Sunday might be the most unique of the nine practice days for the Senators who aren’t in Milan competing in the Olympics.
At 8:15 a.m., the Senators will watch their teammates Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson play for gold against Team Canada, which stands as the long-anticipated rematch of the international hockey rivals and the final event of the entire Olympics.
And, after opening Saturday’s practice to season seat members, the Senators will again skate in front of fans Sunday — this time split into two teams for the annual Sens Skills competition presented by CAA North & East Ontario which begins at 1 p.m.
“Yeah, it’s going to be an awesome day,” said Drake Batherson, who will captain one of the skills competition squads.
“I mean, obviously, you wake up right away and the gold medal game’s on, that’ll be exciting, and then the skills right after that which is always fun to try to put on a show for the fans and interact with them a little bit, that’s always a good day.”
“Last year with the 4 Nations, you kind of figured that [Canada vs. USA] was meant to be,” said Shane Pinto, who has played for Team USA at the last two IIHF World Championships.
“And as the tournament went these last few weeks, it just kind of felt like that was going to be the matchup. Yeah, we’re all fired up, it’s going to be such a fun game to watch and obviously rooting for ‘Sandy’ and Brady there.”
Batherson hinted at the team getting together to watch the game on Sunday morning. “It feels similar to before the 4 Nations game last year, the final, and we’re fired up to watch it,” said Batherson, who trains during the summer with fellow Maritimers and Canadian Olympians Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and Brad Marchand.
“I can only imagine what they’re feeling over there right now, I’m excited to even watch,” he said. “So to play in that, I’m sure it’s going to be unreal.”
