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"THE WHOLE THING IS EXCITING"
Pascal Leclaire, the Senators new goalie, knows the spotlight will be on him — and he couldn't be happier
Ken Warren, The Ottawa Citizen, July 30, 2009
OTTAWA — For all the fuss surrounding Dany Heatley's trade demand and the arrival of Alex Kovalev, it could very well be the guy with the ugly, purplish scar on his right ankle who determines just how successful the Ottawa Senators are next season.
That's Pascal Leclaire.
Just in case you've forgotten about the 26-year-old goaltender amid the daily speculation concerning where Heatley might end up, Leclaire offered up a breath of fresh air on yet another rainy day in the capital Wednesday.
On a day when he wore flip flops, khaki shorts, a T-shirt featuring the large face of someone he doesn't know and a diamond stud earring, he said he often pushed the envelope with his fashion choices. He also opened up about his love for fine cuisine and wine. (He's a connoisseur of French reds.)
Most of all, though, Leclaire talked about how excited he was to have the challenge of playing for a Canadian franchise and how anxious he was to prove to he was fully recovered following the ankle surgery that had him stuck to his parents' couch in Montreal in January, his exercise limited to using the TV remote.
"It's going to be fun to come back; the whole thing is exciting," Leclaire said following an off-ice workout at Scotiabank Place. He claims he's exactly where he wants to be following the six-month rehabilitation of the ankle. "I moved into my new place (in Kanata) this week. There are new restaurants. New everything. It's kind of a new life. When you spend five, six years in one place, you kind of have a routine, and now you come in and it's all new. I'm happy that I have lots of time to get settled in.
"On the hockey part, that's really exciting, plus I missed it, missing not playing a lot last year. That's another boost, coming in, playing in Canada, in Ottawa, close to home. Everything adds up."
He talks a mile a minute in his slight French accent, answering questions in paragraphs, his restlessness about getting back in the net evident in his words.
No wonder. It has been a long road to recovery.
The day before he was traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Antoine Vermette in March, he finally threw his crutches aside. When he first arrived in Ottawa, he was limping noticeably, wearing a protective boot over the surgically repaired right ankle. When the Senators' season ended in April, he was in full equipment on the ice, taking shots, but was not yet ready for the tempo of a full workout.
He has spent the summer in Montreal, working out with a strength coach for the Canadian Football League Alouettes, doing everything possible to strengthen the ankle. His injury is similar to those suffered by fellow National Hockey League goalies Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres and Marc-André Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Considering the nature of the goaltending position -- constant movement up and down, and pushing off the ankle to slide across the crease -- it takes longer for a goaltender to recover from this kind of injury than it would for a defenceman or forward.
"It was always kind of a game to try and do something a little more each day, and, if it hurts the next morning, you kind of back off a little bit and go back to where you were. There weren't any (flareups). I didn't wake up any days and my foot was huge and stuff.
"I had to change a couple of exercises, stay away from running and jumping. If the load is way on my feet, I have to stay away from it, but 90 per cent of the stuff is the same (from before)."
After all that, he says he's back to where he wants to be, where he would be at this point any other summer, injured or not. He's now in action at the highest level, or at least what passes for top-flight hockey at this time of year. He's involved in informal shinny featuring Senators players, other pros and top juniors who call Ottawa home.
"The last couple of times on the ice, we started doing breakaways with the guys, and, when you can do breakaways and splits, you can pretty much do whatever you want," Leclaire said. "Everything's good. Actually, I felt better than I thought I would, overall. Not only with my foot and my legs, but also with my timing a little bit, from missing so much time. It isn't great, but I'm OK with it."
"For goalies, (summer shinny) is not real hockey. You look good for five minutes, then another five minutes you're the worst thing ever, and then you're great again. It's like that for an hour and a half."
The scar from the surgery will be there for life, but Leclaire doesn't want to dwell on it. He didn't want any photos of it taken on Wednesday.
Clearly, he wants to move on to the next stage of his career. That, of course, leads to questions about whether Leclaire is fully prepared for the pressure that comes with playing in Ottawa, where the spotlight is brighter than anything he has ever faced as a professional.
Can he skate away from an injury-filled past, which also includes a major knee injury? Can he be as good as he was for the Blue Jackets in 2007-08, when he had a record of 24-17-6, a goals-against average of 2.25, a save percentage of .919 and nine shutouts? Can he be a salvation for a Senators team coming off a non-playoff season and still stuck in the middle of the Heatley mess?
Leclaire says he just wants to do his part, but he also recognizes the goaltender is usually blamed too much for a team's losses and credited too much for its victories.
"You're a hero one day, on the Monday, and on the Tuesday you're a zero, and then on the Wednesday, if you're good, you're a hero again," he said with a laugh.
"It's something that you learn by growing up. You can't really panic. I've always said that if Patrick Roy and Marty Brodeur have bad games and get pulled once in a while, it's going to happen to me once in a while, too. Then they go on and they're gods again.
"Everybody goes through some rough stretches. The most important thing is not to get affected by what people say and stuff and just kind of worry about what you can control.
"If I do well on the ice, everybody will be happy. We haven't even started yet. We can't worry about what's going to happen."
He acknowledges that playing games regularly in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto will be a different experience.
"The games are going to be fun because there's so much attention. I think that can motivate you even more. I'm a guy that would rather play in front of 20,000 (fans) instead of 12,000. You know, there's a tension around the game. When people care about it, you have a feeling that it's more important....When the crowds get into it, teams usually get into it. They're intense games, and that's cool."
After everything that has happened so far this summer, it is refreshing to hear from a player who wants to be in the middle of games against Ottawa's most heated rivals.
"THE WHOLE THING IS EXCITING"
Pascal Leclaire, the Senators new goalie, knows the spotlight will be on him — and he couldn't be happier
Ken Warren, The Ottawa Citizen, July 30, 2009
OTTAWA — For all the fuss surrounding Dany Heatley's trade demand and the arrival of Alex Kovalev, it could very well be the guy with the ugly, purplish scar on his right ankle who determines just how successful the Ottawa Senators are next season.
That's Pascal Leclaire.
Just in case you've forgotten about the 26-year-old goaltender amid the daily speculation concerning where Heatley might end up, Leclaire offered up a breath of fresh air on yet another rainy day in the capital Wednesday.
On a day when he wore flip flops, khaki shorts, a T-shirt featuring the large face of someone he doesn't know and a diamond stud earring, he said he often pushed the envelope with his fashion choices. He also opened up about his love for fine cuisine and wine. (He's a connoisseur of French reds.)
Most of all, though, Leclaire talked about how excited he was to have the challenge of playing for a Canadian franchise and how anxious he was to prove to he was fully recovered following the ankle surgery that had him stuck to his parents' couch in Montreal in January, his exercise limited to using the TV remote.
"It's going to be fun to come back; the whole thing is exciting," Leclaire said following an off-ice workout at Scotiabank Place. He claims he's exactly where he wants to be following the six-month rehabilitation of the ankle. "I moved into my new place (in Kanata) this week. There are new restaurants. New everything. It's kind of a new life. When you spend five, six years in one place, you kind of have a routine, and now you come in and it's all new. I'm happy that I have lots of time to get settled in.
"On the hockey part, that's really exciting, plus I missed it, missing not playing a lot last year. That's another boost, coming in, playing in Canada, in Ottawa, close to home. Everything adds up."
He talks a mile a minute in his slight French accent, answering questions in paragraphs, his restlessness about getting back in the net evident in his words.
No wonder. It has been a long road to recovery.
The day before he was traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Antoine Vermette in March, he finally threw his crutches aside. When he first arrived in Ottawa, he was limping noticeably, wearing a protective boot over the surgically repaired right ankle. When the Senators' season ended in April, he was in full equipment on the ice, taking shots, but was not yet ready for the tempo of a full workout.
He has spent the summer in Montreal, working out with a strength coach for the Canadian Football League Alouettes, doing everything possible to strengthen the ankle. His injury is similar to those suffered by fellow National Hockey League goalies Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres and Marc-André Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Considering the nature of the goaltending position -- constant movement up and down, and pushing off the ankle to slide across the crease -- it takes longer for a goaltender to recover from this kind of injury than it would for a defenceman or forward.
"It was always kind of a game to try and do something a little more each day, and, if it hurts the next morning, you kind of back off a little bit and go back to where you were. There weren't any (flareups). I didn't wake up any days and my foot was huge and stuff.
"I had to change a couple of exercises, stay away from running and jumping. If the load is way on my feet, I have to stay away from it, but 90 per cent of the stuff is the same (from before)."
After all that, he says he's back to where he wants to be, where he would be at this point any other summer, injured or not. He's now in action at the highest level, or at least what passes for top-flight hockey at this time of year. He's involved in informal shinny featuring Senators players, other pros and top juniors who call Ottawa home.
"The last couple of times on the ice, we started doing breakaways with the guys, and, when you can do breakaways and splits, you can pretty much do whatever you want," Leclaire said. "Everything's good. Actually, I felt better than I thought I would, overall. Not only with my foot and my legs, but also with my timing a little bit, from missing so much time. It isn't great, but I'm OK with it."
"For goalies, (summer shinny) is not real hockey. You look good for five minutes, then another five minutes you're the worst thing ever, and then you're great again. It's like that for an hour and a half."
The scar from the surgery will be there for life, but Leclaire doesn't want to dwell on it. He didn't want any photos of it taken on Wednesday.
Clearly, he wants to move on to the next stage of his career. That, of course, leads to questions about whether Leclaire is fully prepared for the pressure that comes with playing in Ottawa, where the spotlight is brighter than anything he has ever faced as a professional.
Can he skate away from an injury-filled past, which also includes a major knee injury? Can he be as good as he was for the Blue Jackets in 2007-08, when he had a record of 24-17-6, a goals-against average of 2.25, a save percentage of .919 and nine shutouts? Can he be a salvation for a Senators team coming off a non-playoff season and still stuck in the middle of the Heatley mess?
Leclaire says he just wants to do his part, but he also recognizes the goaltender is usually blamed too much for a team's losses and credited too much for its victories.
"You're a hero one day, on the Monday, and on the Tuesday you're a zero, and then on the Wednesday, if you're good, you're a hero again," he said with a laugh.
"It's something that you learn by growing up. You can't really panic. I've always said that if Patrick Roy and Marty Brodeur have bad games and get pulled once in a while, it's going to happen to me once in a while, too. Then they go on and they're gods again.
"Everybody goes through some rough stretches. The most important thing is not to get affected by what people say and stuff and just kind of worry about what you can control.
"If I do well on the ice, everybody will be happy. We haven't even started yet. We can't worry about what's going to happen."
He acknowledges that playing games regularly in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto will be a different experience.
"The games are going to be fun because there's so much attention. I think that can motivate you even more. I'm a guy that would rather play in front of 20,000 (fans) instead of 12,000. You know, there's a tension around the game. When people care about it, you have a feeling that it's more important....When the crowds get into it, teams usually get into it. They're intense games, and that's cool."
After everything that has happened so far this summer, it is refreshing to hear from a player who wants to be in the middle of games against Ottawa's most heated rivals.
Last edited by davetherave on Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:17 pm; edited 3 times in total
