If there’s a moment in the young NHL career of Ridly Greig that he’s most known for, it’s that famous slapshot into an empty net against the Toronto Maple Leafs last year. And if the Ottawa Senators’ rising star is being honest, he’s a little tired of talking about it.
“Maybe a little bit at times,” Greig said. “But it was a big moment. People like to talk about it. People like to hate on it and love it. I mean, I’ve moved on from it.”
As Greig sits down for an interview with Faces, we’ve just passed the one-year anniversary of his empty-net goal.
With the Senators leading 4-3 and Toronto pushing for an equalizer in the dying seconds, Greig blocked a William Nylander shot, which led to a turnover and a breakaway the other way.
With no one near him and nothing but net to shoot at, Greig decided to pulverize a slapshot into the empty net, delighting the Ottawa crowd and sealing the Senators’ 5-3 victory. However, Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly took it as a sign of disrespect and took a six-game NHL suspension after cross-checking Greig in the head.
It became a hot topic for a long time afterward, with fans and media arguing over whether the slapshot was awesome, hilarious, or poor sportsmanship. Leaf fans made their views clear, flooding Greig’s social media with hateful messages for days afterward.
“I guess that’s what fans do,” Greig said. “They care.”
But after all the abuse and complaints, would he do it again?
“I mean, I don’t know how many empty-net breakaways there are where you have as much time as I had. So, it probably won’t happen again, but I’d have to be pretty pissed off to do it again.”
Was he angry that night?
“Yeah, I was,” Greig said. “With the 70 percent Leafs fans in the building.”
With statements like that, it’s no wonder Senators fans have embraced Ridly Greig so quickly.
But they also appreciate Greig’s consistent effort on both sides of the puck. Despite his size (below average by NHL standards), Greig competes like a pit bull. He likes being physical, and, as the Leafs found out last year, he really doesn’t mind getting under people’s skin.
Frankly, the famous “Pesky Sens” of a decade ago have nothing on Ridly Greig.
Greig comes by that peskiness honestly. In minor hockey, he played up a year against older boys, which he believes helped shape the player he is today. He also comes from a competitive family, fully immersed in hockey from day one.
His earliest memories are from growing up out west, first in a small town called Coaldale, then moving to nearby Lethbridge, Alberta. The 22-year-old followed in the hockey footsteps of not only his father but also his two older sisters.
Greig’s father, Mark, played over 1,100 games in pro hockey, including 125 in the NHL, suiting up for four teams: the Hartford Whalers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, and Philadelphia Flyers. He also played 606 games in the AHL, 204 in the IHL, and 190 in Germany.
Ridly’s older sisters also played hockey, and when they were kids, he admits they sometimes ganged up on him during long, epic games of outdoor hockey with friends on the backyard pond. The rink was kindly taken care of by a neighbour the kids appreciatively referred to as “Rod the Ice God.” Rod even painted lines on the ice and installed boards behind the nets.
Dara is now a pro with the Montreal Victoire of the PWHL, and Kyra played three years at the University of Lethbridge. The Senators had their “Women in Sport” night this year on March 10, and Ridly says he couldn’t be prouder of the women in his sporty family.
“Yeah, for sure. Proud brother, so to speak. I don’t get too many opportunities to watch (Dara’s games) with our schedule, but I’m always texting my parents, asking how she’s doing. It’s nice to have a sister who’s in a similar sport and atmosphere as me.”
His mom, Cindy, has been immersed in her kids’ hockey from day one. With Mark often on the road, scouting for the Philadelphia Flyers, Cindy made sure Ridly and his sisters always got to practices, games, and tournaments on time. And naturally, his dad was always there for hockey and life advice.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better dad to help raise me and show me the ways of the hockey world—and how to be a person, too. But yeah, for the hockey side of things, it was really easy just to kind of ask him questions, for help through junior, and obviously going pro. I think that’s probably where he helped the most because he had played for so long.”
Mark’s long career came to a close when Ridly was just a baby. I asked Ridly if his dad ever dusts off an old VCR and forces him to watch videotapes of his old highlights.
“No, I don’t think there are too many highlights in there,” Ridly joked. “There’s just the stories he tells, but usually, they’re good stories with a good laugh to them.”
Ridly is often praised for being a good student of the game, a player who doesn’t cut corners. But that didn’t necessarily apply to school, where he says he probably did the bare minimum.
“Obviously, I was in Brandon, so we probably weren’t active in school too much. We probably skipped it a little bit too much, but I think I did what I needed to, got my diploma, and moved on.”
Greig was far more focused on junior hockey with the Brandon Wheat Kings. As a 16-year-old, they drafted him eighth overall, and in his second year with the club, that’s when he started to realize he might be able to make a living at this someday.
“When I was 17, I kind of had a slow start, but midway through the year, I started to get some traction. Then there was the NHL Draft. There was a lot of noise around that, and schools started talking to me. I think that was probably when I had an idea that I could maybe make something out of this.”
The Senators thought so too, drafting Greig in the first round in 2020. Along with Tim Stutzle (3rd overall) and Jake Sanderson (5th overall), there can be no doubt that was the most lucrative NHL Draft round in club history. It was also the COVID draft, where players stayed home to practice social distancing – yet almost all of them were surrounded by family and friends at their draft parties.
“We did (my draft party) at my house. I had probably 30, 40 family members there with friends. Obviously, when my name got called, I was fired up, and we were able to have some laughs after that.”
But being drafted is one thing. Actually making it to the NHL is a lot tougher, and COVID played a role in that too.
“I remember my first (Senators) camp, I had just had COVID, and I was probably awful. I was throwing up and everything. I would probably say I weighed about 150 or 160 pounds. But since then, it’s just been good memories. You just kind of keep your head down and work as hard as you can to get noticed and get a taste.”
Five years later, Greig is happy with how his second full season in the NHL is going. The Senators just ended an eight year playoff drought and Greig has quickly become a player that head coach Travis Green can confidently call on in any situation.
Greig’s offensive stats were up this year, cracking the 30-point mark, though he’d still like to add a little more. But the Senators are thrilled with his development – so much so that GM Steve Staios just signed him in January to a four-year, $13 million contract.
“Yeah, it all kind of happened pretty quickly,” Greig said. “It was during the season, and we were playing every other day. So, you’re not really thinking about it too much. Steve (Staios) called, and he and my agent went back and forth for a couple of weeks, and then it was done.
“So, I was lucky I didn’t have to stress about anything too much. I was just kind of more worried about playing and winning because it was during the season. So, it all went pretty smoothly and easily for me.”
Despite the big new deal, Greig hasn’t bought anything fun for himself yet. In fact, he hasn’t bought anything at all, not even a house. Until Jacob-Bernard was dealt to the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline, he and JBD had been renting a place together. But Greig does have one purchase in mind.
“I’d probably like to get my parents something for all they’ve done for me.”
Along with JBD, Greig has a strong connection with teammate Jake Sanderson, which began long before the three Alberta residents ended up being roommates last year.
“Sanderson was in Calgary, so I played against him a little bit when we were younger. Then we played on Team Alberta together. Then we got drafted together (both in the first round in 2020). And our dads got drafted together too.”
That’s truly a fun piece of hockey trivia: Exactly 30 years before their sons were drafted together by the Senators, Mark Greig (first round) and Geoff Sanderson (second round) were drafted together by the Hartford Whalers at the 1990 NHL Draft.
The uncanny team affiliations don’t end there. Cole Reinhardt, another Alberta native who was drafted by the Senators in 2020, was Ridly’s linemate with the Wheat Kings.
So, this is a young man with plenty of reasons to feel right at home with the Ottawa Senators. Now that the Senators have ended their playoff drought, he’d like nothing more than to win a Stanley Cup here someday, while rubbing opponents the wrong way at every turn.
Ridley Greig may already be an important two-way player for the Ottawa Senators, but it’s pretty clear that his best is yet to come.
By Steve Warne, Photography by Nicolai Gregory
