“The more you talk about it, the more you dwell on things that happened in the past.” “It’s hard enough to win in the league with no noise and everyone healthy,” Smith said. What’s going to make him the best defenceman at 23 years old?”Īfter being a national story for all the wrong reasons – a COVID outbreak, not their play on the ice – the Senators are looking forward to putting the “noise” of the outbreak behind them and start to pick up the pieces of a season that started poorly and then came crashing down on them as their COVID cases peaked and the Calgary Flames routed them 4-0. Lassi played really well, but again, it’s a process for him. I mean, it’s still a major development for them. “We’ll see how the roster unfolds as people get healthy and if they (Thomson, Kelly) can get enough minutes or not. “Both have showed really well,” Smith said. Thomson, 21, and forward Parker Kelly, who was the extra forward at practice, are the only AHL callups left in Ottawa. Mete was paired with Zub, and Holden with Josh Brown.
Interestingly, rookie defenceman Lassi Thomson, pressed into emergency duty during the outbreak, not only stayed with the NHL group but in line rushes remained on the top pair with Thomas Chabot. And if we have to give a guy a day off here or there, put some fresh guys in to give them time to recoup, we’ll certainly do that.”
Some came back with no issues, some came back in the first game and felt horrible, so we’re going to have to see as we go here. “I’ve talked to other coaches in the league whose players have gone through it. “So, is it because you were sick or because you haven’t skated in five days? We’ll know that when the game starts.”Īlthough Smith acknowledged that while the shutdown, then a crammed two-day mini-camp, before a road game Monday is “not the ideal situation,” he believed that safety dictated that the team close shop for the better part of a week.
“Some of the guys who didn’t have it, but didn’t skate for five days, are feeling just about the same (as the symptomatic players),” Smith said. Coach Capuano, who was hit hard by COVID symptoms, was not on the ice and is taking more time to recuperate. Smith said he would be canvasing players post-practice to see how their bodies responded, especially players who had COVID symptoms. It’s been an unfortunate time, where we had to be shut down, but it’s great to be back.” “From August to – hopefully, June – you want to be at the rink. “Players, coaches, management – for the most part every one of us has grown up wanting to be in hockey our whole life. Smith was thrilled just to have the group together again on a sheet of practice ice. Between now and Christmas, Ottawa has 16 games in 32 days.Īs daunting as this four-game road trip might be, with the unknown of player conditioning and rust, head coach D.J. They go on to play San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The Senators play their first game in eight days on Monday against the Avalanche. Defenceman Nikita Zaitsev and winger Drake Batherson, Ottawa’s scoring leader, remain in COVID protocol but could join the Senators later this week during their road trip to Colorado and California. 5, after the Senators road trip through Dallas, Chicago and Minnesota.Įight of the 10 players were cleared to practice on Saturday: Watson, Connor Brown, Josh Brown, Alex Formenton, Dylan Gambrell, Nick Holden, Victor Mete and Matt Murray. Winger Austin Watson was the first to enter the protocols list, on Nov. But it was finally done, and the Senators have had a mercifully quiet week of recovery and no further positive tests.
We can quibble about how long it took the NHL to shut down the Senators' schedule for a week, beginning last Monday, after 10 Ottawa players plus assistant coach Jack Capuano tested positive for COVID over a period of 10 days. Credit to all our trainers and doctors for making the right calls, keeping us safe and doing all the right things to stop the spread and all that stuff.” “It’s nice to be back – back into a kind of routine.
“Everybody was joking around that it almost feels like the first day of training camp, just seeing everybody and getting back in the groove,” Tkachuk said after a 90-minute skate that marked the Senators return to the practice ice following a COVID-19 outbreak and ultimate team shutdown. There were smiles and laughter to go with the huffing and puffing.Īt one point, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk collided with a teammate during a drill, threw his arms around him in a playful bear hug and had a grin on his face so wide he looked like a boy on Christmas morning with presents on his lap.