FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Another Senator joined the injured list as Clarke MacArthur left the game for precautionary reasons after taking a hit from teammate Mark Fraser. Obviously that’s a little bit concerning considering he has a history with concussions but looking at the play, there really didn’t appear to be much if any contact with the head and it really wasn’t a violent collision. Understand wanting to play it safe but I suspect MacArthur will be fine for the regular season opener. An update is expected on Monday.
-And while we await news on MacArthur, we’ll also have to wait for the final roster decision up front. Both Shane Prince and Matt Puempel are going to stick around for now. At least until they know exactly how MacArthur is feeling. I’ve said it a few times but that final spot is going to Shane Prince.
-Cameron had to like what he saw from that trio of Hoffman-Turris-Stone against the Canadiens. They were an offensive threat every time they stepped on the ice. One of the key storylines heading into this season is what can Hoffman and Stone do for an encore? If the preseason is any indication, both players are going to take their game to another level this year.
-So much of the Senators success or lack thereof this season is going to come down to the second defence pairing. And because of the way the TV schedule worked out this preseason, I feel like I barely got to see Patrick Wiercioch and Cody Ceci. Last night was the first real chance I had to watch those two and I liked what I saw, especially from Ceci. If he can take another step forward in his development this year and Wiercioch plays a full season like the stretch run he had last year, the Senators blueline might okay.
-It really doesn’t take long for the novelty of the preseason to wear off. So exciting when that first game arrives and then after the first game or two, preseason hockey really just makes you that much more desperate for the real thing. Dave Cameron and his Coaching staff talked regularly about wanting to ramp up the intensity as the preseason progressed but that seemed to be a bit of an issue for this group. Anyway, now they can have a good week of practice to get ready for the opener on Thursday. Still lots of things to clean up in their game.
