The Ottawa Senators hit the links Monday at The Marshes in Kanata for their annual Charity Open. The event supports youth mental programs and youth initiatives across the Ottawa-Gatineau region.
The event brought the team together minus goalie Linus Ullmark. The netminder attended the NHL Media Tour in Las Vegas.
Chabot talks about next steps for Senators
Claiming the number one Eastern Conference wildcard seed off the throes of their 97-point 2024-25 regular season, Senators’ players Thomas Chabot and Tim Stützle are using last season’s leap as motivation for the upcoming campaign. And as a team, the pair are yearning to forge another step, learning from their playoff defeat.
‘”Very excited to get to be back here. I mean, last season was great, and obviously sucks to lose in the first round, but kind of goes and leaves you going into the summer with that hunger of getting back to the playoffs. I mean, it was our first time getting in there, and there’s no better time of the year, and there’s no better place, bigger stage to play on,” said Chabot.
Currently the longest tenured Senator, Chabot added, “We kind of set the standard of, once you get in the playoffs, we want to just be back there every year. And like I said, I think we all went through the process of being on that stage and playing there for the first time, and I think we all kind of went home thinking back on how the playoffs went.
“Yes, we’ve had some great games, but you know what? Going down, oh and three is going to be hard to come back. And I think we as a group, push till the end and almost made it back and tied at three-three. But I think that’s just going to help us for coming into this year, it’s more experience for everybody. It’s a learning curve for everybody.
“Coming into the camp and coming in and starting the season, we just want to keep doing the same thing we did last year – put ourselves in the same position of being in the playoffs, and once we get there, I mean, we went through it once, so I feel like we’ll be off to a better start.”
Stützle sees big things ahead
Heading into his sixth NHL season, Stützle echoed the sentiments of his Senators’ teammate,
“We know what it felt like last year, making the playoffs, and we want to feel that every year. It was probably the best feeling I had in a long time playing hockey, the most fun I had. And obviously when you come into a year like that, there’s higher expectations. Everybody knows you made the playoffs last year. So it’s not going to be easy, but we’re definitely gonna give our best and hope for a good year,” the German star said.
And obviously our goal is to get further in the first round and but we gotta take everything step by step and just get better every day. I think when we had that mentality just going day by day, I think that’s what brought us the most forward, and we’re gonna do that again.”
The 23-year-old acknowledges the Senators were a little overzealous in their playoff opener in Toronto, a 6-2 loss. However, he believes the team learned from it. The young core knows what to expect when the curtain rises October 9 in Tampa Bay for the start of the 2025-26 regular season.
“I think you could see in the first game, everybody was maybe a little bit too excited and took way too many penalties, maybe ran a guy over too much. So, I mean, we want to play that physical style, but I think there’s time and place for it,” he said.
“Yeaah, obviously we’re young team. We can’t talk about that every year how young we are. We just got to take steps forward, and that’s we have to do this year. Everybody’s year older now too, and we’ve been to the playoff. Now we know what it takes to get in, and we’ve just got to show that every day.”
Senators GM feels optimistic for a reason
Steve Staios didn’t use the word “expectation” for his burgeoning young roster this season, the Senators general manager clearly believes his group is ready to build from last season’s success.
“This year, there’s great energy and optimism. And I think I draw the optimism from gauging the character of the group and the way that they’ve bonded together and grown together, the steps that they’ve taken together. That’s where I’m drawing the optimism for for the group and the experience of last season, but in particular in the playoffs, for them to feel the fans, the energy of playing the playoff hockey, and understanding that it’s a long process just to get there. I know this is good,” Staios said.
Ottawa Senators training camp opens September 17.
