Sens at Land’s End

And so begins the end of Christoph Schubert’s career in a Senators uniform? The Citizen reports:

Craig Hartsburg made his first unpopular decision as coach of the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday morning.

He told Christoph Schubert that his position this season would be as a forward on the fourth line, not as one of the team’s six defenceman.

The decision so upset Schubert that he slid out of the Scandanavium after the team’s practice without talking to the media.

Given that there is no room for Schubert in the forward ranks either (unless someone else is about to be traded), and that the team has gone to great lengths to create a more positive atmosphere in its locker room this season, this seems to make it even more likely that Schubert is on his way out. Hopefully Bryan Murray can find a good outcome for this situation via trade.

A few other bits and bytes:

No Thanks, Nikolai. Murray tells the media that the Sens have no interest in the newly-waived Nikolai Khabibulin and his massive contract. I feel shocked.

Scandinavian Getaway. The Sens are now in Sweden, no doubt spending their spare time eating lots of Mother Alfredsson’s home cooking and assembling stylish yet affordable furniture. The team’s official site has photo galleries and video from the trip. TSN also did a nice little story on the trip on SportsCentre yesterday, which included an interview with Alfie’s father Hasse, who really does look like an older, moustachioed version of his son. Looking at the photos and watching the interviews, I’m struck by how totally overjoyed Alfie seems to have this opportunity to bring his two hometowns together. He’s like a proud papa introducing his kids to his country, and his country to his kids. His 23 hulking kids.

Doomsday Scenario. Ross McKeon at Yahoo Sports offers this unhappy prediction for the Canucks this season:

Train wreck. They won’t score, they won’t be good defensively outside of an overworked Luongo, who better be prepared to face 35-40 shots a night. The coach will probably get fired, the fans might turn on them. It’s just not going to be pretty at all.

Yikes! But hey, this could be my chance to recruit a few disgruntled Canucks fans to the Sens Army.