Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 by Adam Wagner
The Senators should sign Hines Ward
In a public display of aggravation, Senators’ coach Bryan Murray tried to pull something that Pittsburgh knows all too well on Monday when he tried to play the respect card. Murray claimed that by not playing Sidney Crosby against Philadelphia on Sunday the Penguins were making it very clear that they would prefer to play Ottawa in a first-round playoff matchup.
Honestly, Murray couldn’t have been more wrong. The Senators are obviously an injured team walking right now, with Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly all hurt, but they are still a legitimate threat in a seven game series. They still have Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, two players whom the Flyers (who the Penguins would be playing if they had won on Sunday) simply can not match in terms of offensive firepower, particularly in a short series.
Add in the factor that the Senators beat the Penguins last year and the whole thing becomes a little bit more absurd. If the Penguins wanted to get through the first round, it would be easier to do it against a team that did not have a history of beating them, but instead against a team who they went 8-0 against only last season.
All in all, the Flyers are a much better matchup for the Pens. With Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa, the Flyers would simply be outscored in what would definitely be a physical, high-scoring series. That series might tire the Penguins out more for their second round series, but they would probably have a better chance of ending it quickly. A series against Ottawa could turn into a slugfest between the offenses.
The reason Crosby sat on Sunday was pretty simple: Michel Therrien did not want to risk his star player and key asset sustaining an injury immediately before the playoffs. It is that easy. There was no hidden motive to it or anything.
If Bryan Murray really wanted to fire his team up, he would have brought Hines Ward in to give a motivational speech. Then maybe the Senators would actually win something.
Leave a Reply