General manager Pierre Dorion says the Ottawa Senators have come a long way this year.
After failing to make the playoffs last year, the team enters Round Two of the race for the Stanley Cup Thursday night against the New York Rangers.
Dorion says that's quite an accomplishment.
"It hasn't always been easy this year - we never make it easy in Ottawa, but overall, those players deserve a lot of credit for what they've accomplished so far," Dorion told TSN 1200.
Dorion said the squad will have to play much better than they did against the Boston Bruins, and keep the Rangers away from the Ottawa net.
"I think we're going to get traffic at the net - w're going to have to get the puck out of our own end in as short a time as possible."
While the Rangers are tough opponents, Dorion said the win over the Bruins in round one has the team pumped.
Dorion told "The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll" that one of the greatest moments of the season was the final victory against the Bruins in Boston, when Craig Anderson's wife, Nicholle, arrived to hug him at the end of the game.
Nicholle was diagnosed with a rare form of head and neck cancer.
"She hadn't seen him in three weeks - she flew up and, I think, surprised him," Dorion said.
"There's a human side to this sport, and I think when you see people going through what they're going through, you just want to cheer for them."
Anderson has been nominated for the Bill Masterton trophy, awarded to the player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.”
The game begins at 7 pm and can be heard on TSN 1200.