By Brian Rappleyea
The first season in Ottawa for defenseman Faisal Alsaif has been successful for him and the club, helping the Junior Senators to the Bogart Cup Final where they are paired with the Carleton Place Canadians, and as of today, tied at one game apiece.
Alsaif has fit in well in Ottawa. Hailing from Great Falls, Virginia, a suburb of the District of Columbia, he is among a handful of Americans on the roster, and has made the jump going from one nation’s capital to another.
Before the Bogart Cup Final began, Alsaif spoke of OJS’ success, the team, and his goals for the season.
“The Junior Senators have a tremendous history of going far in the playoffs, so obviously that was a goal,” said the lefty d-man. “I wanted to do what I could to help the team go as far as possible and personally I knew it was going to be a step up from what I was playing before. It took some time to get used to the speed; the CCHL is definitely a faster league than prep school hockey, but I got adjusted to it. Now I’m kind of settling in as we’re going to the finals.”
Prior to successfully making the transition to the CCHL with OJS, Alsaif played for the Washington Little Capitals before moving to the Philadelphia Junior Flyers for his bantam year. After a year in Philadelphia, he would move further North, going to prep school for four years at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut before heading north again, this time to Ottawa.
When asked about his style of play, Alsaif went on to add: “I’ve always had kind of an offensive edge to my game, but I’ve never played forward, it’s always been defense.”
In the 2018-19 season, the ’99 born Alsaif notched 16 points (5G, 11A) in 56 games and has tallied three points (1G, 2A) in eleven postseason games thus far, which has delighted Martin Dagenais, OJS’ Head Coach/GM, who remarked:
“Faisal is a steady defenseman who plays a good two-way game. He’s improved tremendously since his first day at camp. He’ll have a much bigger role with our team next season, and because of it, we think he’ll potentially be able to secure a NCAA Div. 1 deal. He’s that good of a d-man.”
Alsaif agrees that he’s made significant strides since joining the Ottawa blue lines corps. “I feel I’ve improved the most (this season) in my confidence with the puck, it’s something that over time you can develop, but also the coaching staff here when we practice has been very helpful in trying to help me know what plays to make.”
During the regular season, Alsaif was part of a defense that held the Canadians, who averaged 3.8 goals-per-game, to just 12 goals in five games while helping OJS win the season series. Carleton Place ended up with a league-leading 236 tallies, two more than Ottawa.
In the Bogart Cup Final, OJS won the first game 4-2, but were downed in game two, 4-1. To take home that Bogart Cup, the Junior Senators will have to maintain a form on the defensive end similar or the same to their regular season performance against Carleton Place. That’s something Alsaif, Dagenais, and the rest of OJS know they need to do to win a second straight title.
