Thomas Chabot Makes a Statement as Senators' Captain

Something felt fitting about Thomas Chabot's first game as captain of the Ottawa Senators. He put the Senators on the board first. That's the team’s new captain, isn't it? Chabot scored late in the first period, knocking in a rebound to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead over the Maple Leafs. He later added an assist, and the Senators hung on for a 3-2 win in Toronto.

Not to make too much of one game. That's how hockey gets you into trouble. One good night and suddenly everybody is a 50-goal scorer and a future Hall of Famer. But still.

There's something about scoring the first goal of your first game wearing the C. Chabot was named Ottawa's 11th captain just a few days ago, so this was all pretty fresh. And then, almost immediately, he had a chance to show what that responsibility might look like. It wasn't just the goal, either. Jake Sanderson left the game in the first period and didn't return, leaving Ottawa with five defencemen. Chabot had to carry a little more of the load, and he did.

That's where I think the interesting story is. A captain doesn't necessarily have to give some great speech or score the winning goal every night. Sometimes the job is simply to settle things down, play your minutes and give the other guys something to lean on.

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Chabot has been around the Senators for a long time. He's also had his share of injuries. He's played a full 80-game season only once in his 10 NHL seasons. So maybe this isn't really about what kind of numbers Chabot puts up. Maybe it's about whether he can become the guy Ottawa needs when the game gets a little messy.

Saturday night got messy. The Senators lost Sanderson early. The Maple Leafs came back from 1-0 down and took a 2-1 lead. Ottawa then tied it and eventually got the winning goal in the third period. And there was Chabot, right in the middle of it. Goal. Assist. First game as captain. First win of the season. Simple.

Not a bad way to introduce yourself to the job. Sometimes the letter on the jersey is just a letter. And sometimes, pretty quickly, a player starts making it mean something. Chabot did just that last night in the win over the Maple Leafs.

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