The Ottawa Senators were first out of the gate today, the last day of trading for the 2008-2009 NHL season. Our hometown Sens sent the much beloved Vermette to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for goaltender Pascal Leclaire and a 2nd round draft pick.
I am sad to see Vermette go. He was a gentleman on and off the ice. I met him and a sign and greet last year and he was polite, gracious and was really nice to my young nieces. Professionally, I believe that he will be hitting his prime in the next season or 2. Watch for him, as he’ll explode to be a 30-35 goal scorer. Its just to bad that it won’t be with the Senators. At least he’s going to a good organization that still is in a position to make the playoffs (currently seeded 6th in the tightly contested Western conference). I wish Antoine all the luck with his new team.
Coming our way is Pascal Leclaire, the 26 year old goaltender who was drafted 8th overall in the
2001 draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. He has been a very good goaltender for that team but unfortunately got hurt earlier this year and is out for the rest of this season. In almost 7000 minutes of play, Leclaire has a very respectable .907 save percentage and 2.82 goals against average. Assuming he comes back 100% from his ankle surgery, Leclaire could end up being the best goaltender we Ottawa fans have seen between our pipes (Hasek notwithstanding). With him comes a 2nd round pick in what experts are calling the best draft in many years. All in all, I think that Murray did a very good trade and that Ottawa came out the winner. Unfortunately we don’t get to see until next season if it is truly so.
That wasn’t the only change to the Sens lineup. Even though he has been playing down in Binghamton for the farm team, Gerber was finally picked up off waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Their #1 goaltender, Toskola, requires hip and groin surgery and will be out of the lineup for the rest of the season. The Leafs, not wanting to put the pressure on the again Curtis Joseph, picked up Gerber for the remainder of the season. Since he was picked up on waivers, the Leafs will only have to pay 1/2 of his remaining 800k salary. Not a bad deal for a team that absolutely required a goaltender. Gerber is a class act and I’m glad that he gets the chance to play in the NHL again, even if it is for the greatly hated Leafs.
Before the trade deadline, Murray managed to sign Filip Kuba to a contract extension that will keep him in a Sens jersey for the next 3 years, at a very reasonable 3.7M per season. Kuba was expected to be able to fetch 4.5-5M on the open market this summer. I believe that giving the team such a significant homtown discount speaks volumes regarding Kuba’s character and his belief in this team. It shows that he believes this team can and will be a contender in the short term.
What came as a surprise to the majority of NHL fans, Chris Neil was not traded. Murray stated that he received a couple of phone calls the day before the trade deadline regarding Neil, but come the day of the deadline no team showed any interest. A contract couldn’t be reached between the Sens and Neil before the deadline. The team was offering Neil 1.8M a year, whereas Neil was looking for 2.5M. I strongly believe that for what Neil brings to the table, 1.8M is a very generous offer (I’d peg it more at 1.3-1.4M). Hopefully Neil and his agent will see this lack of interest for what it is, and accept the 1.8M deal.
All in all, I think that Murray has done great things for this team over the last couple of weeks. We acquired Campoli and Comrie for McAmmond and San Jose’s draft pick, giving us the puck moving defenseman we’ve been searching for, and a possible 2nd line scorer. Today Murray brought in a goaltender who was regarded as being the best goaltender available on the market, and one who has the potential to be a difference-making #1 goaltender. Our playoff hopes for this year may be gone, but things are shaping up to turning this team into a real contender again in the 2009-2010 season.
Go Sens Go!
For the last few years, a number of people have joined a photo project or challenge called the 365 Project or 365 Challenge. For this project, you take one picture every year and post it to a blog dedicated to that project.
Finally, a world war movie that shows the Canadian point of view. A powerful film about the sacrifice made by Canadian soldiers during World War I. Written by and starring Paul Gross (of Due South fame), who based the story on war stories shared by his grandfather who fought at Passchendaele.
This 5th season of Lost is starting off on the right foot. The 3rd and 4th season sometimes seemed to lack direction but the ship has been steered back on course. Inhabitants of the island are now travelling back and forth through time, having an adverse effect on some of the survivors. Some members of the Oceanic Six realize that they have to find a way back to the island. That their destiny is to be on the island and not back with regular civilisation.
Craig Hartsburgh was fired from the head coach position of the Ottawa Senators earlier this week after a big loss against the Washington Capitals. He was replaced by Cory Clouston, the head coach of the Sens’ farm team in Binghamton. Though I feel the problems are a lot deeper than the coaching, it was obvious that Hartsburgh could not find a way to inspire his players. He was a good coach, just not for this team at this time. His defensive minded system did not gel with the offensively-built Senators. I’m reserving judgement on Clouston until he’s had 5-6 games under his belt, but so far the team is playing with a lot more passion and heart. Lets just hope they keep it up.
A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Blizzard offering me a free 10 day trial of the World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King. This offer couldn’t have come at a better time. I was already itching to try it, and having given up smoking I wanted to do something to occupy my time. It was great to catch up with people in the game that I had last spoken to over a year ago when I quit playing.
I’m on day 14 of quitting smoking. The cravings still come and go, but less often and with less intensity. Every day I’m breaking more habits where I smoked in certain situations. It hasn’t been easy, but at this point I figure that there’s no point to have suffered for these 2 weeks and take up smoking again.
Last week the OC Transpo strike that’s paralyzed the city since early December finally came to an end. Both the city and the union agreed to go to binding arbitration. Funny how they both agree to that just as the Federal government was ready to introduce a back to work bill and just before Obama’s visit to our capital. By going to arbitration both sides save face and can state that they didn’t give in to their demands. 
I’ve made it to the 5 day mark of being smoke free! I have to admit that I’m proud of myself. I really didn’t think that I’d have the willpower to make it this long, but so far, so good.