The fall of Ottawa?

Well, Rick Jessup has once again challenged me to post regularly, and I am *always* up for a challenge.

Where to begin today? Well, Ottawa...seems like a good topic.

The Senators, once untouchable this NHL season, has fallen embarrassingly in a four-game sweep against the upstart Penguins, losing 3-1 Wednesday night at Scotiabank Place.

How the mighty have fallen. The Sens were once the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and even Bryan Murray--who fired John Paddock mid-season and took over behind the bench himself--wasn't able to right the ship.

If I got this correctly, Ottawa lost 30 of their final 48 games. Ouch.

Meanwhile, just twenty minutes ago, I saw a commercial advertising this week's W5 program on CTV - about how the city of Ottawa is becoming the crime city in Canada. Wow.

Fitting that both the hockey team and crime rate in the Canadian capital are brutal. Too bad.

I can only think back a decade ago when the Sens were that ultimate underdog, the little team that could, that was looking to make history. Ten years later, one Cup appearance isn't bad, but this team could have done a whole lot more.

I guess you start criticizing the team because you want them to win. In this case, I've been hard on the Senators at times because I cheered for them at one point.

My favourite Senator of all time was Ron Tugnutt, the ultimate underdog goalie. In Quebec, the unfortunate Tugnutt played well but the Nordiques had no defense to bail him out on a nightly basis.

By the time Tugnutt got to Ottawa, he was finally able to get his chance to lead a team in the playoffs. And with Dominik Hasek out of the Buffalo Sabres' lineup, Tugnutt and the Sens took the favoured Buffalo team to seven games in the 1997 playoffs before bowing out in overtime.

And, one of the biggest upsets in the last ten years - the No. 8 Sens upset the No. 1 New Jersey Devils in the 1998 playoffs with Damian Rhodes outplaying Martin Brodeur. Awesome! Knocking off Brodeur and the 100-point Devils.

In 1999, it was Tugnutt and Rhodes splitting time almost equally in goal, and the Tugger had a sub-2.00 GAA. But the Sens drew Hasek's Sabres, and the Dominator was simply spectacular and Buffalo shockingly won in four straight.

I was upset at coach Jacques Martin for his passiveness behind the bench and for rotating Tugnutt and Rhodes in the playoffs. It was like I wanted to win more than he did.

And you can imagine how difficult it was to take when Ottawa traded Tugnutt the following year to Pittsburgh for Tom Barrasso. Tom Barrasso?? Surprisingly, Barrasso played well in the playoffs but made headlines for the wrong reason - he swore on camera, didn't he? - and Curtis Joseph was a tad better, leading the Maple Leafs past the Sens.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, Tugnutt almost singlehandedly took the Pens into the third round. But alas, the 2-0 lead they had over the Philadelphia Flyers evaporated when they lost Game Three in OT. Game Four, another OT classic, took five extra periods before Keith Primeau ended things in favour of Philly. The Pens never recovered.

Damn Primeau.

And sticking with Tugnutt - I was upset he didn't re-sign with Pittsburgh. After all, the Pens were interested, and they had Jaromir Jagr, and Mario Lemieux was part-owner and could in theory, "un-retire" at any time (which he ultimately did the next season). But Tugnutt signed with a first-year expansion team - the Columbus Blue Jackets. Incredible.

After playing in Quebec and expansion Anaheim (in the Ducks' first year in the league), it was a shocker that Tugnutt wanted to go to yet another losing situation. Odd. (Well, if I remembered correctly, the Blue Jackets offered more money...)

Oh, right, Ottawa. 2003 - the Sens almost made it to the Finals, but fell victim to the Devils in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals.

2008? Well, as Jessup was asking, which head will roll this time around?

We'll have to see.