Most of the Sens pre-season chatter that I heard around every golf tournament this summer was ...
1. Can they go the distance again and make it to the finals?
2. When are they going to trade Gerber?
3. What do you think of the new uniforms?
And here's my educated answers:
1. I hope so
2. I don't know
3. I like the red jersey
Now, as the pre-season rolls along there's the odd spot for one of the young guns to nab a spot but the reality is most of the kids will be heading back to Bingo which means were in good hands down the road if one of the big stars land up in the infirmary.
Nobody really knows for sure who's going to win the cup this year and for selfish reasons, being the PA announcer and getting to introduce the commissioner as he's about to hand the biggest prize in hockey to Alfie would be a dream come true. I have to believe that our guys learned the hard way just how difficult is was to leave the rink in Anaheim that night and how important it is to get back and win it all.
Heading into this season I hope Wade Redden will silence his critics (Steve Warne...and every second emailer) and rebound from last year, play up to what the fans are expecting and if leaving Ottawa is on the agenda then go out on top.
Daniel Alfredsson needs to pick up from where he left off last year (prior to puckgate), Dany Heatley and Spezza need to sign here long term and Ray Emery has to start taking a limo to the rink.
A few more pre-season games then we open the season Oct 3 in Hogtown, before coming home and raising the Eastern Conference banner the following night against the buds. Hopefully it will give the Scotiabank catwalk crew some practice on how to raise a Stanley Cup banner 365 days later.
