What happens next?

This is a really strange time to be a Sens fan. The team is paying 7 million dollars a season to retain both of it's #1 goaltenders. Gerber and Emery are both very good goaltenders, and might deserve getting that much money a season, but they are currently not living up to many fans expectations.

Letting the two goalies battle it out for the Numero Uno job seems to be having a negative effect on the whole team. Up until recently the Sens had dropped seven in a row, their longest losing streak in years, and the Gerber/Emery tandem was receiving the brunt of criticism from the media for the streak.

During the losses all I saw was a team with the potential to out play" everyone else in the league playing an unfocused game of hockey. I'll have to give Paddock the thumbs down for the recent choices he's made when dealing with the adversity on the club. But on the other hand I doubt that any other coach, besides someone like Bowman, could do the job any better. I'll have to get into this another time, rest assured there will be a blog soon enough detailing Ottawa's current "System" of hockey.

Back to the "controversy" in net.

I see this goalie tandem as fire and ice. I like Emery's blazing-fire but I also like Gerber's cold-calm, if only we could amalgamate them... we'd have some kinda crazy super-goalie... or not. What I've seen so far the past two season, from both these net-minders, is a little unsettling. Neither goalie seems to be willing to take that extra step and enter the league of the ELITE Goalies in the NHL. I'm not actually saying that either of them has the ability to sustain a " Patrick Roy-Like" career. What I mean is; I don't see either one doing something, on a regular basis, that separates the Backups from the True #1's in the League... six very important words...

"NEVER GIVE UP ON THE PLAY"

Both Darth Gerber and Sugar Ray have been unable to show me that they will do anything for a win. Sure we've seen flashes of brilliance from both, but flashes are not enough. That extra push to get across the crease or contorting ones body into seemingly impossible positions seems beyond these guys. To make a point -or to beat a "near-dead horse" in my opinion- We need to ask the "HATED" question about why the Sens were considered "Playoff Chokers" up until last year? We were beaten by goalies who were on the top of their game. Period. To make the Senators a dynasty, which is said to be near impossible in the New NHL, we need a heart between the pipes that is bigger than all of Hockey Country.

On a sorta irrelevant, but related topic. I wanna see how Gerber does with the black mask from this year and the black pads from last year. That would definitely make him a scary site to opposing players.

And while were on the subject of "intimidating the opposition... Emery seems to thrive on the physical aspect of hockey so why not let him loose once and a while -an example would be the Buffalo game pictured here- in which he willingly fought both Biron and Peters within a five minute span. I know! It was Awesome! But apparently everyone thought that the Sens should have been "protecting" their number one.

Wait a minute... I thought I was the flip flopper here.... Isn't Gerber the better goalie? Why should their be a huge backlash against the team if there was a superior goalie sitting on the bench? I think the shortness of the memory in many hockey fans makes them seem very flaky more often then not. The bottom line was; Gerber had been playing badly, Emery was the hot hand. The roles were reversed at the beginning of this year, it's that simple. Now that the team seems to be settling in with Sugar Ray in net -circa the last three games- I say let Emery off the leash, give him the ball so he can throw it at your little sister... or your grandma.


Whats the worst that might happen? He'd injure himself and all you Gerber-Babies would get your "Wish for the Swiss" to be number one. ;)

Cheers.