For the last five months, the spotlight has been placed firmly on the off-ice incompetence of the Ottawa Senators.
From the time the season wrapped up in mid-April, we have had nothing to talk about beyond our departing Captain, our management missteps, bumbled attempts at fan engagement and general non-hockey related drama. My god the drama.
It’s probably been longer than five months actually. Because the Senators were on tank watch for like half of the season, it’s been eight or nine months since we all sat down, turned on the TV and said, I hope the Sens win tonight.
That kind of stretch, in the social media era, can do serious damage to the psyche of any fan. A lot of fans are in a dark place right now and there’s no quick fix, although a win over the Toronto Maple Leafs might help.
Tonight, we finally get to watch an actual Ottawa Senators hockey game.
Okay, fine. Maybe the word actual is a stretch. It’s a preseason game featuring partial rosters in a place called Lucan, Ontario. All I know is one team will be wearing Sens jerseys and the other those dreadful blue and white monstrosities. And that’s good enough for me.
The Ottawa Senators take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the preseason opener tonight. That’s right, tonight!
The same two teams will meet back in Ottawa tomorrow so the Senators aren’t exactly sending the A-team to the Hockeyville game. But there are certainly a number of guys to keep an eye on.
Roster locks like Matt Duchene, Bobby Ryan, Tom Pyatt, Ryan Dzingel, Mikkel Boedker, Chris Wideman, Thomas Chabot and Mark Borowiecki will all be there. Meanwhile it will be a chance at a first impression for a bunch of bubble guys including Logan Brown, Alex Formenton, Drake Batherson, and Christian Wolanin.
A lot has been made about the youth movement in Ottawa this year and as it currently stands, there appears to be room for three or four guys to start the season. With only six preseason games on the schedule, there isn’t a lot of time for these guys to make their mark. Each player is likely to get into three or four games. And unlike previous years, how guys perform in those games really could be the difference between starting the season in Ottawa or heading to Belleville (or back to Junior). It should make for an unusually spirited preseason.
The opposition tonight, is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Since 1967, they’ve found new and remarkable ways to fail. And now, in a fun twist, they get to fail as a Stanley Cup contender. Should be fun to watch. John Tavares will be making his Leafs debut sporting his favourite Leafs pajamas.
Should have some line combinations available later today. A best guess for now.
Formenton-Duchene-Dzingel
Ryan-White-Boedker
Tambellini-Brown-Batherson
Paul-Balisy-Rodewald
Borowiecki-Wideman
Wolanin-DeMelo
Sieloff-Burgdoerfer
Mike Condon, Filly Franchise and Marcus Hogberg are all making the trip. We’ll find out how Boucher plans on splitting the goaltending duties later this morning.
The roster headed to Lucan is here. The game is available on Sportsnet, on the radio at TSN1200 and streamed illegally all across the world wide web.
Let’s watch some fuckin hockey.
-Yesterday, the Senators added another member to the team’s front office, hiring Peter MacTavish as the team’s Assistant General Manager. As I hinted over the last week, MacTavish is a bit of an unknown entity in the hockey world, with most of his expertise coming on the contract side of things. He was currently working as a employment and labour lawyer so he brings a diverse resume, at least. What’s interesting is the official news release from the team referred to MacTavish has one of the team’s AGMs suggesting that another person may be added in the future. Guess that means I still have a shot!
