another late night

I started out this post by waxing majestic about Dany Heatley's first game against his former team tonight. But this thing has been beaten to death already, both in the summer and in the blogosphere leading up to tonight's game.

Heatley's an asshole who happens to score a pile of goals. Now let's move on.

Karlsson in, Campoli out

Twitter is reporting that recent Binghamton call-up Erik Karlsson will be playing tonight's game while the subject of last year's trade with the Islanders, Chris Campoli, will sit in the press box. Bryan Murray gave up Dean McAmmond and a first-round pick acquired from the Sharks in the trade, which also included Mike Comrie.

McAmmond abruptly left the Islanders in the offseason and resigned with New Jersey this fall. Meanwhile, Comrie signed with the Oilers, leaving what appears to be a straight up deal for a first-round pick so Campoli can sit in the press box.

This scratch doesn't speak to the organization's larger plans for Campoli, but clearly this is a sign that he has to play better. After ostensibly being traded for a first-rounder with Comrie leaving in the offseason, he's going to have to improve.

Speaking of Comrie, has anyone else noticed that his arrival last February coincided almost directly with Clouston's? Given the excellent record the Senators produced under their new coach last year, it seems logical that at least some of the reasons for that success should be attributed to Comrie.

Comrie also played a big role in the cup run of 2007. It was only after they traded for him in January that they managed to turn around a mediocre first half and make a spirited run to the playoffs.

Which brings us back to Heatley, unfortunately. It's well-documented that, had Heatley been bit more clear in his demands, Murray may have been able to manage his budget appropriately and re-sign one of the key components of last February's deal.

But, well, here we are.

Twittering the Sharks game tonight

I'm going to try to stick it out and watch as much of the game tonight as I can. I usually twitter while I watch, so check me out to the right of this page.

Go sens.