Now that September is here, Ottawa Senators head coach DJ Smith is finalizing his preparations for training camp and it’s important to ensure the team’s young players can weather the storm from the first game of the season.
In the Canadian capital, the management hopes that most of the key players remain healthy, including goalkeepers Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg. Then veterans like Claude Giroux and Vladimir Tarasenko should provide a notable performance, but other less experienced teammates like Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle will have a lot of responsibility to lead the club to success.
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“I’m not the best at talking about what we’re going to do. […] We will organize ourselves so that our training is ready and we want to be healthy. We believe our young players have taken a big step towards being among the best on a daily basis,” the pilot told the Ottawa Sun newspaper.
“At the end of the day it’s all about winning. You have to find ways to win. I have to allow Tarasenko to do his best, just like Giroux and [Drake] Batherson and making sure everyone matters.”
Many have called, but…
Camp begins September 20th and the expectations will be very clear in Ottawa, namely to play in the playoffs, something the Senators haven’t done since the spring of 2017. Smith, in his fifth season, will be in control and risk finding himself in the hot seat if problems arise on the ice. He seems to be well aware of the goals; the task promises to be quite extensive.
“That, in our opinion, is the reality of working in a good team that can be very competitive. When you look at the Eastern Conference, how many clubs are expected to make the playoffs or believe they are close to making the playoffs? I would probably say 14. They have ambitions, but only eight can take part,” he stressed.
On a strategic level, Smith is careful not to reveal all his cards. However, one aspect is essential in his eyes and he will pay close attention to it from the start of the camp.
“We have put forward various ideas to have the puck longer and reduce the time we spend in our territory. “We finished 17th in minutes within our zone in the National League last year and we want to finish in the top half of the table this time,” the coach said. Top 10 would be great and to get there you have to get the CD more often. We can’t defend ourselves the whole game.”