Time to get back to work.
After taking a few days off for the always uhh exciting NHL All Star weekend, the Ottawa Senators will return to the ice later tonight in Sunrise, Florida. They’re scheduled for a 7:00 PM practice ahead of tomorrow night’s game against the Florida Panthers.
It’s the first game in a three game road trip that will also include stops in Tampa Bay and Buffalo.
And as we get ready to resume to push for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, some news and notes heading into the second half of the season.
-If fan reaction is any indication, it seems like people are just about done with the NHL All Star Game. While I’ve always argued that the All Star Game is mostly for young fans and the host city, it seemed like outside of the mainstream media, there was almost zero talk about this year’s event. In past years, there’s usually one or two moments that everyone is left talking about as the weekend wraps up but this year didn’t even seem to have that. The Top 100 concept was pretty cool but both the Skills Competition and 3 on 3 Challenge were incredibly underwhelming. Perhaps this was the players way of strengthening the case for skipping the All Star Game in favour of the Olympics next year?
-Speaking of Olympics, Gary Bettman spoke to Ron MacLean during the second intermission yesterday and painted a fairly bleak picture when it comes to the possibility of NHL players attending the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. There could be a bit of posturing going on here but it certainly sounds like there are a number of hurdles to clear and in a fairly short period of time. Certainly understand where the NHL and its Owners are coming from on this but if they don’t go, this will be a moment to remember during the next NHL lockout.
-Both Eugene Melnyk and Tom Anselmi touched on a potential hiccup related to the outdoor game and CBC expanded on that a little bit over the weekend. Essentially there seems to be some ongoing debate over the ideal number of seats for a game at TD Place and just as importantly, making sure that the team can sell out the game. Mayor Jim Watson is hoping to meet with Gary Bettman later this week to iron out those issues. Clock is ticking here but at least to this point, all parties seem confident they can sort this out.
–Plenty of talk about jerseys in the last month or so and if the result’s of our weekend poll are any indication, fans are ready for a change. With over 1,500 votes counted, only 4% suggested they are happy with the current uniforms. That’s a pretty strong statement. The heritage jersey ended up as the most popular but that’s perhaps because there were two 2D logo options that split the vote. So here’s an easy solution- heritage black and white as the home and away uniforms and then an alternative with the 2D logo. Problem solved.
-Senators General Manager Pierre Dorion used his All Star Break to pay a visit to one of the team’s top prospects in Colin White. White put on a bit of a show too, scoring his 12th goal of the season in a win over Notre Dame on Saturday night. The timing of the visit is interesting especially when you consider that Dorion has at least hinted at the possibility of Colin White joining the team at the end of his NCAA season.
-The Senators should have a familiar face when they return to the practice ice later tonight as Craig Anderson is expected to rejoin the team. Still no timeline on when Anderson will return to game action but having him back at practice is a step in the right direction. Chris Driedger was returned to Binghamton prior to the All Star break and with Andrew Hammond skating again and off the IR, Ottawa again has three goalies on the roster. Will be interesting to see how they handled the goalie situation in the next couple weeks.
-Speaking of goaltending, Elliotte Friedman mentioned that the Senators are in preliminary conversations with Mike Condon about a contract extension. Condon is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and he’s currently earning $575,000 on his current deal. Condon looks like pretty much the ideal back up right now and you would think they can get him for a little bit less than the $1.5 mil Andrew Hammond will make next year.
-Until one of (or both) of Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog are traded, Sens fans will continue to dream up scenarios that bring one of those talented forwards to Ottawa. Word out of Colorado over the weekend is that it would take a young, established defenceman and a 1st round pick to get either one of those guys. While I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Senators move their 1st round pick in a trade at this year’s deadline, I’m not sure they have the “young, established defenceman” to get it done.
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And now, what you’ve all been waiting for….the winners of the 2017 Chirpy Awards!
The Pageau (Highest Character)- Runningbear
Honourable Mention- Cicero, SensLady, DzingelBells, KarlssonFan, Terry, Mittens, Miguel
The Dorion (Most Positive)- AutoTurris
Honourable Mention- SensPride, Cicero, SensChirp, Spezzerman, Sensnation
The Spezza (Funniest)- SeawaySensFan
Honourable Mention- DzingelBells, Linguo, Anthony Buddy, Terry, AutoTurris, Cicero, Jakester
The Ruutu (Most Likely to get under your skin)- Tooks
Honourable Mention- SeawaySensFan, Jakester, Anthony Buddy, Steph, Runningbear, Wyzerd, Guest Incognito
The Yost (Best Use of Analytics)- SensLady
Honourable Mention- KarlssonFan, Mittens
The Fisher (Friendliest)- Anthony Buddy and Sens97
Honourable Mention- PaV, AutoTurris, Don Ciccio, Cup 2014-2015, SensPride aka Erik Gunnar Karlsson, Cicero, Robertson Davies’ Beard
The SpartaCat (Biggest Sens Fan)- Sandy
Honourable Mention- AutoTurris, TsnFan, Runningbear, Miguel, Magnus Nor, SensChirp, Tcharger, Jakester
The Marshall Johnston Award (Best trade proposals)- Auto Turris and SensLady
Honourable Mention- Kingforthewin, FistsofNeil25, Cicero, SensChirp, Terry, Pasky, KarlssonFan, Mittens
The John Muckler Award (Worst trade proposals)- Kingforthewin
Honourable Mention- King Karl, Runningbear, karlssens
The MacLean Award (Most sarcastic)- SeawaySensFan
Honourable Mention- Anthony Buddy, Tcharger, TAZZMAN1975, Tim, Tooks
The MacArthur (Person you’d most like to have a beer with)- FistsofNeil25 and Terry
Honourable Mention- Laffin, Tcharger, Tooks, Linguo, Harv, SensLady, Realistic Randy, Cicero, Gavin Ray, Whammer, Miguel
The Battle of Ontario Award (Best Comment Section Rivalry)- Tooks v. Jakester
Honourable Mention- Runningbear v. Mittens, Jakester v. Cunning, Steph v. SensLady, Jakester v. Sensturion, Jakester v. Steph, SensLady v. Guest Incognito, SensChirp v. Miguel, SensChirp v. Anthony Buddy, SensLady v. Hullbob
MVSC (Most Valuable Member of the SensChirp Community)- SensLady
Honourable Mention- KarlssonFan, Cicero, Runningbear, Sensable, SensChirp, Realistic Randy
