THE BALL…ERRR…PUCK STARTS TO ROLL IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION:

Phew…first game of the season down, and it’s a win. Incidentally the Leafs have their first game of the season the same night and loose. The NL scoreboard remains with the HABS on top and the Laughs on the bottom. Things don’t get any better than this.

Last night’s performance is, in my humble opinion, a clear reflection of yesterday’s post. In all aspects of our game (defence, goaltending, offense, special teams) we were not perfect, but we were better than mediocre.

Huet may have let in a softy by NHL standards in the third, but he made spectacular saves to keep the wind in our sails in the first and second periods. The defence had some giveaways, and at times seemed incapable of getting the puck out of our zone, but they were better than solid for the most part of the game and kept Carolina’s chances to the outside. Offensively some mistakes were made, particularly in the transition game, and taking penalties in the offensive zone, but we were intense and had many many chances, and out-shot the opponent once again (I hope this turns into a theme this year). Special teams didn’t help them selves by giving away two 5 on 3s and missing out on a 4 minute power play, but we killed 7/8 penalties, and were 37.5% on the power play (at this point I would like to let my evil cousin take over and say EAT YOUR HEART OUT to everyone who argued with me over the summer as to the departure of Souray and the performance of special teams…the formula was the coaches, Kovalev, Markov and Souray. We only lost a quarter of the equation, not the whole PP).

We lost momentum on several occasions due to penalties we took (we’ve all heard this tune before). The good news on that front however is two fold. First off, unlike last year, only a small minority of the penalties were undisciplined penalties, and the remainder were results of intensity. Secondly, the guys worked very hard to get the momentum back on their side after killing off penalties. Now I’m not saying that the first game is indicative of a new work ethic we have on the team (remember we started the year intense last year as well and faded off), but what I am saying is that at least we are starting with intensity. It’s an easier battle if we have a good start to the year.

In conclusion, I would expect more of the same for the remainder of the year: A solid performance ALL around, with “glitches” and “brain-farts” along the way. The key to our success this season will be to limit these errors and keep up the same work ethic which was present on the ice last night.

But hey, it’s only one game, 81 more to go. Good news is we get to sulk in our success for at least the next few days.

Now everyone, please hold hands and join me in a prayer: “Oh holy Sponge-Bob, please give thy Senators the strength of a thousand mules, and guide thy shoulders into the unholy Laughs’ faces so as to pave the way to a glorious blow out victory for our boys in Tri-colore against a battered and bruised Leafs squad this Saturday. And should all else fail, may the Laughs crotches be infected with fleas of a thousand camels, and may their arms be too short to scratch it. A-men.”