Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages. As the 2015 Faces Magazine Blogger of the Year, it gives me great pleasure to officially declare the summer of 2019…OVER.
The calendar suggests we still have another three weeks to go but everyone knows that the day after Labour Day is the real beginning of fall. Kids are back to school, the roads are horribly congested and all across the city, people are begrudgingly returning to jobs they don’t particularly like.
Yes indeed, another summer is in the books.
And with the end of the season comes the beginning of the only season that matters. The hockey season. Again, the calendar suggests we have to wait a few more days but frankly, I am sick of calendars telling me what to do.
Hockey season starts…TODAY.
Let’s start with some introductions.
My name is SensChirp and I’ll be your host for this season’s festivities. For the last 11 years, I have been using this platform to share my incoherent ramblings and for some reason, people read it. Or at least skim it before sharing their own incoherent ramblings in the comment section below.
In just a few short days, the Ottawa Senators will kick off their annual rookie tournament. Players report on Thursday morning and the first game is scheduled for Friday night in Belleville. The rookie Sens will play three games- Jets on Friday, Canadiens on Saturday and the Jets again on Monday night.
Looks like three easy victories to me.
While this weekend’s games don’t really mean much (although winning every game over the Montreal Canadiens is of vital importance in my books), it’s a good opportunity for the team’s youngsters to make an early impression on Management.
Perhaps more than ever, there are spots up for grabs. The direction of this franchise is clear right now and DJ Smith and the rest of the Coaching staff have let it be known that young players will be expected to drive this rebuild.
No roster spots are going to be awarded because of a stand-out rookie tournament performance but it’s a step in the right direction.
With that in mind, here are the players to keep an eye on when the tourney gets started later this week.
Joey Daccord and Filip Gustavsson
We’ll start with the goalies. The Senators cleared up some of the logjam when they shipped a slightly-used Mike Condon to Tampa Bay but there are still battles for spots expected over the next month. Craig Anderson and Anders Nilsson have the two NHL jobs locked up but Belleville’s goaltending situation is still very much TBD. Joey Daccord, Filip Gustavsson and Marcus Hogberg are all in the mix with one of those guys likely ending up on the ECHL roster. And while the situation is likely to evolve throughout the year, both Daccord and Gustavsson will want to get their season off on the right foot. Gustavsson struggled a little bit with the transition to the pro game last year but the organization will be expecting him to take a big step forward this year.
Erik Brannstrom
Losing Mark Stone still hurts but that’s mostly because we really haven’t had much of an opportunity to see the beauty of Erik Brannstrom. All aboard the Brannwagon! He’s viewed by many as the top prospect in the organization and with a pro year already under his belt, he will be expected to come into a tournament like this and dominate. Brannstrom is one of those young players that has a very real chance to crack the Sens roster on opening night.
Drake Batherson
Batherson has spent a good portion of the off season training with Sidney Crosby which is both good news and bad news. The good news is that means he should be able to hit the ground running at rookie camp. The bad news is it also means he’s going to complain about everything. Batherson got a taste of NHL life last year and has a very real shot of starting in Ottawa again in October. The progression in Batherson’s game over the last couple years has been pretty remarkable. This weekend will be our first look at where he’s at this season.
Logan Brown
It’s pretty early in the month to be declaring a top storyline of this year’s training camp but as I made clear earlier in this post, I do what I want when I want. Logan Brown’s progression and his push for a full-time NHL gig feels like it’s going to be one of the most talked about stories in this year’s Training Camp. Brown finished the season strong in Belleville and has apparently spent the off season focusing on getting faster and stronger. DJ Smith knows Brown a little bit from their Windsor days and Brown seems keen on making a good first impression with the new bench boss. Brown is going to be watched closely this weekend and really, he has to stand out against this level of competition.
Jonathan Davidsson
Raise your hand is you have no idea who this is? Good, now get the hell out. You are the first cut in this year’s SensChirp Training Camp. Jonathan Davidsson was acquired in the trade that sent Matt Duchene to Columbus at last year’s deadline and it’s clear that the organization is pretty high on him. Davidsson came damn close to making the Blue Jackets out of Camp this year and his name is among those considered to be pushing for a forward spot with the Senators this season. He plays fast and has good offensive instincts and at 22 years of age, he’s older than a lot of the others guys in this tournament.
Alex Formenton
While I have been prone to hyperbole in the past, this is no exaggeration- Alex Formenton is the fastest man alive. In the time that it takes you to read this sentence, Formenton can skate a lap of the rink. Rookie camp doesn’t start until Thursday and Formenton just pulled into the SensPlex parking lot. Formenton forced his way onto the NHL roster last year and you’d be a damn fool to think he won’t do it again this time around. While there is plenty of competition for those forward spots, Formenton has to be considered one of the favourites primarily because he’s done it before. Some time in Belleville in a top six role wouldn’t be the worst thing for him though.
Josh Norris
If you don’t already love Josh Norris, well then it’s probably going to take approximately one rookie tournament shift for that to change. He’s fast, he’s smart and he’s got good offensive instincts. Norris was the key piece coming Ottawa’s way in the Erik Karlsson trade and he too has a damn good chance of making the NHL roster when the games start for real next month. Norris is finally 100% healthy after a lengthy recovery from a shoulder injury last season and you know he wants to make a good first impression on the coaching staff and management.
Max Veronneau
With four NCAA seasons and 12 NHL games under his belt, Maximilian comes into this rookie tournament as a grizzled veteran. Veronneau had options as an NCAA free agent last year but picked Ottawa, partly because he was excited about the new LRT but also because he sees a great opportunity to make the NHL right away. Old man Veronneau should be able to run wild against these kids.
There you have it folks. A half-assed list of players presented in no particular order.
SensChirp is BACK.
If those 1,200 words aren’t enough to get you excited about the return of hockey, this video should do the trick. And if it doesn’t well then you are the second cut of this year’s Training Camp.
Now get the hell out of my office.
