CHABOT AND WHITE GOING THROUGH EDUCATION PROCESS IN BELLEVILLE
In one breath, Belleville Senators coach Kurt Kleinendorst labels Thomas Chabot as “a Michelangelo” for his offensive artistry.
A minute or so later, Kleinendorst describes the Ottawa Senators’ 20-year-old defence prospect as a “left-shot Erik Karlsson” because of his ability to create plays that few others can. High praise, indeed. At the same time, Chabot is learning the hard lessons that raw talent alone will only take him so far. Until he joins the NHL Senators on a full-time basis, he’s receiving a daily education on the attention to detail required to survive in the professional game.
“Every day, I work with the coaches,” Chabot said Tuesday in a telephone interview following practice in Belleville. “As much as I can, I want to come to the rink wanting to learn something, big or small.”
Chabot has two goals and three assists in his first 10 American Hockey League games, but those numbers only tell a bit of the story.
It’s no grand secret that the reason Chabot isn’t already a regular in Ottawa is because of his play inside his own blue-line, a central theme for Kleinendorst and Belleville defence coach Paul Boutilier, who was also an assistant coach last season with Chabot’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team in Saint John.
“The main focus is on the defensive zone,” said Chabot, chosen 18th overall by Ottawa in the 2015 NHL draft. “I look at a lot of video, I have a lot of talks with Kurt and Paul. Every hockey player wants to get better. I told myself that, once I came down from Ottawa, I knew it wouldn’t be easy.”
The level of play in the AHL is often underestimated. The jump from major junior or college hockey to the AHL is far larger than the step from the AHL to the NHL.
Many top NHL players had pitstops in the AHL before sticking in the big league. Karlsson spent a month with the Senators’ former AHL affiliate in Binghamton in 2009-10, primarily for the same reasons Chabot is now in Belleville.
“It’s not a matter of if, but when,” Kleinendorst said of Chabot’s potential promotion. “It’s just about helping him manage the game without the puck a little bit better. We’ve got to be careful. We’ve got to make sure he’s a reliable player and learning the game more thoroughly, but we don’t want to take away what he is offensively.
“Take out a stopwatch. Half the time, your team is gong to have the puck, half the time the other team is going to have the puck.”
Chabot did receive an earlyseason taste of the NHL, called up for three games when Karlsson, Johnny Oduya and Ben Harpur were all sidelined with injuries, and he collected his two assists.
Since returning to Belleville, he has dealt with a groin injury that kept him out of the new franchise’s home opener.
Away from the rink, he’s enjoying “living as an adult” in Belleville after years of being billeted with a family as a junior player.
While he sees others all around him being called up to Ottawa — Harpur on defence, Chris DiDomenico, Max McCormick, Filip Chlapik, Jack Rodewald and Nick Paul among the forwards — Chabot says there’s no room for bitterness when he doesn’t get the call.
“You can’t get mad,” Chabot said. “If they’re getting called up, they deserve it. Hopefully, I get called up, but I’m not focused on that. You always want to be at the best level. The coaches here want you to get to the NHL. The coaches are putting in the time to get you there.”
Centre Colin White, drafted 21st overall in 2015, has also discovered first-hand how big the jump is to the AHL.
White, who missed most of Senators training camp after breaking his left wrist while blocking a shot in a pre-season game, has one goal and two assists in six AHL games.
“I’m starting to feel more comfortable with everything, I’m starting to get the timing,” White said in a phone interview. “You’re playing against older guys, against grown men, guys with families. The big thing here is the system of playing right, doing the proper things. Every game there are little things and big things to learn.
“There’s very little room for error and I can’t do some of the things I had been doing.”
After White joined Belleville for the home opener, Kleinendorst said adrenalin helped carry the young forward through a couple of games. His game then dropped off a notch before climbing up again. All of it, according to Kleinendorst, is normal for a young player returning from a significant injury.
White says his goal is to solidify himself in the NHL before the season ends. Perhaps Chabot will be with him.
In what could be an optimistic sign for Senators fans, White’s first goal, in a game on Nov. 8, was set up by Chabot.