COVID-19 hits NHL but Sens stay on track
It is remarkable, in retrospect, that the NHL emerged from its makeshift summer playoff season unscathed by even a single positive COVID-19 test.
A second wave restart to the 2021 season isn't going to happen without at least a few hiccups.
Only a few hours before the Senators took the ice at Canadian Tire Centre for their Friday night intrasquad scrimmage, training camps in Columbus and Dallas were shut down due to positive tests.
According to an NHL statement, six players and two coaches in Dallas have tested positive and the Stars won't be able to play until at least Jan. 19. Accordingly, their opening games Jan. 14 and Jan. 15 against the Florida Panthers and Jan. 17 against the Tampa Bay Lightning have been postponed.
The concern, of course, is about the potential for a stop-and-go schedule, as was the case with Major League Baseball when COVID struck several teams last summer.
At this point, anyway, nothing has changed with the Senators and their preparations for their Jan. 15 regular season opener against Toronto.
THE MATH EQUATION: Before the puck dropped Friday night, Senators coach D.J. Smith said, “I think it's fair to say that there are six players (battling) for three spots,” on the 23-player opening day roster.
Of course, with another six players beginning the year idling in the taxi squad, a final cut down day won't be as devastating as in previous years.
Without seeing anything first hand, it's difficult to make any bold pronouncements on who deserves to start next Friday against Toronto, but if you're inferring anything from Smith's words, defenceman Artem Zub could begin the season watching.
“He's very good defensively, he boxes out, he faces the puck,” Smith said of the 25-year-old KHL veteran who signed as a free agent amid much fanfare in May. “He's just going to have to get used to the NHL pace and that's tough without exhibition games, but he'll get an opportunity at some point here. He's a safe, smart player.”
WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?: Zub was on a pairing with Braydon Coburn on Friday, with Thomas Chabot and Erik Gudbranson and Mike Reilly and Nikita Zaitsev serving as other tandems. Then there was the possible opening day pairing of Christian Wolanin and Josh Brown, a partnership that continues to get a long look.
THE SHOULDER CHECK: Life happens fast. It was only a couple of years ago that Wolanin was himself a top defence prospect coming out of the University of North Dakota. Now the program boasts first round picks Jake and Jacob — Sanderson and Bernard-Docker — who could both be in Ottawa in the near future. “You've got to be blind to not see the draft picks and the amount of defence talent in the organization,” Wolanin said. “I have to play as if I'm in my last contract year, which I am.” ... As for 2019 first-round pick Lassi Thomson, Smith says he had some catching up to do. “Lassi started a little slow. He was in quarantine, but has been going pretty good the last little bit. Wolanin has been good. (Jonathan) Aspirot, who I hadn't really seen much of before, has done some good things. He's just a young kid, but he has certainly put himself on the radar.”
NEW ARRIVALS: The Senators are scheduled for an off day Saturday, but when they return Sunday, a few new faces will join them. Tim Stuetzle, the third overall draft pick who starred for Germany at the world junior championship, will take to the Canadian Tire Centre ice for the first time after serving his time in quarantine since flying in from Edmonton. Centre Derek Stepan, acquired in a late December trade from Arizona, is also expected to practise with the Senators for the first time.