Karlsson engaged
Team hopes to to put poor showing against the Predators behind them
Erik Karlsson and Melinda Currey, Ottawa’s favourite Instagram couple, have gotten engaged.
Currey uploaded a post on Instagram Friday of the pair smooching, with Currey wearing a conspicuous ring on her left hand. The caption reads: “The love of my life for the rest of my life. Here’s to us babe. #foreverkindofthing #Imstillshaking ”.
A second Instagram post from Currey shows an engagement ring in a box, sitting on top of what looks to be a pepperoni pizza. It was not immediately known how the pizza was involved in the proposal.
Shortly after Currey’s posts, Karlsson also uploaded a photo on Instagram of the two love birds holding up drinks in celebration, with the caption: “Couldn’t be more proud to call her my forever. Without her I’m nothing. #shesaidyes.” Kyle Cruickshank, co-owner of Pure Kitchen, said Karlsson got down on bended knee at the All Saints Anglican Church courtyard beside his Westboro restaurant Friday afternoon.
“It seemed really cute,” said Cruickshank. “I assume she said yes.”
Asked whether he’d make his first stop in the training room or his office when he arrives at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday morning, Guy Boucher didn’t even hesitate.
“It’ll be the training room,” the Senators head coach said with a laugh at his daily meeting with the media upstairs at the rink. “It’ll be the training room now when I go down and it’ll be the training room (Saturday).”
Don’t ask Boucher what the team’s lineup is going to look like Saturday night against the Florida Panthers because even he doesn’t know. Forwards Bobby Ryan (hand), Mike Hoffman (lower body) and Chris Neil (undisclosed) weren’t on the ice for the club’s 45-minute skate in the wake of a 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
The Senators had 17 healthy skaters for the twirl and winger Clarke MacArthur (post-concussion), who hasn’t been approved for contact. With Ryan, Hoffman and Neil all listed as day-to-day, the club had to send defenceman Fred Claesson back to its AHL affiliate in Binghamton to make room on the 23-man roster to bring up some forwards.
“I would love to (provide you with an update) for myself also,” Boucher said. “It’s really day-to-day for a lot of guys. We had some boo-boos before the game and now we’ve got some guys that we have to monitor so we’ll have to see.
“It could be a drastically different lineup (Saturday). We’ll have to wait ... We’ll for sure need forwards for (Saturday). We’ll see who deserves (a call-up) and we’ll see where we’re at.”
The Senators, who will likely have to bring up at least two forwards, wanted to wait until late Friday night before making a decision on call-ups. GM Pierre Dorion, assistant GM Randy Lee and goalie coach Pierre Groulx were off to Binghamton to watch them face the Albany Devils. After that, a determination on the roster will be made.
None of the injured trio has been ruled out, but Boucher didn’t sound optimistic, either.
“I’m going to church, so hopefully that makes a difference on who is going to be able to play or not,” Boucher said.
If you think Boucher was being tight-lipped, he wasn’t. It’s too early to put a timeline on any of the injuries. Ryan’s injury isn’t believed to be serious and he did attend the power play meeting, but it’s anybody’s guess if he’ll play. Hoffman, who didn’t play Thursday, skated before practice but didn’t stick around for the formal part.
As for Neil, who has never been the type to miss many games, he was around the dressing room and didn’t go on the ice at all.
The Senators having a difficult time scoring goals with a full lineup, so losing Ryan and Hoffman while the club is already without MacArthur is a pretty difficult blow.
“It’s tough. You look at your lineup and you plug some holes, but in reality you can’t ask some guys to be a top-six forward when you’re a fourth-liner,” Boucher said. “You can spot there. So we’ve got to figure out a way to use the players on the roster so that we put guys at least in the chairs that they can manage so we have the best look possible.”
The players won’t let the injured bodies become an excuse.
“That is part of playing in the NHL. There are injuries that happen and they happen to every team,” said alternate captain Dion Phaneuf. “It’s not just us. There are other teams that are going through it and you’ve got to find a way.
“Other guys get an opportunity and it’s an opportunity for other guys to take a bigger role and step into it and do a job. We cannot use that as an excuse and we will not use that as an excuse and it’s an opportunity for some guys to step up into those roles.”
Until Boucher finds out from athletic therapist Gerry Townend on Saturday morning what players might get the green light, the coaching staff will hold off on filling out its lineup card. bgarrioch@postmedia.com Twitter: @SunGarrioch
I’m going to church, so hopefully that makes a difference on who is going to be able to play or not.
No matter who suits up for the Senators Saturday night, they need to clean up their act.
The lineup may be a bit of a patchwork job, but the Senators can’t afford to have another lousy effort like they did against the Nashville Predators on Thursday or the result could be a lot worse than the embarrassing 5-1 defeat they suffered at the Canadian Tire Centre.
So the Senators weren’t on the ice long Friday, however, they did a lot of work on trying to fix what’s been going wrong lately to get this club back on track with the Florida Panthers coming to town.
“It’s just a good opportunity to bounce back,” defenceman Mark Borowiecki said. “You’ve just got to flush (the last game). We learned from it. We had a good chat about it. There’s 82 games in a season and if you dwell on it then it’s just going to be a hindrance to your next game.
“You don’t want to ignore it because there’s things to address and things to learn from, but now it’s time to park it, move onto the next one and get the job done.”
A RELIEF FOR BRASSARD
Derick Brassard had a jump in his step Friday and, at least, he had a reason to feel good about himself.
The Senators winger broke a 15game goal-scoring drought with his power-play effort in the first period against the Predators and head coach Guy Boucher is hopeful this will give Brassard a much-needed boost of confidence.
“Derick comes in, he’s a really good person, he wants to fit in and he’s got a whole bunch of new people around him and we’ve tried different things because (Clarke) MacArthur is out now,” Boucher said. “We’ve tried different pairings and lines and where he fits with who.
“(Kyle) Turris doesn’t have that. He starts the year here and maybe feels he belongs and what he’s used to. A guy like (Brassard) is trying to find out where he fits and how to play. Derick is a terrific shooter, but he hasn’t been shooting. He’s been trying to feed everybody and that’s probably what I would have done to fit in.
“He wants to help people and he’s a great feeder, but he’s both (a shooter and passer) and that’s where he’s shortchanged himself, trying to feed everybody else instead of trying to selfishly finish. That’s where his focus is and he knows that.”
No, the Senators don’t expect him to score every night, but they certainly thought he’d had more than two goals at this juncture with the club ready to hit the 20-game mark Thursday against the Boston Bruins at home.
RUGGED CUSTOMER
Senators equipment manager John Forget, who took a puck above the left eye while on the bench in the first period Thursday, was back at his post Friday with some swelling near the eye — plus the 20-plus stitches he received.
The Senators were proud of Forget and happy the injury wasn’t worse.
“That’s a scary thing to see, especially when it’s around that eye area,” centre Chris Kelly said. “It’s good to see that he’s OK.”
Alternate captain Dion Phaneuf noted Forget and the rest of the staff don’t get the recognition they deserve.
“He takes the puck there and he comes back,” Phaneuf said. “The thing with the equipment and medical staff is a lot of times they’re behind the scenes and they don’t get enough credit, and they’re the hardest working guys in our organization.
“We get into a city, they go unpack at the rink and they get back (to the hotel) a couple of hours later than us, whether it’s 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. They’re (at the rink) first. To see Johnny take a puck like that and come back just shows you he’s an incredible guy.”
The TSN broadcast picked him as the third star, and rightfully so, because Forget returned to the bench for the start of the second period after being treated by doctors.
“My wife thought it was cute he got the third star on TSN,” Borowiecki said with a smile. “I congratulated Johnny on being my wife’s favourite player now.”
SKATE CANCELLED
The Florida Panthers had a long trip here from Toronto and as a result, they didn’t bother to skate Friday.
According to the Miami Herald, the Panthers didn’t arrive at their Ottawa hotel until 5 a.m. Friday after taking a 6-1 thumping from the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night at the Air Canada Centre.
You’ve just got to flush (the last game). We learned from it. We had a good chat about it.