Silver Nuggets: Players defend Kovalev; Last call for home opener tickets

Greetings all. Before I get to the links, as a quick reminder, if you want to attend the Senators home opener against Dany Heatley and the Minnesota Wild on October 11, please contact AlfieGirl at the email listed on her profile by tomorrow afternoon. Tickets are $31 in the lower 300 level, which is an awesome deal. UPDATE: We are no longer taking any more requests for tickets.

Here are today's links:

• Matt Carkner wasn't offended by Alex Kovalev's comments, saying he was just letting out some steam. Jesse Winchester said he loved having Kovalev around, and Mike Commodore feels Kovalev had a good NHL career and deserves a lot more respect than he gets. (Ottawa Sun)
• Jason Spezza hopes he can set the tone for the younger players on the club and help the club make a push for a playoff spot, after which anything can happen he says. It's that time of year to be hopeful. He is also not bothered by the fact that a lot of the players on the club are not very well known. (Ottawa Senators)
• Eric Cornel, a Senators fan from Kemptville, got to play on a team coached by Senators star Jason Spezza against a team coach by the Leafs' Luke Schenn at a tournament in Mississauga. As you can imagine, it was a thrill for the 15-year old. (YourOttawaRegion.com)
• Mika Zibanejad and Fredrik Claesson will be attending an evaluation camp for the 2012 Swedish U20 team. (NHL.com)
• The Senators have developed some great young talent over the years, but before Jared Cowen, they hadn't had a player on the Canadian U20 team since Brooks Laich in 2003. This year, they have Mark Stone and Matt Puempel in contention. (Senshot)
• Another Senators prospect, Shane Prince, survived the first cut for the American U20 team. (Democrat and Chronicle)
• Matt Carkner is happy to have help in gooning it up with the addition of Zenon Konopka. (Ottawa Sun)