(UPDATE 5:55 PM)- The NHL has handed down their ruling and as expected, Mike Hoffman has been suspended. In the end, it’s a two game suspension which I think is about in line with what most people were expecting. Vlasic of course escaped supplemental discipline although he did pick up a fine of $5,000. Lesson learned, I’m sure. Would like to hear how the Department of Player Safety landed on that decision. Binghamton Senators leading scorer Casey Bailey is being called up to replace Hoffman this weekend.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced yesterday that Mike Hoffman will have a hearing for his cross-check on Wednesday night.
That hearing is scheduled for 12:30 PM today.
While there’s really no defending the act itself, I do think it’s important to come to Hoffman’s defence a little bit because I really don’t think he intended to his Couture in the neck/helmet area.
You can see in the frame by frame breakdown of the incident that the initial stick contact is with Couture’s back and that the stick sort of rides up from there. At the same time, the contact with Sharks defenceman Brendan Dillon clearly elevates the hands and stick of Hoffman. Made the whole thing look worse than it really was, in my opinion. Anything more than two games seems excessive.
Anyway, the league will want to send a clear message here that players are responsible for their stick at all times. Well, players on the Ottawa Senators anyway. Marc Edouard Vlasic can do whatever the hell he wants.
A few other news and notes on this Sens-less Friday.
-The Senators held a press conference this morning for “a significant hockey announcement from the player honouring committee”. Former Head Coach, Former General Manager and current Senior Hockey Advisor Bryan Murray has been named as the first member of the newly established Ottawa Senators Ring of Honour. It’s a fitting tribute for Bryan Murray for his years of dedication to this organization. The new Ring of Honour will be located on the 300 level of the Canadian Tire Centre. Murray’s nomination to the Ring of Honour will be acknowledged at a game on January 24th. Bryan Murray also provided a bit of an update on his health this morning saying that things are “holding stable”. Great news!
–Christian Jaros is one of the more intriguing prospects in the Ottawa system although he really doesn’t get a ton of recognition. At one point labeled a shutdown defenceman, Jaros really impressed at the World Juniors the last two years and showed that he has the potential to be an impact player at both ends of the rink. And that’s why this morning’s news that he’s signed a three year extension with his team in Sweden comes as a bit of a surprise. In a press release, the Slovakian Jaros mentions that he wants to continue to develop his game before making the jump to North America. He’s only 20 so there’s still plenty of time for him but the sooner he makes the trip across the pond the better.
-Speaking of World Juniors, there should be plenty of Sens talent on display at this year’s tournament. Thomas Chabot will be playing on Canada’s top pairing and is considered one of the leaders on that team. Same goes for Colin White who may actually wear the C for the American team. He was an alternate captain last year. Both Jonathan Dahlen and Filip Ahl will play for Team Sweden and Filip Chlapik will play for Team Czech Republic. The organization has done a nice job building up their prospect depth the last few years and that talent will be on display in the next couple months. The tournament begins on Boxing Day. The full tournament schedule is available here.
-Much has been made about Dion Phaneuf’s contract in the early part of this season and while he’s always going to have a heck of a time living up to that money, he’s actually started to play some pretty good hockey for the Senators the last little while. He has 8 points in his last 11 games and his performance on Wednesday night against the San Jose Sharks may have been one of his best in an Ottawa uniform. His 73 shots on goal through 30 games have him sitting third on the team in that category an 15th among all defenceman. His possession numbers took a beating early in the season but they’re slowly starting to creep back up towards 50%.
-Every few days we hear that Pierre Dorion is willing to deal and then nothing really comes of it. I don’t think there’s any doubt that the Sens GM would like to add a piece to his forward group but at this point, they seem sort of content to just wait and see what happens with Clarke MacArthur. MacArthur is aiming for a return sometime just after the bye week in early January and his presence would be a huge boost to the Ottawa line up. The Senators would like to add a player but adding money just doesn’t appear to be in the cards right now. Not a huge surprise. The fact that they had interest in Teddy Purcell but according to Elliotte Friedman didn’t make the move for budget reasons should give you a pretty good idea where they stand right now.
-Speaking of Clarke, it really can’t be understated how big of a boost his return would be. And not just because of his impact on the line up. I totally understand why fans have a sort of nervous feeling about him coming back. I was there in the rink during that Sunday morning training camp scrimmage when he got hit and I remember that feeling watching him being carried off the ice. It was terrible. And in that moment, I was sure I was watching the end of his hockey career. But the guy just keeps fighting. It’s gotta be an inspiration to his teammates to watch how much effort he’s putting in to get back in the line up. There are still some hurdles left to be cleared obviously and we have to all trust that the Doctor’s will do their job and make sure that he’s only out there if he’s 100% healthy. The thought of seeing MacArthur back in the line up is pretty damn exciting though. MacArthur actually skated on the fourth line at practice this morning but most likely just holding down a spot until a call up from Binghamton arrives.
-The Senators made their annual trip to CHEO yesterday and as always, the pictures were a helpful reminder of just how important this team is in the community. Of all the annual traditions this organization has adopted over the years, the visit to CHEO has to be one of the best. When you follow a team as closely as we all do and obsess over everything that happens on the ice, it’s pretty easy to lose sight of the impact a hockey team can have away from the rink. Scrolling through this photo album though, it’s clear that a hockey team is so much more than their on-ice performance.
