Sens Prospects Choke After Successful Rookie Tournament

Yesterday marked the culmination of the four-day rookie round robin tournament, hosted by the Florida Panthers in Kitchener, Ontario, and featuring our roster of rookie Sens prospects, along with those from the Leafs and Penguins. After a 2-1 loss to the hosts on Friday, the Sens Trounced the Leafs Saturday 4-2, and blanked the Penguins on Sunday 3-0, giving them the best record heading into the finals on Monday against the rookie Pens.

Alas, as I can tell you from first-hand experience, the Pens filled themselves up thoroughly with bloodlust, and gave the Sens a thorough drubbing. The first period started with a fight immediately after the opening faceoff, between the Pens' Aaron Boogaard and the Sens' Brett Gallant, spilling off some of the tension from the frustrations of games past. Before the period was even 2 minutes old, the Pens' Dustin Jeffrey scored on Brian Elliott, who had been the centerpiece of our only two victories. Sens prospects have been reportedly gritty, with hopes of stocking our dressing room properly to avoid another Stanley Cup Final like this one just past. Despite this, it was the Penguins who layed down all the board-battering and mind-numbing hits throughout the game. It wasn't until the first period was nearly half over that the Sens managed to get some spurts of offense past the Pens blueline, but they were few at best, and ended the period down 1 - 0.

Enter the second frame. Once again, this time within the opening 3 minutes, the Pens scored, this tally coming from Joe Jensen, putting the Sens in a 0 - 2 hole, which Matt Caria widened to 0 - 3 at the end of the second period. Into the final period, and Alex Grant and Jensen's second goal gave the Pens the ultimate payback for Sunday. Only thanks to a late tally by Ilja Zubov saved the Sens from being completely shutout. At least we beat the Leafs, right?

Leaving the Arena, I pondered why it was that our boys failed after having done so well beforehand. Some things were obvious. There were the many dumps that worked so well back in June for the big boys, only a tight Pens line blocked any Sens from rallying around to catch the puck on the other side, along with some stellar efforts by Penguins rookie goaltender John Curry to keep the puck from sliding around behind his net. Often the Sens seemed a tad unaware of where their teammates were, evident in the third when calls of 'Zube!, Zube!" failed to egg highly touted Ilja Zubov into passing the puck to open teammates in ideal scoring positions. I say once again that the absence of Sens hits was brutal, and the ability of the speedy Pens to plant them flawlessly even more brutal on top of that. Add the constant coughing up of the puck to poke-checks and more giveaways than at a new car dealership, and its no wonder than Murray and Paddock never flinched or blinked after the goals, just observing steadily and patiently.

Despite their falling apart in the final, the prospects did give Murray and Paddock a good show. Brian Lee steadily improved day by day, while Alexander Nikulin and Ilya Zubov put forth a great show most times. Cody Bass certainly earned his 'C' in my opinion, staying calm and working hard at all times. There will be some challengers for the remaining spot on the Sens roster.

The way I see it, one prospect shined brighter than the rest, and stands a good chance of impressing during exhibition games and maybe even cracking the roster this season. An odd thing I noticed during the game. After the second period, I paid attention to the teams leaving the ice. There were a few boys leaning over the hallway where the players exited the rink, hoping for a brush with future NHLers. As the Sens passed under the seats and by the boys, only a couple gave the boys a punch. The Pens? Fully 14 gave the youngsters props. Same story heading out for and returning from the third, with a couple more Sens props, and so many Pens props that I couldn't keep count. But one Sen did catch my eye. During the game he gave it full bore over and over again. Always he pushed to get in position. Always he raced to get back on defense when the Pens held the puck. He even had a good breakaway late in the game, chased closely by a lone Pen, and getting a good shot on goal before being felled and crashing into the boards. That man walked onto the ice, fiddling with his helmet strap with his free hand. Yet, having no free hand, he still gave props to the boys, hand, helmet, head and all. Hockey, like all great sports, doesn't just build character, but also works very well to reveal it, and in that moment, as many others during the game, it revealed very well the strong and highly prized character that lies within Sens prospect Nick Foligno.