The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

With a top line of Chris Kelly, Ryan Shannon and Eric Condra (I admit, never heard of him) the Sens are playing their first pre-season game tonight with not much fanfare. But I'm looking forward to seeing how they do, and especially how new goalie Pascal Leclaire fares playing his first game since December of 2008.

Yup, the NHL season, with training camps starting this past Saturday, is just around the corner, and while it's tough to see summer go (well, we got gypped on the weather front but it got nicer late August), I get pretty excited knowing the NHL regular season is very close to getting started. And with the Sens biggest makeover in recent history with the Dany Heatley trade completed, fans are anxious to see how the new acquisitions pan out and if the Senators can rebound from a bad 2008-09 season.

Win or lose, it's going to be interesting (at least at the beginning anyway if they have another losing season). The big question marks are:

- Can Alexei Kovalev provide a consistent, second line scoring threat?
- Can Jonathan Chechoo rebound from two sub-par seasons and score again?
- Will Erik Karlsson be the saving grace on defence the Senators hope he can be?
- Was Cory Clouston's winning record a fluke or is he the real deal?
- Will Pascal Leclaire fight the injury bug and be the dependable, solid goaltender Ottawa has been looking for?
- Is this Bryan Murray's last stint as GM?

It's fair to say with Murray's contract expiring at the end of this year, if the team doesn't return to the playoffs this year he'll be replaced. The only thing Ottawa has to show since Murray has taken over as GM is getting swept in the first round by the Penguins in 2008: not exactly something to be proud of. Many pieces must fall into place for this season to be a success, but if they can, Ottawa just might be able to contend again.