A couple of ex-Vancouver citizens are making the move to Ottawa (or more likely Binghamton), as the Sens traded Lawrence Nycholat to Vancouver for forward Ryan Shannon this week, and also signed forward Brad Isbister to a one-year deal. Shannon and Isbister are both on two-way contracts.

There is now kind of a large number of potential third and fourth line players in the system, but I don’t think there will be too many open roster spots to be decided when camp starts (which, by the way, happens with player medicals on September 16). Speaking about the Nycholat for Shannon trade, Tim Murray had this to say about the forward situation:

Murray said Shannon would be one of about 10 players fighting for roster spots in camp. Among the players he mentioned in that group were Nick Foligno, Cody Bass, Jesse Winchester, Ilya Zubov, Greg Mauldin, Peter Regin and another right wing with whom Murray said he’s reached a verbal agreement.

It seems reasonable to assume that Isbister was the player with the verbal agreement Murray was talking about. He’s reaching a bit with that list of players who will be battling it out for spots, in my opinion. I’d be shocked if Nick Foligno did not make the Ottawa roster this year. I suppose stranger things have happened, but still, Foligno seems like a pretty sure bet, as does Cody Bass, who appears to be very well-liked by team management. I’ve also been working under the assumption all summer that Jesse Winchester will be with the big team when the season starts because of his one-way contract, and Tim Murray basically confirmed this with a comment he made about Nycholat:

“We had no plans for him to be down there (in Binghamton),” Murray said of Nycholat. He added: “We don’t want to pay one-way contracts in the American Hockey League. We don’t want to set that precedent. Other teams are doing it. That’s not what we’re here for.”

Unless they have separate standards for forwards and defencemen, it seems we can safely welcome Winchester to the team. Barring a trade, we can also pencil in Spezza, Heatley, Alfredsson, Vermette, Fisher, Kelly, Ruutu, Neil, Donovan, and McAmmond. That’s 10, plus Winchester, Foligno, and Bass makes 13. So — always barring a trade — I’d guess that Shannon and Isbister are unlikely to be seen much in Ottawa except as replacements for injured players.

I’m looking at that list of forwards, and I still have no idea who (other than Alfie) they’re going to get to play with Heatley and Spezza. There is no player who fits the profile of my ideal Heatzza winger; that is, there is no one on the team who is Rick Nash. But Rick Nash doesn’t grow on trees, and keeping the big three together may, unfortunately, end up being the best option for the team. My dream is to see a second line of Vermette, Fisher, and Alfredsson. Fisher’s effectiveness just about doubles when he gets to play with the Captain and I picture Vermette doing good things with those two. I can see a few different combinations of the rest of the forwards working, but I think a line of Ruutu, Bass, and Neil would be absolutely hilarious. We could all start a pool on how long it’d take before they made an opposing player’s head explode. Donovan, Kelly, and McAmmond is a decent-sounding line as well.

If the roster stays the way it is now, the real wildcard going into camp is Jesse Winchester. A lot is going to depend on how he plays and where he fits best in the lineup.

Much as Buckingham Palace flies the royal standard to indicate when the Queen is in residence, my place in Vancouver displays a giant Sens flag in the window when I am home. That flag is now up, and I start back to school tomorrow. This can only mean one thing: summer is finally almost over, and hockey season is nearly upon us! That sound I hear, it sounds like a gust of fresh ocean/mountain wind, but I think actually it’s the sound of hockey fans everywhere noting that today is September 1 and breathing a huge sigh of relief. At last, we are done with the horrors of August and of hockey blogs filled with non-hockey-related posts. Except this last one.

100 Things About Me - Episode III: The Good, the Bad, and the Random

63. I hate orange cheese. I accept that orange cheddar is fundamentally the same as yellow cheddar, but it disgusts me. As my friend Cocoa says, just because they haven’t proven that the dye is carcinogenic doesn’t mean it isn’t.

64. I am ridiculously afraid of sharks and I was even when I lived nowhere near the ocean. Are there sharks in the waters near Vancouver? I have no idea, and I have no intention of finding out. You will not see me swimming in the ocean anytime soon.

65. Last summer I travelled by road and rail from Ottawa to Vancouver and visited my friend the Doc in Winnipeg. It was the first time I’d been to Manitoba. Now that I’ve covered that one, I have been to every province of Canada except Newfoundland. (I’ve never been to the territories either though.)

66. I try to live an environmentally-responsible lifestyle. I do all the easy little things everyone should do, like turning off lights and using energy-efficient bulbs. I am fanatical about recycling and I compost. I also take public transit or walk everywhere. It’s easy for me to do that because I do not own a car, but still.

67. I have a subscription box at a comic book store in Ottawa, and when I moved to BC I got them to send my list to a store in Vancouver so I wouldn’t miss anything. In Ottawa, I always stay and visit for a while when I go pick up my comics, and I’ve become good friends with several people I’ve met through the comic book store.

68. Booster Juice is like crack to me. I was thrilled — thrilled — when I realized they were opening a loaction on UBC campus.

69. Sometime last year, I started seeing Al Pacino everywhere. I’d turn on the TV, and one of his movies would be on (one time when I woke up in the middle of the night and just randomly starting channel-surfing, there was Any Given Sunday on in French). I’d hear references to his movies. I’d go to the movies and there would be segments about him in the pre-movie slideshow. It was odd. I’m still pretty convinced that the universe (or maybe Pacino?) was trying to tell me something, and now if ever I see Pacino somewhere I pay attention. I even watched 88 Minutes, which was really lame, on the plane back to Vancouver the other day because I felt I couldn’t not.

70. Last year I fell while playing hockey and jammed my finger. When it was still sore after about a month and had developed a bump on the side I finally went to the doctor to have it checked out. Turns out I cracked the bone and the doctor says the bump may never go away. I managed to live my entire life without ever breaking a bone. Then I started playing hockey, and I was scarred for life within a month.

71. A few years ago I had a job at an unnamed government department. This job was so tedious and mind-numbing that I realized there was no way I could spend the rest of my life working at similar jobs and not want to kill myself every day. That is why I decided to go back to school.

72. I am known among my family members for the weirdness of my dreams. My grandfather also has really strange dreams, so perhaps it’s genetic. Speaking of my grandfather, I dreamed a few months ago that he and I were snowboarding. He’s almost 90 and has broken his leg three times. Pretty sure he shouldn’t be doing that. I often dream about losing my teeth. It’s horrible.

73. I haven’t travelled a whole lot outside Canada. I’ve been to the US states that are closest to Ontario as well as Tennessee. In terms of overseas travel, I’ve only been to Ireland, Wales, and England.

74. I used to work at Lush. It was a good job — I could sell that stuff because I knew it worked. Also, there were lots of freebies.

75. For a while I worked at a kiosk in a mall. Yep, I was one of the people working at those carts. My brother-in-law Coco (not to be confused with my friend Cocoa), whom I didn’t know at the time, worked at the same mall while I was there. He and his friend had nicknames for several of the other mall workers (I did too — like Gord Downie Guy, who worked at the grocery store). It was only after we’d known each other for a while that he realized he used to know me as Kiosk Girl.

76. I wouldn’t be offended if someone making romantic overtures to me couldn’t remember what colour my eyes were. I’m not too sure myself. Green? Maybe? I’ve tried looking in a mirror and it doesn’t help.

77. I don’t tan. I just burn. And my burn doesn’t fade to a tan; it just goes back to white. This is why I stay out of the sun.

78. I hate eating in restaurants or at other people’s houses.

79. When I’m listening to music, I compulsively tap my fingers along with the song (unless I’m doing something else).

80. I am not religious at all and never have been. I’d probably describe myself as an agnostic. The closest thing I’ve got to a spiritual philosophy is that I believe in the idea of “ripples” — that every action has many effects and we should observe what they are and be aware of them. So basically I got my philosophy from Joan of Arcadia.

81. I have never really considered myself superstitious but actually I’ve had to revise that as I’ve noticed that in fact I can be quite silly about certain things. I would never open an umbrella indoors, walk under a ladder, or scratch my right palm if it itched. The thing I’m most superstitious about is (of course) hockey: I always wear something red or something with the team logo on it on Sens gamedays and I try not to change anything I’m wearing during the way. If I notice that I’ve done something in particular on a day when they win, I’ll try to repeat that thing again.

82. Once, the Stanley Cup was on my front lawn. And I didn’t get downstairs in time to have my picture taken with it.

83. When I was a TA, I caught two of my students copying their assignments off the internet. Note to cheaters: it’s called Google, and your prof/TA is very capable of using it.

84. I have my DVDs arranged in an intricate system which only I can understand.

85. I generally don’t like people to see me cry. If I’m crying at a movie or something I’ll do my very best to cover it up. However, if I’m genuinely grieving, then I will cry wherever and whenever, no matter who happens to be around.

86. I’m not a vegetarian, but I also don’t eat a lot of meat. This is partly because I don’t know how to cook it (I am a sucky cook but I’m trying to get better), and partly because I prefer eating fruit and vegetables. They are delicious.

87. I have a fear of falling, I guess it is. It’s not a fear of heights — I don’t mind heights if I feel I’m secure. But I don’t like it when it seems as though there isn’t much between me and a horrendous fall. I really don’t like narrow, high places, or elevated things with transparent walls or low guardrails. For example, I hate crossing the locks on the Canal.

88. When I did my undergrad, I minored in Classics. I did three years of Ancient Greek and my class’ project in the third year was to translate Euripides’ Medea from Greek to English. It was really bloody difficult. I like using my Greek and Latin to figure out word origins. That’s pretty much all it’s good for.

89. I’m anal about spelling and grammar. I’m naturally good at both and I re-read my own writing several times because errors bother me.

90. When I went to Bath, I caught a cold. I drank some of the spa water and it cured me.

91. The first time I saw Radiohead play live was in Ottawa in 1997. The mosh pit was so bad at that show that I had to get out before Radiohead even came on stage. Ever since then I’ve had a fear of mosh pits.

92. I’m very picky about my clothes. They have to be comfortable and totally not itchy or I won’t wear them. I also hate having tight collars around my neck.

93. I’m fairly tall (5′8″) and have big feet. Most really nice women’s shoes either are heels or only come in small sizes. I therefore hate shoe shopping.

94. I recently started doing yoga. All that stuff about how yoga heals your mind, body, and spirit sounds so cheesy … but it’s actually true.

95. I’ve got a sweet tooth. This is another trait I seem to have inherited from my grandfather, who grew up in Smiths Falls. Whether growing up in a town with a chocolate factory contributed to his love of candy I do not know. But anyway, I love chocolate. I’m a chocolate hoarder: my mother gets me a big Toblerone for Christmas every year, and I usually still have some left at Easter.

96. I love making lists! I also love looking at lists of great movies and books and things and checking off the ones I’ve seen or read. Ta-da Lists and Lists of Bests are two websites I enjoy.

97. I talk to myself frequently. I also talk to my computer, the mountains, whatever. I especially talk to (or yell at) the Sens when I’m watching or listening to games. I’m sure my neighbours think I’m mental.

98. I daydream a lot. Sometimes my daydreams are like stories and they continue for days and days. Does everyone do this?

99. I’m a good researcher. I’ve had luck in the past at finding obscure information that I didn’t think I’d be able to come up with and I really enjoy hunting stuff like that down. I think I’d be a pretty good reference librarian or archivist.

100. My nose runs when I get overtired.

And with that scintillating bit of information, we are officially finished with the dog days of summer posting! Countdown to Sens pre-season game 1: 19 days.