30 Teams In 30 Days: Ottawa & The Heater Bound To Breakup?

Remember that devastatingly powerful line-up featuring Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley? If you told anyone that two years later, that line would be in jeopardy due to a trade request, surely you would've been ridiculed and seemingly exiled from any sort of discussion. However, is it those people who are now on the brink of having the last laugh?

Were the Senators in the process of rebuilding before the 2008-09 season began? One could argue that the replacement of Wade Redden with Jason Smith was a sign that yes, they were on the fall. Just as fast as that thought crept into your mind, the Sens made an upgrade on the blue-line by trading away Andrej Meszaros to Tampa Bay for Filip Kuba. The mystery continued to grow on into the regular season until they took to the ice and we saw how truly terrible this team was destined to be.

It may have been the lack of scoring beyond the top line, the poor and aged defense or the inconsistent goaltending of Martin Gerber and Alex Auld? Simply put, whatever it was, needed to be fixed as soon as the season ended. The 2008-09 Ottawa Senators went on to finish fourth in the Northeast Division and out of the playoffs for the first time since the 1995-96 season.

Without question the Sens biggest need was, well, everything.

Addressing perhaps their most important need the Senators traded for Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire at the NHL trading deadline. As Leclaire sat at home and recovered from ankle surgery, the Senators continued to give Brian Elliott a test run in the NHL. Elliott played surprisingly well on a poor team, finishing with a 16-8-3 record and .900 save percentage.

During his last fully healthy season for Columbus, Leclaire had an NHL leading 10 shutouts and 24 win season for the Jackets. The duo of Elliott and Leclaire should be key components in the rebuilding of the Senators with these two players possessing great potential to be stars in this league for years to come.

On the back end, the Senators defense was simply too old. Chris Philips, Jason Smith, and Luke Richardson (who retired after just two games) are simply beyond their prime and have arguably, with the exception of Jason Smith, lost their legs. In a market seemingly barren of young NHL defensemen, the Senators made no changes to the defense and will hope for the best without veteran Jason Smith patrolling the ice.

Making the biggest arrival into Ottawa in 2009 is definitely going to be that of Alex Kovalev, who for years tormented the Ottawa Senators and rest of the Northeast Division for that matter with the Montreal Canadiens. Known for his simply remarkable techniques with the stick and smooth skating, but also for his rather lazy-bug attitude, Kovalev has joined the Senators on a two year contract that will pay him a total of 10 million dollars.

Kovalev is coming off what many consider a down year in Montreal where the part-time captain struggled to play at a high level night in and night out and put up 26 goals and finished with 65 points and a -5. Despite the 19 point drop off from the year before, Kovalev still has the skills, leaving the only question to be his work ethic and desire to give it his all for a club with almost no direction for the upcoming season.

Ahead of Kovalev in the newspapers has been the request by Dany Heatley to be traded out of town and to a contender. After refusing a trade that would've sent the disgruntled 39-goal scorer to Edmonton in exchange for Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner and Ladislav Smid it was beginning to appear as if Dany Heatley was going to create a distraction in the Senators locker room and simply wasn't going to be well liked (hell, the desire to be traded went as far as refusing to go to teammate Jason Spezza's wedding).

Heatley's refusal rendered the question among most, including myself, "Why request the trade if you're just going to say no?" and Heatley's motivations were becoming very clear. He wanted to go to an immediate contender, not a team who needs him in order to be a contender. Simply put, he's quickly becoming one of the NHL's few prima-donna's.

Is Heatley the missing piece for the San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers or New York Rangers? It's very possible, but with all three of teams lacking the cap space and/or players willing to waive their no trade clauses a move to any of these cities seems unlikely. Wherever Heatley may end up (Ottawa being my bet), the price tag for the 28 year old coming off his worst offensive season since 2003-04 is still going to an extraordinarily high one considering his seven and a half million dollar cap hit from now until the end of the 2013-14 season.

The on-going Heatley saga has even irked captain Daniel Alfredsson, who recently suggested that Heatley be traded immediately for the best interest of the team and to avoid creating a distraction for the club once they return to action. Will Heatley be moved? Or better yet, can he be moved? As the season draws closer and closer, the idea of Heatley staying a Senator and creating a distraction is becoming more likely.

Considering that as of right now no Heatley trade is in place, this should be the Senators opening night line-up in 2009-10.

Daniel Alfredsson - Jason Spezza - Dany Heatley

Nick Foligno - Mike Fisher - Alex Kovalev

Jarkko Ruutu - Chris Kelly - Chris Neil

Christoph Schubert - Ryan Shannon - Jesse Winchester

Extra Skaters: Cody Bass & Martin St. Pierre

Chris Phillips - Filip Kuba

Chris Campoli - Alexandre Picard

Brian Lee - Anton Volchenkov

Extra Skater: Erik Karlsson

Pascal Leclaire

Brian Elliott

Despite the addition of Kovalev and arrival of a healthy Leclaire, this team is among the bottom of the barrel not only in the division, but in the Eastern Conference. Once again, the defense will be lit up by all four of the divisional opponents along with the rest of the NHL. The offense, although slightly improved, still lacks the depth to hang with the league's best on a night in and night out basis.

Players To Watch: Firstly and most importantly, goaltenders Pascal Leclaire and Brian Elliott should be two netminders to keep an eye on and present the second most interesting case of a goalie core next to the Ray Emery and Brian Boucher combo in Philly. Elliott, while experience success as a rookie on a bad team has still yet to prove if he is indeed the number one goaltender of tomorrow whereas Leclaire is looking to bounce back and return to form with a fully healed ankle. It'll also be entertaining to see how the fans react to and treat Dany Heatley if he is indeed not traded before the season starts.

Prediction: 5th in Northeast Division. 12th in Eastern Conference.

Two And Done: Kovalev Wants To Retire A Hab?

Perhaps this wasn't the best way to endear yourself to a new city, but he's Alexei Kovalev, right? During a charity event in the city he called home for five years, Kovalev mentioned his visits back to Montreal throughout the off-season and stated the following,

"Every time you see a fan on the street, they're really disappointed. That's why I say, maybe after two years I'll be back again. It definitely would be nice to retire here.".

Simply put, the Ottawa Senators are quickly becoming the NHL's biggest mess. Between Dany Heatley's riff with the organization becoming so personal that the superstar refuses to go to teammates weddings and the fact that Ottawa's completely fallen from grace following their near capture of the 2007 Stanley Cup, it appears that the hope for the 2009-10 Sens is already fading.

Perhaps it wasn't the quote that got under the skin of Senators fans (okay, it definitely was) but doesn't it already seem as if the 36-year old sniper has no interest in becoming the leader in Ottawa that he initially billed himself as to the fans of the red and black?

To go from "wanting to have a sit down talk with Heatley to keep him a Sen" to "longing to retire in Montreal" is simply Alex being Alex. He's seemingly taking his rather strangely mysterious approach to the game of hockey of flipping, flopping (and diving) between efforts on a given night and applied it to how he feels about being a Senator.

In the interview, Kovalev went on to mention his desire to return to Montreal during this off-season until Bob Gainey pulled the offer from the table following his signing of Brian Gionta to a five year contract. Kovalev went on to wait for what felt like weeks before signing a two year deal with the Ottawa Senators worth 10 million dollars. Despite these comments, Kovalev reiterated his desire for Heatley to remain in Ottawa with him. If his desire becomes reality, Kovalev's addition into the Ottawa line-up gives the Senators some greatly needed secondary scoring to complement their top line of Heatley-Spezza and captain Daniel Alfredsson.

However, I'm not expecting this to be the case. This an Ottawa club already starting off in the hole and relaying on Pascal Leclaire and a weak defense to compete in the high-powered goal scoring Eastern Conference.

Have fun Ottawa, you're going to losing one Heatley headache and take on a new home-sickened Kovalev one.

10 Bruins Games You Need To Watch Not Played At Fenway Park

As jubilant as Boston is that they'll be the host of the third Winter Classic, there's still 81 more games to be played in the Bruins quest for a Stanley Cup. Despite these games having roofs over their heads and lacking a 37 foot tall monster (although they do present us with a near seven foot tall captain), there's no denying that there's still a lot of buzz generating around these games.

10. New York Islanders at Boston Bruins (Saturday Oct. 10th: 7 PM)
Rarely is it a big deal when the 15th place team battles against the 1st place team from the year before, but the buzz about the newest Islander makes it worth the viewing. This game marks the debut of Jonathan Tavares at the TD Bank Garden. If the hype is correct and this kid is on the same level as Sidney Crosby was in his first year, then this battle between the rebuilding Islanders and Bruins should be a good one.

9. Ottawa Senators at Boston Bruins (Saturday Nov. 28th: 7 PM)
Will Dany Heatley still be a member of the Ottawa Senators come November 28th? I suppose that doesn't really matter because the story here is created by Boston's favorite player to hate, Alexei Kovalev. The long despised Canadien traded in his Montreal sweater for a divisional foe Sens jersey, but I'm sure that won't change the way the Garden faithful views him. It'll certainly be interesting to see how loud and long-winded the boo's are for L'artiste, even without the Montreal jersey on.

8. Vancouver Canucks at Boston Bruins (Saturday Feb. 6th: 1 PM)
Much of the excitement behind this game in my opinion, comes from the fact that this is Vancouver's second trip back to Boston since the lockout ended. Since then, both teams have found a new jersey styles and along with new directions for the better within their franchise. This game will also likely pit two of the best goaltenders in the NHL against one another.

7. Montreal Canadiens at Boston Bruins (Thursday Nov. 5th: 7 PM)
It's hard to make the case that any Bruins vs. Canadiens game lacks excitement because, well it's just plain not true. This will be the first regular-season meeting between the two teams since the Bruins four game sweep of the Canadiens in their centennial season. With the Habs adding two former Bruins in Paul Mara and Hal Gill while the Bruins add former Canadien tough-guy Steve Begin, expect things to get awfully chippy (per usual) in this Original Six clash.

6. Boston Bruins at New York Rangers (Sunday Nov. 1st: 1 PM)
This game may be competing against the time slots of most NFL teams, but I'm already locked in on this match-up. The Rangers are coming off a frustrating end to their season as they blew a three-game series lead to bow out of the conference quarter-finals and always provide great competition against Boston. A stat worth mention is the fact that seven out of the last eight meetings between these teams were decided by one-goal, including four over-time thrillers. In these eight match-up's the Bruins are 5-1-2.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins (Saturday Dec. 5th: 7 PM)
Fairly new Leafs GM Brian Burke is already putting his pattened Burke-stamp on the Toronto Maple Leafs. As he did in Anaheim, where he put together a Stanley Cup winning team, he's loading the Maple Leafs up with good ole' fashioned North American bruisers. Undoubtedly, his biggest splash came with the robbery of defensemen Mike Komisarek away from, Montreal, a player loathed by Boston fans and players alike. Along with Komisarek, the additions of Colton Orr and Garnet Exelby make the Leafs a lot scrappier and will ultimately provide a great physical contest when they come to the Garden for a Saturday night in Boston. Doesn't this one have Dallas Stars at Boston Bruins Part II written all over it?

4. Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins (Thursday Oct. 1st: 7 PM)
Opening night always has a great feel to it. From the fan fare outside the stadium, to the anticipation of the fans within the building. With Alexander Ovechkin and the rest of the Southeast Division winning Capitals in town, additional excitement may not be needed for most fans.

3. Chicago Blackhawks at Boston Bruins (Thursday Jan. 7th: 7 PM)
The excitement around this one is stemming from this being my pick for the 2010 Stanley Cup. It may be early, but I fully feel that with the additions these teams have made and the continuing development of their young stars into NHL studs that this game has all the makings to be a fine preview of what could be come June.

2. Carolina Hurricanes at Boston Bruins (Saturday Oct. 3rd: 7 PM)
The villian of all villains, Hurricanes forward Scott Walker and the rest of those Cardiac 'Canes will be making their first trip to Boston on October 3rd, the Bruins first Saturday night game and second game of the season. The reception for the boys from Raleigh will certainly be unwelcoming, as a sure to be rowdy Saturday night Garden crowd will let their feelings be known to the team that knocked the Bruins out of the second round. Also, it'll be interesting to see how the Bruins handle their (not announced, but sure to happen) retribution to Scott Walker for his sucker punch to Aaron Ward in Game 5. The series may be over, but as Shawn Thornton said "We (hockey players), have long memories.".

1. Boston Bruins at Montreal Canadiens (Friday Dec. 4th: 7 PM)
This will be the final send off to the Montreal Canadiens centennial (we can only hope) as the Bruins will square off against their most hated rival at the Bell Centre for the first time in the 2009-10 season. This date also marks the first game the Habs ever had in the league, making it the true centennial. With the crowd of 21,000 plus screaming Canadiens fans sure to give this game a playoff feel, expect the players to have an extra jump in their stride. One query I've pondered is whether or not the Habs will break out their prison-jumpsuit throwbacks for this one? We can only pray not.