Preseason has finally wrapped up and now Dave Cameron and his Coaching staff can begin the final preparations for the 2015/2016 season.
Cameron had his team on the ice for practice this morning and unfortunately, did so without one of the team’s key forwards.
Clarke MacArthur was not on the ice thanks to that collision with Mark Fraser on Saturday night. It really didn’t seem like a violent collision but considering MacArthur’s recent concussion issues, the team obviously wants to be careful with this injury.
MacArthur’s injury also means that for at least one more day, both Shane Prince and Matt Puempel will stay on the NHL roster. It obviously doesn’t mean that both of them will suit up for Thursday’s opener but with MacArthur’s status in doubt, there’s really no need to rush that decision.
For what it’s worth, it has been pointed out on Twitter that Shane Prince’s Number 18 has been occupied by someone else on the Bingo roster while Puempel’s number remains available. We all know Shane Prince is likely the one that sticks around but that’s just another indication of the inevitable decision.
Here’s how the Senators were lined up this morning.
Hoffman-Turris-Stone
Ryan-Zibanejad-Lazar
Michalek-Pageau-Chiasson
Prince-Smith-Neil
Puempel
Methot-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Ceci
Cowen-Borowiecki
Wideman
The second line is the one that jumps out a little bit as Curtis Lazar finds his way into the top six. Seems to be conflicting reports about which wing he is lined up on but in the past, Lazar hasn’t really seen much of the left side.
Obviously MacArthur’s situation makes it a little tricky to figure out exactly how they’ll line up for the opener but it’s pretty clear that Cameron is still trying to figure out exactly who fits with Zibanejad and Ryan.
-Kind of a scary few minutes at practice this morning as Mark Stone apparently took a Cody Ceci shot off the hand and left the ice for about ten minutes. He did eventually return to the ice though and there didn’t really seem to be any concerns about the injury afterwards.
