Speaking of The Big Tease...

I just read a report that 18 new senators were coming to Ottawa.

It seemed like overkill to swap out the entire team but I was cautiously optimistic.

Unfortunately Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin were not what I had in mind.

Curse you Stephen Harper!

I suppose the Sens could do worse than a big Islander who knows looks like he could take a check.

Brian Murray could take a lesson from this kind of sweeping change.

Road trip bonding and such...

The cliches are out in full force in the utopian, never-never land that is the Ottawa Senators organization.

"I think it'd be good maybe just to get away and kind of come together as a team," centre Mike Fisher said. "Sometimes a good road trip will do that."

Sure Mike, go with that, perhaps you should give it 110%, play a full 60 minutes, push the envelope and so forth.

For every team dinner, team bonding exercise or trip to the local ballet that happens on the road there still needs to be effort and execution, something that has completely eluded this team to date.

Perhaps an eight game road trip is exactly what the Sens need, if for no other reason than to get away from the Jonestown-like atmosphere at the Sc'ank, personified by "Not So Mean" Eugene Melnyk's latest "captain of the Titanic" moment.

It should be noted that in the 2006-07 season -- the scenario most often used in prophecies of a Sens miracle -- the turning point in came on December 23 when the Sens beat the Flyers 6-3 in game 37.

That's two years ago tomorrow.

From that point forward the Sens went 31-7-8 and wound up in the Stanley Cup Finals in the year that will be henceforth known as The Big Tease.

Can the Team that Offense Forgot finish the season playing above .700 hockey?

On paper? Yes, but if I'm not mistaken there is a cliche for that one too.

Jay Bouwmeester in Sens' Sights: Will Jacques Martin Give Up the Grudge?

Reports are circulating that the Ottawa Senators are in hot pursuit of disgruntled Florida defenceman Jay Bouwmeester. However, as history has shown, simply putting together the best package is not enough for Jacques Martin.

In his tireless quest to find the Sens their elusive PMD (puck-moving defenceman), Brian Murray has apparently set his sights on J-Bo, who refuses to sign a contract extension but really just desperately wants out of the hockey purgatory that is Florida.

The package reportedly being offered includes perennial Martin favourite Antoine Vermette, either swingman Christoph Schubert or young defenceman Brian Lee, and possibly the first round pick acquired from the Lightning in the Meszaros deal. (The pick actually belongs to San Jose.)

But as we have seen in the past, offering up fair compensation in a trade is not good enough to consummate a deal between Ottawa and Florida.

No, it seems that Jacques Martin has an ugly grudge against his old team—the team that gave him his big break in the NHL, the team that stuck with him long after many other organizations would have cut him loose over repeated playoff failures, and the team that helped him win a Jack Adams trophy.

Apparently Martin thinks that he deserved more than nine seasons, six first round playoff losses, and four playoff humiliations at the hands of the Leafs. He feels he was somehow shortchanged.

Over the years the trade rumours between Ottawa and Florida have been frequent. Luongo, Jokinen, Nieuwendyk, and of course Roberts have all at one point been on the radar, but never has a trade been consummated.

Back during the Luongo sweepstakes, it was confirmed that Ottawa GM John Muckler offered up Martin Havlat, Ray Emery, and Chris Phillips in a package, far superior to the bundle accepted from Vancouver of Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen, and Alex Auld, of whom only Allen still remains.

While Martin was not GM at the time, clearly his power play to take over the position had already begun, and his approval was required, as Mike Keenan would resign as GM only three months after completing the deal.

So the question Florida fans have to ask themselves, if there are enough of them out there to care, is this: Is the Panthers GM doing what is best for his team or pursuing his own selfish interests?

At what point does Martin's grudge over his justifiable dismissal from the Sens become a hindrance to his current job? Or has it already?

The Future Is Never for Antoine Vermette in Ottawa

For years now, Ottawa Senators fans have been waiting for the potential in Antoine Vermette to show itself.

The speed, the hands, the vision with the puck, it has all been seen at various times, but never all at once and certainly never for very long.

Vermette has had the label of "rising star" attached to him for several years, fans and hockey observers alike were just waiting for the time when Vermette would become the next great francophone star in the NHL.

Two things are now clear about the potential of Antoine Vermette:

1. It has yet to show itself
2. It never will in Ottawa

During contract negotiations in the summer, it was made clear by the Vermette camp that he wanted a long term deal to stay in Ottawa and recognize his potential.

Sens general manager Brian Murray balked at both the dollars and the term being put forward by Vermette and his agent—it was rumoured Vermette was seeking a four or five year deal in the $3.5 million range—and eventually the two sides settled on a two-year, $5.525 million deal.

Vermette made no secret of the fact that he was disappointed in the lack of faith the Sens had shown him by not agreeing to a longer term deal and vowed to prove Murray wrong with his play.

Suffice it to say Murray's uncertainty about Vermette's long term potential is proving to have been a wise stance.

Vermette is currently seventh in team scoring with a measly two goals and two assists, looking up at such offensive powerhouses as Jarko Ruutu and Shean Donovan.

But perhaps most importantly, the guy has absolutely no finish whatsoever.

In the past two games Vermette has missed no less than a half dozen absolute glorious scoring chances, some of which would go in the "yawning cage" category, and has flubbed two shootout opportunities where he not only didn't even get a shot on goal, but appeared to deke himself out in a fit of leg kicks and stick fakes.

For a player who is supposed to be the key to Ottawa's secondary scoring, Vermette is a huge disappointment and at -6 is not even keeping up his previously strong defensive play.

All this to say, time has run out on the Antione Vermette experiment in Ottawa.

He seems like a nice guy, the fans really like him, he is an important Francophone voice for a team that is trying to engage the large French population of Ottawa-Gatineau, but time has run out.

Any effort Vermette vowed to put into proving Murray was wrong in not trusting him with a long term deal is going nowhere.

I still think Vermette may have the potential to break out and become a steady secondary scoring threat in the NHL, but unfortunately Ottawa no longer has the time to wait to see it happen.

Along with Christoph Schubert, the German swingman who has found himself on the outside looking in both on defence and at forward, and the first round pick the Sens acquired in the Meszaros trade with Tampa (the pick is actually San Jose's), Antoine Vermette currently find himself as part of a package deal Murray is shopping around the league to help shake up the slumping Sens and address a few of their weaknesses.

While I have always held out hope Vermette would turn into a strong contributer for the Ottawa Senators, the end appears near for his time in Ottawa and the future, whatever it holds for Vermette, will not be played out as a Senator.

The Ottawa Senators, 10 Games In: There Is Nothing Neutral About the Swiss

I need a little help.

I have managed to secure a large vat of tar that I have been mixing for the past week to find the right consistency; and I think I have also identified one of the many ceremonial cannons around this city that still works; now I just need about three large garbage bags full of feathers: chicken, goose, pigeon, any will do.

I am no longer officially neutral about the Swiss.

If the first 10 games of the NHL season have convinced me of one thing about the Ottawa Senators, it is that Martin Gerber should be tarred, feathered, and shot out of a cannon.

With a 4-5-1 record, things have looked pretty shaky for the Sens, but a very strong argument could be made that the team could be 6-4-0 with some basic, competent goaltending.

Thankfully, Alex Auld, of all people, has stepped up to provide the steady, consistent play that the Sens need to compete.

The number speak for themselves:

Alex Auld: 3 wins, 2 losses, 2.21 GAA, .929 save %

Martin Gerber: 1 win, 3 losses, 1 OT loss, 3.39 GAA, .891 save %

In a nutshell, that has been the biggest problem with the Ottawa Senators up to the 10-game mark.

Of course, there is more to the story: The defence still doesn't seem to have developed a lot of chemistry, although the most recent defence pairings from Craig Hartsburg that have Filip Kuba playing with Alexandre Picard and Christoph Schubert with Jason Smith seem to have stabilized the back end.

With so many new faces on defence, it was inevitable that it would take a little while to find some consistency, two straight wins since the pairings have been changed would indicate that maybe such consistency has in fact been found.

It is abundantly clear, however, that Brian Murray's focus needs to be on finding a puck-moving defenceman, someone who can lead the breakout effectively and quarterback the power play.

On the forward side of the ice, things have been slightly better, the big three of Alfredsson, Heatley and Spezza are all at double digits in points already and have generally been consistent on most nights.

The third and fourth line players like Donovan, Neil, and Ruutu have all been contributing strongly and chipping in the occasional goal.

The problem right now is the second tier of players that were supposed to add some consistent scoring.

Antoine Vermette and Mike Fisher have both been huge disappointments.

Vermette, after having been vocal in his disappointment that the Sens did not offer him a long-term contract to honour his skill and genius, has only two points so far this season and has looked lost.

Lately, Vermette has even been given time on the first line with Heatley and Spezza and has still shown nothing for it.

For someone who seemed so intent on proving Brian Murray wrong and showing that he was a top offensive player on this team, Vermette has only validated the GMs bargaining position with his early-season play.

And then we have Mike Fisher: This one is tricky, everyone loves Mike Fisher, right?

It seems almost sacrilegious to criticise Fisher in Ottawa, he's a nice guy, he's a hard worker, he's every 15-year old girl's dream.

But he is also carrying a $4.2 million cap hit and has ZERO points.

Fisher, a well-known religious man, needs to thump his Bible less and the opposition more.

Either that or turn my $4.50 arena Coke into wine or something, entertain me!

In the end, the preseason weaknesses that many identified about the Ottawa Senators all seem to be pretty accurate: goaltending, lack of puck movement on defence, and secondary scoring.

The goaltending problem may have been temporarily eased with the play of Alex Auld, sure he's a backup, but all the Sens need is consistent goaltending, not great goaltending.

The defence seems to have settled with the new pairings, but some help via trade is still likely going to be needed.

And finally, there are a couple of big name players at forward who need to their money where their mouth is, or I suppose put their play where their money is, and start producing.

In the meantime, if you are looking for me, I'll be downtown plucking the feathers off of pigeons on Parliament Hill.

Daniel Alfredsson: Senator For Life

Next stop, mayor of Ottawa.

After concluding a brief and amicable round of negotiations, Daniel Alfredsson has signed a four year, $21.6 million contract extension that will see him accomplish a rare feat in pro sports these days -- to retire having only played for one team his entire career.

The deal replaces the existing three option years that were remaining on his previous deal that would have paid him $3.8 million but also could have been declined had the super-human Swede played 70 games and scored 70 points this season. Given the fact that earlier in the season he came back from knee surgery after missing only one game I wouldn't bet against him.

Daniel Alfredsson is the epitome of a team player, when the news of a contract extension first surfaced earlier in the season, many pundits predicted Alfie could command $7-10 million from the Senators on a long term deal as many point-per-game player do these days.

However those of us who actually knew the situation and knew Alfie (though unfortunately not personally...Alfie return my calls please), always knew it would take far less to ensure the best captain in Senators history remained in Ottawa.

The $5.4 million cap hit is only $1 million more than his current tag of $4.4 million, leaving the Sens with plenty of room to manoeuvre in what will prove to be difficult times ahead for the NHL.

Leaving money on the table to ensure that the team can prosper is not new for Alfie. In 2003 when the Senators were forced to declare bankruptcy Alfredsson deferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary, and led the way for teammates to do the same, to help the Sens pay their bills and stay afloat.

During the lockout, Alfredsson was a member of the NHLPA board of directors where he again put the good of the game ahead of himself by voting for a 24% salary rollback even though he had just signed a five year, $32.5 million contract extension. That decision cost Alfredsson over $7 million in lost salary.

So it comes as no surprise that Alfredsson, who has also reportedly been assured of a front office position with the Senators when he retires, once again put the team ahead of himself.

With all the talk about Mats Sundin that has been making my ears bleed over the past few months, Daniel Alfredsson will go down in history as the better, more accomplished and more dedicated Swede of this NHL era.

Alfie under the knife? Time to panic?

Sportsnet is reporting that Daniel Alfredsson will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery...TODAY!

Earlier reports, and comments from Alfie himself, had suggested he was 100% recovered from his injuries from last season, inflicted by the hand of convicted felon and now unemployed ex-Leaf Mark Bell.

So what gives?

Missing Alfredsson for any length of time would be a huge blow to the Senators, especially as they try to get off to a fast start to the season to shake of the negativity of last year.

Is there a doctor in the house? Is this one of those quick and painless routine procedures to clean up the knee or something much worse?

In other words, without knowing precisely what the danger is, would you say it's time for our viewers to crack each other's heads open and feast on the goo inside?

UPDATE!

According to a team press release, the arthroscopic surgery is designed to remove a bone chip in Alfredsson's right knee that was dislodged during the Senators second game of the season against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, Oct. 5.