Wins And Sightseeing On The Senators’ Agenda In Stockholm

The Ottawa Senators took off for Sweden Sunday fresh off the throes of a much-needed 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames Saturday evening – a game which featured defensive specialist centre Rourke Chartier tallying his first NHL goal since October 28. 2018.

This will be the third occasion the Senators head to Stockholm for NHL action.

The team opened the 2008-09 campaign earning three-of-four points versus the Pittsburgh Penguins, losing the opener in overtime and winning the second game.

Their second trip took place mere days after acquiring forward Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche in a blockbuster three-team swap with the Nashville Predators. The club headed to Scandinavia after an impressive 8-3-5 start to the 2017-18 season.

Duchene made his Senators’ debut facing ex-teammates with the Senators won back-to-back games by identical 4-3 scores. However, their year went sideways upon their return, as the team won only 20 of their next 66 games.

The Senators are in a different position this time around as they prepare for 7:15 a.m. EST, 1:15 p.m. CET skate at the Avicii Arena in Stockholm Monday morning.

After a 3-1-0 start out of the gate, the team has stumbled to a 6-7-0 record but hopes to build on winning two of their past three outings when they face the Detroit Red Wings Thursday (2 p.m. EST) and Minnesota Wild Saturday (11 a.m. EST).

For Swedes Erik Brannstrom, Anton Forsberg, and Joonas Korpisalo, whose family resides in nearby Finland, it’ll be a trip to remember for a lifetime.

Erik Brannstrom, who returned to the Senators’ lineup Saturday for the first time in two weeks after sustaining a concussion in Pittsburgh, is excited to have an opportunity to play in front of family and friends in NHL games, not to mention his appointed role of tour guide in his native country.

“I think it’s great, going be a great week for our team. I’m going to show them a little bit of Sweden. So it’ll be fun,” the Senators’ d-man told Full Press Hockey.

“I think it’s really important to involve the whole world in the NHL. I mean, I didn’t think it was going get the chance to play an NHL game at home in front of family and friends, so I think it’s awesome. Watching as a child when I grew up, I think I would have been really glad for an NHL team to come to Sweden so I could watch it.”

Goalie Joonas Korpisalo is no stranger to the Global Series having played last November in Tampere, Finland, as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets and attended another as a youngster.

“It’s pretty cool. I don’t know about the North American guys but you know, it’s so close to home for me. And last year I played in Finland as well, so it’s good for the game. I think, you know, people in Scandinavia, they love hockey,” the Senators’ netminder.

“To think I was at one of those Global Series games when I was younger, just looking at the game and wishing I will be there someday. And you know, playing one of those games myself now. It feels pretty surreal.”

Brady Tkachuk was happy with wins over Toronto and Calgary and is among the Senators’ players looking forward to the week.

“I think these are steps in the right direction, and yeah, we’re looking forward to the Sweden trip, but I’ll kind of get that team bond and I know it’s gonna be exciting to share that this moment memory with all the Swedish guys on our team and see how excited they are for this trip.”

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The Senators’ captain put Brannstrom and Forsberg in charge of off-ice activities, which will see the squad play padel tennis, sightsee, and enjoy a scavenger hunt throughout the area, as well as team dinners.

“They’re the off-ice captains as of late to set up different things. So yeah, expectations are high. I expect to have a good time and good team bonding activities. And what they’ve told me so far, they’re definitely passing the test – so far, so excited for all these team activities, team camaraderie, over the next week.”

One aspect the Senators have to be wary of when the club returns from Sweden is the remainder of their schedule. With a gap of four days between games last week and yet another five in Europe, compounded with another five days after next Saturday’s game versus the Wild, their schedule be a hectic one.

Wins will be important on this trip.

Head coach D.J. Smith noted, “Well, you get six days for your next game and you know, we’ve got to go to Sweden and do what we’ve got to do. But in saying that, when you look at the standings, we’re going to be six games behind some team when we get back and then there’s another rest again. You can be seven or eight games behind teams, so you want to win going into this.”

With the Global Series games counting as two home games, the club will play 37 of their final 67 games on the road, a tough task but one they’ll have to endure.