Senators Articles: B-Sens ready for fight to the finish
February 26, 2005

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Scott Lauber of Press Connects.com

B-Sens ready for fight to the finish

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON -- Aware that his jump shot is neither as pretty nor precise as his slap shot, Denis Hamel skipped the impromptu pick-up game that broke out earlier this week once the Binghamton Senators finished an off-ice conditioning session at their basketball-primed arena.

Instead, he tended to more pressing matters, like the tight squeeze in the AHL's East Division.

Still wearing his black workout T-shirt and shorts, Hamel grabbed the newspaper from equipment manager Scott Allegrino's office, picked up a black marker and started scribbling the updated AHL standings on a dry-erase board mounted on a wall near the exit to the dressing room.

The top three-quarters of the East reads like a Times Square traffic snarl. The Senators are listed second below the Philadelphia Phantoms, with whom they're tied in first place. One point back are the Norfolk Admirals and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and the Hershey Bears are lurking only six behind them.

Bumper-to-bumper, five teams separated by seven points, with only four bound for the playoffs.

"I do the board once or twice a week," Hamel said, "just to make sure the boys realize the position we're in. The whole year has been a battle for a playoff spot. You can be in first place one day and wake up the next day and see yourself in fifth. From now on, every game is like a playoff game."

That postseason push starts tonight when the Senators visit the cellar-dwelling Albany River Rats. The Rats have won eight of their last 11 games and scored 17 goals in their last three, but they remain a team the Senators should beat, even though they haven't in four of seven meetings this season.

The last one, two weeks ago in Albany, was a 7-0 Senators shellacking that included a 12-player brawl in the third period. Ray Emery, the goalie who helped escalate that donnybrook by retaliating for a cross-check with a slash to Rats enforcer Rob Skrlac's groin, will be in net tonight, but most of the Senators agreed similar rough stuff is unlikely to repeat itself.

Not with 23 games left and two points being so valuable.

"I'm sure they're kind of embarrassed after that last game, and I'm sure they'll be gunning for us," Emery said. "We're gunning for them, too. We need those points. We want to have a good run in the playoffs, but before that, we have to play ourselves into a position to have a good run."

There will be the requisite scoreboard-gazing for the next six weeks, especially since the Senators have played in three more games than Philadelphia, two more than Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Norfolk and one more than Hershey.

That predicament will begin to rectify itself this weekend, as the Senators play only one game, but defenseman Andy Hedlund struck a somber chord after practice Thursday by saying, "We probably should've put more distance between ourselves and everyone else. You always look at the worst-case scenario and say,

'Where will we be if every team wins their games in hand?'"

The Senators' coaching staff places less emphasis on the games-in-hand factor. Down the stretch, they reason that Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Norfolk and Hershey will face one another so often that it's unlikely any will win all the games it has in hand on the Senators.

Instead, coaches Dave Cameron and John Paddock conducted three lengthy practices at Chenango Ice Rink, and strength and conditioning coach Randy Lee made his monthly visit from Ottawa to direct rigorous off-ice workouts Tuesday and Wednesday that left many players feeling re-energized for the stretch run.

That run features two games against Philadelphia, three against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, four against Norfolk and two against Hershey, including the season finale April 16 at home.

The Senators are hoping a playoff berth won't be riding on that.

"Right now, we're not even guaranteed a playoff spot," Cameron said. "We've tried to bring that to their attention this week. If that isn't enough to make everyone realize there's got to be a sense of urgency, I'm not sure what will."

Just in case, Hamel keeps updating the standings, offering a visual reminder of how critical these next 23 games really are.