Sens have mentality to go far again: Burrows
Alex Burrows has seen his share of juicy rebounds, both from a personal and team point of view.
He has recovered from the disappointment of not being drafted to forge for himself an exceptional NHL career, which has included numerous goals scored after the initial shot was stopped. He was also within a sniff of the Stanley Cup in the spring of 2011, when his Vancouver Canucks made it to Game 7 of the final before bowing to the Boston Bruins.
The following season the Canucks rebounded from that heartbreak by winning the Presidents’ Trophy with an NHL-leading 111 points.
“There’s a lot of things we did the same way,” Burrows said Monday, remembering the glory days of a Canucks team guided by Daniel Sedin and his brother Henrik. “We had a total buy in from everyone. The team came first. The twins didn’t care about their points, our best players didn’t care about their points. It was about team success. Once you have that, you have 23 guys that believe in one goal, sometimes some magic things can happen.”
Burrows, who was obtained at last winter’s trade deadline, believes the Senators have what it takes to get back to the Eastern Conference final, and beyond. While acknowledging it will be “different” being with the team from training camp, the 36-year old warhorse figures he already has a pretty good feel for the pulse of the team.
“I’m really comfortable with the group of guys,” Burrows said. “There’s a great bunch of guys in that locker-room that cares about winning, that cares about playing the right way. I’m all for that.”
Even if it means he has to accept a role as a fourth line winger.
“I’m looking forward to training camp,” Burrows said. “I’m going to earn a spot on the team and hopefully go from there.
“I want to win games,” he added, when asked about personal goals for 2017-18. “That’s the bottom line. I want to make sure I help the team, I contribute to the team’s success. Wherever the coaching staff feels I can contribute and help this team win, I’m all for it. At the same time, I’m going to try to help some of the young guys out, if they need a few pointers here and there.”
Alas, the Canucks team that won the Presidents’ Trophy was eliminated in the first round of postseason play. That part of the script, Burrows would like to change.
“We want to get back to the playoffs, and see where it could lead us this year,” Burrows said. “Hopefully we can duplicate what we did last year. We’ll have to go from there and learn from our past experiences.”