FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Thanks to everyone in the Ottawa Senators organization that made last night possible. Eugene Melnyk got a lot of the face time (and he deserves credit too, obviously) but there were a ton of people working away behind the scenes to make sure last night was special for the city and for Daniel Alfredsson. There really is no precedent for an event like we saw last night so it took a lot of creativity and hard work to put the whole thing together. I think I speak for the entire fan base when I say that last night was a night we won’t soon forget.
-I’ll try to make at least one of these thoughts about the game but it’s going to be tough. Obviously the warm up was spectacular. Watching the crowd erupt after Alfie went high glove on poor Andrew Hammond was certainly a highlight but there were plenty during that ten minute skate. Couple moments that didn’t get a lot of coverage too including a nervous Mika Zibanejad falling down while Alfie skated behind him. Looked like Alfredsson had a pretty good laugh at that. I was holding it together pretty well until that last game of keep-away. Whoever came up with the idea to include that in the warm up- well done. Amazing moment.
-I knew the warm up and ceremony were going to be special but it’s safe to say the whole night exceeded my expectations. It was just such an important moment for the Franchise and you could feel it in the rink as it was happening. I mean, this team obviously still has some issues but last night, you could sort of feel an 18 month fog finally lifting. It was closure this fan base desperately needed and an appropriate send-off for the best player in franchise history.
-Right, there was a hockey game played last night. Not much of one though. For the third straight game I thought the Senators were much better in their own end but again, just couldn’t generate any offence. I’d like to know if the team has changed something tactically since that Florida game because while shots against are down, shots for have also taken a hit. Clearly the challenge for Paul MacLean and the Coaching staff will be finding some sort of balance in the team’s game plan. You obviously don’t want to rely on your goalies too much but you have to find a way to create more offence than they have the last few games.
-The Senators made a roster move prior to the game placing Patrick Wiercioch on the injured reserve with a muscle strain. Safe to say that move raised more than a few eye brows as it’s sort of difficult to tell exactly when that injury occurred. Obviously the timing was super convenient for the Senators as it allowed them to put Marc Methot back in the line up. That IR move buys the Senators some time but I’m still expecting a trade of some sort within the next 4-5 days. Ottawa plays a back to back this weekend and then have a few days off to start next week. Wouldn’t be surprised to see something go down before the Thursday game against Los Angeles.
