With the NHL season rapidly being destroyed by CBA madness, Bryan Murray’s decision to keep Mika Zibanejad from joining Sweden at the World Juniors counts as significant news.
Yesterday, the Senators GM announced that the club would not be releasing Zibanejad from the Binghamton Senators of the AHL and will instead, allow Zibanejad to continue his adjust to the North American game under Luke Richardson and the rest of the staff in Bingo.
While there are obvious benefits to allowing a player to play for his country, I understand why Murray would opt to keep one of his top prospects in the AHL. As Wednesday’s article suggested, the organization is cognizant of the adjustment period players like Zibanejad and Silfverberg require and obviously does not want to set that process back in any way.
And when you consider what Zibanejad has already accomplished in the yearly Junior tournament, you can make the argument that there isn’t a whole lot else for him to accomplish at that level.
It certainly isn’t an issue right now, but the Senators expect to have Zibanejad in camp with the big team when the time comes, so they feel it’s important that he continues to develop his game on North American ice.
While it would have been nice to watch Zibanejad dominate at this year's World Juniors, you have to assume that the organization is doing what they feel is best for his development and based on Zibanejad's reaction to the decision, he seems to agree.
- In your daily dose of good news on the CBA front, the NHL has apparently proposed a meeting of just owners and players to discuss the state of negotiations. Seems unlikely the NHLPA would be on board with something like this, but the idea of removing Fehr and Bettman from the process for a day sounds like a damn good idea to me.
- The BSens are back in action tonight when they visit the Adirondack Phantoms for a 7:00 PM start. Keep an eye on the comment section for any streams that become available.
- It's opening night for The Senate Sports Tavern and Eatery at 33 Clarence St. in the market. I had a chance to get a sneak preview on Wednesday night and the place is unbelievable. Some amazing memorabilia to check out and a vibe that I think Ottawa residents are going to love. If you do have a chance to make it down there this weekend, feel free to share your experience in the comment section!
