Their beloved Senators make their return to the American Hockey League's post-season on Wednesday night, facing off against the Monarchs in Manchester, N.H., in the opener of a best-of-seven first-round series. Game 2 is Thursday night in Manchester, then the series shifts to Binghamton for Game 3 on Sunday night.

And what a scene the first B-Sens home playoff game since 2005 figures to be.

"I told these guys the other day that there's nothing better, when you're in the hockey business, than this time of year — the playoffs," said Tom Mitchell, the B-Sens' executive vice-president of operations and part owner, whose connection to hockey in Binghamton spans 16 years and three AHL franchises. "It was that way when I played and it's still that way. It's been that way every minute I've been in this game.

"It's been a long grind (to get back to the playoffs), not only for the ownership but for the fans and for the whole community. We have an opportunity here to really bring some recognition to this organization and our community again. It's been a long time in coming. I'm pretty excited about it. I could skate right through the end of the rink right now."

That might also sum up the feelings of the Binghamton players, who have been itching to dive into the post-season since nailing down their playoff berth a week ago.

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It has been anything but an easy road to get to this point. Since mid-February, when the parent Senators began shedding veterans in trades and looked to the farm to fill the void. That left the B-Sens scratching and clawing to hold a playoff position without stalwarts such as Bobby Butler, Colin Greening and Erik Condra, who spent most of the final seven weeks of the season in Ottawa. Defencemen Andre Benoit, Derek Smith and Patrick Wiercioch also took their turns with the big club.


But with a patchwork lineup dotted with several East Coast Hockey League players, the B-Sens persevered and made it to the finish line. The reward came Sunday, when the Senators shipped eight players back to Binghamton when their National Hockey League season concluded.:deal::deal::deal:



Reméljük a visszatért játékosok nem zavarják össze a csapatot, és sok pozitívat tudnak hozzátenni szerzett nhl tapasztalatukkal. Hatalmas jutalomjáték ez nekik is, eredménytől függetlenül.

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Mitchell is quick to credit the parent club in Ottawa for building the kind of organizational depth that is now benefiting its primary affiliate in a major way.

"What has happened now is we're starting to see the results of Bryan's (Sens general manager Murray) drafting and finding decent players for our team down here," he said. "You've got to have two types of players. You've got to have guys that can go up there and help and you've got to have your development players in an environment where it's the proper environment for development and growth.

"I think this year, we've had that here. The coaches have done a great job — it's been the smoothest operation I've seen down here in a long time — and things are on the upswing."

Jah, és Brust egy állat.:)