OTTAWA \u2014 Everyone in hockey recognizes the \u2018C\u2019 on a jersey, emblematic of the most important role on any team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Ottawa today, \u2018C\u2019 also stands for Chabot, as in Thomas, the newly named 11th captain in the modern history of the Senators.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And for \u201cCherie,\u201d as in his precious new baby Romy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the past several days, Chabot became a father for the first time, as he and his wife Marion welcomed their new daughter into the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then on Tuesday, Chabot spotted his wife and newborn at the Canadian Tire Centre and thought to himself, “OK, something is up here.”<\/p>\n
\u201cIt kind of obviously clicked,\u201d Chabot told media members in a conference room, a group that waited long enough for the news to drop to feel a bit as though they were a parent or grandparent, awaiting news on a family childbirth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, the expectancy centred the Sens\u2019 captaincy, a buzz that rippled through the stands of the arena as Senators players conducted mundane practice as usual down below.<\/p>\n
Then, news broke that the Senators released a video of Chabot in the dressing room being introduced by owner Michael Andlauer and management as the captain to succeed Brady Tkachuk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big honour, I\u2019m kind of shaking right now,\u201d Chabot said to his teammates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Several minutes later, he was paraded upstairs to answer questions alongside GM Steve Staios and head coach Travis Green.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chabot is the perfect choice to be Ottawa\u2019s captain and not just because he is the first francophone captain in the history of the franchise, overdue in the nation\u2019s capital where the French and English languages mix like gin and tonic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old from Ste-Marie-de-Beauce, Que., is the longest serving Senators player and the only one to have been around Ottawa\u2019s 2017 playoff club, although the rookie didn\u2019t get on the ice for that run to the Conference Final. Since being drafted 18th overall in 2015, Chabot has lived through some of the darkest times of the Eugene Melnyk era and into the trough of a deep rebuild, from which the Senators only emerged over the past two seasons or so.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were times when fans in Ottawa wondered if poor \u201cChabby\u201d would ever get to participate in a playoff series \u2014 a matter that was rectified these past two springs, albeit in losing causes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think part of leadership is experience and moving through some tough times… dealing with that adversity and learning from that,\u201d Staios said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd part of Thomas that I think gets a little misunderstood is that while he\u2019s an offensive defenceman, can wheel around the ice and make plays, he\u2019s tough as nails.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yes, oddly enough, the man who smiles the most in the dressing room is the same guy willing to suffer the most on the ice. Nifty combination, that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two other main captain candidates, Jake Sanderson and Tim Stutzle, will wear \u2018A\u2019s on their sweaters, along with veteran Claude Giroux.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While any of the three would have been fine choices, it\u2019s been said here before that Chabot would wear the \u2018C\u2019 more easily. Sanderson doesn\u2019t need the added role to be Ottawa\u2019s best defenceman. And Stutzle might try a little hard \u2014 we\u2019ve seen that backfire before \u2014 if he were to succeed his old pal Brady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coach Green noted that Chabot \u201cexemplifies everything you want in a captain,\u201d not just in the room and on the ice, but in the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chabot speaks easily in both official languages and brings the energy to the rink so necessary over the long and gruelling season, home and away. As with all captains, he can only be as good as the cast around him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI take a lot of pride in coming in every day with a smile on my face and enjoying and supporting my teammates as much as I can,\u201d Chabot said. \u201cLike Travis said, it\u2019s trying to bring everybody together to push in the same direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chabot has been auditioning for this role for years, perhaps unwittingly. That new jersey slipped over his shoulders like Superman\u2019s cape. Consider him the every-man superhero.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas doesn\u2019t have to be anything other than who he is,\u201d said Staios, who has a knack for saying the right thing in these moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As one of the last of the C-less NHL clubs, the Senators certainly didn\u2019t rush the decision. Green said he wanted to see the group together, vets mixing with aspiring kids like Hoyt Stanley. Management knew for a while that Chabot was their guy but had to stickhandle around the pending birth of Romy to make it official this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chabot has played alongside captains in junior and pro. Of all he\u2019d care to emulate \u2014 and there will be snippets taken from a few \u2014 he cited Patrice Bergeron, \u201cthe perfect human,\u201d in Chabot\u2019s words, as the ultimate leader. Chabot was a mere teenager when he used to train in Quebec City with Bergeron, the great Boston Bruins captain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, getting to see fans in Ottawa wearing No. 72 Senators jerseys with a big \u2018C\u2019 on the chest will be a little surreal for Chabot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOttawa is home for us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe bought our first house here. We\u2019ve had our first child here. Ottawa will always be close to our hearts, no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n
Should he lead the Senators to a championship one day, or even an extended playoff run, Chabot will rise up into Daniel Alfredsson territory as a franchise icon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All in due time. Much work remains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today, let the man enjoy one of the most eventful weeks of his life \u2014 as a new father and a new captain. In the panorama of one\u2019s life, this was one heck of a snapshot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot, but it\u2019s fun,\u201d said the new dad, wearing the \u2018C.\u2019 \u201cIt\u2019s been nothing but pure joy. Seeing my new little daughter every day, it\u2019s been awesome. To top it off with being captain, it\u2019s awesome. I don\u2019t have many words for it, if I\u2019m being honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
And with that, Chabot was whisked off to a photo shoot with Sens\u2019 PR.<\/p>\n
Duty calls for the captain. Not for the last time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA \u2014 Everyone in hockey recognizes the \u2018C\u2019 on a jersey, emblematic of the most important role on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":914599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-914598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}