April Fools day has past, so this must be for real...The Ottawa Senators have completed their historic run and qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, needing all 82 games to get in. The Sens miraculous run began in February when both Craig Anderson and Robyn Lehner were out with injuries and so the Sens were forced to call up Andrew 'The Hamburglar' Hammond from their farm team. A so called 'borderline ECHL goalie' by some more well known blogs, (PuckDaddy) Hammond's numbers were hardly spectacular in the AHL this season (7-13-2) so sufficed to say not much was expected. (While I'm not making him out to be Patrick Roy, this kind of run could hardly be considered a fluke.) The fan base conceding that this was a young team and they were where many, myself included, thought they would be, fighting for a playoff spot but ultimately falling short. And that's when it happened...
Hammond came in and whatever they were putting in those burgers seemed to hit the spot. He went on a run for the ages, tying former Boston Bruin Frank Brimsek's 76 year or record for most consecutive starts without allowing more than 2 goals to start a career, (Ironically it was the Bruins who ended this run) and gave his team the confidence they hand't had with spotty goaltending earlier in the season. He made save after save after save and gave his team a chance to win every night. And that's exactly what they did...The Sens have the best record in the league over the last two months and that is in large part due to the play of Hammond. Had he not missed several games due to injury his numbers may have been even more stellar. His 20-1-2 record propelled if not dragged the Sens into playoff contention and has the rival Montreal Canadiens looking at a very dangerous team in round #1. That said it hasn't been all Burgers and no fries.
The Sens young core has stepped up and delivered when it's counted most winning many of these contests in overtime or shootout. Captain Erik Karlsson has lead the way along with the like of Kyle Turris, the line of JG Pageau, Eric Condra and Curtis Lazar and possible (though should be definite) rookie of the year candidate Mark Stone who came up clutch time and time again ending the season with a Sens rookie record nine game point streak including several game winning goals. This young energy has infused the Sens and their fans with a new sense of optimism and may well spell the end for veteran players like Chris Phillips and Chris Neil who have been out with injuries.
Now the Sens run couldn't have happened with the like of the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins faltering at the worst possible time but the amount of ground Ottawa made up is incredible. Statistics show that with the amount of parody and number of three point games in the NHL these days that making up a six point deficit after the Christmas break is a ling shot, let alone more than twice that amount. The Sens were at one point 14 points out of a playoff spot! This turn around coincided with the team playing sound defensively and getting timely saves and if they can continue to play that way they may well keep the train rolling.
