Though there is not official confirmation on the Senators' end, the Ottawa Sun is reporting that Peter Regin will start the season in Ottawa, and other outlets are reporting that as well. Regin's preseason play has been far above all expectations, but perhaps Ottawa executives shouldn't be so surprised. After all, this is a man who finds the very scent of the AHL to be offensive:
"I sniffed a little bit of the NHL last year and when you get that smell, you want to get more because it smells better than the (AHL), that's for sure."
Regin has worked himself onto the team through good old fashioned hard work and strong play. He plays a strong two way game, and has been instrumental in Mike Fisher's tremendous preseason, as GM Bryan Murray put it, "he has turned Mike (Fisher) into a scoring machine."
The question remains: where does Regin play? Obviously, playing with Mike Fisher seems to be a given, but will Regin stay centre, or be pushed to the wing? Is the other linemate going to be Jonathan Cheechoo, Alex Kovalev (as it was for practice today), Nick Foligno, or someone else?
Either way, it's exciting to see a young forward impress the team enough to not just find a spot on the roster, but actually move some of the old blood out. Here's hoping that Regin keeps up his impressive level of play for the entire season, something he's more than capable of.