Louis.

Daniel Briere:Signs with Montreal at 6m .
Note: The fans in Montreal would love having a french speaking player to identify to, as they did with Roy and Lafleur, the problem could be his size and his willing to play. The Habs need to beef up a bit, I think money would be better spend on a Ryan Smyth, than Briere.

Chris Drury:5.5 m in Buffalo
Note: Drury would be Buffalo's priority, but having a home in California where his wife is from, could be a factor in his decision, remember the wives of players have a say in where hubby goes, ex: Chris Pronger. LA, San Jose or even Colorado, could be destinations.

Sheldon Souray:5.25 m in St-Louis
Note: Souray has expressed interest in staying in Montreal, but not at the offering price of 4.5m a year. If it's not Montreal, LA or San Jose could destinations.

You can see Matthew's complete list by clicking on the end to end link above.

Gainey rids himself of Samsonov

Montreal Canadiens Gm and former Captain, Bob Gainey, found a taker for his disgruntled Russian Forward, Sergei Samsonov. Gainey obtained former hab Jassen Cullimore and forward Tony Salmelainen. Cullimore will not play for the Habs, as Gainey bought his contract at two thirds, which will mean a cap hit of 641,666. over the next two seasons.

Murray in, Muckler Out

Ottawa Senators fired John Muckler as Gm and promoted Coach Bryan Murray to the position. He will be looking for his own replacement behind bench. There is no doubt, that the best candidate out there is Pat Burns, he has won a Stanley cup, he is no pushover and knows how to get the best out of his players, but he might just takeover his old job in New Jersey.

NHL Awards and ...

This week the NHL will present the winners of the regular season awards, such as the Calder for the rookie of the year, the Selke for the best defensif forward, the Hart to the most valuable player, the Adams to the coach of the year. The Norris to the best defenseman, the Lady Byng to most gentleman player. The Pearson, that is voted by the players and the Vezina to the best goalie.

My Predictions:
Malkin > Calder
Palhsson >Selke
Hart >Luongo
Adams >Vigneault
Norris > Lidstrom
Lady Byng >Sakic
Pearson > Lecavalier
Vezina > Luongo

Larry Brooks of the New York Post, mentions that the players may have to pay escrow, as it seems the players got more than the 55 % that was due to them under the CBA. Also claims, that expansion would not be profitable to the players. Expansion fees do not count as Hockey related revenue as mentionned in the partnership between the league and the players. Brooks thinks that the cap for 2007-08 will be around 48.5 m, and won't reach the possible 52m as mentionned in other media outlets.

Florida Panthers Coach and Gm, Jacques Martin is hoping to resolve the goaltending situation for next season. He is looking at different scenario's, but according to Brian Biggane of the Palm Beach Post, the dust should be settled come the entry draft in Colombus in less than 14 days. This will be Jacques Martin's first draft as Gm of the Florida Panthers.

The Hamilton Bulldogs, property of the legendary Montreal Canadiens franchise, won the the Calder cup this week, which means for an organization such as theirs, a gold mine of young prospects, something Montreal fans have not seen in a long time.

Congratulations to Anaheim and ...

Congratulations to the new Stanley cup Champions, the Anaheim Ducks, they deserved it. The brothers Niedermeyer now join a select group of brothers who have won the Stanley cup. The Richard brothers, the Hull's , the Mahovlich's and the Sutter's, i'm sure there is more, sorry to those not named.

The Ottawa Senators have nothing to be ashamed of, in an era where parity is at it's peak, it's hard to get thru an 82 game schedule, then play fifteen or sixteen games just to get to the final. Hats off to them, and next year you will be better and have the experience under your belt.

Next for the NHL, is the regular season awards and then preparing for the future, with the entry draft in Colombus on June 23rd and 24th.

July 1st is the annual UFA feeding frenzy, where some Gm's look like Einstein, but at mid-season, look like idiots, because they forgot to read the fine print in the CBA, some people just never learn.

Islanders to buy out Yashin

Islanders owner, Charles Wang finally admits that it was a mistake to have given Alexei Yashin that enourmous contract when ''Mad'' Mike Milbury made the trade with the Ottawa Senators back in 2001.

Pronger suspended and ...

The NHL suspended Chris Pronger as they should of, but in the eyes, not just of Ottawa Senators fans, but espacially in those of hockey fans around the league, it was a friendly slap on the hand and a joke.

The League had an opportunity to a clear message to the players and it's fans, that this league can police itself, but once again they blew it.The NHL General managers will be holding a meeting today before the game, and undoubtly, hits to the head will be a topic, but I doubt it will be discussed, as both John Muckler and Brian Burke are both still involved in the playoffs, so as usual it will be put aside, and maybe rightly so, as the expression goes''let cooler heads prevail''.The league can't put this off for ever and hide it's head in the sand.

Gentlemen settle this issue how ever you want, but settle it once and for all.

Reactions to the Pronger suspension.

Bob McKenzie Darren Dreger Scott Burnside


The Ottawa Senators have to take advantage of the situation, as Scott Niedermeyer and François Beauchemin will be pulling double duty. They need to know that they have an red sweater close by everytime they touch the puck, they will get hit and espacially tired, and that's when the wheels could fall off again. Do the same thing that won you game three, alot of hussle, hard work and keep Giguere busy.

GO ! SENS GO!

Words of wisdom and ...

As we wait for game three to begin, the Senators could use all the positive vibes as they can get. Six members of the 1955 to 60 Montreal Canadiens were honoured by the NHL, had words of wisdom for the Ottawa Senators yesterday.

Legendary greats such as Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard and Dickie Moore, along with Don Marshall, Jean-Guy Talbot and Tom Johnson, had words of wisdom for the Ottawa Senators, who are down 0-2 in the series. Click on pic to see article.

Reading thru them, you can come to one common grown, play as a team and have fun, the rest will take care of itself.

Hull and Cherry to team up in Ottawa

NBC's Brett Hull and HNIC's Don Cherry to team up in Ottawa. Hull will appear on Cherry's Coach's Corner during game three, and Cherry will be a guest on the NBC telecast after the second period on Monday. What better way to attract people, than two have the two biggest loud mouths in hockey meet at the same time.

Bryan Murray and Alfredsson talk to the media

Ottawa Senators coach, Bryan Murray and team captain, Daniel Alfredsson chat with the media.

GO SENS GO

Nothing is impossible unless you don't try and ...

Being down 0-2 in the Stanley cup final was not in Bryan Murray's game plan when the team left for California last Saturday. It's a fact the he and the players now have to deal with in the next two games on home ice.

The time for excuses are over, forget about the complaining about being held up as you go chase for puck, just skate and chase the puck. Maybe the reason why you were being held up, is you stopped skating, skate and make them chase you. You need to keep Giguere busy, he has been having too much fun out there,time for him to work a bit and get in his face. Get under Pronger's skin, you know he has a bad habit of getting fustrated and that's when the wheels fall off and it may create the shift in series you need.Make it a collectif effort and not spurts of of individual ones.

The guy behind the bench has to start coaching and stop whinning, you got ''out coached'' badly in the two games in Anaheim, time to turn the table and get your players hopping.

Ken Dryden, Jean Beliveau and Henri Richard and the Canadiens were in the same boat as you are back in 1971, and found a way to win the Stanley cup. Team work, determination and character will allow you to accomplish it.

Blues have their own cap limit

Jeremy Rutherford, from the St-Louis Dispacth, mentions that the Blues will set their own cap limit for this season at 40 million, even though the league limit will be around 49 million.

Ducks take game one and ...

I don't know why Anaheim took ''mighty'' out of their name, because they looked pretty mighty at times during the first game of the Stanley Cup final, at least in the eyes of Ottawa players that got knocked around. The Senators players did not shy away from the physical play and were not intimidated.

Ottawa start the game the way they wanted, but seem to have let Anaheim get the momemtum and then took back again and gave it back, not the kind of play we are use to seeing from the Senators during these playoffs. One thing coach Murray will have to correct, is the giveaways in the neutral zone, one of them led to the second Ducks goal which tied the game. An another, Murray will have to alert the officials about the Ducks in Emery's crease, on two occasions, Emery had an Anaheim player all over him in crease, no call.

Where was the first line ? We hardly saw Alfredsson,Spezza and Heatley, they need to step up, if the Senators want to have any chance at winning the Cup. Now that the cobb webbs are out of the way and the Senators know what the Ducks are going to throw their way, they adjust and go play Senators hockey and get back in the series.

What the Media had to say

Ottawa Sun writer, Chris Stevenson, also sends out an APB to the Senators top line.
Scott Burnside from ESPN, mentions the Sens have to get better.

Bettman gives his state of the game before Game one

NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman, gave a press conference on the State of the game and answered questions about the Nashville sale.

How the Senators can beat the Ducks and...

TSN's insider Bob McKenzie points out that the Senators have to exploit JS Giguere's immobility. McKenzie's first point, is for the Senators to shoot the puck close to his feet, ''he is not as strong when he is working at a tight angle along the goal line as he is when he has the opportunity to square up and face the shooter.''

McKenzie goes on and mentions they should try sending pucks along the boards, Giguere got tangled in the series with Detroit. As McKenzie mentions, he not the most mobile goaltender in the playoffs, and the Sens should try working close to his net and try wrap arounds, he does not have a good lateral movement.

McKenzie ''Of course all of this is much easier said than done when you face the daunting Ducks defense that features Pronger, Niedermayer and Beauchemin. ''

A good way for Ottawa coach, Bryan Murray to stay away from Anaheim's, Randy Carlyle's line matching contest, is to roll your lines quickly in the first minutes of every period, except in the case your killing a penalty or on that power play.

It's a good way to keep the guys on the bench in the game and create havick on the Anaheim bench. An old Bowman trick, that he mastered thru out the years, that in the majority of times worked. The opposing team coach became occupied with what Bowman's next move could be, that he forgot his line match-ups.

An Interesting fact

The last four cup winners, have either been eliminated from the playoffs or lost in the first round following their cup championship. Last year's cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes, missed the playoffs this year. Detroit, New Jersey and Tampa all lost in the first round following a cup year. The last team to defend it's title in a cup final, are the New Jersey Devils in 2001 against the Colorado Avalanche.

Dynasties are thing of the past in the NHL.

Ottawa and Anaheim for Lord Stanley's cup

If you ask Ottawa's coach, Bryan Murray, if he is bothered with being the underdog in this series ? No, would be the answer. He could also shoot back and say '' weren't we in the last series ? '' We all know the result of that one.

Because of the regular season scheduling, these two teams did not play against each other this season. Ottawa needed fifteen games to get to round 4, Anaheim took an extra one. Let's take a look at their numbers so far in the playoffs.

On face-offs, the Ottawa Senators have a slight edge, winning 495 out of 941 , for a percentage of 52.6% , the Ducks, also won 495, but faced 991 face-offs, for 49.9%.

In the scoring and trailing first category,both almost have identical records.Ottawa has not lost a game when scoring first, and has a 4-3 record when trailing. The Ducks are 8-1 when scoring the first goal, and the same record as Ottawa when trailing.

5 vs 5, Ottawa has scored 29 of them and allowed 22, for a +7. Anaheim has scored 24 and allowed 20, for a +4. A slight advantage for Ottawa.

The powerplay, Ottawa overall is at 20% , with a whopping 31.2% on the road. Anaheim is at 15.3%, 17% at home. Advantage Ottawa.

The penalty killing, Ottawa is at 88.6% overall, at 92.5% on the road. Anaheim is at 86.8% and 90.9% at home. Again a slight advantage to Ottawa.

I will take Ottawa in 6, for a reason, that is the speed factor. In all of the series that the Senators have played, they have played against teams with good speed, while the Ducks faced less quicker teams. I feel, as the series moves on, Ottawa's speed will play a factor.

From Broke to Champions ? and...

The last time the Ottawa Senators participated in the Conference Final, the team had come close to filling for Bankruptcy months early. In late December 2002 and beginning of 2003, the Ottawa Senators franchise was coming close to going belly up. The League stepped in and found an owner and the team came a goal close to going to the Cup final that year.

Wayne Scanlan from the Ottawa Citizen asked club President and chief executive officer, Roy Mlakar, about that time, and Mlakar told him it was the lowest moment in franchise history, even worse then their first season in the league in 1992-93. Mlakar remembers having to tell the players that they would not get paid. How worse can that get ?

The article goes on with the ups and downs of the franchise, that brought it to a first cup appearence in mordern history and also the first since 1927, when the first franchise won it for the last time.

The Senators organization have been thru alot in the last fifteen years, a Stanley Cup championship would be dearly welcomed.

Wings veterans remain cool

On the plane bringing the Detroit Red Wings to Anaheim for game six against the Anaheim Ducks, the veteran players remained cool and collected and not worried, even for the first time in this playoff year they face seeing their season end. Daniel Cleary noted how calm, veterans Chris Chelios, Nick Lidstrom and Dominik Hasek were, despite that had lost a heartbreaker the afternoon before. Let's roll the tape back to 2002, the Wings are trailing the series 3-2 against the Colorado Avalanche with Patrick Roy in goal.

The Wings win game 6, on a blooper by the future Hall of Famer. Game seven, the Wings blow the defending Cup champions out of the rink and win 7-0. Could history repeat itself tonight ? In today's, NHL nothing is impossible.

Senators off to the Cup Final

Ten years after making the playoffs for the first time in mordern history and getting beat by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round, they returned the favor. The Gm of the Sabres at the time, was John Muckler. Muckler is going back to the Stanley cup final for the first time in seventeen years. He was the coach of the Edmonton Oilers, who were led by the captain of captains, Mark Messier and won the Cup in 1990.

The Senators will now wait for the winner of the Anaheim-Detroit series. After years of hearing people pointing the finger at him, Daniel Alfredsson, has mostly likely made himself the number one candidate for the Conn Smythe trophy.

Well Canada, for the second straight year a canadian team will be in the Stanley Cup Final.If we look back at the last twenty years, canadian teams have participated in a total of 6 Cup Finals and won 4 out of the 6, but don't forget that in 1989, the final was an all canadian thing. So the Ottawa Senators could make it 5 out of 7, not bad considering we don't get there often, but when we do,we make good of it. The last canadian Eastern conference team to make the Cup Final, won it, yes Ottawa's division rivals the Montreal Canadiens.

So folks in Ottawa, congratulations, savor the moment, but as former Montreal Canadiens coach, Toe Blake would tell his players,''until you lift the Cup, who have not won anything.'' Something to keep in mind.

Goals down this season

The NHL has seen goal scoring go down this past season compared to last. In 2006-07, 7082 goals were scored, last season saw 7443 goals scored, for a difference of 361. In 2006-07, the average per team for goals scored, was 236, in 05-06, it was 248.1.

Power play goals have also taken a drop, in 06-07, 2082 goals were scored, in 05-06, 2545, a difference of 463. The average per team in 06-07 was 69.4 in 05-06, it was 84.8.

In order to get goals,you have to shoot on goal. In 06-07, there were 72779 shots, for average of 2426 per team. In 05-06, 73751, for an average of 2458.

If goal production is down, naturally the goal per period will also take a hit. In 06-07, 1st period goals scored :2107/70 per team. 2nd period: 2465/82 3rd :2393/80 , goals in overtime : 117/4. In 05-06, 1st :2216/74 2nd : 2576/86 3rd:2514/84, OT: 136/4.53.

Hopefully this does not become a trend over the next few seasons.