The Sens news roundup:

-Rob Brodie has an article on Derek Grant (link).  Grant talks about why he turned pro, “I just felt the opportunity was there and I thought I was ready to take the next step. I kind of pushed myself and forced myself to be ready. I finished the year off in (Binghamton) and that was a lot of fun and a good experience.”  Kleinendorst commented on where they see him this season, “I think he’s more of a natural left wing than a centre. We’re going to try him down the middle. You can see he’s a big kid, he’s got good skills and he’s smart guy. He should play a good role for us. He should fit in nicely, for sure.”

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch wrote an article to wrap the rookie tournament (link), which contains a few interesting tidbits.  Kurt Kleinendorst on the performance of Mark Stone, “All in all, maybe he struggled just a little bit. He didn’t have a great night, but he had a great finish. When we really needed him, he came through for us.”  The Sens have been very happy with Robin Lehner, Rick Wamsley saying “When players have some level of success as a coach, you worry about some hangover because of the success. I haven’t seen a hangover. That wasn’t a worry, but that’s something you worry about as a coach.”  Finally, on the triva side of things, Andre Petersson and Erik Karlsson were childhood friends in Sweden.

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Alan Panzeri has an article on Patrick Wiercioch (link), looking at what’s holding the college standout back from being an NHL regular.  Kleinendorst said, “Wiercioch’s issue is probably more strength than anything. He’s really smart. He has got the offensive instincts. He’s very comfortable  with the puck. But in the AHL, you’re playing against men. In college, you’re playing  against younger men, older boys. Strength-wise, you really can’t compare college to the (AHL). So for (Wiercioch), I think it was just an adjustment to the pro game. It was an  adjustment to his strength. He just needed to get stronger, and I think he has,  and now we’ll just have to see if he’s got strong enough.”  The blueliner commented, “I did what they’ve been telling me to do for the last couple of years.”

-Ottawa’s ECHL affliate Elmira announced three signings (link): Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel (CHL 56-6-17-23), Dustin Gazley (NCAA 38-11-15-26), and Mike Radja (DEL 49-11-8-19).

September 14, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

The final game of the rookie camp is in the books and the Ottawa Senators remained undefeated after a 4-3 OT win over Toronto.  This was the best game of the tournament.  As expected, Robin Lehner started for Ottawa, facing Toronto’s Mark Owuya.  There were far fewer broadcaster errors, making it the best called game on Rogers.

The Ottawa scratches: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (groin, the same injury that forced him to miss game one), Darren Kramer (bumps & bruises, which was what kept him out of the Chicago game), and The Team 1200 mentioned that  Wacey Hamilton was never with the team, having tweaked something prior to the tournament.  The Sens iced seven defencemen.
The Toronto scratches: Tyler Brenner, David Broll, Jerry D’Amigo, Dave Cowan, and Stuart Percy

Ottawa Forward Lines (unchanged beyond the scratches)
Prince-Zibanejad-Petersson
Puempel-Da Costa-Stone
Noesen-Grant-Cowick
Culek-Caporusso

Defence Combinations (other than the middle pairing these changed a lot)
Cowen-Rundblad
Wiercioch-Gryba
Godrey/Fransoo-Borowiecki

Summary
First Period
1. Ottawa, Stephane Da Costa (Jared Cowen, Shane Prince)
This was a phantom assist for Prince
Shots: Ottawa 14, Toronto 13
Ottawa Penalties: none, but it featured Corey Cowick getting pummelled by Garrett Clarke
Second Period
2. Ottawa, Jakub Culek (Louie Caporusso)
3. Toronto, Matt Frattin (Mitchell Heard) (pp)
Jake Gardiner should have received an assist; this was a 5-on-3
Shots: Ottawa 11, Toronto 13
Ottawa Penalties: Prince (a dumb interference penalty), Godfrey (boarding), Prince (unsportsmanlike), Zibanejad (hooking), Gryba (hooking); there was also an fight between Mark Borowiecki and Jamie Devane that’s worth watching (hockeyfights/ 104970)
Third Period
4. Toronto, Sondre Olden (Jesse Blacker) (pp)
5. Ottawa, Mika Zibanejad (Shane Prince)
6. Toronto, Greg McKegg (Josh Nicholls, Mitchell Heard)
Shots: unknown (the broadcasters at Rogers did not list them)
Ottawa Penalties: Borowiecki hook (terrible call)
OT
7. Ottawa, Mark Stone (Eric Gryba, Shane Prince)
Shots: unknown (the broadcasters at Rogers did not list them)
Other notes: Da Costa was terrible on faceoffs throughout the game

Player Performances
Forwards*
* I tracked scoring chances and they are included in brackets next to the player’s name
Mika Zibanejad (3) – the best forward on the ice
Andre Petersson (3) – played a strong game in all three zones
Matt Puempel (6) – no one had more chances to score, but he couldn’t cash-in
Stephane Da Costa (1) – continued to show his great hands
Shane Prince (0) – contributed on the scoreboard, but was much less involved
Mark Stone (3) – I liked his hustle and his game winner was fantastic
Louie Caporusso (3) – his best game of the tournament; lot’s of hard work and creativity
Corey Cowick (1) – showed plenty of effort, but wasn’t as noticeable
Stefan Noesen (1) – despite playing hard this was his worst game (too many turnovers)
Derek Grant (1) – was physical, but didn’t get much accomplished offensively
Jakub Culek (3) – continues to make a lot of mental errors

Blueline
Mark Borowiecki – thundering hits, a great fight, and lot’s of passion
Eric Gryba – played a simple game and showed a little offensive flair
Jared Cowen – tried to do too much, but there lot’s to like
David Rundblad – too many turnovers
Patrick Wiercioch – tried to force things that weren’t there
Jordan Fransoo – kept things simple
Josh Godfrey – was virtually invisible

Goaltending
Robin Lehner – played very well; all the goals against were in man-advantage situations (two scored on powerplays and the other with the goalie pulled).

Overall Impressions
The best forward was Mika Zibanejad (he and Mark Stone were the only players to have points in all three games).  His speed, hands, his hockey sense, and his physicality all put him at the top of the forward group.  Next are Stephane Da Costa and Andre Petersson; Da Costa showed his great hands, head for the game, and a terrific shot, while Petersson demonstrated great effort in all zones of the ice as well as producing on the score sheet.  Other forwards who improved their stock include Corey Cowick (with lots of hustle and production) and Shane Prince.  Only one player up front hurt himself in the tournament–Jakub Culek has not progressed since last year.

Among the blueliners David Rundblad was the best overall, showing great poise with the puck and fantastic hands.  He made defensive errors, but not out of proportion compared to his teammates.  Jared Cowen was number two, but he needs to continue to work on his hands.  Beyond the two highly touted players I think Mark Borowiecki stood out, showing his heart and determination.  No blueliner hurt their chances at the tournament, but I expected more from former second-rounder Josh Godfrey.

In net there’s no question that Robin Lehner was dominant.  He made all the routine saves and a number of the spectacular variety.  His backup, Matej Machovsky, has a long way to go to become a pro.

For a different perspective check out Adnan’s article for The Silver Seven (link).

Post-game Interviews with Kurt Kleinendorst and Mark Stone are here (link).

September 14, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

Here’s the Sens news roundup for today:

-Rob Brodie wrote about Andre Petersson for the Sens website (senators.nhl.com/ club/news.htm?id=588218&cmpid=rss-brodie).  The Swedish rookie speaks at length about his back problems and a little about his play, “I’ve been struggling for two years with my back. This is the first time in two years I’ve been able to play two games without feeling any back pain, so I’m really happy about it. It’s amazing that I could go 1-1/2 years with this pain and then the past six months have been this much better. It has been really tough. When you’re out there, you can’t skate 100 per cent. It’s been an awful two years, but I’m really happy about (playing) two games without any pain at all. I came over here (earlier this year) and they started to fix my back over the last six months. I really trust the guys in Ottawa. I played my last game at the beginning of January, so I kind of have to start all over again. But it feels pretty good. The first game  was not that good. I couldn’t do much at all. But the last game was better and I know it’s going to be even better tomorrow.”  There’s also an interview with him on the site (video.senators.nhl.com/videocenter/console?=DL|OTT|home).

–The Ottawa Citizen‘s Alan Panzeri has an article about Mark Borowiecki (Borowiecki+aims+reward+Sens+faith/5390578/story.html).  There’s not much new, with Pierre Dorion staying what’s seemed fairly obvious from the beginning, “Realistically, he’s someone who needs to go to Binghamton and refine his game.  Down the road, we see him as someone who can contribute in a  hard-to-play-against role.”

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch wrote an article about Robin Lehner (humble-lehner-wants-to-earn-spot-with-sens), where he revealed some frustration about his depiction of being arrogant, “It feels like whatever I say to the media, they kind of try to twist it and they kind of try to make me look arrogant. I’m going in humble to this camp. I feel like if I’m not going in for a job, why should I even go there? It’s as simple as that. I’m trying to go there and show what I can do. If it goes the right way, that’s good. If it doesn’t, I’m down in Binghamton as a 20-year-old and that’s not bad either. I have a lot of friends that are up with the big team now. Of course I want to play with them. Everybody would be lying if they didn’t want to aim for the NHL. That’s what I want to do and that’s what I’m aiming to do since I started hockey.”

–Shane Prince has posted a blog about the rookies’ day off (prince-a-day-to-catch-our-breath).

September 13, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

Here’s the Senators news roundup of the day:

-Rob Brodie writing for the Sens website wrote about Stephane Da Costa after his hat-trick yesterday (senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=588168&navid=DL|OTT|home).  Pierre Dorion said, “He’s someone that has a good shot, but knows where to put it on net. He’s someone with a lot of hockey sense, a lot of skill and a lot of puck poise. He showed a lot of good things today. (Da Costa) still has to get stronger and he still has to get quicker, but with his hockey sense, skill level, playmaking ability and shot, I think we’re going to see some good things out of him.”  Kurt Kleinendorst added, “He’s very intelligent, very skilled, an honest player. We knew that he played the point on the power play in college. He’s very comfortable out there.”  Da Costa himself said, “Everything went in, which was good. It gave me confidence for the third period. The first period, I wasn’t really happy with myself. I had a pretty bad period. I’m just here to play and try my hardest to make the team. If I make it, good, if I don’t, I’m going to keep trying and just do my best.”

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch wrote a packed article covering a wide range of subjects (www.ottawasun.com/2011/09/11/battle-has-begun-for-sens).  The most interesting notes were Tim Murray talking about Zibanejad and Da Costa, “We’re happy and it kind of justifies what we’re thinking: They both have a chance to crack our lineup. Both won’t. It will be one or the other or neither.”  Kleinendorst is impressed with Zibanejad, “There are no shortcuts in his game from what I’ve seen.”  Binghamton’s bench boss also had an interesting comment about Shane Prince, “How many should he have had? He could have had a career (game) which is what you’re looking for, but you’re also looking for finish. I thought he played very well.”  Incidentally, Garrioch mistakenly has Cowick scoring his fourth goal instead of his third (presumably meaning his fourth point).

-Pierre Dorion was interviewed on The Team 1200 during the game and called Andre Petersson the most talented prospect they had, but did not think he had much of a chance in camp.  He mentioned that Petersson cheated defensively and that was one of the things the team wanted to curb.

–The Silver Seven‘s Dave Young explores how Nikita Filatov will perform by comparing him to other first round picks that have been traded (www.silversevensens.com/2011/9/ 12/2418199/can-nikita-filatov-become-the-next-low-risk-high-reward-success-story# storyjump).  The sample size used is small (Michael Grabner, Gilbert Brule, Brian Boyle, and Kari Lehtonen), but it’s an interesting exercise.

September 12, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

The second game of the rookie camp is in the books and the Ottawa Senators prevailed over Chicago 6-5.  The game was a bit faster than the first, but was just as sloppy.  As expected, Matej Machovsky started for Ottawa, facing Chicago’s Johan Mattson.  Unfortunately, the broadcast on Rogers suffered the same difficulties in identifying players.

The Ottawa scratches: Josh Godfrey (healthy), Darren Kramer (healthy), and Wacey Hamilton (presumably healthy)
The Chicago scratches: unfortunately I missed them

Ottawa Forward Lines (unchanged beyond the scratches)
Prince-Zibanejad-Petersson
Puempel-Da Costa-Stone
Noesen-Grant-Cowick
Culek-Pageau-Caporusso

Defence Combinations (these remained very consistent)
Cowen-Rundblad
Wiercioch-Gryba
Fransoo-Borowiecki

Summary
First Period
1. Ottawa, Andre Petersson (Mika Zibanejad)
2. Chicago, Peter Leblanc (unassisted)
3. Ottawa, Corey Cowick (unassisted) (sh)
4. Chicago, Brandon Saad (Phillip Danault) (pp)
5. Chicago, Brandon Saad (unassisted)
Shots: Ottawa 12, Chicago 17
Ottawa Penalties: Borowiecki with a hook
Second Period
6. Ottawa. Stephane Da Costa (Mark Stone)
An assist should have gone to Mark Borowiecki
7. Ottawa, Stephane Da Costa (David Rundblad, Shane Prince) (pp)
8. Ottawa, Stephane Da Costa (Andre Petersson, Mika Zibanejad) (pp)
The second assist should have gone to Shane Prince
9. Chicago, Jimmy Hayes (Brandon Saad, Simon Lalonde) (pp)
Shots: Ottawa 9, Chicago 6
Ottawa Penalties: Puempel (goaltender interference), Cowick (slashing)
Third Period
10. Ottawa, Mika Zibanejad (Andre Petersson)
11. Chicago, Jimmy Hayes (Joe Lavin)
Shots: unknown (the broadcasters at Rogers did not list them)
Ottawa Penalties: Culek took a hooking penalty trying to prevent a goal

Player Performances
Forwards*
* I tracked scoring chances and they are included in brackets next to the player’s name
Stephane Da Costa (4) – he struggled in the first period, but was dominant afterward
Andre Petersson (6) – fantastic offensively
Mika Zibanejad (2) – he got burned on Chicago’s final goal, but was excellent otherwise
Corey Cowick (4) – played well, although he took another dumb penalty
Shane Prince (4) – had a ton of chances and played hard
Stefan Noesen (3) – wasn’t quite as good as the first game, but was the most physical forward
Matt Puempel (4) – plenty of opportunities, but no finish yet
Mark Stone (1) – played well
Derek Grant (1) – a step back from his strong performance in game one
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (2) – the best of the fourth line, but didn’t accomplish much
Louie Caporusso (0) – did not stand out
Jakub Culek (0) – virtually invisible

Blueline
David Rundblad – cut down on the turnovers and was the engine for the offence
Jared Cowen – a turnover lead to Chicago’s first goal, but overall he was very strong
Eric Gryba – played a simple, strong game
Mark Borowiecki – showed a bit more offensive flair
Patrick Wierioch – poor coverage lead to Chicago’s fourth goal, but made a few good plays
Jordan Fransoo – had a mix of good and bad moments

Goaltending
Matej Machovsky – not all the goals were his fault, but he has a long way to go

I expect Godfrey to return to the lineup and Fransoo to sit, while if Hamilton is healthy he should suit up and perhaps Culek will sit against Toronto (Kramer may also return to the lineup, in which case I could see Caporusso sitting).  Lehner will start.

Here’s Senshot‘s Tony Mendes take on the game: senshot.com/2011/09/12/sens-rookie-tournament-game-two-analysis/#more-8568

Shane Prince‘s blog on the game: fans.senators.nhl.com/community/blog/1/entry-257-prince-were-here-to-win-it-all

Sens TV has interviews with scout Bob Lowes, Pierre Dorion, Kurt Kleinendorst, Mika Zibanejad, and Stephane Da Costa (video.senators.nhl.com/videocenter/console)

September 12, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

Here’s the Sunday news roundup (I’ll post my reaction to today’s game tomorrow, but for those who don’t know the Ottawa rookies beat Chicago’s 6-5):

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch interviewed head coach Paul MacLean (www.ottawasun.com/2011/09/10/q-and-a-with-sens-coach-paul-maclean).  Two interesting things to note: 1) MacLean wants to experiment with his top line, seeing a Michalek–Spezza–Alfredsson combination as something to fall back into–“That’s a place I can always go back too. I know it works. If I need that, I can always go with that, so I don’t have to start with that. That’s going to be in place if I need it. We have a lot of guys who need an opportunity to play like (Nikita) Filatov, (Bobby) Butler, (Erik) Condra, (Peter) Regin, (Stephane) Da Costa and (Mika) Zibanejad, even (Nick) Foligno. We won’t find out until we have scrimmages and games who is going to compliment one another.”  He also specified which veterans he’s talked to over the summer, “Jason [Spezza] and I sat down for about an hour the other day when he was in town and had a real good conversation. I’ve talked to Chris Phillips, Sergei Gonchar a little and I talked to Alfredsson when I got the job. As they’re coming into the rink in the last week or so, I’ve tried to spend some time with as many as I can. So far it’s been positive about what we’re trying to do and the expectations.”

-Garrioch also wrote about Corey Cowick after his strong game in the rookie tournament opener (www.ottawasun.com/2011/09/10/glory-for-corey–hard-work-pays-off).  Cowick said “The biggest thing for me was the mental part of the game. Gaining confidence. Knowing that I can play at the next level. I think physically I’m strong enough. Yes, there are things you can work on every summer, but I think the majority of my time was spent trying to get mentally stronger.”

-Alan Panzeri had a similar article in The Ottawa Citizen (www.ottawacitizen.com/ sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Goalie+Robin+Lehner+shines+rookie+game/5383218/ story.html), with this tidbit from Kurt Kleinendorst, “I think Corey [Cowick] will be the first one to tell you that he didn’t play as well as  he could. He got himself into a bad spot. But this to me looks like a positive sign that he’s coming out of it.”

-Rob Brodie of the Senators website wrote an article on Matt Puempel (senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=588160&cmpid=rss-brodie), where the rookie talked about his first tournament game, “It’s a lot faster than it is in junior, so you have to change your game knowing that and it’s just a different type of atmosphere. The first one’s out of the way and the nerves are out of the way so hopefully, today’s a little bit more of a relaxed day and I can go into a little comfort zone and get a lot more confidence.”

-Bob McKenzie tweeted about the Sens-Chicago rookie game (twitter.com/#!/ TSNBobMcKenzie), saying “Checked out OTT-CHI rookie game today in Oshawa. Stephane Da Costa and David Rundblad, as well as Mika Zibanejad, played well for Sens.”

-Kurt Kleinendorst about the game today (https://vr.shapeservices.com/listen.php?hash=d6665b453101e502dee87dbb2c5c087849cec3219ee9922f7), saying he thought Chicago dominated the first period, but gave the team credit for dominating the rest of the game.

September 11, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

With the rookie tournament a couple of hours away there are lot’s of Senators stories to cover:

-James Gordon writes about the rookie camp and the roster going forward for Senators Extra (senatorsextra.com/feature/ottawa-senators-rookie-camp-day-one-wrap/).  He has an interesting quote from Bryan Murray about Mika Zibanejad, “I don’t know that he has to be a second line centre or not, he just has to see if he can be one of 12 forwards if that be the case. It’s a big step. He played in the (Swedish) elite league though, with men and he played well, so I think that we’d like to think our league is better, our team is going to be better than it was last year by a margin and for a young guy to play on it he just has to be able to compete every day and hopefully develop along the way.”  He also has an interesting observation about Andre Peterson, “You can’t really judge a player based on one practice, but Zibanejad wasn’t the guy that jumped out at me most. He got a little fancy with the puck here and there and bobbled it from time-to-time. No, it was linemate Andre Petersson who looked particularly impressive. While small at 5’9 and about 175 pounds, Petersson showed a lot of quickness and an ability to handle the puck with confidence at high speed. He was also an annoying waterbug on a couple of defensive drills, stealing the puck from lumbering defencemen.”

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch talked to Tim Murray while naming five-rookies to watch (www.ottawasun.com/2011/09/09/5-sens-rookies-to-watch-3). Garrioch’s five are David Rundblad, Jared Cowen, Mika Zibanejad, Robin Lehner, and Stephane Da Costa. The comments on the latter were the most interesting, given how little I’ve heard from management about Da Costa this summer, “He’s gotten stronger. He’s made sacrifices to be over here: He rented his own apartment and he’s done all the things he can do to make himself better. Now, he can come to camp to show us what he can do. I expect him to have a good camp and a good tournament. If he’s not ready, I want him to show he’s close.”

-Alan Panzeri, writing for The Ottawa Citizen, talks about the chances for rookies at Sens camp (www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Murray+hopes+ Sens+rookies+tough+position/5379884/story.html).  Bryan Murray was noncommittal, but did say he would create spots for rookies if warranted.

-Rob Brodie talked to Bryan Murray about the Sens prospects (senators.nhl.com/ club/news.htm?id=588043&navid=DL|OTT|home), where he echoes Murray’s sentiments in Panzeri’s article above.

–Shane Prince is blogging for the Sens website (fans.senators.nhl.com/community/ blog/1/entry-255-prince-new-experience-familiar-surroundings).

-Former Binghamton Senator Jason Bailey has announced his retirement (www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?=personaDest).

September 10, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

Ottawa’s news this morning:

–Peter Regin tweaked his ankle yesterday, but Tim Murray confirmed he’ll be fine for training camp (www.ottawasun.com/2011/09/08/tough-turn-for-senators-at-informal-workout).

-Rob Brodie interviewed Jared Cowen (http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=587963).  “I’m pretty excited to start this year. It’s pretty exciting that we’ll have a younger team. I wouldn’t say the culture is changing, but it’s a different feel around here, for sure. It’s new for everyone, so I’m pretty excited to get things going. I feel really good on the ice. This is the best I’ve felt in awhile. Any time you feel good about yourself, you play better and have confidence. Going into camp, that’ll be on my side, for sure.” And “When you’re trying to become a pro, you have a pretty good idea of what you have to work on. You get a pretty good image of yourself and what you need to be. We talk but at the same time, they’re my competition and they don’t want to give me too much.”

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Bruce Garrioch talked to Chris Phillips (www.ottawasun.com/2011/ 09/08/phillips-ready-to-be-a-leader).  The quote that stood out to me was this, “I’ve got to make sure that I help (the young) guys out. I’m going to have to make sure I can communicate more with all the young guys and be a leader.”  I don’t think Phillips meant to imply that previously he did not communicate much with younger players, but that’s how it reads.

-Pierre Dorion was interviewed on The Team 1200 this morning (www.team1200.com/ default.asp).  The main points of interest was him trying to temper the hype around Mark Borowiecki as well as saying that the scouting community give him a lot of positive feedback about Mark Stone after his participation at the World Junior camp (the most hype, he said, that he’s heard since Erik Karlsson).  He also said that Andre Petersson is the organisation’s most skilled prospect while Derek Grant is their most underrated prospect.

-Adam Proteau of The Hockey News wrote about the top ten storylines to watch in the NHL this year (http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/41682-THNcom-Top-10-Storylines-to-watch.html), which includes the Sens at #8, “Other than the presumptive first line of Jason Spezza centering Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek, Ottawa’s forward group is a giant mystery. THN’S depth chart shows the second line as Peter Regin between Nick Foligno and Bobby Butler – and if that’s the way it plays out as the year begins, it could be a very long season in Canada’s capital city.”  The sentiment isn’t unique to Proteau.

–Sports Illustrated has an interesting article looking into the use of painkillers in the NHL (http://nhl-red-light.si.com/2011/09/06/does-the-nhl-have-a-painkiller-problem/?sct=nhl_bf1_a3).  It’s a very interesting read and, until recently, not something much discussed in the league.  Here’s a quote from Justin Bourne who was interviewed for it, “When you’re playing in the minors, they’re always around. You don’t have to stop. I have no idea if use is as prevalent in the NHL as they are in the ECHL, but there was certainly plenty of casual use by guys on the way up….When you talk to any hockey player in his mid-20s and beyond, a huge majority of them have endured something horribly painful that required these pills. And I mean required them. Just by nature itself, some people are hard-wired to love ‘em, some are hard-wired to hate ‘em. When you run enough pills through enough guys, it’s inevitable you’re going to hit a handful that love ‘em just a touch too much.”

-TSN’s Scott Cullen’s top-300 fantasy point projections are up (http://tsn.ca/ fantasy_news/feature/?fid=49646) and here are the Sens:
44. Jason Spezza 67-24-38-62
154. Erik Karlsson 73-12-31-43
212. Milan Michalek 68-20-17-37
242. Nick Foligno 75-15-19-34
248. Daniel Alfredsson 65-14-19-33
262. Peter Regin 72-11-21-32
265. Bobby Butler 74-17-15-32

-Updates on a former Sen and a former B-Sen: Jarkko Ruutu has signed with Jokerit of the SM-Liiga (http://twitter.com/#!/jokerithc/status/112049919132565504); Tim Spencer, who last year was sent from Binghamton to Elmira to the Florida Everblades, has signed with the Chicago Express of the ECHL (www.oursportscentral.com/services/ releases/?id=4292131).

September 9, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment