About the Senators - 10-4-08

So here we are. The 2008-09 season.

The start of a new season seems like a new Christmas or birthday gift to us. It's still wrapped up. Unsmudged, unscratched, unbroken. We can't wait to pull it out of the box to start playing with it.

Everyone's record is the same. 0-0-0. Every fan thinks their team can accomplish something. Red Wings fans and Panthers fans have equal amounts of optimism for entirely different reasons.

Kings fans convince themselves goaltender Jason LaBarbara will reach the 30-win mark and lead Los Angeles to a playoff birth. Canadiens followers are expecting prodigal son Alex Tanguay to hit the 40-goal mark help their beloved team claim it's 25th Stanley Cup banner in its 100th year of existence.

Fantasy geeks will wonder if Minnesota's Marek Zidlicky is a solid No.2 defenseman or if Dallas' Steve Ott can rack up mad penalty minutes.

Coyotes fans will wonder if Olli Jokinen can get their team over the hump while Chicago fans are hopeful Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews has finally gotten their team on the right track.

Will Joe Sakic lead the Avalanche back to another Stanley Cup title?
 
Can Alex Ovechkin hit 60 goals again? What about 70?

Will the Patrick Marleau and the Sharks ever get to a Cup final?

Will the second Winter Classic be as amazing as the first?

Will more than two players exceed the 100-point mark in the "new" NHL?

And Penguins followers are wondering if their team has what it needs for another run at the Stanley Cup.

Has Ray Shero found adequate replacements for Marian Hossa, Georges Laraque and Jarkko Ruutu? Can Miroslav Satan collect 35 goals? Will Eric Godard keep the Penguins' stars safe? Will Matt Cooke pester opponents into stupid penalties?

Will Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang (right) be able to do more than just keep the seat warm for Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney?

Will Marc-Andre Fleury show his marvelous spring wasn't a fluke?

Are Pascal Dupuis or Ruslan Fedotenko worthy of being on a first line?

Can Jordan Staal make Ryan Malone a fuzzy memory?

Will Maxime Talbot donate some of his facial hair to Jeff Taffe to make a wig?

Are Michel Therrien and Brooks Orpik going to see eye-to-eye?

Can Mark Eaton play anything approaching an 82-game schedule?

Will Sidney Crosby reclaim the Hart and Art Ross Trophies? Or will Evgeni Malkin make a case for them?

Questions like these arise every time the National Hockey League begins another season. Lots of them take roughly six months to answer. For elite teams, they get another two months to find the solution.

This process begins today in Europe when the Rangers and Lightning meet in Prague while the Penguins face the Senators in Stockholm.

And with that, we offer our first game preview of the season.

A preview of the Senators.

2008 Record: 43-31-8

2008 Leading Scorer: Jason Spezza 92 points (34 goals, 58 points).

Last Game: 3-1 loss at home to the Penguins, April 16.

Last Game against the Penguins: Ditto.

Senators Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Daniel Alfredsson. He's playing in his home country. He's the captain. He's playing the team that thumped his squad out of the playoffs last season. He'll be jacked.

Ex-Penguins: Shean Donovan, Jarkko Ruutu, Matt Carkner (former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin).

Useless Senators Trivia: Former Penguins goaltenders Patrick Lalime (146) and Ron Tugnutt (72) have the two highest career win totals in Senators history.

Best Senators YouTube Video We Could Find: THIS! IS! A! BROKEN! MICROPHONE!

(And a poor imitation of "300.")

NOTE: We plan on doing a live blog today starting at 2 p.m. Please join us.

EMPTY NETTER ASSISTS
Penguins

-Gene Collier seems to think if you score a bunch of points, you might win the Art Ross Trophy.

-Forward Adam Heinrich had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 3-2 preseason loss to Hershey.

-Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins prospect Bobby Goepfert was in net for Hershey.

-The AHL Penguins demoted forwards Tommy Goebel, Boomer Ewing and defenseman Elgin Reid to Wheeling.

-The Wheeling Nailers began their training camp.

-Jonathan Bombulie of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice is a little surprised to say the least at the prospect of forward Paul Bissonnette starting the season in the NHL.

-Greg Wyshynski has a two-part Q&A with former Penguins goon Dave Schultz. Part 1 and Part 2.

-Sidney Crosby is ahead of the curve.

-The Sidney Crosby Show has some pictures from the Penguins' game against Jokerit.

-NHL Network announced its broadcast schedule. Here are the seven Penguins games the Network will steal from Center Ice.

-The Confluence of the Three Rivers examines the reaction to Sergei Gonchar's injury.

Atlantic Division

-The Rangers have named forward Chris Drury their 25th captain.

-Devils forward Brian Gionta got dinged up a big after fighting Islanders forward Mike Comrie.

Northeast Division

-Senators forward and former Penguin Jarkko Ruutu (right) wears No. 73 now.

-Forward Dany Heatley and defenseman Chris Phillips will begin the season as the Senators' alternate captains. Forward Daniel Alfredsson is the captain.

-The Senators are not, in fact, party animals.

-The Canadiens signed a contract extension with coach Guy Carbonneau.

-The Habs are holding a contest to determine their best throwback jersey. Vote here.

-Sabres defenseman and Pittsburgh native Mike Weber will make Buffalo's roster out of training camp.

-Maple Leafs defenseman Staffan Kronwall wants to win a Stanley Cup ring like his brother, Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall.

-Toronto is giving defenseman Ian White a shot as a forward.

Southeast Division

-Alex Ovechkin is pretty good. He had a goal and two assists for Washington in a 5-1 rout of the Flyers.

-In his first game back from shoulder and knee surgeries, Thrashers forward Slava Kozlov scored a goal. Former Penguins forward Colby Armstrong had a goal also for Atlanta in a 6-4 loss to Nashville.

-Former Penguins forward Dan LaCouture and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin Joe Jensen are still battling for roster spots with the Hurricanes.

-Some teams build morale by going to boot camp. Others, like the Washington Capitals, ride roller coasters.

-New Panthers defensemen Nick Boynton and Keith Ballard are looking good together in Florida.

-Panthers backup goaltender Craig Anderson needs to come up big this season.html if he hopes to get paid.

Central Division

-Former Penguins goaltender Ty Conklin made 19 saves for Detroit in a 5-3 defeat of Toronto.

-Check out this dirty move Detroit's Johan Franzen pulled on Toronto's Jason Blake last night:

-Red Wings forwards Tomas Holmstrom (knee) and Pavel Datsyuk (groin) are dealing with injuries.

-Leave it to Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios to find a way to ride an exercise bike with one leg.

-The Blackhawks claimed forward Joakim Lindstrom off waivers from the Ducks.

-James Mirtle examines the never-ending hole the Predators have become off the ice.

-As if the Predators didn't need anymore signs that they should move, fire damaged the home of captain Jason Arnott.

-The Blues have a pretty tough duo of goons in D.J. King and Cam Janssen.

-Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire (ankle) and forward R.J. Umberger (hand) are dinged up.

-Umberger had a goal and an assist for Columbus in a 5-3 defeat of Minnesota.

-Could Martin Havlat be back? He had two goals for the Blackhawks in a 7-4 win against Colorado.

Northwest Division

-Are the Oilers and Flames aware it's just the preseason? They had a pretty intense exhibition game last night. Just ask forward Marc Pouliot (right).

-By the sound of things, Oilers goaltender Mathieu Garon plans on going all Grant Fuhr with his equipment this season.

-The Flames are dealing with the flu.

-Don't expect the Wild and forward Marian Gaborik to agree to a long-term deal before the season.

-New Avalanche goaltender Andrew Raycroft looked shaky in his preseason debut.

Pacific Division

-Sharks forward Joe Thornton is dealing with a groin injury.

-So much for retirement. Teemu Selanne had a hat trick for the Ducks in a 4-1 defeat of the Coyotes.

-Faced with limited space under the salary cap, the Ducks demoted 2005 first-round pick Bobby Ryan to Iowa of the AHL. Ryan shouldn't be in the AHL. He has the skill to be a top six forward in the NHL. He simply there because general manager Brian Burke has mismanaged his team's payroll.

-Burke says trying to copy the blueprint of a Stanley Cup champion isn't easy.

-The NHL denied a report that it is monitoring any transactions between the Ducks and Maple Leafs.

-The Stars demoted former Penguins forward Landon Wilson to Grand Rapids of the AHL.

-Are the playoffs a possibility for the Coyotes?

-The Kings put forward and Pittsburgh native John Zeiler on injured reserve due to a groin injury.

Norris Division

-Dave Molinari takes a look at the Eastern Conference.

NOTE: There's something wrong with the tags hence their absence today.

(Photos: Mellon Arena-Getty Images; Letang-Doug Benc/Getty Images; Ruutu-Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images; Pouliot-Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)