Monday, July 14, 2008

Sugar Ray Leaves On A High Note


As most Sens fans already know, Ray Emery was on TSN's Off The Record tonight and answered the tough questions posed to him by Michael Landsberg.

Emery took responsibility for his difficulties this past season and refused to take shots at the organization or any former teammates. He even praised Daniel Alfredsson's leadership and revealed that Alfie had taken him aside on numerous occasions throughout the year to see what was wrong.

As Emery admits, he felt he shouldn't have lost his job as number one goalie because of his wrist surgery and didn't handle the disappointment well.

The media took it from there and made him out to be a rabid beast who roamed the Kanata wilderness hunting Ottawa's finest sons and daughters.

The truth is, Emery was one of the most interesting and dynamic athletes to ever to play in Ottawa and his presence will be missed by some (myself included).

He's off to Russia but he's too talented to remain out of the NHL for long.

The Senators might rue the day they let this guy get away, especially once the reality of a Martin Gerber and Alex Auld pairing sinks in during the dog days of the season.

As a sendoff, here's a quick video of Ray when he was still the darling of the fans and the media here in Bytown.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree 100%! In a town as bland and boring as Ottawa, Emery brought some personality and swagger. Unfortunately it wasnt meant to be and Emery has learnt a tough lesson the hard way. He's young and very talented but got caught up in his own immaturity.

Cant say I didnt enjoy him here and that I wanted him gone...this organization is going to regret cutting him loose, but the tough thing is - can you blame them for doing so?

Jeremy Milks said...

I don't blame the team for cutting him loose but I think they could have reformed him if they really wanted to.

It might be best for both sides to get a fresh start and time will tell if the organization made a big mistake here.

Regardless, Murray should run the team as he sees fit and you can't begrudge him for that.

Anonymous said...

What do you mean by reform though? Step in and suspend and help get him professional guidance? Help for an addiction, disease or whatever - for something that no one will admit existed. Who knows if there was any reform that needed to be done.

Would you consider Murray, Paddock and Alfredsson speaking with him as an atempt to reform him?

We're not likely to get any further details anytime soon, but the rumour mill will continue to churn...