The Ottawa Senators carved up two pads of ice at Bell Sensplex for the better part of five hours on Thursday morning, with the time split between two groups.
Though most of the team has been skating together since the beginning of the month, these skates had a different feel in terms of intensity, particularly with the team’s coaching staff leading the sessions.
Afterward, several players along with head coach Travis Green spoke to the media in attendance. Here’s what they had to say.
“It was a good pace of practice. We didn't grab water for the first half hour, and I was staring at that water, but that's what you want [on the first day of] camp,” said Claude Giroux, entering his fifth season with Ottawa and his 19th full NHL season.
“You want to push it. You want to go as hard as you can, and you want to be able to see how much your body can take. And I feel like that's what we did today.”
Tim Stützle was asked if the start of training camp felt different than the two previous years with Green.
“It doesn't… this is our third year now, so we kind of know his drills and know what to expect, kind of, coming to training camp, and we knew it [was] going to be hard,” said Stützle.
“And yeah, it was a good first day. I think our group worked hard. I think the young guys, got to give them a lot of credit. Greener demands a lot of details, and I think they were good today.”
Defenceman Ben Hutton, brought into camp on a professional tryout, was also used to the workout. He previously played for Green and assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner in AHL Utica and with the Vancouver Canucks.
“Yeah, it was a good skate. Actually, I had Greener in in Vancouver, so some of the drills and the bag skate at the end, I remember that. Feels just how I remember it. It was a fun one,” said Hutton, who said that he is ready to make the most of his opportunity in Ottawa and earn a contract by opening night.
A few players are experiencing Green’s training camp for the first time, notably Andre Burakovsky and William Eklund. Burakovsky skated alongside Stützle and Drake Batherson in the first session of the day, while Eklund skated alongside Dylan Cozens and former Sharks teammate Fabian Zetterlund during the second.
“I think there's so many good players on the team that it doesn't matter who we play with,” said Stützle of Burakovsky, whom the Senators acquired in exchange for a sixth-round pick in June.
“It's going to be good either way. I think he's a really fast guy. Plays hard on pucks, wins puck battles, and he can score. He's shown throughout his career that he's a goal scorer, and he's just a fast player. He can skate, and flies up and down the ice, so it was a good first day.”
“Obviously, two really skilled, hardworking guys, unbelievable hockey players. It was fun to play with both of them. I think we found some chemistry on the three and twos. I think we found each other pretty good, scored a couple goals… it was fun, good to be back, for sure,” said Burakovsky.
Burakovsky and his parents were excited about the trade, as his father Robert played for the Senators during the 1993–94 season.
“I called [my dad] and told him that I'm walking in his footsteps now. He's like, ‘What do you mean?’ I’m like, ‘I'm going to play for your old team now.’ My mom got more excited. So she's like, ‘I’ve got to go. I’ve got to go and see where we lived.’ You know, like all that stuff. So she's excited,” said Burakovsky.
As for Eklund, he was quickly building chemistry with Cozens and Zetterlund, who said that the pair have been hanging out every day once again.
“It feels great. You know, obviously we became really good friends out [in San Jose],” said Eklund. “It’s just fun to [be] here. Obviously, playing with him, we grew a really strong bond together, our families know each other really good, so it’s just fun to be out here.”
Green joked about the decision to play them on the same line on the first day of camp.
“I think I read somewhere that people said I should play [Eklund] with [Zetterlund], so [got] it out of the way early,” said Green.
“But yeah, he looked good, you know, as advertised. You can see he's got high-end skill. He skates well, and it's one day, but I thought he looked good.”
Green said there was no one in either group that disappointed him but did land on a pick for who he thought looked good on the ice.
“I thought G looked great today, to be honest. He looked like he was 25 again. But I thought a lot of guys looked good. It's not surprising. The guys that have been here, I knew they'd come into camp ready and in shape.
Training camp will continue over Friday and the weekend, leading into Monday’s preseason opener against Montreal in Trois-Rivieres.
