With two lottery picks in the upcoming draft and his young players progressing well as a group, Pierre Dorion sees brighter days ahead for the Senators. (HockeyScanner)
The end comes suddenly, either in a playoff or game 82, and then the little bits of the season get broken down, analyzed with a detailed look back and a brief glimpse ahead, first by players, then the coach and general manager. All in the flesh., the season ended, not as scheduled on April 4, but on March 12, effectively, although the official announcement came from the NHL commissioner two months and two weeks later, on May 26.
Dorion was relaxed, excited about having two lottery picks in the upcoming draft, pleased with the growth of his program this season, bullish about the Senators next season — whenever that might begin — and decidedly zen about the uncertainty of scheduling during a pandemic. “We know 24 teams will have a certain advantage of playing before we will have a chance to play. But I’m sure the NHL will look at it, what can be done, and we are confident a plausible solution will be had for the seven teams that aren’t playing.”
In the meantime, hockey lives on through video conferencing, the game within the game. Strength coach Chris Schwarz and his staff will get players working on their conditioning programs and Dorion will be meeting with chief amateur scout Trent Mann and other team scouts to plan the upcoming draft — largely online. At least for now.
“We are going to follow that plan, we are not going to rush things, we are going to do things properly,” Dorion said. “And that is part of having long term success and building a championship calibre team in Ottawa if we do the right thing here with this draft.”“It’s not a race here, we want to build the best list possible and have a proper plan going into this draft,” he said.
“Once he joined our organization after the shoulder surgery, he spent extra time in Ottawa to get ready for the 2019-20 season. He comes from a hockey family … and we know we have a future star in Josh Norris whenever he joins the Ottawa Senators.”
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