David Perron, Claude Giroux, Travis Green Media Availability

David Perron, Claude Giroux, Travis Green Media Availability

Yeah, pretty good. Like we uh we fought back right away. Like after I don’t know like five, six, seven games, we talked about how we needed more urgency kind of get back to uh what our identity made a little success last year. And obviously we feel like we’ve done that. Uh especially, you know, with the the way things happen, missing uh Chucky a good chunk at a time and then uh you know, like Shabby recently. Was it easy? And I we were told it was you who basically said we got to reestablish our identity at that point in the season. Was it easy to see from your standpoint? Yeah, because uh I would say that most teams, you know, like you come back into it, you want to hit the ground running and uh the tough part of doing that is there’s uh you know, like at the end of the year, there’s only the playoff teams that feel like they have that. And then uh at the start of the year, after a good training camp, you feel like all 32 teams like feel pretty good about themselves, what they got going, uh addition, draft picks, whatever they did over the summer. So, I think that’s the reason why it’s a little bit harder sometimes at the start of the year and uh we did a good job to grab it and uh you know like the good part we can we can keep getting better too. Is it easier said than done to overcome the loss of the captain for as long as you’ve lost? Uh no, it’s hard but at the same time we didn’t really talk about it and I know I think Travis mentioned that to you guys before but we really didn’t. And it’s not like it’s always like that in every team. You you try and move on. And uh if we didn’t have success, we would probably hear about it more from you guys. We would talk about it more and and it wouldn’t like it’s definitely a reason like we want to have him back cuz we know we’re a better team with them and just the reality of of it right now. Was there like a moment where you felt like you know the start of the season wasn’t your strongest where you were starting to turn things around? Yeah, just every single day we got to get back at it and uh and put in the work and you know like even last game we lost one nothing but in a way it’s not lost. It was pretty solid game all around if you you know it’s a tight checking uh team over there they uh have a lot of experience on on their back end and up front. You know they have two really check-in lines are pretty good lines in the NHL and um it was tight checking. There’s games like that and then we got to keep building our game. Are you sure you’ve adapted to playing with Timmy and Brad and Yeah, I just get uh I I try and when I have the puck to um get it to them, pick pick players, kind of uh create a little bit of chaos in front of the net and uh they make some really good plays out there. It’s fun playing with them. They they have a lot of pace to their game and u on the for check. want to get pucks back, win battles, just the little things sometimes that uh you know they might not end up on the score sheet, whatever. But that Timmy goal the other day being that front kind of just creating chaos there and and Drake was able to maybe have a half a second longer because of it and and found the next play with this schedule. Does it feel like you’re at the 20 game mark pretty quickly here? It does. It’s crazy. I I was thinking about that the other day actually. I was like, “Wow, 20 already almost.” So, uh, and then when we’re back, it’ll be almost a third of the season. So, just how it goes. Uh, we, uh, it’s exciting, uh, to to have the feeling like our games head in the right direction more and more and we have more steps to take, too. At the same time, uh, there’s certain areas we can keep getting better at and, uh, it’s, uh, it’s why we keep coming here and putting in the work. What are some of the, um, not so obvious benefits of a long road trip that you’re headed out? the not so obvious. Yeah. What are the obvious ones? Well, there’s a few obvious ones. Um I’m not sure. Yeah, you you caught me off guard with the not so obvious one. Or do I want to talk about those? Right. Well, the bonding as an obvious Yeah, that’s that’s that’s going to be the good part for sure. Uh you always get a little more time uh spent together, all the little battles we go through throughout the year. And uh a lot of times you you learn about guys more on those uh longer trips. Uh whatever they got a situation going on at home, parents, grandparents, whatever it is. Uh um like it’s tough when you come today, you go to work, you get on the ice, you work out. You don’t always kind of sit down with someone and really spend time. So those road road trips are really good for that. And when you when you kind of know about more about the person, you care more about them. And then, you know, it should translate to to a battle in the ice and you care more about that person. You know what he’s going through sometimes. And um I think a team can get tighter. Oh, thanks Fore Jamie B for the power through that. No, it’s good. You want you want those trip early in the year just to kind of get the team bonding and uh um more time together really. So, it’s uh this is a long one obviously and um it’s going to be good for us to to see where we stand on the road. Hopefully, not too much time judging by how you guys are laughing at each other. Yeah, I know. Uh I mean uh yeah, I don’t know what to say about that. Yeah. What have you made of of how good Tim has been on the faceoff circle? He’s never had a season where he’s had faceoff win rate over 50% and he’s been really good to start off the year. What do you think of how he’s changed his approach? Yeah, he’s been great. I think he’s uh I don’t know if he’s trying a little harder or he got better in the summer. He uh uh he’s I think I think as a centerman you just find ways what works for you and you’re trying to do uh you know the other players the other side what they’re trying to do. So I think he’s he’s he’s uh he’s adapting this year and uh it’s great to see what and as long as you’ve been his teammate, what have you thought about his trajectory, not just as a player, but in terms of a person, how how he’s matured in your time around it? Well, he hasn’t matured off the ice but uh No, he’s uh you know he’s he’s awesome to be around and uh you know his work ethic and how competitive he is and uh you know you just want guys like that on your team. What’s made just your line with Amio and Pinto so successful since you guys have been together. Uh yeah, we’re playing we’re we’re we’re playing okay. I think we can play a little bit better and um find ways to help the team a little bit more. But I think overall we’re uh our chemistry is has been pretty good and you know sometimes takes a few games to to get chemistry with uh with with some of your teammates. But I feel like right away when we start playing we we kind of have a good feel to each other what everybody tries to do and their tendencies. So we’re uh but we’re we want to take that next step and we just got to keep working at it. What’s that next step do you feel like for your line? Uh, I mean more consistent. Uh, I think uh I think Pence is is pretty I mean they’re both pretty consistent. Maybe I should be more consistent, but uh uh just being more consistent on on our our chemistry and working together and knowing what our game plan is during that game because sometimes we play against really offensive players and some nights not. So, it’s uh it’s knowing who you’re playing against and just kind of adapting to that. Next step. just match up. for plus today. Yeah. Maintenance day for uh skated today. So, a good sign. I’m not sure yet. He’ll be with us on the trip. uh concussion protocol skating. Yeah. I’m not sure. A question. Since you’re 19 games in, considering the challenges and hurdles that you’ve experienced to this point, how would you evaluate how your team has progressed through them to the point where they’re at in the standings where they’ve been competitive? They’ve done a lot of good things at 5.5. What have you made of how your team has played for the first 19 games? Yeah, pretty good. I like our game. Um, you know, I think I’m repeating myself from what I said the other night. game five or whatever. I thought our game was a little bit loose. First five games kind of tightened things up lately. Um and the rest of our games kind of followed suit and it’s a grind this year. It’s you know there’s you can see the whole NHL is tight. Uh there’s not a lot of separation especially in our division. So we just got to keep keep plugging away. Have you seen it ever like that before, particularly in your division in the Eastern Conference, where seems tighter this year? Uh, you know, will there be some separation as the year goes on? I don’t know. But we just worry about the next game. It’s important. There’s not a lot of practice time uh in stretches this year. We’ve had these four day break. So, we’re kind of going with a little bit of the same look that we did before, but looking at our game, you know, where we thought we needed some work. Uh, today there was a lot of puck touches, some scoring stuff, but also working on our our defensive side of our puck as well. Uh, trying to touch all our areas, but extra emphasis on certain parts. And, uh, we’ll travel tomorrow, practice that. What’s it been like considering how condensed the schedule’s been this year managing off days, practice days, and all these games that come in a small amount of time. Uh it’s a lot of work with our strength team. Uh also, you know, looking at our game to see, do you need rest or do you need work? And uh you know, we play a a game that you’ve got to be you got to have your energy. Uh it’s a skating league now. If you’re half a step behind, it’s it’s going to be tough to win. And we always go back to, you know, do we make improvements through video or do we make improvements on ice? And today’s player is quite used to seeing video and understanding where they need to get better. And then there’s the execution part is hard. You need to get punches. Try to have that whether it be our morning skate or in practices. feel like you hit this 20 mark Thursday. Do you feel like you’re hitting it pretty quickly? Like maybe a week ahead of where it might be. Usually it’s around American Thanksgiving, but that’s not a couple of weeks. I don’t know. Uh I mean, it’s definitely been a lot of hockey. Uh again, I not overthinking it. uh games are when they are and there’s going to be times where it feels like you’re in a sprint. Uh there’s going to be a big break, you know, during the Olympics, but uh yeah, it’s a different season and it always is when there’s Olympic year. Um that’s just part of it. Everyone goes through it. uh haven’t overthought it for sure and you know but we still put a lot of thought into what we’re going to do in between game days and how we need to get our team ready to play whether it’s through teaching on ice off ice rest we’re big believers that with this schedule rest is important as well yeah we worked on a lot of areas today in our game I don’t know watch, but we spent some time with the penalty kill. Uh spent some time at the beginning of practice with some touches, some, you know, it’s not just skating in and shooting the puck. There’s there’s some touch plays that we’re working around our net. Sometimes you get chances in the net. We haven’t touched the puck a lot or around the net. So, not to get into it too deeply, but our five on five games been been pretty solid, but we’re still working on certain parts. Go ahead. With all these one goal focus on goalending the winner. How have you felt that and have responded over the past couple weeks to all these tight games? It’s a tight league this year. Uh you know there’s not a lot of room for error when you look at the games even our games. I think we’ve played seven seven overtime games so far. Is that right? But uh goending’s at a premium in the NHL. So, I think as far as our goalies have played, I think they’ve tightened things up in the last I don’t know 10 to 14 games. It feels that way. Goals against have been lower. They haven’t let in a bunch of goals. So, happy where they are where they’re at now. And uh I think they’re trending in the right way. a lot of things. He’s he’s hard, takes pride in defending. I think that’s maybe his biggest attribute is he really takes a lot of pride in it. And to be a good defender, you need to be conscious of it. And um you know, he’s a smart guy. He’s willing to sacrifice his body. There’s a lot that goes into defending, but those things stick out. Again, I I don’t know if I can pinpoint one thing. We’ve kind of just put them together from day one and they played well. So, if it isn’t broke, we’ll fix it. Considering where your defense is at now without Thomas, how do you feel Nick Jensen has filled in on his offside playing on the left these last few games? Actually, Manty’s played the left. Jens’s been on the right. You know, sometimes maybe they’ve lined up in different spots, but Manty’s playing left and I think he’s done. I think the pair’s done all right. It’s been a short sample size, so J left the game two games ago and then last game they were pretty good. I don’t like that we didn’t get the job done the other night. I take it that’s why you’re asking. Yeah. I mean, the other team had a say in it. They pressured well. We didn’t move the puck well enough, but got good players. Um, power play sits around 10th in the league. I think it’s easy. there and say score in the power play. Uh they’re doing all right. I mean they’re doing all right. You know they run through good stretches that get your confidence back. Thanks for explaining what cyclical means. Um no it’s nice. I was wondering for a sec. My my mind went uh blank a little bit, but uh it’s actually a compliment. Um yeah, they can. Power plays run hot and cold. Uh you’ve seen that. I think that there’s nothing, you know, will our power play score two or three in a game? I’m sure they will one game. Uh for me, the best power plays score when when it matters, you know, and that’s we’ve done a good job of that some games. I thought last game was one of those games where you’d like to have seen a power play goal in that type of game where you know it’s going to be tight checking and you know there’s not going to be a lot of space. Uh you know that was one of those games where I’d like to have seen our power play do a better job and they understand that too. Yeah. Every everyone’s game how they how they play is impacted. You know, that is solely what we decide on, how they’re playing. Andh nothing or nothing less. I don’t make decisions strictly on analytical numbers either. So, it is always going to have a little bit of a matchup. Um, you know, I think he’s playing good. So, and I’m not going to sit here and say, hey, he’s going to continue to play this much or he’s not going to. It’s dictated by the player all the time. Too soon to ask if you’re calling anyone. Yeah, too soon. Yeah. Yeah.

Hear from forward David Perron, Claude Giroux, and Head Coach Travis Green following the Senators morning practice at Canadian Tire Centre.

0:00 David Perron
6:41 Claude Giroux
10:25 Travis Green