Ottawa Citizen

Team in limbo as NHL plans for return

- BRUCE GARRIOCH bgarrioch@postmedia.com Twitter: @sungarrioc­h

D.J. Smith is prepared for whatever scenario presents itself next.

While he’s not sure if his Ottawa Senators are going to suit up again this season, unofficial­ly it appears they’re done, with the NHL focused on 24 teams returning this summer for modified playoffs. The coach will deal with whatever happens one way or another when owner Eugene Melnyk and general manager Pierre Dorion get word from the league on what direction it will take.

Right now, there are lot of unknowns and Smith said Thursday this period has been difficult to handle.

“There’s just been no closure to the season for us,” Smith said. “At this point, we didn’t get to have exit meetings. That’s the hard part. At this point, you typically have your one month of rest and then the players really start to work out. It’s hard for some of these guys to know when they’re going to go again.

“The good thing is we’re young and that’s a big advantage. If you’re an older guy and you don’t get to play for six to eight months and you’re at the tail end of your career, it’s going to be hard. Whereas a young guy can just jump back on the ice and go. That will hopefully be our advantage is that we’re young, we’re fast and we’re going to be in shape.”

Smith said accountabi­lity is a big part of his program going forward and he’ll take the hit when the Senators don’t compete up to the level of people’s expectatio­ns.

“When we’re bad, it’s on me,” he said. “Some coaches just say it, but they don’t really believe it. I know when our team is bad, I didn’t get them ready to play. It’s because I didn’t tweak the right guy in the morning, I didn’t push enough buttons to get a guy ready to play, and if our team isn’t ready, that’s on me. I hear so many coaches say, ‘That’s on me,’ but I don’t know if they truly believe it. I do.”

He’s in constant communicat­ion with Dorion and the two have a strong relationsh­ip.

“We get along great. We speak every day or every other day,” said Smith. “When he has a vision of something, I’ve got to be working with him to make that happen. If we’re calling a guy up or whatever that may be, these are things we speak about every day so that we’re both on the same page, and I think it works really well.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada