OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators are hoping to move forward after a video of several players criticizing assistant Marty Raymond was released late Monday.
The video of seven players, recorded without their knowledge and consent while they were passengers in a ride-sharing vehicle Oct. 29 in the Glendale, Arizona area, was brought to the Senators' attention a few days ago but went viral Monday.
"We don't want negative stuff surrounding our team," forward Mark Stone said after the morning skate Tuesday. "This is a hiccup, but I think guys have made a great effort to repair relationships and … this is only going to make our team stronger moving forward."
None of the seven players -- defensemen Thomas Chabot, Dylan DeMelo and Chris Wideman; centers Matt Duchene, Chris Tierney and Colin White; and forward Alex Formenton -- commented Tuesday before the Senators play the New Jersey Devils at Canadian Tire Centre (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, MSG+, NHL.TV). But their teammates said they have all moved on.
"I think we've been a tight group all year," goalie Craig Anderson said. "We've been the type of group that does hang out, go to dinners together, we do a bunch of things together on the road, we're getting together at home. I think in here, as a group, this is one of the tighter groups I've been a part of."
The incident is not going to be swept under the rug; veteran forward Zack Smith said everyone on the team can learn from it.
"There is a silver lining at the end," Smith said. "It's a valuable life lesson for everyone involved and I think a lot of people outside of this organization: that you never know who's recording you, and just because someone can't hear you, the person not there that's being spoken about, doesn't mean it's not going to get back to them."
The Senators (5-6-3), who are in the first season of a self-labeled rebuild after trading forward Mike Hoffman to the San Jose Sharks on June 19 and defenseman Erik Karlsson to the Sharks on Sept. 13, contend the issue is not nearly as damaging as it might appear.
"I just think people are naive if they think that players don't talk about coaches and, by the same token, that coaches don't talk about players," defenseman Mark Borowiecki said. "I can guarantee you I've done some boneheaded things on the ice that they've chewed me out for. I guarantee it. So to think that doesn't happen, frankly, is being naive. But we're still committed here as a group. We're going to get this thing going in the right direction, take care of this in-house and make sure we are kind of still making progress."
Ottawa's focus remains on breaking out of its slump; the Senators are 1-4-2 in their past seven games and have been outscored 34-17.
"We still have a job to do here," Borowiecki said. "We're getting paid to be professional athletes, and that's something that guys don't take lightly. We want to be professionals here, we want to handle ourselves as such.
"Obviously, that was a bit of a bump in the road. But it's important, I think, once it is taken care of, not to dwell on it. You can't let these things fester. We've got to make sure we're heading in the right direction. It is a bit of a strange situation, but hopefully one we won't have to encounter again."
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