D.J. Smith can feel the excitement amongst the Ottawa Senators\u0027 faithful.
“I love the buzz in the city,” Smith told this newspaper in one-on-one interview Friday. “Everywhere I go, including Starbucks this morning, there’s a buzz about what’s happening. That’s great because the people, as much as we didn’t enjoy losing, they didn’t enjoy watching it and they want to see us turn the corner.”Article content
People are trying to corner Dorion and Smith into saying they’ll be a playoff team. All Smith wants is this group to compete every night.Article content That will give the club depth with centre Josh Norris between captain Brady Tkachuk and winger Drake Batherson. “I’ve had nothing but belief in this kind since day one,” Smith said. “He came in with all the hype and he realized how hard the league was at times. He’s learned what he’s got to do to limit those bad times. Just his ability, and his explosiveness, and I don’t think people realize how tough he is when it comes to playing in traffic and going to the net.”Article content“He was out over a week-and-a-half and I could have easily shut him down for a while,” Smith said. “He wanted to play.
Smith said Giroux will make an impact on the power play and he can help the club big time in the faceoff circle. He’s one of the best in the league and you can bet he’ll be working with the likes of Stuetzle, Norris and Shane Pinto during the season.Article content Smith revealed a couple of his veteran defencemen, including Hamonic and Nikita Zaitsev played through injuries last season. He expects both to be fully healthy.
The club will try several different options during the pre-season, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Dorion acquire another blueliner at some point.
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