{"id":409931,"date":"2026-01-16T01:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T01:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/409931\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T01:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T01:37:12","slug":"you-pay-attention-to-your-buddies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/409931\/","title":{"rendered":"You pay attention to your buddies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parker Kelly knows what it is like to be a member of the Ottawa Senators when times are tough.<\/p>\n

When he first left the only NHL organization he\u2019s ever known and joined the Colorado Avalanche, Kelly\u2019s feelings towards Ottawa were different than they are now. He\u2019s one of several players in the Avs locker room who played for another NHL team \u2014 five years with the Ottawa organization, including 177 games with the Senators \u2014 and they all keep tabs on their previous clubs to some extent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first came here, I would always be watching the Sens games and, if I\u2019m being honest, you\u2019re kind of rooting against them,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cYou have a sour taste. I wanted to stay there and they let me go. It got to the point where my wife was like, \u2018Why are you rooting against them?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now I just watch and I cheer for the friends that I stay in touch with, and I\u2019m always looking to see what the score was, where they are in the standings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senators made the playoffs a year ago and appeared to be one of the NHL\u2019s young teams on the rise. This season has not gone as well on the ice, and recently it has taken a sideways turn off it as well.<\/p>\n

Ottawa was in Denver to play Kelly and the Avalanche last week when, shortly before puck drop, the club released a statement from general manager Steve Staios<\/a> condemning rumors that were spreading like wildfire across the internet about his team.<\/p>\n

It stemmed from speculation about why goaltender Linus Ullmark took a leave of absence, which included some salacious allegations that had nothing to do with hockey or the team\u2019s performance on the ice. It would be hard to argue the Senators\u2019 minds weren\u2019t collectively elsewhere when the Avs crushed them, 8-2, that night<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That feels like a particularly thorny situation for an ex-teammate to watch from afar.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re definitely not prying,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cIf I see a friend score or something, I might text him. I kind of put myself in their shoes, though. When I was in Ottawa and we had bad years, people were always like, \u2018What\u2019s going on?\u2019 And it was always, \u2018I don\u2019t know. We\u2019re just grinding right now.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re struggling right now. I just try to keep my distance, just maybe check in or FaceTime with a certain guy to see how things are going with a certain guy, how the family is doing, but when times are bad, you kind of just stay away and let them figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VictorVictor Olofsson (95) of the Colorado Avalanche awaits a face-off against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period at Ball Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Victor Olofsson is watching a very different situation unfold in the same division. Olofsson spent six years in Western New York after being drafted by the Buffalo Sabres.<\/p>\n

Those were all hard years, because the Sabres have the NHL\u2019s longest playoff drought \u2014 14 consecutive seasons. But the Sabres are experiencing a mid-season renaissance, having recently won 13 of 14 games to storm back into the postseason picture in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do follow them,\u201d Olofsson said, who spent last season with Vegas and is in his first year in Colorado. \u201cRight now, it\u2019s kind of hard not to with how they\u2019re playing recently. I think it\u2019s fun to see. I was there for a long time and I wish all of those guys the best. I actually texted a little bit with (Rasmus) Dahlin yesterday and just said, \u2018Keep playing well.\u2019 It\u2019s obviously a lot of fun for them right now, and I hope they can keep it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of guys there that I\u2019m good friends with (on Vegas, too). Hockey is a really unique job in life. You get to meet a ton of new people and get new relationships. It\u2019s pretty cool, especially if you\u2019ve been on a couple teams you get to know even more guys. It\u2019s a been a fun few years with a lot of new faces and new friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood has played for two other teams, and he is watching both ends of the spectrum unfold with them. The team that drafted him, the New Jersey Devils, is also experiencing a season from hell.<\/p>\n

Injuries, trade speculation, poor performances \u2014 the Devils were expected to return to Stanley Cup contender status this season and instead began Thursday morning in 13th place in the East, one spot in front of Ottawa.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the team that helped Blackwood revive his career, the San Jose Sharks, is, like Buffal,o one of the great stories in the NHL. Led by teenage phenom Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks have emerged after years in the rebuilding wilderness as a legitimate playoff contender.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe farther removed, the less I pay attention,\u201d Blackwood said. \u201cBut San Jose, I pay pretty decent attention to for a few reasons. I have friendships with a lot of those guys, so you pay attention to your buddies. Second, I just like watching what Mack is doing. And I like watching (Yaroslav Askarov) too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a few friends over there (in New Jersey) still. Obviously, you don\u2019t want to see your buddies going through the turmoil that they are. At the same time, I haven\u2019t been too invested in that one. I see things here and there, but I\u2019m not entirely sure what\u2019s happening. I feel bad for them. On the flip side, watching San Jose exceed expectations this year and seeing what Mack is doing, I\u2019m kind of juiced. I love it. It\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parker Kelly knows what it is like to be a member of the Ottawa Senators when times are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5116],"tags":[193,192,144,5277,5,1180,1123,1262,4,25,6295,43,14,3699],"class_list":{"0":"post-409931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-colorado-avalanche","8":"tag-avalanche","9":"tag-colorado","10":"tag-colorado-avalanche","11":"tag-coloradoavalanche","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-mackenzie-blackwood","15":"tag-more-avalanche-news","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-ottawa-senators","18":"tag-parker-kelly","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-stanley-cup","21":"tag-victor-olofsson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115902221328889462","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}