The Ottawa Senators hit the ice today in their first post-season practice to prepare for Wednesday’s game against their conference rivals, the Montreal Canadiens.
Players were still on a high after winning Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1, and clinching a playoff spot that seemed unlikely in early February. That was until the team won 23 of their last 31 games in regular season. Much of their success is being attributed to rookie goalie, Andrew Hammond.
The 27-year-old goalie, who has been nicknamed “The Hamburglar,” was called up from the minors to play for the Sens in February and has proven himself by winning 20 of the 23 games he’s been in net. Hammond is slotted to play in the first game against the Habs.
He will be sharing the ice against the NHL’s best goaltender, Carey Price, but Hammond says the team is up for the challenge.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work to get to this point so there’s no point in stopping now.”
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Even though the Habs finished at the top of the Eastern Conference, Sens head coach, Dave Cameron, shrugged off a comment in a press conference about the team being an underdog in the upcoming series. Cameron expects to win, much like they did in 2013 when the Sens faced off the Habs in the first round of the playoffs - and won four games to one. The series was known for being nasty between the two rivals and even with new players on the teams, Cameron doesn’t think it will be any different this year.
“The first round of the playoffs is nasty. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. Everybody’s fresh, everybody’s excited,” Cameron said.
Senators forward, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, is a veteran when it comes to matching up against the Habs. He played for Ottawa two years ago when the team won against Montreal. The 22-year-old scored in the last regular season game against the Flyers, and says he has more confidence since the last time he went to the playoffs.
“I didn’t know what to expect in my first series. Now I know what to expect,” Pageau said.
The first game will be held at the Bell Centre in Montreal, on April 15 at 7 p.m. For fans in Ottawa, they can watch the game along Sens Mile, on Elgin Street, which officially opened on Sunday.
Get ready fans, head coach Cameron says, “It’s going to be a real battle.”
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