SENS FULL OF ENERGY
Upbeat vibes at training camp
Wherever the Ottawa Senators end up in the standings this season, they’re aiming to avoid fading at the finish.
Last season, the team allowed 102 goals against in the third period, second worst in the league behind the Florida Panthers. After the first stage of training camp, the players believe they’re headed in the right direction to improve those numbers.
“It’s really uptempo at the practices,” said centre Colin White, who completed a third consecutive day Sunday with Brady Tkachuk and Connor Brown on his wings. “There’s not a lot of time spent on the boards. It’s just grab water and get going again. If we do that all year, we’re going to be a really well-conditioned team.”
Monday will be a welcome day of rest before the Senators hit the exhibition schedule running with back-to-back games against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The first will be played on Tuesday in St. John’s followed by a rematch Wednesday at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The club reduced its original 63-player roster to 52 late Sunday, but there were no surprises. Goaltenders Mads Sogard (Medicine Hat), Kevin Mandolese (Cape Breton) and forward Jonathan Gruden (London) were sent back to their junior teams.
While the pre-season games will provide a much better indication of who might stay the rest of the way, coach D.J. Smith said he has already seen a few players stand out with their determination and skill.
Winger Vitaly Abramov, who has played primarily on a line with Alex Formenton and Josh Norris, has been his own energy source. He scored yet again in Sunday’s intrasquad scrimmage off a pretty feed from the speedy Formenton, raising the most important eyebrows as he battles among the bubble forwards for a spot on the NHL roster.
“He scores every time I watch him play,” said Smith. “He was arguably one of the best or the best player at the rookie tournament and he just continues to score.
“He works and he works and he works. He’s certainly one of the guys who has put himself in the mix. He works too hard (not to be noticed), he just continues to go, go on. He is one of the guys we talked about going into the year. It’s just a matter of is it now or is it later? We’ll see how he does in the exhibition games.”
Abramov, 21, and a former Gatineau Olympiques star, came to the Senators along with Jonathan Davidsson from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Matt Duchene trade in February.
One of the other intriguing moves Sunday was the defence pairing of 38-year-old Ron Hainsey and 20-year-old rookie Erik Brannstrom. In the opening two days of camp, Hainsey played on the left side. On Sunday, he was shifted to the right side.
“(Hainsey) has played the right with (Toronto’s) Morgan Rielly and Brannstrom has a ton of skill,” said Smith. “You want to give him the more options to jump up in the rush and you can move it better on the left side, in my opinion, so I like him better on that side.”
Funny how things change. It was only a couple of years ago that the Senators enjoyed great success by using their left-side defencemen in a more defensive capacity. Under Guy Boucher, left-side defencemen, led by Mark Borowiecki, forced the play by stepping up into the neutral zone.
Back then, of course, the Senators defence was led by captain Erik Karlsson. Now it’s left-side defenceman Thomas Chabot, who carries the load offensively.
Other than the Hainsey-Brannstrom flip-flop, there hasn’t been much change in the lines and defence pairings since Friday.
The way Smith sees it, the players are now more than ready to start hitting players on other teams rather than their teammates.
“We knew it was going to be hard working for the first three days and everybody went as hard as they could,” said Tkachuk. “It was pretty physical, there was some high emotion out there. Usually, you don’t see that in practice before the games start. That’s just a preview of what it’s going to be like during the year.” kwarren@postmedia.com rwitter.com/Citizenkwarren
There’s not a lot of time spent on the boards. It’s just grab water and get going again.