He endured a coaching change, scored six goals, was a healthy scratch a few times, earned loads of key playoff ice, won 50 per cent of his faceoffs against Sidney Crosby and took a break to captain Canada to a world junior hockey gold medal.
Oh, and he made the TSN Plays of the Night for eating a hamburger thrown on the ice in honour of Ottawa Senator teammate Andrew Hammond.
Year 1 in the NHL featured a little bit of everything for Vernon’s ever-smiling Curtis Lazar.
“Highs and lows, a rollercoaster ride,” summed up the 20-year-old forward. “You have to pinch yourself too because you get to the point where this is the pinnacle of hockey, this is every kid’s dream to make it to the NHL. For me, to do it it at the age of 19 was pretty cool.
“You don’t know what to expect going in. Lots of trial and error. You’re going to fail some days, you’re going to succeed the others, but you learn pretty quick what it takes to play in the league and what it’s all about. You get treated like gold off the ice.”
Lazar, whose birthday is in February, finished with 15 points, 14 penalty minutes and was a plus-1. He knows bigger stats will come in time and he’s putting the work in this summer to get faster and stronger.
“I’m renting an apartment in Kelowna for the summer and I’ll be working with a trainer and skating with other NHL guys (CNC Centre). It will be kind of cool this summer because they’ll know who I am.”
That perma-grin you saw Lazar wear with the Memorial Cup champion Edmonton Oil Kings is still there with the Senators.
“I know you’re out there playing with men and guys are a little bit older, but inside we’re all boys at heart. And it’s no different than any teams you have in minor hockey growing up, or junior. We’re out there having fun, playing the game we love, and it’s tough to beat. I wanna enjoy it all and soak it up.”
A first-round draft pick – 17th overall – of the Sens two years ago, Lazar compares his status to veteran Kings’ captain Dustin Brown, who was chosen 13th overall by Los Angeles in 2003.
“Dustin Brown had one goal and five points (31 games) his rookie year with L.A. and played some in the AHL,” said Lazar. “If I can follow in his footsteps, I’d be happy.”
Brown, who plays a similar physical style to Lazar, has since registered five 20-plus goal seasons, including a 33-snipe show.
Lazar loved playing for Paul MacLean and was sad to see him get fired as head coach in early December.
“Coach MacLean, he was awesome to me right off the bat, he really helped me out getting my feet wet in the NHL. It was a real eye-opener seeing a move like that happen so early in the season. Coach (Dave) Cameron came in and he was kind of the good assistant coach that everyone went to so he had to change a little bit and we knew that.
“He had a couple of animated freakouts on the bench during TV timeouts but you could see how poised he is throughout he playoffs. There is never a sense of panic with him and that rubbed off on our team. Even being down 3-0 to Montreal, we still knew we had a chance and we kept on clawing away. Unfortunately, Carey Price (of the Canadiens) was out there. It’s a good spot to be in, knowing Dave Cameron is gonna be back next year. It’s a big sense of confidence for our group.”
Cameron told the Sens’ media he and his coaches are even keeled while demanding excellence. He noted there’s not a day that goes by when they don’t have some chuckles or trade one-liners, even during games.
“Ask Curtis Lazar,” said Cameron. “He can’t help but laugh (at the one-liners). But some of the other guys, they just kind of look (around) but Curtis always laughs.”
Robbed of a goal that was clearly his early in his rookie campaign, Lazar registered his first NHL goal Dec. 15 against the Sabres, a typical whack-and-hack in the crease beauty. He finished the second half strong, pocketing three goals in a week as the Sens went on a fabulous run to make the playoffs.
“I saw big strides in my game after the world juniors. I was more confident out there finding a home with (Jean-Gabriel) Pageau and (Erik) Condra. When you get familiar on the ice and comfortable, it does help you out. You can play more of your game. The run we went on with (Hammond) The Hamburglar and just the way we fought our way into the playoffs, it was a season I’ll never forget.
“I think we got the people of Ottawa excited, and even around the league, people are taking note that the Ottawa Senators are not pushovers anymore.”
He said GM Bryan Murray addressed the team after the playoffs and wished them all the best, also noting that changes would be made.
“Looking back on that Montreal series, it is tough. I thought we outplayed them for the most part and we ran into a hot goalie, one of the best in the world for a reason. Look at Game 6 there. Everyone’s talking about that missed goal where the puck was loose, but you can’t put that on the ref, you can’t see through Carey Price or all the other guys. That’s just the way it goes sometimes. We kept battling ‘till the end and I think we can hold our heads high.”
The 6-foot-205-pounder says the personal relationship he had with his Oil King coaches was different with the Senators’ staff.
“It’s all business. You show up at the rink and you’re expected to peform and take care of yourself and they’re (coaches) gonna do their job. If you’re not gonna do the job, then someone else will take your spot.”
Lazar heard from the armchair GMs and other critics who wondered why his numbers weren’t higher. When he wasn’t putting up points, he was putting an emphasis on the tiny details, realizing that strong defensive play gets the coach’s trust and leads to offence.
“The first half, I was surviving a bit. I was lining up against the world’s best. I watched these guys on TV and all of a sudden I’m rubbing shoulders with them. It is a little bit intimidating. Same with goals. You’re going in on these goalies who are the best in the world and the next thing you know, I’m shooting on Carey Price, Roberto Luongo and the list goes on and on, and it is a little intimidating.
“You have to just stick to what got you there and I thought playing with Pageau and Condra really complemented that and let me play my north-south game and I started skating better. Then you realize people understand that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get chances and make plays, and you’re gonna get more respect. I could see that too as I started carrying the puck more and tried to beat defenders, I got more room because they had to respect my skill.”
Lazar got what he thought was going to be a light-hearted call from his Kelowna Pursuit of Excellence coach Evan Marble early in the second half of the year.
“Marbs is one of the best coaches I’ve had for a reason. He taught me a lot. I had him my second year Bantam which is a big draft year. He told me if I had a good year, I may get drafted (WHL) and by the end of the year, I was in the conversation for the top-3. It was a big year for growth and development. He taught me how to be professional away from the game and how to conduct myself on the ice as well.
“To hear his voice was good, but I wasn’t expecting to get chewed out for 20 minutes. I totally agreed with him. Just being able to talk to someone about that goes a long ways because I know the type of player I am when I have that extra gear in me. I’m pretty tough to stop when regardless of what level I’m playing with or who I’m playing against. I really wanted to show that side of me and shortly after that, I had my three goals in four games and I said, ‘You know what, I can do this.’
“A lot of it is mental. I’m a kid. You deal with a lot. All of my friends are going to school and stuff where I’m living the dream. You have to grow up fast.”
Living with longtime Sens’ d-man Chris Phillips and family – where the nanny did Lazar’s laundry – had him eating healthy and gave him a role model 24-7. He and rookie phenom Mark Stone will share a place near the rink next season. Lazar said Stone was totally deserving of the Calder Trophy which went to Florida rookie Aaron Ekblad.
“My first year was his (Stone’s) last year in Junior and he put up 127 points or something playing on a line with Mikael Backlund (in Brandon). Talk about a scary guy. You see his ability with the puck and what not. The thing with him was always his skating and he figured that out and you see the type of player he is now. He was the heart and soul of our hockey club the second half of the year. What he was able to do was outstanding. We always bug him about having one of the longest sticks in the league and he’s incredible at takeaways and attention to detail. He was Captain Crunch for us down the stretch. “
Lazar felt he and his linemates earned the big playoff minutes against the Habs.
“The strength of our line was our defensive play. We were formed to be primarly a shut down line, but then people realized we were fast, we’re skilled and we could put the puck in the net, and that’s what made us one of the strongest third lines in the league.”
Lazar quickly adapted to living and playing in the nation’s capital of close to 900,000 people. His ride was a sweet black Ford F-150 with a spyder web back rack courtesy of Donnelly Ford-Lincoln.
“I love the city of Ottawa. They supported us throughout the season. Through the good and the bad, they’re always there. Sometimes, they’re a little hard on us but that’s what we expect because they want to see winners. I thought we did that the majority of the year. They know we’re young and we’re still trying to improve on what we were able to do.
“The exciting thing with our team is we’ve got a young core and we’re going to be a tough team for a long time and our fans are a big part of that. Whenever you get out in the town, you go to the mall and fans stop you and sometimes they tell you what you should have done on this play. It’s fun. The way I look at it, we’re members of the community. we’re citizens of Ottawa and it’s important we get out there and show our faces and help out when we can. It’s a two-way street.”
