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Coming soon to a minor hockey game or a road hockey game in your neighborhood: Brady Tkachuk.
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At least that’s the way it was on the weekend.
Late Sunday afternoon, hours after the Senators 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings, came the picture of Tkachuk joining in on a pick-up game on the streets.
That was on the heels of Tkachuk’s appearance, along with Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson, at the rink to watch Nick Holden’s children play.
“One of the first times I brought my kids into the dressing room, (Tkachuk) played with them in the back area and ever since they’ve (made) him their babysitter,” Holden said Monday. “It’s a bit of a running joke.”
Holden says it’s fantastic to see the interaction between the Senators young stars and the minor hockey players who look up to them.
“It’s huge when the guys get into the community. (Tkachuk) was coming out to support my kid, but in coming out, he meets a lot of other kids and makes their day. And the same with (Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson).
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“A lot of jaws dropped. It’s so cool seeing kids react like that. When they showed up, people wanted pictures and autographs and they were so good with that.”
REMEMBERING KONOPKA: With Jake Sanderson now taking his first steps in pro hockey, Holden also remembered his breaking days in with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch in 2008. “Zenon Konopka was the captain in Syracuse and went into the War Memorial in Syracuse and he was the first face I saw and I said, ‘Holy Cow, this is what pro hockey is, eh?’. And then the first training camps and meeting NHL players and stuff like that. It’s a dream as a kid to play in the NHL, and then you start meeting the guys you watched and grew up idolizing.”
Konopka, a former rugged Ottawa 67’s star, played 55 games with the Senators in 2011-12, registering three goals, two assists and 193 penalty minutes, while also taking many key faceoffs late in games.
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KEEP IT LIGHT: The Senators switched things up before leaving for Montreal Monday, going with informal skill sessions rather than a typical practice. With coach DJ Smith not available, there were no injury updates. Chris Tierney, out for the past two games as a healthy scratch, is expected to return due to the season-ending shoulder injury suffered by Tyler Ennis… Tuesday’s game against the Canadiens will kick off a stretch of four games in six days for the Senators, meaning Mads Sogaard will likely get another shot in the net after picking up a victory over Detroit in his NHL debut on Friday. Anton Forsberg, who stopped 30 of 32 shots in Sunday’s win, has a .930 save percentage during his past seven starts. Michael Del Zotto, recalled from Belleville of the AHL following Thomas Chabot’s injury and the trade deadline, led all Senators in ice time Sunday, at 20:44. He also had five shots on goal … The early returns from the Nick Paul/Mathieu Joseph trade? Both the Senators and Lightning are happy. While Joseph registered his first career hat trick last Friday and has added five assists in his six games with Ottawa, Paul has one goal and four assists — one of them coming on a between the legs pass to Ross Colton — in seven games.
