Luke Richardson to Ottawa - that's nice, I guess!

He's an Ottawa boy. That's good. He's going to be paid $500,000 - that's not bad. There's a minor league clause in the contract, if media reports are to be believed... that's OK.

The problem? He's 38, played only 27 games in Tampa last season and has scored but two goals since the end of the 2002-2003 season. Exactly how much can he be expected to contribute to the Sens' bottom line in 2007-2008?!

Sure, GM Murray and Coach Paddock are acknowledging that Luke Richardson will be the "seventh defenceman", but it's the minor league clause that gets me more where I live. Why? I believe that the AHL should be a training ground for young players who are just a little bit shy in the skill department. It's a place for guys to get that last bit of seasoning before making it to "The Show". It shouldn't be a place for someone whose star lacks the lustre it once had, a holding place for a guy to toil, waiting for an injury to happen.

If Richardson is going to be the seventh defenceman, what happens to Lawrence Nycholat? I thought he was going to be the seventh defenceman. Didn't he get re-signed to a two year deal only a few weeks ago?

The Senators don't have the depth on defence it once had - and based on what we saw last year, there are few NHL-ready defencemen down there in Binghamton.

I'm hoping that I'm wrong and that Richardson brings some of the grit and determination he once showed. He never was a point getter, so he won't turn into one here. Will he inspire some of the younger players like Grant Ledyard did while he was in town? Maybe... if he's not four hours south of Ottawa playing with the junior Sens.

Peter Schaefer heading out of town!

I've just received an e-mail from Eklund stating that a deal has been made trading Peter Schaefer to Boston for Shean Donovan.

Donovan is 32 and has 100 goals in 774 career games along with a -81 plus/minus rating.

Schaefer is 30 years old and has 89 goals in 493 games, including 53 in four seasons with the Senators (47 in the last three years.)

Is this going to be a great trade for the Sens? Time will tell - as always - but it seems that this is a money trade, saving Ottawa a little under $1.2 million in cap space.

A prelude of things to come? Here's hoping!

Randy Cunneyworth for coach!

What more needs to be said? Randy Cunneyworth is a former Ottawa Senators captain and he was the epitome of perseverance when he led the team into battle night after night. The benefits of "bringing Cunneyworth home" would include his obvious ability to develop and get the most out of players.

The Buffalo Sabres have had the benefit of having him run their AHL team for several years and his effect on the franchise certainly was seen as plain as day this past season. Because of this, his intimate knowledge of the Sabres organization would be an asset as the Senators try to improve on what was their best season ever in 2006-07.

Other people being considered for the position are intriguing - while it would certainly be interesting to have Pat Quinn behind the Sens' bench, I'm not sure he's the right sort of fit. I'm sure that Brian McGrattan wouldn't mind Quinn coming in as he'd get more ice time - something I'm not against, of course!! Some have considered Dale Hunter. He hasn't been retired for that long and I'm not sure that his experience amounts to as much as Cunneyworth's. Would Pat Burns work out here? Maybe, but it looks like he isn't going to leave New Jersey anytime soon - with the respect that Lou Lamoriello has shown during Burns' bouts with illness, I doubt that Pat Burns is pining for the Ottawa job much. Having said that, he did say last night on a local radio station (104.7FM) that he'd certainly be interested in talking with Bryan Murray should he call...

Randy Cunneyworth has a history here in Ottawa. He's been through some of the lowest moments in Ottawa Senators history, it's time for him to participate in one of the best. He's proven himself in the AHL - it's time to bring this expertise to Ottawa.

Come on home, Randy!

No way, Gandler - Yashin's not likely to be a Senator again

I don't know if Mark Gandler is a few bricks short of a load or if he truly believes that Ottawa Senators fans will overlook the holdouts and the contempt that both he and his client showed for the city that gave Alexei Yashin his start in the National Hockey League.

Years ago I gave Alexei the benefit of the doubt when he had his first contract dispute. He was relatively young and certainly was impressionable, considering he was in North America in a thriving capitalist society for the first time in his life. It wasn't impossible that he was getting bad advice from a bad advocate. When it happened a second time, this time it was on him. He truly was in it for himself, putting himself before the team at any given opportunity.

Eventually he was traded to the Islanders for Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckult and a draft pick that turned out to be Jason Spezza. That day was a turning point in the Ottawa Senators franchise.

Fast forward to the present day and Alexei has worn out his welcome yet again. Once again, he was the team captain... only this time, it was the team that was "breaking the contract", so to speak. Good on Alexei - how do you like being on that end of the stick?

Then yesterday his "super agent" Mark Gandler has the gall to say that Ottawa is one of the teams that Alexei Yashin would like to play for and that fans who have booed him over the years will get over it, because that is what they do nowadays. Suuure. Do they both think that Ottawa fans are that stupid?

The Senators don't need Alexei Yashin right now - he's a centre and who would he displace? Spezza? Fisher? Vermette? McAmmond? Comrie? In case they haven't noticed, Ottawa has an excess of centres. I'd rather re-sign Comrie than to get Yashin back.

Get real, boys... and good luck finding a team. What goes around comes around - you both thought you had it good 5-6 years ago. Well guess what - it's not so good anymore, is it?!

The fat lady's warming up...

Well, there's 9:30 left in the third period and it's looking like the Senators' season is done like a nice roasted duck breast.

Early reports today had players swearing that they would bring their all to tonight's game. It hasn't looked like it so far. The first period looked rather uninspired... and how about that Chris Phillips goal in the second? Brilliant. That one goofy moment pretty much summarized the whole series for the Sens.

The dominant effort put forth by the Sens in the first three series just hasn't been there. Some might blame the nine game layoff, but Anaheim had to sit through six of those days... big deal.

Who knows - maybe the western conference really does play a different kind of game. There have been so many Stanley Cup Final series that have been one-sided. With the exception of a huge performance by the Sens in game three, Anaheim has all but obliterated Otawa, and at times has forced Sens players to change their game and make stupid mistakes time after time.

It's been a hell of a run... from the lows in the early part of the season to the progressively higher highs as the Penguins, Devils and Sabres were obliterated on Ottawa's run to the finals.

We'll some day look back at this year as a turning point in the Ottawa franchise history. For now, all we can do is sadly watch the last half-dozen minutes left in this year's final... and hope that we get another chance - and sooner rather than later.

I get the awesome memory of having attended game 3 and seeing the Sens soundly beat the Ducks. Hopefully it won't be my last positive Stanley Cup memory...

Thanks, Sens! Here's to next time.

Remember Jersey?

Four years ago the Senators gave the New Jersey Devils a 3-1 head start in the Eastern Conference Finals. They won game five at home and then took game six in New Jersey to force a seventh and deciding game.

I completely forgot about that! Sure, I remember being in the stands and watching my Stanley Cup Finals dream die in the final minutes of the game... but the fact that I was sitting there - minutes from the Finals - was remarkable in and of itself.

If we did it then, we certainly can do it again. The Senators need to dig themselves out of a rather big hole, but they've done it before. Hopefully that experience (digging out of the hole) was a learning experience, and if it happens again, they can use that experience to overcome that one last little thing they didn't do in '03 - finish the opposition off and win that seventh game.

Only this year, winning that seventh game wins us the holy grail of the National Hockey League.

The first step is playing three solid periods and winning tonight's game... here's hoping!

Oh, what a night!!! - Part Two

Once the puck was dropped the intensity level at Scotiabank Place was incredible. It didn't take long for the insane happy state of the 20,500 people in attendance to wane a bit, though. Five minutes into the game Anaheim scored. I couldn't help but wonder if it was going to be "another one of those nights".

The Senators came back with a goal late in the period to send everyone to the concession stands in the same giddy state of mind in which they entered the building only an hour or so earlier. The rollercoaster ride that I wrote about before the series started was magnified in Ottawa's first Stanley Cup Final home game - the score went back and forth with five goals in the second period!

I can remember playoff series where it took five or six games before five goals were scored! OK, I'm exaggerating a bit, but it has felt that way - and having lived through game two only a couple days earlier, I couldn't be blamed for being shocked at the offensive outburst in the second frame.

Thanks to Dean McAmmond the Sens headed to the locker room once again up a goal after period number two. I remember calling my father and a friend to tell them how incredible the game was thus far and how being at a Stanley Cup final game was unlike any sporting experience I had ever lived through.

Highs and lows were to be found in the third period as well, with Dean McAmmond getting smoked by Chris Pronger. To this day I still can't believe that Pronger is a repeat offender dirty player. He has been recognized on several occasions for being the best defenceman in the NHL. I remember fighting friends over Pronger in various pools over the years. Sure, he's good, but it seems that he is also a massive liability.

With McAmmond in the locker room only minutes in the third period and the Senators holding on to a one goal lead, the crowd's anticipation only grew. When Anton Volchenkov scored and gave the Senators the insurance goal they needed, we knew that the win was within our grasp.

The last ten minutes flew by, and before we knew it, the Ottawa Senators had won their first final round game. Ottawa was back in the series. People in my section were high fiving each other... random people were high fiving each other in the stairwells... the unthinkable had happened and we'd never been there before.

The temperature and humidity had moderated outside and the twenty minute walk back to Costco was an experience in itself. People running up and down Palladium Drive, cars passing by with people hanging out the windows while drivers honked horns and passengers high fived pedestrians as they drove by... even the traffic control cops were into it!

After having watched the Sens blow game seven against the New Jersey Devils a few years ago, being there for a Stanley Cup Final playoff game win is something I'll never forget. My mother is the person who made it possible - merci!!

Now... we lost the first two games. We've taken our first and now trail 2-1 in the series. Let's hope our one "fun and unbelievably enjoyable" game day experience is repeated... if it is, man - it'll be one heck of a memorable season!

GO SENS GO!