Ottawa Senators training camp got noticeably more physical during a scrimmage at Bell Sensplex on Saturday morning, with hits along the boards and in the corners raising eyebrows among those watching from the glass-windowed viewing areas.
Hits Everywhere on the Ice
Nick Cousins launched himself into rookie defenceman Hoyt Stanley on the forecheck, one of several notable collisions during the session. Six-foot-seven defenceman Gabriel Eliasson took down newcomer Eskild Bakke Olsen in one corner, and Tim Stutzle and Fabian Zetterlund exchanged big hits along the walls.
Even the team's stars weren't holding back. "Even our top guys like Timmy and Drake (Batherson) are throwing around the body," Kleven said.
"Just a Good, Friendly, Competitive Battle"
Despite the collisions, players framed the intensity as good-natured rather than a sign of tension in the room. Ridly Greig, describing the physicality, singled out Cousins as a particular handful to play against. "Just a good, friendly, competitive battle," Greig said. "(Cousins) is always a lot of fun to play against."
"I think that's a big part of our identity, wearing teams down and playing hard and playing that physical game," Cozens said.
A Shorter Camp, a Faster Ramp-Up
"The compete's been great," Halliday said. "We've done a lot of battle drills, just (with) shorter training camp this year."
"When I say our team's grown," Green said, "I think there's a certain style or identity that we want to have as a group."
What It Means for Ottawa
For Senators fans in Ottawa, the physical tone at Bell Sensplex is an early signal of how the team wants to play once the regular season opens. It also comes as the roster takes shape around camp additions and injury replacements. The Senators recently signed veteran defenceman Ben Hutton to a professional tryout while Artem Zub and Warren Foegele recover from injuries, and goaltender Samuel Ersson is working to rebound from a rough season in Philadelphia as he settles in behind Linus Ullmark. ottown's earlier report on Hutton's PTO and ottown's earlier report on Ersson's fresh start both fit into the picture of a Senators camp trying to find its identity fast under a tightened schedule.
Sources: Yahoo News Canada (Ottawa Citizen/Postmedia syndication)
