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It’s possible that when the Ottawa Senators first heard Everything Must Go, by Welsh rockers the Manic Street Preachers, they thought it was a business plan. Having already off-loaded their three top scorers in the trade window, the Sens waited until today, Saint David’s Day, to fire head coach Guy Boucher. And thus ends the tenuous Welsh connection. Ottawa Senators cap off bad week by firing head coach Guy Boucher and appointing Marc Crawford as interim coach pending a hiring process. Release says Crawford 'will bring a different perspective along with a wealth of head coaching experience.' pic.twitter.com/pqs6fAgYIn — CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) March 1,Read More →

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Back in September when we all found out that Erik Karlsson was being traded to the San Jose Sharks, every Ottawa Senators fan lost a little piece of themselves. Just like Daniel Alfredsson’s return to Ottawa, Erik Karlsson will be making his first appearance against his former club on December 1st. Embed from Getty Images How the trade has panned out so far When looking at the trade from a fan’s point of view, the Senators fans felt like they could have received so much more in return. Fast forward to present day, that trade is looking better and better by the day. Erik KarlssonRead More →

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Through the month of October, it is hard to believe that the Buffalo Sabres are 8th in the Eastern Conference. After 13 games last season, they were below .500 (4-7-2) to kick off a last-place finish. Despite selecting a defenseman thought to be generational (Rasmus Dahlin), most have expected growing pains to continue. Truth be told, the blue and gold have had ugly moments. On the other end of the spectrum, Buffalo has had some bright spots. And going into Saturday night’s game vs the Ottawa Senators, the Sabres have a winning record (6-5-2). Embed from Getty Images GM Jason Botterill‘s changes have shown promiseRead More →

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“I don’t even know who Craig Billington is, that’s a name you just made up.” – Joel. Here at 4th Line Towers, we answer the questions that other podcasts (and their affiliated websites) dare not. In episode #202, Carl made a reference to Craig Billington, a former Colorado Avalanche goalie that Joel believed to be a fabrication. While not one to usually question Carl’s knowledge about one of his beloved teams, I had to admit that I’d never heard of Billington either. Is Craig Billington Real? Yes. Not only is he real, but he also tended the goal of the Colorado Avalanche between 1996 andRead More →

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Max Domi‘s ‘gutless’ punch on Aaron Ekblad in a preseason game can only mean one thing; fall will soon be here and we can all rejoice at the impending return of the NHL. Here at 4th Line Towers we can’t wait to watch some proper hockey again. This year we’re approaching our previews in a different way; the word count for each team’s preview has been dictated by the number of points that team scored last season. To further mix things up, we’ve divvied up the teams between our writers. Let the Atlantic division preview begin! Our other previews can be found here: Metropolitan Division 2018/19Read More →

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With the pre-season starting, the NHL decided to give us a busy week of off ice news! The 4th Line Hockey Podcast #198 – The It’s No Longer Summer Episode Erik Karlsson was traded from the Ottawa Senators to the San Jose Sharks. Which leads to questions about why the Sens did it, where Karlsson ends up and how Pierre Dorion still is a GM. Steve Yzerman stepped down as the general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Where does he end up and where does it leave the Lightning? Henrik Zetterberg retired as a Detroit Red Wing, but Joel isn’t buying it. Tyler SeguinRead More →

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With the winds of trade being rumored around Erik Karlsson since last season it seems the saga is close to a conclusion… or is it? Last week it seemed as if a deal between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators would be done and the generational talent would walk the sunny beaches of Florida once more. As the minutes became hours and hours became days NHL fans’ Twitter fingers are getting tired. So lets look at some options. Embed from Getty Images Possible But Boring Karlsson stays in Ottawa: As previously mentioned Erik Karlsson is a generational talent. After seeing former captain Daniel AlfredssonRead More →

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Growing up in the Buffalo area exposes one to every opinion on tanking for the best draft odds. The local media shares contrasting views as the Sabres were in last place, for two consecutive years. As Buffalo is close to last in the NHL again, the debate is ongoing. The 2015 race for 30th achieved the desired result: a franchise center. Before you comment; yes, Jack Eichel is a franchise center despite the suckfest that is the Buffalo Sabres. Lacking significant improvement since then, certain media claims that tanking leads to a losing culture. Just look at Twitter and notice the heated discussions about theRead More →

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As the the calendar page turns from 2017 to 2018, some teams’ hopes turn from the bright and optimistic hopes of the playoffs to the downtrodden truth that this isn’t going to be their year. Below are teams at/near the bottom of the standings and where they can set their goals for the rest of this season and look ahead to the summer. Buffalo Sabres Embed from Getty Images New year, same old Sabres. Currently sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic division with 29 points and a horrid -43 goal differential their goal should be two fold: First is to decide if Robin LehnerRead More →

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With all the hype that swallows up the NHL’s Entry Draft, it’s easy to forget the player who wasn’t quite good enough, in the scouts’ eyes at least, to be chosen first overall. This short series will be looking that the other guy; the fella who went second. We’ve already had #12 Eric Staal and #11 Tom Lysiak, and as there’s 10 days to go until Christmas, here’s #10 in the 4th Line Podcast’s top 12 2nd Overall Picks. All stats of end of 2016/17 10. Jason Spezza, C Embed from Getty Images Drafted 2001, Ottawa Senators Games Played 911 Points 862 The 2001 NHLRead More →