GARRIOCH: Renewed and set, the Ottawa Senators hit the ice as training ground shifts to high gear

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The cold week is over for the Ottawa Senators.

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Now is the time to get down to business.

Fifty-three players invited to the club’s training ground at the Canadian Tire Center hit the ice Thursday as the Senators prepare to start the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 14 at home.

No, there aren’t many jobs that will be available in the next three weeks, but General Manager Pierre Dorion, Coach DJ Smith, Head Scout Trent Mann, Senior Vice President Pierre McGuire, Assistant General Manager Peter MacTavish and the rest. of the staff. I have a lot of decisions to make to try to determine where everyone will fit in.

The club hopes that a good result last year will lead to a better start to this season.

“I thought we worked really hard and the guys are in good shape,” Smith said. “It’s day and night for me from where we were in conditioning in my freshman year. You can’t tell where your team is on the first day of training camp, but you can tell if you’re fit and just the pace of these youngsters.

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“It is much faster than in the past. You cannot see the results. Overall, they really worked, they were fast, and they did the exercises well. There were a lot of good things. “

Timing is of the essence with the Senators set to open the preseason Sunday in Winnipeg, and they will hold a fight on Saturday. That means the camp will be divided into two groups and then the actual evaluations to determine where they all fit in will intensify.

The players you expected to be strong were. Inline skating with Chris Tierney and Connor Brown, sophomore winger Tim Stuetzle scored in the first inning. He came in stronger, seems faster and is determined to have a strong second year.

Stuetzle arrived in Ottawa last January after dressing for team Germany at the youth world championships in Edmonton, went into self-quarantine for a week, and then jumped on the ice with the club. He admitted that he was not used to the NHL schedule and that he played three times in four nights or five games in eight.

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“Last year, I got pretty tired at the end of the season,” said Stuetzle, who finished with 12 goals and 29 points in 53 games. “I was preparing to play in the German league in Mannheim because of the contract and everything. Nobody knew if he was going to be able to play here.

“I trained a lot, but in Germany you only play two games a week. You have to train a lot more in the summer to get stronger there and be ready for those games. I have realized that maybe after the season a little rest can help. I feel great and I’m excited to get back and get going. “

A refreshed player ready to get back in shape is goalkeeper Matt Murray.

Acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in October 2020 and signed to a four-year contract extension, the 27-year-old Murray got off to a rocky start with the Senators. In the end, that cost goalkeeping coach Pierre Groulx his job, and as a result, the club had no chance of making the postseason.

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Of course, Murray had never been treated in his NHL career and also with the COVID-19 restrictions he did not make an easy transition. Thursday felt more like a first day of camping with the ice session, then walking up the stairs to sit face-to-face with the media rather than making a Zoom call on a monitor.

“Everything seems a little normal this year,” Murray said. “It feels good. It feels like a regular season again with a regular start and camp. That’s what we were all hoping for.”

Murray spent most of his offseason in Ottawa, but was able to spend about a month at his summer home in the Muskoka region. Newly appointed goalkeeping coach Zac Bierk came up there to work with Murray and they are both hopeful this will lead to a better start to the season.

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“We got to build our relationship a little bit more, which was great,” Murray said. “It’s about building every time you step on the ice, and I thought we did it last year at the end of the season. You want to do that as a team and as individuals.

“That’s what we try to do as a team every day.”

He said that having exhibition games will help his preparation.

“He’s huge in the build for that first game so it’s going to be a good opportunity,” Murray said. “We can use those exhibition games to the best of our ability and start right away for the start of the regular season.”

One area that Murray focused on in the offseason was gaining some weight. He came back about 12 pounds heavier, which is mostly muscle.

“I worked a lot with the coaches here because I stayed here for the most part. I tried to eat a lot of calories and exercise, ”Murray said. “I feel very good. It’s the heaviest thing I’ve ever had. “

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Twitter: @sungarrioch