Gerber to be waived

According to reports on Bingo blogger Michael Sharp's blog, assistant GM Tim Murray has said that Martin Gerberwill be put on waivers today, available to any teams interested.

"We've sent out a memo to the other teams saying he was available. And he'll go on waivers (Thursday), and then we'll just have to see what happens there. If he doesn't get picked up, he's going to have a meeting with Bryan (on) Monday or so, and then we'll have to make a decision."

This may mean that GM Bryan Murray knows of at least one team that may be interested in picking up Gerber from the waiver wire, but it definitely means that Brian Elliott has passed his first test with the Ottawa Senators in the NHL; Tim Murray said "he's no longer an American Hockey League player as of now" and that Elliott won't be playing in the AHL All-Star Game.

There are a few options right now for Gerber. First, obviously, he could be picked up on waivers, or possibly re-entry waivers, by another NHL team. Alternatively, he could pass through waivers and return to the AHL, but that doesn't seem like a real possibility given Tim Murray's comments on Sharp on the Sens ("Let's worry about that when we get there. There's so many different things that could happen. And that's a very good possibility obviously. Europe's a possibility also. So, I think we just cross that bridge when we get there"). Finally, an arrangement could be made between the Senators and a European team, wherein that team would have the rights to Gerber for the rest of the season in exchange for some compensation, likely just paying the rest of Gerber's contract.

In his three-game AHL "conditioning stint", Gerber allowed seven goals on 108 shots for a goals-against average of 2.37 and a save percentage of 0.935 and had one shutout (a 3-0 win against the Philadelphia Phantoms).

With Gerber seemingly gone, the Binghamton Senators will likely move forward with Jeff Glass as the starter and Mitch O'Keefe, recently called up from the ECHL's Elmira Jackals, backing him up.

1. Glass (for Bingo): 13GPI, 3W, 7L, 2OTL, 41GA, 3.63GAA, 348S 0.895SP
2. O'Keefe (for Elmira): 24GP, 13W, 9L, 1OTL, 71GA, 3.09GAA, 579S 0.891SP, 1SO, 2A

Unfortunately for Binghamton fans, neither of the above-mentioned goalies have very impressive statistics. Still, Glass was a third-round pick (89th overall) in 2004 and has won the CHL and WHL goaltender of the year awards in 2004-05, and won the gold medal with Team Canada in the World Junior Championships that same year. I guess you could say he's got a lot or potential to live up to.

(Special thanks to Rob Glass of Binghamton's WHRW-FM 90.5 Radio for bringing this to my attention.)

Sens beat Panthers, Leafs in rookie tournament

Anyone who hasn't seen can check out highlights of the Sens' rookie camp victories on TSN.ca, 4-2 over the Florida Panthers rookies and 7-5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs rookies. (Despite finishing so much worse than Ottawa so many years, the Leafs are apparently still unable to assemble any young talent.) The Panthers highlights are up now, and I'm sure the Leafs ones will be up soon.

Against Florida, undrafted rookie tryout candidate Mick Lawrence (who?) scored two goals and an assist, while Shawn Weller added a goal and two assists and Ilya Zubov scored the Sens' other goal. Since the Senators' official press release is seriously lacking, and I can't find a stats sheet anywhere, I turned to the Ottawa Sun, who filled out a bit more scoring details: Jesse Winchester also added two assists, and Bruce Garrioch said he looked "strong". About Lawrence, he seems to have found his game at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in his final year, scoring NCAA career-highs in goals (21), assists (19), and points (it's basic math, come on; 21+19=40 points). If the highlights on TSN were typical, then Winchester, Zubov, and Lawrence were on a line together. Brian Elliott was tending nets for the Sens.

Against Toronto, all I know now is what the Sens' press release says. Forwards Winchester (2G), Zubov (1G, 1A), Alexander Nikulin (2A), and Peter Regin (2A), as well as defenceman Mattias Karlsson (1G, 1A), each had two points. The Leafs were up 2-0 at one point, but the Sens rallied and eventually took the lead. Two goals on three shots in the first period; Leafs goaltending prospect Michael Ouzas must have had a rough game. Jim O'Brien, Benoit Doucet, and Zach Smith also scored for the Senators, while Mitch O'Keefe played in goal.

The Sens' final round-robin game of the tournament is tomorrow at 2 p.m. I wish it was on TV... and that I didn't have to work so I could watch it live.

(P.S. If you're wondering what my player-name tagging technique is, I've only tagged the names of players who are on contracts with the Sens. That's why someone like Mitch O'Keefe is tagged, while Mick Lawrence isn't. Not that anyone cares at all.)