-The Kids. Young Guns. The Kid Line. Whatever you want to call them they were damn good last night. Mike Hoffman, Curtis Lazar and Mark Stone were definitely Ottawa’s best line on the night. Every shift they seemed to create a chance with quick passing and even quicker skating. All three of them have spent time in the pressbox this season but after watching this trio last night, it’s hard to see how MacLean can sit any of them again this season.
-I haven’t fully grasped the extent of my powers yet but clearly, they exist. Late yesterday afternoon I predicted Mika Zibanejad, who hadn’t scored through 8 games, would score against Chicago. I even added a ‘spoiler alert’ which sort of made it seem like I was hinting at something that would happen late in the game. Mika certainly made me sweat it out a bit, waiting about 58 minutes before finally burying his first of the season. Anyway, sorry for ruining the ending you guys.
-It would have been nice to come away with the two points last night but to score a goal late in the third against Chicago, the Senators have to be happy with the single. The Blackhawks are one of the elite teams in the National Hockey League and the Senators played them pretty tough in the two games this week. It’s nice to be done with them for year. Unless of course they meet again in mid-June.
-Congratulations to Marian Hossa on point number 1000 in his NHL career. I would have preferred he did it against some other team but it was still pretty cool to see the quotes about just how much it meant to him to pick up 1000 in Ottawa, the city where he started his NHL career. Nice touch by the Senators to acknowledge Hossa with an announcement on the video board and a good bit of timing not to do it right after he scored. I wasn’t in the building but I heard he received a standing ovation from the crowd. Nice touch, Ottawa.
-Funny story about Hossa. In the summer of 2005, Marian Hossa and then General Manager John Muckler were locked in a contentious contract negotiation. Hossa wanted to get paid and Muckler was trying to keep the cost down. Hossa was coming off a 36 goal, 82 point season and knew he deserved a big contract. At the same time, Muckler had held conversations with the Atlanta Thrashers about two of their RFAs to be- Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley. Those of you that have followed SensChirp since the Chara03 days will remember me suggesting as much in the Sportsnet forums. Muckler was seriously considering dealing Hossa all along. In late August, Ottawa and Hossa would find common ground on a deal that paid Hossa $18 million over three seasons. Apparently, or so I’ve been told, in the minutes after signing that contract, Hossa said something along the lines of, “If I was North American, you wouldn’t have thought twice about signing me to that contract.” Muckler was furious and after Hossa left said something to the effect, “We’re trading that son of a *****”. Hossa was dealt hours later.
