Flames burnover Sens and more trade talks surface

Sens lost 6-3 in Calgary after blowing a 2-0 lead ... What else can I say? Inconsistent, sloppy and lacked desperation.

Is Murray a buyer or a seller up to the trade deadline?

He could easily be both, but neither will give him an impact player to the club, but rather signal that the era for the Sens getting the cup has come and passed for the next few years.

Over the last month I have seem some pretty stupid ideas about trades. I don't meed to call the posters themselves stupid, but rather that the trade itself was stupid to begin with. Fact is that no matter who Murray trades out of Ottawa he will not see the same calibre returning.

Fisher: Snake bitten, for the most part, since last January and unable to find consistency. A change in scenery may help him, but no club wants to take a chance on that far into the season.

Vermette: Much the same as Fisher's situation.

Schubert: A tough and rugged blue liner who is often shunted to fourth line forward despite his preference. People complain about how come he sucks on the blue line, but the reality is Heatley would suck out of position too. Trading Schubert would make him a better player for another team if they let him play his game.

Gerber: My favourite is to send Gerber away and call up Elliott. Two problems with this ... Gerber was supposed to be the #1 but sucked hard again. No one wants him at all. Bringing up Elliott, on the other hand, would take away from his development. Goalies get better when playing in goal. Auld will more than likely be given the ride until the end of the season.

Spezza: Just signed a new and very cheap contract. He is the smartest of all of them to trade, but under these desperate circumstances teams will gladly try to take Spezza for less than what he is worth. Murray won't likely look to make this move unless it is mutual in return as it is to giving away.

What made Ottawa terrible this year then?

On paper they were supposed to be absolutely fantastic. The reality is that they simply aren't ... If we look back over the past few years Murray and Muckler picked apart this club. Signing Gerber and then turfing Emery because of attitude. Corvo wanting out of the media hungry market and taking Eaves for Commodore and Stillman who both left in the off season. Chara over Redden; in the end both left for free. That's just to name a few! I like Bryan Murray as a coach more than I do a GM because at least then he seems to have a passion for the game. At this point and with each point slipping out of the hands of the Sens it seems more apparent that this season is a write off. What do we have to look forward to next year? Much of the same?

- W