Senators Eliminated

To no big fan fare or stupid looking gladiator at the start of the game, the Senators bowed out of the playoffs and put us (and themselves) out of their media misery.

You could argue (mind you, not for very long) that it could have been just the fact that the young Penguins team was just that much better than an Ottawa team that had gone to the Stanley Cup Finals the year previous. Then you look at who you're debating with and they look at you and you start into this furious giggle fit knowing full well that the Senators didn't come to play and their fate was rather deserved.

For all intensive pool purposes, we shall go over the numbers. Their top two players in scoring were the new additions from Carolina before the trade deadline, Cory Stillman (Box 16) and Mike Commodore (Box 23). Stillman had a pair of goals and Commodore had a pair of assists. Getting shut out were: Daniel Alfredsson (Box 13), Mike Fisher (Box 17), Antoine Vermette (Box 18), Christoph Schubert (Box 22) and Martin Gerber (Box 24).

As for selections go, there were 49 picks wasted on the Senators this season. They will be eliminated from your team sheets this morning. Surprisingly, one of the top scorers was the most popular Senator, Mike Commodore was picked 10 times. As for teams, there were six teams that lost three Senators with the elimination of the team. Our pool leader, John P., also lost Commodore, so he's down to 23 players for the stretch drive.

In other news and notes, all three games played on Wednesday night didn't include a bonus point for any pool player. All three games had their game-winners scored by non-pool players. Unbelievable! Greg de Vries (non-pool) won the game for Nashville to tie up the series at two. Marc Staal (non-pool) scored the game-winner as the Rangers took a 3-1 lead on the Devils, as they had back to the swamp for Game 5. Finally, it was Jarkko Ruutu (non-pool) scoring the winner for the Penguins to eliminate the Senators.

There is a chance tonight that Ducks forward, Corey Perry (Box 3), will return to the line-up for Game 4 in Dallas tonight. The defending Cup champs finally looked like the team they were supposed to be the other night and now they have the chance to even up the series with the Stars and a guy like Perry is certainly going to help that. Perry has been out with a lacerated calf for the past few weeks. This will be a welcomed addition by the six pool teams that decided to pick him up.


On the schedule tonight, the possibility of yet another elimination hits the CBC at 5pm tonight. The Bruins will travel to the hostile environment of the Bell Centre in Montreal for Game 5 of their series and will play to keep their playoff dreams alive for another game. The brink of elimination means that they are officially behind the 8-ball today.

The Bruins are going to have to solve Carey Price (Box 24) a few times tonight to have any chance of getting past the Canadiens and get another game at home, but they will be trying to do it against a pretty amped up Canadiens squad and a confident goalie. It's needless to say, but said anyways; the Bruins' chances are pretty slim.

In the second half of the CBC doubleheader, the Sharks are home to take on the Flames in Game 5 of that series. With the series tied at two and the Sharks taking momentum from Game 4, it will prove to be a tough test for the Flames, but a little extra elbow grease should make the game quite exciting.

On TSN, their coverage will start with the Capitals and Flyers playing Game 4. The Flyers took a 2-1 series lead on Tuesday night and will try and build on that win with their orange crowd in the background. At 6pm on TSN Alternate, the Ducks and Stars will face off for Game 4 as well. The series of the road team will continue and the Ducks will have their roster boost to boot. The second half of the main network's doubleheader will be the Avalanche visiting the Wild in Game 5 of their series. Tied at two and splitting each other's home games, the contest is anyone's to win.