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

I don't normally dedicate a post to a particular Sens game, but here it goes. Tonight's tilt against the Sabres where Ottawa fell 6-5 in the skills competition was immensely entertaining. Sens grab the lead 2-0, Sabres make 3-2, Ottawa ties it up, Buffalo makes it 5-3 in third period, then we're right back to a tie game when Ottawa scores the next 2 goals. Unfortunately Ottawa couldn't seal the deal with their powerplay in the last 90 seconds of overtime and they lost in the shootout.

But the 2nd period where a few fights broke out, including goaltenders Martin Biron and Ray Emery exchanging fists, fired up a rivalry and Saturday's rematch should be fantastic. As most of you know, I do think fighting should be banned from the game, but at the same time, I cheer when it happens and it's entertaining to watch so I guess I'm a hypocrite. Ray Emery's big grin as he dropped his gloves and not only took on Biron but Sabres' tough guy Andrew Peters was great. (Althought Bryan Murray must have been worrying about Emery's injured wrist getting even worse).

The whole thing started with Chris Neil giving a hard, but legal, check on forward Chris Drury which caused him to bleed and left him dazed. As one of their star players, the classic retaliation took place next shift, when the Sabres put out their goon line against Spezza, Heatley and Comrie. I always thought the notion of the star players being exempt from hitting was ridiculous. A lot of the shenanigans that causes injuries would probably stop if every player can agree that as long as a hit is clean, it doesn't merit dropping the gloves afterwards.

But if the traditionalists feel that star players shouldn't be hit at all, I have an idea. Let's have every team pick 3 or 4 players that cannot be checked. Make that jersey a different colour so there is no confusion...how about yellow? If you hit said star player, you get 2 minutes and must square off against the opposing team's goon before heading to the box. There you go, problem solved.