(UPDATE 12:17 PM)- Looks like Max Veronneau will have some company on his rookie lap tonight. With Mark Borowiecki out with an illness, the Senators are expected to recall 19 year old Erik Brännström from Belleville for tonight’s game. All aboard the Brannwagon!
There are moments in sports that transcend the game.
Those rare instances that captivate fans before, during and after the actual on-ice proceedings. Years from now, your kids will ask you- “Do you remember that game?” and “Do you remember where you were when it happened?”
Tonight, at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, Ontario, we all get to experience one of those unique moments.
Max Veronneau (and Brännström!), the top NCAA free agent and Ottawa-native, makes his long-awaited debut in a Sens uniform. Like Jesse Winchester, Bobby Butler and Matt O’Connor before him, Veronneau (and Brännström!) arrives with the Senators as a highly-coveted NCAA free agent (or blue-chip prospect) and based on the three YouTube clips I watched, it’s pretty easy to see why.
While it’s important to keep our expectations in check heading into Veronneau’s (and Brännström’s!) debut, it’s worth noting that both Joe Malone of the Montreal Canadiens and Harry Hyland of the Montreal Wanderers currently hold the NHL record for goals in an NHL debut with five.
We’ll see if that record still stands by 10:00 PM this evening.
“Growing up I watched the Sens play and cheered them on…so being able to play for them now is surreal.”
Max Veronneau shares his thoughts on signing an #NHL contract with the #Sens as well as joining the team on the ice for the very first time this morning. pic.twitter.com/hBNtH7V1P5
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 13, 2019
The Senators blueline will be…well…umm how do I put this? The Senators blueline will be one of the most unappealing in franchise history. With Thomas Chabot out with a broken toe (likely for the rest of the season, by the way), the Sens are a little thin back there.
For comparison sake, here are the six guys the Senators lined up on defence for the first game in franchise history.
Norm MacIver
Ken Hammond
Chris Luongo
Mark Osiecki
Darren Rumble
Brad Shaw
And here are the six guys that will dress tonight.
Christian Wolanin
Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki (or Brännström!)
Christian Jaros
Dylan DeMelo
Ben Harpur
Maybe Rome was built in 9653 days. Also there’s a chance Mark Osiecki and Mark Borowiecki are the same person but that’s another issue entirely.
Christian Jaros returns but Colin White misses another game up front. Mikkel Boedker has been located and will play.
Tkachuk-Pageau-Duclair
Balcers-Tierney-Ryan
Smith-Lindberg-Veronneau
Boedker-Paajarvi-Gibbons
Wolanin-Ceci
Harpur-DeMelo
Borowiecki (Brännström!)-Jaros
Anders Nilsson gets the start. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:38 PM. Max Veronneau’s (and Brännström’s!) first goal won’t be long after that.
The game is available on TSN5, RDS2 and there is talk of a big screen being set up on the front lawn of Parliament Hill so the city can gather to watch Maximilian (and Brännström!) make NHL history.
A table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
  |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 36-27-7 (79 pts) | 23-41-6 (52 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.87 (19th) | 2.93 (T-17th) |
| Goals Against | 2.75 (7th) | 3.71 (31st) |
| Power Play | 20.4% (13th) | 20.0% (14th) |
| Penalty Kill | 80.8% (13th) | 79.4% (22nd) |
| Shots For | 31.6 (16th) | 29.9 (23rd) |
| Shots Against | 28.6 (3rd) | 36.0 (31st) |
| Leading Scorers | O’Reilly- 67 pts Tarasenko- 58 pts Schenn- 44 pts |
Tierney- 43 pts Ryan- 37 pts Tkachuk- 36 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Jake Allen 18-16-6 2.90 GAA, .903 sv% |
Anders Nilsson 11-17-1 3.09 GAA, .904 sv% |
