It’s not the real thing just yet but it’s pretty damn close.
Later today, a collection of humans wearing Ottawa Senators jerseys will take on a collection of humans draped in decades of failure and they’ll play a game of ice hockey at the Canadian Tire Centre in beautiful Kanata, Ontario.
Sens Hockey is so back.
The Ottawa Senators host the Toronto Maple Leafs in their preseason opener today at 2:00 PM.
For the Senators, it’s the first of eight preseason games they’ll play over the next 14 days. While there are a couple spots up for grabs heading into this year’s preseason (including in the bottom six and maybe the third defence pairing), these games will mostly serve as a tune-up for the regular season opener on October 11th in Carolina.
Coaches and players all seem keenly aware that they need to hit the ground running this year and that means getting the most out of Training Camp and the eight preseason contests.
No line combinations available just yet but this figures to be an important audition for a handful of guys auditioning for those openings in the bottom six and on the blueline.
The likes of Zack MacEwen, Jiri Smejkal, Egor Sokolov, Josh Bailey and Roby Jarventie will all be under the microscope up front while Tyler Kleven and Jacob Bernard-Docker will be looking to stand out on the back end.
Meanwhile, Anton Forsberg makes his return from last season’s injury and is slated to play the full sixty minutes.
Puck drop is at 2:00 PM. The game is available on Sportsnet One (TV) and TSN1200 (radio).
Go Sens Go?!?!?!
