Sens at Land’s End

Well, I think it’s safe to say the Sens’ season will be over on Wednesday. They played really, really well in the first half of the game today. Really well. I was so impressed: those were the Sens I knew. Then they scored, and completely fell apart. I have no idea what happened, except that a goal for killed this team, which is bizarre and totally encapsulates the way this season went, in a way. The Penguins tied it up, and then scored two goals within the first two or three minutes of the third, and after that you could just see, the Sens gave up. I can’t really blame them because I myself can’t wait for this horrific season to end. As soon as they lose game 4 — which they will, they literally have no chance of winning — I’m going to start working on repressing just about everything that’s happened since the end of December.

I should rephrase what I said earlier: I can’t blame them for quitting on it today; I can, however, sure as hell blame them for quitting on the season in January. There are several players I have no desire to see in Sens uniforms ever again, and I look forward to seeing some of them leave.

Most disappointingly (for me), I won’t get to go to game 6. The season will be over just a few days before I go home and I’ll have missed the whole thing.

I feel the Sens and I have got ourselves in similar situations with being in rather deep holes. Myself, having two 15-20 page papers to finish by Tuesday; them, having to win four of the next five games against Pittsburgh. I am sure I will succeed, even if perhaps my papers won’t be all that good, but unfortunately I’m less sure about the Sens’ chances.

Today they were down 3-0 in the game and came back to tie 3-3, then got a penalty with less than two minutes to go and the Penguins, of course, scored, then got an empty netter and ended up winning 5-3. The penalty, a call on Martin Lapointe for high-sticking Jarkko Ruutu … yes, it should have been a penalty, but I think a definite case could be made that Ruutu also should have been called for diving, but whatever. The fact is the Sens played like crap, crap, mega-crap for a good portion of the game but I’m impressed that they managed to come back and I think they were looking a lot better in the third period. It’s just unfortunate the way it ended. They can either 1) take the positives out of it — they came back, Fleury is clearly not all that hard to beat, Gerber played very well again (49 saves!), and they played better, or 2) be crushed by the way the game ended and fold.

I’m also concerned because Spezza seemed to hurt his knee in the first period. He ended up only playing about 14 minutes, which is pretty low considering he played 24 in the first game, and was obviously uncomfortable. I hope he’s alright. They really can’t afford another injury right now, especially to Spezza.

In the end, it could be worse — the Flyers’ Patrick Thoresen took a shot to the crotch in the Philly-Washington game and I heard them say on TSN he might lose a testicle! I guess he’ll be playing balls off hockey. hahaha … I know, it’s really not funny at all, but numerous similar jokes occur to me. For example, I mention this as an example of how things could be worse for the Sens but on the other hand, maybe they lost their nuts a long time ago.

I’m wearing my Sens jersey today. Game 2 goes at 7pm Eastern, 4pm over here. It is time for the Sens to … score a goal! Or win, winning is good.

I noticed that the Ducks also lost game 1 of their series 4-0. It’s nice to know they’re in as bad a situation as we are! Maybe even worse because they are favoured to win that series while no one has given the Sens a chance at all. I guess they took a lot of penalties in their game. It must be confusing to get away with murder all season and then suddenly be called for it. I wish I could say I feel bad for them but, uhh … not at all. I wish I could say I feel bad about not feeling bad, but again, no.

Anton Volchenkov’s head is still swollen and he’s got a big ugly gash on his forehead but he’s going to play. He is awesome! If everyone on the team was even half as tough as Volchenkov, they’d be unbeatable. I have a Teddy Borg familiar in Kingdom of Loathing which I have named Anton in his honour — its ability is to absorb damage from an opposing attack.

The Sens did not do too well last night. They ended up losing 4-0, but actually I don’t think the score accurately reflects the game. It was 2-0 for most of it, and I think the Sens were in it the whole time. Those of us who have followed the team closely through the season know that in fact that was a pretty good effort for them. Not too many bad mistakes. They just need to rediscover their scoring touch. Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is still questionable in my mind and he wasn’t really tested last night. Gerber, on the other hand, played very well! I was shocked.

My favourite part of the game was Heatley and Crosby yapping at each other when Crosby was in the penalty box and Heatley was standing outside it. I wish they’d been miked.

The worst part of the game was Anton Volchenkov taking a puck to the forehead. He bled all over the ice and had to leave the game. Apparently he wanted to come back but his head was so swollen he couldn’t get his helmet back on … ! And he still wanted to play. I swear the guy is not fully human. He’s monstrous!

Anyway, nothing I saw in the game has made me think the Sens are in any way out of it yet. I will be returning to Ottawa for the summer in about 10 days so I just bought myself a ticket to game 6!! Now, boys, you get out there and make sure there is a game 6 for me to attend (or win it in 5).

The playoffs start today! I may have emailed my prof to tell her I’m sick and can’t come to class because the Sens game is at 4 and I’m sorry but I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss any of it. Playoffs!!

Ah, the intensity and excitement of the hunt for the Stanley Cup. It’s always fun to watch. Generally, I find that I come out of the playoffs with new respect for certain teams, and new and bitter hatred for others.

The first team I’ve built a good rage against this season is, conveniently, the Penguins, a team I actually quite liked before and had a pretty good time watching this season. If they really did throw their last game because they wanted to play the Sens then I think they’re a bunch of little bitches. They gave up first place because they were too scared to play the big bad Flyers — so afraid that they even sat Crosby against them in the last game of the season — and instead they want to take what they seem to think is an easy route to the second round through the Sens, who haven’t been playing well. It makes me angry. Hopefully it makes the Sens angry too. Knowing them, though, it’s probably just the final death knell for their self-confidence.

Despite the fact that I have seen no signs of the good Sens from last year recently, I still feel optimistic today. I think they’re going to win, and I’m also picking them to win the series, though basically everyone else on earth is picking against them. I can’t not pick the Sens.

Here’s who I think will win the first round:

Eastern Conference

1) Montreal Canadiens vs 8 ) Boston Bruins: Montreal has totally dominated the Bruins this year and I’m guessing they’ll win this series too. The Habs are pretty lucky here because I think Boston is the only team they would beat without much trouble. Montreal in 6.

2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs 7) Ottawa Senators: Experience counts in the playoffs. The Sens have it, the Penguins don’t. I also have the feeling part of the reason the Sens were so bad this season is that they were just biding their time until the playoffs. There’s no doubt in my mind that if they play the way they can, they are the better team here. It may turn out they’ve picked up too many bad habits over the season to recover now, but I think they can pull it off. Sens in 6.

3) Washington Capitals vs 6) Philadelphia Flyers: This is two teams that weren’t in the playoffs at all last season. The Caps have been so good lately and the Flyers have really struggled. I think that will continue. I’m anxious to see what Ovechkin is like in the post-season. Hopefully the Flyers won’t kill him. Caps in 6.

4) New Jersey Devils vs 5) New York Rangers: This one could end up being quite the goalie battle. Normally I’d say it’s crazy not to pick Martin Brodeur in a goalie battle, but he did not play very well towards the end of the season. If Lundqvist plays up to his full capabilities and the Rangers’ veterans step up, I think New York is the better team. Rangers in 6.

Western Conference

1) Detroit Red Wings vs 8 ) Nashville Predators: Well … unless Nashville has some kind of big surprise up their sleeves, this should be a cakewalk for the Wings. Detroit in 5.

2) San Jose Sharks vs 7) Calgary Flames: The Flames weren’t a sure thing even to make the playoffs. The Sharks won 14 of their last 17 games. This might be a tough series, but I will be surprised if the Sharks don’t win. Sharks in 6.

3) Minnesota Wild vs 6) Colorado Avalanche: I haven’t seen much of either team this year, but I’m thinking the Avs are too old to deal with the Wild, who are too rough. Minnesota in 6.

4) Anaheim Ducks vs 5) Dallas Stars: The Stars were REALLY bad towards the end of the season. Really, really bad. A lot of people seem to think this is going to be a long series, and I hope that turns out to be true because of my passionate hatred of Anaheim, but I just don’t see it happening. As much as it pains me to do so, I am saying the Ducks will win this in 5.

Now, due to superstitions regarding hair removal during the playoffs, I will go shave my legs.