Stories from the ol' barn

Hey all, yet another lurker coming out of the shadows to finally contribute something to the conversation. I come to S7S for my Sens fix before anywhere else on the web, great analysis, thoughtful commentary and rabid Sens fans, kudos!

Since there's a bit of a lull in the schedule this weekend, I wanted to know if anyone has any great Palladium/Corel Centre/Scotiabank Place (or even Civic Centre) stories? I live in Toronto now but grew up in Kanata, and my first job was as a popcorn guy when the arena opened, essentially getting paid to watch every home game - best job ever!! I worked the better part of 6 hockey seasons, a few Loggers games, a bunch of monster truck shows and countless terrible concerts, and have great memories from there. Duchesne's goal against Buffalo, sending Ottawa to their first playoffs is the one that still gives me tingles. I worked my way up to beer guy (hence the name, it was either that or Dason Alfrezza), learned how to pour two bottles of beer with one hand - had to be quick for the Habs fans when they were in town, and developed wicked accuracy and power in flicking bottle caps at my coworkers. All the beer guys used to get together during the anthem and sing along with Lyndon Slewidge, and one night CBC put up a shot of us during their broadcast - my 2.3 seconds of fame.

But, probably the funniest thing that happened to me was getting belted right between the eyes by a rolled up t-shirt launched from ice level by Spartacat and that huge slingshot he used... I was walking down the stairs in the upper bowl (300s!!), casually looking around for anyone hungry for popcorn, and all of a sudden I'm on my ass, popcorn is everywhere and I have no idea what happened. I literally blacked out for a second from the impact and almost tumbled all the way down. I'm sure he was aiming for me, and of course everyone who stuck around during intermission (just a few thousand people I guess) witnessed my moment of glory.

There you go, hope some folks got a laugh out of that one! Aside from that, I'm loving the effort put forth by the Sens this season, even during the pre/post-ASG slump. Nobody really got down on themselves, the outlook was always just "keep working hard, success will come" and by all accounts it looks like they've turned that corner and will continue to put space between them and the Leafs (who SUCK, by the way!).

As far as deadline deals, I hope Murray keeps his head and stands pat - let everyone else overpay for the few options that are out there and then take a look at what can be tweaked in the off-season. Here's to finishing 6th in the East and drawing Florida in the first round - SWEEP!!