It might be premature but it is great to be able to say: Game Day. Yes, most of the players in the game tonight are at least a year or two away from NHL duty, but any time the Senators face the Leafs there is bound to be something interesting take place.
Nick Paul won't play in the tournament for Ottawa, as he is nursing a hamstring injury but he should be ready for next week's main training camp.
The game goes tonight at 7:30 from London, and can be seen on Rogers Cable 22 in Ottawa. Saturday and Sunday's games against Pittsburgh and Montreal respectively, can both be seen at 4:00.
Of course if you don't have Rogers (like myself, one of the downsides of living on the Quebec side) you can find someone who does and crash their party or listen to the games on TSN1200.
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Yesterday I threw out a couple of questions about the expectation and fears for the Senators for the coming season. There were some interesting responses, some of which I share and some of which I don't.
I was referring more to the team as a whole rather than individual performances, but most of the comments were constructive.
As for my expectations, number one is that I expect a more consistent effort from the team from the start of the season. It became kind of a gong show under Paul MacLean and the season got away from them by December. Cameron came in and found the proper roles for certain players (Stone, Hoffman) and as long as those roles are identified from the start I think the Senators will be fine and will be among those safely above the playoff catfight as the season winds down, and not in the inevitable battle for their lives as the days dwindle in the campaign. I like the way Cameron ran the team for the most part and don't share some of the concerns that he is too easy going. He cracked the whip when needed, but he also had faith in his players to turn it around, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. People thought that MacLean was too nice (or at least he did) early on so he altered his game plan, and how did changing his style work out for him?
And now for my fear, and it is something that I didn't see anyone mention. The skill is there for sure, but I am afraid the Senators won't have enough of the toughness or physical element, especially now that Chris Neil isn't really expected to play a big role. I don't mean fighting per se, but overall aggression and having a group that can go out there and wreak havoc with the body and wear down opposing players. The grinders so to speak. They don't really have that element on their top 2 lines, with Zibanejad being the closest thing to it.
The third line looks like it might be up to the task but might be a bit undersized as a group and I don't know if you want them having hitting as their primary goal if you want them around for the full season. Zach Smith can't do it alone, and even he wouldn't be mistaken for a true banger, and while Chiasson had a big body, he doesn't exactly use it.
It carries over to the blue line as well. The third pairing, if it ends up being Cowen and Borowiecki will be fine physically (the concern is if they can play at enough pace), but that would mean a second unit of Ceci and Weircioch. They might be taken advantage of physically. Ceci had a decent number of hits, but he isn't the type that will really make you keep your head up when you are coming in on him.
For what it is worth, the Senators were just outside the top 10 in hits, which is often a subjective stat but one that is used nonetheless. However, taking Gryba and Neil (for the most part) out reduces that number by around 300, and the most anticipated replacements are more skill-oriented than physical.
It isn't a huge concern, but it is an element that a team needs to succeed over the long haul. Scoring can come and go in streaks, as we have seen, but having that group that can go out and change momentum in a game with their body is an under-appreciated skillset. I like to think the Pageau, Lazar and whoever ends up on their wing can fill the role like they did last season, but at their size it might be too much to ask over the course of 82 games.
The Senators are lacking that true power forward who is a double threat to score and/or knock you into the second row that keeps defensemen honest and perhaps rush their plays and make mistakes in the process that the Senators can capitalize on.