NHL Hockey's Back!
And so the start of the 2023-2024 NHL hockey season is upon us.
The new season begins tonight, with three games on the schedule, including Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks taking on Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh.
The Ottawa Senators will be playing tomorrow night (the 11th), when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes, which I'm looking forward to seeing (on tv, hopefully). But...
Hockey's back!
It has been an interesting, morale boosting off-season for the Senators to say the least. There's a new, positive dynamic for the team and for the fans that started with Michael Andlauer taking over as the new primary owner of the team, and he's already made three impactful decisions already: he brought Cyril Leeder back as President and CEO; he brought Steve Staios in as President of Hockey Operations; and he brought in an expert to head up the new Analytics team for the Ottawa Senators. While Mr. Andlauer retained the services of General Manager Pierre Dorion and coach D.J. Smith, he's already put his stamp on the team, and no doubt there will be other changes to the Senators' front office and behind-the-scenes personnel as both Mr. Andlauer and Steve Staios get a better handle on the team. There's a lot of positivity among the fan base here in Ottawa now, and the team is expected to take another step or five towards winning a Stanley Cup, with the objective this year to make the playoffs and see how deep the team can go.
There have been some changes to the Ottawa Senators' player line-up as well, not just in the hockey culture and mindset. The biggest deal for the Senators came on July 1st, when they acquired free agent goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and then signed him to a 5-year, $20+ million deal. The 29-year-old Finnish goalie has been to the playoffs with the Columbus Blue Jackets over his 7 years with the team before spending last year with the Los Angeles Kings. Several injuries the last few years have hindered Korpisalo somewhat, but if he can return to the form he had in Columbus, he'll easily solidify the Sens' goaltending along with Anton Forsberg this year; the two were teammates in Columbus, and get along very well. The Sens also traded disgruntled and under-performing forward Alex DeBrincat, whom they traded for last year, but who didn't really want to be in Ottawa, to the Detroit Red Wings and got Dominik Kubalik and a couple of other picks for him. Kubalik has the chance to be a 20- to 30-goal scorer with the Senators, and has a promising career ahead of him here in Ottawa. He played well during his pre-season appearances and hopefully does well here in Ottawa. With DeBrincat's departure, however, the team was also in need of bolstering its scoring and signed free agent Vladimir Tarasenko to a 1-year, $5 million deal. While he's 31 years old, Tarasenko is a bona fide scorer in the NHL, won the Stanley Cup with St. Louis in 2019. However, he's been plagued with some injuries that kept him out of play at times, so it's hoped that he has a healthy year. Between Tarasenko and Kubalik, I think the Sens have made up for the departure of DeBrincat, and should have a pretty decent offence when added to Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stüzle, Claude Giroux, Drake Batherson, and a couple of others who have potential this year. The Ottawa Senators should have no problem scoring some goals this year, and it's hoped that the addition of both Tarasenko and Kubalik will help the team on the power play. When it comes to the defence, the Senators look to be in good shape, with Joonas Korpisalo shoring up the goaltending. But a full season of Jakob Chychrun on defence this year, teamed with Thomas Chabot, should help the Senators tremendously both defensively and on the power play. Young phenom Jake Sanderson is back, paired with Artem Zub, and they will be the primary defensive unit, but Sanderson can spearhead the power play as well. Whether Erik Brannstrom (who made excellent strides this off-season and in the pre-season games) and Travis Hamonic can be effective defenders in the third pairing is, to be honest, anyone's guess...but I suppose we'll find out. And the goalie tandem of Forsberg and Korpisalo should be able to make the saves needed when the defence lets them down.
The real issue that the Sens have, to be honest, is the situation with both Josh Norris and Shane Pinto. In the case of Norris, the centreman has suffered a setback after the surgery he finally had to repair his shoulder, and is listed as "day-to-day" but isn't likely to play for a while. Then there's centre Shane Pinto, who doesn't have a contract and is in limbo right now because the Senators are right up against the salary cap. Pinto is coming off a strong year with 20 goals scored after an injury-plagued season or two before that, but the Sens can't sign him for the reason noted above. This means Ottawa will be without their number 2 and 3 centremen to open the season, with no sign or indication of when either will return to the line-up. The other lack I think that the Senators are suffering from is some toughness on the ice. With the departure of Austin Watson, the Sens signed forward Zack MacEwan to give them some grit up front. However, he's out with an injury right now, so... While they have Brady Tkachuk, who offers them a lot of grit and toughness besides, it remains to be seen how well the Sens will fare against teams that have that physical presence and game.
I think that I'm pretty pleased with the changes the Senators have made to the line-up this off-season for the most part, one thing is for sure: the Ottawa Senators will have a lot more offence this year, if they can get both Josh Norris and Shane Pinto back into the line-up to add to what Vladimir Tarasenko and Dominik Kubalik will bring to the table. The defence should be much better with the tandem of Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo, assuming both goalies can stay healthy for the year. The Sens defence corps should be better this year for a variety of reasons, and... I think the Ottawa Senators' rebuild is done, to be honest, though it may take a bit more tweaking to make the mixture just right for a long playoff run. Still, based on the pre-season the Sens had this year, it should be a fun, exciting team to watch.
I'm a die-hard Senators fan, and I like to think (as all hockey fans do at this stage of the season) that the Sens will make the playoffs, but I'm realistic enough to know that they may well just squeak in; they're in a very tough division and conference when it comes down to it, and other teams made changes and improvements to their line-ups during the off-season, but only time will tell how things shake out. That said, they finished 6 points out of the last Wild Card spot last year, so to be honest, I think they have a good chance to make the playoffs this year. It will all come down to how the team performs, injuries the team has to deal with over the course of the season, and a few other elements and factors. But I think this is a much better team, with a more positive, upbeat approach to the game this season, so the only way to go is up, right? :)
I don't believe there are any rules changes this year, but will catch up on those as and when they happen. I still wish the league would get rid of the shootout and overtime business in regular season games, as overtime should be reserved for the playoffs, but 3-on-3 overtime was exciting last year, to say the least!
Meantime...
Go, Sens, Go! :)
The new season begins tonight, with three games on the schedule, including Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks taking on Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh.
The Ottawa Senators will be playing tomorrow night (the 11th), when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes, which I'm looking forward to seeing (on tv, hopefully). But...
Hockey's back!
It has been an interesting, morale boosting off-season for the Senators to say the least. There's a new, positive dynamic for the team and for the fans that started with Michael Andlauer taking over as the new primary owner of the team, and he's already made three impactful decisions already: he brought Cyril Leeder back as President and CEO; he brought Steve Staios in as President of Hockey Operations; and he brought in an expert to head up the new Analytics team for the Ottawa Senators. While Mr. Andlauer retained the services of General Manager Pierre Dorion and coach D.J. Smith, he's already put his stamp on the team, and no doubt there will be other changes to the Senators' front office and behind-the-scenes personnel as both Mr. Andlauer and Steve Staios get a better handle on the team. There's a lot of positivity among the fan base here in Ottawa now, and the team is expected to take another step or five towards winning a Stanley Cup, with the objective this year to make the playoffs and see how deep the team can go.
There have been some changes to the Ottawa Senators' player line-up as well, not just in the hockey culture and mindset. The biggest deal for the Senators came on July 1st, when they acquired free agent goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and then signed him to a 5-year, $20+ million deal. The 29-year-old Finnish goalie has been to the playoffs with the Columbus Blue Jackets over his 7 years with the team before spending last year with the Los Angeles Kings. Several injuries the last few years have hindered Korpisalo somewhat, but if he can return to the form he had in Columbus, he'll easily solidify the Sens' goaltending along with Anton Forsberg this year; the two were teammates in Columbus, and get along very well. The Sens also traded disgruntled and under-performing forward Alex DeBrincat, whom they traded for last year, but who didn't really want to be in Ottawa, to the Detroit Red Wings and got Dominik Kubalik and a couple of other picks for him. Kubalik has the chance to be a 20- to 30-goal scorer with the Senators, and has a promising career ahead of him here in Ottawa. He played well during his pre-season appearances and hopefully does well here in Ottawa. With DeBrincat's departure, however, the team was also in need of bolstering its scoring and signed free agent Vladimir Tarasenko to a 1-year, $5 million deal. While he's 31 years old, Tarasenko is a bona fide scorer in the NHL, won the Stanley Cup with St. Louis in 2019. However, he's been plagued with some injuries that kept him out of play at times, so it's hoped that he has a healthy year. Between Tarasenko and Kubalik, I think the Sens have made up for the departure of DeBrincat, and should have a pretty decent offence when added to Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stüzle, Claude Giroux, Drake Batherson, and a couple of others who have potential this year. The Ottawa Senators should have no problem scoring some goals this year, and it's hoped that the addition of both Tarasenko and Kubalik will help the team on the power play. When it comes to the defence, the Senators look to be in good shape, with Joonas Korpisalo shoring up the goaltending. But a full season of Jakob Chychrun on defence this year, teamed with Thomas Chabot, should help the Senators tremendously both defensively and on the power play. Young phenom Jake Sanderson is back, paired with Artem Zub, and they will be the primary defensive unit, but Sanderson can spearhead the power play as well. Whether Erik Brannstrom (who made excellent strides this off-season and in the pre-season games) and Travis Hamonic can be effective defenders in the third pairing is, to be honest, anyone's guess...but I suppose we'll find out. And the goalie tandem of Forsberg and Korpisalo should be able to make the saves needed when the defence lets them down.
The real issue that the Sens have, to be honest, is the situation with both Josh Norris and Shane Pinto. In the case of Norris, the centreman has suffered a setback after the surgery he finally had to repair his shoulder, and is listed as "day-to-day" but isn't likely to play for a while. Then there's centre Shane Pinto, who doesn't have a contract and is in limbo right now because the Senators are right up against the salary cap. Pinto is coming off a strong year with 20 goals scored after an injury-plagued season or two before that, but the Sens can't sign him for the reason noted above. This means Ottawa will be without their number 2 and 3 centremen to open the season, with no sign or indication of when either will return to the line-up. The other lack I think that the Senators are suffering from is some toughness on the ice. With the departure of Austin Watson, the Sens signed forward Zack MacEwan to give them some grit up front. However, he's out with an injury right now, so... While they have Brady Tkachuk, who offers them a lot of grit and toughness besides, it remains to be seen how well the Sens will fare against teams that have that physical presence and game.
I think that I'm pretty pleased with the changes the Senators have made to the line-up this off-season for the most part, one thing is for sure: the Ottawa Senators will have a lot more offence this year, if they can get both Josh Norris and Shane Pinto back into the line-up to add to what Vladimir Tarasenko and Dominik Kubalik will bring to the table. The defence should be much better with the tandem of Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo, assuming both goalies can stay healthy for the year. The Sens defence corps should be better this year for a variety of reasons, and... I think the Ottawa Senators' rebuild is done, to be honest, though it may take a bit more tweaking to make the mixture just right for a long playoff run. Still, based on the pre-season the Sens had this year, it should be a fun, exciting team to watch.
I'm a die-hard Senators fan, and I like to think (as all hockey fans do at this stage of the season) that the Sens will make the playoffs, but I'm realistic enough to know that they may well just squeak in; they're in a very tough division and conference when it comes down to it, and other teams made changes and improvements to their line-ups during the off-season, but only time will tell how things shake out. That said, they finished 6 points out of the last Wild Card spot last year, so to be honest, I think they have a good chance to make the playoffs this year. It will all come down to how the team performs, injuries the team has to deal with over the course of the season, and a few other elements and factors. But I think this is a much better team, with a more positive, upbeat approach to the game this season, so the only way to go is up, right? :)
I don't believe there are any rules changes this year, but will catch up on those as and when they happen. I still wish the league would get rid of the shootout and overtime business in regular season games, as overtime should be reserved for the playoffs, but 3-on-3 overtime was exciting last year, to say the least!
Meantime...
Go, Sens, Go! :)