It may not have been the big team but after a long off season, it was nice to finally see a team take the ice in Ottawa Senators jerseys.
The rookies did not disappoint as they handled the Penguins rookies with ease, winning 4-0 in the first game of this year's Rookie Tournament being played in Oshawa, Ontario.
Due to an unfortunate twist of scheduling, I was not able to watch this afternoon's tilt but reading the comment section and following the updates on Twitter it really sounded like there were a number of players that impressed for Ottawa.
A good friend of mine, and a sharp hockey mind, actually made the trip down to Oshawa for the game so I thought I'd pass along some of the observations he shared with me over the course of the game.
First thing he said was that Derek Grant may have been the best forward out there. Grant is a player that doesn't receive a ton of attention in a deep Sens prospect pool but it's nice to see him making an impression right off the bat. Dorion actually mentioned him the other day as a guy that may surprise some people this year.
He also mentioned that the Noesen-Grant-Cowick trio was the best line on either team and the two goal, one assist performance from Cowick confirms that.
When I asked him who the best defenceman was he was quick to mention Cowen, which is promising. Said that Rundblad also looked good for the most part but did make the odd mistake.
And obviously any time the goalie posts a shutout it deserves mention. Lehner seems to have picked up right where he left off and even though he seems destined for Bingo, he's going to make things awkward in the training camp with the big team. It seems like for the last two years Lehner has been the best goalie out there.
Really looking forward to hearing who you were impressed by and who stood out on Day 1 of the Tournament. Sens are back at it tomorrow against the rookies from Chicago.
