It’s almost certainly motivated by pure exhaustion from all the trade talk over the last three days (and weeks before that if you include the speculation) but man oh man, am I ever excited for an actual Ottawa Senators hockey game tonight.
The last three days have been some of the craziest in the nine year history of SensChirp. The level of engagement hit levels that the site has never seen before and that I didn’t know the server could handle. In just six posts over the course of three days, we had close to 9,000 unique visitors and more than 150,000 page views.
For those of you who like charts, here’s what that looked like in the site’s analytics.
The comment section was busier than it has ever been, with close to 15,000 comments already this week. The Trade Deadline post alone cruised over the 4000 comment mark. If a Matt Duchene trade came through, and there were rumours right up until yesterday, we had a damn good chance of breaking the internet.
So as always, thanks to everyone that stopped by over the last few days. Not all of the discussion was great obviously but thanks to those of you that shared your input over the last few days.
And now…back to hockey!
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The Ottawa Senators begin the sprint for the playoffs tonight at the Canadian Tire Centre.
They’ll play their next three games at home and six of their next nine within the friendly confines of the CTC. It’s yet another crucial stretch for the Senators as they try to hold down a spot in Eastern Conference’s top eight.
Up first- Matt Duchene and the Colorado Avalanche.
The struggles of this Avs team have been well-documented over the course of the season. They were surprisingly quiet on deadline day outside of the Jarome Iginla deal and seem content to just sort of ride this thing out the rest of the way. Their 17-41-3 record has them in last place by a remarkable 14 points. Last in goals for, last in goals against, second last on the power play, and 24th overall on the penalty kill. There’s still some talent on this Avalanche roster but they just haven’t been able to put it together at any point this season.
But in case you need a reminder on the whole “anyone can win on a given night” thing- Colorado’s last two wins were against Buffalo and Carolina- teams that have owned Ottawa in the past. So, certainly don’t want to take this team lightly.
On the Ottawa side of things, the focus is on racking up as many points as possible down the stretch. They have 21 games left and sit just four points clear of the 9th place New York Islanders. And then just behind the Isles are hard-charging Division rivals in Florida and Tampa Bay. Going to be a battle right to the very end.
Guy Boucher had his team on the ice for practice yesterday and for the first time in awhile, was able to piece together four decent lines. No call-ups. Just 12 legitimate NHL forwards. If Bobby Ryan can get back to 100% and everyone stays healthy, the Senators suddenly have some actual options up front. Morning skate scheduled for 10:30 AM this morning but here’s how Boucher had his team lined up yesterday.
Smith-Turris-Hoffman
Burrows-Brassard-Stone
Dzingel-Pageau-Pyatt
Stalberg-Kelly-Wingels
Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Borowiecki-Wideman
Alex Burrows will wear his usual number 14 while Viktor Stalberg goes with Anton Volchenkov’s number 24.
Craig Anderson gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM.
Hey, how bout a Go Sens Go?
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Lastly, today is the Ottawa Senators Foundation Telethon.
As Sens fans, we are regularly reminded of the fantastic work of the Sens Foundation. Today is our chance to show our support for an organization that does so much for kids in our community. The telethon kicks off tonight on TSN at 6:30 PM and there are a number of ways you can donate.
Today is the #OSFTelethon. Help us make a difference for local kids. Tune into @TSN_Sports at 6:30 & make a donation! Here’s how: pic.twitter.com/cwfFgM0o2Y
— Sens Foundation (@sensfoundation) March 2, 2017
If you do make a donation, let us know in the comment section below. I’ll try to keep a running total of donations from the SensChirp community.
Thanks everyone!
