The wait is over — on Saturday, the Ottawa Senators will finally begin their season.
The Sens will play a Toronto Maple Leafs squad that already has two games under their belt. The Leafs lost 3-2 to the Canadiens on opening night and then defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 on Wednesday.
Tim Stützle called it a “brutal” wait to begin the season, but also that the extra preparation helped the Senators clean up some play from a short preseason.
“Really exciting, obviously. Got to bring some energy, and yeah, I think the mindset is just the way we’ve worked all camp, really detailed, and just got to bring our game tonight,” said Tim Stützle, who centred Drake Batherson and Warren Foegele at morning skate.
Travis Green will celebrate his 500th game behind an NHL bench on Saturday night, against his former team. He will become the 81st head coach in league history to hit the milestone, but he said he’s not too worried about it being on his mind.
“Not really. My son actually saw a post or something that the Senators did, but time flies when you’re having fun,” said Green.
“It’s like anything, I’ve said it to you guys before, anything in life, the more you do it, the more comfortable you feel, the more things you learn, and I’m obviously a lot different coach today than I was 500 games ago.”
