It all started very innocently, with Ottawa Senators Paul MacLean saying he had no intention of getting into, or continuing, a war of words with Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien over Eric Gryba’s open-ice hit on Lars Eller. However, it slowly but inexorably escalated into MacLean, in full voice, accusing the Montreal coach of highlighting [...]
About Allen Panzeri
After three years of teaching English at the University of British Columbia, Allen Panzeri began his career in journalism in 1979 at the Medicine Hat News, where he covered Kelly Hrudey and the Tigers while learning about block heaters, rodeo, and curling. In 1981, he moved north to the Edmonton Journal, where he covered boxing, the Edmonton Drillers of the North American Soccer League, and the University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas for four years, before taking a 10-year hiatus from sports to write editorials, cover primary, secondary, and university education, and watch the beginnings of the Ralph Klein era at the provincial legislature. Traded to the Citizen in 1995, he accepted an offer to return to sports and cover the Ottawa Lynx, lucking into a front-row seat for their 1995 International League championship, and since then has covered the Senators and typed out the occasional article on golf.
A big problem for the Ottawa Senators in this playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens has been their power play. It was unsuccessful in two chances in the first game, a 4-2 win, and unsuccessful in four chances in the second game, a 3-1 loss. This continues a trend which saw the power play sink [...]
Only 10 Senators players skated in Saturday’s optional skate: Robin Lehner, Matt Kassian, Cory Conacher, Andre Benoit, Patrick Weircioch, Jim O’Brien, Eric Gryba, Peter Regin, Mike Lundin and Mike Hoffman. Hoffman is recovering from a collarbone injury but not close to returning. Jason Spezza (back) also continue to skate but is not close. He is [...]
Paul MacLean did such a good job of coaching the Ottawa Senators in his first year behind the bench that it wasn’t always going to be tough to top in Year 2. He managed to do it.
With No. 1 centre Jason Spezza sidelined, Kyle Turris faced a steep learning curve this season.
Here’s a look at how the Senators and Canadiens matchup in Round 1.
Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Erik Karlsson took part in practice with his teammates Friday and is expected to return in time for the playoffs.