The rebuild is ‘exciting,’ says coach Guy Boucher
Boucher not listening to prognosticators picking Ottawa to be among NHL’s worst
Guy Boucher says he’s not listening to the noise.
The Ottawa Senators head coach is aware of predictions touting the National Hockey League club’s demise before it even opens the season against the Chicago Blackhawks at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday night, but he’s optimistic the organization will take a step in the right direction.
Following the Senators’ skate at St-Jovite Arena on Monday, Boucher said he was pleased with the way players performed during training camp and he wasn’t the least bit concerned about predictions from others that his club was going to struggle.
“The only time I hear about (the negativity) is when I’m being told by the media the day of something that I need to deal with,” Boucher said. “I’m hoping the players are able to do the same because I’ve learned.
"Even for TV … I haven’t watched TV for five months. Apart from watching Netflix with the kids once in a while, I don’t pay attention to these things, so it’s very easy for me personally, to be honest. Individually? Each player? That’s a different story.
“Some guys pay zero attention, some guys pay some and they can handle it, but some people can’t handle it at all and they pay too much attention to it. It’s caseby-case, but as a group, I don’t see any traces of anything that the players are looking at to deal with anything. It really feels like a total fresh sheet, and anything that’s coming in now is forced in and it’s not inside (the room) trying to grow out.”
Given the way the Senators came apart at the seams before finishing 30th in the NHL last season, this might be the best way for Boucher to get his message across. There have been major changes since then, with the trade sending captain Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks being the biggest.
The 47-year-old Boucher has been pleased with the performance of young Senators, including top prospects Brady Tkachuk and Alex Formenton, in the preseason.
“It’s exciting,” Boucher said. “I like our group, I like the energy and bringing some new guys in. There will be some heartaches, we all know that, but you start with a new group, a number of new players — regardless of their age or experience — but just the number of new faces poses its difficulties.
“At the same time, it gives you a terrific opportunity for something new, and that’s exciting. Knowing that our young guys are really good players, we’re hopeful that they’ll grow fast, and the (veteran) players have really taken them in and are making sure that they’re surrounded the best they can.
“I’m really impressed with the way the veterans have integrated the young guys and the new guys (acquired in trades), so it’s a totally new group with a new chemistry and a new story. It’s a blank sheet starting right now and the fans should look at that as something exciting. Right now, they can’t know a lot about this team because it’s just beginning, and I think things that are beginning are exciting.”
They all have to be on the same page if they want to have success.
“The first thing we can’t do is look back,” Boucher said. “But — and there’s always a but — the players were always adamant that, whatever we had to learn, we’ve learned it. It’s not about going back to learn it again. Once you’re done Grade 3, you’re done Grade 3, you’re not going back.
“Whatever you’ve learned will serve you. The door has been totally shut from last year. The things that needed to be dealt with have been dealt with and now it’s all about moving forward with the things that we’ve learned and with the new people that are coming in that don’t deserve to be taken back to something they don’t even know about or have even lived.
“As a leader, me as the coach and our players, our No. 1 job is to look forward and know what we want. And we want a team-first attitude, a group that sticks together and knows that, through the tough times, we’re not going to stray away from being a team.
“Being a great teammate is huge for us right now, and the players have displayed that all the way.”
Boucher is headed into the final year of his contract, but said he wasn’t concerned about it.
“I’ve had that before and I won a championship,” Boucher said. “Ask Barry Trotz how he liked his year (in Washington)? I don’t do things in life for money, I never have. I don’t do things for contracts. I do things because I like being there and I want to do them.
“I put my name at the bottom of that contract for three years and that’s what I plan to do and to do it well, and that’s exactly what’s happening.”
It’s a blank sheet starting right now and the fans should look at that as something exciting.