Monday Musings - July 20th

Shortened entry on a quiet July evening:

1. The schedule was released last week and it looks like once again, the Sens don't come to Atlanta until January (and again in March). They used to always play once in the fall and once in the spring, but now for the second straight season, both games are in the new year. Being in South Carolina, those games are the easiest to attend and tickets are almost being handed out for free. Hoping to get to a game in November in Ottawa in the fall, but most excited about trying to plan a weekend road trip. Potential targets - Phoenix in December, Boston in January, Detroit in February, Dallas in March, or Long Island in April. Looking for a cheap flight for Dallas or Detroit. Anybody have recommendations on any of the rinks?

2. Depending on who you talk to, there is either zero Senators news or he's about to be traded tonight. I still don't disagree that teams might be calling Murray, but I still question whether or not any other offers are on the table. We know Murray is insanely tight-lipped about his organization and he isn't the Muckler type that has brutal honesty with the media, so there's obviously more going on under the covers and out of our sights. But we still have to take him at his word that he doesn't have an offer better than the deal with Edmonton. Yes, this is debatable because there is probably some spite involved, but let's not pretend that Murray is going to take a lesser deal just to screw Heatley. Murray's absolute top responsibility to this team is to make the best trade that helps this team. This isn't the California Penal League and he isn't going to tag a play for personal reasons. If someone beats Edmonton's offer, Murray will take it. To think otherwise is just dumb and short-sighted.

3. Any chance that Fisher and Foligno hit 50 points this season? We know Alfie, Spezza, and Kovalev will top that number given a healthy season, but what about those next two. If Leclaire plays great hockey and those two hit 50 points, then we're a playoff team. Take a look through each team's stats from last year (sorry I didn't do it for you) and tell me how many teams have five or more forwards over 50 points. It translates to a lot of goals, which were tough to come by in Ottawa last season. If those two F-bombs can get their act together, we're in good shape. Can we get a third forward whose name starts with an F just so we can really call them the F-bombs? Fedotenko is signed, right? Federov, Fritsche, is that it? Ahh, forget it.