The Ottawa Senators have found their role models and they are … the 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs. That’s right, the Leafs. It’s no joke. For most of the 2011-12 season, the Senators have found themselves in a playoff position despite having allowed more goals than they have scored, which is usually a barrier to playoff [...]
About Wayne Scanlan
It has been my pleasure to carry a flag for the Citizen sports department for 25 years, and a privilege to write a column since 1991. As the NHL Senators took over our town, I shifted in the mid-1990s from a general sports columnist to a mostly hockey guy. Representing this newspaper and its chain I have covered men's and women's hockey at several Olympic Games. London was my 10th Olympic assignment, as part of the Postmedia team at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in England.
Along the ride I have been fortunate to cover the Tour de France, twice, and numerous Stanley Cup playoffs and Grey Cup championships. The Senators will dictate further travel plans.
Saturday was Hockey Day in Canada, which is another way of saying we’re grateful for what we have in this game.
“There isn’t a player in this room who doesn’t hold Philly in high regard.”
For the Ottawa Senators, this was a big one, defenceman Chris Phillips’ 1,000th NHL game and a chance to end a seven-game losing slide.
Truth is, Chris Phillips nearly didn’t play a single game for the Ottawa Senators, let alone one thousand. On draft day, June 22, 1996, Senators general manager Pierre Gauthier was up at 5 a.m. entertaining offers for his first overall draft pick. None was enticing enough, and Gauthier selected the Calgary-born Phillips, the consensus No. [...]
Let’s suppose a visitor is new to the city, if not new to the planet. His name is Frank and he’s in town for the NHL all-star weekend, and then sticks around for several days, long enough to take in the Ottawa Senators-Toronto Maple Leafs game at Scotiabank Place on Saturday.
To coincide with Tuesday’s birthday of Charles Dickens, this is A Tale of Two Cities, or at least, two goaltending situations.