Thursday Links, News and Notes: Roster Updates + Marian Hossa in the Hall of Fame

Plus Dion Phaneuf’s retirement, injury updates, and more!

Even with a lack of games this week, the league has given us plenty to discuss today, with a couple of points regarding Sens alumni.

  • Former Senator Dion Phaneuf has announced his retirement from the NHL after 14 seasons in the NHL. The defensemen played a total of 1048 games with Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Los Angeles, with 494 points, as well as 21 points in 55 playoff games. Phaneuf didn’t spend much time with Ottawa, but the nation’s capital will always be where his best memories lie, as he participated in 19 playoff games, in which he scored a massive overtime-winning goal in Game 2 of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Boston Bruins. /

Between suffering a heartbreaking (for him. It was hilarious for us.) loss against those same Bruins as a member of the Leafs, being clowned by Jarkko Ruutu as a Flame, and being bought out by the Kings, it’s not particularly close. Congratulations to Dion for a fantastic career!

  • Another former Senator was recognized in the last few days, as Marian Hossa was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday:/

Ottawa’s 12th overall pick from the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Hossa played in 467 games for the Senators from 1997 to 2004, in which he tallied 188 goals and 201 assists, as part of a dominating team which was sadly before my time as a fan had begun. Following a blockbuster trade in 2005 in exchange for Dany Heatley, Hossa played with Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Chicago, for a Hall-of-Fame career including 1309 games played, 1134 points, and three Cup rings in five Stanley Cup Final appearances.

Hossa features in the 2020 class which also includes Jarome Iginla, Kevin Lowe, Doug Wilson, Kim St-Pierre, and Ken Holland. Congratulations to each of the inductees! (with a special thanks to Doug Wilson.)

  • Speaking of the Hall of Fame, head over to Elliotte Friedman’s 32 Thoughts and scroll down to number 29 for some well-deserved attention towards the man himself, Daniel Alfredsson. As of now, we’ve waited far too long for the greatest Senator ever to be voted in. Could this finally be the year?
  • The Florida Panthers are 11-2-3 this season, as they’ve finally been able to ice a team with high-end goaltending. All of the pieces have fallen into place, so obviously there’s no better time for the injury bug to bite. Aleksander Barkov suffered a lower-body injury on Tuesday and will be out on a week-to-week basis. Surgery won’t be required, but it’s still a heavy loss that will test the Panthers’ depth in the foreseeable future.
  • After entering the NHL Player Assistance Program on October 7th, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price was on the ice for the first time since, on Monday. Price has been receiving treatments for substance abuse, and is working on a return to the NHL, and more importantly, his own mental health. It’s good to see Price taking the time to recover, and everyone should be sending positive thoughts to him and his family.
  • On Tuesday, in light of Sens hockey being postponed, the team assigned defensemen Jacob Bernard-Docker, Maxence Guenette, and Dillon Heatherington, as well as forwards Egor Sokolov and Scott Sabourin, to Belleville. Ottawa’s next game will take place in Colorado on November 22nd, and Nikita Zaitsev and Drake Batherson will be the only two remaining in Covid protocol at that point barring any more positive tests. Lassi Thomson remains up with the big club, on which he’ll be one of seven defensemen, and will likely play against Colorado. Once Zaitsev returns to the lineup, a decision will need to be made regarding who to keep on the roster. With seven one-way deals, it’ll be tough to keep Thomson up without a trade of some sort. Or waivers — if a team owned by Eugene Melnyk puts a one-way deal in the minors, that’s as strong as an indication as any that Thomson’s the real deal. /

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