-Ottawa plays Philadelphia (17-19-3) tonight; the Flyers are lead by Jakub Voracek (39 points), and backstopped by Steve Mason (3-7-1 2.88 .902). Jean-Gabriel Pageau was called up and will play for the team (it’s a nice compliment to Pageau) in place of Peter Regin, as Paul MacLean can’t or won’t sit the block of wood called Matt Kassian (much to mine and Nichols‘ chagrin). Robin Lehner will get the start.
–Bobby Kelly delves into the Pageau call-up and I agree with him that his selection is something of a surprise (both Cole Schneider and Mark Stone have been better offensively recently, and Stone has the pedigree), but it’s not undeserved. Pageau started his AHL career on the checking line until he both earned Luke Richardson’s trust and a flood of players were summoned to Ottawa, but his production has been pretty consistent all season (here’s his 10-game splits from beginning to end: 2/4/3/4/5/8/3). However, I agree with Bobby that his offensive skills are not the reason he was called up, but rather his overall style of play and as a reward for his year thus far. He’ll play with Erik Condra and Colin Greening.
–Scott had the scoring chances 15/14 in the Tampa game.
-The WTYKY‘s boys spend a lot of time breaking down Peter Regin‘s performance, which I’d sum up to him being broken down. Multiple injuries have clearly impacted his effectiveness and I don’t think the organisation will consider keeping him. There’s more than enough internal talent (as Varada mentions) to replace him. I wish Regin well, but I expect him to be back in Europe next season.
-Credit to a reader of the blog (Steve) for bringing to my attention that Sens prospect Bryce Aneloski signed an ATO with the CHL’s Allen Americans. I’ve heard no official explanation for this, so either the Sens have passed on signing Aneloski to an ELC, or else they are too close to the contract ceiling to do so until the off-season.
–Ian Mendes wants officials held accountable–in the sense of reporters and organisations openly being able to question and interview them. I have no idea why he thinks this will improve officiating, as the NHL used to allow it and the games were as capricious as they are now.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
eyeonthesens 