Crisis On Infinite Rinks

Who would've thought that Kelly was worth a second round pick? Boston did. The Bruins are winding up for a long playoff run with the addition of Kelly, who does basically everything well except scoring. This leaves me wondering how many more Senators (past and present) the Bruins will attempt to acquire. The Rumor mongerers believe that Phillips is on his way to Beantown for some more picks. I have more to say about Phillips later in the post, so please keep reading.

Conrad from the CCFR made a great point: What the hell is Burke, the Leafs overlord, doing with his roster? He traded a young forward for picks (they desperately need them) one day. Then he trades for a boat-full of truculence in the form of Voros for a very low draft pick. So what's the deal? 1 goal for and 2 goals against (this is my failed play on the whole 1 step forward 2 steps back saying. It is a fail since I had to explain it.) Murray is surprisingly doing this the right way; trade roster players of value for picks or prospects. Mission accomplished. 3 picks acquired over the last week, close to 8 milli purged from the cap and no salary taken in return. Looks like Gramps wants to keep his job. As the Death Cart passes through Scotiabank Place, Murray claims that he's not dead, right before the Sensamaniacs are winding up to club the old man in the noggin. This Shawvillian Villain is trying to show the Euge that he's still got it. He does not. Bring the change.

Time Crisis

The Sens played well against the Isles last night since they were down to 4 defensmen. Karlsson clocked in at 30 + minutes. The Kid can and will play. The real crisis is extra time, and not blaming the loss on injuries. The Sens improved their league leading overtime drought by losing in a shoot out. They are now 0 - 9 in extra frames this year. How lame is that? The rotten cherry on top of this pile of lameness; it took them 57 games to score a goal in the shootout. This goal was brought to you by the Russian Riddler, Kovalev, who will be appearing on a team near you.

Holy C(h)ris(t)is

Since the Fisher trade, Butler has stepped up huge in his absence. 2 multi point games in a row for a total of 4. It definitely helps when your center is Spezza. It took BB time to get rolling and he's showing that he belongs in the Bigs. He can be blamed for the Isles go ahead goal due to blown defensive coverage but let's cut him a bit of slack, right? They were playing the Isles. We can expect to see this quite often over the next 2 or 3 season from the kids. It's not like he put the puck in his own net during the Stanley Cup final. Speak of the devil...

Crisis of Priorities or Loyalty Win?

Raise your hand if you've hated on Phillips this season? Sooooo that's pretty much everybody in the Sens blogosphere. I've defended him more times than not over the last few months. We all realize that he hasn't been the same since Volchenkov left. Phillips lost his best bro and his defensive partner for years. With that said, he hasn't been the same, but we all know what he brings to the rink every night; logs tons of minutes, used heavily on the PK and plays against the opposing team's top forward line. If you were crying about Kelly leaving, you will straight up have a psychotic breakdown if Big Rig packs his bags.

So the man doesn't want to leave. From the Ottawa Sun:

“I do and I know people will call me crazy for saying that," Phillips said, "but I think you need some veteran guys that have been around to help and guide the young guys coming in. I’m okay and would take on that responsibility."

FYI Chris, you're not crazy. Phillips is the shit and this proves it big time. He's played his whole career for this organisation and wants to be a part of the solution. Phillips is not a part of the problem. Who else do we want training the likes of Cowan, Wiercioch and Gryba? He will provide stability on the blue line and will show them the ropes. I would be extremely upset if Murray trades him away, even if it's for more delicious draft picks. If he wants to stay with this team for real, he better sign a contract asap. I won't be able to take it if he decides to not waive his no-trade then walks away in the off season. It will be a flip out of Lehner proportion.

-MP