Can the Ottawa Senators Cope Without Alfredsson and Fisher?

After all, the Ottawa Senators didn't enter the regular season thinking that they would still be needing to capture a playoff berth with two games remaining. Dany Heatley didn't plan watching his point total drop from 105 to 82 in a span of a year. Ray Emery certainly didn't think he could have lost his starting job to Martin Gerber at the beginning of the year, but in all fairness, deserves to be sitting on the bench.

Unlike the team that Bryan Murray rode to the Stanley Cup finals, this year's version is carrying in a lackluster 4-5-1 record in their last 10 games. That's not mentioning the possible threat of playing against a red-hot team in the Washington Capitals or a high-flying Carolina Hurricanes team with home-ice advantage.

As much as the media or Ottawa Senators fans like to dwell on their situation, one thing is for certain: it is what it is. And now they have one hell of a mountain to climb if Daniel Alfredsson or Mike Fisher were both to miss significant portions of Ottawa's playoff run. 

The Sens Army might just end up jogging by the end of it all if their team can't get it done this time around. Then again, they might even have enough time to catch up with the Toronto Maple Leafs on the golf course this time around.

*Clean hit or dirty? You can be the judge of that with a few slow motion replays of Bell's blindside hit on Daniel Alfredsson. Special thanks to the poster who found the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b59LxkvpW8Y

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