The Ottawa Senators returned to the ice Saturday and will have a short skate Sunday morning ahead of flying to Denver to meet the Colorado Avalanche Monday evening.
Facing the Avalanche, especially at high altitude in the Mile High City on any occasion is a tough test. This one will be doubly so, especially after having eight players, in addition to associate coach Jack Capuano being out of action the past 10-plus days due to being in Covid-19 Protocol.
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Two more players, the club’s leading point-getter, Drake Batherson and d-man Nikita Zaitsev remain in Protocol and are eligible to return early week. Zaitsev will join his mates mid-week in California, while Batherson won’t return to game action until the Senators meet the Vancouver Canucks on December 1 at the Canadian Tire Centre – missing the entire four-game road trip.
In addition; Capuano who wasn’t on the ice with Senators’ coaching staff members Saturday, returned to work Sunday.
“He’s doing better. He’s a little older than the young guys. It hit him hard. We’re going to make sure he’s 100 per cent until he’s back at work,” commented a hopeful Smith Saturday.
Smith’s words rang true Sunday.
Last Monday after conversations with medical staff and the NHL, the league made the decision to postpone the Senators’ three scheduled games (Tuesday in Newark, Thursday/Saturday at the Canadian Tire Centre) in order to do their best in stopping the spread of the illness.
Smith and his players were just happy to get back to their regular routine Saturday morning.
“We all – players, coaches, management – for the most part, we’ve grown up with hockey our whole life, and this is what we do. From August until hopefully June, you want to be at the rink. It’s unfortunate time. We didn’t want to be shut down, but it’s good to be back,” said Smith after the Senators hit the ice for an extended 90-minute practice. “It’s not the ideal situation, but you know what? Safety came first and we’ve got to get ready.”
The Senators bench boss added, “Looks-wise, some the guys who had it looked like they were fine. Some of the guys who didn’t have it, that didn’t skate for five days are looking just the same. So is it because you were sick or didn’t skate for five days. So we’ll know that when the games start.”
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Forward Austin Watson known as Patient Zero, the first Senators player to be diagnosed with Covid-19 took his time away in stride, recognizing although the entire organization is fully vaccinated, everyone is still vulnerable. “We can do as much as we can to prevent this from happening, but at the end of the day we don’t have any control,” said Watson who’s wife, Jenn also contracted the virus.
Defenseman Nick Holden, the Senators’ second player placed in Protocol explained his own experience during his time away, “I was pretty fortunate the first two days after I got diagnosed there, I had some symptoms – chills and body aches, fortunately, no respiratory stuff. After the first couple days, I started feeling like myself. They wanted us to stay kind of low. The back half, I started doing a little bit of training and stuff like to get ready here.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy for the Holden household as three of his four children were also ill.
“I wore one of those really good masks,” added the 34-year old. “Made sure I was six feet away at all times,” jokingly mentioning giving his kids the Heisman, shoving them away. “It was hard, they wanted to be around me.”
Two players who filled in when others were out of the lineup, forward Parker Kelly and d-man Lassi Thomson remain with the team. While Kelly has seen his share of games, it was the first time for Senators’ fans to get a view of Thomson at the NHL level during the regular season. And the Finn impressed.
When asked the pair will remain on the NHL roster long-term, Smith responded, “Both have shown really well. We’ll see how the roster unfolds as we get people healthy and we can get enough minutes or not. It’s still a major development for both of them. Lassi has played really well. But it’s a process for him, what’s going to make him the best defenseman at 23 years old. If we don’t think it’s the right thing, then certainly he won’t be here. But for now, he’s shown in short viewings here, he’s playing good enough.”
Senators’ captain Brady Tkachuk is chomping at the bit and can’t wait to get going once again, “When it’s time to play, it’s go-time, no excuses. Outside of practice, go home, do whatever you can to get ready for the next game.”
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The post Senators Ready to Move On and Leave COVID-19 Behind Them appeared first on Full Press Hockey.