Ottawa Senators: A Ray of Hope?

Well, well, well...the Sens head in to the All-Star break with seven out of their last eight possible points while beating top conference rivals Montreal and Washington in the process. The team currently sits 12 points out of the final playoff spot with about half the season left to play.

Boding even better is the fact that the Sens have two to four games in hand over teams above them in the standings. Win those games and the team all of a sudden is within six or eight points of the eighth and final playoff seed.

The arrival of Brian Elliot has really sparked this team who looked hesitant with both Gerber and Auld in net, although they did look a little more comfortable in front or Auld for a short stretch.

Just knowing that their goalie will bail them out of mistakes allows the team to play more aggressively and offensively-minded.

Mistakes are magnified when they end up in your net 90 percent of the time.

For those Sens "fans" who were hoping to tank and get a lottery pick, I say, "move to Long Island or Tampa Bay and enjoy your Hedman or Tavares." There is no way the Sens, even if they dress the entire AHL lineup, will finish worse than Tampa or the Islanders.

The Leafs suck large and are finally achieving to their capabilities (sorry Tim) and the Penguins are struggling mightily and could fall further. That leaves the Sens with a N.3 to six pick at best anyways.

Why not go for it and try to make the playoffs? It's not like any of these first round draft picks will help the team next year (right, Steve Stamkos?).

In any draft, early picks in the first round are a wash and if you have decent scouting, you can get the better player with a later pick (Marian Hossa and Martin Havlat).

I believe Bryan Murray is waiting another week or so to see how close the team is from eighth place in their conference to decide if he is a buyer or seller at the trade deadline.

I would not be surprised if he becomes a buyer prior to the deadline and grabs a puck moving defenseman to make the final push if the team is within striking distance.

By the way, thanks to Coach Craig Hartsburg for finally listening to fans and bloggers alike and playing Brendan Bell instead of that lunkhead Chris Schubert on defense, as well as taking Mike Fisher off the point on the power play among other things.

Thanks coach. Keep reading the blogs and forums out there for advice and maybe you'll still have a job here next season.