For some time, the slogan for the Ottawa Senators has been "United in Red". On Saturday night, when the team takes to the ice for the first time since Wednesday's terrible events, the slogan will have a whole new meaning.

It will be an emotional night, as will tonight's Ottawa RedBlacks game, where the words "healing", "heroes", and "community" will be among the most widely used.

Fans are encouraged to wear red for both games (in support of the military, and Canada in general), if you are attending, and to be in your seats for the pregame ceremonies, which will be sure to bring forth plenty of emotion and bring goosebumps if not tears.


*For the Senators, it will be the first time on the ice in a full week, with the postponement of Wednesday's game against Toronto (rescheduled for November 9th). The game against the Devils will be the first of back to back games, which they will be playing for the first time this season. They will then head out to Chicago and the first of two road games.

*With the heavy load in the next week, playing Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, you can expect that the crease will be split pretty evenly between Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner, and that Erik Condra, Colin Greening and Jared Cowen will all get at least some game action.

*The lull in the schedule that was made even longer due to the postponed game means the Senators have 2 games in hand on all the teams ahead of them, and 4 in hand on the Bruins, who they are tied with in points. The Bruins were also dealt a huge blow with the word that Zdeno Chara is out at least 4-6 weeks and possibly longer with a knee injury. The Bruins blue line, once a strength, looks a little thin all of a sudden.

* While you can look at the Senators schedule so far and see 4-1, some would argue that they haven't exactly faced the cream of the crop. You can only face the teams that are in front of you. If you look at the only team that has beat them, the Nashville Predators, it is the only team in the league that has yet to lose in regulation (5-0-2). So the only team that has beat them has beat everyone else as well, including the Blackhawks on Thursday night.

Checking In On The Farm

The Binghamton Senators are off to a decent start, considering they had training camp across the ocean. The BSens are 2-2-1 early on, and this week split a pair of games with the IceCaps in St. John's, Newfoundland. The forward unit has been slow to find a groove, but the blue line has picked up the slack offensively.

Surprisingly, it is Chris Wideman who leads the team with 5 points in 5 games, a +4 rating and 21 shots on goal. In fact, defensemen account for 4 of the top 5 scorers, with Frederik Claesson, Aaron Johnson and Alex Grant all with three points. Cole Schneider is the only forward with more than 2 points so far.

Andrew Hammond has started every game for the BSens, and he will have to drmatically improve on the 3.47 GAA he has posted, and the team will have to play better defensively to help him do that. He has been prone to the bad goal, as evidenced in St. John's with the backhanded flip shot from centre ice that beat him on Tuesday night.

As for the guys that would be considered among the favorites to be the first call-ups when needed, Jean Gabriel Pageau has just one assist, Matt Puempel has a goal and an assist, and Buddy Robinson has 2 goals, so they are not exactly setting the world on fire, but it is still early on with a lot of season to play.

Join the Discussion: » 43 Comments » Post New Comment

» Goodbye, and good luck!

» Can Colin White fill the #2C role as early as next year?

» Boucher staying put, at least for now

» Boucher Day

» Sens fall to #4 in draft lottery