It seems I was less ready to get back to this than I thought I was. "Inexcusable absence" might as well be the name of the blog instead of the name of a tag. Oh well; I am effectively talking to myself here, so does it really matter? No, no it does not.
The Sens' season is off to a surprisingly good start. Surprising to me, at least -- not that I'm a doubter (er, much), but does anyone really expect to start a season 5-0? Standouts in a good way are: Alfredsson, whose stellar play has rolled right over from the playoffs; Vermette, who is shooting more, steadier on his skates and harder to knock off the puck, and looks as if he'll get a spot in the top six if it kills him; Kelly, who . . . is scoring, and I still don't know how; and above all, GERBER, who has played out of his mind and reclaimed most of his dignity. Thankfully.
Some other people are middling. Spezza had a mind-blowing pre-season, literally skating circles around the opposition (hey there, Toronto!). Seven games into the regular season, he looks more like Spezza 1.5, the version who racks up points and is occasionally amazing, but leaves the impression that he's trying too hard. It's occurred to me that having a pylon play with Heatley and Spezza might not be a bad thing after all, since Spezza is more likely to be selfish and shoot when he doesn't have Alfie there to complete the playmaker's wet dream. It doesn't really matter for the moment, since the big line is producing nicely despite Jason's glaring 0G, and since Jason seems to be fed up with this business, and has been shooting the last couple of games seemingly out of spite.
Fisher's mostly been a non-factor, which is equal parts fine and worrying. I don't expect Fisher to become anything he's not just because he signed a fat contract. However, I am afraid that with another year of Fisher's inability to provide consistent secondary scoring, I'll start looking at that contract and wondering if it isn't expendable. That's where I ended up with Schaefer last year, but Schaefer actually wanted to leave, so no harm, no foul. Fisher, though . . . yeah, I don't know.
That said, I don't want to come down too hard on Fisher until I see him with better linemates. The Foligno-Fisher-Eaves line had less than nothing doing, and when that line was granted a mercy killing, Fisher ended up with . . . Foligno and Neil. Um, yeah. I'm mildly concerned that Paddock considers that his second line, but with Vermette, Kelly and Eaves looking good, that would be nonsensical. Not that that always deters the coaching staff, but I'm willing to wait and see.
Who else? Redden has improved some, but too often looks painfully uncertain, still; Foligno is allowed to be mediocre, because he's a rookie, and I'll forgive kids for being kid-like until they're 25; Eaves played well after lining up with Vermette and Kelly, so here's hoping that his crappy line was bringing him down earlier; Schubert and Vermette may have to conspire to force the coaching staff to play them in their rightful positions; and Neil has to play on the fourth line. Please. PLEASE. We've tried hard enough for long enough; he doesn't belong anywhere else.
Otherwise, the best news by a mile is that McAmmond participated in a full practice, and is nearing return. It may not seem possible for a 6-1 team to miss someone dearly, but trust me, the Senators miss McAmmond dearly. Emery is supposedly ready to come back this week too, but he could be in tough. Another debate for another day.
Otherwise x2, there's a chance -- not a big chance, but a chance -- that I'll litter this place with pointless thoughts over the next couple of weeks, since the Senators only have three lousy games in the last half of the month. Ridiculous. The only halfway-cheery thing to come of this is that they're going on a team-building resort: if they provide enough pictures and stupid stories, I'll maybe forgive the NHL. Maybe.
ELSEWHERE
- Two big supsensions for two phenomenally stupid Flyers. I'm not convinced that the suspensions will make anyone think twice about anything, and I'm not satisfied that shoulder-to-head hits are still perfectly legal. For the time being, I'm satisfied enough that the league has a policy that they're actually enforcing. I suppose murkier hits will be the true test, though.
- Havlat is out again. The innocuous way in which he fucked up that shoulder makes me very nervous for the longevity of his career, but I guess you never know; he could turn around and play injury-free hockey for years. What's really uplifting is seeing the Blackhawks play well without him -- two comebacks on Detroit! It's a fragile house of cards to be sure, but if Havlat deserves a string of healthy years, then God knows that Hawks fans deserve a genuinely competitive team. I'll be pulling for them.
- It's early, but things seem to be going poorly for Anaheim and Pittsburgh. I have nothing further to say on the subject, which you can tag as "karma, fear of." On the other hand, things seem to be going swimmingly for Carolina. Ugh. (There is some solace to be had in the fact that hard as he tries, Eric Staal still can't grow the beginnings of a respectable beard.)
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Now playing: Matthew Good Band - Whispering in the Dark
via FoxyTunes
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