Due to an unfortunate twist of scheduling, I was not able to watch this afternoon's tilt but reading the comment section and following the updates on Twitter it really sounded like there were a number of players that impressed for Ottawa.
A good friend of mine, and a sharp hockey mind, actually made the trip down to Oshawa for the game so I thought I'd pass along some of the observations he shared with me over the course of the game.
First thing he said was that Derek Grant may have been the best forward out there. Grant is a player that doesn't receive a ton of attention in a deep Sens prospect pool but it's nice to see him making an impression right off the bat. Dorion actually mentioned him the other day as a guy that may surprise some people this year.
He also mentioned that the Noesen-Grant-Cowick trio was the best line on either team and the two goal, one assist performance from Cowick confirms that.
When I asked him who the best defenceman was he was quick to mention Cowen, which is promising. Said that Rundblad also looked good for the most part but did make the odd mistake.
And obviously any time the goalie posts a shutout it deserves mention. Lehner seems to have picked up right where he left off and even though he seems destined for Bingo, he's going to make things awkward in the training camp with the big team. It seems like for the last two years Lehner has been the best goalie out there.
Really looking forward to hearing who you were impressed by and who stood out on Day 1 of the Tournament. Sens are back at it tomorrow against the rookies from Chicago.
This crop of Rookies, will be pushing to make the grade and make the team, and really push the regular guys, to step it up or lose their positions.
We will see many surprises as the first 20-25 games are played out !
Rockin Robert
Cowen looked massive out there. Had a quiet poise about him too which is to be expected given the level of competition there was. I'm interested to see if he can be as calm and dominating against the big boys.
Runblad showed the good offensive instincts he's know for and was surprisingly solid in his own end, with a few small exceptions. Again, have to consider the level of competition but he even threw some hits and got involved in some scrums which was nice to see.
Zibanejad showed some impressive speed and strength. Seems quite comfortable on the smaller ice. He should compete hard for a spot.
DaCosta looked a lot better than he did in his few appearances with the Sens last year. Seemed more confident and battled harder for the puck. A little inconsistent but showed flashes of the potential that we heard about last year. Great in the circle too.
really loved watching rundblad eventho he did make a few mistakes... Cowen was strong... Cowick had a great game I thought that line was everywhere... especialy in the first period...
good game and great to see lehner starting where he finished off
Cowen/Runblad really impressed for me, as did Weircoch (sp?), and Boroweicki. Kramer had an edge to him as well. Peterson was dangewrous, and had a nice 4th tally.
But Cowick, Wow. he really worked on his wrister. Hope he can translate in the bigs, cause he really stood out. So did Grant.
KJ
This game was big, but the biggest is when we take on the Leaf prospects: If we take it to them and I mean really wallop them bad, that'll show those pesky Leaf fans what there future will REALLY be like.
The key is what the Sens do to the Hawks tomorrow afternoon.... I hope Lehner plays all 3 games...
The looked good today considering only 1 day of practice before the game.
Ruunblad was really involved and I like how he uses his body. Cowen looks ready too.
If BM can find at way to basically trade Kuba's contract for somebody else's problem but as a forward...
The season needs to begin and time will only tell.
I think that Kuba will have a bounceback so I fully expect to see BM ride him out and sell him high at the trade deadline.
Isn't it refreshing to have "vets" work for their spots though? I feel like that was the problem last year.
It's a young mans league nowadays, and I love the direction this team is headed!!
Go Sens Go!!
Will most certainly carry the team as the starting goalie in the future. What a guy.
i logged in for the this comment just so i could give it a thumbs up
GO SENS GO !!!!!!!!!!!!
Rockin Robert
Right on, I can't wait. When do the Sens play the Leafs?
Sens play Leafs on Tuesday night at 7 PM on Rogers Ch 22.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/you-rewelcome
please tell us if you're going to stream the game today or not. Thanks
It was definitely hockey. The program guide must have been wrong.
Gatineau's Jean-Gabriel Pageau will play today. Darren Kramer will be a healthy scratch. That's the only change. Robin Lehner gets day off.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/zzptichka
What a play that was of off the draw!
That was such a sick goal
and dacosta sweet goal.
update: another dacosta goal
update: dacosta with another point shot goal for the hatty
originally was zibanejad, then it apparently changed to petersson
Its the second intermission atm
I assume the stream posted above is just showing kayaking during the intermission. Haha.
GO SENS
That's the only game I know for now.
Bruins at Senators (TSN)
Wednesday, September 21
at 7:30pm
I concur!
For us? Zibby!
I believe Rogers Channel 22 covers the Sens home pre-season games...
I can't for the life of me understand why they thought Zibby scored that 1st goal... it was Petersson -- who the announcers kept mis-pronouncing the whole game... I was ready to go through the TV... they are just bad... (and that's not a good bad...)
I think I read that TSN is covering the Sens Pre-Season games.
Rockin Robert
Shane Prince really impressed, with his speed and nose for the net, I think in total he hit 4 or 5 posts, which could have easily been goals.
But Noeson, Grant, Cowick, DaCosta, Zibby,
these guys will be pushing the vets very hard for spots, not to mention Hoffman, O'Brien,
Like I have been saying for quite some time, this will be the best camp the Sens have had in a long time, there will be some surprises, and guys like Foligno, Regin, Winchester, Kuba and Gonchar had better come ready to battle, because theses boys can play, and even play some of those vets out of spots!!!