Travis Green Pregame Media vs CHI

welcomed edition here at >> uh Shabby’s in, Manty’s out, uh Dermy’s out, Licks is in, Levy in that. >> Tell us about what you expect from Thomas Shabbat in his return. >> Uh nothing more than his normal game. It might be a little rusty. That’s to be expected. He’s hasn’t played a lot of hockey for the last I don’t even know how many games. 20 games or so. But uh yeah, it’ll be good to have him back. >> He was averaging about [snorts] 22 minutes a game. Do you expect him to reach that kind of minutes today? >> Yep. >> How much [snorts] how much benefit might that have on a guy like Jake Sanderson who has played a lot of minutes for you guys? >> Yeah, I think we talked about this the other day. I don’t I don’t think it really affects Jake one way or the other. Um well, Sandy’s still going to play a lot. He’s going to play anywhere from 22 to 28 minutes depending on how much uh we need him. Sometimes he’ll play with Shabby. kind of a general question. What makes Shabbat such a good player? Is it his smarts? Is it like >> Well, he’s, you know, I’ve watched Shabby over his career and uh from afar and then obviously coaching him is it’s it’s different when you coach a player. His skating ability is exceptional. Uh he gets up the ice, it’s effortless. Uh I think what’s probably been the most impressive thing with Shabi is uh he’s committed to defending the last year and a half and uh you know he’s such a gifted skater that it was easy for him just to play on the move and and now he’s you know there are certain times moments in the game where you have to come back and just stop and play defense and and he’s a strong guy. Um, you know, he’s not the thickest guy, but he’s he’s strong and he’s able to box out when he puts his mind to it and be strong on the puck. And, you know, those are all things that a good defenseman does. [clears throat] >> Yesterday, Jake talked about how sometimes it’s not about making the perfect pass, but it’s about crashing and getting close to the net. What do you think about that style play? >> That’s if you watch, you know, everyone in here watches a lot of hockey. Uh there’s not a lot of goals that are just scored on breakaways or shots where the goalie sees it or or pretty passes. I mean, that does happen. There’s a lot of goals scored just by being around the net. Uh you know, everyone talks about inner slot shots, but that’s not always easy to do. And sometimes just making sure you have someone at the net, but you just don’t want to be a team that throws pucks to the paint uh either. So, I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that. How different um how differently do you prepare for a team like Chicago with a player like Conor Bard out of the lineup? >> A lot different to be honest. Um every team has injuries. We’ve had our share of injuries. Uh we don’t we expect to win when we have injuries and they’re going to expect to win when they have injuries and it’s we’re not we’re not changing the way we’re going to play. Can I just ask you, do you expect Pinto now after Christmas or is that >> Yeah, I’m not sure yet. He’s starting to skate, so hopefully before, but I don’t know yet. >> Any thoughts on how it seems like some of the more talented players in the league are starting to queue younger and younger. I know Conor Bard’s not playing [clears throat] today, but a lot of people have marveled the fact that him and Mlin Celbrini have had these really incredible seasons to this point. >> Yeah, it’s it’s great for the game. Um, you know, I see two young players You know, I think it’s it’s been a little while >> Mhm. >> since you’ve seen a player that you would, you know, call a generational player or someone that’s going to be at the top of the leaderboard for quite some time. And it looks like these two young men are are capable of doing that. And um you know, you don’t necessarily like playing them all, you know, when they’re on the other team. It’s a little different, but I think it’s great for the game. >> Did you get any birthday presents from any of your players? Uh, no, not yet. >> What are you hoping for? >> Uh, when would be would be fine.

Hear from Head Coach Travis Green ahead of the Senators game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Canadian Tire Centre.

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