‘CULTURE CHANGE’ ISN’T JUST TALK FOR SENATORS
Even in loss to Maple Leafs, team shows signs the rebuild is on the right track
The Ottawa Senators were going to lose. There was no doubt about that. But Erik Brannstrom still had a say in how exactly they were going to lose.
In the end, he made it more painful than it probably had to be.
Down 5-3 with their net empty and half a dozen seconds on the clock, the Senators rookie defenceman took a skate to the face as he prevented Auston Matthews from scoring what should have been an easy goal to complete a hat trick in an opening night loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
Some might have called it a needless injury in a game that had already been decided. But his teammates, almost all of whom gave Brannstrom a fist bump as he was having his face stitched back together, viewed it much differently.
That’s how you get better, they said. That’s how you rebuild a franchise.
“It’s awesome,” said Senators veteran defenceman Mark Borowiecki. “We were all barking on the bench, for sure. It’s professional pride and pride as a team. You don’t want (Matthews) to score a hat trick against you. You see (Brannstrom) playing hard and going to the end, that’s what you want to see out of a kid like that. He has all the skill in the world, all the natural talent in the world, but above all that he’s also a good person and he has the work ethic and compete. And that’s what turns you into a stud in this league.”
Ultimately, this is also what turns you into a stud team in this league.
This is how you go from being one of the worst to one of the best. It’s not always about drafting first overall and landing the next Auston Matthews. It’s about playing right to the final buzzer. It’s about cultivating a culture of effort and accountability, even if it means you have to get your face sliced open in the process.
“That’s the foundation I think you see teams talking about that now,” said Borowiecki. “Edmonton is preaching the same thing. Teams that are going through rebuilds, there has to be that solid foundation of work ethic, compete, perseverance. Hopefully, people stick with us here because it’s going to lead to success.”
Thanks to the Oilers, as well as the Sabres, the term “rebuild” has received a negative connotation from the days when Chicago, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh used the draft as a springboard to winning multiple Stanley Cups. But there are recent examples of how it can be done right — and quickly.
The Leafs haven’t yet won a championship, much less a single playoff round, since drafting Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander. But already teams are taking cues from them in the manner in which they built a competitive roster that has qualified for the playoffs in each of the past three seasons.
Yes, Toronto is overflowing with talent. Aside from Matthews, Marner and Nylander, they also drafted Morgan Rielly on defence and signed John Tavares a year ago. But talent gets you only far in this league.
The Oilers had a couple of players who finished in the top four in scoring last season (Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl), but still missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, the New York Islanders didn’t have a single player ranked among the top 65 last year and they went to the second round.
It’s also worth noting that while Matthews had two goals on Wednesday — and Marner, Tavares and Nylander each picked up an assist — the other three goals came from players occupying roster spots on the bottom two lines who are earning less than US$1 million this season. And they weren’t necessarily of the highlight-reel variety.
It’s a good lesson for Ottawa, which is not just relying on Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk and Brannstrom to lead them out of darkness, but also the behindthe-scene contributions of Connor Brown, Ron Hainsey and even a minor-league journeyman such as Scott Sabourin.
A culture change is just as important as a good draft, which is why the Leafs made the difficult decision to part ways with Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul prior to Matthews’ and Marner’s rookie season.
“(The Leafs) went through some dark days,” said Borowiecki. “Especially with the way the league is structured now, you have to draft and develop. We’re trying to do that here and really trying to lay that foundation of work and compete and that’s going to serve these young guys well. It’s only going to lead to a better future for us, and hopefully success like Toronto.”
It’s not just the Senators who are following Toronto’s blueprint of mixing talent with hard work. The Canucks added blue-collar workhorses such as J.T. Miller and Micheal Ferland — not to mention Jay Beagle a year ago — to their roster this year, while new Oilers GM Ken Holland spent this off-season handing out one-year “show me” contracts to half a dozen of their players.
“I’ve also been in the game a long, long time,” Holland said last week. “And we have to build (a culture) to have success. We’re trying to build a culture around Connor.”
As for the Senators, don’t expect a turnaround overnight. But if the season ends with more stitches than wins, it could be deemed a success.
“He left the game with bandages on his face,” Borowiecki proudly said of Brannstrom. “It’s easy to pack it in when you’re down by two and it’s an empty net and the game’s out of reach. But good on him. I’m sure every guy in the room is going to give him a bump for that.”
Teams that are going through rebuilds, there has to be that solid foundation of work ethic, compete, perseverance.