y. Jim Rome called Ruutu "an embarrassment to humanity." Of couse there were some witty takes on the biting incident. The best e-mail to the post-game

This is not a fun week for those of 2010 World Cup Jerseys you headed back to the office environment after the holidays. You are once again stuck in your cubicle or workstation, surfing blogs and websites during work hours in an attempt to entertain yourselves while your bosses aren't looking.
And the last thing I want to do is bore you with a “What's wrong with the Ottawa Senators” column to kick off the new year. You hardworking folks deserve to be entertained while killing time at your office. And you certainly don't need to hear a lazy reporter complain about the NHL team he covers.
And since I haven't written a blog in a couple of weeks, I figured I would

The lighting at Rexall Place goes out thanks to a power outage before the start of the Sens-Oilers game, causing a 30-minute delay. When leaving the ice after the delay, Craig Hartsburg says to me, "I say we should play. Who knows? Maybe we're better in the dark." That was a great one-liner from the coach of a struggling team. I decided to relay the info along to our broadcast truck and they wanted me to go live to pass on the funny story to the viewers at home. The only problem: Arena blackouts and dark-skinned reporters aren't a good mix in the world of television. It's essentially the same logic that applies to albino weather reporters in a snowstorm. It just doesn't work. Luckily, they brought a mini-floodlight to the zamboni area and I was able to go on the air live. Otherwise, viewers at home would have been subjected to a floating pair of eyes and teeth trying to tell them about Craig Hartsburg in the dark.

try to entertain you with five funny stories I encountered while covering the Senators in the month of December. (Trust me -- this is a lot less painful than me recapping the Sens’ struggles from the past month. And I was always taught that if you don't have anything nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all.)

Dec 3rd - Bayside Tigers Reunion In Ottawa

In the second period of a home game against Atlanta, Chris Kelly and Jesse Winchester get tangled up with Jim Slater and some of his Thrashers teammates. Moments later, a fight breaks out and inadvertently, the participants become involved in the greatest Saved By The Bell moment in NHL history: Jesse and Slater in a fight, while Kelly is standing there watching it all unfold. (Note to Bryan Murray: Please call up Zack Smith in the near future so I can take this joke one step further the next time the Sens and Thrashers meet.)

Dec 30th - Lights Out Performance

Midway through the third period of that same Sens game at Edmonton, Oilers defenceman Sheldon Souray takes a minor penalty for hooking. The scoreboard at Rexall Place in Edmonton flashes a picture of Souray with a note saying "Congratulations to Sheldon Souray on his 900th penalty minute." Thirty seconds later, the Sens score the winning goal with Souray in the box. My question is: Why does the hockey community celebrate things like players taking penalties, as if it's a positive thing? You would never see an NFL stadium announce, "Congratulations Larry Allen on your 100th career false start." If anything, that scoreboard at Rexall Place should have said, "Way to go Sheldon for putting your team at a disadvantage 450 different times in your career."

Dec. 27th - Just Plane Brutal

I know everyone has their own horror stories from traveling over the Christmas holidays, but Garry Galley and I had quite an adventure getting to Vancouver. Here's the Reader's Digest version of what happened to us: A direct flight from Ottawa turned into a 13-hour ordeal with a surprise fuel stopover in Winnipeg. They ran out of food on the plane, so all I ate for 13 hours was five pieces of steamed asparagus and a bag of nuts -- which is a totally acceptable meal for a squirrel or a chipmunk, but it kind of blows when you've wasted your first-class upgrade certificate on it.

Garry and I pulled into our hotel in Vancouver at 4:30 a.m. local time. Sadly, we had more jump in our broadcast than the Sens had on the ice, as Vancouver easily beat Ottawa 3-0 that night. And to top it off, it was my 32nd birthday and my favorite team -- the Dallas Cowboys -- got smoked by the Philadelphia Eagles in a crucial game that afternoon. The only way I could have had a worse birthday is if Willy Wonka declared bankruptcy and the cast of 30 Rock went on strike.

Dec 29th - How The Mighty Have Fallen

Leaving the UBC ice facility after an Ottawa practice, a security guard mistakes me for a Sens player. I know the Sens have struggled to start this season and are probably a longshot to make the playoffs. But to have a complete stranger think that I actually play for the team might be the best illustration of how far the Senators have fallen in the past 18 months. If that's not a wake-up call for the Sens, I don't know what is.