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

Things are starting to turn around in Ottawa...slowly. The Sens played two of the better teams in the East in the last week, getting 4 out of a possible 6 points. Perhaps I'm biased, but I thought they outplayed their opposition in each of their last three contests and probably deserved to get a W for each game. But when you're snake bitten for an extended period of time, it seems even the nights you deserve the win it doesn't happen, either a blown call from a ref or an opposing goalie who decides he's going to be Patrick Roy for the evening. The whole idea though is to stick with the plan and the results will take care of itself, and Saturday's win demonstrated that. Hopefully this will be the turnaround they've been looking for and they'll work their way into playoff contention.

In any case, it's no secret GM Bryan Murray has been looking for a a top four defenceman to round out his group of six, and with the Florida Panthers in the basement of the NHL, there are rumours abound they will move stud d-man Jay Bouwmeester at some point, as he doesn't want to play for a team that hasn't seen the playoffs in what seems like forever and the Panthers don't want to lose him for nothing as he'll be a free agent at the end of the season. So can Murray swing a deal? It all depends on asking price. I think Ottawa could put together a good package: maybe the first round pick they got in the Meszaros deal, Jacques Martin's favourite Antoine Vermette and a prospect like Brian Lee. This deal would only make sense if they could immediately sign Bouwmeester to an extension, but that would be a given if the Sens gave up that much.

It's not like this guy is a well kept secret in the NHL. He plays big minutes, is one of the fastest defencemen in the league combined and plays a solid physical game so I can't hold my breath over this. But to see him don a Sens uniform, yes, even the one that just says "SENS" on it, would be a dream come true for Senators fans.