Silver Nuggets: Grading the Senators; surgeries galore

Here are your Ottawa Senators headlines for today:

• Don Brennan and Bruce Garrioch gave their grades for the Ottawa Senators 2009-10 season. I actually don't have a big problem with (m)any of them. (Sun)
• Unreal: All of Chris Phillips, Daniel Alfredsson, Milan Michalek, and Alex Kovalev are facing off-season surgeries. Some more serious than others. (TSN)
• Ian Mendes takes a look at the Sens' ten biggest questions of this off-season. Note: "Who will demand a trade?" is not on the list. (Sportsnet)
• Nick Foligno is one Senator player who'll represent his country at the 2010 World Hockey Championships; he'll play for Team USA. (Sens)
• Apparently Anton Volchenkov, on the other hand, told a Russian paper he's "not planning a trip to Germany" for the World Championships. (RussianHockeyFans)
• Meanwhile, both Jason Spezza and Chris Phillips offered a preemptive decline for their invitations to the World Championships. Mike Fisher said he hasn't been invited yet, but I don't know why he wouldn't want to spend more time with his fiance... (Sportsnet)

• Heck of a ride for Matt Carkner this season. (Peterborough Examiner)
• I can't help but laugh at the "great Brian Lee" part of this headline. But, to be fair, if it was his two-way contract keeping him down in 2009-10, his one-way contract might keep him up in 2010-11. (InForum)
• A necessary and passionate defence of Jason Spezza. (Five for Smiting)
• Could the Vancouver Canucks have the worst hockey fans in Canada? Derek Zona thinks so. (From the Rink)
• A very cool story about Maxim Afinogenov jumping in to a couple pickup hockey games in Birmingham. (al.com)