For some fans, it is a distant memory.
Others recall it like it was yesterday.
Seven years ago this spring, the Ottawa Senators were a playoff team, embarking on a three-round run that would end in double overtime of Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Over the last few years, Ottawa hockey types have often remarked that in the deep rebuilding program that eventually followed that run, not a single player remained from that Senators playoff roster.
Sometimes forgotten: There is ONE current player who played a small role on that 2016-17 team, and who would have had a ringside seat for the Stanley Cup final, had circumstances played out differently.
On May 26, 2017, 20-year-old Thomas Chabot was in Windsor, playing in the semifinal of the Memorial Cup tournament. Chabot’s Saint John Sea Dogs lost 6-3 to the Erie Otters (with Alex DeBrincat), ending their tournament.
One night later, the Senators fell to the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final, on a long, seeing-eye shot by Chris Kunitz, his sixth shot on goal of the evening.
Had the Senators scored on one of their numerous chances in regulation or overtime, Chabot, a first-round draft choice by Ottawa in 2015 (18th overall) was penciled in to join the Senators for the Cup final.
“I would have come up as a Black Ace just for the experience, which would have been pretty cool, to be around the Stanley Cup final live,” Chabot says, speaking prior to the Senators victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday. “But you know what, just starting the season (in Ottawa) was special. It was an older group. Obviously, I wasn’t around all season to know what went on, but just from knowing the guys – they knew what they had in that room.”
At 19, Chabot stuck with the Senators out of training camp, but played just one game in 2016-17.
On Oct. 18, 2016 Chabot made his NHL debut in the Senators’ fourth game of the season, a 7-4 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at the Canadian Tire Centre. Chabot played a little over seven minutes, registered one shot and was -2. He took shifts with Erik Karlsson and Cody Ceci.
Considering how many young defencemen have eaten minutes on the Senators blueline in recent seasons, it’s instructive to note the veteran D-men on that 2017 team: Dion Phaneuf, Marc Methot, Karlsson, Mark Borowiecki.
Seven years later, Chabot is a veteran defenceman himself with 414 NHL games played, still looking for his first playoff action with the Senators.
That surely frustrates him – Chabot was one of the players who spoke out during a 2022 exit meeting with then-general manager Pierre Dorion, expressing the urgent need to bring in veteran help on the blue line.
Today’s veterans include Artem Zub, Jakob Chychrun and Travis Hamonic, plus the ageless Claude Giroux up front, but the Senators remain outside the playoff race at the moment.
One might expect that Chabot would be annoyed at the situation, yet he is buoyed by how well the team has played recently under interim head coach Jacques Martin, who took over from D.J. Smith just before Christmas.
“We went through a bit of a tougher stretch, probably a two-month lapse, but we’re focused on what we’re trying to build here, what we’re trying to accomplish,” Chabot said. “We’re maybe not where we want to be right now, but if you look at different organizations, different teams that had success and made it through the process – it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Hockey players focus on … yes, playing hockey. And winning games.
Lately, the Senators have been doing just that – 7-2-1 since Jan. 29.
Chabot has been a fuse to light that fire, with goals in three straight games after scoring to get the comeback started in a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. Anton Forsberg earned the shootout victory, stopping all three Knights shooters. It was Forsberg’s fourth straight win in a season screaming for a goaltender to take the reins.
Their playoff odds might be longer than Andrew Hammond faced before his Hamburglar run in 2015, when he went 20-1-2 to carry the Senators to a playoff berth, but try telling these Senators that this season is lost. ‘Forsbergular’ anyone?
“There’s a lot of hockey games left and I don’t think any of us are packing it in and saying the season is over,” Chabot says. “We’re trying to accomplish something, trying to build a culture. I mean, you guys have seen it in the last probably 15 games, we’ve shown the way we want to play, the way you win in this league and have success consistently.”
New GM making calls at the deadline
So, what are the Senators just before the March 8 trade deadline?
Sellers? Yeah, in part.
Buyers? Possibly. Although more moves are expected at the draft and over the summer.
Will they tinker with the young core and if so, to what degree?
It is going to be fascinating to watch new GM Steve Staios and new Sr. VP of Hockey Operations along with associate GM Ryan Bowness (first hired by Dorion) sort out this roster in the months to come.
Chabot says he has heard “a little bit” about what the plan might be but remains focused with his teammates on the job at hand. Playing the game and making a case for themselves.
He agreed with my suggestion that things are different this season, almost an “audition” situation for players considering all the changes, from the new ownership of Michael Andlauer on down.
“I think that’s a good way of putting it,” Chabot said. “With Mr. Andlauer coming in, I think it’s a great thing for the city, for the fans and the organization. I think he’s here to make Ottawa a special place to play.”
This was something discussed on a recent post-game broadcast. While the Senators may not be the class of the league, yet, they have more class in ownership and management than we have seen in some time. Ottawa could be more of a destination for free agents than it was under the previous regime.
Chabot hopes he’s part of what should be a bright future. He has paid his dues. Slogged through a challenging rebuild. Incredibly, his draft day is coming up on its ninth anniversary.
As a native of Sainte-Pierre, Quebec, Chabot thinks of Ottawa as a team close to home, close to his heart.
He has visions of enjoying a playoff run that he can be a bigger part of than that one in 2017, when his dream could not get beyond taxi squad status on an almost-Cup finalist.
“I think a lot of the guys feel the same way,” Chabot says. “We’ve been here multiple years, together as a group. And that’s what it’s all about. It takes time. It’s a process. But I think you’re starting to see a lot more positives.”
In Saturday’s post-game fan chatter that was sprinkled with playoff run references, Sens fanatics who had been critical of Chabot earlier in the season were now firmly in the keep-Chabot-move-Chychrun camp, regarding the two left-shot defencemen in a D-corps led by lefty Jake Sanderson. Others said, keep-em-all, swept up in the euphoria of victories over western titans like Dallas and Vegas.
After the inspiring win over the Cup champs (albeit missing Mark Stone and Jack Eichel), Chabot was asked in a scrum where this consistent surge of team play was in October to December when the Senators dug themselves a familiar fall hole?
“Yeah, it would be easy to look back at those things but I think at the end of the day, you go through that for a reason,” Chabot said. “It made us learn a lot, and I think it’s nice to see the whole group just coming along and playing some good hockey. That’s what we’re focused on right now.”
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