(Ottawa) Travis Green believes the Ottawa Senators need to focus on more than scoring goals this season.
The team’s new head coach said his young club must first establish a strong culture and identity.
“The focus initially won’t be on how to score more goals,” Green said Thursday as he met with the media and season-ticket holders.
It’s about how to become a better club, how to build an identity, how to win in the long term. You don’t reach the top until you get through a first level.
Travis Green, Senators head coach
The 53-year-old spent much of the summer reaching out to players to better understand who they are as individuals and to give them the opportunity to get to know him better.
“The more you talk to a player, the more you get to know their personality,” Green said. “When you get to a certain level of comfort, it’s a lot easier to send messages, or to figure out if someone is happy or not.”
Green has a reputation for running tough training camps, and he stressed the importance of showing up prepared to compete.
Given the resources available, there is no excuse for a player to arrive at camp in poor shape, he commented.
“It’s going to challenge your fitness and that’s part of what camp is all about,” Green said. “(You also have to) put in place structure, the little details, but also prepare for the speed of the game.”
Green spent four-plus seasons at the helm of the Vancouver Canucks. He also briefly served as interim head coach of the New Jersey Devils last season.
He’s looking forward to the challenge of leading the Senators to the playoffs, after they haven’t been there since 2017.
“The more you get into it, the more comfortable you become with what you’re doing and the more you learn,” he said. “I firmly believe I’m a much better coach today than I was six years ago.”
“This is true for everything in life. No matter what your job is, you get better the more you do it. And even more so if you are open to learning and have the mindset to grow.”
Senators president and CEO Cyril Leeder also provided an update on the possibility of building a new arena downtown. A memorandum of understanding was signed before Michael Andlauer bought the club and Leeder said “the deal was not favourable to the team.”
Leeder said the team has tried to compromise with the National Capital Commission (NCC) on the deal and hopes to “find common ground.” He said a formal announcement will come by the end of September, when the current memorandum of understanding expires.
Leeder added that the team will continue to play at the Canadian Tire Centre in the short term and that a number of improvements have been made to the 28-year-old building as a result.