Monday, January 21, 2008

A cruel month gets crueler


If anyone wants to know about the January blahs, just get a hold of any member of the Ottawa Senators, they can tell you why January is never anyone's favourite month.

The first 21 days of the first month of the year have not been an enjoyable bit of times, as injuries and a losing skid take their toll on the once high flying division leaders.

A once powerful power play has been reduced to a scramble to keep the puck out of their own end of the rink, the days of filling the net with showcase goals a bit of a memory, instead defensive miscues and some lethargic play on occasion has turned the tables on the Sens, leaving them to try and scramble back into games that they once may have controlled from the opening drop of the puck.

Off the ice things haven't gone very well either, the sudden parade of injuries that has left a few big holes in the line up, with key players Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatly and Jason Spezza hobbled or out of the line up completely. Supporting cast members have also become battered and bruised, making for a rather M*A*S*H like scenario around the Scotiabank camp.

A few internal cracks surfaced as well with Ray Emery, raising the ire of his coach and fellow players alike.
Even General Manager Brian Murray has had a string of bad luck this month, a couple of deals in the incubation phase seem to have fallen apart, sending him back to the drawing board in his quest to strengthen his team for the crunch times just ahead.

With the all star break looming, a few days off might be a tonic of sorts for a team that left their mission incomplete last year and now need to get their game back on track to make another run at the Stanley Cup into the spring of 2008.

Ottawa Citizen--Wayne Scanlon--No heart, no soul, no hope for Sens
Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)