CFN – If Ottawa was as good as Washington in the shoot out they’d be in the top eight slots of the Eastern Conference in the NHL. It’s one of the reasons why I think the shoot out is Mickey Mouse hockey. As it stands the Sens are limping, 4-5-1 in their last ten with no real reason as far as team injuries go.
There are no real excuses to be made. The team is giving up way too many shots and not getting the puck out of its zone as smoothly as it did last season when Sergei Gonchar manned up the squad in the absence of Erik Karlsson. That’s right the team is doing worse with Spezza and Karlsson. Am I blaming them. No. I think this team’s ailment are all on ownership and the mishandling of the Alfredsson mess and the fact that the GM apparently doesn’t have the budget to address some sore points on the team.
Goalie Craig Anderson would normally be an element that the team could use to land a top D man, but he’s either injured or simply shell shocked from the amount of shots and their quality that he’s facing.
Ottawa is -12 as a team scoring 91 goals and giving up 103. Not good. Clarke MacArthur is my Sen of the week. He’s a freaking +12 on this team with 25 points in 30 games. Those are manly numbers for an afterthought second tier free agent. Next closest on the team is Kyle Turris at +7 while captain Jason Spezza is -8.
On the farm the baby Sens sent up Mike Hoffman who had 26 points in 21 games, but he’s gone pointless in 3 with Ottawa. It might just be time to give Codi Ceci a looksie, if anything to shake things up a bit.
The number one draft of the Sens in 2012 has been performing well in Binghamton with 16 points in 23 games. As a hockey move bringing up the home town (Orleans) boy makes a lot of sense. Possibly losing a year of Cody’s eligibility in what is not looking to be a cup run team might not be the $$ move.
A one two punch of Karlsson and Ceci surely must have Sens fans smiling and Karlsson can’t keep playing 29 minutes per night forever!
Switching gears with Rogers taking over Hockey for the next 12 years as a Canadian hockey fan I’m worried. Rogers takes over creative control of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. That means Grapes future may be threatened. I would hope that 
Rogers is smart enough to ride Mr. Cherry for as long as Don wants to do his thing. As I shared in a recent interview; the day Grapes passes away, hopefully decades from now, a million little boys of all ages will weep in Canada.
I hope that Gary Bettman the other suits that are slowly ruining the actual game of hockey remember that and don’t jerk Grapes around too much. He is “OUR” institution even if folks in Phoenix don’t get it.
Coaches Corner is our heritage. Now if they can somehow pry the HNIC theme song back from Bell….
What do you think Sens fans? Is it time for Cody Ceci to test his mettle? You can post your comment below or hit me on twitter @cwfreenews
