NHL’s Best Draft Happened 21 Years Ago

 It was a weekend to remember at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville in late June, so many years ago. It was an enormously successful event – that summer’s entry draft – and its impact is still, some how, being felt around the National Hockey League today. It not only

Ottawa Hits its (Ull)mark, Draft Day Approaches and the Cup Comes Through Big Time

 It’s June 25th – you know, the heart of summer – and hockey continues to roll. The winter-ish sport enjoyed one of its busiest days during the past 24 hours with ramifications locally and across the continent. Let’s have a look.   BEST FINAL IN YEARS ENDS IN HIGH DRAMA?

Wacky day ends with Ottawa’s offence jacked up

 Let me get this straight, did Matt Murray just do what he seemingly hasn’t been able to do since he landed in Ottawa? That’d be, making a key save? It certainly looked that way following a somewhat crazy morning then afternoon leading up to Thursday night’s NHL entry draft. To

NHL draft won’t be the next Haul of Fame

 Nineteen years ago this summer the National Hockey League conjured something quite remarkable – the absolute best draft in modern-day history. The year was 2003 - for those who have problems with math - and not only was that first round a bonanza but the following rounds proved rich with

Sens go heavy and hard at NHL draft

 The Palladium Drive Destroyers? The Frank Finnegan Way Warlords? The Cyclone Taylor Boulevard Bullies? You getting all this?  A new nickname perhaps? One of the prevailing and consistent themes about building a successful franchise is – you just gotta have an identity. The Ottawa Senators stamp is likely to read

Senators make ‘slight’ moves at deadline

 Really, when you think about it, it’s the small things that matter in life. So-hope the Ottawa Senators who did a few of the little deals at the trade deadline but picked up a small piece that - hopefully (for them) - eventually makes a difference. Ottawa tapped on its

Senators take business-like approach to draft

 Scratch the thought that this was “one of the biggest nights in franchise history.” I’d argue (and we’ll see in the years to come) that this was THE biggest night in Ottawa Senators’ history. General Manager Pierre Dorion threw out the former line with some aplomb. I think he underestimates

Ottawa’s draft pick — Stuetzle or Byfield, who’s your guy?

 Above: Quinton Byfield (Photo:Terry Wilson, OHL images) It’s the biggest question in Ottawa. (Not if the LRT is running, that’s not so much a question as a gamble). Just who the heck is going at No. 2? And furthermore, who the heck is then going at No. 3? The ball’s

Canadian teams look to post-season and draft

 Above: Morgon Reilley will return to the Leafs lineup (Courtesy NHLI via Getty Images) It’s lonely at the bottom. The Ottawa Senators – as discussed at great length in this space last week – won’t be taking part in the 24-team slap-and-tickle know as the NHL playoffs later this summer.

Some Netflix selections in lieu of news about the NHL draft

 As the Ottawa Senators prepare for the NHL draft – whenever that’s intended to take place – whilst (‘whilst?’) the rest of the world attempts to untangle what the hell dunce-caps Donald Trump and our vaunted say-nothing leader Justin Trudeau spout about COVID-19 (IMHO), there are more important things to

A ripe stench in Senators’ land

 Photo courtesy of NHLI via Getty Images The numbers (like my hips) don’t lie: 28, 26 and 26. And therein lies the biggest question arising out of the garage-sale-Senators. You admit you’re into a rebuilding phase and these three numbers can’t be part of it? The numbers represent the ages

Patience takes a vacation for fans of NHL draft

 Photo courtesy NHLI via Getty Images What’s the most entertaining fallout from a National Hockey League draft? Rampant speculation. Year after year after year, we get loads of it once the picking gets done. When the Ottawa Senators snagged Boston College forward Brady Tkachuk with the fourth overall pick Friday

Will No. 4 be the one for Senators?

 Cheesy as it sounds – ‘may the fourth be with you’ – is something Ottawa’s suffering faithful sure hopes bears fruit. Because let’s face it Senator fan, the past 12 months have been plagued with more pot-holes than Carling Avenue in April. With a pending nasty legal case involving Ottawa’s