“Everyone is dealing with different situations. It’s not just the players. There are a lot more people involved.”
Article content
Not only have the Ottawa Senators had to make adjustments on the ice, COVID-19 has also made changes in their life off the ice.
Commercial
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Coach Dj smith He told reporters that since the virus outbreak hit the club, various members of the organization have had to make adjustments at home.
The senators held a team meeting Thursday morning before facing the Los Angeles Kings at the Canadian Tire Center to discuss how everyone was feeling. COVID-19 has made its way into the locker room since the club returned from a three-game trip through Dallas, Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota.
As of Thursday night, the club had nine players and associate coach Jack Capuano on the National Hockey League’s COVID-19 protocol.
Smith, with his wife Christie and two young children at home, he has stayed at an Ottawa hotel, while the goalkeeping coach Zac bierk he is with another member of the coaching staff. A handful of players are in hotels, while others have been trying to stay away from their families as the team begins a stay at home.
Commercial
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“I have two young children at home and you cannot go home and you cannot put your children at risk because they cannot go to school. Everybody is dealing with different situations, ”Smith said before the game against the Kings. “It’s not just the players. There are a lot more people involved. “
As Smith pointed out, players and staff have families at home. Bierk’s wife has twins who were born prematurely, so she must be careful. Goalie Matt murray and extreme Alex Formenton were added to the list of players with COVID-19 on Thursday morning, and the defender Nikita Zaitsev joined them just before game time.
Murray has a one-year-old son at home and the couple have another son on the way. Defender Nick Holden has been on COVID-19 protocol for five days and has four children at home.
Commercial
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“The most important thing is the people with children,” Smith said. “If I’m at home with kids, it’s hard for me not to see them and it’s the same for Zac Bierk. So her kids can’t go to school, and in Bierk’s case, she has two children who were born prematurely and their immune systems are really weak. It can put them in real danger.
“There will probably be a handful (who stay in hotels), and then there will probably be a handful who stay downstairs or stay on the couch. It’s just not an ideal situation, but there are far worse things in the world and we will get through it. “
Smith admitted that this was causing stress in the locker room because senators have been testing positive for five days in a row.
“We are meeting today as a group, almost as an organization, and a lot of people are under a lot of stress,” Smith said. “The only thing you can control is your effort and your preparation when you get here. There’s just that fear of being pulled (out of the lineup) at any time that puts stress on the guys.
Commercial
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“They just want to play. These guys have been doing this their whole lives and we just want to get through this as a group and then go back to playing hockey every day with a full line-up and a healthy group. Everyone is stressed because they want to win hockey games, they want to be healthy, and they are worried about many things. Like everything else, it will pass and we will be better for it. “
ADVERSITY BUILDS CHARACTER
Senators recalled forward Andrew Agozzino and defenders Dillon Heatherington and Lassi thomson from his American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville on Thursday.
Agozzino faced the Kings, while Scott sabourin it was also inserted into the lineup.
Center Nick paul He noted that the senators did not have much choice in the situation.
Commercial
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“There are ups and downs in a season and this is just another challenge that brings the group together,” Paul said before facing the Kings. “This is a situation where the group needs to stick together and support each other, prepare for the game, do our best and work hard. We have to play as a team.
“We just come to the track and we have a positive attitude. You think positive and good things happen and you think negative and negative things happen. We support each other and we don’t really care about it. We will take the necessary measures ”.
The club is taking all kinds of precautions. Masks are worn in the dressing room, meals are eaten at separate tables and served individually in boxes.
Commercial
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“We are taking all the right steps to prevent this from spreading,” Paul said. “It is a very contagious virus. We are taking the right steps and hopefully it stops here. “
THE LAST WORDS
Not all the news was bad on Thursday. Center Shane pinto , who has been out with a shoulder injury, was on the ice in a contact-allowed jersey and could play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. “He’s very close,” Smith said … Kings coach Todd McLellan He told his group that he was still waiting for an ordeal from Ottawa. “I look at his lineup and his first three lines are going to play anyway, and all he does is give more ice time to (Brady) Tkachuk, (Josh) Norris and those kinds of players, “McLellan said. “Will be ready. They played very hard in Boston, they were competitive and I look at the situation in San José. Often the players who are arriving are hungry, this is their only chance and often they give you everything they have. For us, using the fact that they are understaffed to house us would be a serious mistake. “
Reference-ottawasun.com