Tim Stützle, Ridly Greig, Drake Batherson, Travis Green Pregame Media vs STL

Tim Stützle, Ridly Greig, Drake Batherson, Travis Green Pregame Media vs STL

Just first a note on how tough it is to lose Shane Pinto. We don’t know how long yet, but what that means to the team have to compensate. Yeah. Uh it’s obviously tough. Um I mean we’ve been dealing with injuries and uh we need those next guys up and I got to play better and um yeah, it’s going to be a good challenge for us and um I hope he’s coming back as soon as possible. Why do you say you have to play better with him? Is that just compensation sake or No, I think uh obviously if you miss a guy like that, he played a lot of tough minutes for us, especially at home and uh now somebody else got to do it and uh those guys got to step up and um play a better role defensively and uh yeah, especially me. I think I um yeah, haven’t been playing good defensively these last couple games. So, I got to be better than that. Yeah. Uh yeah, I think so. Uh I mean there’s a lot of guys I think can play up and down the lineup. I think we have that depth, but obviously losing Shane who’s been playing a lot of minutes for us. Same with Shabi. Uh he’s he played a lot of minutes for us as well and Zubie last game. So, uh, but we just got to, yeah, find a way to win those games and, uh, with Chakio, we were able to find those ways and and now we just got to get back to playing the same way. You guys come off that high win against Montreal, then lose on Thursday. What do you want to do to reset for tonight’s game? Yeah, just play our game. Uh, play smart, play simple, uh, be mentally prepared, and, um, I think we had a little lapse mentally last game. Um, maybe it’s because we were on the road for 16 days and but he was kind of a little tired, but uh that’s just how the league is. It’s it’s going to be hard and not every night’s going to be easy. So, uh, we just got to be prepared and got to be better tonight. How much more rested do you feel tonight after a couple nights now in Ottawa? Yeah. Um, I mean, I felt good last game, too. Uh, I think I just felt my legs and after the first and created a lot, but uh, yeah, it’s good to be back home. Yeah. How’s the team feeling? Just uh you guys have had one game at home now after that long road trip. Are you guys feeling a little more like acclimated if you will to Ottawa time here? For sure. I think uh it’s the longest road trip I’ve ever been on in my career. Just even bouncing back and forth in time zones u when we’re out west, but uh it’s nice to get home for sure for nights, I think, get some good rest and uh we’ll probably feel a lot better tonight for sure. With Pinto out, I know he’s not on your line, but how does that just how do you feel the that throughout the whole team, the whole lineup. It’s huge. I mean, uh whenever you you lose a player like that, it’s uh it’s tough. Um especially, you know, his role obviously producing offensively, but plays against the other team’s best players every night and, you know, plays close to 20 minutes every game. So, and a reliable guy in the in the dot. So, there’s a lot of you know, categories that uh we’re going to miss him in, but um you know, RZ is slotted in there and, you know, RZ has shown he can do that before. So, uh, with all the confidence in in the world, man. I know you guys, your line has had a lot of clicking, whether it’s with Cousins and um, you had a couple shots last night or sorry, two nights ago that went off the post. Like, how frustrating is that to like be firing but not able to make it happen? Yeah. No, it’s tough. I mean, some nights it goes like that, you know? Um, could have been two too easily at the end of that uh, first period last game if any of those go in, but uh, you just got to keep going sometimes. Um but uh hopefully those will go in next time for us. What do you think the biggest challenge of St. Louis is tonight? Yeah, I think they’re they’re a really hardworking team. Uh they don’t give up much. So uh we’re going to have to try to protect our net and and get to their net, I think. Um be probably a similar game to last game, I think, uh stylewise. Just kind of a hard-nosed game. So uh which we like and we’re excited for. So really a bit of shuffling with the lines puts you back in center. How are your feelings about that? Yeah, good. Uh, obviously I played center before. Um, you know, hopefully just take off where I left off and kind of get my feet moving in the middle. I feel like I ask you this every time you switch, but are you you have a preference at this point in your career about which one you play in? Uh, I feel like whatever I say, it’s going to switch the next game. So, but uh yeah, Greener, you know, likes to bounce me around. So, uh, just going to do whatever I can. How do you guys compensate for the loss of Shane? Yeah, well, it’s probably not going to be easy, but you know, he he logs a lot of minutes against top lines, so uh obviously I’m filled in on that spot, so hopefully just try to, you know, shut the guys down. How easy is it, how much more comforting is it to have a familiarity with the wingers that you played with? Yeah. Yeah, I played both with Ammo and Claude, so uh yeah, hopefully, you know, I feel like we kind of have a grinder mentality. Um and and try to keep the pucks low. Uh so, yeah. When you do switch positions, is there a lot of different mental prep you have to do for the changes you have to make on the ice for a given night? Uh yeah, maybe a little bit. Um I think a lot of it’s just with faceoffs. Uh different jobs on faceoffs. Um but you’re just playing in motion more. Uh less stops and starts. Uh yeah. How’d you feel about the extra reps you got at the end of practice in the face? Uh just was was sexy there. Uh good. Yeah, we always do a little bit at the at the center ice there. Uh just for kind of timing and everything. So yeah. Um Brady mentioned something about Lebridge in his podcast like just you know. Did you hear about Did you hear about that? No, but he he always likes to trip Lebridgeidge a little bit. I I don’t know what he said. It probably wasn’t anything positive. derping Leverage. And what would you have to say about the city? Uh, I got no bad things to say about Leverage. Uh, it’s a great spot. Obviously, I grew up there, so yeah. Has he even been to Leidge? No, he probably never will be in his life either. So, yeah. Thank you. Changes today, coach. Uh, Pence out, Hudson in, uh, Lenus goes, Zubie back in, Gilbert out. Any update on We see that he’s been placed on IR. Yeah, he’ll be out minimum two, possibly more weeks. Is he going to anything else? Like is he going to require surgery or anything like that? How big of a loss is it to have him out for that significant amount of time? Yeah, I mean it’s it’s a big part of our team much like when Brady got hurt. uh shabby. Those are big parts of your team and uh going to miss him when he’s out and when he gets back that’ll be great. Any just different ask of Ridley what he can do if he in fact takes Shane’s spot. Uh well Rids is quite capable. Um you know it’s a luxury that we have where we’ve got a guy that we know can play center. So uh you know I think if you asked Rididge he’d probably rather play center than wing. I think it’s been good as a young player. Center ice position is a hard harder position to play than the wing and uh now that he’s been in the league uh longer. He’s more adapt to playing center and not worried about it at all. He’ll he’ll do a good job there. You mentioned the luxury of how he can play both positions. How rare is that in the National Hockey League to have somebody who’s really strong on the wing and center? Yeah, it’s it’s rare. Uh I think you see it a little bit more now. Uh, you know, team we’re playing tonight has a few guys that can play center and wing. Uh, Sudter, Shen, they both Buat plays wing and center. Um, but it is it’s a nice option when you have it. I think you’re seeing a lot more of that now as players come up. Left wing, right wing aren’t such a big thing, but center and wingers is a little more uh there’s not as much of that. J Anderson uh has been on a point streak. He has been off to a pretty good start to a season compared to last year’s first handful of games where by his own admission he felt he was off to a slow start. Beyond the points, what are some subtle things in his game that you’ve seen kind of that have been a little bit more different compared to what you saw from him last year? Well, I think Sy’s just improving uh with age. like he’s relatively young still in the league and your first I don’t know put a year on it but one to seven one to eight you know years one to seven you’re you’re just going to improve a from getting stronger you’re training uh being in the league longer uh understanding the game a little more feeling more comfortable what you can and can’t do as you become a better player I think you see that a lot uh And you probably see it more so with offensive young forwards. Uh it’s probably talked about more. Um you know, you talk about celebrating Bernard. Uh two young guys that are, you know, having a great year this year. And I don’t think people are surprised. It’s just the evolution of young players. And I think that’s what we’re seeing with Sandy as well. Think just with him offensively like he came into league defensively, but that offense has really come into shaped like what have you seen on that? Yeah, I I think that’s just him becoming a better hockey player, understanding the offensive side of it. I don’t think he’s, you know, no one’s ever talked about Sandy being just an offensive player, which is um as a coach, you like that. Uh he he really pays attention to both ends of the rink. It’s it’s not a knock on him either. I think it’s that’s something that he should be proud of. He really wants to do well at both ends of the ring. He wants to be a really good offensive player. Uh but he also doesn’t want to do it at the risk of giving up goals that he shouldn’t. And that’s I think speaks volumes of the maturity level that Sandy has. Uh he’s a wellrespected player at a young age already in our locker room and rightfully so. start on the first pairing last game obviously might be a different role. How have you seen him just kind of grow as a player this season? Yeah, I think just getting accustomed to how we play. Um, you know, there are differences in our game than where he came from. He’s he’s been a a young defenseman in one organization. Uh, and there was some subtleties in how we broke the puck out compared to how LA broke the puck out. And that took him a little time. he was used to playing man-on-man defense and that took a little time. Um, which isn’t surprising. Um, you know, I I think we tried to guide him along as as well as we could. Uh, and and then when you get a new player, you know, there’s trust factor. Uh, we like the players that we have too. And you know, I know there’s a lot of talk about him, Manty Jentz, you know, and and you know, as a coach, you’re loyal to the guys you have as well. And I and I think, you know, that’s important. And and we like Spence. We always have from day one. But I I also think his game has improved um as he’s felt more comfortable with our systems as well. And you know, at the end of the day, we’re going to put the best lineup up that we think can can win. And that’s all it’s about.

Hear from forward Tim Stützle, Ridly Greig, Drake Batherson, and Head Coach Travis Green ahead of the Senators game against the St. Louis Blues at Canadian Tire Centre.

0:00 Tim Stützle
2:09 Drake Batherson
4:00 Ridly Greig
6:11 Travis Green