The Ottawa Senators finally got a taste of the playoffs last spring.
Now, they’re hungry for more.
“We want to feel that every year,” forward Tim Stutzle said at the Senators’ golf tournament on Monday. “It was probably the best feeling I’ve had in a long time playing hockey, the most fun I’ve had.”
After an eight-year drought, the Senators’ return to the post-season was cut short in the first round in a six-game loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ottawa fell behind 3-0 in the series before fighting back to give its Ontario rivals a scare.
Still, just playing past the regular season was a sign that the team’s young core was finally progressing.
“I think we as a group pushed til the end and almost made it back and tied it 3-3, but I think that’s just gonna help us coming into this year,” defenceman Thomas Chabot said.
“It’s a learning curve for everybody, so coming into camp, coming into (the) start of season, we just want to keep doing the same thing we did last year, put ourselves in the same position of being in the playoffs. And once we get there, we went through it once, so I feel like we’ll be off to a better start.”
The Senators’ off-season was relatively quiet as the team’s biggest moves were re-signing trade-deadline addition Fabian Zetterlund and adding defenceman Jordan Spence from the Los Angeles Kings.
Such tinkering around the edges could keep Ottawa more fortified for what promises to be a tough Eastern Conference playoff battle.
Still, Stutzle said the mindset won’t change.
“It’s not gonna be easy, but we know we’re going to give our best,” he said. “Obviously, our goal is to get further than the first round, but we’ve gotta take everything step by step and just get better every day. I think when we had that mentality, going day by day, I think that’s what brought us the most forward, and we’re gonna do that again this year.”
The only difference? That bitter taste from losing to the Maple Leafs.
“We all went through the process of being on that stage and playing there for the first time, and I think we all kinda went home thinking back on how the playoffs went,” Chabot said.
And so, after a summer of stirring, the Senators are now itching to return to the ice.
