The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 15

Blue Jays hopeful Barrett tries to leave past behind, B4 I s- Ishikawa era begins in North America; Tiger era set to resume, B2 Newsroom Inquiries: 613-596-3664 sportsthecitizen.canwest.com fax 613-726-5830 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2009 BREAKING SPORTS NEWS AT 0TTAWACITIZEN.COM THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, SECTION Sens trouble for Alfie to miss at least a week It v. mm Zi Sedin twins put Ottawa away early CANUCKS 5, SENS 2 BY KEN WARREN Forget about that guy named Sundin. Rather, it was the name Sedin twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin, that is that left the Ottawa Senators seeing double, burying the Ottawa Senators early in last night's 5-2 win by the Vancouver Canucks. By the mid-point of the game, Henrik Sedin had a goal and three assists. Daniel Sedin had a pair of assists.

Alex Burrows, the other member of the line, had a goal and a pair of assists. Even though the Senators finally woke up late in the second period, it wasn't nearly enough to offset the explosive start by the dazzling Sedin-Sedin-Burrows trio. While they arrived in Ottawa with considerably less fanfare than Mats Sundin, the former long-time Toronto Maple Leafs captain playing his first game at Scotiabank Place for the Canucks, there wasn't much doubt about last night's stars. The performance by the Canucks (29-21-8) also cooled off much of the excitement created by the Senators (22-26-9) following their impressive 4-0-1 road trip. The Senators came into the game having registered at Jeast one point in seven consecutive games, but they faced the always difficult prospect of returning home following a long road trip against a surging opponent in the Canucks.

The Canucks are now 5-1-0 in their past six games, giving them some breathing room for a playoff position in the tight Western Conference. Playing without captain Daniel Alfredsson due to a broken jaw suffered in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche, the Senators had no answers for the playmaking skills of the Sedins and Burrows. They didn't help themselves, either, with some ugly defensive errors. At least the Senators showed some fight and we don't mean Shean Donovan's attempt to fight Canucks de-fenceman Kevin Bieksa. Canucks defenceman Willie Mitchell throws Senators forward Dany Heatley to the ice during BY KEN WARREN On Wednesday, the soup du jour for Daniel Alfredsson was chicken noodle.

After yesterday morning's skate, he wasn't so sure about last night's offering, or what the liquid supper of choice would be for the next week or so. All the Ottawa Senators' captain really knew was that his diet for the foreseeable future is limited to foods he doesn't need to chew. It's all thanks to the broken jaw he suffered during the third period of Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche, when a slap shot from Dany Heatley deflected off a stick and hit Alfredsson's left cheek. While Alfredsson returned to finish the game, he's now expected to sit out for a week before consulting with doctors and reviewing X-rays to determine when he could possibly return and with what kind of facial protection. "It's a fracture," Alfredsson, whose left cheek was swollen considerably, said before last night's game against the Vancouver Canucks.

"It has just got to heal. You don't want to jeopardize anything and take another blow to it, and have to fix it up with plates and stuff. (I will) let the fracture heal and get some protection that will help it, so I can come back a little bit earlier than normal, maybe." If there can be good news from something as painful as a broken jaw, it's that Alfreds-son's injury doesn't appear to be as serious as the broken jaw suffered by Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 7, when he took a rising Anton Volchenkov slap shot directly off the face. Vanek is expected to miss at least three weeks, but Senators coach Cory Clouston labelled Alfredsson's ailment as a "small little fracture." Alfredsson asked doctors if there was any sort of face guard that would allow him to play through the pain immediately, but was told that at least some rest was necessary.

"I was told the fracture was favourable in that sense, that (the jaw) is still in place and it should heal properly," he said. With the Senators attempting to make a late run at a playoff spot as unrealistic as that chance may be the timing of the injury is obviously not good for the team. Clouston offered the oft-repeated line about the injury opening the door for someone else to make an impact "It means we lose a pretty good player and our leader, but it also means a real good challenge and opportunity for the rest of the team," Clouston said. "It's more ice time, for certain players, different roles for certain players, and just a big challenge for us." See SENS on PAGE B3 Riopelle, who was born in 1922, spent three seasons in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens. His most productive campaign was 1949-50, when he had 12 goals and eight assists.

Overall, he scored 27 goals and had 16 assists in 169 career games. Riopelle, 87, lives in Orleans. Reid was a director, general manager, coach, consultant and administrator at various levels in his four decades of sports involvement. Some of the events he played key roles in included five Summer Olympics between 1972 and '92, and four Commonwealth Games between 1978 and '88 as a coach and technical assistant. Reid lives in Ottawa.

given that the struggling Canadiens are expected to welcome back enigmatic star winger Alex Kovalev after sending him home for three days. The Senators clearly didn't have their legs under them at the start last night. Coach Cory Clouston knew that history didn't support teams playing their first game back home following a long road trip, but he hoped that the Senators would somehow find a way to rally around fatigue and Alfredsson's loss. "The numbers kind of speak for themselves, but there are also situations where you can try and prevent that," he said before the game. "Sometimes, when Citizen Three Stars 1.

Henrik Sedin, Canucks 2. Alex Burrows, Canucks 3. Dany Heatley, Senators Senators' grade: 5 out of 10 Attendance: 19,716 (19,153 capacity) Next Senators game: Tomorrow at the Bell Centre in Montreal against the Canadiens, 3 p.m. comeback, however, may be something for them to build upon for tomorrow afternoon's matinee at the Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens, which figures to be a circus-like atmosphere, Before a giant scrum in the Vancouver Canucks' dressing room at Scotiabank Place, Sundin was about as diplomatic as a political leader, saying all the right things about his new team, his old team and the once-great Battle of Ontario rival The Sundin train to T.O. 1: tv JEAN LEVAC, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN last night's Vancouver win.

you're thrown a challenge like we are now, with our captain being out of the lineup, we have to see if that kind of lifts our guys up and creates a little bit of a different focus and a different challenge to get into the right frame of mind for the game." Well, at least it sounded good in morning. Come game day, the Senators couldn't translate Clous-ton's words into actions. The positive feelings from the impressive road trip evaporated early, thanks in large part to the Sedins' tap dance, a few atrocious defensive plays and a bad break. Accordingly, they were down 3-0 after the first period. Ottawa spot and we have a big game against Ottawa," Sundin said after the Canucks' morning skate.

"So, I'll start with that and then worry about the next game." See SCANLAN on PAGE B3 Charron, nicknamed Blade, has an extensive rugby resume that includes World Cup games, 80 caps as a member of the Canadian national team and a professional career in Europe. He is also a member of the Twin Elm Wall of Fame. The 42-year-old now calls both Ottawa and Bristol, England, home. Hendry was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but competed for Canada as a long jump and sprint specialist in the in the 1968 Olympics, and was a member of the 1972 team, but was forced to withdraw because of injury. At the Pan Am Games in 1967, Hendry became the first woman to break the 20-foot long-jump barrier.

She lives in Osgoode. They rallied with late second period goals from Dany Heatley and Mike Fisher, creating some drama for the final period. Canucks goal-tender Roberto Luongo made a pad save to rob Heatley on a breakaway six minutes into the third period. He also stopped a Heatley shot with his shoulder during a late Senators power play, preserving the two-goal lead. Ryan Kesler scored into an empty net to complete the scoring.

The defeat, like all losses at this point, was a severe blow to the Senators faint hopes of making the playoffs. The Senators remain 13 points out of a spot in the post-season. The Senators attempted Even the hockey players agreed yesterday's bigger occasion was the arrival of U.S. President Barack Obama in Ottawa, not ex-Maple Leaf Mats Sundin. "Maybe not in Toronto, but here," said Senators centre Jason Spezza, laughing.

and athletes Joan Hendry, Howard Riopelle and Al Charron. "They are some very worthy people and I think they're very deserving," Ferguson said of his co-inductees. In addition to 15 years as a writer with the London Free Press, Ferguson worked with countless roinor sports organizations in Ottawa and London, and contributed to or founded various publications, including the New Canadian Encyclopedia, The Sporting News, The Hockey News, Basketball Canada News and Curl Canada News. i WAYNE SCAN LAN Longtime Citizen sports writer among Hall inductees stops in ry between the Senators and Leafs. To disbelieving ears, Sundin insisted he hadn't really thought much about his return to Toronto tomorrow night.

"We're in a position where we're in a hunt for a playoff lished, although he says there likely won't be a fifth. Some of his most memorable moments include covering the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and five years covering and travelling with the Montreal Expos, "I've probably covered every sport played by the best and the worst, and sometimes the ones played by the worst were the best. They were genuine. It was mostly the kids, and you knew they were giving it everything they had. It was a lot of fun and it was a good life," Ferguson said.

There was no hesitation when asked which sport was his favourite to cover. "BasebalL" Ferguson will celebrate his 78th birthday on Canada Day. Ferguson, Charron, Hendry, Riopelle, Reid also to be honoured BY DARREN DESAULNIERS For 30 years, Bob Ferguson spent his days and nights following, interpreting and writing about the Ottawa sports scene for the Citizen. On May 12, he and four others will be inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame. "I'm quite honoured I personally think there were people who could have been selected ahead of me, but I appreciate the honour," said Ferguson, who will enter the Hall in the media category along with builder Pat Reid, PAT MCGRATH.

THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Bob Ferguson covered the Ottawa-area sports scene for 30 years. Ferguson, who retired in 1996, also wrote Who's Who in Canadian Sport, of which four volumes have been pub- m4,.