The Ottawa Senators play next week.
I said, THE OTTAWA SENATORS PLAY NEXT WEEK.
It has been exactly 300 days since we last watched our team play an actual hockey game. Thankfully, there has been plenty to discuss along the way. Whether it was the lottery, the draft, a trade or a signing, we’ve found ways to pass the time. But it’s been a good 7200 hours since we just sat down and watched the Ottawa Senators.
Just 10 more days.
Pierre Dorion made another appearance on TSN 1200 yesterday and as usual, offered up plenty of interesting bits of information.
In summary- Artem Anisimov is young again and lost weight meanwhile Colin White is falling less and found Arty’s weight. Cedric Paquette and Braydon Coburn have reported for duty; Tierney, Abramov and Davidsson have minor injuries; and Erik Brannstrom is isolating. On the possibility of adding Pierre-Luc Dubois, Pierre has no idea what anyone is talking about. You and me both, Pierre.
You can listen to the full interview here.
Dorion wrapped up the interview with something we’ve all been longing for since Training Camp opened last week. Line combinations to freak out over!
According to the white board in DJ’s office (a pretty reliable source), the current lines and pairings look something like this.
Tkachuk-Norris-Dadonov
Galchenyuk-Anisimov-Batherson
Paul-White-Watson
Formenton-Brown-Brown
Kelly-Paquette-Balcers
Chabot-Gudbranson
Wolanin-Brown
Coburn-Zub
Reilly-Zaitsev
There’s a lot going on here and obviously plenty to be excited/outraged about.
It’s important to keep in mind that Derek Stepan, Chris Tierney and Tim Stuetzle haven’t officially joined Camp yet so they don’t have spots. Same goes for Erik Brannstrom who has to isolate after being in close contact with someone with COVID-19. Vitaly Abramov and Jonathan Davidsson are both nursing minor injuries.
The overwhelming takeaway when looking at those combinations and the list of guys that have yet to join is…there are a lot of hockey players and not very many spots.
Going to be interesting to see how DJ Smith juggles things ahead of next week’s season opener and maybe more importantly, how he manages ice time throughout the season.
It won’t be easy.
-Some big news on the local media scene yesterday as Ian Mendes announced that he is leaving TSN1200 to take Hailey Salvian’s spot at The Athletic. This is obviously a huge loss for 1200, a smart addition by The Athletic and ultimately, great news for Sens fans. Ian has done some amazing things at 1200 and has been a driving force in opening up some exciting opportunities for different voices around the city. On a personal note, he provided me with a chance to cross items off my bucket list, including my first radio appearance and an actual segment on live radio. Still can’t believe I actually did that, by the way. Excited to see what Ian does with this new platform at The Athletic.
-Yesterday, the NHL filled in some of the blanks in their schedule, adding start times for the upcoming season. No big surprises for the Senators- 23 of the 28 home games start at 7:00 PM, a handful of afternoon games and plenty of late starts on the West Coast. If the seasons carried out by the NFL and MLB are any indication, the NHL will need to be flexible. There really isn’t a ton of wiggle room in the league’s proposed schedule though.
-Speaking of schedules, the American Hockey League announced the 28 teams that will have one. As expected, the Belleville Senators land in an all-Canadian division where they will play a condensed season against the Laval Rocket, Manitoba Moose and Toronto Marlies. They are still working out some of the logistics around the season but it does sound like the Canadian teams are still exploring the possibility of playing out of the NHL team’s rink. Makes a lot of sense.
-Lastly, some sad news to pass along as late last night, we learned that former-Senator GM John Muckler passed away at the age of 86. The five-time Stanley Cup Champion held a number of jobs in his NHL career but Sens fans will remember him for his six-year tenure as Ottawa’s General Manager. He brought a sense of legitimacy to this franchise and was the architect of some of the best teams in Sens history, including the group that got all the way to the Stanley Cup final in 2007. Condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Muckler.
