Corvo making noise
Veteran defenceman moves up depth chart with solid play
TAMPA, Fla. As Ottawa Senators coach Paul MacLean spoke to the media in Sunrise, Fla., following Tuesday’s 4-2 victory, the sound of weights clanging in the background could be heard loud and clear.
Again here following practice Wednesday, the weights were echoing in the hallway of the Tampa Bay Times Forum as MacLean talked.
In both cases, 36-year-old Senators defenceman Joe Corvo was responsible for the noise — dead lifting, dead set on doing everything possible to keep his NHL career going as long as possible.
MacLean said the message should be heard loud and clear by the team’s younger players.
“Any time you have someone that’s working that hard and you’re not, you should ask yourself a question,” said MacLean. “He takes great pride in keeping himself in shape and that’s what you find with older players in the NHL nowadays that want to keep playing. They understand they have to get faster or maintain what they’ve got for as long as they can. That’s something we’ve tried to ingrain in our culture here.”
Corvo did look 10 years younger during Tuesday’s victory, getting the puck out of his own end quickly and making quick, crisp passes and snapshots.
He beat Panthers goaltender Tim Thomas with one of those shots in the first period. A similar shot bounced off Colin Greening’s leg for the game winner with 43 seconds left in the second period.
Suddenly, Corvo, who played 21:13 against the Panthers, has earned himself a regular spot on the blueline. He had sat out 11 of 12 games as a healthy scratch in a forgettable November.
“It feels good to play my game the way I’ve played in the past and do what is expected of me,” said Corvo, who now has two goals and six assists in 12 games. “I think I’m doing that right now. I’m moving my feet, making plays, just trying to make it impossible to take me out of the lineup.”
One of the secrets to his recent success is that he’s not carried away with taking the huge slapshot from the blue-line. The way he sees it, a well-placed wrist or snapshot is invaluable in creating offence.
“You can get wrist shots through more,” he said. “It’s a lot quicker of a motion, obviously. You can snap it and the way sticks are these days, you can get a lot on it.”
MacLean is ecstatic that Corvo is now doing what comes naturally to him. In the early part of the season, he wasn’t showcasing his mobility and offensive touch.
SENATORS HIGH ON LAZAR
When it comes to the development of Curtis Lazar, the Senators are looking beyond his impressive offensive numbers.
Lazar, the Senators’ first-round selection at last June’s NHL Draft, has scored 17 goals and 14 assists in 23 games since being sent back to the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League, earning himself a spot in the Canadian world junior team’s evaluation camp.
Senators assistant general manager Tim Murray says that’s all fine and dandy, but there’s so much more to the Lazar package. “It’s the intangibles,” said Murray. “How hard he is to play against? His commitment to the game? His commitment to getting better? We love the numbers. We expect the numbers. But it’s the intangibles that we like better.”
Lazar, who has played primarily as a centre with Edmonton, was used as both a centre and rightwinger during the Senators’ rookie camp and could play in either spot as a big-leaguer.
The Senators only used him in one pre-season game due to a shoulder injury, but Murray says regardless of where Lazar ends up and in what role, he’ll be invaluable.
“He’s a two-way player. I have to assume that for (national junior coach) Brent Sutter, he’s his type of player. He’s a dependable player, the type of player coaches continually put out on the ice because of their commitment to the game.”
While Lazar appears to be a lock for Canada’s team, Murray also has hopes that Quentin Shore — selected in the sixth round (168th overall) in the summer — could land a key role for the United States on its own world junior team.
Murray says Shore’s hockey sense is “off the charts” and that he can make plays offensively.
In order to advance to the big leagues, Shore will need to improve his strength and get faster, according to Murray.
Swedish goaltender Marcus Hogberg, drafted in the third round in 2013 and currently playing for Mora in the Swedish Elite League, is also believed to be in the running to play for Sweden at the tournament.