The players were all at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday morning to pack their bags, say their goodbyes and meet with the media for the final time this season.

Here is the best of locker clean out day.

Marc Methot

On if Sidney Crosby said anything to him in the handshake line:

“No. No. I just told him good luck and he said ‘thank you’ and that was it. Yeah. Pretty simple.”

Methot’s tone nearly rolled his eyes for him.

On the city’s support during the postseason:

“We had a lot of fans waiting for us at three in the morning in the rain after that last game that we lost. From my standpoint and point of view, we had so much support. I think being able to see it first hand, all my family and friends, people that I don’t know, people that approach you on the street or at the grocery store (saying) ‘thank you for the season that you had,’ it’s so rewarding. Versus maybe in the past when you’re not making the postseason, you’re not answering those questions about what happened or what went wrong. People are very positive and congratulatory and you feed off of that as a professional. In your workplace, when people are happy with the work you’re doing, it’s great. It’s great to have that.”

Craig Anderson

On the difficulties the entire year brought:

“Roller coaster. Ups and downs. Emotionally, physically. I think there’s a lot of life lessons learned this year. Not only by myself, but by staff, players alone and all together. Hockey’s a job for us and I think to put it in perspective this year, I think we played better because we realized that life happens and make the most of your opportunity when you have a group that we all cared about so much in this room. It makes you play a bit better when you care about each other a little more.”

On if he is a different player on the ice because of what he went through off the ice:

“A hundred percent. I think we always grow as players. When you go through adversity, it’s not what happens to you, but it’s how you react. I think we all responded in the right way. I think I was able to use hockey and use my teammates as a source to get away from personal life and have a three-hour moment of peace. When you’re on the ice and there’s nothing in the world but that puck and you’re competing, you’re at peace. You have nothing to worry about. That was the three hours that I had and you go back to life right after.”

On if he wanted to leave to be with his team in late October:

“Absolutely not. I wanted to stay with her. It was the unknown. We didn’t know what the extent of anything was. If the cancer was life-threatening and she had three months to live, I would’ve felt horrible going back. But the way it worked out we didn’t know, we were still at an unknown, and the timing of it, she insisted I go back. My family, my hockey family, needed me, and she had her family... which was huge and allowed me to go back.”

Bobby Ryan

On if he can pinpoint one moment this year that brought the team together:

“I can’t because there were so many positive things around this team. Everybody bought in. From Day 1, we had a different feel about us. Obviously a little bit has got to do with (the) coaching staff, but I just think everybody was leaving the last couple years, and I can only speak for myself, with a tonne of disappointment in ourselves, in our systems and everything. We came in this year and decided it was the right thing to do, to buy in. We’d gone through coaches and a lot of different turnover with players and all that kind of stuff. Right from Day 1 everybody said this is the role that we’re given and this is what we’re going to do and it was collective. When you get 20 guys doing that, it builds, and it builds all year.”

On Guy Boucher’s effect all year long:

“You never know, when you get a new coach, how it’s going to go individually for you and the coach and then collectively. He’s not only got to connect with you, but he’s got to connect with 20 other guys in different ways. You never know how it’s going to stick. And this was the first time I’ve seen come in and (have it) collectively stick with everybody. Maybe that’s just the psychology background, I don’t know, but he’s able to touch base with everybody every single day, check in and make you feel like he’s not coaching a team, he’s coaching each one of you individuals. (It’s) pretty impressive. For me, being one of the guys that had to change the most this year and struggled with it, he was there for me every day. He got through to me and he got through to a lot of guys.”

Mark Borowiecki

On one of his many injuries:

“I think it was the game before the trade deadline in February where I tore my labrum in my left shoulder. The original plan was to get surgery at the end of the year, but given how successful we were and how long the season (had) gone, I’ve decided to postpone it. You see some press releases from some guys out four-to-five months. It’s not something I want to deal with next year... I tore the labrum at the end of February and I think seven or eight times after and it was getting to the point where it was pretty bad, like I’d go and sit in the box after the fight and my left arm would be numb for a minute or two and it wasn’t feeling good.”

On breaking an NHL record for hits per game:

“It’s pretty cool. Something I can tell my kids down the road. It’s definitely neat. It just seemed like the way (the coaching staff) wanted us to play in the neutral zone especially on the left side was kind of taylormade for me and I’m pretty thankful and pretty grateful for that. I don’t look at personal stats too much; I’m not the kind of guy who’s looking for my cookie there, so whatever I can do to help the boys and help the team.”

On if he was going to attempt to break his own record next season:

“Yeah, actually I told my mom, too. I was like ‘I’m going to go for first in fighting majors, too.’ She wasn’t too happy about that.”

Mike Condon

On his future with the Senators:

“I’ve made it pretty clear I want to stay here. I love everything about it. I love the direction of the team, I love working with Andy, Pierre Groulx has been awesome for my game, we get along really well. I have no idea what’s going to happen in the coming weeks. There’s a lot of issues the club has to address with the draft and the expansion draft. I appreciate and respect the team (doing) their due diligence and forecasting their goaltending situation and I just hope I’m part of that equation.”

Erik Karlsson

The Senators captain is getting married this summer. As his media availability was finishing up, the topic was brought up and a hilarious back-and-forth ensued.

Unknown Media Member: “When’s the big day?”

Karlsson: “It’s in August.”

Brent Wallace: “Gord (Wilson) wants to know where you’re getting married.”

Gord Wilson: “No he doesn’t.”

Karlsson: “We’ll have security there, so...”

[Everyone laughs]

Karlsson: “Thanks guys.”

[Karlsson begins to walk away, then stops]

Karlsson: “There actually will be security, by the way.”

[Everyone laughs even harder]