SENShobo
Senators Recall Brendan Bell
by SENShobo on 11/16/08 at 03:38 PM ET
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From CBC Sports,
The Ottawa Senators recalled defenceman Brendan Bell ahead of Monday night’s game against the New York Rangers.
Bell has six goals and nine assists in 15 games with Binghamton in the American Hockey League.
The defenceman, who played junior hockey with the Ottawa 67’s, has played 48 NHL games with Toronto and Phoenix.
Who does this put on the outs?
Will Bell force Schubert to sit on the sidelines or play as a forward, Picard to join Richardson in the press box, or who else to sit out if the aim is to have four puckmovers?
The move certainly appears to be with one key goal in mind: get the Senators scoring. Bell’s point-per-game pace in the AHL may not translate perfectly to the NHL, but all he’s likely been waiting for is a shot to prove himself. The Sens have been looking for good powerplay quaterbacking of late, doing away with defensemen at times to play with four forwards. It will be interesting to see whether it’s Picard or Schubert whose puckmoving skills have been deemed lacking.
Both have a pair of assists, one each at both even-strength and on the powerplay. In his 17GP, Picard has managed two powerplay goals to Schubert’s lone marker in 14GP. Both are virtually tied with 1.5 hits per game, though Picard has 20 blocked shots to Schubert’s 11, while Schubert has only 10 giveaways to Picard’s 19. Picard sits at -1, averaging 19 minutes of ice time per game, while Schubert is -5 with 14 minutes of ice time per game.
If it’s a puckmover rotation, Schubert is likely on the outs, though considering that Donovan is far and away the least utilized forward (just over 6 minutes a game), Schubert could move to forward and Donovan to the press box. This would make sense additionally, as Schubert could kill penalties as a defenseman, and with Kuba, Picard, and Bell there would no longer be a need to have a forward on the point during powerplays.
In all honesty, I can’t see Picard being sat, nor can I see the team sitting Kuba or any of their three shutdown guys, so barring surprises this should be the lineup Monday, with the only other change being Neil likely out with injury while Zubov sticks around, though it wouldn’t surprise me if Foligno found himself benched, not finding much spark for himself of late.
Desperate times call for desperate measures; nothing feels desperate yet, but changes won’t stop until the times start a-changin’.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Brendan+Bell,
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