Pity the poor ESPN hockey writer, toiling away, as he must, in a windowless room in the basements of Bristol, amidst rusty bike racks and the detritus of Chris Berman ego explosions, charged with the unenviable task of coming up with something, anything, to fill his content quota during one of the most uneventful off-seasons in recent memory. Last summer was sweet. Last summer was happenin'! If it wasn't Rick Tocchet and his rather unusual interpretation of "rehab", it was a marauding gang of Staal brothers terrorizing rural Minnesota, or the Leafs reaching hitherto unheard of heights of incompetence. Last summer rocked! This year? Not so much.So we really can't blame Scott Burnside, one of tWWL's resident hockey "writers" for seeking refuge in that last resort of columnists desperate to fill space, and quite possibly the most heinous of all sports punditry creations after the Top 10 List...league Power Rankings. But NHl Power Rankings? NHL Power Rankings in July? NHL Power Rankings in July that dismiss our Ottawa Senators and doom them to miss the playoffs in one paltry sentence? Really Scott?
10. Ottawa SenatorsNow I don't know Mr. Burnside. I've never met Mr. Burnside. I'm sure he's a very nice fellow. But his "assessment" of our favourites, when taken together with his rather bizarre rationale on giving Pittsburgh the Conference title in the face of their recent pillaging, leaves us with but one logical, inescapable, conclusion: Years of toiling in Disney's underground typing caves has obviously driven Mr. Burnside insane and he should probably be institutionalized as quickly as possible so as to minimize the danger to himself, his loved ones, and most of all, to the innocent hockey loving passers by.
The Senators have devolved quickly from a Stanley Cup finalist in 2007 into a one-line team with ordinary goaltending.
But for this, we can be especially thankful: nobody reads ESPN's hockey coverage anyway.
