The Winter Olympic break looming in February has sped up the timetable for training camp this week, and so here we are on Day 3 -- getting ready for the first preseason game, with the first cuts already behind us.

New B-Sens coach Don Nachbaur was set to leave town Monday in preparation for physicals in Binghamton today, then the first on-ice practice at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena on Wednesday morning. Practice time is 9 a.m. Wednesday, and the session is open to the public.

Before Nachbaur left town, though, I spoke with him briefly about last week's rookie tournament, and whether anyone in particular impressed him.

"I thought all the drafted players, and the free agents that showed up, were outstanding," he said. "Had a tremendous show. I thought within the tournament our scouts did a really good job of assembling young talent, and we really utilized our speed. We were the quickest team in that tournament, and consequently, we were able to score some big numbers throughout the tournament.

"But names? Our young goaltender (Robin Lehner) was outstanding. Jimmy O'Brien was good. Condra had an excellent camp. (Keegan) Dansereau. I mean, we go through the list of guys -- I thought everybody had a real decent showing for themselves."

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Here's Ottawa assistant GM Tim Murray on O'Brien, and what he's seen from him so far through the rookie tournament and the first part of camp:

"He had a good tournament. Jimmy's biggest thing is consistency, I think, as any player. And strength. And early in the shift, he's really jumping and flying, and later on in the shift, you can see his strength and stamina and skating suffer a little bit. And I find that with most young players. He's got a good head on his shoulders. I think he can play both ends of the rink. He can shoot the puck. I think it's just a matter of, again, the grind. Him moving to Seattle (in the WHL) two years ago from (the University of) Minnesota I think will really help that area of it. I think he's grown up a lot, and he wants to be a player. So, he'll have an opportunity to play with good players down there, and we'll just see what he does."
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One young prospect who seems to be impressing this month is goaltender Robin Lehner, a second-round pick this year.

His strong reviews, coupled with the fact that Mike Brodeur, Andy Chiodo and Chris Holt -- the three goalies below the NHL level -- are all signed to one-year contracts, raises this question: Could we see Lehner in Binghamton next year?

"Obviously, he's committed and we've committed for him to go to (the OHL's Soo Greyhounds) this year, but we'll see the year he has in the Soo," Ottawa assistant GM Tim Murray said. "We'll see who we have coming back. As you know in the American League, there's a lot of one-year deals, and guys moving on to better opportunities, or perceived better opportunities. So, yeah, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that at 19-turning-20, he'd be playing in Binghamton."

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Lehner stopped 13 of 14 shots in Ottawa's 3-1 preseason loss to Florida on Tuesday night in Halifax.
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I'm excited about Lehner, he seems to be off to a great start.

I agree, seems to be off to a great start despite what reports were out on him earlier..

I got to watch one of Lehner's games and he was brilliant in that game.

He really plays a game soooo much of the resemblence of Lundqvist.

Though Lehner is larger...This can only mean good things for our goaltending pool.

I believe if Lehner keeps improving that him and Elliot will be our goaltenders of the futures.

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