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

You can't ask for much better than a 4-0 record to start the season...Opening night against the Leafs was tough to watch. That 2nd period was perhaps one of the worst periods ever played by Ottawa in their history, with a measly one shot on net...Nothing has really been proven against Toronto thus far. Sure, the Sens got the extra points by winning the shootouts, but c'mon, especially with no Mats Sundin or Jeff ONeill in the lineup on Monday, why couldn't they get the job done in regulation?...Bryan Smolinski has yet to register one point in 4 games despite playing a regular shift alongside Daniel Alfredsson...Dany Heatley is the man. He told coach Bryan Murray to put him in the shootout and he would score, and sure enough, did what he said he would do. This might be nit-picking, but I think Dany could crash & bang a little more. Seems a little reluctant to get his nose dirty sometimes...Love having Martin Havlat killing penalties. Mach 9 intercepted so many Buffalo passes on Saturday, it was only a matter of time before he was rewarded. Could he be the leading short-handed goal scorer by season's end?...Hasek has proven to me he still has the skill. Now we just have to see if he's got the endurance...Christoph Schubert won't have a chance to play if Andrej Mezaros keeps on performing the way he has. I can't help but think Ottawa is just waiting to deal Schubert and won't dress in a Sens uniform unless someone gets injured...Chris Neil is showing he's more than a one dimensional tough guy for the team. Coach Bryan Murray must have seen something Jacques Martin didn't by putting him on the powerplay and has paid off in spades. Chris goes to the net hard and isn't afraid to fight for position. He has a few points to show for his efforts, too...I've read so many times Zdeno Chara and Wade Redden won't be around next year and the Leafs might offer them a contract. Here's the deal: It will never happen. Ottawa will re-sign them in January to contract extensions, then when they figure out the cap situation for next season they will hold onto both of them or deal one of them away to one of the other 28 teams in the league. There's no way they will lose one of those guys (probably Redden) for nothing, and definitely not to the Leafs...I like Ron Tugnutt, but he's a brutal colour commentator for CBC. He's just too wooden and seems to struggle to find things to say. Maybe some more experience will help, but for now it's not working out...The Sens have a weird schedule coming up. After they play Boston this Saturday, they don't play again until the following Friday against Tampa Bay. Starting with that game, they have 6 games to play in 9 days. Tell me if that makes any sense...And on a completely different note, that new Coca-Cola Zero gets an SBP thumbs up for tasting much closer to the original Coke than Diet Coke. Ahhh, refreshing! :)