5 Thoughts for Friday
World Juniors, Sens prospects, injuries and many more! It's the Christmas edition of 5 Thoughts!
It's time to take a break from opening presents, watching Christmas movies and extended family gatherings just for a moment.
We've got a special holiday edition of Five Thoughts for Friday.
Senators Leading Statistical Categories
Regardless of how you feel the team's season is going, it's been a great start for the players. So where we can't all agree on the overall state and direction of the Senators, it's rather easy to celebrate the individual accomplishments.
And of course, we have to start with Mark Stone.
The 23-year-old is leading the NHL in takeaways for a second straight year and this season, it isn't even close. In 33 games, Stone has 50 steals while second place is Jeff Skinner with 35.
Erik Karlsson leads all defensemen in points, but what's more impressive is that he sits atop the entire Eastern Conference in the same category. The Swedish sensation has 38 points in 35 games and is on pace for 88 points. Oh, and second place in Eastern Conference points? Mike Hoffman.
Craig Anderson has had the biggest workload of any goalie in the league by far. After playing 16 of the last 18 games because of Andrew Hammond's concussion problems, the 34-year-old netminder has faced the most shots (934) and stopped the most (858), as well.
Injuries, Injuries, Injuries
On opening night, Ottawa's lineup looked like this:
ICYMI: Here's how tonight's #Sens projected line-up looks... pic.twitter.com/OBuM5Gsw5M
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) October 8, 2015 And in the Senators' last game against Florida, they looked like this:
ICYMI: Tonight's projected line-up against the Panthers looks like this... pic.twitter.com/KNLmxhyWLF
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) December 22, 2015 Two vastly different situations, to say the least.
If there's any indication that the Senators aren't in trouble as much as the doubters say they are - currently losing ground in a tight Atlantic Division race - then it's because they're bound to become healthy sometime, sooner or later. If the team can hang in there until Cody Ceci, Milan Michalek and Clarke MacArthur return from the IR, they've got a chance to keep the season afloat.
And hopefully Bobby Ryan's finger only needs the Christmas break.
Chabot vs. White
When Canada and the U.S. face off on Boxing Day - strange, seeing as we're used to a New Year's Eve Classic - Sens fans will have a lot more to root for than just cheering on their respective countries.
Senators prospects Thomas Chabot and Colin White will become rivals very early in the World Junior Championship.
While Chabot is slotted as a first-pairing defensemen with Team Canada, White was just awarded an "A" and will serve as an alternate captain for Team U.S.A.
It's the perfect time for a matchup between two exciting, young future Senators, seeing as how disappointing the Binghamton Senators have been this year. It'll be a nice boost of confidence for Sens fans to see their two 2015 first-rounders hopefully putting on a good performance in the next couple weeks.
Speaking of the World Juniors
Like any non-NHL hockey competition, the WJC has its fair share of critics, but I am one of those who counts down the days until the opening game on the 26th.
And if you're one of those people too, then here are a couple great memories of the tournament that has brought so much excitement over the years.
Man, they really should've just learned to shut off Pierre's mic after something exciting happened.
Happy Holidays
From all of us at Silver Seven, we hope you have a wonderful break and wish you a very happy holidays with whatever you may celebrate during these warm December days.