FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Take the two points and run, I guess? They ended up winning the game but the Senators were nowhere near good enough last night. Especially disappointing when you consider that this was billed as such an important game for Ottawa heading in. Sure they found a way to a win against a borderline AHL team but I was really hoping for a more convincing performance. Interested to see how they look tonight against a much better team.
-So who had a Phaneuf vs Greening fight in their pre-game predictions? Clearly both guys have some built up anger left over from the Sens/Leafs battles of the past and were just looking for a familiar face to drop the gloves with. In all seriousness, I imagine this was a pretty awkward night for both of these guys and their first period scrap was a good way to help get settled into the game a little bit. He doesn’t really have a reputation as a fighter but Colin Greening is sneaky tough. Think Phaneuf found that out last night.
-All the post-game talk was about Dave Cameron’s decision to bench his leading goal scorer for the third period. It’s a bold move by the Coach and one that has drawn a predictable amount of outrage from the fan base. Listen- Mike Hoffman has not been playing well lately. That’s a fact. With that said, I really don’t know that benching your leading goal scorer in a “must-win” game is really the best approach. There’s a double standard of sorts with this Coaching staff obviously because there are probably 9 other forwards that could also be benched recently. Hope Hoffman uses this as motivation but would certainly understand if frustration is starting to creep in for him.
-It’s not easy to say good things about the Toronto Maple Leafs or their fans but I suppose I can make an exception. I was really impressed with the way they welcomed back their former Captain last night and you could tell that it meant a lot to Phaneuf. There was a lot of uncertainty about the reception Phaneuf would get but Leaf fans came through in a big way. Think you could actually see a tear from Phaneuf as he acknowledged the crowd.
-On Friday, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to record another episode of Advanced Chats with Ian Mendes. Mentioned it last week but I have so much respect for the people that do radio for a living. It’s one thing to phone in and put together a coherent sentence or two in a post-game show rant but filling hour after hour with interesting commentary really is tough. Especially when the top story is the Scott Gomez signing. I used to want to do sports radio for a living so it’s just so awesome to have opportunities like this. Thanks to Ian Mendes and the people at TSN 1200 for making it happen. The full show is available here.
