Montreal

"Let's win it all."

Those were the words assistant coach Mark Reeds left with Senators players when he visited them at Canadian Tire Centre less than two weeks ago.

On Tuesday morning, Reeds was defeated by cancer at the age of 55.

The devastating news, while not coming as a complete surprise, hit the Senators very hard.

It also left them with another rallying point.

Reeds' last day on a sheet of ice was March 1, at the Sharks' practice facility in San Jose.

The Senators had won their fifth consecutive game the night before and Reeds, their assistant coach since 2011, was smiling at the end of the on-ice workout as he walked down the rubber mat towards the dressing room.

But in stopping for a word with a couple of Ottawa reporters, it was apparent Reeds was not well. He had been having digestive issues, and was even thinner than usual. His cheekbones were protruding from his face. At one point, he excused himself from the conversation and had a coughing fit.

The team moved on to Minnesota for a meeting with the Wild, and it wasn't until game day we learned Reeds had gone home ill.

My most immediate thought/hope was he had been hit by the virus which first attacked Curtis Lazar and then Jared Cowen earlier on the road trip, and not a flare up of the cancer he had been diagnosed with last season.

But as the days passed and Reeds remained out of sight, it became obvious this was more than a bug.

A couple of weeks later, coach Dave Cameron was leaving his post-game press conference when he stopped to address an out-of-town report Reeds' cancer was back and inoperable. Cameron said his friend was in a very tough battle and he needed our prayers.

The day before the Senators open their first-round playoff series against Montreal Canadiens, Reeds lost that battle.

"When Mark got sick you had a heavy heart," Cameron, who remained in daily contact with Reeds, said through tears Tuesday morning at Canadian Tire Centre. "Now it's broke."

The Senators have been through this hell before. In 2003, they lost beloved assistant coach Roger Neilson to the same despicable disease. And currently waging war with cancer, of course, is GM Bryan Murray, who was the first to formally speak at an arena that felt more like a funeral parlour.

"This is supposed to be an exciting time for us and it will be, but today is very difficult for all of us that were in contact with Mark on a regular basis and worked with him and realized what a good, young man he was, and certainly passed too early," said Murray, who was asked about seeing Reeds go while he fought his own battle.

"It's about Mark today," said Murray. "It's hard when you see this. He's a guy that I guess was diagnosed just before me, but he surely didn't appear to have a situation where death would come this quickly. It seemed to me that we were all very positive, he was very positive, when he first found out that there was a solution to his problem and unfortunately it didn't work that way."

Reeds was a "hockey lifer", Cameron said, and even in his darkest days he closely followed the Senators miraculous run to a playoff spot with pride.

"He didn't miss a shift, or a period or anything," said Chris Neil, one of four veterans (along with Marc Methot, Erik Karlsson and Kyle Turris) who spoke with the media. "He was at the hospital, watching the games, they had his seat marked out for him, with his nameplate on it.

"I think he was holding on until he found out we were in the playoffs. Once we got there it was like he could rest at ease."

Said Cameron: "As he battled through to the end and we kept winning, that was huge to him. That was huge to him."

Accompanying Reeds on his visit to CTC 10 days ago was his wife Mary, who's also the mother of their two children, Kyle and Kelsey.

Reeds was tired, but he still joked, still had his ever-present wit, still gave them encouragement.

"Obviously I'm not sure how (the players) will handle it, but I'm hoping that they handle it as Mark handled it," said Murray."All he said his last visit was let's win it all. So we're going to use that hopefully in a positive manner."

Reeds, who was in charge of the Senators defence and penalty killing unit, was a "hockey genius," said Cameron.

"His detail was unbelievable. He'd notice things in a game that most people that watched the game 10 times wouldn't notice. Stick placement, positioning ... just details. He was a perfectionist. he loved the game."

He was also quiet, and unassuming, and when he had some butt-kicking to do or advice to give, he usually did so in 1-on-1 conversations.

Karlsson said when Reeds arrived in Ottawa, "my game changed drastically."

"He helped me in many areas on the ice, with his knowledge and experience," said the solemn 24-year-old, who admitted he's been very fortunate to never before lose anyone close to him. "He's a guy I took a lot of comfort in. I wouldn't be where I am without him. He's one of the guys I'll always remember.

"I can personally say I'm a better hockey player because of him."

The Senators were gathered for a team meeting when they arrived at the rink Tuesday morning, and it was there that everyone was informed of Reeds' passing.

"Ah, it was pretty emotional," said Methot. "Depends on how you handle these kind of things, I guess, but with us it was pretty rough in the room. It caught a few guys maybe off guard a little. I saw it on-line this morning, that's the first way I heard of the news.

"Cameron was pretty emotional when he was talking to us in the meeting as well.

"It's a grim kind of feeling knowing that this is an individual you were around just a couple of weeks ago, talking to him, having a couple of laughs with him. It puts a lot of stuff into perspective.

"At this point all you can do is just try and win out for him, as much as we can.

"It's a great rallying point for us as a team. We've got to focus on the playoffs and do it for Reeder."

Twitter: @sundonib