The players look like they are trying not to laugh.
Imagine they get on the ice and a few minutes in, the image of that actor dressed in the Roman garb pops into the player's head.
No wonder they choke each and every year.
It will be over tonight for the Senachokes.
Oh, I hope you are right Wex. Those Sens are such a joke. Remember 2 weeks into the season they had the Cup parade route all planned and were talking about erasing the Montreal Candiens record of most wins. The press in Ottawa is something else. Alfie and Spezza are what I call soft players and it really shows in the playoffs when more grit and determination is required. Heatley is hot and cold and presently he doesn't have Alfie or Spezza able to set him up. Whether it is tonight or the next game "you can stick a fork in them"!
I think the players looked embarrassed to be part of it more than anything. I spewed PC Cola all over my screen when his helmet kept falling off and he had to push it back on. I can just imagine the Game Day Ops meeting where that idea was presented..."Yeah, and we'll have this Roman Centurion guy introduce them, and get the fans all riled up. The Penguins won't know what hit them! It'll be great!" That guy's head should roll.
And the funniest thing of all is they do this big production, obviously intended to get the fans into the game and the team fired up or whatever, and then the Sens get their tails handed to them...again.
If I were the Penguins, I would have a guy dressed in a giant Penguin costume with a Roman Centurion helmet give exactly the same speech in a high-pitched squeak before game 5, if there is one. Now THAT would be funny.
2 Luke Richardson - Too tough, all the other Sens are afraid of him
4 Chris Phillips – Give a little to get a little.
5 Christoph Schubert - See Phillips
6 Wade Redden – Soft
14 Andrej Meszaros - Ok.
24 Anton Volchenkov - Deserves to be in a Leaf uniform.
44 Mike Commodore - Give or take, not special
10 Shean Donovan - Soft
11 Daniel Alfredsson - Charmin(Please don't squeeze him)
12 Mike Fisher (Injured) - Should be the captain.
15 Dany Heatley - Other then Alfie, do they come softer.
16 Brian McGrattan - Goon, knows way to the penalty box, could not find the net with a map.
19 Jason Spezza - Soft.
20 Antoine Vermette - Boo ... now we do not have to worry about him for a couple of hours.
22 Chris Kelly (Injured) - Support cast.
25 Chris Neil - What you see, is what you get.
27 Randy Robitaille - Support cast.
28 Martin Lapointe - Soft.
37 Dean McAmmond - Support cast.
41 Alexander Nikulin - Who ?
61 Cory Stillman - Decent.
Get these kids away from this organization
55 Brian Lee
58 Cody Bass
71 Nick Foligno
Go Raptors !
Go Jays !
WEXDOG
09,11,01
Lest We Forget
11,11,11
craigshaw45 (Login craigshaw45) Registered Members
Re: Ottawa Senators Pre-Game
April 16 2008, 6:33 PM
i agree wex.
chris neil is a liability. terrible. tries to be a tough guy but does nothing to back it up.
craigshaw45 (Login craigshaw45) Registered Members
Re: Ottawa Senators Pre-Game
April 16 2008, 9:41 PM
i feel bad for the following TEAM players on ottawa. the rest i think were playing for number 1 which is a shame.
Christoph Schubert
Andrej Meszaros
Anton Volchenkov
Mike Commodore
Mike Fisher
Antoine Vermette
Martin Lapointe
Cory Stillman
Nick Foligno
Funny thing about Jason Spezza. When he was drafted, my supervisor was the brother of one of the Sens' trainers. He said that when they drafted Spezz, the first thing they had to do was send him for an entire summer of power skating lessons. SERIOUSLY. How in the world does a guy with any work ethic at all come up through junior hockey and still need power skating lessons?
From junior to the pro's. Sometimes when your making a jump like that your best is not good enough. On the other hand there is always room for improvement.
Matty, I agree with your assessment that there is always room for improvement to a point, but I think that power skating should be a skill that any player who gets to major junior, and especially to the NHL, already has. To me, that is a no-brainer.
Sharpie...skating is just one skill set, albeit a very important one, that is required for everyone.
There are few players that can skate like the Niedermyers or Campbells or Coffeys of the NHL world. Practising all of the required skill sets each and every off season as well as in season is imperative to being all that you can be, whether a just drafted potential player or a seasoned vet looking to hold their spot in the lineup.
An acquaintance of mine has worked for many NHL clubs as a power skating instructor. This summer will be no different. The fact that Spezza required some assistance in this department was no secret...and if you were to watch some of Spezza's play throughout the years, you would realize that it has been of tremendous assistance.
Heck...if Robert Orr's shot needed some work, would the Bruins have kept the pucks off the ice and said "ah Bob, don't worry about your shot, you can just dangle the puck over the goal line." I think not.
I think the pre-game thing was a joke and very funny to watch. the guy couldn't even keep his helmet on and the mic cut out about 3 times (good job by the sound crew for that one), and it didn't even help the Sens win. What is a little confusing is how the Sens player were able to keep a straight face when the guy was walking right past them before he hit the ice. I know if I was one of them I would have been laughing non-stop.
