A TRIP BACK TO THE ROOTS FOR SOON-TO-BE-DAD SABOURIN
The trip to California has offered rugged Ottawa Senators winger Scott Sabourin a return to some of his pro hockey roots, but he’s never seen the Golden State quite like this before.
In big league rinks, that is. On Saturday, he threw his weight around in the Senators’ 2-1 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center, with a few decent scoring chances of his own. On Tuesday, he was back playing on what has become a makeshift fourth line for Senators coach D.J. Smith, playing alongside veteran Mikkel Boedker and Petawawa product Matthew Peca. Sabourin and the Senators will put a bow on the California swing of the road trip Wednesday amid the glitz and glamour of the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
“Yeah, I spent four years out on the West Coast,” with American Hockey League stops with San Diego, Stockton and Ontario, Sabourin said before the puck dropped against the Ducks. “I know a few guys on the other side and few more people up and down the coast, but nothing crazy.”
It’s a stretch to suggest Sabourin will be returning home to Los Angeles Wednesday, but the Kings organization did sign him to his first pro contract following his 2012-13 season with the Oshawa Generals. He went directly to the Kings’ AHL affiliate in Manchester, N.H.
“That was my entry level, so that was a little bit of a longer stint (than the others), but it’s coming on seven years now that I first signed with them,” he said. “It has been a little while now and there has been a lot of turnover. So when you’ve been like me and you’ve been in a lot of places, you just kind of go about it as just another day at work, it’s just business.”
In this business, there are no guarantees. While the Orléans native was a feel-good Senators story early in the season, he will be a free agent in the summer. Anything he does now to the end of the season is vital to his future, whether it’s in the Senators organization or somewhere else altogether. Boedker could be seeing the final stretch of his NHL career while Peca continues to search for a foothold in the NHL.
“I know the season is starting to wind down here, but we all have a job to do here and we’re looking for jobs next year and that work is not yet done,” he said.
Smith, who coached Sabourin back in their Oshawa days together, has always been a big Sabourin booster.
“He has a lot better hands than people think and he can make plays,” said Smith. “He was in on the forecheck (against San Jose) and he’s always active, making sure the guys are safe out there.”
Sabourin joked that it’s not his role to try and be a 30-goal scorer, but if there is ever a chance to perform in a shootout, he wouldn’t turn it down.
“Yeah, absolutely,” he said if he has signature move. “There’s a couple of them. Maybe one of these days a shootout will go late and I will get a chance to shine.”
Being in the NHL for the entire season has been quite the experience for Sabourin — including his extended stay on the injured list with a concussion following his nasty collision with David Backes in November — but he’s ecstatic about the new stage of his life that is coming in September. Last week, he treated Instagram followers to the news that he and his wife, Jaime, are expecting their first child.
“It’s super-exciting,” he said.
“It puts things into perspective and gives me a new outlook. I’m sure when the baby is here I will really understand the full weight of it, but right now, we’re just super happy about it.”
EYE ON THE FARM: As the Belleville Senators prepare to kick off a three-game road trip in Laval Wednesday, head coach Troy Mann says he needs more from top forwards Josh Norris and Drake Batherson.
Norris played three games for Ottawa on an injury recall in late February. Batherson was with the big-league Senators for 21 games from Jan. 4 to Feb. 22.
While Norris (31 goals, 30 assists in 55 games) and Batherson (16 goals, 38 assists in 43 games) are still putting up impressive offensive numbers, Mann continues to drive home the point that complete play is about more than producing points. The Senators organization has made it clear they want their top prospects to be complete packages before they are given full-time NHL duty.
“Batherson can raise his game down the stretch,” Mann said.