Not entirely clear what we did to anger the NHL’s schedule maker but it’s quite clearly personal.
There was no Sens game last night. There is no Sens game tonight. And unless Steve in scheduling comes to his senses, it doesn’t look like there’s going to be a game tomorrow night either.
While this little early season break gives the players a good chance to get a jump on the Halloween season and allows the coaching staff to run a couple full practices, it doesn’t do much for fans and for lowly bloggers desperate for content. But we can wait.
After another off-day tomorrow, things will start to pick up a little bit. Thursday against the Sharks, Saturday against the Rangers, Monday against the Capitals and…FRIDAY against the Stars?! Come on, Steve.
DJ Smith had the team back on the ice for practice this morning and with Brady Tkachuk now just a couple days from his season debut, there was some predictable shuffling in the forward ranks.
Brady Tkachuk is back in his usual spot on that top line with Josh Norris and Drake Batherson. The team’s identity line, Paul-Pinto-Brown, remains together after a strong effort on Sunday. And then on the third line there was a brand new trio in the high-flying Tim Stützle, the red-hot Chris Tierney and the fastest man alive, Alex Formenton.
Here’s how the forwards lined up…
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Paul-Pinto-Brown
Stützle-Tierney-Formenton
Sanford-Shaw-Ennis
Kelly-Sabourin
No changes on defence.
The Head Coach was asked about the new line combinations and about line labelling in general and was quick to not only talk up that Tierney combination but also suggest remind everyone that a guy like Tim Stützle is going to move around regularly this year.
And really, as long as he continues to get those top power play minutes and play comparable minutes to the other two lines at 5 on 5, the label doesn’t make much of a difference.
Will be fun to see how that line matches up against San Jose’s weaker defenders like….don’t say…..don’t do it….like ERIK KARLSSON. Sorry, Erik. Sorry, Norah.
One other note from practice today as Matt Murray was back with the team and a full participant in the day’s festivities. DJ Smith hasn’t made a decision on a starting goalie for Thursday night but it does sound like Murray will be an option. Tough call though after the starts Ottawa got from Anton Forsberg and Filip Gustavsson.
Loading …Senators are back on the ice at 10:30 AM tomorrow morning. They host Erik Karlsson and the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
There are…tickets available, as you may have guessed.
-Still no indication that the organization plans to stich a certain letter on a certain somebody’s jersey ahead of Thursday’s game against the San Jose Sharks. While fans have been pretty unanimous on the idea of announcing a new Captain as soon as possible, both Pierre Dorion and DJ Smith have been pretty cautious when it comes to putting a timeline on the decision.
