As Senators fans watch the Stanley Cup Final and wonder what it will take to see their team on that stage, that level, few are better positioned to provide answers than Dave Poulin. The Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations — essentially GM Steve Staios’ right-hand man — Poulin brings decades of experience as a player, coach, and executive.
On Tuesday night at the team’s season ticket holder event at Canadian Tire Centre, Poulin was on the microphone, talkin' hockey, and was asked one of the questions on every fan’s mind: what must the Senators do to take the next step? The specific question was this:
What are some of the areas you see we need to make an improvement on to be able to make the next step from not just making the playoffs, but to winning series in the playoffs and going on a run?
And as one of the smartest, most respected people in the game, Poulin's answer was just as thoughtful as you’d expect.
“We talked about the group learning in the playoffs and playing in the playoffs for the first time,” Poulin said. “We have to carry that experience into next year, and we have to increase our consistency.”
No matter what role he held in the past, Poulin has always tried to drive home the importance of managing the highs and the lows, which he described as a player’s bandwidth.
“We have to take our bandwidth to a higher level. When I talked about hockey players, when I was a coach, or when I was a manager, or as a player, they have a bandwidth. We want to be at the top end of that bandwidth. You'll see some players that have huge highs, then huge lows, then huge highs, then huge lows. And as a group, we have to get used to playing up here on a more consistent basis.
“We’ve got to eliminate lows, increase the highs, but overall – as a team – become more consistent. We play tremendous games. We want that more often.”
Senators fans like to discuss all the potential changes the team might make this summer — whether it’s arrivals, departures, trades, or signings. Poulin suggested to fans that one of the biggest improvements for next season may come through internal growth.
“Something stood out to me last night (Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final) in Florida in the introductions. As they introduced the players, they said, ‘In his 11th year, Aaron Ekblad. In his 13th year, Sacha Barkov.’ What was Sergei Bobrovsky? In his 16th year?
“It takes time. I think of Ridly Greig, 22 years old; Timmy Stützle, 23 years old; Tyler Kleven, 23 years old; Shane Pinto, 24 years old. Brady’s an old guy. He's 25! So we're looking at the (internal) growth. If you were introducing them right now, you'd be saying, 'In his first year in the NHL, in his third year in the NHL.'
“So that's one of the reasons we brought in Claude Giroux, and one of the reasons we brought in David Perron, to add that experience, that saltiness, if you will. So somebody can stand beside one of those guys and say, what's that like? It can be shared, but it also has to be experienced.”
The Sens' youth now has the experience of making the playoffs for the first time and that's huge. But if the Sens are banking on internal growth as being the main thing that will help them take the next step, then maybe we shouldn't expect the busiest of summers in Ottawa?
Time will tell.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News-Ottawa
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