Ottawa Senators camp got noticeably more teeth on Saturday.
Inside Bell Sensplex, the scrimmage had the kind of edge that makes heads turn in the glass-windowed viewing areas. Tim Stutzle and Fabian Zetterlund traded heavy hits along the boards. Gabriel Eliasson, listed at 6-foot-7, flattened newcomer Eskild Bakke Olsen in one corner, kept him from getting back to his skates, and then added a few more shoves for good measure.
That sort of thing has been showing up all week. Across two intra-squad scrimmages, there has been plenty of jawing, staring, and extra contact. It has not turned into anything ugly; it has just looked like a group of players trying to set a tone.
“Just a good, friendly, competitive battle,” Greig said. “(Cousins) is always a lot of fun to play against.
“I thought the physicality definitely took a step today in thescrimmage.”
The push has not come only from the obvious bruisers, either. Tyler Kleven pointed to the way the skill guys have joined in.
“Even our top guys like Timmy and Drake (Batherson) are throwingaround the body,” defenceman Tyler Kleven said. “They’re playinghard, and that’s
Stephen Halliday has also brought more bite than usual. On Friday, Hayden Hodgson reacted hard after Halliday drove him into the end boards, then followed that up with a few cross-checks to Halliday’s back before skating into anything in sight over the next two shifts.
“The compete’s been great,” Halliday said. “We’ve done a lot of battledrills, just (with) shorter training camp this year, trying to get backin, I guess, game shape quicker.”
That shorter camp is a big part of why everything feels accelerated. This is a two-week camp, one of the briefest in recent memory. In the modern era, only the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season and the 2020-21 season delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic had camps this compressed.
The new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHL Players’ Association has added another wrinkle. Players with 50 career NHL games are limited to 13 practice days during camp, and Ottawa has only five pre-season games on the schedule, including two split-squad contests.
There is not much room to ease in.
“I think the pace has been high,” Cozens said. “The competitivenesshas been high and Greener’s pushing us, but he always does.”
For more than a dozen players, this is their third season under Travis Green, whose training camps have a reputation for being demanding. Green said the team has gotten to a point where the standards are understood, especially by the returning players.
“When I say our team’s grown,” Green said, “I think there’s a certainstyle or identity that we want to have as a group, and, again, what weknow is effective. And there’s certain things that we talk about thatare non-negotiable. I think our guys understand that, the guys thathave returned, and we openly discuss it with new players.”
The conversation around former captain Brady Tkachuk is still unavoidable, even if the organization and players would rather move on from it eventually. That day has not come yet.
Before being traded to Florida, Tkachuk spent eight seasons in Ottawa from 2018-26 and piled up 1,921 hits. The next closest Senators player in that span was Drake Batherson with 743.
In Other News...
Oilers Signing Has Already Turned Into A Public Backlash
Alex Formentons move to Edmonton had barely settled in before the reaction started to build. The forward, who was acquitted of sexual assault charges tied to a 2018 incident involving five Canadian World Junior players, has become an immediate flashpoint for the Oilers, with fans and survivors voicing strong opposition to the signing and protests following close behind.
The pushback has only intensified as the debate around the signing spread beyond the rink. Mary Loewen, known as Mama Stanley, has emerged as one of the most visible critics, organizing a petition aimed at getting the Oilers to reverse course, and the public backlash has already become part of the story every time Formenton takes the ice. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Open Camp With One Big Fit Question Still Unsettled
Training camp is under way in Ottawa, and the Senators are using these days to sort out roles before the regular season begins Oct. 3. The first preseason test comes against the Canadiens in the Kraft Hockeyville game, with a lineup that should still look reasonably close to NHL-ready even though alternate captain Thomas Chabot is not making the trip for personal reasons. With five exhibition games on the schedule and split-squad action helping the staff get a longer look at the roster, there is plenty of time for competition to play out.
The bigger task is more than just getting legs under the group, because the Senators still have to trim to a 23-man roster by Sept. 28 and camp is built around figuring out where everyone fits. That makes every practice rep and preseason appearance matter, especially for players trying to lock down jobs or carve out specific assignments. For now, the most interesting part of camp is not who is already comfortably in the mix, but which pieces are still being tested before the roster starts to take its final shape. [Read more 🡒]
Leafs Depth Crunch Is Creating A Camp Fight Ottawa Fans Will Notice
Torontos AHL champion camp has turned into a traffic jam, with a flurry of summer additions leaving the Marlies roster noticeably crowded after their Calder Cup run. The reshaped group has made the early days of training camp tougher to sort through, especially with fewer NHL exhibition games on the schedule and less runway for anyone trying to stand out.
Some players have already been pushed into second and third practice groups, which only adds to the pressure as the regular season gets closer. Michael Pezzetta and Jacob Quillan are among the names trying to force their way into the conversation, but in a camp like this, even making enough noise to get noticed can be half the battle. [Read more 🡒]