Live Blogging -- 1st Intermission

Bozo Ray says the Sens were "brutal." Bozo Brett borrows what he said about the Ducks back on May 20th and says the Sens are terrible, horrible, etc, everywhere.
Note: I loved the flashback to what Bozo Brett said in pregame. That's a nice segment. It adds an entertaining element that's sorely necessary when the Bozos are using such advanced hockey vocabulary as "brutal" and "terrible."


My own analysis: Granted, since I'm not into the rhetoric of certainty, I'm aware that everything I type now could come back and be proved untrue. And yet, well, here it is.

Ottawa was nervous and uptight and not desperate enough in the 1st period. As the Bozos helpfully point out, Murray screaming at the refs just might not be the best way to approach them (even though Ottawa is Canada's capital). But it wasn't just Murray. It was most of the Senators. The big line still hasn't clicked five-on-five for the Sens.

Facing a team replete not just with character, but experienced character, I can't help but wonder, yet again, about Daniel Alfredsson--and particularly about that shot at Scott Niedermayer. Say what you will, but I'm not sure Fisher's answer of "It's everybody" they have to look to is the one a Senators fan should want the team to have. Sure, you want everyone to do their part. But you want your leaders to lead. Unfortunately for the Sens, Daniel Alfredsson showed his "leadership skill" in the waning seconds of the second period of Game 4. The Sens would be better off with a different captain, with a player of whom I could say--the way I say of Scott Niedermayer--"don't boo that guy, he screams class."

In any case, if the Sens don't win this game, it's in large part not just because their best players were beaten by Anaheim's best players but because the character of their best players, or lack thereof, showed out in a negative way.

Just for clarification: I'm not saying every Senators "star" lacks character. I'm not overgeneralizing about the whole of the team. But imagine yourself (I know it's hard) in the shoes of a Senator's fan: Which player on your team has the combination of skill and character that would inspire you to belief? That would inspire his teammates to do their jobs? Perhaps, at some point in the future, it's time for the Senators to find someone, or appoint someone, who can give to the Sens the kind of leadership that Scott Niedermayer has given to the Ducks. (And I'm not talking multiple-Cup wins here. Just old fashioned leadership, the same kind old school guys who hadn't won the Cup to that point--e.g. Bourque, etc.--gave to their teams.)