My sincere apologies for the lack of a post-game summary yesterday.
As you probably heard, the Ottawa Senators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and secured the highly-coveted Ontario Cup in the process. This trophy is awarded periodically, at a time of my choosing, to the team that achieves excellence in a game between two hockey teams from Ontario.
And I decided to take a day off to celebrate.
The Senators didn’t just beat the Leafs actually, they embarrassed them. It was honestly as convincing a win as the lowly Senators have had all season long. On Saturday night, the Leafs really didn’t even belong on the same ice surface as the Sens.
You can watch the highlights for the fourth or fifth time here.
The win and the two points really don’t mean anything but it was still oddly satisfying to think about all those obnoxious Leaf fans slunking out of the Canadian Tire Centre. Shuffling their way towards a packed OC Transpo bus surrounded by other obnoxious Leaf fans trying to convince themselves that they really didn’t care about the game anyway.
Anyway, where was I?
Right, it’s Monday. And that means it’s time for everyone’s favourite news and notes related article, Monday News and Notes.
–Operation Don’t Finish Last suddenly has life. With Saturday night’s win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Senators now sit in, well they’re are still in last place. But just two points back of the Los Angeles Kings. Ottawa has played one more game than the Kings but it’s the Sens that hold the tiebreaker. Meanwhile Detroit is just four points clear in 29th. Ottawa has ten games remaining in the regular season including five at home and five on the road. The Los Angeles Kings play six of their final 11 games on home ice but have a pretty tough schedule down the stretch. It’s gonna be close!
-While the big team tries to claw its way out of the NHL basement, the Belleville Senators are in a frantic push for a playoff spot at the AHL level. Belleville has points in three straight including three of a possible four points in their weekend back to back against the Laval Rocket. The BSens now sit four points clear of both Cleveland and Utica for the final playoff spot in the AHL’s North Division. They have 11 games left to go including a huge game against Tom Pyatt and the Utica Comets on Wednesday night. Biggest game of the year? You bet.
-One of the most pleasant surprises lately has been the improved play of Christian Wolanin. The injury to Thomas Chabot means an increased opportunity for Wolanin and he is certainly making the most of it. Wolanin has been far and away Ottawa’s best defenceman in the last couple games and looks like an entirely different player since Marc Crawford took over behind the bench. The skating ability and puck skills were always there for Wolanin but now he just looks like a more confident player. The 24 year old is a restricted free agent this summer and he’s certainly making the case for an everyday spot in the line up next season.
-Safe to say that Max Veronneau has exceeded expectations through his first two games in the National Hockey League. Sens fans are rightly hesitant when it comes to NCAA free agents but first impressions for Veronneau have been pretty good. He picked up his first NHL point on Saturday night and looked quite comfortable on a line with Brady Tkachuk and Jean Gabriel Pageau. Obviously it’s a little premature to be locking him into a roster spot for next season but he certainly looks like he has the speed, skill and smarts to be an everyday NHLer.
-On Saturday, Elliotte Friedman touched briefly on the future of Josh Norris. While Norris is still out with an injury and is not expected to play again this season, Pierre Dorion and the Senators are trying to get the forward under a pro contract for next season. Josh Norris had 19 points in 17 games with the Michigan Wolverines before a shoulder injury suffered at the World Junior tournament ended his season prematurely. Norris had surgery back in January and apparently has been progressing well in his recovery.
-During the same segment, Friedman also mentioned that the Senators are planning to have Erik Brännström back with the NHL team before the end of the season. As much as I’d like to see him get into a few more NHL games down the stretch, his priority and the organization’s really should be ensuring that the Belleville Senators get into the post-season. And as we saw during his three point night on Friday, Brännström is already a huge part of the team down there.
