Silver Nuggets: Notes from Today's Practice, Winchester to Bingo for Conditioning

Here's a small collection of Ottawa Senators stories from around the web today:

• UPDATE: Jesse Winchester has been sent to the Binghamton Senators (Ottawa's AHL affiliate) for a conditioning stint. Good idea to throw him down there to get some games in before a return to the big club's line-up, particularly since there are too many skaters as it is. (Citizen)
• Jason Spezza, Pascal Leclaire, and Milan Michalek did not skate for the Senators at practice today. Spezza was just getting a well-deserved rest for that minor injury that's been nagging him all season, while Leclaire has a touch of the flu and Michalek has a minor upper-body injury. Spezza will play tomorrow, Michalek is possible. Filip Kuba skated before practice, but is still not practicing with the team. (Sens Twitter)
• The three first on the ice at practice, however, were Matt Carkner, Alex Picard, and Jonathan Cheechoo. Brent Wallace noted that neither Picard nor Cheechoo stepped on the ice in the third period. Perhaps a bit of a message being sent by putting these three out after their lackluster performance? (Twitter)
• Milan Michalek somehow has five goals but no assists this season. Kind of bizarre, but it goes well with Jason Spezza's seven assists and no goals.
• If our recap wasn't enough for you, check out this one from Another Ottawa Senators Blog, which goes through the highs and lows of last night's game. (AOSB)
• SENShobo had an interesting piece yesterday where he crunched the numbers of Pascal Leclaire's best season, and compared it to the current one. Statheads will enjoy looking at the shots faced and blocked shots comparisons. (SENShobo)
• Senators prospect Mike Hoffman had a hat-trick in last night's game, bringing his total to 6 goals in his last three games. Hoffman plays for the Saint John Sea Dogs in the QMJHL. (Telegraph Journal)
• UPDATE: Weekly rankings over on FanHouse have the Sens ranked tenth in the league. At what point do we get NHL ranking fatigue? (FanHouse)