Ottawa Senators
5th in Atlantic · 6th in Eastern Conference
Hurricanes 4, Senators 2 · Final
★ Andersen (25 SV) | ★★ Aho (2G) | ★★★ Batherson (1G, 1A)
5th in Atlantic · 6th in Eastern Conference
Hurricanes 4, Senators 2 · Final
★ Andersen (25 SV) | ★★ Aho (2G) | ★★★ Batherson (1G, 1A)
Ottawa is keeping the goalie pipeline in-house, and the move says plenty about how the Senators want their crease handled going forward. Linus Ullmark’s goalie coach has clearly made enough of an impression to earn a full-time role, which is the kind of behind-the-scenes bet teams make when they think they have found a real edge.
Ottawa is opening registration for its Elite Hockey Development 2013 camp, giving young players a shot to get in front of the staff. These camps matter because they are often the first real look a prospect gets at the standards an NHL organization wants to set. The Senators are building from the ground up here, and the details of who signs up can say plenty about the local pipeline. It is another reminder that development never really stops in this business.
The rumor roundup has the kind of names that make executives stop pretending they are busy. Mason McTavish, Matty Beniers, and Brady Tkachuk all sit in stories that matter because players at that level do not drift through the chatter for no reason. When multiple clubs and multiple angles start surfacing at once, you can usually feel the pressure building behind the scenes.
Ottawa is making a quiet move that says a lot about how seriously it takes the crease. Maciej Szwoch is stepping in as coordinator of goaltending scouting and development, a job that lives in the weeds until it suddenly looks like genius when a goalie catches fire. The Senators are giving themselves another layer of evaluation and development in a position where one right read can save a season, and one bad one can haunt it for years.
Matthew Tkachuk is back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and the officiating crew is making sure everybody in the building knows it. When refs start putting a player on notice like that, it usually means the complaints have crossed the line from chirping to a full-on reputation file. Tkachuk has spent enough time around playoff chaos to know that every whistle gets magnified, and this one will travel fast.
The Ottawa Senators are 5th in the Atlantic Division with a 44-27-11 record (99 points).