S4 - Episode 12: Nothing Changes on New Years Day

Let’s get this out of the way first. Happy New Year!

We here at the Underground hope 2009 will be a great year for all of you and your families and we certainly hope it’s started off better for you than it did for the Sens.

The road trip from hell is all but over and, as expected, the little team that couldn’t has very little to show for it. All our fears have come true as we have seen the Sens cement themselves further and further into the basement floor. Last place isn’t far now but that Tavares kid sure does look good!

Because of our extended time off, we have 7 games to cover this week:

Ottawa 4 – Philly 6
Ottawa 3 – Calgary 6
Ottawa 0 – Vancouver 3
Ottawa 3 – Edmonton 2
Ottawa 2 – Toronto 4
Ottawa 3 – Jersey 4
Ottawa 2 – Buffalo 4

Ahhh, the Buffalo game. Now there was a game you can sink your teeth into! Or at least Ruutooth thought so. That’s what it’s come to. The most entertainment we get now is when one of our players goes Tyson.

Apart from the regular e-mails, News and bitching, we take a look at the culture of the Ottawa Senators. What do we lack that some of the legendary teams have? Changes seem to be in the wind but what can Murray realistically do? Should he do anything? Should he be one of the changes? Can a dedicated Sens fan want their team to finish last and get that #1 pick? All these questions give us headaches this week. We also award the prize for the latest contest, “give the Sens a new logo”.  Lots of great entries on this one. We so proud of you all!

And speaking of proud, congrats to the Canadian Juniors, 5 time champions! You guys rock our world! Gold, Jerry, GOLD!

S4 - Episode 12: Nothing Changes on New Years Day

A New Contest!

Christmas is the time for giving and we at the Underground are no different. So, I take this opportunity to give to you some stuff that has been sitting on the floor in my house for the better part of a year.

Yes, you now have the chance to win the last of the Sens Fan Packs that we received last year from the Ottawa Senators. These packs include:

1 Sens Army T-shirt
1 Sens Army car window sticker
1 Sens lapel pin
Several packs of Sens hockey cards
1 Sens pom pom
1 unused ticket from last spring's playoffs for game 6 that never happened.(I'm throwing that in)
Unchallenged bragging rights in the Sens Underground.

What do you have to do for these fabulous prizes? We are asking you to help us out with finding the Sens a new slogan. A few years ago it was "Be Red". Not so creative. Last year it was "One Mission". That lasted One Round. This year's "A Force United" has done nothing but unite us with the bottom dwellers such as the Leafs and the Thrashers so we think it's time for a change. All you have to do is send us your suggestions for a new logo more reflective of this year's Sens. For example:

Sens Army: Tanking For Tavares
or
Sens Army: Quit Whining or We'll Bring Back Yashin.

We'll be selecting a winner during the first show of the new year so you have about 2 weeks to get your entries in. Send them to Russell.

Hey, when things are this bad, you have to have some fun with it, right?

Good luck, season's best to you all.

S4 - Episode 11: Merry Christmas Undergrounders

Welcome to episode 11 everyone, a little something to listen to on your iPods as you wander through the malls, doing your Christmas shopping. If any of you happen to spot a little magic pill out there that we can give to the Sens to get them out of this season-long funk, please pick it up and send us the bill. Hartsburg and Murray have as much as admitted that they don’t know what’s wrong with these guys so maybe all that’s left is a little Christmas miracle.

Three more games this week and outside of a so-so win in OT over Dallas, it was yet another forgettable week for the Sens:

Atlanta 4 – Ottawa 1
Ottawa 1 – News Jersey 5
Dallas 4 – Ottawa 5 OT

Where they found those 5 goals against Dallas, we have no idea. My God, even Vermette scored in that one! And Gator with the winner??? But the down side is that we lost our captain to a non-called boarding infraction which once again leads us to wonder where the NHL’s priorities are when it comes to penalties. Maybe more disturbing is the fact that we are once again left wondering where the team was after said hit. No one did anything about it. Where have we heard that before?

Hartsburg shook up the lines, bag skated them, threatened them and once again we saw a team unable to respond to the challenge. So what’s left, we ask ourselves this week. And if you really believe, as we do, that there is talent on this team, then why do we so rarely see it any more? Is the answer all in their attitudes? Are they still too comfortable? That and more Jason Spezza trade talk also make the cut in this week’s Open Ice.

The News, your e-mails, some Christmas cheer and a new contest for you all to participate in this week. We will be taking next week off so get out your note pads while watching this long road trip the Sens are on. There will be a test when we return two weeks from now.

We wish you, our Underground family, and all of your families the best during the holiday season. Raise a glass to the Sens and hope the goodwill brings us some good luck in the New Year.

Peace!

S4 - Episode 11: Merry Christmas Undergrounders

S4 - Episode 10: Is It Time?

This is the question that's being asked more and more around Sensland lately: is it time?

Time for what? Change? Certainly, as it seems that 28 games is enough to convince us that what you see is what you get and it's not going to get any better the way it is. But what do you change when so much is wrong and your options are so limited? Players? The coach? The GM? Everything?!?!

This was a brutal week for the Sens:

Florida 4 - Ottawa 3 OT
Ottawa 0 - Chicago 2
Ottawa 1 - Washington 5
Tampa 0 - Ottawa 2

Those three losses were not easy to watch but neither was their lone win. Sure, two points is two points but they barely beat Tampa and they did not look good doing it. Surely Melnyk can't like what he's seeing and he must be getting a little antsy writing those huge pay cheques every week and not seeing any consistent improvement.

Why these players are unable to perform to their abilities is always a question to ponder on the show and this week is no different. We put Hartsburg, rightly or not, under the microscope and right beside him you will find Murray. We want some accountability (there's that word again) and considering they were the ones throwing it around so much, it might be nice if they'd live up to their end of the bargain because we don't see any. Brendan Bell excluded.

A ton of e-mails, News and the different stages of mourning our Sens. It's all you can ask for, other than our old team back. Oh, and Kelly scored. OH MY GOD! KELLY!!! OH MY GOD!

Leafs suck...but so do we.

S4 - Episode 10: Is It Time?

S4 - Episode 9: Bawls and Bawls of Fun!

We come to you from beautiful Ottawa, Ontario this week, as we do every week. But this is a confused city these days. We're not really sure who, if anyone, is running the country up on Parliament Hill (as close as we can figure, when the going gets tough, take 7 weeks off) and no one seems to know what to expect from the Senators (the ones not up on the hill).

The Senators we deal with are much closer to the bottom of the hill than the top but did move up a little this week with three wins in their last four games:

Toronto 1 - Ottawa 2 SO
Ottawa 2 - NY Islanders 4
Atlanta 1 - Ottawa 5
Pittsburgh 2 - Ottawa 3

So... three wins are good, right? But that Isles game...man, what was that about? Even Alfie and the coach were at a loss to explain that one. We take issue with a few of the comments made by the coach and the captain after that stinker.

But we give credit where credit is due and the last two games of the week were fantastic with Spezza stealing the show against the Penguins. The Golden Gawd is back to form and the defence has been great. Auld, what more can you say? We find something, as you might suspect.

And of course we have our say, like everyone else, on Mr. Avery. Gets a little heated too. We do our weekly share of Leaf bashing, including taking a few shots at our new friends down the 401. The e-mails, a voice mail, some trade rumour talk, the News and a few bloopers at the end just to drink your eggnog, or Bawls, to. Mix with rum, and enjoy.

S4 - Episode 9: Bawls and Bawls of Fun!