Brady Tkachuk Returns to Ottawa Senators Practice, Stephen Halliday NHL Debut? + WisconSens Update

Brady Tkachuk Returns to Ottawa Senators Practice, Stephen Halliday NHL Debut? + WisconSens Update

On today’s show, Brady Kachchuck was back at Senator’s practice. And could Steven Holidayiday be making his NHL debut tomorrow night? And we head over to Madison to catch up on the Wisconsin Sens with Todd Mleski. This is Brad Kruck and you’re listening to the Locked On Senator podcast. You’re Locked On Senators, your daily podcast on the Ottawa Senators, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Welcome. You are locked on to the Ottawa Senators. I’m Ross Levitan alongside Brandon Pillar and today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Today is Wednesday, November 19th, and Pillsy. Updates from Senators practice, most notably Brady Kachchuck. We knew he was going on the trip and he was skating as an extra today with his teammates. Yeah, it’s good to see Brady skating. Uh we heard from his new podcast, uh the what’s the official title? Wingmen with the Kachchucks. Correct. Okay. Love it. Um that he’s aiming to come back November 27th, 28th, right around that Thanksgiving game up against the St. Louis Blues. So, he’s gearing up. He’s getting ready. And uh it’s anytime we can see Kachchuck on the ice getting closer, it’s a good day for me. Yes, it is. That game is 8 days away. Tomorrow will be the first game in what feels like forever. Yeah. For the Ottawa Senators. They haven’t scored a goal in a week, PZY, since the Boston game. So excited to see Senators hockey back tomorrow night. Note the 1000 PM start time and no it does not affect the postcast. But Pillsy Kachchuck on the ice for practice, not skating on a line, but you know who was Steven Halliday. Fourth line ster between Nick Cousins and Hayden Hodgegson. I think he might be playing tomorrow. Lars Eller not on the ice for practice. So natural fit bringing up that centerman. Yeah, I’d be really surprised if they brought Steven Hall without the intention of playing him at least one game because he’s the key part of the Belleville Centers. although they didn’t need him today. We’ll get to that earlier. Uh or later, I should say. But I think it’s great that he’s getting his opportunity. This will be his first NHL game. He’s been called up a couple times, seen a couple practices, then sent back down. But Nick Cousins, Hayden Hodgkins, not exactly the linemates that you were hoping for, Ross, but hey, it gets him in the center of the ice, get a couple minutes under his belt, and get a taste of what NHL hockey is like. That’s this is going to be a taste and if he plays seven, eight minutes, perfect and maybe he has that creativity blossom. But I think for him it’s just about going out there and not trying to do too much. Not trying to say, “Wow, this is my opportunity to to in five minutes show this team why I’m being called up to the National Hockey League. It just has to be a very calm, steady approach. When you have the guys ahead of you in the middle of the ice, you don’t have to be the disher each and every shift. So hopefully he gets in. Going to be curious to see who’s taking faceoffs on that line. Are they going to throw the kid right to the Wolves and say, “Hey, go get him.” Oh yeah. And how sheltered would the minutes be? But it would be the first rookie lap of the season for Ottawa this year. So I would be fired up. We’ve obviously been uh he’s been a friend of the show for a long time. I think a six or a seven time recurring guest. Just an awesome dude and really really going to be happy for him if it does come to fruition tomorrow night. Yeah, I I’m under the assumption that it will. Um, you got to get him in for at least one game. Give Lars Eller the time he needs. He’s He’s a vet that’s been really good for the send so far. So, if he needs that break, you got Steven Holidayiday with you. It’d be silly not to use him in my opinion. So, I’m I’m expecting to see him tomorrow night. Okay. So, what would you hope to see from him then? Kind similar to what you said. I’ll echo your statements is just play a smart, responsible game. you’re not up there with uh Timmy, you’re not going to be able to kind of have that familiarity of playing top line, top power play minutes. So, it’s just about getting into the groove of things in each shift, not making any big mistakes here. But Steven Halliday is the type of guy, high hockey IQ. I don’t anticipate he’s going to try to do too much or make mistakes. Anyways, everything else stays the same for the Ottawa Senators. It’s Tim Stutzla between David Pon and Drake Bathson. Dylan Cousins centering Ridley Greg and Fabian Zetterland and Shane Pinto between Michael Amaddio and Clo Jeru the back end. Jake Sanderson with Ardam Zub Tyler Cleven with Jordan Spence and Nicholas Matten Paulo with Nick Jensen. So we don’t anticipate Jensen missing any more time. Um what a warrior. Like I mean that you got to say that about Nick Jensen, man. That guy can withstand a ton of pain and looks like he’ll be in tomorrow night. Uh interesting to note they had an extra pair on defense. We knew Lassie Thompson was uh called up so they wanted to have it even numbers and then have it be Curtis McDermott who did play D at one point in his career. Pelysey left shot and after we recorded yesterday the news came out that Dennis Gilbert is just dealing with a minor injury. So, he was actually reassigned to Belleville from the trade. Doesn’t have to clear waiverss because he’s coming from an AHL organization uh with Philly with Lehigh Valley. So, we will not see Dennis Gilbert on at least the first part of this road trip. Well, and do we know yet if Max Ganette cleared waivers because he was put on waivers by Philadelphia basically as soon as he was signed and acquired. So, that uh that would be interesting to see if he would clear. Now, I’m pretty sure the sends wouldn’t be able to pick him up. I know you tweeted Ross the Sens could do something really funny here, but I think the the league doesn’t allow that type of move. Yeah, no surprise. And obviously, it’s time for a fresh start for the player and he feels that way. Didn’t want to sign and Ottawa will be seeing what they decided on in Lassie Thompson uh at NHL practices now. And we’ll see if Lassie gets into another game with Ottawa. Uh, waivers would have been done by now. And I don’t know if we just missed the Michael Thomasino uh, sweep stakes. He was the other player on waiverss. And yes, per Elliot Friedman. Both players cleared waivers. Hey, quick note, man. What is going on in the National Hockey League right now? We heard about the Jack Hughes injury, freak accident at a dinner, had glass or his hand. Anyways, you see the latest one in Florida? No. Itu Lostin, who’s having a great start to the year, is week to week after suffering burns during a barbecue accident. Oh, dang. What’s going on? Yeah, that’s uh that’s a weird one. So, clearly no dinners, no barbecues. Let’s uh let’s get all our food safely given and served to these players. Wow, that’s that’s tough. Week to week. Yikes. Yeah. 10 points in 18 games for Los Orion this year. He’s on the line with Brad Marsh and and Anton Lundell. They’re dealing with a ton of injuries down there in Florida. And he’s he’s a good player, man. For a while, it was just unique to Ottawa when Craig Anderson cut his hand on frozen chicken at home. He missed a ton of time with that. Yeah, I mean, these these things do happen. Uh it happens not just in hockey, baseball. There’s been some weird ones, too. Um, also Ross, we got an update from our guy Jackson Star that Thomas Shabbat was on the ice uh at the end of practice doing individual drills. So, at least it’s looking like he’s working his way towards coming back as well. Okay, so Shabbat on the trip, Brady Kachchuck on the trip. That’s a great start to it. And then you add in that the Senators have had a especially relative to their former November, a pretty successful one so far with a record of 31 and three. They got a plus one goal differential. Um what are you laughing about? 3-1 and three is just a hilarious record to be like this is the best November ever. Yeah, he lost four out of seven games. But you know what, PZY? Hey, that’s points. That’s nine points in my book. So, yeah, it is kind of ridiculous. Uh, you know what else is tough? Sends record out west. They have not had a kind trip to California in quite some time. The Hamburglar run is so ridiculous. That was at the peak of the California teams and he went in and shut out two of them on back-to-back nights. That was kind of the start of like people catching attention. He’d already had a couple good games before then. that game against Montreal where he got thrown in first game 40 saves and then after that trip everyone was like what what’s going on 21 and2 record ridiculous and the California trip is working its way back to being a gauntlet like there was a good what fiveear stretch there where San Jose Anaheim and LA were top teams like San Jose was a contending team for years um till the Carlson trade ironically um well the year after thank goodness because they got that far. They owed the s they owed Buffalo their first round pick for a Vander Kane trade which pushed the pick they gave Ottawa a year later which then clicked in at Tim Stutza. Yeah, it ended up working out pretty good. Uh but San Jose is a frisky team right now. Cabbrini coming off a massive game and you can’t take them too lightly. Then obviously the Ducks who have cooled off lately but still uh a team with a lot of great young players. We’ll see who the Ducks play tonight. Uh their starting goalender, I mean, because they play Boston tonight, then Ottawa tomorrow. So, that’ll be interesting. So funny when that happens because it’s like we’re the biggest Ducks fans tonight and then tomorrow we hope hope they stink. Yeah. Well, duck hunting season is on or off tonight. Duck hunting season starts starts tomorrow. Nice. Nice. I like that. Uh 10 o’clock start tomorrow. It’s a 700 p. p.m. Eastern start on Saturday despite the West Coast. San Jose, it’s a 400 pm local time game there. And then they play Monday in Los Angeles. That is a 900 p.m. game. So times are just jumping around. That’s okay. That’s okay. We’ll battle through. That’s why you got locked on Senators five days a week and postgame to keep y’all up to the latest on the Ottawa Senators. Hey, speaking of goalies, Ottawa might have found another diamond in the rough. Our guy Jackson Parsons shut out. First pro shut out today, but he’s never lost in the AHL. He’s now 3 and 0 with a 67 goals against average and a 978 save percentage. Insane. I mean, congrats Jackson Parsons. Uh first game 2-1 win, second game 4-1 win. Third game 4 nothing win up against the Marlies on the school day. So, an early one for him, but he woke up ready to go. Like, that’s you can’t get much better than that. And, uh, we were excited for Jackson Parson. Uh, we thought he would spend most, if not all of the year in the ECHL with the Allen Americans, but he now has more games played in Belleville than he does played in the ECHL. So, a real awesome opportunity for him that he’s taking advantage of. Yeah. And even in those two ECHL games, he had a 931 save percentage. So, he’s just stopping pucks and we love to see it. Great guy. Go check out our interview from this past summer with Parsons. Uh, with that said, Belleville has got four wins in a row and part of the reason is a six-game goal streak for Arthur Calia. Big big time AHL player down there and the guy everyone wants to hear about. Carter Yakamchuk scored his third goal of the season today. School day game by the way. So started at 10:30 and had an assist. So goal assist brings Yakamchuck to 11 points on the season. There’s only two defenseman in the league with more points than 11. Not rookies. Wow. Overall defenseman and they’re two like mid20s guys. So shout out to Carter Yakamchuk. It’s uh Ryan Uffco and Zack Jones with 13 points each and there’s a whole bunch of players tied with 11 and that includes Yak. So that’s great to see. The points are coming. He’s playing a ton of minutes, too. So keep it rolling. They got a big weekend. Two games in Laval and then they’re coming to Manitoba. And I’ll be on the call with footy on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Moose and the Belleville Senators. Pew pew. Our guy Pistol Pete also got a goal. That was sick. Yep. Yeah. Another school day game for you calling uh the game up against the Moose. So get up early for that one, guys, if you want to follow along. And now Belleville sits in a nice spot. one point back of the Rochester Americans and the Laval Rocket who they’ll play twice this weekend. So, if things go well for them this weekend, they could take the lead in the North Division. So, we love to see that. You know who else has a tough weekend? The Wisconsin Sens Badgers. They’re taking on the number one team in the country, Michigan State. So, we figured it would be a good time to welcome on a future good friend of the show, Todd Mleski. He’s been covering the Badgers. He’ll tell you all about that. He is awesome for insight on Logan Hensler, Blake Montgomery, Buruno Ean, Tyson Dick, and do we have a chance to be national champions? Transfer Porters. Transfer portal is open. So, I don’t even feel bad. Like, it’s the throw away the old toy. The North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Hey, we had a good run, boys. Wisconsin national championship on the horizon. Todd will tell you if that’s realistic or not next. You’re listening to Locked On Senators, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at Rouette. Let’s be real, making excuses doesn’t solve anything. We’ve all heard them before. It’s just stress. I’m just tired. Or it happens to everyone sometimes. But when it comes to performance, sometimes your body just needs a little extra support. And that’s where Rouette comes in. Rouette.com offers fast acting doctor prescribed treatments for ED designed to help you stop making excuses and start making moves. Rouette makes it easy to get started. You just connect with a boardcertified doctor, 100% online. None of those awkward waiting rooms, no in-person appointments, and if prescribed, your treatment ships discreetly straight to your door. Nice and easy, simple, private, and it’s all handled by real doctors. It’s about confidence, connection, and getting back to the moments that matter. So, visit rouette.com/lockedonHL to get 15% off your first order. That’s rugg.com/lockedonHL. And don’t forget to use our promo code locked on NHL. So, they know the Locked Onenters podcast sent you. Rouette, stop making excuses. Start making moves. All right, we now welcome a very special guest. We’re heading to the home of the Wisconsin Sens and that’s where we catch up with Todd Mleski. It’s his 30th season covering Wisconsin’s Badgers hockey team. Todd, great to chat with you. Thanks for coming on the show. Yeah, thanks for inviting me. Really appreciate it. What’s it been like covering this team this year? felt like they were ranked maybe a little bit lower than we at least hoped because with all the sends prospects, we wanted to see this as a top 10 team in the nation. Didn’t take long for them to climb up there, though. Yeah, Wisconsin’s a program that gets a lot of uh respect uh just for the name that it has. It’s a uh program that’s had a lot of success over the years. Not as much recently, though. So, it’s been a little bit of a building project. Last year uh was a down season after uh Mike Hastings came in the year before, brought in a really good group uh and and had a lot of success in his first year. Last year took a step back and so that was a little bit of the the question of well which which team are we going to see this year? And uh through 12 games it’s it’s been pretty good. 82 and two uh pretty good start. Uh a little bit of of work that still needs to be done. Obviously, they’re getting into playing some some more difficult Big 10 programs. Uh they’ve got a big series this weekend at number one Michigan State, which is going to be viewed by a lot of people if uh if they have the the streaming capacity to do it, I guess. Um and it’s uh there’s a lot of of positive signs for for Wisconsin so far this season. Now, we’ve got a lot of Sen’s prospects to talk about that are playing in Wisconsin, but I want to start Todd with Logan Hensler last season because kind of the the book on him was he struggled a little bit in at the start, which is fair. Uh, young defenseman, NCAA uh first year, but then he really figured things out in the second half of the year. How would you describe Logan Hensler’s first year with Wisconsin? That’s a pretty good assessment. uh he went to world juniors and like we see a lot of a lot of young players go to the world juniors come back a different player and I think that’s a little bit of what we saw we saw a little bit more confidence a little bit more uh you know just ability to to to think quickly and and and that’s that’s the biggest thing when you jump up that level is that things happen so much faster and you know every level you go up it happens a little bit quicker uh and and that really hits people pretty hard now he played a lot of college games with the the national team development program. He was there in a lot of those situations, but it it’s different when you get into those games that are not exhibition games for those college teams. It it does happen a lot faster and that that was I think an eyeopening experience for the first, you know, month or two of the season. Then he gets into World Junior camp, does pretty well there, gets on the team, you know, plays a a limited role, but but does from all accounts does pretty well in it. um and then brings it back to Wisconsin and just looked like a player who heard a few times, look, you can do this. You you are good enough to do this. Just put it out there and do it. Do what you know how to do. And it it’s amazing how when you when you hear that from the right people, it maybe it means something a little bit more and it means you see it happen on a big stage and have some success like that team did. I I think that really did affect him and he was able to play more more free, more uh just trusting in his ability and and I think that really helped him the second half of last season and offensively the numbers started to climb a touch. Like he scored a highlight reel goal. I think it was one of only two that he scored all all season, but it felt like a lot of the draft prognosticators just said, “Hey, because of his skating, it’ll come.” Did you always believe that there was more offense that he shown here in the early part of this season when you were watching him develop through that freshman year? Yeah, I think everyone thought that there was more there. It just had to had to unlock and had to uh maybe be in the right positions, too. He didn’t see a ton of power play time last season. They they were trying to figure out the right mix there and never really got it to go the way they wanted to. uh he he’s big part of the second unit right now and sometimes getting a part in in the first um and so trusting him with that being the guy that’s going to run that from the top of the zone. I think that’s, you know, a little bit of a, you know, the same kind of thing of like with the World Juniors is that look, the coaching staff here says, “You can do this. We trust you. You go out there and do what you can do.” And now we’ve seen what he can do skating wise and and having the vision to to find the right routes. He just scored a goal this last weekend that was pretty incredible that way. in terms of just the judgment that he showed in his own zone and then going forward with the puck to find the right spot in um I I think that was one of the biggest things he had to show was that you know yeah he’s he’s still developing the the defensive skills everyone does I mean it you when you’re still 18 you know turning 19 soon years old uh you’re going to have to develop those skills but he does does have a good stick good knows the good gap control has been able able to play that pretty well and now adding a little bit more that that offensive flare and showing when what he can do when he gets that opportunity and trusts himself to take it I think is that step that everyone was hoping to see and we’re starting to see it unlock there. Now another guy that I’m really excited about, we had him on the show is Bruno Ejan. Um just an absolute character of crazy path to get to where he is today. I think he’s another guy that getting into college hockey, maybe it started off a little slow for him, but he got that goal this weekend. It was an absolute beauty. What are you seeing from Bruno so far this season? You know, Bruno’s in a kind of in a fourth line or just out of the lineup kind of role right now. And so, he’s kind of bouncing back and forth trying to prove himself in in practice to to get those opportunities. he has had some time in the power play and and it you know I don’t say it went poorly but it he just didn’t really show a lot uh as a as a weapon there I guess u so I mean he’s he’s going to figure that out you got to remember he yeah this is such an interesting case of where he’s come from how quickly it has developed for him coming from Croatia to the USHL last year uh midway through the season and then jumping right into college because everyone saw what he did right away in the USL and it’s like well this is something that could be pretty good for our team and then there was still some question uh his junior coach wanted him to stay another year I mean I think all junior coaches are kind of that way there’s you know a little bit of a a pull there on on both sides but um I I I Wisconsin felt like they needed to get him this year to start that process of maturing and start that uh that next step because we’ve seen like what he does when he takes a step up and it it kind of like it goes and then it kind of, you know, maybe has a little bit of a lull. He needs to go through that and he needs to figure out, okay, what do I do when that lull happens and how do I make myself a player that’s going to be uh counted on to be in the lineup every night? And I think that’s what we’re starting to see here is he’s, you know, he’s taking advantage of some of the opportunities he’s got. He’s got to do it a little bit more and a little bit more consistently. And I think that’s what the coaches are are looking for here. Well, opportunity was what got him that last year. And the reason was because his now teammate and fellow Sens prospect Blake Montgomery went to the OHL and left the Lincoln Stars, opening that roster spot for Bruno. Now they’re teammates there. We love the way Montgomery plays. We felt like last year in in London when all those guys went to the World Juniors, he was left behind and all of a sudden was put into a scoring role. Kind of played a Swiss Army knife role in the OHL. Is he in a similar spot in Wisconsin or is he being offered more offensive opportunities? How’s it looked through the first number of games? It’s been fairly consistent where he’s been, you know, in the third line kind of uh, you know, filling in that spot there, maybe bumping up a line here and there, but uh, yeah, I think that’s that is the way I see it. That is a uh, you see the opportunity or you see the the potential there and it’s a little bit of well, how do we capitalize on this? how does he capitalize on it? Uh and and I think everyone re recognizes there’s a little bit of time there. He he’s still growing into his body, right? I mean, this is still a guy that’s uh figuring out what all he can do, but when he gets the puck and he has some open ice, that’s when he’s really like, okay, that it it it means something. He understands what he can do there. Now, uh scored a goal earlier this earlier this season where he was one on four essentially. got the puck at center ice, four guys in front of him, and it just happened that they their gap was pretty awful. He found the seam right up the middle and went in and scored. And it was I think those kind of uh moments that were, you know, kind of that, well, that worked. So, I need to I need to keep putting myself in those opportunities and keep I think what he said after that game is I need to keep demanding the puck because that’s what uh Andrew Gordon from the Senters told him was they needed to see from him. Uh, so they weren’t seeing that earlier in the season. Uh, he needed to start doing that for himself and it really did start paying off. Today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. Keeps every game a little bit more exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push or they’re on the road and you’re trying to find ways to stay up for those late West Coast games. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Did you think that there was a chance that Wisconsin might lose that commit after they won the Memorial Cup in London? Because Blake told us he’s like, I didn’t think about it for a second. He wanted to go to college, but it almost felt like it was such a good situation for him with the Knights that maybe he would be tempted to stay. It’s such a weird like this whole last year has been so weird to try to figure out what okay, what players are coming when and where are they coming from because of the the the NCA rule change. And so, uh, yeah, I mean, I I didn’t really know what to expect with a lot of the players. I mean, there was there’s a few that, you know, come from the USL. You think they’re not that’s been the triedand-true path. It’s it’s worked for years. And now you add the CHL players and it’s like, well, okay, where’s, uh, where’s the the counter going to be from the CHL side? What are they going to ask of them or want them to do? And so, um, I know a lot of college teams are working through that kind of power dynamic of like, okay, how do we go in and recruit these guys and and not try and uh, you know, or try to stay on the good side of a lot of these GMs in in the CHL uh, to um, make sure that they have a good relationship. So, um, that is I guess I wasn’t necessarily overly concerned from the Wisconsin side because, um, they felt like that was a pretty strong commitment, but there was the unknown of we just haven’t seen this before and didn’t really know what to expect. Yeah, he wasn’t playing in Shikatimi, no offense to them, but like the London Knights, like it feels probably like pro hockey when you’re playing up there, so you get a taste of that. And his brother had played for the London Knights before that, but uh, we’re glad to see him there. It makes it easy for us to track his Sens fans having four of them because Tyson Dicks down there as well, a seventh round pick a couple years ago. Now, notice that he hasn’t been playing every game. Is he kind of in an in and out of the lineup or was it an injury? What’s been the case with uh Tyson this season? No, from everything I know, that’s been a healthy scratch and just a uh you know, he’s played center most of his career here. Um and they brought in a new three new centers to to kind of solidify down the middle and he was kind of in that mix of at the start of the year of well is he our fourth or is he our fifth and that was the you know they went with the young guys because they want that that turnover to happen. They want that that those guys get that experience and start to develop that because they see them as being the the long range picture there. Uh now Tyson Dick has has filled in pretty well in the couple times the last few weeks that he’s gotten a chance. Now he’s uh you know kind of on a limited minutes you know plan there but uh on a third or fourth line but he’s been uh thrown into a situation where they haven’t liked what happened on a Friday night threw him in there on a Saturday and it’s looked okay. So that’s uh I think something a point in his favor. Now, I don’t know if it’s, you know, long term going to going to stay that way, but they’re, you know, when you get into the uh uh the middle of the season here, you’re going middle and late of the season, you’re going to need some guys to fill in roles. And he’s a guy that has played center and wing, so does fill in uh you know, a couple of gaps wherever they need him. They tell the coach at 300 and one with him in the lineup. Let’s get him in more. I think people look at that eventually and say, “Well, uh maybe something works when we have him in there, right? Now, Sens fans love when there’s a group of Sens prospects. In one school, we had the Nodak Sens a couple years ago, and that got us familiar with head coach, uh, Brad Barry, who was a very defensiveminded coach. That was his, um, kind of attribute that everybody knew him for. Todd, what can you tell us about Mike Hastings? Like, how would you describe him as a coach? He is a a coach that molds what he does to what he has. And I think everyone you can say that about every coach, but um the I guess the the trend has been for Mike Casing seems to be more on the defensive side because they’ve had really good goalending. The the the teams that you remember he had at Minnesota State were known for their uh strong goalending. And so that becomes a little bit of the okay, here’s here’s the the the rub on there or here’s the the the message on this guy is that well he wins with defense. it it that’s true, but a lot of those teams also were really gifted uh scoring-wise, not necessarily talent-wise, but getting the most out of what they had uh and putting people in the right positions to succeed scoring-wise. That was the the big drop off between year one and year two here at Wisconsin is that they just didn’t find the scoring. they they could not consistently get enough of that to to overcome uh just some some the possession metrics were all in their favor. They were, you know, hitting, you know, 57 58% on on shot attempts. Um but just never saw that reflected in their their goal totals. So, um, it it it does feel like Mike Hastings wants a possession team, wants a team that’s going to be disciplined and he’s he’s starting to see a team here that is more reflective of of that because, you know, you come in a new to a new situation and even with the transfer portal, it’s going to be a couple years before you get the kind of full team that you want to have and that you feel like is reflective of the style that you want. And I think at Wisconsin is starting to see that. And th these four guys from that are senators picks are are pretty big parts of that. Especially, you know, the Montgomery part, the I mean, Bruno Ejan is is a uh a bit of a project, but he’s the kind of project that I think they like because he he’s got size, he’s got grit, he’s got uh you know, he’s got some he’s got scoring potential and the capabilities there. Um, and then you know, Logan Hensler on the on the back end is a just a mobile uh good puck mover, can do a lot of things for you, can can be power play guy, um, like I I mentioned before. And and these are the kind of uh faces that uh that I think they love to have. You know, that guys develop pretty quickly in college. All of a sudden, they grow like a mushroom and all of a sudden they’re ready. But based on what you’ve seen so far, do you think it’s in their best interest for all four of those guys to be back in Wisconsin next season as well? How close do you think I guess Logan Hensler, the first round pick, would probably be the closest to the NHL? But one, would you agree with that? And two, do you think it’s in their best interest to come back next season as well? I think you’re right in that the question really for me is if you’re going to put those four on there, yeah, Hensler is the one that is is the closest to being able to make the jump. And I I just don’t know. It’s a question of do do you want to uh where do you want him to make that development? Is you know could it be here for another year or is it in the AHL and then you risk that does he get lost in the AHL? What’s what’s the situation between there and the big club and and uh is he ready for that? I I think there’s a little bit that that needs to happen more in terms of the um well honestly it’s just physical maturity sometimes too. I mean, he’s still like, yeah, figuring that out. It’s, you know, a guy that’s uh I think he’s still 18. He was 17 last started last season. He’s 18, maybe 19 now. Just turned 19, but like started the season as an 18-year-old. Yeah, that’s a uh that’s that’s a lot to ask from a 19-year-old if you’re going to make a jump into the uh into the pros like that. We’ve seen it go both ways on on guys that some guys are just ready for it. some guys take a little bit more time. I don’t know that I I’m I have my mind made up on that yet. And I don’t think he or the team does either because uh you know, you read the tea leaves of of what the team is bringing in next season in terms of recruiting and who they’ve got committed and and what things look like. They don’t necessarily have a guy to replace him yet. So, uh I think that that tells me that it’s it’s, you know, there’s a chance that he’s coming back for a third year here. Well, hey, half the NAK ends never saw the AHL and Jake Sanderson and Shane Pinto. So, we’re hoping that maybe hey, one more year at Wisconsin and it it’s not even a backhand or backhand towards the AHL and and Belleville, but like the way these facilities are and the training staffs and everything that the college hockey programs, it’s not like that part of it is any better in the American Hockey League. It’s just about playing against men. Ottawa drafted a right shot defenseman in the first round, seventh overall the year before, too. So, it almost would make more sense to let Hensler marinate in the in the NCAA while Yakamchuck is getting his footing and then you can kind of do the process over. And looking at the schedule for Wisconsin, there’s no easy weekends this season. It feels like they’ve got Penn State a bunch of times. They got Michigan, you mentioned this upcoming weekend against Michigan State. Has it always been like that with Wisconsin? Is that just a Big 10 thing where every weekend it feels like it’s going to be a battle no matter what? I mean, this year is really different. I mean, the Big 10 has been good regardless for, you know, since it started. It’s it’s really better than the NCHC or No, I mean, maybe in regular season play, I’d say yeah, but you know what what counts at the end is the titles, and the NCH has won those. So, I mean, that that’s hard to overcome. But um I I think this season especially when you look at the guys who have come in to Big 10 teams, you know, the Kennes, Martins, it’s it’s it’s it’s really striking how much of a uh you know, the the Big 10 product was good, but it’s become even better uh just over the off season. Um, and we’re seeing where, you know, a lot of those guys are making a difference. And it’s a uh it’s going to be fun to to to watch this over the next couple of years to see if is this like a a one-year thing where where the CHL, you know, change happens and all of this goes with the Big 10 and and uh it it, you know, just happened to be this one year where it worked or is this kind of the the way it is the rest of the way? Because, yeah, you talk about the schedule. I mean, they play every Big 10 team four times. And so that’s four games against Penn State, four against Michigan State, four against Michigan. Minnesota is the, you know, usually a really strong team. They’re having a down year, but four against Minnesota. Um, and then you’ve got, you know, Notre Dame, Ohio State, you know, teams that can’t be overlooked there. You know, Notre Dame’s in a little bit of a rebuilding cycle, but Ohio State is always tough on Wisconsin. So yeah, that’s that’s the challenge here of being a Big 10 team is that you don’t get uh a lot of breaks in your schedule. Todd, final question for me because we’ve had some sense prospects at Wisconsin before and one where they acquired him after he was there, but I was wondering if you had any Kyle Turus or Danny Heatley or Brian Elliot stories that you could share with us from your time covering them. Well, th those are some of three of my favorite players to ever cover here just because of I mean they did so many things that I can think. Okay, so let’s start with Brian Elliot. One, the goalie on the last NCA championship team here in 2006. Um had a just an incredible season that got interrupted by a knee injury in practice. And I can still remember being at that practice and it happening and just like this Paul falling over the team because like you know they’re ranked, you know, in the top two or three in the country. Uh here’s the guy that’s been kind of carrying it for us and now we don’t know how long he’s going to be out. I think it was like four or five weeks, something like that that he was out. Um and came back took him a little while to get back into it and then uh in the NCA regional. So the NCA tournament is four rounds. You play the first two rounds at a regional site before you go to the Frozen 4. That was in Green Bay, the regional here that year. So just a couple hours north of here. Big Wisconsin fan contingent. It was, you know, 8,800 people full of Wisconsin fans. Gets a shut out in the regional semi-final. um played Cornell into triple overtime in a 000 game in the regional final to go to the Frozen Four, which was in Milwaukee, just down the road from Green Bay, just over from Milwaukee here in Wisconsin. Um and you know, gets a shut out there. They finally score in the third overtime to win that one. Uh it was just such a he set the shutout record here at Wisconsin. uh an amazing goalie in the time he was here and I’m glad he had the the the career that he did in the NHL because that was a guy that did so much work toward it. Uh and his dad is an awesome guy. His dad was here a lot. Uh worked as a producer on the Red Green show. Uh so that’s a uh an amazing connection that he had. We talked a lot about that when he was here. Um but yeah, Danny Heatley an incredible player in his two years here at Wisconsin. His first year freshman year just like lit it up. uh was part of a a great line, first line with Steve Rinrect uh who played a lot of years in the NHL, too. They they fell short of the Frozen Four that year. Everyone expected him to be there and they they lost in the regional final. Came back the next year, kind of was on his own a little bit more and still was able to be an all-American style player and a Hobie Baker Award top 10 finalist just because he was he was that good. He was that that much better than everyone else. Uh it was really cool watching him play. and at Kyle Turus one year here but but made the most of it was was a really solid uh you know guy that you knew his his career was going up from where he was and you you could kind of see that he was still trying to figure it out a little bit even you know midseason but really toward the end did uh show that he was he was ready for that next step and and and proved proved that right I guess funny how uh how mirrored it is right like Heatley was the uh the second overall pick in the NHL draft. Kyle Turus went third and Brian Elliot went second last in a round round that doesn’t even exist anymore, right? Yeah. 291st overall and was able to carve out a 543 game career. Unfortunately for him though, Todd, we personally, Pillsy and I ended his career. His last year with Tampa came to Ottawa and we sat right behind the net and we were giving it to him and then he retired after a 72 loss. So, I’m not saying that it was personal, but hey, we we had to have something to cheer about that season because it wasn’t necessarily a good one for the Ottawa Senators. We’re hoping for a good season in Wisconsin this year, and we really appreciate the insight. Early season returns on the four sends prospects there. So, Todd, we’d love to have you back on the show as the Wisconsin Badgers make their way to a Frozen 4. I’m calling it right now. let’s have a successful season down there and uh we look forward to reading and and seeing all your work throughout it. So, thanks so much for doing this. We really appreciate it. Yeah, I appreciate it, guys. Thanks a bunch. All right, Pilzy. Stick taps to Todd for joining us. Great follow on social media as well. So, go check him out there. Psy, has my hat been like this the whole show? I feel like I got corpusal vision. I have no idea. I didn’t do this on purpose. I was going to say you do kind of look like you got corp vision there. Hopefully, you’ve been able to uh see all the production buttons and get this podcast going without allowing a goal in the first shot. I feel like there’s sun in my eyes. No, that’s Corpy. What a what a weird guy. I just don’t understand how he can even see if I was a goalie coach. Like, you think it’s bad trying to get Tim Stutzel to put tape on his stick. Imagine just being like, “Hey, what’s the most important part about being a goalie?” Stinging the puck. Well, why don’t we just tilt this up? Whoop. Wow. I don’t know how it happens either. Like, how does he get it? I think it’s built that way. Got to be built that way. Makes no sense. I had a dream last night that when S come here to Winnipeg that they were they were going to ask me to fill in a goalie at morning skate. How’d that dream go? It was like equal parts. I was really really nervous and like kind of wanting to back out and you’re like, “Bro, when are you ever going to get a chance to practice with an NHL team?” And then I wake up in the hospital. I took a couple high shots. I think you’d be more at risk of pulling a groin or something like that. No, because somebody who’s heard me say something they didn’t like is going to come in and ring one off the top of my noggin. You know who that’s going to be? Curtis McDermad. He might just drop the gloves and say, “I got more ice time out here than in a game.” And you got nowhere to run, kid. I might be older than Curtis McDermott. No, I don’t. No, close. Anyway, it’s probably close. Yeah. Hey, I’m telling you, I’ve said it multiple times. Curtis McDermott, I bet you, is such a beauty. And I’d love to be with And he wins hockey games. I don’t care how many ships he has. I don’t care what his advanced analytics are. The heat crafts the charts. All I care about is the record when he’s playing. And it’s good. Here’s a heat graph for you. When Curtis McDermad plays, the Senators are 51 and two. Just win, baby. There’s a stat you can use. We’ll be back if we remember how to do a game day preview. There’s been about a year since the Ottawa Senators have last played a game and it feels even longer since they’ve scored a goal after being shut out by Anton Forsber. No chance we play against a former Senators goalie, right? Just want to make sure we can do away with that narrative tomorrow. Yeah. None in Anaheim. None in San Jose. But they might throw Forzy back in there on Monday. Actually, that would be a smart thing to do. They Yeah, they probably. Of course they will. Yeah, why wouldn’t they? Crazy not to. We’ll deal with that problem when we get there. Ducks tomorrow. Full game day preview on the show. Please like and subscribe everywhere you get your podcast, including on YouTube for Brandon Pillar. I’m Ross Levitan. Thank you for enjoying the show. Please leave a fivestar review wherever you get your podcast. We’re part of Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Ross Levitan and Brandon Piller talk Ottawa Senators lineup updates, Belleville’s AHL hot streak, and chat Wisconsin Sens with Todd Milewski.

00:00 – Senators Practice Updates & Brady Tkachuk Return
08:16 – Ottawa’s November & Tough California Roadtrip
10:43 – Belleville Senators & Jackson Parsons Rising
13:23 – Wisconsin Badgers Segment with Todd Milewski
41:14 – Final Thoughts

Join LOSP on YouTube LIVE after every Ottawa Senators game for the POSTCAST, Presented By The Glebe Central Pub: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc7EATKp-J1Yeif8fbgaiduLTMZBM8Ecg&si=r2tgOlmV-CeqN1dG

Check Out All Of Our Interviews: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc7EATKp-J1ai4Yzw79OqfYOjvstsf-pb

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSenators?sid=YouTube

Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL

Check out the SensCentral Merch Store: https://senscentralpodcast.secure-decoration.com/

Follow the show…
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/SensCentral
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lockedon.senators
ALL LINKS: https://linktr.ee/LockedOnSenators

Follow us on Twitter…
Ross Levitan: https://twitter.com/RossLevitan
Brandon Piller: https://twitter.com/brandonpiller1

Support us by supporting our sponsors!

Farm2Fork: Visit Farm2ForkDelivery.ca today to taste the Farm2Fork difference. You’ll never go back to grocery store meats! USE PROMO CODE ‘LOCKEDON40’ FOR $40 OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER

GLEBE CENTRAL PUB: Your neighbourhood pub in the heart of the Glebe. Great people, great food and tasty drinks. Come by 779 Bank Street and check out our Sens Game Shuttle!

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

Indeed
Still searching for a great candidate for your company? Don’t search, just match–with Indeed. Claim your SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT now at Indeed.com/LOCKEDON. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed.

FanDuel
Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS – guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) 

#OttawaSenators #Sens #NHLHockey