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Roy MacGregor

It is hard to know what to make of all this.

Mascots are a strange breed indeed – caught somewhere between cuddly and creepy – but almost always they are modelled on some bird or animal: Montreal Expos' Youppi, Calgary Flames' Harvey the Hound, Toronto Blue Jays' BJ Birdy, Ottawa Senators' Spartacat …

Spartacat, it turns out, is going to have company for the 2014-15 season in the form of four giant prime ministers, all long dead: Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Sir Robert Borden and William Lyon Mackenzie King.

None, so far as the history books say, had the slightest connection to hockey, though Sir John A. did run for office on an election slogan – "The Old Flag, the Old Policy, the Old Leader" – that might be tortured into a workable line for the Senators' home opener Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche.

"The Old Team, the Old Results, the Old Playoff Run."

Macdonald also once mused that "When fortune empties her chamber pot on your head, smile and say, 'We are going to have a summer shower.'"

And so, with summer temperatures finally reaching the nation's capital in mid-October, that sentiment has pretty much become the approach the Ottawa Senators – players, coaches and management – are all taking: Forget the stink of last year, "this is a fresh start."

And that is exactly the phrase chosen by goaltender Craig Anderson following a Wednesday practice that largely consisted of players and coaches standing around talking in private, serious voices to each other. It was never necessary to overhear to know what was being said: "This year better be different."

And so far, only a week in, it has been, the Senators returning from a season-opener three-game road trip with an impressive four points thanks to victories over the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers.

For this group, however, coming home has not been quite the comfort zone most other teams take it to be.

Last season, which the players clearly dislike discussing, was awful at home. Of the team's 88 points – not good enough for the playoffs – 46 came away from the Canadian Tire Centre. The team's goals-against total at home (133 goals) was second-worst in the league. Its home power play, 16 for 135, was worst in the league.

It does not bode well when you stand 29th and 30th in a 30-team league.

At home, the Ottawa Senators could not play second periods. They could not get pucks out of their own end. They could not score goals or stop goals. And the town – six years removed from the team making the Stanley Cup final – was not at all amused.

"We want to have a good home record this year," said winger Clarke MacArthur. "If you want to get into the playoffs, you've got to have a good home record."

When the dismal year ended, beleaguered captain Jason Spezza asked to get out and was let out, shipped to the Dallas Stars and just last week replaced by young defenceman Erik Karlsson.

"We're not looking at what happened last year," Karlsson said when asked about last year's inability to gain and hold leads, especially on home ice. "We got off to a good start," he added, preferring to talk about their success in Florida, "and we want to keep it going."

The players are hardly alone. Team ownership, anxious to regain some of the love lost over last year's stumbling, has brought in the new prime ministerial mascots, paved new parking areas, streamlined traffic, installed new lights, put in an electronic scoreboard for the 50/50 draw and has come up with a wide array of discounts and promotions to try to pump up the flagging season-ticket base to old levels.

All that, however, counts for nothing if the team struggles mightily once again in its own rink. Acutely aware of this, the Senators worked for an hour Wednesday on play in their own zone, their breakouts, their coverage. Through long stretches it seemed more that they were at a conference than a hockey practice, key players deep in discussions with coaches, players not involved in the debates milling silently about the blueline as if they were waiting in a dental office for the next call.

"Just a healthy discussion," Karlsson said of his overly long chat with head coach Paul MacLean.

"A healthy discussion," MacLean repeated in his post-practice news conference.

Clearly, they were on the same page so far as the official party line went. The game, however, has never yet been played on paper, despite best efforts by some. The only true measure of such "healthy discussions" will be in the results that come in the home opener against the Avalanche and three home games to follow: Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, Toronto Maple Leafs next Wednesday and New Jersey Devils on Saturday, Oct. 25.

"It's a brand new season," MacLean said, grateful to look ahead rather than behind, yet acutely aware that what is behind looms far larger than any giant prime minister. "We have to start things differently."

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