Boucher says Senators should be prepared to “start back at zero” next season
OTTAWA — Guy Boucher called the Ottawa Senators’ playoff run a “gigantic step” in the right direction, but cautioned the team should be prepared to start “from scratch” next season.
In their first year under Boucher as head coach the Senators advanced to the Eastern Conference final, where they lost in double overtime in Game 7 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The goal in Ottawa is to go even farther, but Boucher said players can’t expect to pick up at training camp where they left off this season — a goal away from a Stanley Cup final appearance.
“The challenge though, and I’ve lived it, is the year when you come back sometimes you forget where you started, and just like it is from game to game you have to build it all from scratch, and that’s exactly how it’s going to be next year,” said Boucher. “The reality of the NHL now is that making the playoffs is extremely difficult from one year to another as we saw this year from teams in our division, none of those teams are the same this year.