In the spring of 2022, Shane Pinto and Jake Sanderson were rehabbing their respective injuries together in Ottawa.
Pinto was recovering from a shoulder ailment that required surgery, while Sanderson — fresh off signing his entry-level contract — was nursing a hand injury. Both were forced to watch Senators games as spectators, and it was certainly not the way the former teammates from the University of North Dakota envisioned the start of their NHL careers together.
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So as they projected ahead to their first full NHL season together in 2022-23, they hatched a plan.
“The conversation was basically, ‘Hey, it’s our first year. Do you want to live together?'” Pinto recalls asking Sanderson. “We figured it would probably make it easier and we’ll save some money.”
The two browsed Zillow for a place that would suit their needs.
And their expectations were fairly modest.
They wanted something with a central location that was fairly equidistant from Canadian Tire Centre and the airport. They wanted a place with three bedrooms, the extra one serving as a place for their families to stay when visiting Ottawa. And with those being the only parameters that seemed to matter, they quickly found a duplex that fit the description.
“We checked it out and we liked it,” says Pinto. “We didn’t put too much thought into it.”
After moving into the place, the new roommates also avoided putting too much thought into the decor of their new home.
“We have no paintings. Nothing on the wall,” says Sanderson. “It’s as bland as you can think of.”
There was a wooden board with a Senators logo, but they never bothered to hang it up.
“My mom got it for us, but we just kind of threw it in the corner and it leaned up against the wall,” says Pinto.
Their bedrooms, however, each had a poignant homage to their roots. Sanderson’s room featured a print of his hometown of Whitefish, Montana. Pinto’s bedroom had a portrait of his childhood dog Urko, who passed away last summer.
They also had modest furniture throughout the place.
“We got a sick deal from The Brick,” says Pinto.
(They received an even better deal from Josh Norris, who gave them an extra couch out of storage).
Pinto and Sanderson looked around their sparsely decorated home and realized they could fill it with something other than furniture.
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“We wanted a pet because we figured we would have so much free time,” says Pinto.
They ultimately landed on guinea pigs, a quirky decision that quickly spread through the Senators locker room.
“I thought that was kind of crazy,” says Alex DeBrincat. “But it gave them something to do at home. I guess they thought it was a good idea.”
Jake Sanderson initially had his heart set on a ferret.
While spending time in Ottawa last summer, Sanderson made multiple visits to a local pet store and each time, he was drawn to one animal in particular.
“The lady told me ferrets were really fun,” says Sanderson. “She took it out of the cage and it was so much fun.”
And what specifically was the appeal of ferrets for Sanderson?
“They’re so twisty and stuff,” he says. “It’s the only way I can describe it.”
He imagined a scenario where a long, slender ferret could freely dart around the halls in their rental property.
“They’re a lot of fun to have them running around,” says Sanderson.
While Pinto was on board with getting a pet, he had some specific ground rules.
As a lifelong dog person, cats are a non-starter for him.
“I’m allergic to cats, and I hate cats,” Pinto says flatly. “They’re the worst.”
And much to Sanderson’s chagrin, ferrets were also on Pinto’s veto list thanks to their malodorous reputation.
“He wanted that ferret. But I said no,” Pinto says. “I heard they smell and I told him, ‘I’m not doing a ferret.”
“They do stink,” concedes Sanderson. “Guinea pigs are better I guess.”
And so it was Pinto who stumbled upon the guinea pigs that would end up being their pets to start the 2022-23 season. While walking through Bayshore Mall last fall, Pinto stopped at Pet World on the ground level.
“I was just roaming around the mall one day and I saw these two guinea pigs and I phoned Sandy,” recalls Pinto. “I told him, ‘I think you need to come down here and check these out.'”
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Sanderson eagerly received the phone call and dashed over to Bayshore within minutes.
“When he told me he was at the mall, I was fired up,” says Sanderson. “I dropped everything and drove to the mall.”
The two spent more than 30 minutes at Pet World, purchasing a huge cage, a wooden house, accessories, food and a pair of guinea pigs named Ace and Scooby.
“We bought them the best of the best,” says Pinto. “Top of the line of everything.”
As they wrapped up the purchase, however, there was a debate brewing. Both Pinto and Sanderson wanted to claim the same guinea pig.
“I was looking at Scooby and I wanted him,” says Pinto. “But Sandy took him.”
So Pinto settled on Ace, which would be a better choice in hindsight.
“Ace was the alpha of the cage,” laughs Pinto.
The two guinea pigs were placed in their cage in the unfinished basement of their rental home.
“It’s a greasy basement, I’ll say that,” says Sanderson.
It’s the same bare-bones basement where Ridly Greig spent several nights sleeping on a mattress placed on the floor. Greig even spent some time on his floor mattress posing for a photo with Ace and Scooby. And even though the guinea pigs were placed in the basement, Sanderson and Pinto could often hear them on the main level of the house.
“We could hear them squeal all the time,” says Pinto. “And we never knew if they were playing or fighting or what was going on down there.”
There was a constant battle inside the cage and Ace would usually exert his dominance over Scooby.
“My guy got pushed around. He never got any food,” says Sanderson. “I would have to take him out of the cage to feed him. Otherwise he wouldn’t eat.”
When the players were away on road trips, the duty of feeding Ace and Scooby fell on the shoulders of Bram Karp, who works as an equipment assistant with the hockey club. But while the Senators were in Tampa Bay in early November, Karp phoned Pinto to share some disturbing news.
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“I was in the hotel bathroom and I could hear Bram on the phone and he was saying, ‘One of them isn’t moving. The house is on its head,” says Sanderson.
Karp texted an image to Pinto’s phone.
“That wooden house fell on its head and he just got crushed,” says Pinto.
Sanderson called Scooby’s untimely death “suspicious,” but cleared Karp of any possible involvement.
“Maybe Ace did it,” says Sanderson. “But it’s definitely weird.”
“We don’t know what really happened,” adds Pinto. “It was really messed up and that was tough. But Sandy showed no emotion and just brushed it off.”
Pinto likes to tease Sanderson now about his choice to select Scooby over Ace when they made the initial purchase.
“My guy was stronger obviously,” laughs Pinto. “Because he’s still alive.”
Pinto and Sanderson have already made the decision to live together again next season — although they will be searching for a new home after this current lease expires. They are putting the majority of their possessions in a storage unit in Ottawa and will return in August to go house-hunting again.
As for whether or not Ace will take up residence in the new home, that’s up in the air at this point. Last week, Ace made the journey from Ottawa to Franklin Square, New York, and is currently residing in Pinto’s family home with his parents, Frank and Catherine.
Pinto feels like Ace might be better off with a new owner down the road.
“I feel guilty when I don’t hang out with it,” says Pinto. “I need to give it to someone with kids who will constantly pay attention to it.”
Pinto and Sanderson have found a rhythm and balance as roommates. They drive separately to games and practices at the Canadian Tire Centre, as Sanderson is a creature of habit who likes to be at the rink a touch earlier than Pinto.
“We’re never over top of each other,” says Pinto. “We give ourselves some space and we have different hobbies. I think we do a good job of leaving each other alone.”
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Pinto loves to play video games, and when the pair lost their home internet connection for a full week this year, he admits he was flummoxed.
“I was burning through data on my phone,” says Pinto. “But I don’t think it changed a thing for Sandy when we didn’t have Wi-Fi. He’s just so chill.”
Sanderson revealed that he purchased an Xbox this year, but never played it.
The two have created a routine for cooking and cleaning, although they seem to be clinging to some old collegiate habits.
“We never cleaned a toilet once this year,” says Pinto. “We just waited for our families to come and they would do the cleaning for us. But honestly, we kept it pretty clean.”
Sanderson says with their parents alternating visits every few weeks to Ottawa, it was a suitable schedule for them to keep the place tidy.
“When our parents came, they cleaned for us,” says Sanderson. “And our parents have been here a lot lately, so the place is spotless.”
Pinto is the better cook and is in charge of grilling steaks, knowing to leave Sanderson’s on for a few extra moments because he likes his done more medium than his own.
“Shane really knows how to cook, so I just watch and learn,” says Sanderson. “I don’t know how to do a lot, but I can do the basics now.”
Pinto says Sanderson can now make a solid meal consisting of chicken, rice and kale.
“He’s sick at cooking chicken,” says Pinto.
Admittedly, when the hockey schedule kicks into high gear, the roommates will often resort to ordering delivery instead of cooking for themselves. Sanderson is partial to Golden Palace, saying he frequently orders takeout from them. But they were frustrated to learn they were just outside of the delivery zone for Chipotle, the fast-casual Mexican eatery located inside the Rideau Centre.
“It’s dumb because Brady (Tkachuk) lives like five minutes away and he can get Chipotle,” says Pinto. “We’re so close.”
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So as they scour their housing options for next season, they admit that finding a place within the Chipotle delivery zone will be added to the list of priorities.
“Absolutely,” says Sanderson. “That will be a factor.”
(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; photos: Jonathan Kozub, China Wong/NHLI via Getty Images; courtesy Jake Sanderson)
