I'm hoarse today and my arm is sore from all the towel-waving but it was worth absolutely every minute!! What a great atmosphere in SBP last night! First time that I have ever seen the fans cheer and make tons of noise during every tv timeout. I could barely hear the music whenever the Sens scored and forget about hearing who actually scored or assisted. It was GREAT!!
I am not going to get into the calls by the refs...either way.....but suffice to say that they got plenty of "negative noise" throughout the night. Certainly deserved, IMHO, on calls for either team (although I have to say that the jeers were cheers when a Ranger was sent to the box).
Great atmosphere outside the building before the game and inside the building throughout including much cheering on the walk out of the building along with plenty of honking horns during the walk to our car! Yep....the Army were happy campers last night!
On the downside to last night, I certainly hope that Jesse Winchester won't be out too long with his 'upper body injury'. Can't say that I saw any specific hit that put him out but he has been solid since his return from his concussion and I will miss him on the PK.
Both goalies had excellent games....with Anderson being "more excellent" in the end!
There were several chants of "AN-DY! AN-DY! AN-DY!" throughout the night! The crowd was loving what he was doing out there!
I loved that Konopka was sent over the boards to the penalty box when Foligno was sent there late in the game. I heard today that MacLean knew that Zenon was the one to settle him down and it clearly worked. Konopka is not a terrifically gifted player overall, but besides having a 73% faceoff-win average on last night's game, he apparently has a very positive effect on his team-mates when he speaks. Have heard this over and over during his career since the juniors. It's one of those intangibles that is so important to teamwork.
And that word - teamwork - is key to what I have seen all year long with these "rebuilding" Senators. They work as a team, first and foremost. Murray is not rebuilding around any one or two players....he is moulding a TEAM. They come to each other's defence when needed; they pick up the slack when needed; and you can almost feel how much they like each other when they score a goal! Sure, all teams celebrate goals, but these guys seem so genuine in pre- and postgame interviews and during games. And their "no quit" attitude - that has been going on all season - is what makes it seem so different than past years. They keep getting knocked down (a questionable call, a misplayed puck that results in an opponents goal, their captain leaving the ice and not returning...for two games, etc.) but they DON'T GIVE UP!!! They lose as a team but, more importantly, they keep it going so that they can really savour those TEAM WINS!
Can't wait until Saturday!!!
GO SENS GO!!!!!!!!
