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

It's been pretty miserable for Sens fans the last few weeks. On the positive side, they'd be in the playoffs if the season ended today, and Pascal Leclaire, Chris Neil and Shean Donovan have all returned from injury.

But on the negative side, Ottawa suffered a big blow losing their captain Daniel Alfredsson for 4-6 weeks with a separated shoulder. Jason Spezza isn't expected back until February, and their 8-2 humiliating loss to the Penguins wasn't the best Christmas present for Sens fans. Nice to see them get a 3-2 win last night against the Sabres, but realistically these injuries are going to make it difficult for Ottawa to put up wins, and it could ultimately cost them a playoff spot when April rolls around.

A nice, pleasant surprise despite all this , has been the elevated play of Mike Fisher. Yeah sure, the newspapers are all interested in his engagement to Carrie Underwood but what has got my attention is how well he has rebounded from such an awful season last year to having a career one now. He's putting the puck in the net, he's skating his heart out and continues to play that gritty style he's known for. Because Ottawa's "big guns" like Spezza and Kovalev haven't exactly been setting the world afire with their play, it's guys like Fisher that have allowed Ottawa the chance to be competitive on most nights against all teams in the league; I shudder to think how the team would be doing if he wasn't showing up.

Fisher is a long shot for Team Canada, yes I know. He wasn't even invited to the summer orientation camp and it's only been the last month or so where he's started to get the attention to be considered for the team. Not sure how Steve Yzerman will pick his players for the squad: He'll either pick older, established veterans like Shane Doan and Brendan Morrow (both having sub-par seasons this year) to man the fourth line, or he'll (hopefully) select players who have PLAYED their way onto the team and are having strong seasons. Fisher definitely falls into the latter. Yes, I totally admit to being a homer, but I feel he's earned the right to play for Canada in 2010. For a season that may not end up being all that memorable for Senators fans, remembering it was the year Fisher went on to represent Canada (and hopefully help them win gold), might just make it all worthwhile.