OTTAWA — Travis Green said the Ottawa Senators need to focus on more than scoring goals this season.
The Senators' new head coach said the young NHL team needs to approach the upcoming campaign around building a strong team culture and identity.
"Day 1 is not going to be about how we're going to score more goals,” Green said Thursday in a meeting with season ticket holders and media. “It's how we're going to be a better team, how we're going to build an identity, how we're going to win in the long term.
"You don't get to the top until you get through the first level, or the first part of building a culture and building an identity."
A key aspect of Green's philosophy is understanding the individual needs and strengths of each player. The 53-year-old spent much of the summer reaching out to players to get a better understanding of who they are as individuals and to provide them with an opportunity to get to know him better.
"I think, you know, the more time you talk to a player, you get to know him a little better, his personality," Green said. "And when you have a comfortability level, or you get to that level, it's a lot easier to send messages, even mannerisms, whether one person's happy or another person's not happy."
Green has earned the reputation of holding tough training camps and he emphasized the importance of showing up to camp ready to compete. With all the resources available, he said there's no excuse for any player to arrive in September out of shape.
"It's going to be a training camp that pushes your conditioning, and that's just part of it," he said. "I think every year when you come to training camp, you haven't been on the ice for four months.
"You're not in game shape, and part of training camp is to put your structure into place, your little details, but also to get ready for the game speed."
Green is confident that his team is prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.
"I think our players, they know what's coming,” said Green. "They know it's going to be a fun camp, an aggressive camp. Some might call it a hard camp, but they're ready for it. I know that.”
This will be Green’s third head coaching opportunity after four-plus seasons leading Vancouver and a brief stint as interim head coach last season in New Jersey.
He is looking forward to the challenge of getting the Senators to the post-season after missing the playoffs for seven years.
"As you go along, you become more comfortable in what you do, you learn,” he said. “I strongly believe I'm a much better coach today than I was six years ago when I first started in Vancouver and I think that comes with anything in life.
"Whatever job you're doing, you get better as you do it, more if you're open to learning and growing and having a growth mindset."
Senators president and chief executive officer Cyril Leeder also provided an update on the possibility of a downtown arena. There had been a memorandum of understanding before Michael Andlauer purchased the team and Leeder said “the agreement wasn’t team friendly."
Leeder said the team has been trying to make compromises with the National Capital Commission regarding the agreement and hopes to “find some common ground.” He said an official announcement is coming by the end of September as that’s when the current memorandum expires.
Leeder later added that the team would be at the Canadian Tire Centre for the foreseeable future and as such a number of improvements have been made to the 28-year-old facility.
Also Thursday, the Senators signed forward Nick Cousins to a one-year deal worth US$800,000. He won the Stanley Cup last spring with the Florida Panthers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press
