The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

As of today, the Sens are undefeated in the pre-season, but I wouldn't get out the champagne just yet. On Sunday, for instance, the Senators beat the Leafs 7-4 but Toronto didn't have Eric Lindros, Jason Allison, Jeff O'Neill or Ed Belfour in the lineup, while the only notable Senator missing was Chris Phillips...On the plus side though, the team is gelling and that's what one of the reasons we have a pre-season in the first place...The Pittsburgh Penguins were a bare bones lineup when they lost to Ottawa on Friday as well, with no Lemieux, Crosby, Palffy or Recchi playing amongst others. Hasek stopped all 19 shots he faced that day but hardly a test of the true firepower the NHL has to offer...Brandon Bochenski is a lock to make the roster and can hopefully continue the chemistry with Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley. As a 7th or 8th round pick back in 2001, this guy just might turn out to be a goldmine...Tough guy Brian McGrattan, with over 500 penalty minutes in the AHL last year (a record), probably won't be dressed up as a regular but will be called upon when need be. This is the sort of player the fans love to get behind and I wouldn't be surprised to see a few McGrattan jerseys in the crowd this year...The other person that should make the team is defenceman Andrej Meszaros. This kid is confident and plays with a little more edge than other camp hopeful Christoph Schubert. He may only be 19 years-old but that's how old Wade Redden was when he played in his first season as an NHLer...The Ottawa Sun had a 20 page pullout about the Senators today, talking mainly about the many changes the team has gone through since the 7 game playoff loss to the Leafs last time there was hockey. As I mentioned before, it all depends on Hasek's health if the team can do well this season. Backup Ray Emery can't be expected to lead the team to the promised land being as inexperienced as he is...Bruce Garrioch, Dean Brown and Gord Wilson were discussing on the Team 1200 on Monday why the Senators lost the playoffs to Toronto last year. They talked about heart, Jacques Martin, etc. but it all boiled down to one thing: Patrick Lalime. He didn't have the form he had in 2002-2003 and as a result, let in too many awful goals. If both teams switched goaltenders, Ottawa would have won hands down...The capacity in the Corel Centre increased from 18,500 to 19,300 or so. Where did they put all those extra seats?...Ottawa had its first pre-season season sellout in history @ Sunday's game. It was never really mentioned in the media the tickets were 1/2 price (not that I'm complaining, that's ideally what the prices should be every game)...Sidney Crosby is expected to play Thursday night in Ottawa for the next pre-season game and Sportsnet wisely decided to bring the cameras and air it on TV. You could be witnessing the final lineup for opening day October 5th (just 8 days away and counting).