OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators three smallest players made the biggest impact in training camp and were rewarded for their efforts with roster spots. Air Max 720 Cheap Online . The trio of Cory Conacher, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Stephane Da Costa took advantage of a day off Monday to enjoy the news before returning their focus to the hard work that lies ahead. Da Costas performance was perhaps the biggest surprise. The 24-year-old centre seemed to fall out of favour with the Senators last season and was told to commit to his summer training regimen and be willing to make some adjustments. He took the advice and spent the summer in Poland training with his older brother Teddy, who is currently playing in Finland. "I knew what they were saying and I took it seriously," said Da Costa. "Im not the biggest player physically so I knew I had to work on that and I tried to focus on my defensive play." While he spent much of the pre-season centring the teams top line as Jason Spezza recovered from a mild groin sprain, Da Costa found himself on a line between Zack Smith and Chris Neil at Tuesdays practice. "Hes a player that plays with speed and some tenacity and hes got good skill level," said head coach Paul MacLean. "He was good in the faceoff circle so we expect him to do the same things. The expectation is that hell continue to play well and should be able to create more opportunities for those guys to maybe have an opportunity to score." Conacher had been one of four players being considered to play on the left wing on the second line with Clarke MacArthur and Kyle Turris, but he was easily the most consistent of all. The trio seemed to generate some early chemistry. "Theyre two guys who are pretty easy to play with," said Conacher. "I just want to try and create space for them because theyre two guys who are really good with the puck. As long as Im being a little bit of a pest in the (offensive) zone that will create a little bit more room for them." At five foot eight, Conacher is the Senators smallest player and hes also diabetic, but he wont let his size or his illness define his career. He refuses to allow anything to be used as an excuse should his play begin to slide. "Theres so much competition so you cant be too comfortable," said Conacher. "I have to show that Im willing to get better every day and it starts off by the things I eat and how I track my diabetes. "I think I worked a lot this summer to be more focused and more reliable on the ice to allow the coach to put me on the ice with two minutes left in the game rather than sit me on the bench." After an impressive start to his pro career last season -- which featured a playoff hat trick -- many wondered if Jean-Gabriel Pageau would be able to thrive under the high expectations. Pageau, 20, participated in the teams summer development camp and was strong at the rookie tournament. He earned regular praise from MacLean through the pre-season. "Its a great feeling (to be here)," said Pageau. "But even today I dont want to take anything for granted. I know theres always players pushing to come back here, but Im ready to do all the sacrifices to stay with the big team." As the teams youngest player, Pageau isnt afraid to take advice from his older and more experienced teammates. He also believes last years experience allowed him to come into camp with more confidence. "It helped me be more comfortable both on and off the ice," admitted Pageau. "I think when youre more comfortable you can play your real game. You dont have to think between every play you can just go and play like you can play." While all three players will face different challenges, the one thing the Senators will be looking for is a consistent effort. "As young players the hardest thing to find in the league is consistency," said MacLean. "At some point and time someone or all three could struggle with that, but at this point theyve been probably the most consistent players from the start of training camp to the end of training camp and as a result theyre here to start the season." Notes: Spezza has been sidelined by a mild groin sprain was able to take part in a full practice Tuesday and believes progress has been made. "It seemed to hold up pretty good," said Spezza. "I got through a whole practice and it felt pretty good. There was some hard skating." Spezza doesnt anticipate any more setbacks and is looking forward to Ottawas season opener at Buffalo on Friday. Air Max 720 Cheap Sale . - Doug Kalitta led Top Fuel qualifying Friday in the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway with a 3. Discount Air Max 720 . - Nikita Jevpalovs scored 6:22 into the second overtime as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada edged the visiting Rimouski Oceanic 2-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. http://www.discountairmax720.com/ . - Jayden Hart scored once and set up two more as the Prince Albert Raiders downed the host Red Deer Rebels 5-3 on Tuesday to clinch the final Western Hockey League playoff berth.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, I looked for a comment online from you on the Nazem Kadri hit on Cody Ceci on Saturday night from the Sens/Leafs game, but didnt find one! I have always respected your on-ice decision skills, so I would like your opinion regarding this hit. Was this a case of the player turning his back when he was going to be hit or did Kadri hit a player in a vulnerable position? Thanks,Randy Eades Hi Randy: I did post a late comment @kfraserthecall on Twitter that you must have missed. Sorry it was late but I was engaged in Twitter combat (and being duly vilified) by Canadiens fans over the Brendan Gallagher episode against the Jets! With regard to your question, Cody Ceci was positioned facing the end boards in order to retrieve the puck after it was turned back from the corner by teammate Jared Cowen and as he was being pressured on the forecheck by Nikolai Kulemin of the Leafs. Ceci didnt intentionally turn his body at the last second to set himself up for a hit by Nazem Kadri. That had no bearing on why a penalty call did not result. Instead, Ceci was facing square to the end boards waiting for the puck to arrive on his stick just as Kadri angled from the front of the net and delivered a body check that should have resulted in a boarding minor penalty. The initial point of contact delivered by Kadri was to the left hip of Ceci and not on the numbers. The finishing upward push exerted by Nazem Kadri caused the Ottawa player to tumble forward into the boards. Let me explain for Senators coach Paul McLean and the Ottawa fans why the call was missed by the referees. When you re-examine the video clossely, you will see that referee Paul Devorski, working past his 1,500th game, pivoted out from the corner toward the end faceoff circle in order to vacate the space that Jared Cowen and Nikolai Kulemin would occupy in pursuit of the puck. Cheap Air Max 720 China. The referee then rotated his body 360 degrees in a drift back below the goal line but retained visual focus on both Cowen and Kulemin with a fixed glance over his shoulder well after Cowen dished the puck back toward Ceci. It is clearly evident from the footage that referee Devorski did not turn his head and visual focus toward the action near the net until after Kadri had delivered the illegal hit on Ceci. All the referee witnessed at this point was Ceci down on the ice and Kadri in possession of the puck just prior to a tape-to-tape pass out front to Joffrey Lupul for the Leafs goal. I am positive that referee Devorski would have deemed the hit by Kadri to be worthy of a boarding minor infraction if he had been focused on and witnessed the contact. Since the hit happened directly behind the net the back referee would have at best, an obstructed view if he was looking in that direction. His primary responsibility and area of coverage however was on the action away from the puck; which at that point would have included Cowen and Kulemin in the corner. While we do not see the back referee in the footage, it is conceivable that both refs failed to transition their area of focus once the puck was thrown back behind the net by Cowen. If that were the case, both refs maintained visual focus on the two players in the corner and did not observe the Kadri boarding on Ceci. I hate to be bearer of bad news coach Paul, but that is how the boarding penalty to Kadri was missed and resulted in the Leafs goal that tied the game at two! ' ' '