Silver Nuggets: Spezza still out; Kovalev headlines galore

Headlines for today! It's gameday, and tonight the Ottawa Senators take on the Florida Panthers!

• High-speed chase hero and 'kid brother' to Jason Spezza, Matt Spezza was tending nets in practice the other day so the Sens could meet their Spezzas-on-the-ice quota, I guess. (Citizen)
• Jason Spezza, however, is still not ready to return. (Citizen)
• Only one person predicted a Senators loss in the prediction panel tonight. Unfortunately, that one person happens to be Graeme Nichols, who is leading the panel by a large margin. (Citizen)
• UPDATE: Tomas Vokoun is starting, and he's 3-9 lifetime against the Senators. (Litter Box Cats)
• Robin Lehner sounds like a born professional. I hope Pascal Leclaire or Mike Brodeur are healthy soon, so Lehner can head back to the AHL and get some starts. (Citizen)
• UPDATE: Actually, it looks like Leclaire won't be back any time soon. He's suffered a setback in his rehab. I know, unbelievable, right? (Sportsnet)
• Some fans get flown around the city by Alex Kovalev. (OttawaStart)
• Speaking of Kovalev, he's better than any goalie in the league. His words, not mine. (Yahoo!)

• Cory Lavalette, we will never forgive you for giving Zack Smith the 'Worst numbers from a player you've never heard of' award. Okay, fine, we will forgive you, but not easily. (From the Rink)
• When Kovalev and Sergei Gonchar assisted on Daniel Alfredsson's goal Tuesday night, could it have been the first time three players with over 1,000 NHL regular-season games played under their belts factored in to the same goal? Maybe, but we're too lazy to confirm or deny. (SENS Town)
• It looks like these guys have photoshopped Kovalev as Vigo from Ghostbusters II. (Cory Clouston Fashion Review)
• Apparently not all is well between the Minnesota Wild and Martin Havlat: Agent Allan Walsh says Havlat is underused, and almost intimates that he's overpaid, in Minny. And although I don't buy the rumours, I would love to see Mach 9 back in a Sens uniform. (Hockey Wilderness)
• A surprisingly interesting article on B/R about the curious case of Mike Commodore. Were he on the last year of his contract, I'd give more credence to the possibility of a trade to Ottawa; as it is, with this year and two more still on the deal, there's no way. (Bleacher Report)