Ottawa Senators forward explains why he was a healthy scratch in front of 50 of his friends and family

"I'm just going to talk about this once," Joseph told reporters. "This was an internal thing. I made a mistake. I was ready to assume the consequences of it. This is on me. This is my responsibility. I know I can be better and I will."

"I assumed the consequences of it," Joseph said. "I'm an adult. I can deal with this. It's part of hockey. It's part of life and I'm ready to move forward and excited to be in the lineup."

"What I'll say on that issue is – which has kind of been blown out of proportion – it was a non-hockey issue, he sat his game and we welcome him back with open arms,"

"It's been pretty brutal to be sidelined like that," Joseph said, "Seeing the guys battling every night and not being able to help the team."

"At the end of the day, that's what I love to do and I'm a passionate guy about playing hockey. For me that's all that matters and I'm really excited to get out there with the guys."

"It's an exciting time for our family," Joseph said. "It's an exciting time for us. It's definitely a childhood dream for me and my family and my brother. So, it's going to be fun to see him in another logo and play against him."