Senators keen to get going again
Returnees take to ice on eve of training camp
It must get like this around a theatre production, toward the end of rehearsals.
Actors get antsy to get on with the show.
As they finish the last of their casual dress rehearsal skates, National Hockey League players are ready to get back to work. Depending on how successful their teams were in the spring, some have been away from the action for four months.
In the case of the Ottawa Senators, their last meaningful game was May 24, a Game 5, 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second playoff round.
Centre Jason Spezza was in Ottawa’s lineup that night, but because of back surgery and then a knee injury during rehabilitation, he saw action in only the final three of the Senators’ 10 playoff games. Following the lockout, he had appeared in just five regular-season games before his back seized up.
So, with a total of eight games played over the past calendar year, one can imagine how keen No. 19 is to get back in a hockey dressing room.
“It has been a long time since I’ve been in games, so I’m excited to get going again,” Spezza said following a well-attended skate at the Bell Sensplex on Monday.
The Senators will open training camp Wednesday. On Tuesday, they hold their annual pre-camp golf day, this year at Rideau View, accompanied by PGA Tour pro Brad Fritsch.
“Those last couple of weeks always drag on a bit until you get into the exhibition games and training camp,” Spezza said. “We’re all here, we’re all excited and ready to go.”
Spezza says his back and knee have held up well during summer training, a regimen focused more on movement and flexibility than the usual strength exercises. On Monday, Spezza skated alongside Bobby Ryan, the Senators’ biggest off-season acquisition. They clicked at times, narrowly missing a goal when Ryan, who is usually the scorer, dished a pass to playmaker Spezza driving the net.
Earlier in the scrimmage, Ryan ripped a goal-scorer’s goal to the top shelf. Fans of the Senators will hope to see that repeated a few times this season.
“We’re trying to talk as little as possible about playing right now; we’re just feeling each other out,” Spezza said. “We’ll start talking more Xs and Os stuff, and tendencies, once we get into games.
“I think it’s important just to kind of let things naturally come and not force things too much,” Spezza said. “There has been a lot of talk about us playing together, and I think it’s important we just don’t force it. Just learn what each other likes to do and see if it works.”
Spezza is a front-runner to be the Senators next captain, although he says he has no idea when Daniel Alfredsson’s successor will be named.
BELL-RINGER
Spezza was one of several NHL players on hand to ring the opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. He received a memento for his efforts and saw a side of the business world he hadn’t viewed before.
“It’s something you’ll never get a chance to do again,” Spezza said.
MICHALEK ‘100 PER CENT’
Winger Milan Michalek joined in Monday’s scrimmage and afterward pronounced himself fit and ready for the season, following an unconventional procedure on his ailing knee. In early June, Michalek visited Dr. Peter Wehling in Germany for “biologic” treatment.
Essentially, Michalek had blood withdrawn, white blood cells separated and then reheated before they were re-injected along with a “proprietary serum.” This went on for five straight days.
“I went there after the season, and it helped me right away,” he said.
“I’ve been progressing every day. It feels good now. I’m 100 per cent.
Week by week, his knee strengthened, Michalek said, to the point where he could do gym workouts and begin skating. He has been back on in the ice for about a month.
This is a huge year for Michalek. At 28, he is entering the final year of his contract, and he needs to prove he can stay healthy for a full season. Last season he appeared in 23 games for the Senators and scored four goals and 10 assists. He added five points in 10 playoff games but was slowed by the sore and swollen knee.
“It’s a big year for me, but I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself,” Michalek said. “If the team’s not doing good, I’m not doing good. I just want to stay healthy, and hopefully we’re going to do good this year.”
Michalek wanted to try the biologic procedure, which has been used by many NBA players and golfer Tiger Woods, to avoid surgery that could have kept him out for between four and six months.
“I wanted to go this way. And hopefully it’s going to be good,” Michalek said.
Like Spezza, Michalek is intrigued by the idea of playing alongside the new winger, Ryan.
“We’ll see how it’s going to go in training camp,” Michalek said. “It would be nice to play with these two great players, like we’ve seen today. It would be fun. But we’ll see.”