LNN: Pageau and Stone in the Semifinals and a Sens fan in the draft

• Last night, the Sens put out a new episode of ‘Breakaway,’ centred on top prospect and all around cool dude Egor Sokolov. Take the time to watch it. This kid is adorable./

It’s still a month until 🦈 week, but you can get a head start with this episode of Breakaway presented by @Bell . pic.twitter.com/oVgjgEaGiT

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) June 13, 2021

• Something I found cool: it turns out that Brandt Clarke, one of the top prospects in this year’s draft, was a huge Sens fan growing up! He talked to TSN recently about his favourite Sens memories and what it was like to skate with Erik Karlsson. Clarke will certainly not fall to #10 in this year’s draft, but I found the interview cute. It’s kind of weird to hear a prospect talking like that about a run that feels like it happened so recently, but a fun reminder that the Sens have a passionate fanbase, and that the 2017 run was remarkable enough to leave such an impact on young hockey fans. Also, I find it funny that when the interviewer asks about his favourite Sens memory, his first response is a run that he admits happened when he was 4. Buddy, I was 4 during an important Sens playoff run. I don’t pretend to remember it. Just admit you learned about that run from other Sens fans.
• The Hockey Diversity Alliance is just over a year old! Akim Aliu talked to CBC about the organization and where it’s headed.
• Folks. The former Senators. They are doing well in the playoffs. Don’t click on any of these next few links if you don’t want to be sad, but Sportsnet listed both Pageau and Stone as potential candidates for the Conn Smythe. Cool. (I am unsurprised and also proud of them).
• An Islanders blog also named Pageau one of the best Islanders in the second round, and RDS interviewed him en français about the playoff run.
• At last, the hockey world is learning what Sens fans have known since at least 2015: Mark Stone is elite. NBC Sports wrote about him here, and Jesse Granger had some extremely nice things to say about his defensive game in this piece for The Athletic.
• Also at The Athletic, Ian Mendes looked at the Senators’ main roster debates ahead of the expansion draft, trying to figure out which players Ottawa will most likely protect.
• For anyone wondering who the Sens might try to trade for during the offseason, Sportsnet has a list of some of the most notable trade candidates of the summer.
• As some of you may already know, Jashvina Shah and Evan Moore have a book  about hockey culture coming out in the fall. It’s called Game Misconduct, and I’d highly recommend pre-ordering it if you plan on reading it, because that’s a great way to support authors. Jashvina recently appeared on a podcast to talk about the book and about hockey culture, and she was also interviewed by Sports As Told By A Girl.
• The Carnegie Initiative is a new, independent initiative that’s all about changing hockey culture and growing the game. ESPN had a great writeup of the organization a few days ago.
• Finally, I’d like to highlight a recent article by Jessica Luther on how to cover sexual assault in sports. The piece is directed at sports media, but I think it’s a must-read for any sports fan, as it does a good job of explaining the nuances of the issue and the main problems with the way it’s often discussed. Trigger warning for discussion of sexual assault, obviously./