First and foremost, thank you Alex Burrows for calling out a ref like he did. A ton of people have called him a whiner, but if this involved one of their own players they'd be all over it.
More on that below
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4 straight losses, no goalies to be found and help still a week away.
The Sens are slipping hard.
With Alfreddson, Spezza, Michalek, Kuba and Winchester out, there simply isn't a team the Sens would want to play right now. (Except Buffalo who just can't seem to catch a break against us.)
Our chance to get things back on track was against the league-worst Carolina Hurricanes, and that obviously didn't happen. So now we have to try and set things right against a team we couldn't score on, last time we played.
While the Thrashers aren't the most intimidating team in the NHL, they are one a handful that can and has scored 6+ goals in games frequently over the last few years.
No quite the team Leclaire needs to facing while he struggles to find his game.
We can mock Atlanta all we want for numerous reasons but when it comes down to it, does this line-up strike fear in any team's mind?
Shannon - Regin - Kovalev
Foligno - Fisher - Neil
Ruutu - Kelly - Cheechoo
Smith - St. Pierre - Donovan
Phillips - Volchenkov
Karlsson - Campoli
Picard - Carkner
(The pairings aren't official but given Clouston's ridiculous history of pairings, you have bet that Karlsson will be stuck with Campoli)
Leclaire
I'm not trying to discourage fans or mock our beloved Sens, but given some of the posts by Sens fans on game day forums around the web, maybe we shouldn't mock Atlanta's line-up when ours is complete patchwork thanks to injuries.
Can we beat the Thrashers? Yes, we can.
How are we going to do? .......That's a good question.
The Sens desperately need the defence to get back into their rhythm, we desperately need Fisher to start scoring, along with ANY other Senators.
But above all else, we need a goal to make the big saves, and not allow the backbreakers.
Leclaire needs to worry less about how his teammates are playing, and spend more time earning their confidence back.
Buffalo and New Jersey don't have to most 'star' filled line-ups, but yet they're winning frequently and playing like a 'stacked' team because they have the confidence to make a bold or gutsy play because they know 90% of the team their goalie will bail them out of any mistake.
Ottawa should play like the Devils and Sabres, but we need Leclaire or Elliott to play good enough to give us the opportunity to play that way.
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All season I (along with many others) have complained about the officiating in some games, and I'm not just talking about Sens fans, other teams have experienced issues with the officiating and it seems this season is actually worse than previous seasons.
There has been more games where a one team doesn't earn a PP then in any other season over the last 10 years. Ottawa has had 3 of those games, and Montreal has had 2 of those games.
Now Burrows has come out and torched Stephane Auger for some bad calls, and for apparently telling Burrows he was out to get him.
While it will be near impossible to tell if Auger had said that to Burrows (it was odd to see Auger approach and talk to Burrows in the pre-game), the two penalties given to Burrows were ridiculous, especially the apparent interference call, wow that one was bad.
It will be interesting to see where this develops from here but this could get real ugly, real fast.
But now, all night we'll be treated to TSN's sample interview with 'players across the league' and their thoughts on the situation. Quite the sample, two Leafs, a Canadien, and Paul Maurice.
And what a brutal sample response, (not that you'd really expect anything else out of the players mouths.)
Jamal Mayers, a grinding sh#t disturber type player, comes out and preaches how great ref's are, no surprise there, he can't afford to say anything bad about the officiating because his job is to thread the line between legal and dirty. One thing though, and maybe it was just me, but it did feel like Mayers was throwing Burrows under the bus.
Paul Maurice pretty much just rambled, literally. His story had no real connection or relevance to what happened, at all.
Mike Cammalleri said exactly what you expect a smaller star player to say. Similar to Mayers, Cammy needs the refs to do be able to do what he does, albeit for a different reason.
And then Garnet Exelby said what most NHLers will, nothing. He answered the question, and did a great job of not taking a side or stance on what happened. Mayers and Cammy should note of how Exelby properly responded.
Do we really need a survey for everything that happens? I love TSN, but the surveys are always brutal.
Mark Christopher
[email protected] 
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