Make no mistake about it- there are more changes coming for the Ottawa Senators.
Yesterday’s extension of Pierre Dorion and resignation of Tom Anselmi combined with an ominous statement from Eugene Melnyk serve as a sign of things to come.
And based on people I’ve spoken to, those roster changes hinted at by the Owner could start as early as next week. Dorion has been and will continue to be extremely active leading up to the NHL deadline.
The surprise resignation by Tom Anselmi is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the continued unrest that exists within the organization. Obviously it’s a huge deal when the Team President vacates his position the week before season ticket renewals and in the middle of the crucial LeBreton Flats negotiations (where Anselmi played a key role) but internally, they have been losing employees on a regular basis. And in many cases, those people aren’t really being replaced.
Sounds like a great place to work, right?
Through all of this, the guy at the top continues to lean on his remaining employees, often pointing the finger at others for the team’s poor ticket sales. News flash Eugene- It’s not on all those executives you’ve lost over the last few years. It’s not the fault of the ticketing department that has been stripped to the bone.
At some point soon, you may want to consider that you are a big part of the problem.
Anyway, all the players can do is try to focus on the games that lie ahead. Up first- those damn Toronto Maple Leafs.
To everyone’s surprise, the Senators have actually been playing some better hockey of late. They’ve won four of their last five and while they still sit 29th overall in the standings and a full 13 points back of the final playoff spot (with three game in hand), they’re clearly feeling better about their game.
They’ll look to keep that going against their provincial rivals.
Guy Boucher will have a couple key players at his disposal too as both Mark Stone and Derick Brassard are expected to return to the line up. Max McCormick and Mike Blunden were both returned to Belleville to make room.
Game Day skate at 10:30 AM so we’ll confirm the line up then. A best guess for now.
Hoffman-Duchene-White
Dzingel-Brassard-Stone
Smith-Pageau-Pyatt
Paajarvi-DiDomenico
Chabot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Claesson/Borowiecki-Oduya
Craig Anderson gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 19-25-9 (47 pts) | 32-19-5 (69 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.62 (25th) | 3.16 (6th) |
| Goals Against | 3.34 (29th) | 2.77 (11th) |
| Power Play | 16.5% (27th) | 20.6% (15th) |
| Penalty Kill | 75.0% (28th) | 82.6% (7th) |
| Shots For/Shots Against | 30.2 (T-25th) 33.3 (26th) |
31.7 (15th) 33.9 (28th) |
| Scoring Leaders | Stone- 44 pts Hoffman- 37 pts Karlsson- 36 pts |
Matthews- 43 pts Nylander- 41 pts Marner- 37 pts |
| Team Save % | .900% (25th) | .918% (5th) |
| Playoff Chances | 0.2% | 99.8% |
