And after taking a shot near his throat Monday night, Austin Watson won't be changing his style. Afterall, he's made a career out of blocking shots and providing toughness and grit throughout his seven-year NHL career.
"He's the ultimate, ultimate warrior," Brady Tkachuk said.
Towards the end of the second period on Monday, Watson got in the shooting lane to block a Nate Schmidt shot. The puck soared and hit Watson high, sending him crashing to the ground. After a quick checkup in the Sens hallway, he was back on the bench a few minutes later.
"It was pretty fortunate," Watson said. "It caught a piece of collarbone first … all is good today. Anytime that happens the initial reaction is just shock. You reach around to make sure everything is still there and then it's 'alright, we're good to go.' The pain subsided pretty quickly and everything checked out pretty good."
The level of bravery he possesses and willingness to sacrifice his body hasn't gone unnoticed by his teammates who are in awe at the way the 29-year-old plays.
"To have a guy that's willing to put his body on the line for us every single night and give it his all every single game is so energetic for the rest of us," Tkachuk said. "That's a guy who always wants to win, he's played for a winning franchise, been to the playoffs, he's been great for our team and great for me individually and I've loved playing with him."
A veteran of 338 NHL games, 306 of which came with the Nashville Predators, Watson was acquired in the offseason for his leadership and exactly the play he's brought to the Sens on the ice every night. He's been worth every penny so far.
"He's as tough a guy as maybe I've coached when it comes to shot blocking and ability to do anything for the team," head coach D.J. Smith said. "Those are the guys you win with. That's a great guy [general manager] Pierre [Dorion] brought in to show guys how hard you have to play to win hockey games."
Watson has played in the Stanley Cup playoffs on four occasions including a trip to the finals in 2017 with the Preds. He said he appreciates the praise he's received from his teammates for his willingness to sacrifice the body on a nightly basis but he's just doing what he's meant to do. In 32 games this year, Watson has 42 blocks and 88 hits.
"You don't do things for that reason, for praise, but at the same time that's what a team is about," he said. "Guys sacrificing different parts of their game, their life, for the benefit of the team. When guys take notice of different guys doing certain things like blocking shots or making good puck decisions or [being] willing to throw their body around, when the rest of the group notices that it really builds that team chemistry.
"It shows the willingness guys have to work for each other and the more that everybody picks up on that from each different guy the better we're going to get."
