Holy shit, Alfie's back already?

Wow. Print up the banners. Daniel Alfredsson should be retired right freakin' now. After missing one game (three days)--people had predicted 7-10 days initially--the captain is back already for the Sens' game against Montreal Saturday afternoon. He's wearing a visor and a face shield to protect his broken jaw.

Unbelievable. What a champion.

Alfie out at least a week

NOOOOOOOO! Thanks a lot, Dany Heatley. Because of your snapshot to Daniel Alfredsson's jaw, the captain is expected to miss at least 7-10 days before having another x-ray to determine the status of his injury. Way to go; I'm calling on you personally to step it up in Alfie's absence.

Josh Hennessy was recalled from Binghamton to fill out the roster, and Chris Kelly will play right wing on the top line with Heatley and Jason Spezza.

The Sens have five games over the next 10 days, so if Alfie stays out that whole time it's a pretty big blow to the Sens' last-ditch playoff push. But hey, what can you do?

Now, back to the 36-hour Obamathon...

Alfie's might miss time (updated)

Although we had an injury scare with Daniel Alfredsson taking a Dany Heatley wrist shot to the face yesterday, he returned later in the game. He apparently had x-rays of his jaw after the game, but expectations are that he won't miss any time.

So we should be able to breathe easily.

EDIT: Actually, according to Binghamton Senators beat writer Michael Sharp, Josh Hennessy has been recalled from Bingo in the event that the captain isn't able to play Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks. I don't have an update on the injury, but Hennessy's recall seems to indicate it's like he'd miss at least one game.

Sens Army Blog news update

Hey folks,

After a minor surgery, posts on the website have been limited recently. Mostly to No Habs No! letters, which are certainly fun (and one for Dion Phaneuf, which will completely avoid any mention of sloppiness, seconds, or anything of that nature, will be forthcoming), but are lacking in the depth readers expect.

Although not analytical, here is at least a run-down of the most recent Sens' news to keep you abreast of the issues:

• Android Volchenkov kills Thomas Vanek. Okay, 'kills' is a strong word, but Vanek's likely out for a month after Volchenkov shot him in the face. With a puck.
• Ryan Shannon contributing. He looks good... will it last? Here's to hoping.
  
• Dany Heatley disagrees with coach Cory Clouston. But then, mere hours later...
• Dany Heatley agrees with coach Cory Clouston. Fabricating stories, and then reporting on the response to said fabrication, is a great way to sell papers.
• Clouston running the Sens ragged in practice. Good?
  
• Speaking of Clouston, one thing I hadn't noticed but is certainly noticeable: New ice time allottments. Nick Foligno (20:29) played more than any of Heatley (19:43), Jason Spezza (19:40), or Daniel Alfredsson (19:27) against Buffalo. And Brendan Bell (20:30) played more than Volchenkov (18:16), Jason Smith (20:05), and Chris Phillips (19:54). Is it a good idea? Well, they won, and Foligno and Bell each had a role in the win.
• Chris Neil is out for two weeks with a lacerated calf (on his leg, not a baby cow). Questions abound as to whether we'll see him in an Ottawa uniform again, or if he'll be traded.
• Shean Donovan should be back on Wednesday, according to the above-linked story. Alex Picard won't be yet, but may be soon.
  
• Carrie Underwood will be alone on Valentine's Day. But would like Mike Fisher to make her a home-cooked vegetarian meal. Why the hell do I know this?
• And holy shit, MLS soccer in Ottawa? About Eugene Melnyk's bid, the MLS commissioner said, "It’s highly unlikely and almost inconceivable that with a stadium deal in place we would not grant an expansion team to Ottawa." I didn't think it was likely.
  

Schubert and Smith scratched against New Jersey

According to the Ottawa Sun, both Jason Smith and Christoph Schubert are going to sit out tonight's game in favour of younger, more offensively-minded teammates. With tonight's game coming against the young and speedy New Jersey Devils, it looks like coach Craig Hartsburg is trying to fight fire with fire.

Although Schubert is probably used to the whole benching thing, Smith was visibly disappointed, the story said:

"Obviously surprised and disappointed," said Smith, who was clearly frustrated after today's morning skate. "You become a player in this game to play games and to help a team have success."

With Android Volchenkov returning to the lineup, Smith was benched in favour of (relative) youngsters Alex Picard, Brian Lee, and Brendan Bell, all of whom have significantly more offensive upside than the wily veteran. Hartsburg's mentality, the story said, was that the d-corps needed to balance the defensive defencemen (Chris Phillips, Volchenkov, and to an extent Filip Kuba) with the more offensive ones. (Can I take a moment to gloat about predicting there could be a reasonable chance Smith would sit out yesterday? Kthanx.)

Although Smith is justified in his frustration, at least he knows he won't be missing too much time. At $2.6M, he's making too much money to sit on the sidelines for an extended period, and the Senators will have to decide soon which of Bell or Lee will be sent back down to Binghamton. The B-Sens need as much defensive help as they can get to keep their playoff hopes in good standing. (In other news, Martin Gerber will be assigned to Binghamton to [hopefully] help out their goaltending situation. Good luck to him; honestly, I wish him the best.)

Schubert, on the other hand, has little reassurance. The Senators went out of their way to re-call Peter Regin from Binghamton today, which is why Schubert is sitting. He is, once again, left to wonder not only about his place on this team, but his place in the league in general. Schubert definitely has a lot to think about in this off-season, and a lot to discuss with GM Bryan Murray (if he's not talking to him already). (I'll also note that I correctly predicted Schubert would be the odd man out with Regin called up, thank you very much.)

Here's my next prediction: Regin won't be up here for too long unless the Sens make a trade (involving a forward) soon, and one of Lee or Bell (likely Bell, as unfair as it may be) will be assigned to Binghamton after tonight's game/test or within the week.

Regin re-recalled from Bingo

After a good showing in his NHL debut, the Senators have brought Danish phenom (can we call him that yet?) Peter Regin back from Binghamton.

It seems like a bit of an unusual move, considering two players (Chris Neil and Android Volchenkov) will both be returning fro minjury tonight, but Bryan Murray has said that he's interested in finding out what, exactly, his minor-league prospects have to offer in the big leagues.

With Regin drawing in, there will be a scratch on forward. It might be Christoph Schubert, who wants to play defence anyway, so he seems somewhat likely. Regin might also look good alondside Dean McAmmond and Jarkko Ruutu on an exciting and speedy fourth line. Or maybe there's been an injury that I haven't heard about yet.

We will see soon enough. It's nice to see Regin getting rewarded with another shot in the bigs, though.

Volchenkov's back, and the defence shuffle

Reports abound that Android Volchenkov's shoulder malfunction has been resolved, so he should be back in the Sens lineup on Tuesday against the Devils after missing Ottawa's last eight games.

As a result, there's a bit of a log jam at defence: You can be sure that Volchenkov won't be a healthy scratch, and Chris Phillips and Filip Kuba will both definitely be in the lineup. As Shean Donovan's skills competition-induced injury will likely keep him out for the whole week, Christoph Schubert is expected to suit up as a forward, meaning that one of Brian Lee, Alex Picard, Jason Smith, or Brendan Bell will be a healthy scratch for the game.

It seems doubtful that Lee will be, as he was practicing today in his regular pairing with Phillips, and the two have been playing well together. A good point was raised by Jason York on the Team 1200 this afternoon: Since the quality of Lee's competition has gone up, so has his play and his consistency. With him playing so well, and such high expectations for his development, it would likely be a step backward to bench him or send him to Binghamton right now.

The most likely candidate to be scratched, at first glance, is Bell. He's been scratched a few times recently, including three of the last four games. However, Bell scored the game-winning goal against Washington a week ago, and has three goals in his last five games played (two on the powerplay). With the Senators looking for mobility and offence from the back end, Bell could continue to be a pretty good second-powerplay-unit defenceman.

Then there's Picard. He's had an up-and-down season, but he's still leading Senators defencemen in goals scored with five. He hasn't scored a goal in 11 games, though, and doesn't even have a point in nine. All despite an average ice time of around 17-19 minutes played, usually including some powerplay time. It's an easy time to send a message to Picard that more is expected of him, but benching him is not a long-term solution: He's on a one-way contract, unlike Lee or Bell.

Finally, the possibility exists of Smith riding the press-box-pine for a night. Although it's pretty bad that he's only got one point (albeit a game-winning goal) on the year, that's not the chief reason he could be benched, and it's not why he was signed. Scratching Smith would be a tactical decision based on the speed of the Senators' opponents Tuesday, the Devils, and Smith's difficulty in keeping up with smaller, speedier players. Again, Smith wasn't signed to his contract to blow anyone out of the water; all he's got to do is play smart, positional hockey, lay a hit when it's available, kill a penalty when it's necessary, and speak up to or for his teammates. Scratching him wouldn't be a long-term solution, because a dog as old as Smith won't likely learn new tricks.

Ideally, I think that Picard could use a rest in the press box for one night or so, until the Sens decide whether to send Bell or Lee down to Binghamton. In the end, though, one of those two guys on two-way contracts will be don in Binghamton relatively soon. The Senators' don't need to be spending more money than they need to be spending at this point in the season.

Regin back to Bingo

The Ottawa Senators announced today that centre Peter Regin has been returned to the Binghamton Senators of the AHL. He should be in action tonight when the B-Sens host the Philadelphia Phantoms (farm team of the Philadelphia Flyers).

It's unclear at this moment whether or not Regin will be re-recalled after the All-Star Break, but it will likely depend on the injuries to Shean Donovan and Chris Neil. Whatever the case, however, Regin was certainly capable in his 10 minutes of play, and deserves another shot in the NHL.

The Sens' press release also listed the only four Danish-born players to have suited up in the NHL prior to Regin:

1. Poul Popiel (Boston Bruins, 1965-66)
2. Jannik Hansen (Vancouver Canucks, 2007-08)
3. Frans Nielsen (New York Islanders, 2006-07)
4. Mikkel Boedker (Phoenix Coyotes, 2008-09).

Preview: Sens v. Caps, Jan. 20, 2009

Washington Capitals: 2nd in the Eastern Conference (47GP, 30W, 14L, 3OTL, 63GP 151GF 135GA)
Ottawa Senators: 13th in the Eastern Conference 43GP, 15W, 21L, 7OTL, 37P, 105GF, 127GA

According to the Senators website, Peter Regin has been recalled from the Binghamton Senators to make his NHL debut tonight against the Washington Capitals. The Danish-born centre was just signed to an entry-level deal with the club in June of 2008, and has done pretty well in his first North American pro season despite injury setbacks: 29GP, 8G, 12A, 20P, +8.

And, according to the Ottawa Sun, Jason Smith is doubtful for the game tonight against the Capitals with a lower-body injury. Should he miss it, it seems likely that Brendan Bell will step into his roster spot.

We all know what the Capitals bring to the table. Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Niklas Backstrom, Matt Mike Green, and all the rest. It should be an exciting game.

Injuries: Some bad, some better

A few injury updates were brought about in the news today.

First off, Jason Spezza left practice this afternoon after complaining of some soreness in his back, but says he should be ready to go for tomorrow night's game against the Washington Capitals. He missed a game last season because of the same thing, but hopefully it's not a recurring back-spasms injury that will raise its head recurrently.

Apparently Shean Donovan missed practice today, as well, because he injured himself body-slamming the boards in the Sens' skills competition yesterday. I'm not sure if it's a shoulder injury or what, but maybe with Alexander Ovechkin coming to town, Donovan can ask his technique for body-slamming the boards to avoid such an injury in the future.

And Anton Volchenkov's Soviet-era android shoulder replacement hasn't yet arrived from an antiques dealership in Grozny, so he won't be able to return Tuesday, either. Hopefully Volchenstein will be good to return after the All-Star Break.

Finally, after punch-blocking a shot and then finishing his check while screaming in pain, and then returning to score the game-tying goal and send the game against Montréal to overtime, Mike Fisher decided to take a day off. He sat out the same Skills Competition that resulted in the Donovan injury, but is expected to play on Tuesday against the Caps.

And that's your injury rundown.

Season-ending shoulder injury for Bass

Just a quick post before I head out to the Russia v. Czech Republic World Junior Championship quarter final game:

According to the Ottawa Sun, the shoulder injury Cody Bass sustained in a fight against Eric Nystrom will keep him out of the lineup for the rest of the season.

Sens Flame out: Flames 6, Sens 3

Losing a two-goal lead was obviously pretty frustrating, but it was even more frustrating when you have to listen to Greg Millen Craig Simpson and Jim Hughson host a Calgary Flames love-in (especially for Dion Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla) all night long. Maybe I was just a little bit short because of the result, but did anyone else notice an obvious passion from CBCs commentators for Calgary?

Whatever. No scoring in the first. Two goals early in the second, the first with a slapshot from Chris Phillips at the point (with two goals in two consecutive losses for him, is this the end of the "Phillips mojo"?), and the second after some solid board work from Dany Heatley (I'm as surprised as you are) to free up the puck for Jason Spezza to take a shot (!) high blocker side.

After those goals, though, the Flames brought it to the Sens, and the roster holes left by Anton Volchenkov and Filip Kuba on defence were abundantly clear. Some defensive foibles and the Flames had three goals in 2:07, and the Sens were behind. On defence, it was obvious the Sens were going to have problems without the aforementioned stalwarts, who are arguably the Sens' two most consistent d-men so far this season. As good as Brian Lee has played since his recall, he played 25:18 on the night. I'll give him credit for how clean his game was, but that's just a sign of how desperate the Sens were on defence on the night.

Cody Bass tried to spark the Sens late in the first by dropping the gloves with Eric Nystrom, but he just injured his shoulder and left the game. It seems unlikely that he'll be back, but--as unfortunate as his injury is--I think Ilya Zubov (who was a healthy scratch against the Flames) will offer more of what the Sens need.

People will lay plenty of blame on Spezza for Rene Bourque's second goal of the game, but I don't think it's necessary to crap on him. As Kelly Hrudey pointed out, this wasn't a blind errant pass; Spezza simply lost control of the puck, and actually slid face-first to try and block the shot afterwards. It's shitty that it happened, but it wasn't the kind of stupid mistake that people usually rag Spezza for.

Then Alex Picard scored his fifth goal of the season to tie the game. (Five goals, by the way, ranks Picard higher than Mike Fisher, Antoine Vermette, Chris Kelly, Chris Neil, and Jarkko Ruutu in goals scored this season.) One thing about Picard's goal, that you can say about most of his goals this season: Instead of looking for a perfect pass or a howitzer slapshot, he simply focussed on getting the puck on the net. Christoph Schubert could learn a thing or two from the kid, because a slapshot isn't much use if you fan on it or miss the net.

Did anyone else see Daniel Alfredsson throw some lumber towards Phaneuf after the Flames' neanderthal jumped at a Sens player in the corner (I think it was Nick Foligno)? Maybe, after getting the cold shoulder from his teammates, Alfie's trying to lead by example.

Not much else to say, really. The Sens are scoring some goals now, but they've lost the defensive responsibility that was their strong suit at the start of the season. If I've got to choose between a 2-1 loss or a 6-3 loss, I think I'll go with the latter, so maybe it's better this way.

I'm not sure when the roster freeze thaws, but Bryan Murray is sure to be making plenty of phone calls in preparation for that day. We've all heard how difficult it is to make a trade in the salary cap era, but the roster right now simply isn't working as a whole, no matter how hard the individual components might be working.

Alfie's back, but Kuba is out

According to Sportsnet, Daniel 'golden god' Alfredsson is back from his 'upper body injury' already, and will play tonight against Philadelphia. Is this guy a freakin' robot? Barely a couple of days to rehab arthroscopic knee surgery, and now he only missed a period and a bit from an ugly-looking hit. Amazing. He's playing with Ilya 'first-liner' Zubov, and Mike 'big money' Fisher.

Dean 'underrated' McAmmond is back from his bout with pneumonia, as well, but Filip 'Bobby Orr' Kuba will be out of the lineup due to a groin injury. In his place, Christoph 'rover' Schubert will play defence. Each of Chris 'fighter again' Neil and Dany 'blame-free' Heatley are expected to play despite missing practice yesterday.

Alex 'Luthor' Auld will play in nets.

Andre Roy on the Alfredsson injury

Andre Roy of the Calgary Flames might not be the most respected player in the league, but you've got to give him credit where credit is due: He'll never back down from a fight, and he'll always stand up for his teammates. In a recent article about the Flames' eagerness to stick up for each other in the Calgary Sun, the hit by Dallas' Jere Lehtinen on Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson came up, and Roy expressed his disbelief at Ottawa's inaction after the incident:

On Saturday night, Ottawa Senators sniper Daniel Alfredsson was pasted into the boards by Stars veteran Jere Lehtinen. There was some pushing and shoving as Alfredsson was helped off the ice, but nobody dropped the gloves.

Roy, a former Senator, could hardly believe his eyes.

"You look at Alfredsson -- he gets smoked against Dallas -- and nobody came in, did anything. He's their captain, their elite player," Roy said. "And I've been on teams like that.

"I think here, guys always stick up for each other and it brings the guys closer, for sure, because you can always rely on your teammates coming in if something happens."

New lines released: Bass up, Lee down, Zubov out

According to Sportsnet, the Sens have released line combinations for the Sens' game Friday against the New Jersey Devils:

Vermette - Fisher - Alfredsson
Foligno - Kelly - Heatley
Ruutu - Spezza - Neil
Schubert - Bass - Donovan

According to the same report, Ilya Zubov will not be making the trip because his work visa has expired (how does a professional hockey team let that happen?), Jesse Winchester has an upper-body injury and didn't travel with the team, either, and Dean McAmmond is close to returning after a bout with pneumonia that has kept him out of the lineup for nine games. Which is why Christoph Schubert is dressing as a forward, and why Cody Bass was recalled from Binghamton.

I get that there are people who don't like the way Jason Spezza plays. But he's not a third-line player. He's been playing harder then I remember ever having seen him play before, but maybe this is just a sign for him to wake up and start generating--and capitalizing on--his own scoring chances. But playing him with Chris Neil? That's just not fair. Jarkko Ruutu can at least receive a pass, but I don't understand the idea behind putting Spezza with a couple guys who can hardly finish plays at all. If he is going to succeed, he's got to keep it simple: Send the puck to the front of the net, and hope that--if it doesn't go in on his shot or a deflection--Neil and Ruutu are right there to hammer home some garbage.

On defence, Anton Volchenkov is back from his injury. I guess they had to special-order some replacement pieces from Russia or something, because the robot had missed two games with his lower-body injury. As a result, Brian Lee is back to Binghamton after a solid two-game stint with the O-Sens.

I guess we'll see how it all works out. Hopefully one of the lines steps up and scores a freakin' goal.

Pre-game: Sens v. Pens, Dec. 6, 2008

Third game of the season against Pittsburgh, and the only real home game after the games played in Stockholm to start the season. The Sens are 1-0-1 against the Penguins so far this season, but are still 12 points behind the Pens in the standings (albeit with two games in hand).

Sens roster notes include the return of Chris Neil, who's back after having arthroscopic knee surgery earlier than anticipated. Ryan Shannon was already sent back to Binghamton, but because Dean McAmmond is still out with the throat infection, Cody Bass will still draw into the lineup. Neiler and the BassMaster, and throw in Jarkko Ruutu on the same line for good measure; plenty of grit in the lineup tonight. On defence, Alex Picard is a game-time decision with that wrist injury, but if he's out Christoph Schubert will play defence once again tonight. I thought he didn't look out of place last game, which is more than you can say for many of Schubert's previous games on defence this season.

Although the Penguins haven't strung together consecutive victories in about a month (3-2-0 in their last six), Sidney Crosby is tearing it up. He's got 14 points (6G, 6A) in five games, but is still second to Evgeni Malkin (who has 41 points) on team scoring. After them the next Penguin in scoring is Miroslav Satan with 19 points. On the injury front, Tyler Kennedy (also known as 'Ugly Crosby' or 'The Ugliest Jonas Brother') won't be in the lineup with a knee injury that will keep him out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks. They're also still missing defencemen Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney.

So we'll see what happens. The Sens have had some success containing Crosby and Malkin in the past, but these kids just keep getting stronger and smarter. With the CASH Line (apparently) rolling and Alex Auld playing some great hockey, though, the Sens certainly have the ability to beat the Pens--as long as the team shows up and plays their game.

No Habs No! note: After getting interviewed on Puck Daddy yesterday, we've received yet another donation supporting the Campaign. To donate, send any amount to sensarmyblog@gmail.com via PayPal. You can also support the Campaign on Facebook by visiting the official No Habs No! page. The Habs are playing the Devils tonight, and I'm really hoping to write another letter to someone on the Devils; Patrick Elias, do you hear me? Zach Parise? It doesn't matter who, but some Devil score a winner tonight. Preferably in regulation time.

Sens speak on Avery, Shannon back to Bingo

First off, the Ottawa Sun had asked a couple Senators what they thought about Sean Avery's comments (which I'm sure you know about by now), and they weren't surprised. Jarkko Ruutu, a charter member and Pestmaster General of the NHL Pest Association, suggested that Avery went against the "code" or pestmanship. From the Sun:

"It wasn't a surprise," said Senators winger Jarkko Ruutu. "If you want people to respect you off the ice, you better behave off the ice. Stuff that happens on the ice, stays on the ice. I think that's been the code forever. You've got to be smart with what you say. No one can dispute (he crossed the line)."

Daniel Alfredsson also commented on the off-colour remarks, saying that it was "immature". I've got to agree with both Senators, and suggest that it wasn't just immature--it was plain stupid. He's said stupid things before, including unproven remarks to Georges Laraque, but an off-the-ice comment denigrating someone who's not even a hockey player is beyond unacceptable.

Really interesting to see what Dallas coach Dave Tippet said about Avery, that basically suggested he's not welcome back on the team. It's got a lot to do with Avery's behaviour with his teammates prior to this event, but his recent comments were the straw that broke the camel's back. Kudos to Mike Modano for calling it all the way.

Onto a small roster note (well, small for Ottawa, but huge for Binghamton): Ryan Shannon has been reassigned to Binghamton. Because, according to Sportsnet, Chris Neil expects to play on Saturday against the Penguins. Not sure if Dean McAmmond will be ready to return, I expect that will be announced sometime in the next 24-48 hours.

Line shuffling

CASH Line stays together, everything else is different. Ryan Shannon is back in the lineup. Dean McAmmond is still injured. Chris Neil's rehab is progressing, and he might be good to go on Saturday. Christoph Schubert will play defence because Alex Picard is still out. Alex Auld is starting again.

The lines are almost all different:

Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson

Vermette-Fisher-Donovan

Winchester-Kelly-Foligno

Ruutu-Bass-Shannon

Isles 4, Sens 2: Someone remind them they're the Islanders

I didn't see the Sens/Isles game on Saturday. Normally I would be disappointed at having to miss the game, but I think I'm glad I didn't have to watch it. You can only see the Sens underperform and lose to the New York Islanders before you want to trade rosters. It must have been the decision not to wear the new black jerseys.

The game started out with some sweet passing that hearkened back to the CASH Line of old, as Dany Heatley scored with assistance from Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. The Islanders replied with three goals, including two from Freddie Meyer, before Alfredsson scored (assisted by Heatley and Filip Kuba) to make it a one-goal game.

The Sens only had 21 shots, including five from Heatley and nine from the CASH Line overall. According to NHL.com, Jesse Winchester led the team in hits with seven (career night!).

It's over now. Just beat the Thrashers on Wednesday, alright Ottawa? Thanks.

Roster note: The B-Sens are getting three regulars back today as forwards Cody Bass and Zack Smith and defenceman Brian Lee were all re-assigned. That probably means that the injuries to Dean McAmmond, Shean Donovan, and Alex Picard aren't overly serious (knock on wood).

Smith and Lee recalled from Bingo

The Senators announced today that both forward Zack Smith and defenceman Brian Lee have been recalled from Binghamton as Shean Donovan and Alex Picard are both listed as doubtful for Saturday's game against the New York Islanders. Dean McAmmond is still out with his cold, so the Sens don't have any wiggle room on the roster (although the B-Sens have even less, with as many as nine regulars out of the lineup for their game Saturday to various injuries or callups.).

I have no idea what Picard's injury is at the moment, but Donovan has an upper-body injury, according to TSN. If McAmmond and Ryan Shannon are both still unable to play on Saturday, then Christoph Schubert will draw back into the lineup for the Sens, as a forward once again.

Although Smith has continued dazzling Sens' brass with his play at the AHL level, with a team-leading nine goals to complement seven assists in 21 games, Lee hasn't quite gotten back to the level he was playing at last season. That probably has a lot to do with not playing alongside AHL All-Star Lawrence Nycholat, but the Sens need big things from this kid.

The game on Saturday would be Smith's NHL debut. At 20 years, 7 months, and 23 days, Smith will be the youngest player to dress for the Sens since Nick Foligno's debut on Oct. 3, 2007 at the age of 19 years, 11 months, and three days. Youngest player to debut before Foligno was Martin Havlat (debut 2000-10-05 at 19Y, 5M, 16D) and before Havlat was Mike Fisher (debut 1999-10-02 at 19Y, 3M, 27D). Considering how long it took me to figure out that statistic, it wasn't at all worth it.