Been a quiet few days around here as I spent this past weekend traveling the United States in search of playoff hockey. Caught Game 4 of the Rangers/Flyers series at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night and Game 2 of the Binghamton Senators opening round series on Saturday. Thanks to everyone for keeping the conversation going in the comment section during my absence.
A few quick thoughts on my trip and on some news and notes that came up while I was away.
-It was certainly an eventful start to the best of five series for the Binghamton Senators, as they split the first two games this weekend against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. The BSens bounced back nicely from a devastating loss on Friday night, rallying from an early 3-1 deficit to edge the Penguins 4-3 in overtime. In a best of five series, it’s safe to say that was a season saving comeback for Luke Richardson’s team. Game 3 of that series goes on Wednesday night. Game 4 is on Friday in Wilkes-Barre.
-Had a chance to attend Saturday’s game in person and like the last two times I made the trip, I was blown away by the atmosphere in a rink that holds just under 7,000 people. Plenty of Penguins fans made the trip too which only added to the intensity in the stands. If Bingo can make it out of the first round, we are hoping to organize a bus down there so keep an eye out for details on that trip.
-And now to the actual game- Obviously Mark Stone looked great on Saturday night. Stone picked up a point on all four of Binghamton’s goals (2 goals, 2 assists) and was one of the most noticeable players on the ice all night. Also really liked the game of Chris Wideman. The Senators have a pretty significant logjam at defence as it is but it would be interesting to see what Wideman could do at the NHL level. He skates well and always seems to move the puck quickly up ice. Something the Senators were certainly lacking at times this season.
-With the St. Louis Blues surprising elimination in round one of the playoffs, you can expect that they’ll be one of the teams seriously looking at Jason Spezza this off season. They kicked tires on deadline day and according to Bruce Garrioch, both teams agreed they would talk about it again this summer. Ken Hitchcock has spoken highly of Spezza in the past although there’s really no guarantee he keeps that Head Coach job moving forward. Lots of interesting pieces on that St. Louis roster that would be of interest to the Senators. Something to keep an eye on.
-Not exactly Senators related but you know just about every fan in Ottawa took notice as the Bruins eliminated the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday afternoon. Daniel Alfredsson came up short in his Stanley Cup aspirations and in the end, had to shake hands with one of the other teams that was seriously interested in his services. There was a lot of talk leading up to that game about this possibly being Daniel Alfredsson’s final game in the NHL but listening to him talk afterwards, it certainly sounds like he’s considering another season. I’m sure that sounds awfully familiar to Ottawa fans.
