GARRIOCH: Ottawa senators were told to be careful when traveling to the US for the first time this season.

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Health and safety will come first for Ottawa Senators as they head south of the border.

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As senators prepare to play in the United States for the first time in 597 days when they face the Dallas Stars on Friday night at the American Airlines Arena, general manager Pierre Dorion reminded players before boarding a plane Wednesday afternoon for them to stick together during the game. the next six days.

Senators participated in the last game played on March 11, 2020 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles before the NHL and all other major league sports were halted due to the pandemic. Last year, there were no trips to the United States because the Senators played in the all-Canadian Northern Division.

After facing the Stars, the Senators will head straight to Chicago for the weekend there before facing the Blackhawks on Monday at the United Center. The club will then make a quick stop in St. Paul, Minnesota, to face the Wilds on Tuesday night before heading home.

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A look at COVID-19 tracking of hot spots in the US indicates that the numbers are high in all three cities, which is why coach DJ Smith and Dorion remind players to stick together so much. as possible. According to the New York Times, the average daily case count remains at more than 73,000 a day across the country.

“You just want (the team) to stay together,” Smith said Wednesday. “We’re together all day anyway, you just can’t be in crowds and you can’t be with other people. You will see that there are all kinds of guys in the league with the COVID-19 protocol. So, stay with your group and you’ll be fine.

“If you are going out to eat, stay in your group. Pierre certainly told the group that (Wednesday) morning. We will do everything we can to try to stay healthy. “

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The Hawks currently have Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Jujhar Khaira, Riley Stillman and assistant coach Marc Crawford on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list. The St. Louis Blues don’t have captain Ryan O’Reilly for the next four games and they don’t have forward Brandon Saad.

The senators are all fully vaccinated and the entire traveling group undergoes regular tests. But we’ve learned that even those who have taken the proper vaccinations to protect themselves from COVID-19 can still come into contact with the disease, so Dorion was a good decision to remind players to be careful.

“I think so (you have to be careful), but not just in sports but as a world,” said veteran winger Austin Watson, who missed the first three weeks of the season with an ankle injury but will return in This trip. . “Everyone is getting vaccinated and the numbers are excellent, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get COVID-19.

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“You still have to be careful. I’m doubly vaccinated, I get COVID-19 and hopefully I don’t have any adverse reactions, but it takes you out of the lineup and out of the game. That is something that we are all committed to among ourselves here, in terms of what I do individually to prepare our team for success.

“You don’t want any games to be missing or appearing on that COVID-19 list. You’ve seen him a bit in the league, so I think it’s on our radar to try to stay safe. “

It was surprising to see some of the Montreal Canadiens players, who were closed for a couple of weeks last year due to COVID-19, posting photos and videos of the Seattle Seahawks home game on Sunday before losing a decision by 5-1 against the Kraken expansion Tuesday night.

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Yes, players are free to go and do whatever they want while the team is on tour, but it makes sense to avoid large crowds like 70,000 at a soccer game. It should be noted that senators were hit hard by COVID-19 after that trip through California in March 2020, so they know about this first-hand.

This is an opportunity for players like Tim Stuetzle, Josh Norris, Alex Formenton, Artem Zub and Filip Gustavsson to play in these buildings. Many of these players have not had the opportunity to experience the moving performance of the Star Spangled Banner in Chicago or the great atmosphere at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota.

The Dallas court is one of the most modern and beautiful in the NHL.

“It’s great for our group. It will be exciting and it will give us some energy, ”Smith said. “Any energy is good, the fans scream or they don’t scream. We are a young team and I hope we can make that move on the road this year. You want to be a competitive team on the road and not be nervous.

“Our team is getting more mature, in the same way that we practiced a couple of years ago and the way and how hard we practice now. You want to see these guys mature on the road and the best teams are good road teams, and we’re going to have to do that to be competitive. “

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Twitter: @sungarrioch