Ridiculous Excited

Now that the first round of cuts has been made by the Sens (which you can find here, if you haven't yet), things are starting to get a little more serious, and therefore a little more exciting.

With some of the guns in the line-up, we lit up the Habs, so with a roster that is by my estimation 75% of our starting line-up, I'm really excited to see how we play the Leafers tonight.

The game last night in Dundas was a cute idea, but I personally am glad we sent a Micky Mouse lineup. The ice surface was just too small, no room to move, and we just didnt need to risk having some of our top guys getting hurt in a game like that.

Now for tonight's game, the lineup, according to the Sens Twitter feed, looks like this

Michalek-Spezza-Alfie

Foligno-Fisher-Kovalev

Regin-Smith-Butler

Lessard-Bass-Keller

Gonchar-Campoli

Cowen-Karlsson

Weircoch-Carkner

Leclaire

So what about this excites me? Well aside from this being the first game where we will see all of our top 6 in the same game, there are a few things that make me salivate a little bit.

COWEN-KARLSSON

This should excite every one of you. This is most likely our top d-pairing in the coming years. Cowen, if he plays his game, should provide a physical presence in front of the net, while Karlsson can move the puck with the best of them. What I like about this pairing is they cover off each other's weaknesses. Karlsson obviously isn't very physical, and most complaints about Cowen so far have been about his decisions with the puck. Also, in Spokane, Cowen played with a smaller, more offensive player.

REGIN-SMITH-BUTLER

In a dream world for me, this is my third line to start the season. I know I will be crucified, but I think Kelly's line could split equal time with this line depending on what the game calls for. If the Sens need an infusion of offence, a line like this is MUCH more likely to produce it when compared to Kelly's line or a line of Winchester-Smith-Regin/Foligno. Hopefully this line has an unreal game tonight giving Clouston something to think about.

POWERPLAY

We are playing the Leafs, so chances are, one or two penalties will be taken. When that happens, I'm excited to see the powerplay on a few levels. Every forward expected to see PP time this year is in the lineup tonight, in addition to QBs Karlsson and Gonchar. With Campoli and Weircoch (how unreal was that shot last night btw?) on the second unit, we could see a preview of how the Sens will win games this year tonight.

LECLAIRE

Leclaire for 60 minutes with a pretty decent lineup in front of him. Hopefully he can play better than Elliott did against these same Leafs last week.

Some Point Form Thoughts on the First Two Preseason Games

Now that the Sens (or the team we put on the ice and called the Sens) have played a couple games, both of which we have been able to watch on TV (seriously, preseason games on tv?! SO sweet), its time for what I have noticed!

ROOKIES

--All eyes have been on the rookies; J-Cow, Wick, Butler, Weircoch, Hoffman and Lehner, and they have each performed to a different level.

--Wick seems a little tentative out there, and doesn't seem to be getting a ton of minutes. He did, however look quite good at the end of the last game on the powerplay with Regin, Karlsson et al.

--Butler seems like he needs a year in the AHL to polish off his game, but he looks like he has a real solid future for the Sens. He is not afraid to fire the puck, and hopefully some of those will go in soon.

--Lehner is making it exceptionally hard to NOT overhype him. In a market starving for a saviour between the pipes, he is making us drool.

--Jared Cowen looked average in the first game, but in the second game I thought was one of the Sens' best defenceman. Positionally he is excellent, he uses his size to win battles, blocks shots, and generally looks good, especially on a pairing with Karlsson. Only thing he needs to work on is making quicker decisions, and unfortunately, he can't learn that in the WHL.

--Weircoch looks dangerous on the powerplay. With him running the powerplay in Bingo this year, they should see some success.

--Hoffman looks a little overwhelmed out there, which is odd considering how well he played in the rookie tournament. He is a project (which isn't a slight against him, being a 5th rounder) and given time in the minors he may be a scorer for us some day, just not today.

VETERANS

--Simply put, Brian Elliott should NOT have let in the second or third goals last night, that essentially put the game away. Here's hoping he is just rusty, because that was bad.

--Chris Kelly looked excellent on Tuesday, as did Chris Neil. If they can pick up where they left off at the end of last year, that's excellent news for the Sens.

--Nick Foligno looks like a man possessed. Everyone has Peter Regin pencilled into the top 6, but Nicky is going to give him a run for his money.

--Zach Smith is a monster out there. He is totally confident and is playing very well. He is, in my mind, an absolute lock for the big club.

--Ryan Shannon (who took a BRUTAL elbow) doesn't look be to impressing me. He is really leaving the door open for Smith, Butler and Wick.

--Winchester looks much better than he has in previous years, but is in my opinion working from a more limited skill set than a guy like Zach Smith.

--Brian Lee sucks. Period. He doesn't do anything particularly well, loses battles, gives the puck away, its bad. I was hoping to see him step up and grab Kuba's spot, but God help us if it has to be him to fill it now.

--Guys like Hale and Benoit have played well and should really help an improved Bingo team this year.

--Karlsson is the man. He is so smooth and confident. I didn't like that he got beat to the outside by Kessel and Kulemin, but it was his first game, and those boys can flat out fly.

I think that's about all of my thoughts so far. Looking ahead, I'm excited to see some of the big boys play, and interested in seeing Gryba compared to Cowen, because to me, that's the battle for Kuba's spot right now.

What have you noticed? Who has impressed you?