SENS ROOKIE FACES HIS CHILDHOOD HERO
Chabot cheered for Pens superstar Crosby during his junior hockey days in Quebec
Thomas Chabot was a big fan of Sidney Crosby while growing up.
On Tuesday night, the kid got his first chance to face Sid The Kid.
The Ottawa Senators’ rookie defenceman has experienced a lot of firsts since being called up from the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville in December, but this game was a little bit extra special for the 21-year-old Chabot, who used to be in the stands watching Crosby play for the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
“To be honest, since Crosby started playing ( junior), I’ve always watched him and I’ve always really enjoyed him,” Chabot said before facing the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday night.
“I remember watching him when he played in the Q with Rimouski in Quebec City. I went to watch him a few times.
“It’s going to be a fun night. It’s the first time, and hopefully, it goes the right way for us.”
You couldn’t blame a guy like Chabot for being star struck in facing the Penguins for the first time as a National Hockey League player, but he has a good head on his shoulders and Senators head coach Guy Boucher had no concerns the talented rookie wouldn’t be ready for the challenge.
“I was in Rimouski during the 2004 lockout, and it was all about Sidney,” said Boucher, who was an assistant on the Océanic staff at the time.
“People rushed to the rinks. You had to get there an hour before the usual time and we had to have bodyguards to let Sidney come in the rink.
“It was a really special time back then, and I’m sure (Chabot) lived a part of that. You want to embrace that. I don’t think it’s negative.
“It’s ‘Hey, I’m here. I’m getting the opportunity on ice surfaces with Crosby, (Evgeni) Malkin and all these guys.’ I think it’s a positive.
“You don’t want to see it as a threat because it’s a positive. He’s done great things to be here and he deserves to be here.”
Chabot, who grew up in a suburb about 20 minutes outside Quebec City, was taking the right approach into his 37th NHL game.
“It’s fun for sure,” Chabot said. “I wasn’t in the league the last two years, and it was pretty impressive watching those guys (win two Stanley Cups). To come into a building like this, with the history they’ve had, it’s pretty exciting.”
OFF THE GLASS
It’s surprising to see how far the Senators have fallen after getting to the Eastern Conference final last spring and losing in Pittsburgh in double overtime of Game 7 on May 25.
Penguins players said all the right things before Tuesday’s matchup.
“They’re a really good team,” winger Conor Sheary said. “They showed that last year with their system and players. They can go a long way.
“I don’t know what it is this year. Sometimes things just don’t go your way. But they have the same players and same skill up front. We just have to be aware of that. They’re a dangerous team.”
Actually, the Senators don’t have the same players up front. TSN 1200 analyst Gord Wilson tweeted out the lines from Game 7 on Tuesday afternoon and the list showed four forwards who didn’t skate Tuesday night.
Bobby Ryan is out with a hand injury, Chris Kelly is with Canada’s Olympic team and Viktor Stalberg is playing in Pyeongchang with Sweden. Winger Clarke MacArthur didn’t pass his medical in training camp and isn’t expected to suit up again.
THE LAST WORDS
It was the anniversary of an ugly incident for captain Erik Karlsson. Five years ago, on Feb. 13, 2013, he had his left Achilles tendon sliced by the skate of Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke.
“It’s five years ago. It feels like almost a lifetime ago … . It’s not something that I really think about anymore,” Karlsson said before facing the Penguins.
“It’s not something that’s really bothering me. It’s one of those plays that could have been avoided. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Every time I come here, it’s not the one thing I think about.”
While Cooke told reporters it was an accident, the Senators didn’t really buy that. Owner Eugene Melnyk launched an investigation. The findings were presented to the league, but Cooke never received supplementary discipline.
Karlsson returned in only 10 weeks from surgery that was supposed to keep him out three to four months.
“It didn’t look that bad, but there was more attention when you looked back at the video and you saw what happened. Then you realize the severity of the injury,” Senators centre Zack Smith said.
Senators alternate captain Dion Phaneuf posted a photo on his Instagram account of dinner with Penguins winger Phil Kessel. The two are old friends from their days with the Leafs.
Boucher said he considered himself fortunate after Tuesday’s morning skate. He nearly got taken out by Phaneuf during a drill, but the veteran blueliner saw the coach at the last second and avoided a collision.
“I was focused on my whistle and I saw a truck coming,” Boucher said with a smile. “Either his young reflexes or my phlegmatic (approach) ... one of the two saved me there. That wouldn’t have been good. That would have been the end of it.”