Sens at Land’s End

Saturday’s game against Detroit would have been really disappointing if I had expected Ottawa to win. The Wings had to work out that “we just got a beatdown from the Leafs” humiliation somehow, and sadly their recovery came at the Senators’ expense. Oh well. A few thoughts:

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day: Just as the Romans had to spend some time developing a strategic plan for their city (presumably), it’s going to take a while for the Sens to perfect Coach Uncle Ben’s new system. I really like the blueprints I’ve seen so far, and I’m happy to watch them struggle through the building process if the result is a strong foundation upon which to create a great empire. (Now that’s what I call a metaphor!)

Fantastic Foligno: Did you know Nick Foligno had the power to phase through solid objects? Because I didn’t know he could do that. I wonder if the Sens knew when they drafted him. Watch it again and again thanks to the magic of the internet:

Whither Heatzza? Um, hello? 15 and 19? Remember the puck, and how you normally show signs of being able to actually use your sticks to control it? What happened to that? I’ll assume this was a one-time thing, and these two will be back to their usual goal-scoring, opponent-scaring, puck-taming antics this weekend. On the other hand …

Who Needs the Ex: when you’ve got a goalie like Martin Gerber to take you on a dizzying, whirlwind trip from highest high to lowest low in the space of a few minutes? I’ve accepted the fact that I will never feel secure watching Gerber play. He never looks calm, or confident, or like he knows what he’s doing at all, but that’s just his style: he can appear totally lost and still occasionally make a big save. The problem is that Gerber will be going along just fine in his weird way until suddenly the bottom falls out and you’re whizzing downhill and upside down at death-defying speed. This quality is a good one in a rollercoaster, but less desirable in a goalie. Note to Gerbs: please, please figure out some way to stop doing that.

Word is Alfie may actually be back in the lineup by the time the Sens play again on Friday. I know his surgery was very minor, but I still hope he’s taking enough time to rest and heal completely. No reason to put him at risk at this point. If he doesn’t come back, there’s a chance Nick Foligno could see playing time with Spezza and Heatley on the top line. Here’s an idea: how about putting Foligno up there even if Alfie does come back?

Holy crap, the Sens have had a lot of time off lately! Thankfully, that’s going to stop as they get into a more regular schedule this weekend. Friday’s opponent is the Phoenix Coyotes, a team whose existence my brother-in-law refuses to acknowledge. Even watching the game will require a bit of doublethink from him as he struggles with the fact that the Sens are playing a game against a team which is not actually there. Meanwhile, I have been keeping an eye on the ‘Yotes, and I think the Sens probably have their work cut out for them: Ilya Bryzgalov has allowed only four five goals in the eight periods Phoenix has played so far this season as of my writing this.