The road here has been a bumpy one.
Rebuilds are never easy but this one was spectacularly difficult. For a variety of reasons really. Some of it was the fault of the organization and some of it was our own doing. And some of it was just the reality of a passionate but small hockey market. But whether you want to admit it or not, there were times in the depths of the last five years where it looked like we may not make it out the other side.
We turned on the team. We turned on each other.
Yet here we stand with the fog completely lifted. Enjoy this moment. Enjoy that feeling of a season full of hope and optimism and opportunity. It’s been awhile. We’re through one of the most difficult stretches in the history of this franchise and from where we sit right now, it’s almost hard to even picture those low points.
The Sens are back.
As a business, they’ve reestablished that vital connection with season ticket holders and regained the trust of paying customers. As a part of the community, they’ve listened to fans and made a real effort to connect to the city around them. And as a hockey team, they’ve made the biggest splash of the off-season and let it be known that they’re no longer just happy to be there. The Sens are so back.
Now it’s time to have some fun.
The Ottawa Senators drop the puck on the 2022/2023 regular season as they visit the Sabres in beautiful Buffalo, New York.
In the event you spent the off-season in some sort of internet-free cave, let me tell you what you’ve missed. LeBreton Flats is happening, Daniel Alfredsson is a Hall of Famer, Wade Redden and Chris Phillips work for the team, all the players you didn’t like on last year’s team are on the Leafs or Panthers, the Blackhawks gave us Alex DeBrincat for some reason, we acquired an All Star goalie just for fun, Claude Giroux came home and both Josh Norris and Tim Stützle signed forever.
Other than that, it was a pretty quiet stretch.
While the three month ride on the Sens hype train has been an at times dizzying experience, it’s now time for the players to turn all that excitement into results on the ice. They don’t need to dominate every night but what they need to do is take that meaningful step forward. As in transition from being competitive, to winning games on a regular basis. And ultimately, playing meaningful hockey down the stretch.
The pieces are in place to make that happen. In fact, in the history of this still young franchise, this has to be the most exciting lineup they’ve put together.
The top six is as deep and as talented as anything we’ve ever seen in this city. The forward group that featured Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, Josh Norris and Drake Batherson was already worth the price of admission. Then they went out and added a two-time 40-goal scorer in Alex DeBrincat and a top flight free agent closing in on 1000 points in his career in Claude Giroux. Not to mention another high end prospect joining the mix in Shane Pinto. The end result is a forward group as deep as any in the NHL. There are question marks on defence obviously but in terms of raw talent, this is as good as we’ve seen.
DJ Smith will have his team on the ice for a Game Day skate at 11:30 AM this morning but all signs point to a bit of a late shuffle to the expected lineup. They tinkered with the idea of swapping Tim Stützle and Josh Norris throughout the preseason and it looks like that’s the way they’ll start. Derick Brassard, Dylan Gambrell and Nikita Zaitsev are expected to be the healthy scratches.
Here’s how the Senators are expected to line ’em up.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Batherson
DeBrincat-Norris-Giroux
Motte-Pinto-Joseph
Kelly-Kastelic-Watson
Chabot-Zub
Sanderson-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Holden
Anton Forsberg gets the start in goal.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM in Buffalo. TSN5 and RDS have the TV broadcast. TSN1200 has the radio feed and shady internet streams will be floating around from every dark corner of the internet.
Back by popular demand, the HEAD2HEAD table. While it may not contain any useful information just yet, you would be hard-pressed to find a more delightful collection of rows and columns. And that’s what the HEAD2HEAD table is about really- limited useful information combined with rows and columns.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 0-0-0 (0 pts) | 0-0-0 (0 pts) |
| Goals For | – | – |
| Goals Against | – | – |
| Power Play | – | – |
| Penalty Kill | – | – |
| Shots For | – | – |
| Shots Against | – | – |
| Leading Scorers | – | – |
| Starting Goalie | Anton Forsberg 0-0-0 -.– GAA, — sv% |
Craig Anderson 0-0-0 -.– GAA, — sv% |
I know what you’re thinking. It’s Opening Day and it’s completely unreasonable for your employer or your family or your pet or society in general to expect you to be a functioning human being and think about anything other than the Sens. Well I made a few calls and got everyone the day off. Enjoy it.
Oh and because it’s the start of a new season, this feels like a good time to call out the lurkers among us. If you’re someone that reads but usually doesn’t join the madness that is the comment section, today is a great day to say hello. See ya in there!
Go. Sens. Go.
