Senators need Anderson in goal more than ever
If you can believe it, the Senators’ season almost took yet another turn for the worse in the dressing room on Wednesday morning.
As Craig Anderson answered questions from a couple of us in his bare feet, I accidentally stepped on his toe.
If that thing swells up and he misses any time at all, the already grim outlook for the upcoming campaign gets even uglier. There are many who believe the only chance the Senators have at being competitive is if Anderson stands on his head. And I — as someone who inadvertently threatened his ability to stand at all — am very much one of them.
There’s going to be a heap o’ pressure on the No. 1 tender to perform.
“I think since pretty much since the league has been around, the teams that have the goalies that play the best are usually the teams that have success,” said Anderson. “As a goalie, we know that role. So much of the balance is on us. We just have to make sure we give the team a chance to win every night.”
That last line, Anderson says almost every time he talks to reporters. I’ll try to keep it out of my copy going forward. But last year, he didn’t give the team that chance often enough. Now it was an awful team, but he was unable to cover the warts like he did the season before.
In his first pre-season performance of this next chapter, Anderson was solid. He stopped 16 of 17 shots while playing a half of the game Wednesday in the 4-1 loss. The only one that beat him was the 11, when Auston Matthews was left unattended at the side of the net. Before the game, I asked Anderson if, as a 37-year old vet, he hated pre-season games as much as the rest of us. He laughed.
“I think you obviously have to give some opportunity to players that might not be on the radar,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for some younger guys that come in. Obviously you know what the veterans can do, but at the same time we’ve still got to earn our ice time as well. We’ve got to come in here and set the tone, and make sure we’re preparing and using this as a little dress rehearsal.
“I know there’s seven or eight games, so the first couple might be, as you put it, not so good. But the last two or three will probably be more closer to the team and more up tempo, like it would be in the regular season.”
Anderson says he has to earn his spot on the depth chart.
“If I come in here and I’m out of shape and don’t perform in the pre-season, what gives them the confidence to put me in the first game of the regular season?” he said, before trying to buy himself some faith. “Then again, (Carey) Price a few years ago had one of the worst pre-seasons in the history of the NHL, and he was lights out that year. “
I asked Anderson about the onagain, off-again path his career has taken. If it holds, he should be good in 2018-19.
Last year, his save percentage (. 898) was the worst it has been since he played five games with the 2002-03 Chicago Blackhawks as a 21-year old rookie.
“I think it’s just (in) Ottawa … well, probably Colorado too,” he said. “At the end of the day, stats are pretty close to your career average. Some years you’re going to be a little better than that, other years you’re going to be a little worse. It’s just kind of the way things go sometimes. A lot of that has to do with what goes on in the room, and how well guys are playing.
“When things are going well, it snowballs that way,” continued Anderson. “Same thing going the other way. You hit a little slide, you play bad for a month or two, it snowballs, then all of a sudden it’s a bad year, because statistics say it’s a bad year.
“But at the end of the day I look at wins and losses. Statistics, you take with a grain of salt. It shows a little bit of the story but it doesn’t tell the whole truth.”
The truth is the Senators need Anderson this season more than ever. I apologized for stepping on his toe.
“No, you’re fine,” he said.
CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Pierre Dorion lost 19 pounds over the summer. He credits eating better and the long, afterdinner walks he had with his girlfriend. All the tossing and turning he did each night probably burned a few calories as well ... Remember the very special gesture Eugene Melnyk made by lowering the cost of parking at CTC to 12 bucks? What you may not realize is that price slash was for just three of the nine lots. In the other six, you’re still being grossly overcharged at $30, $35 and, for valet, $50 ... The three cheap parking lots are 5, 6 and 9, which also happens to be three of the four balls that fell for the Maple Leafs to win the lottery that was Auston Matthews. Probably just a coincidence.
IF IT WAS MY TEAM: Thomas Chabot has played in neither pre-season game so far, and the reason is not injury related. We asked and it has nothing to do with the cut on his left cheek. “No,” said coach Guy Boucher. “Look at my face.” ... The explanation for Chabot’s absence? “The reality is we use six Ds for game and you’ve got too many guys to see now,” said Boucher. “I’m pretty sure Chabot is going to be on our team. Right now, it’s because we’ve got to figure out which guys are deserving and what our defensive core is going to look like.” If it was my team, I’d have Chabot in the lineup for all six exhibitions. He has only played 64 regular season games, and with Erik Karlsson gone he’s going to be counted on to produce a sizable chunk of offence — and direct what’s previously been a miserable power play. The more reps he gets the better.
ICE CHIPS: Trying to find a new home with the Senators is defenceman Stuart Percy, who was a first-round pick (25th overall) of the Leafs in 2011. He was released from the organization when Mike Babcock became coach. “It’s great to come to an NHL camp again, nice to get a chance with NHLers in mid- September,” said Percy, who spent one season in the Penguins organization then scored seven goals and 34 points with the Rochester Americans (Sabres affiliate) last year. Percy had a wrist operation 18 months ago that took longer than expected to mend. “I had a pretty good season last year in Rochester and got my confidence back,” he said. “I’ll see if I can build on that here.” ... Brady Tkachuk Trivia: What is the first stat the Senators’ top pick registered in the NHL? A penalty for breaking his stick in half while crosschecking a Leaf on Wednesday.