LIKING LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
Tempo of play ramped up for Senators at training camp under new coach
The way the Senators players tell it, they could be liable for speeding tickets at the CTC.
Speed. Pace. Tempo. These are the catchwords popping up in interviews, now that new head coach Guy Boucher is on the ice with the team, after observing camp practices for most of the first week.
“It’s modern hockey,” says captain Erik Karlsson, who returned to the practice ice Wednesday evening, his first skate with the Senators after representing Sweden in the World Cup of Hockey. “It’s the way the game is played now, with a lot of pace, and it’s going to be fast out there. I think that’s going to suit our team really well.”
How different will Ottawa’s game be under Boucher?
“I’ve been here one day, it’s tough to say,” joked Karlsson.
Still, he has a pretty good idea after speaking with the new coach for hours leading into camp, and catching up with teammates who have played games in the new system.
“It’s definitely a change in a lot of ways,” Karlsson says. “As of right now everything is positive. And it feels like everything we’re doing has a purpose. It’s looking good. Guys are excited.”
Whether Karlsson plays as many minutes under Boucher as he did under Dave Cameron remains to be seen, but Karlsson says if the team is winning and he plays less, he’s good with that. He feels players believe in this system because it suits the team. Boucher wants shorter shifts, to drive the pace.
Just what is different about Boucher’s system, aside from everyone being in a big hurry?
According to alternate captain and centre Kyle Turris, the changes involve “tweaks” that need to become second nature.
“If one of the five guys is given a different route, it takes a split second — am I that guy, which route do I take?” Turris says. “The more reps you get the more it becomes instinctual.”
He says the changes in “route” assignments are about pursuing the puck, rather than while possessing it.
DZINGEL DOOZY
For Ottawa’s quicker players, Boucher is preaching to the converted.
Forward Ryan Dzingel says he wants to show he can be a force.
“Just because I have that speed it doesn’t mean anything, I’ve got to get ... over the puck, as they say, and battle to use that speed,” Dzingel said.
“I’m not just going to go out there and show flashes of speed without grit. Just try to put it all together.”
MacARTHUR AND SIELOFF
While it’s encouraging to hear winger Clarke MacArthur vow to return to action soon, everyone is going to be on pins and needles until the Senators winger can show he’s healthy and can stay healthy.
MacArthur suffered his fourth concussion in just over a year and a half when Senators defenceman candidate Patrick Sieloff slammed him into the boards during Sunday’s red-white scrimmage.
MacArthur posted on Instagram Thursday a message that he intends to return to action “soon” and vindicated Sieloff of any ill intent by calling the hit a “hockey play.”
Maybe if MacArthur is able to return, it will be easier for Sieloff to remain a part of the organization. As it is, he was transferred to the AHL group without playing a single exhibition game, despite the fact the Senators gave up an NHL regular, Alex Chiasson, to get him.
Wednesday night, Boucher said, “there’s no animosity” toward Sieloff, and that he wasn’t playing well enough to get into a pre-season game.
“It’s one of those things you have to manage well,” Boucher said. There was no way the club was going to allow this situation to distract from an all-important first camp by Boucher and his staff.
“If he would have been ahead of some guys, and really close to making it, he would get a game now,” Boucher said. “But that’s not the case. So because that was clearly not the case, let’s not precipitate and bring back emotion right now that doesn’t need to be brought back.”
For Sieloff, 22, one decision made in a split second of a meaningless scrimmage, altered his tryout completely.
RAVENS TO FENWAY
The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team reached the CIS national tournament last spring. Now, they’re getting their fall season off to a stylish start, mixing a little hardball with pucks.
Ravens head coach Marty Johnston and assistant coach Shaun Van Allen, a former Senators centre and a huge Red Sox fan, are taking the Ravens players to Fenway Park for Friday’s game between Boston and the Toronto Blue Jays, one of the tribute games to retiring Red Sox slugger David Ortiz.
The Ravens will play Boston College in an exhibition game on Saturday and then Holy Cross on Sunday. It’s all part of Carleton’s pre-season bonding exercise.
“We went to Europe last year,” Johnston said, “and the guys are pretty pumped about this (Fenway trip).”