The Ottawa Senators are in La Belle Province for a good time, not a long time.
The Senators have moved their training camp to Quebec City until Tuesday and they’re settling into their temporary pre-season home quite nicely.
After a day off on Friday for rest, dinner at Thomas Chabot’s house and a golf outing, the Senators went back to work with an afternoon skate to prepare to face the New Jersey Devils on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Centre Vidéotron. It will be Ottawa’s third game of the National Hockey League preseason.
The players received a red carpet greeting from Ottawa fans in the area before they went on the ice Saturday, and they were using the dressing room that normally houses the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Quebec Remparts.
“We’re excited to be here,” defenceman Jake Sanderson told reporters following Saturday’s skate. “It was nice to spend the day here (Friday), do some team bonding and whatnot. It’s awesome. The rink is cool.”
This is an opportunity to spend time together before the Senators get down to serious business.
They are trying to entice hockey fans from the Quebec City region to support them because Ottawa regional television telecasts on TSN/RDS are shown in the area.
The Senators also had an autograph-signing session in Old Quebec after practice, and some players helped sort food at a food bank.
The NHL Nordiques left Quebec City 30 years ago and moved to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche.
Chabot, who grew up in the area, was pleased to show his teammates his hometown of Saint-Marie-de-Beauce, about 30 minutes from Quebec City, on Friday.
After golf at Chabot’s home club, there were games at his house to wrap up the day.
“He was very excited,” Sanderson said. “He was proud to show the best place on Earth, as he says. It was a good time.”
Chabot has played a starring role as tour guide.
“I was telling him that he does it right,” centre Shane Pinto said. “He makes sure all the boys are taken care of, and he gave us all the restaurants and all the spots. He’s just an awesome host. It’s been good for the guys.”
The Senators will also face the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday in Quebec City before returning to the nation’s capital.
Many in this country would like to see the NHL return to Quebec City. The arena was erected in 2015 in hopes that it would entice the league to come back, but all the Centre Vidéotron has been able to host since then are exhibition games.
Senators head coach Travis Green told reporters in Quebec City he didn’t have many memories of facing the Nordiques before they became the Avalanche in 1995-96, but did recall that the visiting room at the old Le Colisée arena “wasn’t very nice”.
Jacques Martin, the Senators’ coaching consultant and a former Ottawa head coach, was an assistant on the Nordiques staff.
“I don’t remember a whole lot. I talked to Jacques (Friday) night, and I forgot he was coaching here when I was playing,” Green said. “So that tells it was a long time ago … Just kidding, Jacques.”
Yes, part of this trip is about team building, but there are still important decisions to make before the regular season starts.
The Senators still have 31 players in training camp, including injured forwards Drake Batherson and Lars Eller and defencemen Nick Jensen and Tyler Kleven. Batherson is out for at least two weeks, but no decision has been made on whether Eller, Kleven or Jensen will play this coming week.
The Senators will likely start the regular season with 13 forwards, seven defencemen and two goaltenders. That means Steve Staios, the president of hockey operations and general manager, and Green have to move eight more players before rosters must be submitted at 5 p.m. on Oct. 6.
Up front, the Senators need to decide whether Ollie Lycksell, Arthur Kaliyev, Stephen Halliday and Zack MacEwen deserve to start the season in the NHL. Depending on injuries, only two of them may stay, and Lycksell was the most impressive in the first two exhibition games.
A file photo of defenceman Tyler Kleven, who was on the ice for Saturday’s practice in Quebec City.
There are still 10 defencemen in camp, including Kleven and Jensen, who both skated during Saturday’s practice, which was open for fans.
Whether either will suit up before the start of the season against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 9 hasn’t been determined. Their health will determine the immediate future for Lassi Thomson and Carter Yakemchuk, the club’s first-round draft pick in 2024, who are both still in camp.
It’s expected that goaltender Linus Ullmark, who allowed three goals on eight shots in a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last Sunday in Ottawa, will start and play the full 60 minutes on Sunday.
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
Related