Report cards come a little – too – early

 We are supposed to be gunning for a playoff season just around the corner. We’re supposed to be talking about who’s going to win the goal-scoring race, Auston Matthews, Alex Ovechkin or David Pastrnak. We’re supposed to be talking about MVP and whether the unexpected Leon Draisaitl can accomplish the

Netflix ratings must be through the roof

 What to do, what to do, what to do? Seems like sports fans jonesing for something – anything – to fill their suddenly vast and endless free time now that hockey, baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, etc., etc. and etc. have been quarantined, the eyes and ears are turning to Netflix.

Dearth of hockey brings about ‘classic’ possibilities

 If you could have your choice of NHL games or series to re-watch, what would populate your list? That thought popped into my head Saturday night as I sat in front of my TV going: something’s missing . . . right – Hockey Night in Canada. Sure it was great

A small, slight bump in the hope metre?

 Photo courtesy NHLI via Getty Images It’s the tiniest of sample sizes to be sure. Ottawa’s Senators roll out two straight wins in a season that has seen so very few of these positive streaks. Still, it’s a bump; slight as the headline indicates. The odd part is the Senators accomplished

SENATORS: What We Learned Last Week

 SENATORS: A Week in Review is a weekly column looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by OLMSports Dave Gross. Feature photo Courtesy NHLI via Getty Images From the highly anticipated "Things-We-Learned-This-Past-Week" department: If Bobby Ryan didn't have bad luck, he likely would have no luck at all.

SENATORS: A Week in Review – March 6-March 13, 2017

 SENATORS: A Week in Review  is a weekly column looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by OLMSports Dave Gross. Feature photo Courtesy Andre Ringuette - NHL via Getty Images Silver medals are nothing to sneer about, and in this case, Ottawa's Zack Smith is right on target to

SENATORS: A Week in Review – February 6-February 13, 2017

 SENATORS: A Week in Review is a weekly column  looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by #OLMSports Dave Gross. Images courtesy NHL.com I'll give Bobby Ryan credit for doing his best, but presently his best is not good enough, and you have to wonder if it is ever

SENATORS: A Week in Review – January 23-30, 2017

 SENATORS: A Week in Review is a weekly column looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by #OLMSports Dave Gross. Regardless if you're a fan of the Ottawa Senators or not, you have to be mighty appreciative of this latest run during - arguably - the most important point

Jeff Hunt Proves Fruitful At Discovering A Dream

 Feature image by Andre Gagne You'd be hard-pressed to run into many in this city who don’t recognize the name or the face. That was certainly not the case back in the late 1990s when a young entrepreneur from Newfoundland arrived in Ottawa to take over as owner of the

SENATORS: A Week in Review – January 16-22, 2017

 SENATORS: A Week in Review is a weekly column looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by #OLMSports Dave Gross. Here we sit at the halfway point of the NHL's regular season for the Ottawa Senators. Summing up the first half? Have to give the team as a whole

SENATORS: A Week in Review – December 12-18, 2016

 SENATORS: A Week in Review is a weekly column looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by #OLMSports Dave Gross. Images from NHL.com. Generally I'll refrain from the old-standard 'I told you so.' But so far, so good, and it's irresistible. So, 'I told you so.' Juvenile humour aside,

SENATORS: A Week in Review – December 5-11, 2016

 SENATORS: A Week in Review is a weekly column looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by #OLMSports Dave Gross. Images from NHL.com. Well, this has zero danger of being inducted into the 'too-dull' hall of fame. It was an interesting week for the Ottawa Senators - one that

SENATORS: A Week in Review – November 28-December 4, 2016

 SENATORS: A Week in Review is a weekly column looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by #OLMSports Dave Gross. Images from NHL.com. As the legendary Ric "Nature Boy" Flair would bark: "What's causing all this!!??" After all, there has to be some reasoning behind the Ottawa Senators startling

SENATORS: A Week in Review – November 21-27, 2016

 SENATORS: A Week in Review is a weekly column looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by #OLMSports Dave Gross. Images from NHL.com. Not a shocker - Craig Anderson named on Monday as the NHL's first star of the week. What is a shocker? The idea that Anderson is

SENATORS: A Week in Review – November 14-20, 2016

 SENATORS: A Week in Review is a weekly column looking back at the week in Ottawa Senators hockey written by #OLMSports Dave Gross. Images from NHL.com. The timing couldn't be better for - well - bad timing. Let's face it, as the Ottawa Senators' brain-trust was reminiscing about two stinkers this past

Bell Doesn’t Toll on Brendan’s Long Days

 As portfolios go, this one is a whopper. Welcome to the full-plate life of former Ottawa 67 and former Ottawa Senator Brendan Bell. Three jobs; three kids (ages 5-4-2) and the last 15 years spent travelling through North America and Europe chasing down the hockey dream -there is no slow-down

Fury Switch Nothing to Get Hung Up About

 Photos courtesy of Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group. Okay. Everyone get a grip. Breathe deeply. Relax. The soccer community in the National Capital Region might be in hand-wringing mode concerning the move of their Ottawa Fury from Division 2 football to Division 3, but in reality, there's not much to