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Sure, Curtis Lazar was feeling some pressure to impress Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray and Paul MacLean during training camp.

Yet Lazar joked Monday that it was nothing like the pressure he felt from his family to make it on the season opening road trip to Nashville and Florida this week.

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“I’m going to talk to my parents,” Lazar said with his ever-present ear-to-ear grin after officially hearing he had made the 23-player roster. “They’ve got some travel plans they have to accommodate now. My parents have been the backbone to everything I do. They’ve supported me every step of the way.”

While Lazar, 19, spent the past three weeks turning heads with his forechecking and backchecking, his family – parents Karen and Dave, younger sister Jenna and younger brothers Ryan and Corey – were busy double-checking to make sure their family trip was still on.

The plan calls for the Vernon, B.C.-based Lazars to fly to Nashville for the season opener Thursday and then drive to Florida for weekend games against the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday and Florida Panthers next Monday. Seeing Curtis make his NHL debut is one thing, but the chance to see the new Harry Potter exhibit at Universal Studios in Orlando is also a big draw.