Senators Articles: Emery aims for permanent Corel Centre address
August 3, 2004

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Ottawa Senators.com & Chris Yzerman

Emery aims for permanent Corel Centre address

by Chris Yzerman

For a guy who spent most of last season playing anywhere but the Corel Centre, Ottawa Senators goaltending prospect Ray Emery has probably seen more of it than any other member of the team this summer.

Until late last week, it was the 21-year-old who, along with fellow prospect Chris Kelly, was a constant fixture around the building through this off-season where he put in long hours in the weight room.

Following the season, his second as a pro in which he spent most of his time with the Senators’ American Hockey League affiliate in Binghamton, N.Y., he had surgery to correct a wrist problem, then headed for the nation’s capital to take advantage of the knowledge of the big club’s training staff and its world-class facilities.


“It was just easier to do my rehab up here,” said Emery, who’s a native of Hamilton. “(Athletic therapist) Gerry (Townend) is here, the therapists are here and the gym’s right here. I can just check in with them every day. It’s kind of far away from home, too, so it gives me a chance to concentrate on my workouts and kind of relax.

“You get into the rink everyday and kind of make yourself a familiar face. It’s good to be around the rink and around some of the guys that stick around here, too.”

The Senators have an apartment that Emery, who was forced to curtail his other favourite sporting activities — golf and basketball — by the wrist problem, is sharing with Kelly, a forward who’s coming off a season-ending knee injury suffered after being called up by the big club last season.

“I haven’t been home much yet this summer, I’ve been home probably five days in total,” said Emery, although he’s since gone back for the next couple of weeks to visit and spend time at the family cottage in the Muskoka region.

“We (Kelly and Emery) hang out together quite a bit. We’ll go home and take a nap, then just go out for dinner and see the sights. If there’s something going on during the weekend, we’ll check out that, like the HOPE beach volleyball thing. There’s always something kicking around in Ottawa.”

Envisioned by many to be Ottawa’s goaltender of the future, Emery is awaiting the day he’ll make the move to the nation’s capital on a permanent basis.

Last season, he appeared in three games for the Senators, winning two of those three (with one no-decision) including his only start at the Corel Centre on Dec. 18 where he made 27 saves in a 6-1 victory over Chicago.

This year, the team is under the direction of a new coach in Bryan Murray and assistant John Paddock, who’s already well-acquainted with Emery having been the bench boss in Binghamton, as well as recently hired goaltending coach and pro scout Ron Low.

“Goaltending’s a weird position. You need to prove to them that you’ll win some games for them, then you’ll probably get your opportunity,” said Emery.

He’s also following in new footsteps with the departure of long-serving No. 1 goaltender Patrick Lalime and the arrival of the legendary Dominik Hasek, who Emery’s looking forward to seeing in action.

“As a kid, I was always a Leaf fan and he was playing for the Sabres and I was watching the games as a fan, so I was kind of against him because he was always beating my Leafs,” said Emery. “He’s one of the best guys that ever played the game and he does some different things that hopefully you can learn from. It’s been working for him, so anything you can take from a guy like that helps.”

Although he won’t be putting it on for a few weeks, Emery’s mask was adorned with the picture of ex-boxing great Marvelous Marvin Hagler last year by the artist who painted it.

Emery, who’s a fan of the sweet science, is already looking forward to fighting for a job once the new season comes around.

“I’m a really competitive guy and normally if I set my mind to something, I can achieve it,” he said. “Just getting little glimpses of the NHL makes you want to work harder.”