It's Tuesday and the Ottawa Senators don't play till Friday match up with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It certainly had the makings of a quiet day in terms of Sens news but there were a few stories that broke today that should certainly be of interest to fans of the Ottawa Senators.
On the ice, the Sens practiced at the Bell Sensplex ahead of their match up with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Everyone was in attendance with the exception of injured forwards Chris Neil and Peter Regin. If you watched any of Crosby's return last night you'll know the Sens could probably use a couple extra practice days to prepare.
Crosby appeared to be in midseason form and with the likes of Malkin, Staal and Letang making up a supporting cast, the Senators will have to be at their absolute best.
On All Star Game Voting
The NHL released the results of the first week of voting for the starting line up for the All Star Game and there was plenty of good news for the Ottawa Senators. Erik Karlsson incredibly leads all players with 147,468 votes. Daniel Alfredsson is at the top of the heap among forwards (131,774- VoteAlfie!) while Spezza sits in third (117,899) and Milan Michalek following close behind in fourth place (108,247).
It's an amazing start but it's important we continue to promote the campaign. You can go here to cast your vote (30 times), text the name of a Senator to 81812 (30 times) and you can vote an additional 30 times from your mobile device. The Sens have turned some heads with the first round of balloting but we'll need to keep it up!
Tell your friends, family and co-workers! Let's make sure our Senators are well represented!
On the New Scoreboard
This has to be the question I get asked the most often these days. With the Sens set to host the NHL All Star Game at the end of January, fans would love to hear some good news regarding the installation of a new scoreboard. Right now this issue could not be more "on again, off again".
Spoke with a quality contact the other day who told me there is essentially still one signature missing. If you saw the comment section yesterday, one reader suggested the possibility of leasing a new board rather than buying and that is entirely possible.
Money is fairly tight for the Senators right now and a new scoreboard would be a substantial addition. I still get the sense there is time to get this thing done but there is definitely some work to do before any installation can actually take place.
On Kyle Turris
After holding out the entire season to date, the Phoenix Coyotes have signed forward Kyle Turris to a surprisingly low 2 year deal worth a total of $2.8 million. But according to multiple reports, this saga may not be over. With Turris signed to a deal, and some obvious bad blood lingering between the two sides, a trade is still very much a possibility.
The Sens definitely have an interest in the forward but the Coyotes are certainly not going to give him away. The price might be more than Sens GM Bryan Murray is willing to pay right now although he would fit in nicely on the team's second line.
