Welcome to SDS

Welcome to SevenDeadlySens.com, a blog about the best hockey team in Ontario, the Ottawa Senators.  I’m a diehard Sens fan and look forward to sharing my thoughts on the team with you.  Thanks for visiting the site and I hope you enjoy the blog.  Comments are strongly encouraged, even if you’re a stupid Leafs fan.  Enjoy.

I thought I’d start my first entry with a look at how a certain former Senator has been doing in this year’s playoffs so far.  Usually at this time of year, the Sens have either already been eliminated in yet another playoff disappointment or are still battling as Canada’s last chance at the Cup.  Of course we all know that the Sens missed the playoffs this year for the first time since 1996 but that won’t stop me from looking at what could have been if some of our former players were still on the team.

I’ll be the first to admit that the Dany Heatley for Marian Hossa and Greg de Vries trade was a good one for the Sens as Heatley became the first player in franchise history to score 50 goals and 100 points in a season and helped us reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 2007.  More importantly, the trade gave us valuable cap space that allowed us to acquire other good players.  While Heatley was a better pure scorer, Hossa has always been a much better two way player.  After this season, in which Hossa scored more goals than Heatley while playing for less money, its starting to look like we would be better off with Hossa.

Heatley played uninspired hockey for most of the year which was probably due to the fact that he was in the first year of a massive contract and not exactly motivated to perform well.  He followed that up with an average performance at the World Championships and I’m starting to wonder whether he can still be considered a lock to be playing for Canada at the Olympics in Vancouver next winter.

Hossa, on the other hand, hasn’t had the best playoffs to date but I suspect that his late season injury is still affecting his play.  More importantly, Hossa doesn’t have to be the go-to player that he’s used to being because the Wings are such a deep team.  Hossa hasn’t been nearly as dangerous as he usual is and has been prone to the odd giveaway but he has still been an effective two way forward who gives the Wings size and speed on the wing.  While Hossa has 2 goals in each of the Wings’ game fours, Hossa has yet to score in any other game in the playoffs.  With game 4 coming up on Thursday night, look for Hossa to get on the board and hopefully carry that momentum through the rest of the series.  His performance in this series will go a long way to determining his market value this summer but regardless of what happens, Hossa will be one of the most sought after free agents this summer and will help any team he signs with.  Don’t bet on him returning to the Wings as they won’t have the cap space after signing Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Franzen to longterm contracts over the last two years.

I would love to see Hossa back on the Sens but that would most certainly mean we would have to move one of Alfredsson, Spezza, or Heatley and other teams aren’t exactly lining up at Bryan Murray’s door to acquire them.  I would be the first to trade either Spezza or Heatley if it meant bringing back Hossa but that’s not likely to happen.  Hossa has shown that he’s not about the money so maybe he’ll take a hometown discount to stay with Detroit or return to Ottawa but my guess is that he’ll sign elsewhere, especially if he wins the Cup.

Check back in the next couple of days when I look at how some other former Senators did in this year’s playoffs and speculate on what could have been if they were still with the Sens.  Take care.

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