Kelly set to make NHL debut in season finale Wednesday
Kelly to make NHL debut
Parker Kelly will become the seventh Ottawa Senator to make his NHL debut this season when he suits up in Wednesday's season finale.
The 21-year-old was signed to an entry-level contract in September 2017 after attending development camp with the Sens and in 90 pro games with the Belleville Senators, the former Prince Albert Raider has 18 goals and 29 points.
"Parker is purely on merit with how he's played and how he works hard every day," Sens head coach D.J. Smith said.
Kelly won the Jonathan Pitre Memorial Award for the hardest working player at Sens development camp two years in a row from 2018-19.
"I'm super excited for him," Josh Norris said. "Kells is still one of my really good buddies from last year's team in Belleville. He works so hard and is one of the best teammates I've ever had. He's such a nice kid and deserves everything he gets."
Brown to make season debut
Injuries have delayed his NHL season debut until the final game of the regular season, but Logan Brown will suit up against the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday.
"Logan's been hurt a lot, obviously we wanted to give him a look much earlier than this but he's been able to get back and get to a pace that allows him to get in," Smith said. "Unfortunately, there's only a game to go but one is better than none."
Brown has played 12 games with Belleville this season scoring once and adding six assists. The former first round pick in 2016 has previously played 29 NHL games with the Senators.
"The NHL pace, the stopping, the starting, the grind of playing in your own zone and then getting up in the play," Smith said when asked what he needs to see from Brown. "For a big guy it takes a lot longer. It's a small sample size but we know he has big time ability especially on the power play and with the puck. So, he just has to prove, not just to us but everyone else, that he's an everyday NHL player."
Sens looking to finish strong
With one game to go, the Sens are hoping to finish the season on a strong note.
Despite Sunday's loss in Calgary, the Senators are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games, a far cry from a team that started the season with just two victories in its first 15 games.
"We've worked hard all year, why stop now?" Smith said. "We've got three periods to go, play as a team. Play the right way. Work hard. Do all the things that we've done here down the stretch and try and win a game."
Since April 17, when that run started, Ottawa has conceded just 23 goals while their penalty kill has been operating at 90.6 per cent. In that timeframe, the Sens' .773 point percentage is the four highest in the NHL while their 3.18 goals a game average ranks ninth.
"We've had a good second half here and we want to make everyone proud, especially in the community," Brady Tkachuk said. "I think we can hang with any team. When we play our game, it's pretty tough to stop us. We created our momentum, created a lot of good energy around here and off the ice it's one of the tightest teams I've ever been on and I think that correlated so much to being on the ice together.
"The way we've gelled from the second half to the first half, it's been a blast. We want to finish off strong, not just for ourselves individually, but collectively."
Paul nominated for Masterton
Sens forward Nicholas Paul was nominated for the 2020-21 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy on Monday and to say it was well-deserved would be an understatement.
Paul played 217 AHL games, and on three separate occasions, most recently as September 2019, went through waivers unclaimed before cementing himself as a full-time NHL player under Smith.
"Here's a guy that goes through waivers, you're sent down to the minors for the umpteenth time, and now you've made yourself one of the most important pieces of our team through pure hard work and determination and leadership," Smith said.
"I can't think of a guy that's on our team that's gone through what he's gone through."
With one game left in the season, Paul has tied his career high in points with 20 and should he play Wednesday, will match his career high in games played too with 56. His 15 assists in 2020-21 are a new career best.
"This is such an awesome award for him and he definitely deserves it," Tkachuk said. "We're all really proud of him.
"I wasn't here for the first part of his career but he's helped me from day one of training camp. He's a great player, so versatile. Everyone knows how he is on the ice. He's skilled, big and physical. But off the ice, he's a guy you just want to be around 24/7. There's never a bad day with him. He's always positive, always cracking jokes. He's a great guy, great friend and a great teammate and he's a guy you want to have on your team."
Capuano named US head coach
Player commitments for the 2021 IIHF World Championships are still being finalized, but the U.S. head coach has been confirmed in Sens associate coach Jack Capuano, as announced Monday.
"Jack brings a vast experience to me as a coach and is a really hard-worker, detailed guy that's done an exceptional job with our guys," Smith said. "Not only our young defencemen but the guys in general. He's a communicator, guys like him, he comes to work at 5am. He's not going to short you on anything. He's super organized. He's been an NHL coach for seven years and he certainly wants to get back there and this is a real good opportunity for him with a really really young USA hockey team.
"He's over there to help develop them and he's good at that and I think he'll do a real good job."
Fans celebrate Stützle hat-trick
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, all seven Canadian teams have been playing this entire season in empty arenas.
And on Saturday when Tim Stützle scored his first career hat trick in Winnipeg, there was no rain of hats from the stands to acknowledge his achievement.
But some local fans took care of that Monday. A number of young Sens fans hid behind the fence where Stützle shares a house with Norris and Tkachuk and with the German rookie standing outside, showered him with hats into his backyard.
"It was unreal," Stützle said. "It was a great thing for them to do that and I was very very happy and I can't thank them enough."
