MOTHERS KNOW BEST: Senators thrilled to have mothers on road trip

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Several of the Ottawa Senators stopped to wave to their mothers as they left the ice Sunday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.

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A special moment on a special trip.

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After scoring a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers with their mothers along for the ride, the Senators will close out this two-game trip with a stop at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens.

The mothers sat in suite in the rink and wore the jersey numbers of their sons while watching the Senators erase a two-goal deficit to secure the victory.

“We might have to bring them everywhere,” goaltender Mads Sogaard told reporters in Philadelphia after he made 22 stops in the win. “It’s awesome. I was lucky enough to be able to bring my mom here as well and it’s just been an awesome experience.”

His mother, Caroline, wasn’t even supposed to come to North America this year but neither of them wanted to let this trip slip by.

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“She’s never tried anything like it and she’s been all smiles since she got here,” Sogaard added. “That rubs off on all the guys, just seeing their moms and getting to spend some quality time with them and having some laughs. It’s great. My mom wasn’t even supposed to come this year.

“To have her on the road with me, that means a lot to me. That’s something I’m really thankful for and I’m just going to enjoy it.”

This is the first time the Senators have brought the mothers on a trip and it’s nice to see them get rewarded for the support they’ve given their sons to get to the National Hockey League.

The players had Monday off to spend time with their mothers and, after landing in Montreal on Sunday night, there was a group dinner planned. Before the trip started, everybody was excited about it happening and the mothers were.

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Alternate captain Thomas Chabot said his mother, Claude, was asking lots of questions about what to expect.

“She was a little nervous and there was a lot of questions throughout the week,” Chabot said following the club’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday at home. “I tried to give her the best answers I could.

“They’re excited and it’s the same with the dads the last couple of years. It’s fun to bring them around. They get a chance to see the way we travel and the way we prepare for games on the road. They know it but they’ve never been through it and they’re the reason why we’re here. We’re doing what we’re doing because of them.

“Having them around and showing them how do things day-to-day is awesome. Everybody’s excited for that.”

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Trips like these have become a yearly tradition in the NHL. Not only is it a good chance for the players to show their family how they live and work, it’s also an opportunity to make memories that are going to last a lifetime.

It was really neat to see the likes of Senators centre Tim Stutzle waving up to that private box where his mother, Marion, was sitting with the rest of the group after the final buzzer sounded.

“It feels good to have the moms here and get the first win for them,” Stutzle said.

It’s not like this is the first time the players have ever travelled with their moms. This brings back memories of those days growing up when the family would travel to out of town hockey tournaments on the weekend. Of course, they weren’t staying in five star hotels.

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“I don’t think there will be as much mini-sticks in the hallway as there were when we were kids,” Chabot said with a smile. “It’s awesome. We all love our moms and we all love seeing them when they come to town.

“To have them on the road, in the room, in the stands and them getting the chance to see us play is great.”

Interim coach Jacques Martin told the players after the win in Philly that “it couldn’t have come at a better time. You get time to enjoy it with your mom and that’s really important because they’ve done a lot for you.”

Martin meant what he said because he believes there’s a debt of gratitude there for the players.

“I’m sure she would have enjoyed it,” Martin said of his late mother. “She was a hockey fan. My dad wasn’t so she was the one that loved hockey. She was a fan of the Canadiens so that was her team.

“It’s a great experience and it’s nice way for the players to kind of pay back what their moms have done for them. When you look back at kids when they play, a lot of times it’s their moms that take them to the rink.

“You look at the cost of playing hockey today and it’s a nice way of rewarding a person that was instrumental in giving you the basics and giving you the character that you have.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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