Ottawa Senators Voice Dean Brown On Tim Stützle’s Development, Sens Off-Season Moves
on today’s show we’ve got over a half hour with the voice of senator’s hockey Dean Brown Dean tells us all about the s’s off seon what he expects from Tim stla next year and the role of Daniel alfredson being the Daniel alfredson of the team we’ll get into all that and more on today’s locked on SS I’m Jake Sanderson I’m Tim and you’re listening to the locked on Senator podcast you’re locked on Senators your daily podast podcast on the Ottawa Senators part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome you are locked on to the Ottawa Senators the only daily podcast covering the S on the outskirts of enemy territory I’m Ross Levan alongside Brandon pillar up in the Blue Mountains today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long just visit fanduel.com to get started you can also follow the show on social media we’re at send Central on Twitter you can find us wherever you get Podcast including on YouTube where we say hello and let you know that a like comment and subscription go a long way to helping the show grow today is Wednesday July 10th and pillsy pour one out for cap friendly the website that help helped everyone inside and outside the hockey world find what players were making what all the structures were it’s gone dark this is a sad day Ross uh I don’t know about you but the day was supposed to be July 5th it goes dark the capitals are shutting it do down and July 5th came around and it was still working and in my mind I was like maybe they’re just not going to shut it down maybe they’re just going to keep it maybe the Caps were like no it’s good leave it up and I was using it the last couple days really taking it in Ross I even screenshotted the s’s cat friendly page so I got all those numbers ready but man what a sad day today turning to cat friendly I don’t know about you Ross but it’s literally been the same tab on my laptop for years years that same third tab that I have open is always cat friendly I’ve got it bookmarked and it was it was a sad time being like all right that’s it got to unbookmark it got to delete that tab for the first time and for me and you two guys that aren’t math guys not having that tool around it’s gonna be it’s gonna be tough it sucks so Puck pedia.com is going to do its best to build the void next man up and that’s what it’s gonna be it was cap geek before that I believe but cat Friendly’s been a staple for the last eight plus years and it’s going to be tough imagine us without cat friendly during the s’s rebuild where they didn’t have a single player signed Beyond two years for parts of it we’re like what is going on ah it it is a tough day but again as the The Market opens somebody has to step up and puckpedia seems like they’re pouring a lot of resources in there and we like seeing at the bottom of the send page who to follow at sen Central at leims Martian okay Pander to me why don’t you so we’re all in on puckpedia and uh hopefully it gives us the same inside knowledge that the team has because we know that NHL teams use cap friendly so for us on the outside being able to manipulate the cap and um create rumors and trades the way that fans like to do I I think that there’s always going to be a place in the market for something like this you just hope that the backside of it is so well structured that there’s no glitches or anything like that yeah exactly and and that’s the thing like especially things like the bio calculator uh learning like they made so much money off of me dialing in Corpus Alo bio you know on Google when you type Insight it’s like you’ve been to this page many times that was me with it yeah well hey it’s a good tool luckily we don’t have to use that though thank you Boston um things like learning the restricted free agent rights uh you know like who has our rights who doesn’t the little inter AES that like no one knows all these things like even like Elliot Freeman would often reference cat friendly and be like I learned this from cat friendly and they cleared things up for me so like that’s when you know that they’re the go-to spot and for the NHL specifically Ross players contracts are such a big part of what makes a successful team and unsuccessful team like it adds to the element of reality TV and like a drama series when you know how much these guys are making what percentage of the cap is oh they got to move this guy’s contract to make room for this guy like it just adds so much that maybe the Casual fan isn’t interested in that but people that are DieHard fans for their team for the league broadcasters people in the media Scouts all these other people cat friendley was absolutely Monumental to add spinning the twine that is the NHL story right so hopefully puckpedia can step up I I honestly hadn’t used it till today so they’ve now occupied that new tab so let’s see let’s see if that holds up but shout out cat friendly they did amazing work the more things change the more they stay the same when you turn on your radio dial and senator’s hockey is about to begin on TSN 1200 the team 1200 back in the day probably even an iteration before I can remember Dean Brown has been on the call he’s synonymous with senator’s hockey Dean and gourd one of the Dy DC Duos in this organization’s history and in our interview coming up of course I didn’t ask him about who’s next in the Ring of Honor because he wouldn’t tell us he’s a part of the voting committee but you and I in our mind he is a first ballot Ring of Honor in the Ottawa Senators whenever he hangs up the microphone but we always love chatting with Dean and I’m excited that um we won got to meet him in person which was great got to spend a few beers with him and then um yeah it’s just he’s got so much knowledge so much insight and I think you guys are really going to enjoy this interview coming up oh yeah Dean’s the best Ross we during the interview you and I will kind of give each other a look being like man this it’s nuts that we get to hear these stories uh from Dean getting to sit down with him was awesome and yeah I agree there certainly will be a spot in the Ring of Honor for him and gourd together I mean they should go the whole nine yards name the broadcasting Booth after them like everything lay lay it all out for them um at least in in my opinion is is the broadcast Booth named right now I think it is is it okay I need to figure this out and if somebody cuz I don’t want to take it we’re not try we don’t talk about another man’s job we’re not trying to take away another person’s named Booth here but no let us know in the comments as I can’t find it on the Fly here but I want to say maybe it’s just honored they got that Smitty banner up there let us know in the comments what’s the broadcast Booth named after in Ottawa we know it’s the Jack Miller broadcast Center in Belleville Ontario so what is it in Ottawa if nothing then we have it in the bag with Dean and gour all right Dean Brown Next you’re listening to locked on Senators your team every day today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at eBay Motors passion drive and patience that’s what brings home the winning Trophy and it’s also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more you know they got it so whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you will always find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay is guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or you get your money back it’s that simple because with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not burning cash with all the parts you need but at the prices you want it’s easy to 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that you’ve come to know and love from Farm to Fork the BC scky sammon’s great for the grill you can get that sustainable seafood and all of these products are flash frozen right after being on the butcher table so get it fresh get it from Farm to Fork you will never go back to grocery store meets and because you’re a listener of locked on Senators lp10 at checkout that’s 10% off your first purchase we know you’re going to love it Go support local support the Pod support Farm to fork and taste the farm to Fork difference you will never go back to grocery store meets all right now time for our interview with Dean Brown all right we now welcome a very very very special guest back to lock on Senators his fifth time on the show if you can believe that but for the first time we’ve actually got to meet in person Dean Brown the voice of the autoa Senators welcome back how are you doing today sir I’m I’m doing well boys doing well yeah actually yeah in this past season we all hooked up in in Minnesota that was a great night that was fun yes Sunday night in Minnesota a lot of people say that’s the epitome of an NHL lifestyle what is it like going through the riggers of what is the 32nd season now Dean a lot different than when you started I imagine yeah yeah oh yeah very different travel’s different everything’s different about the league now uh you know what I when people when people ask me is it getting easier or harder I I don’t really have an answer because it’s just it’s it’s just always been my life I I’ve always traveled for while not even just for work my father was an airline pilot and when I got into this business I did 10 years of football before ever did hockey so you had there’s a certain amount of travel for that and then there’s this you know it it’s to be honest with it’s more my kids you know my kids when they were in school people say well you know your Dad’s away a lot during the how’s that go with your dad away a lot during the winter time well they don’t know any different it’s been that way their entire lives so um I don’t really find it rigorous the game the job it’s it’s fun um and travel is a part of that and no one can complain about the way we travel you know very very lucky very fortunate the way we travel so no one can about that um so it’s part of the job and um just you just go do it and uh there’s certain things on the road that are fun and some things are less fun but nothing’s terrible yeah Ross and I are uh slowly getting into the calendar cycle of hockey season as now we’re doing this podcast uh for a while so we kind of understand it’s kind of nice though it’s similar to the uh the school schedule right like you you start in the fall you finished you have your Summers off so how’s your summer been Dean Summer’s been pretty normal key lots of stuff to do around the house you know the uh during hockey season it’s it’s six or seven days a week even if there’s no games you’re at practice if you’re not doing practice you’re doing other stuff uh that’s usually hockey related so during the season it’s six or seven days a week so in the summertime it’s it’s all off time and you get to all those lists that you started compiling or someone else started compiling for you and you just start pecking away at jobs but there’s no for me anyway there’s no immediate rush nothing catastrophic so you know you’re getting the chainsaw out and cutting down things that fell down during the winter and you’re going through we’ve spent three days ripping the garage apart and trying to clean out and throw out stuff so you’re just doing normal everyday things that people do year round we just kind of concentrate them in the summertime and you get some downtime had family here on the weekend got more family coming next month Sue and I are taking off for a week to go to New Finland next week just to hang around bum around so just all the all the normal stuff is just we have a confined time to do it whereas with a lot of that stuff people can poke away at it year round we just poke away at it during the summer and at what point Dean do you sit down and kind of reset I know you’re a big notes guy you got your big book of each game when do you kind of look ahead to next year and start jotting away well you know what in my case I never I I’m never not doing that um I’m I have a an organizational depth chart that I’m always updating so that when I do stuff like this I don’t have to remember things I have my well it’s right here I I always have it with me and so if we’re talking about players and who’s where in the organization and I’m updating that all the time just my habit is every day uh when I get up even during the offseason get my coffee and I come here into my office and the first thing I do is I go to the international transactions list and I see who has signed where in the world who’s going where and some interesting things sometimes former senators or former Ottawa guys move teams in Europe and it’s just interesting but it’s something I do and I’ve all already started building now that uh now that 1 has rolled around started building my templates for every team for next year and I I there’s no rush because I have lots of time and I poke away at it so that when the season comes it isn’t just a crush of homework and stuff that you have to do all at once it’s more distributed but I I enjoy doing it it’s you know it’s kind of like I’m sure people are asking you guys off season and you guys are doing this five days a week like you know what are you doing well if you love it it doesn’t feel like work it’s just you know so I’m I’m all I’m I’m never not doing it I’m always poking away at it and when The Season’s on obviously you’re more into it and you’re doing more defined things but um like I said I I’m always updating my my lists and I’m always keeping track of who’s going where and who has signed and who hasn’t and who’s left to sign and all those things and also working on templates for for all the teams for next year now as fans a big day for us in the offseason that that gets us excited is the drop of the schedule Dean for you that must be a another experience because now you you’ve just got your work schedule just uh posted there and you can see all the trips all the different things you’re going to do is that a big thing for you when that comes in do you sit down and you’re going through it and you’re picking days here and and um you know envisioning what your your year is going to look like or is it’s just something you’re like well I know the days are going to come I’m just going to deal with it as it goes no no you’re right it’s it’s a it’s a big thing Brandon because and and this started a long long time ago my my kids are now older they’re adults they they vote they’re citizens you know they it’s not really the same kind of relationship but um when they’re younger when they’re kids um I get to the schedule soon as the schedule’s out I’m on it because at that time um so much of my life was revolved around well how do I weave my work schedule into the Family schedule and taking kids here and doing that you know so that was always a big thing um and even now still the same thing you know you you look at it because that’s what your life is going to be like where you going to be how much time to have off at Christmas and you know like all all those things that are are family related and then right after that at the same sitdown you start to look at how many back-to-back games are there because you know that’s that’s a bugaboo in the schedule last year Ottawa had the second most I think Pittsburgh actually might be wrong about that but I think Pittsburgh had the most back-to-back games last year otell was second so you start you start yeah you start looking at that kind of stuff um and this year um started uh right away got the dates so I knew how long the the break would be for the four nations in February because it’s so rare that we get to have a vacation in the winter during the season so we’re already planning that and likely going to go away with uh with our friends for in for at least a week in February just because like I said it’s such a a rare chance to to get to do that so it’s it’s all that kind of stuff and you guys know me a little bit you know that and I know this about myself I’m very anal about lists and stuff so I can’t just take the schedule and download it into my computer I rewrite the whole thing myself because there’s other things that I want on the schedule that I use including space to be able to write in wins and losses and you know which games are on which network um you know so I know what TV crews are going to be there when we’re doing radio and and so I basically I basically take a little bit of time and rewrite the whole schedule myself rather than cutting and pasting because I want to add things to it um and so I I do that as a matter of habit and I realize you don’t have to but I’m kind of anle about that kind of stuff so it’s just part of part of what I do but you are right it is a very it probably shouldn’t be uh but it tells you just what kind of a loser I am it is a very big day in this household when the schedule drops you’re right about that no there’s a different LW I would associate with you and that’s Legend I mean this is going to be your 33rd year of doing Ottawa Senators hockey from day one it’s so awesome we’re lucky to be chatting with you right now Dean and uh you mentioned on the road you got that nine gamer when the world juniors takes over in Ottawa there is the Christmas break between you going to spend it in Edmonton or come here to Winnipeg Dean well I’m going to spend it here because a lot of my family’s coming here at that time to Ottawa so going to spend it here um uh yeah so it’s it’s it’s one of those things where that is part of the that is part of the planning process and was thinking about winipeg but one of the one of the difficult Parts about Winnipeg is my sister is there one of my sisters is still there and my mom is there but my mom has advanced dementia so she’s not really in a part of all about that kind of stuff um lots of friends and stuff like that that are there but the hard part is during Christmas time your friends have family stuff to go do themselves so they’re not hanging around waiting thinking boy is Dean coming back over the Christmas break so I can see him for an hour on the 23rd you know like it’s so it’s uh it’s kind of a a different kind of thing but we’ll be spending it here but it’s nice to get that much time off because there’s you guys well know there’s lots of times where you know Ottawa plays in the 23rd you get the 24th and the 25th off and on boxing day you’re flying to Buffalo for a game you know like that that has and does happen so having five days off um is is is great for Christmas absolutely let’s get into the team itself what was your favorite send storyline this offseason Dean well I think probably the biggest one I think was the the goal tending move and you know I think um it was not just getting getting olark in the trade you know I think it’s one a 1B I think you know getting Corpus salo’s salary off the books um I’m not going to say it was as big but very big because it was one of those contracts that you know how many times did all of us talk about it that’s going to be a really difficult contract to move you know so in in one day you know I think you got to give the Senators credit and in one day you solved your getting stability and goal tending problem and you solved your getting the other goal tending money off the book so you’re not carrying eight or 10 or 12 million do in two gold tenders or you know whatever I’m exaggerating but you know what I mean so um I think that was a very big day because how many times did all of us talk about the fact that there’s certainly going to be changes coming and there’s things have to address but none greater than the goal tending You’re simply not going to have a chance to progress as a team if the goal tending was not substantially better so I think solidifying that I think to me anyway um has been the biggest move the other ones you know you knew you were going to have to move along some pieces and they wanted to to change the mix and you know with Chon I don’t think there’s anyone who thought that that wasn’t going to be a trade at some point because with that contract very tradable number one but number two um you know just just the whole Lefty righty thing with with Sanderson and Shabbat it just you just knew it wasn’t working and they had to make changes anyway so you’ve got to turn that ass head into something else and that’s just the the way it goes um so the other ones are are important and the signings that they’ve had I I like the signings especially of amario and Pon getting some veterans up front which is what they said they wanted to do and they’ve gone out and and they’ve done that getting Pinto done I think was important although it’s not as long as everybody would like getting Pinto done so he’s on the ice for two years is big but I I I keep going back to the fact I don’t think there’s anything that has happened that was bigger than the goal tending moves on one day hope you’re enjoying our conversation with Dino we’ll get right back to it but first a word from one of our favorite sponsors yes this episode is also brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel I love sports Ross L sports Dean loves sports you love sports scramble I love them so much I never want them to stop but look NBA and NHL playoffs they’re done we got MLB baseball but the sports aren’t sportsing the way I want them to but FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want all I got to do is pull out my phone open the FanDuel app and dream up any bets I want when I’m in the mood you guys know I’m a big fan of getting your future bets in you got to diversify the portfolio get some prop bets going in baseball get some uh over unders in baseball some parlays and this summer all customers are going to be hooked up with Boost or bonus daily every single day that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com lockon and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel official Sports Benning partner of Major League Baseball and then even from your station TSN 1200 and just hearing lenus Al he just seems like such a calming presence that being a leader from from that position I think is such an added benefit for a team that’s really had trouble stabilizing defensively when it rains at pores type thing one goal goes in all of a sudden it’s three four it’s gotten out of hand a few times but Dean and and pillsy I want to throw this number at you too because out of the 16 players on the sends last year that played more than 51 games so a majority of the Season half are gone eight out of the top 16 skaters in time on Ice have been changed out like py was that a number that you kind of expected or was that even a little more change for you no that’s kind of what I expected and the way I’ve kind of viewed this and Dean I’ll I’ll toss it back to you on this is the different approach from this new regime compared to the old one it seems like this new regime is trying to build a team whereas the old regime was like okay we got our core now let’s just bring in some flashy star players and hope that just Talent is going to Prevail whereas it seems Steve stos is like well we’ve got the star power now let’s just support those stars with better support players and depth and role players and that seems to be what they’re doing Dean how do you think this offseason the first real off season for this new regime has gone so far well you know until they get on the ice none of us really knows but um they’re they’re doing and they have they have done exactly what they said they wanted to do and I think one of the other things that I that I really like about this and in trying to create stability is there’s nothing that’s been done that was reactive you know like uh you know this guy’s gone so we got to replace him today and do it with a bad deal or you know none none of that none of that has gone into this this has been a long process of evaluating and now going about executing what your game plan is for you know rebuilding and retooling this team to change it and and the thing too is is it’s not just at the NHL level that’s what we concentrate on but you know if if you look at this team they have dramatically changed the mix in Belleville um at a number of positions and if you look at probably the biggest single area you mentioned the raw number which is a big number but yeah you do have to remember that teams that win every team on average in this league um rosters change 20% a year this is well above that but I I I agree with I agree with Brandon that you know with what with what was happening and what the new regime was coming in with you knew it was going to be more than average and it has been but you know this team on defense I think that’s probably where the focus is going to be because the top four is clearly set now the bottom three because you’re going to carry at least seven but you have to have 10 guys really who can play in the NHL you know in today’s NHL you have to have 10 guys available in your organization and there’s been a massive amount of change organizationally you know Lassie Thompson has gone now larsson’s gone brandom’s gone Chon’s gone heatherington has signed in San Diego so guys that you have called up and used at the NHL level before or have been part of your top six already you know there’s there’s been change and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens with this team when they get injuries now because it’s going to happen absolutely um but players who you knew would be guys who are next are either here now and they’re considered to be guys who are going to be part of the today and of course I’m talking about clevin and probably jbd I’m sure and hamik is still here um but when you get injuries you know we saw Matt and p last year and he played and he played well and we saw ganette and he played and he played well and you know I don’t know anything about Jeremy Davies or Philip ruse or some of the new guys they’ve signed but these are guys who’ve also played in the league so that’s that’s part of the change here players that we we’ve been used to seeing come up when there’s injuries it’s going to be different guys now and we’ll all have to look and see what that is and I think one of the biggest changes that often gets overlooked just because there’s so much excitement about uh the players changing this is a whole new coaching staff uh Dean how do you think the Senators did in their coaching hires like do you think that they found the right guy and found the right assist to support him to take that next step or from from what you know around the league and all your connections how do you feel about Travis Green being the next head coach for the auto offenders well number one I don’t know because uh you know I don’t know how they’ll be as a staff because a staff like a team um some some of them know each other some of them don’t and they all bring different skill sets and that’s the reason that they’re here but like anything else you don’t know what the chemistry is going to be and you don’t know what the environment’s going to be until you get into it and see how they perform um I don’t know Travis Green other than when he was a player and having been around when he’s been interviewed um a couple of times I I I don’t know him but from everybody that I talk to the number one thing they start with when they talk about Travis Green is accountability and a couple of guys said to me it’s interesting they said I’m not sure Travis would have uh appreciated being treated and asked questions and been as demanding um when he was a player as he is as a coach in other words you know I’m not sure that he would have enjoyed a coach like him coaching himself yeah but and and and again I I don’t know that but I I’ve had a number of people tell me that that he’s very big on um everybody’s part of the same uh group there’s no sacred cows which I think everybody likes to hear that everybody likes to know that you know that that doesn’t mean that everybody’s ice time is going to be the same it’s not a democracy it’s you know but I think everybody likes to know that um you know every everybody’s going to be treated the same um and that everybody’s going to be account accountable I think everybody likes that and the players who haven’t faced that in the past they probably don’t like it all that much because who doesn’t like getting to do what you want to do when you want to do it um but so we’ll see how that we’ll see how that that how that goes um but uh I’m anxious to see how this whole thing evolves too because it like this roster is also going to be an evolving thing and that’s I I find that exciting to watch change is not to be feared change is to be expected so you know when you’re not winning in this league there’s going to be changes and now we all get to see how those changes grow and what they turn into the one constant I guess to Ben ston will be back but Daniel alfredson staying on board was that something that based on how you saw from afar how he was kind of rolling in after coming in in December that that’s something you kind of expected that he’d want to be back next season I didn’t know I I have to be honest I I I really didn’t know Ross because um a lot of time and it’s it’s not that they’re lazy don’t get me wrong it’s not that they’re lazy but but in my experience former players really have no clue how much work it is being a coach how many hours it is being a coach how much time you spend breaking down film getting meetings organized when players have a day off you know the the the coaches association is not a is not a union the players have mandatory days off the coaches don’t so lots of times when the players are at home doing whatever they’re doing the coaches are still at the office doing their thing and you just never know you know which players are willing to live that lifestyle because it’s a ton of time it’s a huge commitment and I’m not I’m not certain that Alfie would be as enthused about it and he’s enthused about it I’m not sure he’d be as enthused about it his kids were still young you know but his kids are now grown up and off doing things and stuff like that so he has more time um but he really dug into it like he really dug into it and I think I think Alfie was a bit surprised too how much he enjoyed it but you know after the season was over I respect the fact that he wanted to you know meet with BBE and and find out this something they wanted to continue to do and he had to look back and think is this one I want to keep doing because it is it is a huge commitment it’s not just showing up at the rink and blowing a whistle um so it’s it’s a good thing because there’s there’s lots of former players who find out very quickly you know what that’s not for me I’m I’m not I’m not digging putting in 70 my my family’s not digging me putting 70 80 hours a week and it’s just it’s it’s one just that lifestyle is not for me so he knows what the lifestyle is now and he he dug into it he was he was all in he was not peripheral um and his family is with him on that so I think it’s good I think it’s good for him and his family but I gotta say I wasn’t positive because even when you’re talking to Alfie and I’ve known him a long time and we have very Frank discussions he really good and he’s open with Gordon ey but Alfie’s always one of those guys where you never know what Alfie really thinks Alfie Alfie’s Alfie you know so you never know and he’s he’s going to do exactly what he wants to do he is not going to be swayed by anybody else he is very strong minded and very strong willed about what he wants to do and how he wants to do it yeah Ross and I always say just let Daniel alfredson be the Daniel alfredson of the Ottawa centers you don’t need to give him a title you don’t need to tell him he needs to be here doing this this day at for this long or whatever just let him do what he wants it’s amazing just to have him around for the players too you know what guys really if you see the dynamic at practice the the value of Daniel I think is is not just that he can run a drill or that he’s Daniel alfredson or guys it’s skating around tooling around before practice and a guy will come up to him and you’ll see Daniel showing him for a minute about how to protect the puck with your hip when you’re turning the corner on a defenseman little tiny thing like that how he talks to guys about their sticks with a lie of your stick and you can see them what they’re talking and Daniel’s very much a lie and angle guy on your stick and defenseman stick should be different than forwards and you’ll see him out there talking and it’s all those it’s it’s it’s an accumulation of all those tiny little things Brady spent a lot of time with him last year on Puck protection and when I’m turning my body and where do I and you know and and Alfie spending time before and after practice with all the guys with little little things like that not the big things but all the little tiny things and I remember several times sitting in the stands some of the players you know including in including guys like Sanderson who were playing keep away after practice with Daniel it’s a kids game but it’s probably one of the best little games that he always played that he always played with guys and especially the guys who are considered quote unquote lower skilled it it it improves their stick skills it improves their anticipation Chris Neil used to spend hours playing keep away with Alfie and it made Chris Neil a better player so not any mag great big huge thing Alfie does this Alfie does a million little things that make every player a better player in many little ways and I personally think that’s probably his greatest value you’re I you’re right I agree with you he doesn’t need to be in charge of the the power play or the penalty kill or or in charge of this to have a big impact on this team being Alfie and doing those little things that is being Alfie that that is what he does that is what he is an expert at and there’s no player that’s not going to listen to him you’re sitting there getting a small tip about an important thing from a Hall of Famer even if you weren’t old enough to watch him play in his prime you know who’s in the Hall of Fame no one gets there by accident so I I totally agree with you that the being Alfie thing is the most important thing yeah I mean we even saw that with Vancouver adding Adam foot and Sergey gonard to their staff it just adds that level of whoa these guys know what they’re doing they’ve been there they’ve done that and demand that level of respect I’m not gonna ask you for a prediction Dean that would be far too rude but I think we’re all in ag far too wrong far too often that’s probably the other part of it well you’re welcome on this show then yeah you’re very welcome on this show show but one thing’s for sure Tim sta needs to be healthy and needs to be scoring well over 20 goals 18 goals next season where do you think the biggest room for growth is for this young player who many forget is still only 22 years old um I think the I think the biggest room for growth for him is just maturity both in his game and as a person as you mentioned he’s a very young guy and it’s already gotten better you know the way you’re treated in the league is often times a reflection of your reactions to the game and you know constantly being upset about officiating and not getting calls you know he’s a he’s a high- skilled player he’s going to get fouled a lot you have to be able to walk away from some of that and he’s gotten a lot better but you’re going to get more calls from the officials the less you complain about the ones you don’t get number one number two he’s gotten better but still sometimes he can be too individualistic and that’s not because he’s a selfish player that’s because he wants to make things happen in that way he’s kind of like Alfie Alfie often times was very prone to that I’m just going to go and do it myself because he had the confidence to try and go do it himself but Alfie was a better player later in his career when he did less of that and was more about being inclusive and I think Tim Stutz will be the same thing I think last year we saw a one-off that we will never see again he his power play numbers will never be that low again ever in his career we saw some things that we anomalies we will never see from him one one goal yeah one goal you know like in San Jose of all Place against the last place team I know it’s just it’s crazy it’s crazy so when you’ve got the highest skilled guy on your team and he gets one power play goal and he’s on every Power Play It’s like it’s crazy it’s just it’s crazy we’ll never see that again but I think the most important thing isn’t anything massive or you know a huge thing I think the the biggest thing the most important thing for Tim stoa is to just keep maturing as a player and maturing as a person and both of those both of those things are going to make him better as a as a player and and I think the other thing too is I think he is one of the guys in this team that could benefit the most with having you know a couple of older guys up there who he plays with on a regular basis I think a guy like David Pon could be a very big influence on him because then it’s not just all this falling on clo jaru you know amongst the forwards you know because so much of that fell on clo and um it’s not that he can’t handle it but you have to have more than one veteran voice who’s talking in a kid’s ear or and you know Pon is a different kind of guy than clo juk jeru can help with so many skill things but when you’re out on the ice and and you know you’re not out there with Brady or or Drake bson or you know some of the more physical players you know if if somebody gives stoa one in the year David pan as Aram Zub found out last year even though he didn’t deserve it David pan is gonna go through your helmet to get to you you know he’s and so having that on the ice with you as a player if he plays a little bit more with Tim studa which he may well you know that’s another thing that gets added to to help Tim stla move ahead and that’s really the reason why they want to have more veteran guys up front other than just Cloe to provide that insulation for guys like studa and pinto and there’s going to be more Believe It or Not Ridley Greg needs some protection he’s he’s a feisty guy but he’s a small guy and he’s not an old guy you know so it’s not it’s not just for Tim stoa those couple of those additions of those veteran guys Mario and pirano especially those are important to the to the makeup of the soup you know as we’ve said a million times you know if you want to build a championship soup it can’t all be carrots or potatoes or beef it’s got to be a mix of all them you know and so if you’re trying to make the right soup you need all those different vegetables and you need some noodles in there too I’m big fan Nole soup soup um Dean tell me if this is dumb fan meat Head Thought or if there’s actually something to it because we know that the guys like Pon like Brady they’re always going to be there to stand up for their teammates I’ve been saying that Tim stza and the first 10 games next season if someone takes a run at Brady he needs to hit the eject button and stand up for him and show the whole team like Hey we’re all in this fight together going forward on a scale of zero to Meathead how close am I to the top well it all depends on what your meat heads by the way all of us have a bit of both in us you know all all of us do let’s be honest but you have to you have to decide where on your meat head scale are you are you expecting Tim to drop the gloves and try and smoke somebody because I’m not sure if I expect that that’s really not and has never been a part of his game but is he going to go after guys is he going to get a guy in the corner is he going to give him one if he’s going to give him a little cross check in the kidneys is he going to get the gloves up in the face I think we will see more of that and part of it I think is that um he’s getting in his career to the sick and tired portion of it you know like I said you know he’s got to stop throwing his head back when he doesn’t get a call and other teams read all that body language and they feed off it they try to make him more frustrated you know and last year near the end of the season we started to see him pushing back more on guys and I think you’re right I think we will we will see more of that I’m not sure we’re ever going to see Tim drop the gloves and go Toe to Toe with anybody because that’s really not in his wheelhouse um but stranger things happen like like Jake Sanderson did with Matthew kachuck he answered the Bell yeah yeah maybe yeah I’m not I’m not gonna rule it out but I don’t consider it to be a full Meathead question because I think we’ve been seeing him edging towards that kind of stuff that beats a great question hey bills yes yes absolutely Ross is trying to get everyone on on that train with them um final question for me Dean uh and I look back at last season and we’re like burn the tape we didn’t like that uh season of the Ottawa Senator show we don’t want to watch any of those episodes ever again no moments no nothing but as a guy like you who’s in the trenches and and is along with the team I’m sure each season has certain moments that stick out to you so final question for me Dean what what is the one moment from that terrible unfor or forgettable I should say forgettable season for us that sticks out to you that you kind of want to shine some light on well you know when when I when I look at last season there’s more than enough bad to look at you know um really felt bad for Josh Norris you know I realize that we’re in a very fortunate situation we get to spend a lot of time with the players and Josh is a a guy that you wish for this is an outstanding person and you want things to go well for him so going through another shoulder injury that you know I felt so bad for him because I know everything he went through and getting back to playing again and this the third one now and the stuff that people don’t talk about enough is is emotionally and mentally what those players go through and you know he’s he’s admitted that he had some struggles and nobody wants to cut players slack in that area you well if he’s healthy enough to play put him back on the ice well he’s his shoulder healthy enough to come back but his head’s not there yet and some people just don’t get that but that’s a real thing and you know he went through that last year so I I felt really bad about that I felt really bad for forsberg and uh um and corp pasalo u because again great guys and the intention was not there to have a crap season but they both had crap seasons they just did and there’s a lot of reasons for that not just their own you know defensively there was too many inter slot chances there you know you start going through the some of the analytics and you know there was too many other areas of the Ottawa game that let them down as goal tenders but at the end of the day um you know still there were not nearly enough saves and I felt bad with them because you know good guys really good guys but you know it just it wasn’t there so you had a bunch of those and on the but on the other side of the coin a lot of times it was the personal stuff you know how much Drake bson was you know really supportive and really excited about how his sister may was going through her last year of college and you know would she be able to play in the new women’s league when would she have a and she got she did get drafted and you know all that kind of stuff and clo jaru and his kids because they’re always at the rink and you see videos and stuff that his wife puts out and how big a part of his life and the team’s life they’re always around like it’s it’s a you know like and the guys love them Gavin is Gavin is more popular than Cloe is in the locker room can be clo can be a bit of a kudin sometimes but every Everybody Loves Gavin there’s no better videos for the Senators than the ones that Gavin’s in yeah you know so stuff like that and Brady getting engaged and you know and now he’s married and you know they’re gonna have their first child this year so it’s all th all those kinds of stories and all those kinds of things um there’s there weren’t enough good ones but the good ones were were good and to me it’s it’s it’s less about the how many goals a guy got you know Brady had another strong year despite the team not being very good and you know other guys got a chance to play and come up and that’s good and but the good the good stuff for me it ends up being the stuff that I think back and I go that that was a good moment are almost all personal life things not hockey things yeah for us it was beating the crap out of our Rivals over and over again what was it 4-0 against Montreal 2 and one against Detroit or two- one three- one against Detroit and then of course the rid League goal against Toronto so at least you had some moments against your rival teams but um I’m more soft and gushy you guys are just kind of savage mean spirited guys we’re not we’re not hiding it come on and you and you openly admit it you openly admit it that’s the first part is hey acceptance and then we’ll deal with the Fallout from there Dean we really appreciate you jumping on with us a true friend of the show and um don’t think you’re getting off the hot seat we’ll have you back on in September and really put some predictions to test but always appreciate your time have a great rest of your summer and we always look forward to doing these down the road anytime boys anytime oh all right Ross thank you very much to Dean Brown for joining us always love hearing from our guy Dean over at TSN you can hear him on the call for any Ottawa senors game been here since day one Ross I love him telling us we asked him to confirm how many years he’s been doing s games and he’s like I don’t know since the very first day they started I’ve always been doing it so that’s classic and Ross has been a great episode do you have any final thoughts wow thanks for asking py that fantastic great question great flow love to hear it The Vibes are high thank goodness s’s got a goalie I’m still rewatching that Lena alark first day video felt like my first day at school watching him enjoy and meet everybody around the ring needed an Alfie Cameo but I digress as Lena alark has made his way to Ottawa my final thoughts is actually about the players who are training back at home we know Nick jenson’s a Minnesota Guy De Beauty League starts up tonight it’s a pro three Onre league and The rosters are pretty loaded there’s some really good players that take part in this and they did a draft for the rosters this season and wouldn’t you know it the two senators who are in this event if you want to call it that or League I should say are actually on the same team Vinnie ler drafted the roster for waler I’m assuming just a sponsor and not only is it Nick Jensen but Jacob Bernard dacker will be making an appearance into Beauty league and it’s a big summer for jbd I’m G to be really curious to see if he comes into camp because I’m sure he’s heard that the Senators would like to add another depth veteran on the blue line he’s like hey look at me man I’m on a one-year deal cheap just on over 800,000 like I can be that guy for you but he’s gonna have to go out there and and make very positive plays with the puck before before I think that the fans are going to be willing to give it to him but he’s he’s played a ton of hockey already as uh Puck py is doing me dirty already he can’t get his stack on the same page as the contract that’s tough we’ll work on that but I know that he’s played a lot of games to the point where he’s not a young rookie anymore like a clevin would be coming up he’s a guy who is almost in that Eric branstrom spot from before where it’s like what are you g to be at the NHL level now that you’ve made the jump to be an everyday so I think that that’s a good move for him to be playing and why not have a veteran defenseman who he should be modeling his game after as a guy he’s going to get to see on the ice every weekend pretty much yeah that’s a good Mentor for jbd for sure and Ross just to add to that story like his name has been rumored in the trade market All Summer Long even before it seems like the SS were looking to move on from him so you’ve got a right-hand shot defenseman being brought in in Jensen you’ve got your name rumored to be shipped out and people kind of expected them to move on from Travis hammick whether it was a trade buyout or what have you they kept him around too so clearly the Ottawa centers haven’t kind of kept his spot warm and cozy so this is a big off season for him to get bigger stronger faster smarter what have you and show the sends right out to training camp that he’s the guy to be on that bottom pair and uh there is actually a drop down men you at puckpedia I can do his stats per season courtesy of elite prospects but we’ll just have to have both tabs open because they don’t show the total we know that he played 72 games last year 19 the year before eight the year before five the year before before that so parts of Four Seasons but really just established himself last year as an everyday NHL so we’ll have lots more to discuss about the SE the Senators off season as stories come up throughout the the summer tomorrow we’re going to be back to our sen Central citizen segment reach out on YouTube in the comments if you want to be a part of the show and we’ll get going a schedule for the rest of the summer we want to do it about once a week so those are my final thoughts py you got it yes I do have a final thought I’m prepared today um happy trails to our guy eigor sakov uh he signed a one-year two-way contract with the Utah Hockey Club so did you notice it’s the exact same AHL salary as Yan Yanick like he and Yan Yanick signed for identical contracts I did notice that I wonder if they’re just going to do house swaps Ross uh like uh remember back in the day when uh Ryan Johansson and um Jones what’s his first name I’m blanking on Jones zth Jones got traded one for one they met in the airport and we’re like hey we both need a place to stay like you you just want to stay in each other’s places I’m pretty sure they did that at least to start I know they met in the airport so it’s a great story even if it’s not true I like the story yeah let’s not let facts get in the way of a good story um so maybe eigor and Yan will do the same but I’m happy Ross they were able to get a deal done I was worried uh he was going to get traded there and they weren’t going to get something figured out so it’s nice he fresh off a wedding eigor just got married a little while ago so now they know where they’re going at least for next year so shout out to eor saw clove getting that contract getting that bag hell yeah he’ll be on the show in the next couple of weeks as well we’re working on a fantastic guest list throughout the summer and ring of honors any Ring of Honor um suggestions throw in the YouTube comments as well if you don’t recall you can go check out all 10 we did last summer where all three of us draft we’re going to make it a Friday draft this year I think a nice fun way light way to go into the weekend we’ll get you interviews hopefully every Monday and then citizens every Wednesday but we are five days a week all the way through July and uh it’s gonna be fun man because there’s lots to dig into this Ottawa Senator team and what else went on in the Atlantic that could affect their playoff projections but the athletic at least for one did say some good things about the Senators offseason we’ll touch on that in the next couple of days for today we say goodbye thank you so much for watching listening engaging with the show on Twitter at s Central thank you for watching our interviews yesterday it was Oscar Pon Monday it was Gabriel Eliason and today the voice of s hockey Dean Brown for Brandon pillar I’m Ross Levitan this has been another edition of the locked on Senators podcast your team every day
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2 comments
Solid!
Dean and Gord go into the ring of honor for sure