What to expect for the Belleville Senators' final nine games
A summary of the B-Sens season so far and what to expect for the remainder of it.
The 2020-21 AHL season has been a roller coaster of emotions for everyone, especially the Belleville Senators. With the uncertainly unfolding around the world, the AHL was only able to put together a half-sized regular-season-only season. The league did the best they could and all the players, coaches and management could do was to make do with what they had.
With a large number of Belleville’s players graduating to the NHL, they did not fare as well as expected. The Senators have a record of 10-15-1, good for fourth in the five-team Canadian Division. They are only fourth when calculating by points percentage, in raw points, the B-Sens are dead last.
The Senators’ points percentage is .404 right now. They are slightly above the Stockton Heat, who are at .400.
Since there will be no AHL playoffs this year, the standings are not the way to measure success this season. Success for AHL teams this year is solely to further the development of their NHL affiliate’s prospects. The Belleville Senators, under Head Coach Troy Mann, have done a good job in that respect.
Among his accomplishments this year are:
Turning Egor Sokolov into a confident professional player just months after he was drafted.
Helping Vitaly Abramov realize the potential we all knew he had and giving him enough confidence in his game for his callup to the Ottawa Senators taxi squad.
Angus Crookshank going from a relatively unknown 5th round-pick to a point-per-game rookie.
Getting solid offensive seasons out of Cole Reinhardt, Parker Kelly, Jonathan Aspirot and Mark Kastelic.
As you can see one aspect of the game which I did not put down as an accomplishment is goaltending. The B-Sens have struggled with goaltending, and with the injuries in Ottawa mounting, they won’t even be able to play Filip Gustavsson. That leaves Kevin Mandolese and Cedrick Andree tending twine in Belleville.
Those two goalies have a 4.18 and 3.34 GAA, respectively. Coupled with the fact that the B-Sens are 26th in the AHL in goals-for, it will be an uphill battle to close out the season on a high note.
The Belleville Senators have nine games left on the schedule and here are their opponents:
May 1st, @ Toronto Marlies.
May 2nd, @ Toronto Marlies.
May 7th, @ Laval Rocket.
May 14th, vs Manitoba Moose.
May 15th, vs Manitoba Moose.
May 16th, vs Manitoba Moose.
May 19th, vs Manitoba Moose.
May 20th, vs Toronto Marlies.
The Belleville Senators are currently on a six-day break from games. However, their last 9 games will be played over the span of 20 days. Included in that is a three-game set in three consecutive days against the Manitoba Moose from May 14-16th.
The remaining nine games of the season will be a good marker to see where the team is at. All nine games will be played against teams higher, and often much higher in the standings.
The B-Sens will be aiming to do what the Senators are doing in Ottawa. The Ottawa Senators are 6-2-0 since the NHL trade deadline and have been playing well in all aspects of the game.
Thank you for reading this edition of BSensBlog. If you have any suggestions that you think will make this newsletter better, feel free to contact me @NaftaliClinton on Twitter or simply comment on this post. As always, you can sign up for this newsletter and receive all of my posts right to your inbox.