For Sens D-man Boro, break in Florida means no horsing around
Most Ottawa Senators players spent the bye week by soaking up the sun. Defenceman Mark Borowiecki spent his by moving manure.
Clearly, getting away from it all means different things to different people.
Borowiecki’s wife, Tara, is part of a horse jumping circuit, spending January and February based on a farm in Wellington, Fla.
With so many chores to be done, Borowiecki was only too happy to spend his days away from the rink working on the farm, in the barn, or wherever else he was needed.
“She has been doing it for a few years,” Borowiecki said before making his long-awaited return to the Senators lineup Thursday against the St. Louis Blues. “We both love animals. We want to have a farm when we’re done. But they put me to work, man.”
EARLY TO RISE, EARLY TO BED: What went into a typical day on the farm?
“We would wake up about 7 a.m. every day, cook breakfast, take the dogs out and go over to the barn,” Borowiecki said. “I’m no expert, but my jobs in the morning were to change the water buckets, scrub them out, fill them up and spread the manure. I tried to help out with some of the heavy lifting.
“We were asleep by 10 p.m. every day. I don’t like lying on the beach or anything and I love the animals. There are a couple of donkeys on that farm, and the horses, the dogs. Honestly, it’s a lot of fun.” ... When asked if he rides horses, Borowiecki said, “No. I don’t know, contractually, if I’m even allowed ... So, Pierre (Dorion), no, I haven’t been on a horse.”
THE BUS TO BELLEVILLE AND BACK: Filip Chlapik was playing for Belleville against Syracuse on Wednesday when he was pulled out of the game after the first period. He knew then that he was coming to Ottawa to take the spot of injured centre Jean-Gabriel Pageau against St. Louis on Thursday, right? Guess again. “I didn’t feel well (Wednesday) morning, so I thought they just pulled me out because they wanted me to be healthy for the next (Belleville) game,” Chlapik said. “It was after the game that they told me I had been called up.” ... The original idea called for rookie defenceman Thomas Chabot to return to Belleville during the bye week, because the Senators wanted him to continue to play games. Yet due to bye week roster rules and the Senators’ injury situation (including the fact Bobby Ryan was on the injury list), Chabot was considered part of the Senators’ 20-man roster heading into the break and couldn’t be sent back. “We planned for him to go back and play some games,” said Senators coach Guy Boucher. “It’s not ideal for him to be sitting at home during that time, so that’s where we were at.”
Chabot didn’t go home. He went to Florida. Unlike Borowiecki, though, he didn’t spend his down time on a farm.
CLAESSON TAKES A SEAT AGAIN:
With Borowiecki (concussion) and Johnny Oduya (middle body) returning to the lineup following their injuries, Freddy Claesson was the healthy scratch again. There is intrigue about whether Oduya could be traded before he hits the 41-game mark, when a $250,000 bonus kicks in. After playing against St. Louis, Oduya’s game count is now at 38.
GREAT MEMORIES FOR PANG:
Former 67’s star goaltender Darren Pang, who now works as St. Louis Blues colour commentator for Fox Sports Midwest, was officially honoured Wednesday as one of the 50 greatest players in 67’s history. “I was incredibly humbled by it and I just keep thinking back to the same guy, and that’s Brian Kilrea,” he said ... Pang says some of the most spirited workouts involving the 1984 Memorial Cup team involved ball hockey games before practice, where he played as a forward. “We would get into scraps and arguments and they were highly competitive. We would have guys swearing at one another, slashing and whacking and hacking and (Adam) Creighton yelling at Darcy Roy and Brad Shaw yelling at somebody and Kilrea would come down from his office and yell at us. That’s what kind of team we were, a really competitive group of guys. It was like a pro team.” ... The one sad note for Pang is that Greg Coram, his goaltending partner on the 1984 team, died last year. “He was an awesome, awesome teammate,” Pang said. KID ROCK CONTROVERSY: The NHL is tone deaf in bringing political hot potato Kid Rock in to play during the intermission at the allstar game in Tampa. Kid Rock surrounds himself in a Confederate flag and has been outspoken in his criticism of Colin Kaepernick’s anthem protests. In October, Tampa winger J.T. Brown raised his right fist during anthems to support Kaepernick, later saying, “there’s some issues that we have to talk about.” Interestingly, Brown was plucked off waivers by Anaheim last week.