Thursday LNN: The Ottawa Deadpools, Neurodiversity Hockey Program, Karlsson Back To Form and More

The Sens may be last in their division and the only Atlantic team below .500 but as our very own NKB mentioned yesterday, everything will be okay! While we’re still not even past the first quarter of games played, it’s been an exciting season so far. So let’s take a trip around the links, news and notes of this week.

• You know I have to start with this! Could Ryan Reynolds be the next owner of the Ottawa Senators? People magazine reported that the Canadian actor would be very interested in purchasing the team and more importantly, keeping it in Ottawa. Of course, the news started spreading and the craze went into full force on Twitter especially after and interesting but brief interaction between Reynolds and a Sens fan:/

🤔

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) November 1, 2022

This of course resulted in Sens fans going through Reynolds recent likes and voila, we found what we wanted to see:

ill just leave this here;) pic.twitter.com/agepsywnm2

— Keith (@sensfan1990) November 3, 2022

Things are too early to tell and this could all be a hoax of some sort but Reynolds has the passion for sports ownership and enough money to (partially) buy in so maybe? Why not?

• A few hours prior to the Ryan Reynolds news; Bruch Garrioch had an article via the Ottawa Citizen about potential new ownership and some parties who could be interested. It’s mostly all speculation but the interesting part of the article is that he mentions that he expects Anna and Olivia to retain a portion of the team out of respect to their late father. Personally, I would prefer if the Melnyk name was completely detached from the Sens going forward but the young ladies have earned our respect so far and that seems like a reasonable move to make.
• In case you haven’t heard, Shane Pinto has been named rookie of the month for October! Pinto has been dazzling and impressing everyone in the league and with his recent promotion, don’t expect him to slow down anytime soon!
• Is the Atlantic division really that good? Justin Bourne on Sportsnet doesn’t seem so convinced. In his 10 thoughts from around the league, he takes a closer look at the recent success of the division and whether the numbers tell the whole story.
• In some heartwarming and interesting news, Hockey New Brunswick initiates the first Neurodiversity hockey program. The program is taking hockey diversity in a whole new direction by allowing youth with autism, Down syndrome and other neurodiversity to be able to play hockey in a safe and tailored environment. It’s an amazing program that saw tremendous success in its first release and we can only hope to see such programs spread around the country.
• Erik Karlsson hasn’t been the same since he left Ottawa but it seems he’s turning a corner back to his old self this season. Unfortunately, it’s not helping the Sharks win more games which is prompting trade talks early on in the season. While his contract may be an issue, his performance against the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night might make more teams want to make it work. Can’t talk about Tuesday night without bringing up Karlsson’s Peaky Blinders look, exquisite./

Y’all had to know he was gunna score right?…. RIGHT!?! 😤 pic.twitter.com/h4rLx4OTQn

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 2, 2022

• The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has been busy this week handing out a $5,000 fine to the New York Islanders’ Casy Cizikas and a $1,500 fine to Anaheim Ducks’ Trevor Zegras./