The injuries early in training camp have dominated a lot of the conversation the last few days.
So much so that it’s pretty easy to forget that the Ottawa Senators play their first game of the preseason tonight in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
First game of the season! First Game Day post of the season!
It won’t come as a huge surprise but the Senators aren’t exactly sending their A-line up to the East Coast.
Guy Boucher spoke briefly about the game yesterday and mentioned that it’s a big one for some of the team’s bubble players. That includes the likes of Tom Pyatt, Nick Paul, Matt Puempel and maybe Mike Blunden up front and Thomas Chabot, Mark Borowiecki and Mike Kostka on the blueline.
It goes without saying but if Chabot expects to stick with the big club, he needs to have a strong showing in these games. Both Dorion and Boucher have made it clear that the door is open for him but he has to show he’s ready.
Tonight’s forward group includes two of the organization’s top prospects in Francis Perron and Logan Brown. For Perron, these preseason games are important as he gets set for his first season of pro hockey in Binghamton. Logan Brown is expected to return to Junior at some point in the not too distant future but it’s great that he’ll have a chance to get into some preseason games first.
This is the first of seven exhibition games for the Senators who are back in action again tomorrow night in Buffalo. The Camp will split into an NHL and an AHL group on Wednesday.
Andrew Hammond and Chris Driedger are expected to split the goaltending duties.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 6:00 PM and the game is available on TSN4 and TSN5. Keep an eye on the comment section for links to a stream closer to puck drop.
Still waiting on some line combinations but here’s a list of the players heading to Halifax for this one.
-Some big news for the Sens off the ice this morning as they officially announced the move of their American Hockey League affiliate to Belleville, Ontario. This relocation has been in the works for a long time and is obviously a positive move for the organization. And while the move makes business sense, it’s hard not to feel for hockey fans in the city of Binghamton. They’ve done a great job supporting the BSens and certainly deserve another AHL team at some point. Certainly sounds like they have something in the works already.
