Thursday Think Tank (Senators)

New Think Tank for the last Thursday before Christmas:

Duchene’s back

Matt Duchene will return to the lineup on Friday against the New Jersey Devils after missing six games. It’s fantastic news that the 27-year-old didn’t end up missing much time, as the initial timetable for his return was unknown. Teams are always so secretive about injuries, and it’s easy to fear the worst. Duchene has posted 34 points in 29 games so far, and he and Stone have been the two straws that stir the drink amongst forwards.

He won’t have his old linemate Drake Batherson on his side, so we’ll see what his new linemates are.

Literally off the charts

Every time I get chart updates from Twitter friend Sean Tierney (no relation), the Senators are always in hilarious positions. When I saw this graph on my phone, I literally could not see Ottawa in the frame before actually clicking on the tweet, that’s how far down in the corner they are:

They are almost literally “off the charts,… but in the worst way possible. Nobody is even close to as bad as the Senators are at allowing shots, and it looks like they are fifth worst in getting shots. The combination of the two is predictably bad, and we have known this for weeks now. But it’s just funny seeing it in graph form because of how far off they are even from the “regular… bad teams.

Stop dressing 7 defensemen

Ottawa doesn’t have six NHL defensemen as is, so they don’t need to be adding another one into the lineup. Justin Falk should not be suiting up if they already have Mark Borowiecki and Ben Harpur playing, especially since that pushes Nick Paul out. Realistically it should push Tom Pyatt out as it did once, but even then, that still punishes Paul who then doesn’t even have a real line to play with.

The Senators have an abundance of forwards that they could dress, including a few in the AHL, but the same cannot be said for their defensemen. Paul needs to stay in the lineup to prove that he can play as well as he has and be the fourth line centre, and there is no reason why Falk should continue to get minutes on a rebuilding team that needs to assess its young players.

Ryan vs. Turris???

I wasn’t able to watch it live, but it was pretty strange seeing Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris fight each other on Monday. It was also one of the most hilariously awkward displays of fighting I’ve ever seen in the NHL:

Neither of them are fighters obviously, and it shows. As for why it happened, Ryan was mad at Turris for a slash on his finger:

“I didn’t like the slash. He knows the history, right? He’s been here,… Ryan said. “I felt like he got me right on the finger. So I gave him a whack and he gave me a whack. We just traded back and forth until it became more.…

That makes a bit more sense than hypothetical bad blood off the ice, as emotions can run high during a game when an opponent does something you think is dirty. Ryan is also coming off of a concussion, so it made the fight even stranger. Nevertheless, the two of them provided an entertaining tilt. CHEO visit bringing smiles to kids faces

One of the best things about sports teams is the work they do in the community, and visiting children in the hospital has always been a part of that. Yesterday, the Senators visited the CHEO Hospital in Ottawa, and the children there got to meet their heroes:

It warms my heart to see the children so excited to see these NHL players, and I think that the players genuinely enjoy making these visits too. Some more than others, but they know that they are making a difference and putting a smile on these kids faces. This is what Christmas is all about, and I love seeing when the Senators (or any sports team) can impact the community in a positive manner such as this. It’s a great way to end the year!

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