GAME DAY: New York Islanders @ Ottawa Senators - 7:00pm ET - Thu. Oct. 8th, 2009

The Sens welcome John Tavares and the New York Islanders to open up Scotiabank Place for their 2009/10 NHL regular season home opener. The Sens are coming off an ugly win over their provincial rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs that saw them spoil Jonas Gustavsson's NHL debut. Leclaire has looked very solid so far and the Sens' defense has shown improvements over the first two games. It's time for the forwards to step and deliver. The Isles will have some new faces in the line-up today with Doug Weight and Rob Schremp making their first start of the season for the Isles. Doug Weight will be wearing the "C". All eyes will be on the #1 draft pick Tavares... will he deliver on the hype that surrounded him? This will be his first regular season NHL game on Canadian soil as he returns to the place where he helped Team Canada win Gold at the World Juniors. No question this guy has talent and is NHL ready. I'm sure the Sens' "D" will give him a nice "welcome to the NHL" tonight.

Game Coverage:
- TV: MSG PLUS 2,SNET-E (HD)
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: ????? to be determined

NOTE: Rogers and Bell both have a Free Preview of NHL Center Ice going on now... so those of us that are out of market should be able to see this game provided they have a digital box.

TSN's Ice Chips:

Source: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=11009

Ottawa Senators:

Ryan Shannon (upper body) and Filip Kuba (upper body) are day-to-day, and will not play in Thursday night's game against the Islanders - TSN

Jason Spezza did not skate Wednesday at practice due to bumps and bruises, but will play in Thursday's game. - TSN

Practice Lines

Forwards:
Michalek - Winchester - Alfredsson
Foligno - Fisher - Kovalev
Cheechoo - Regin - Neil
Ruutu - Kelly - Donovan

Defencemen:
Phillips - Volchenkov
Campoli - Karlsson
Picard - Carkner

Goaltenders:
Leclaire

New York Islanders:

Rob Schremp will make his Islanders debut on Thursday on a line with Josh Bailey and Trent Hunter. - Newsday


Projected Islander Line-up vs the Sens (from hfboards.com):

Forwards:
Matt Moulson - John Tavares - Kyle Okposo
Sean Bergenheim - Doug Weight - Jon Sim
Rob Schremp - Josh Bailey - Trent Hunter
Blake Comeau - Richard Park - Tim Jackman

Defencemen:
Mark Streit - Bruno Gervais
Brendan Witt - Radek Martinek
Andy Sutton - Freddy Meyer

Goaltenders:
Dwayne Roloson
Martin Biron

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020037

Ottawa Citizen Game Day Preview:

Source: http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/hockeycapital/archive/2009/10/07/gameday-preview-islanders-at-senators-on-oct-8-2009.aspx

NHL.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009020037

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20091008/NYI@Ott/story

ESPN Game Day Preview:

Source: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=291008014

ESPN Game Day Matchup Comparison:



GO SENS GO!!!

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Thank you...

Very nice. Here's hoping the Sens have an offensive breakout like the 'Nucks did last night! I'd love to see Michalek pot a few goals and watch Leclaire stand on his head when called upon.

Bell also has a free preview.

Why must he insist on playing Karlsson with Campoli? These are situations where Phillips and Volchenkov should be split up to help out the other defensive pairings. That scares me a little bit.

I expect a big game from Leclaire tonight and to see more maturity in Karlsson's game, as long as he and Campoli can be a strong pairing defensively as well as offensively.

I'm also looking for that second line to put some pucks in the net, I'm excited to see them start to mesh more and more, big fan of that line.

Hopefully Spezza is 100% and we can start to see the chemistry on that line too.

GO SENS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hayden wrote:Bell also has a free preview.

Nice. I'll update the note.

Let's have more than 2 goals tonight too please!!!!

Updated with Islander line-up.

Can't wait. I'm going to the game and I'm expecting a strong game. I'm curious to see if there are any significant upgrades to the SBP this season. They really need to upgrade the jumbotron.

I've also put a link to this thread on the GMHockey Twitter page:

http://twitter.com/GMHockey

Heh heh.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Can't wait. I'm going to the game and I'm expecting a strong game. I'm curious to see if there are any significant upgrades to the SBP this season. They really need to upgrade the jumbotron.

They upgraded Marshy's.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Can't wait. I'm going to the game and I'm expecting a strong game. I'm curious to see if there are any significant upgrades to the SBP this season. They really need to upgrade the jumbotron.

They upgraded Marshy's.

I said significant. :^^^^:

shabbs wrote:I've also put a link to this thread on the GMHockey Twitter page:

http://twitter.com/GMHockey

Heh heh.

I'm not much into the Tweet frenzy so can someone explain to me how this helps? I mean our twitter page has 3 followers. Is that going to do much? Our facebook page and group have more than that.

Not trying to be negative I just don't understand is all.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

shabbs wrote:I've also put a link to this thread on the GMHockey Twitter page:

http://twitter.com/GMHockey

Heh heh.

I'm not much into the Tweet frenzy so can someone explain to me how this helps? I mean our twitter page has 3 followers. Is that going to do much? Our facebook page and group have more than that.

Not trying to be negative I just don't understand is all.

It appears in the "live feed" and anyone searching can see it. It's a small start... the followers will come... it's just another channel to help drive interest and traffic.

There aren't many upgrades to SBP- Aside from Bert's bar being built (which looks 10x better than Marshy's), and a vintage store built behind 113. Both are worth checking out, but don't expect a Cowboys-esque jumbotron when you check out the game tonight.

I'm going too, I'm pretty excited for it. I went to all the preseason games, but they obviously don't have the same feel as opening night. Let's hope this place is LOUD and the game is fast paced. The Islanders have a pretty quick team, so it has the makings to be a good one.

Early prediction- Karlsson gets his first goal tonight.