The annual trade deadline buzz will fade away — at least for a few hours — on Thursday night, as the Senators continue their western road trip with a visit to Calgary.
The Senators are coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to Edmonton and have picked up points in eight of their last nine games. They enter Thursday six points back of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“It’s part of the season, I think guys get used to it,” said Green of the deadline talk that has dominated Canadian airwaves over the past week. “It’s a bit of an exciting time of year, quite honestly. Coaches, players watch to see what’s happening around the league. I think you get used to it as a player and a coach.”
“It’s a crazy week, but for us, it’s just leaving the distractions, all the rumours, and just going out there and playing and doing our jobs and finding a way to get two points,” said Brady Tkachuk.
“First and foremost, we’re playing in the best league in the world, so it’s all about having fun, embracing these big games, embracing these moments, and we’re going to be in these games for the rest of the season. So, the team that enjoys it the most is the team that’s going to have the most success.”
Green wouldn’t commit to any lineup changes for his team, speaking to media after the Senators took morning skate in Calgary. He reiterated that his team was in a similar spot in the standings last year, that they have full belief they can leap into a playoff spot, and are taking a game-by-game approach.
One Senator especially excited for the game is Ridly Greig, who grew up in nearby Lethbridge. “It’s great, I always have a lot of fun here, certainly a lot of family in the building here tonight, so it’ll be cool,” said Greig.
“There’s a lot of farm people all scattered around southern Alberta, so they’re all travelling up for the game… dead summer they’re probably not going to want to leave the farm too much, in the winter now, they definitely have a little more time to get away.”