There are times when Bobby Ryan has a bit of a relapse. He forgets he's in the East, where it's not quite the struggle to advance the puck from zone to zone, where the transition game is a little bit more free-flowing.
"I get to the point where I'm still dumping pucks I don't have to and trying to get a grind going," Ryan said Wednesday morning. "I think there's opportunities to gain the blue line a lot more in the Eastern Conference and pull up and make plays. I'm still trying to figure out the right places to jump and where to cheat, I guess is the right word, and when to look for a fast and quick strike."
Other than that? It's a been a pretty flawless transition.
In the buildup to Daniel Alfredsson's first game against the Ottawa Senators, there has been a lot of examination into the emotion and strangeness that comes when a player woven so tightly into the fabric of a franchise faces off against that franchise for the first time.
But what about the on-ice component? Three teams were dramatically changed on the same July afternoon when Alfredsson picked the Detroit Red Wings as the team for which he wanted to try to win that first Stanley Cup.
The Senators quickly answered with the Ryan trade, a move that was in the works anyway, and the Anaheim Ducks were able to acquire Jakob Silfverberg, Stefan Noesen and a first-round pick from the Senators for Ryan.
It wasn't necessarily meant to be a Ryan replacing Alfredsson exchange, but that's how it was perceived. Right now, it's an exchange that is benefiting the Senators. Taking the emotion and the magnitude of a player of Alfredsson's class and leadership out of the equation, Ottawa is a better team with Ryan than with Alfredsson.