The Senators had some harsh words for Mika Zibanejad as he headed to the minors.
The Senators pared their roster to 22 players to start the season and the decision to assign the club's top pick in the 2011 NHL entry draft to its AHL affiliate in Binghamton was the only surprise among the final cuts.
The 20-year-old Zibanejad didn't have a great camp, didn't fit in on the right side with Clarke MacArthur and Kyle Turris, and was unseeded for a job by the strong play of Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Stephane Da Costa in camp.
GM Bryan Murray told Zibanejad during a meeting Monday morning at the Canadian Tire Centre he didn't step up to the challenge when others were battling for jobs.
"The other guys stepped up way above him in camp, and he didn't do anything about it," said Murray in a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon. "When you let two guys come in and take your job, we said that to him. "You saw how Pageau and Da Costa (were) playing and you didn't step up and say, ÔI better pay attention and win my spot here.' We felt he let that happen ... I thought Mika kind of sat there, maybe he took it for granted, but he certainly didn't do what we expected to happen."
The Senators pared their roster to 22 players to start the season and the decision to assign the club's top pick in the 2011 NHL entry draft to its AHL affiliate in Binghamton was the only surprise among the final cuts.
The 20-year-old Zibanejad didn't have a great camp, didn't fit in on the right side with Clarke MacArthur and Kyle Turris, and was unseeded for a job by the strong play of Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Stephane Da Costa in camp.
GM Bryan Murray told Zibanejad during a meeting Monday morning at the Canadian Tire Centre he didn't step up to the challenge when others were battling for jobs.
"The other guys stepped up way above him in camp, and he didn't do anything about it," said Murray in a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon. "When you let two guys come in and take your job, we said that to him. "You saw how Pageau and Da Costa (were) playing and you didn't step up and say, ÔI better pay attention and win my spot here.' We felt he let that happen ... I thought Mika kind of sat there, maybe he took it for granted, but he certainly didn't do what we expected to happen."
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