Jacques Martin: “When I look back when I first started, I could feel behind the bench the tension, nervousness, the lack of confidence."
As the Senators prepared for Friday night's visit from the New Jersey Devils, their game day skate was filled with plenty of storylines.
The first was injury updates for Thomas Chabot, Mathieu Joseph and Rourke Chartier, who all returned to the practice in non-contact jerseys on Friday. Martin said the hope was for all three players to travel with the Senators on their upcoming five-game road trip to start off 2024.
“Hopefully, they're back at some point during the road trip," Martin said. “I think maybe Chabot is probably closer than Joseph (to returning).”
The Senators were able to hold onto leads against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs in their last two games, but in the Senators' first two games under Martin, they blew multi-goal leads. For Martin, that area is a work in progress.
“When I look back when I first started, I could feel behind the bench the tension, nervousness, the lack of confidence," said Martin. “I think that's the reason (for) the end result of what has happened in the past that they lost the game. So, obviously, your confidence gets affected by it. But I think we're slowly working on that as far as being able to play with the lead and understanding that in the game, there's some ups and downs, and you don't control all the elements.”
Ridly Greig on World Juniors and Family
With the World Juniors ongoing, the Hockey News Ottawa asked former Canadian World Junior alum Ridly Greig if he's watching the World Juniors.
"Not quite yet," Greig said. “But I think when it gets down to the wire here and the elimination games, I'll definitely make sure I'm watching."
Greig says he's very good friends with Nate Danielson, who's on the Canadian World Junior team this year. The two played together for the Brandon Wheat Kings for two seasons.
We also asked Greig about his road to the NHL and the influence of his parents.
"Obviously, it was nice to have him growing up," Greig said of his father, former NHLer Mark Greig. “I talk to him pretty much after every game and just share ideas.”
For Greig, his mother was just as important as his father in getting to the NHL.
"Everybody thinks (my father) helped me so much, which he did," said Greig. "But at the same time, my mom helped me just as much. You know, just as much credit goes to her who's helped me through it."
Speaking of the Devils
The Senators play against a tough New Jersey Devils team on Friday night. The Devils are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. Joonas Korpisalo was in the starters’ end at Senators practice and is expected to start.
Senators lines at practice
Tkachuk-Norris-Giroux
Tarasenko-Stützle-Batherson
Crookshank-Greig-Kubalik
Smejkal-Kastelic-Kelly
Extras: MacEwen
Sanderson-Zub
Chychrun-Hamonic
Brannstrom-JBD
Korpisalo
Forsberg
New Jersey Projected Lineup (from THN New Jersey's Kristy Flannery)
Ondrej Palat - Nico Hischier - Alexander Holtz
Timo Meier - Michael McLeod - Dawson Mercer
Brendan Smith - Erik Haula - Nathan Bastian
Jonas Siegenthaler - Simon Nemec
Luke Hughes - John Marino
Kevin Bahl - Colin Miller
Nico Daws
Vitek Vanecek
** After the team's morning skate, Ruff said they will need to see how Lazar feels before determining if he will be in the lineup tonight. **