Clouston Throws Open Door For Lehner

In a very significant quote (scored by the Sun's Don Brennan), Sens coach Cory Clouston layed it right on the table by saying if rookie goalie Robin Lehner keeps playing as well as he has, it could force the organization to keep him in the NHL at the expense of one of their established goalies (ie; Brian Elliott).

Here's the quote from Brennan's article:

"If he keeps playing the way he did (Tuesday) night, it would be pretty hard to not have him here... That obviously gives us opportunities to do different things, but that's a question to (GM) Bryan (Murray), that's not a question to me. ... I mean, he can't do anything more than he did last night. So we'll play it game by game, and if he forces us to do something we never maybe envisioned at the start of camp, then that's a positive thing for us and the organization. That gives us a lot more depth in a position that obviously is very, very important."

Sure, writers and talk-radio hosts have danced around the subject but I don't think anyone really suggested that Lehner had a realistic chance at staying in the NHL this year.

Yet there it is in black and white, straight from the coach's mouth.

Lehner supplanting Brian Elliott is now a possibility. Queue the goaltending controversy.

And that controversy won't be doused by Elliott's tepid performance tonight in Toronto in his first action of the season (rebounds continue to haunt him). But... insert cliche here: "it's only the pre-season". Yadda yadda yadda. You know the routine. You can't bury Elliott because of one bad game in training camp. Anyone who does so is really jumping the gun.

But if Clouston is liking what he sees in Lehner (and who wouldn't, with his second stellar training camp in a row despite still being a teenager), you know that the heat is going to be on Elliott big time. They're not going to toss Pascal Leclaire and his contract aside and go with two really young goalies.

Sure, it's a small fire, but Clouston just threw a little more gas on it. Get out the marshmallows.

***

As for the loss against the Leafs, not many fighting for a roster spot overly distinguished themselves for the Senators.

The exception would be Cody Bass, who played a helluva game tonight and firmly put himself back on the radar for this season. After going through some injury problems which kind of made him the forgotten man last year, Bass stepped on the ice tonight on a search and destroy mission, and reminded everyone what kind of wrecking ball he can be. It's going to be very hard to crack the lineup for Bass (he'd have to surpass Zack Smith somehow, an unlikely proposition) but he let everyone know that he's going to be an option for a call-up if someone on the bottom two lines goes down.

Jared Cowen had a solid night and looked much better than he did during the first game in Toronto on Tuesday. Maybe he's just starting to get comfortable now. You can see glimpses of what he can do, but it's like a wavering radio signal that keeps going in and out. If he can put it together quickly, maybe he still has a chance to stick. When he's cruising out there, his head is like a shark fin, poking out above everyone else (5 bonus points if you got that LL Cool J reference).

As for pure entertainment, the chaos was provided by 230 pound enforcer Francis Lessard who had a jaw dropping 324 penalty minutes in only 59 games for the San Antonio Rampage last year. And Lessard went on a rampage of his own in the first period. He was fighting, bleeding, hitting, spitting, falling, flying over the boards into TSN analyst Pierre McGuire and basically acting like a complete maniac with nothing to lose but a few more teeth. It was like watching Eddie Shack in a Senators uniform. Fantastic.

And speaking of entertainers, I forgot how much I enjoy seeing Jarkko Ruutu flying across the ice and coming late into a  scrum, grabbing someone in a bear hug and yapping in their face, even making the refs want to take a swing at him.

Lehner Handles The Leafs

Sometimes pre-season games can be fairly dull but the tilt in Toronto tonight was actually worth watching, and not only because it was the first Senators hockey since April.

The Senators romped past the Leafs largely thanks to some offense by veterans like Chris Neil, Nick Foligno and Chris Kelly, but the best player on the ice for both teams was easily rookie goalie Robin Lehner.

He was Ottawa's best goalie in camp last season and it looks like he's going to defy the odds and make a case for himself again this season, starting with a shutout against the Senators biggest rival. Nothing will endear him to management and to fans more than that.

As for those few Senators fighting for a roster spot, not many made a major case but no one seemed to really hurt their chances either.

Roman Wick looked good to start the game but was a non-factor the rest of the way. Corey Locke played well and got a nice goal and a couple of points. You can guarantee he'll be a call-up at some point this season if a top six guy goes down to injury. Zack Smith played his usual game, tough and smart, but I wouldn't really say he's fighting for a spot. He should be a lock to make the team in October.

Not many negatives in a 5-0 shutout, but Jared Cowen didn't look very good, continuing his underwhelming play from the rookie tournament. He made a nice play at one point by jumping up into the play and going to the net for a scramble, but watching him turn around in his own zone and behind his net is like watching a sea liner change directions. Right now, he's at least two steps behind the play. He'll benefit from another year in junior and be just fine because of it. There's no reason to worry about Cowen's future.

Both David Hale and Brian Lee played somewhat average but they still have lots of time to impress in the pre-season. You have to give credit to Lee for attempting to fight Christian Hanson, the son of the legendary Slap Shot goon Dave Hanson. Lee's heart was in the right place but he got destroyed in a matter of seconds with Hanson finishing it off by slamming Lee's face into the ice. Not a pretty sight. Lee should probably stick to his stickhandling in future games.

The boys are back at it tomorrow. And I am trying not to get sucked into over analyzing pre-season games. But I guess we can make an exception for the first one...

On Lee... Part Two

At the risk of being accused of picking on poor Brian Lee, I have two questions for you:

Even with Lee playing at his maximum potential, is he the type of guy you want in your top six going forward through 6 months of the race to make the playoffs, and then nearly 3 months of the brutal grind of the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Likely that won't be the case anyways once Filip Kuba returns from injury, but the question is useful for the purpose of looking at a player like Brian Lee objectively.

Do the Senators really require the services of another offensive defenseman whose offensive skills are below those of Sergei Gonchar, Erik Karlsson and Chris Campoli?

Jason York of the Team 1200 (himself a past offensive defenseman) made a great point this afternoon when he said that Lee will never be effective as a 5th or 6th defenseman because too often that pairing faces the other teams grind lines, guys who chip the puck in the zone and then try to run the defenseman through the boards a few seconds later.

He's got a great point. Lee is a make or break kind of defenseman. He either plays on the power-play and a top pairing or he's not going to help you much because he's not a physical rearguard and will quickly wear down over the course of a season, never mind the onslaught that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Just look at the kid's frame. He's not that kind of player. Never will be. Teams like the Philadelphia Flyers will eat this kid alive if given the chance. It may seem unfair to make these kind of assumptions, but it's just common sense.

The Senators lost two fistfuls of toughness when Anton Volchenkov and Andy Sutton both unfortunately walked this summer. The Senators have gone quickly from having perhaps the meanest defense (with Matt Carkner in tow) to having one of the softest in the league in a matter of months.

That sensitive balance will really seem off with Brian Lee parachuting into the lineup mostly based on the fact that he has an ill-advised one-way contract. There's got to be a better way.

But then again, maybe Lee has the training camp of his life. If he does, I'll be the first to admit I was wrong and congratulate him for it. Yet, I just don't see Lee suddenly morphing into an effective NHL defenseman over one summer of training.

With camp in its initial stages, it's way too early to tell what will happen, but with Kuba gone for close to two months, the Senators have an opportunity to fast track one of two potentially tough defenseman: Eric Gryba and Jared Cowen (or turn to David Hale who has some decent NHL experience). If they both flop in camp, then let's bring Lee on with a vengeance. We at least know Lee can play an NHL shift and give you 10 somewhat average minutes a night. But you have to think if one of Gryba or Cowen shows the slightest hint of being ready (my money is on the 22 year old, 6'4, 220 pound Gryba) that Murray will find the room to add that salary to his roster.

Maybe I'm wrong. If I am, I know my readers will certainly let me hear it. I've been wrong before and I will be again. I was once really high on Lee's prospects, as a lot of us were after that great playoff series he had in 2008 against the Penguins. He looked like Wade Redden's heir apparent at the time.

Maybe that's the problem. He still reminds one of Redden, but not the Redden we all knew in Ottawa.

Sometimes Nightmares Come True...

Filip Kuba destroyed his leg today during the first on ice session at Senators training camp and according to the Sun's talk with Coach Clouston, he may not be ready to play for a while.

That means Brian Lee's chances of making this team just got a lot better. The horror, the horror...

It could also mean Erik Karlsson gets paired with Matt Carkner again, a combination that seemed to work well at times last year (purely my own speculation).

It's funny how one guy going down on that back end all of a sudden shows how fragile that blueline really is. One more serious injury to one of their top two and it's "good night Irene", as they say.

If there is any compassion in this world, perhaps Eric Gryba or maybe even Jared Cowen outplays Lee by a mile and forces Bryan Murray to eat that one-way contract of Lee's.

If rookie camp was any indication, Cowen doesn't look very ready to me. Both Gryba and Patrick Wiercioch outplayed him but then again it's only rookie camp. It would be an interesting story if the Senators found their much needed grit and toughness from Gryba and not the much heralded Cowen this season.

New Scoreboard... Older Alfie

When Gary Bettman announced that Ottawa will host the 2012 All-Star Game, he might as well have announced these two unofficial, but sure-to-happen events:

1. Daniel Alfredsson is guaranteed to play at least the next two seasons so he can go out in style being feted by his home town fans in the league's mid-season celebration, before bowing out just before the next CBA meltdown,  and....

2. Eugene Melnyk and Cyril Leeder will finally shell out the 7 - 9 million it will cost to finally install an HD centre ice scoreboard to replace the 1987 RCA Home Model that now hangs by rusty steel wires from the rafters. This recent story at Off The Posts at least shows it is on Melnyk's radar, if not at the top of his list. But you can't really expect the Senators to stand pat with that creaky old model during the biggest showcase the team has had outside of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

You can also bet on seeing some much needed refurbishing around the 15 year old Kanata rink. Nothing major, but you can see age creeping into the surroundings with some chipped paint here, some missing signage there. The outside of the rink has been looking a little ratty with some missing sponsor signs both on the front of the facade and the empty lawn signage along the Queensway.

It's still a great rink and serves the community well, but like all things, it could use a good touch-up.

As for Alfredsson, it's hard not to see him playing in that 2012 game, even if his play isn't on par with his usual excellence. While the fans get to choose the starting lineup by voting, as far as I know, the Commish can parachute a few players of his own choosing onto the roster to suit whatever marketplace they are playing in. It would be quite an ovation for Alfredsson when he steps on that ice and a great TV moment as well. There is no way Alfredsson doesn't play in the game unless he's in a body cast, and even then, someone will wheel him out to centre ice so the fans can go suitably nuts.

Bet on it.

Ryan Shannon's Days Are Numbered.... Remembering Hossa vs Quinn

I've been over it on paper again and again, and I keep coming to the same conclusion: Ryan Shannon is not going to crack this Ottawa Senators lineup.

Basically it comes down to six guys fighting to be on the fourth line:

Nick Foligno (a lock to make the team, possibly on a scoring line)
Jesse Winchester (also a lock)
Zack Smith (has shown he can play)
Ryan Shannon (had a down year but is cheap)
Bobby Butler (the wild card)
Roman Wick (even wilder)

If Bryan Murray decides to keep a 13th forward this year, then Shannon, a Stanley Cup winner, has a chance to stick around. After all, the guy will make a measly 625 grand on a one way deal, a huge boost to his chances on a team close to the cap. Yet Murray went out and got Butler for a reason. He was forced to pay him close to a million dollars on a one year, two-way deal after a competitive bidding process, and that's significantly more than Shannon, Winchester and Smith will make in the NHL this season. In one way, that hurts Butler's chances, but it also shows that Murray believes in him and wants him to be an impact player. You can't make an impact if you're playing in the AHL.

Even if Butler doesn't follow up a strong rookie camp with an equally impressive main camp, there's still Zack Smith in Shannon's way. Smith is a prototypical grinding fourth liner as opposed to Shannon, who is a guy who should be in an offensive role. Yet, there's no chance Shannon climbs over both youngsters Foligno and Peter Regin, let alone Milan Michalek for one of those top six spots.

It's hard to conceive how Murray won't opt for youth knowing that Shannon is a UFA after this season anyways. You could argue Shannon was only brought into the organization because of a major lack of talented youngsters coming up the pipeline. Now that those youngsters have arrived, is Shannon even relevant anymore?

Shannon is still a good player and can certainly help another team in the NHL. But it doesn't make sense to keep him in Ottawa if players like Smith, Butler and Wick are ready. We already know Smith is capable. Butler looks close.

I don't see Shannon surviving training camp. Maybe he'll prove me wrong.

***

It struck me as poetic justice that Marian Hossa raised his first Stanley Cup this past season after going to the finals three years in a row, while Pat Quinn saw his long coaching career come to an end in a disastrous season in Edmonton.

It's hard to forget the way Quinn viciously went after Hossa in the media after the unfortunate accident that caused Bryan Berard to be blinded in one eye near the end of the 99-00 season. Quinn seemed to insinuate that Hossa was a careless player and even repeated that claim years later after Berard had not only resumed his career, but had publicly forgiven Hossa for the unfortunate accident.

Both Hossa and Berard conducted themselves with class after a devastating situation, something that could not be said for Quinn in the days and years that followed.

Sometimes, the good guys do win in the end.

On Sweaters...

Just a quick thought:

Reading Bruce Garrioch's piece on rookie camp player Cory Cowick being excited to wear the Senators uniform for the first time today in London, it occurred to me that the actual NHL uniform is devalued somewhat when guys who have no hope of making the team are allowed the luxury of wearing the real sweater.

Not to be a grinch, but wouldn't the legit NHL sweater be more of a threshold if the rookie camp players wore different sweaters, something similar to the practice jerseys, in rookie camp games? And why not extend that to pre-season games as well?

That way, when you actually make it to the NHL and play your first regular season game, putting on that real NHL jersey really means something.

As it is now, even try-out players put on the jersey for meaningless games in September. It's like having two Stanley Cups - a fake one sitting in the Hall Of Fame in Toronto so people can get their picture with it and the real one touring around to various events. It doesn't feel right.

Plus, the team could then experiment with different style jerseys and even sell them to fans who would gladly pay for the kitsch factor of owning a rare but official Sens jersey with a different design. You'd have 3 different sets of sweaters. Rookie, Pre-Season, and Season Official.

Hell, let the rookies try out those super vintage jerseys like the one pictured above. Now that's a marketers dream.

Just a thought....

Senators Have Best Team Off The Ice

While it's bad news for Senators fans that Garry Galley is leaving the team's Sportsnet broadcasts to join Hockey Night In Canada full-time, his replacement, Hall of Famer Denis Potvin, isn't too shabby.

You can kind of look at it like the Sens losing Anton Volchenkov but gaining Sergei Gonchar this summer. You lose a young guy in his prime but you gain an experienced vet who's going to bring another dimension to the broadcast booth.

Well, that's a tad corny, but you get my meaning.

If you've had the pleasure of having the NHL Centre Ice package (and the displeasure of having to pay Rogers Cable a fortune for it), you likely have seen at least a few Florida Panthers games over the years (then again, maybe not - even NHL diehards likely watch the Panthers as a last resort) and Potvin was always a calm voice of reason during those telecasts for the large part of a decade. He was also pretty good at the often moribund NHL Network and their dreary highlight show On The Fly.

It's going to be interesting to hear the kind of chemistry he creates with lead play-by-play man Dean Brown. While Galley was more bubbly than Potvin will ever be, it may actually improve the balance a little because Brown tends to act like a colour commentator half the time with his dry humour and elongated stories while Potvin is more old-school and laid back. It should work fairly well in my opinion.

With Potvin coming aboard, Ottawa remains blessed with likely the top group of hockey related TV and radio personalities in the country. I've lived in each of Canada's four biggest cities in the past 15 years and Ottawa's current lot is still the best in my opinion. Toronto may have the quantity, but not many as likable as the Sens crew.

The best, in no particular order:

Ian Mendes (Sportsnet): It's rare for a modern analyst to be fair to a fault and actively try to present the players point of view instead of being comfortably cynical in their approach, yet Mendes achieves this with ease.

Dean Brown (various): Who doesn't like Dean Brown? His jokes may be corny, but he can call a mean game and knows way more about the NHL than he lets on. He's been around so long that we tend to take him for granted, but he's one of the best in the league at what he does.

Dave "The Voice" Schreiber (Team 1200): He's in a league with legendary Sabres play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret in terms of excitement while calling a game. When the Senators score, even your grandma knows about it (actually my Granny watches every single Sens game and loves Chris Kelly!).

Gord Wilson (Team 1200): He's been here with Dean Brown since the first modern day Sens game and he's one of the best when he gets really wound up. Of all the guys who calls games in this town, he's the one you can most likely picture having a cold one while he does it. He comes across as just really loving the game and is worth the listen just for him calling a big scrap on the ice. He makes it sound like Ali vs Frasier every time.

Steve Lloyd  (Team 1200): One half of the best radio show in town, the Healthy Scratches, and the host of the Sens pre-game show, Lloyd always seems equally comfortable holding court with big names like Bob McKenzie, jokesters like co-host Jason York, or the mixed bag of reporters who snipe at each other before Sens games on the Team 1200. I got on him a little last year for his non-stop coverage of "hits to the head", but he's probably the smartest of all the local hockey guys and is never boring to listen to.

Jason York (Team 1200): Who knew this dude would be so good? He doesn't seem to care too much and that's likely the secret of his success. He still has that player's locker room mentality where everyone gets a nickname and gets razzed a little bit. And then he'll come out with a totally reasonable and smart observation that only an ex-player could give the fans. I find he's almost always on the money with his analysis when he finds the time to give it. Don't underestimate Yorkie. He could go far and let's hope he doesn't ever change his laid back ways.

Honorable mention to John Rodenburg who seems to be a smart hockey guy but hosts a morning show that is traditionally more about comedy than sports.

Top 4 Priorities For Coach Clouston in 2011

It's been a rapid and somewhat painful drop for the Ottawa Senators from their once lofty perch near the top of the NHL's elite class.

Since their march to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007, the Sens have lost in the first round twice (both times to the powerhouse Penguins) and missed the playoffs once altogether. They've burned through a couple of ill-equipped coaches (John Paddock and Craig Hartsburg), a couple of starting goaltenders (Ray Emery and Martin "The Horror" Gerber) and one superstar winger (Dany Heatley).

Yet, last season provided a glimmer of optimism, chiefly from the play of future star (and Alfie replacement?) Erik Karlsson and the late, but inspiring play of goalie Pascal Leclaire in the playoffs.

The tough loss of Anton Volchenkov this summer was mitigated somewhat by the surprising acquisition of power play quarterback Sergei Gonchar and after a mini-squabble between Jason Spezza and the fans, it seems that the team's number one centre is staying in town for the foreseeable future with a healthy chip on his shoulder, looking to prove his army of critics wrong.

In short, there's a slight chance here that the Senators are actually capable of reclaiming their status as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

But coach Cory Clouston still has a lot of finessing to do. Most of the pieces are in place, with the exception of a real goal scoring winger. You can argue that the team may be soft on defense now (and I might argue that myself) and soft in goal, but at least the potential is there for success.

With that in mind, here's what I believe to be the top 4 priorities for Coach Clouston this upcoming season - the keys to turning this team from average to intimidating.

1. A bit too obvious - get the power play working again.

No brainer here. The Sens finished 21st in the league in power play percentage last season, despite having three of the most skilled guys in the game in Daniel Alfredsson, Spezza and Alex Kovalev. That shouldn't be the case after signing Gonchar and having a more confident Karlsson on the points. If you think about it, the PP could be downright scary for opponents this year. Even if Kovalev can barely skate this season, he's worth having around if he can learn to work with Spezza on the man advantage. The big problem was the loss of Heatley, a guy who was actually criticized in some circles because all he wanted to do was shoot. But that's exactly the mentality the Sens need on the power play now. Spezza and Kovalev need to shoot more instead of playing hot potato. With everyone on that top unit more attuned to playmaking instead of scoring, Clouston needs to insist they start sniping. Both Kovalev and Spezza have incredible shots. They need to use them more. The second unit will be a step down for sure, but there's potential there with Peter Regin and Nick Foligno, even though one of them, likely Foligno, will be hard pressed to supplant Milan Michalek in the regular formation. Which brings us to our second priority...

2. Turning either Regin or Foligno into a goal scoring winger.

I say "goal scoring winger" lightly because I don't believe either will ever approach the goal production of Heatley or Marian Hossa before him. But the Senators don't have the cash to go out and buy one, so either Regin or Foligno need to score more than 13 and 9 goals respectively. One of them needs to hit 25 goals this year, period. While Regin is likely the one to break through this season, don't count out Foligno. There's something rangy about the young winger that gives you hints he could be the kind of guy to pot 25 goals from within five feet of the crease. He did score 17 goals two seasons ago, so 25 is not out of the question if he can earn top six minutes. But in order to do that, Foligno either has to outplay Regin or Michalek (or rely on someone getting injured) because, likely, that third line is set with Chris Kelly, Chris Neil and Jarkko Ruutu. So it may be second line or bust for Foligno this season. In fact, if he doesn't turn it around, he may find himself on another team where he can get a proper chance. Other than Leclaire, Foligno is the guy who needs to play the season of his life in order to stay employed by the Senators going forward. Clouston needs to nurture the talent of Foligno. In my opinion, the young winger is worth the patience.

3. Making sure the vets are rested come playoff time

The Senators actually had a good shot at beating the Pens last season in the first round but injuries were just too much to overcome. Alfredsson aggravated a hernia playing at the Olympics but didn't help himself by staying in the lineup after the Sens clinched a playoff spot (although seeing him play his 1000th game was a highlight of the season). Kovalev was injured in a meaningless game in April and Filip Kuba was hurt late in the season as well. Of course, a coach can't really control who gets injured or not, but Clouston needs his veterans healthy going into the playoffs, and if that means sitting them down even when they say they're fine, then so be it (assuming the Sens aren't fighting for their lives for a playoff spot). Some of the Sens most important players are 35 and older, such as Alfredsson (37), Kovalev (37) and Gonchar (36). That's most of the first PP unit right there. Obviously they can't afford to have these guys either playing at half-speed or not playing at all. Key defensemen Chris Phillips and Kuba are not exactly young and invincible either. Detroit was able to win multiple Stanley Cups with older players in key positions so it can certainly be done, but luck and a little skillful managing will make or break the Senators year.

4. Play Leclaire even when he struggles

Yes, it's up to Pascal Leclaire to save his career by staying healthy and stopping pucks, but Coach Clouston needs to go to the wall for this guy as well. You could just sense Clouston didn't put his trust in Leclaire until he was forced to by Brian Elliot's poor playoff performance. Miraculously, Leclaire played lights out, giving everyone optimism going into this season. But be warned. It's not going to be pretty right from the get go. This is a goalie who has played a measly 46 regular season games since 2008. He still needs time to work his game out but he's not going to get there if Clouston keeps going back to Elliott, a goalie who Clouston seems to like, if only because he's familiar with him going back to their Binghamton days. Elliott has only proven to be a good backup goaltender so far in the NHL. He's good, but what's his real potential? You can see glimpses of Leclaire being an elite goaltender, but he needs the time and the starts to begin to get there again. The future in the Ottawa goal is either Leclaire or Swedish youngster Robin Lehner. Whenever Elliott plays, this team just seems to be treading water. It may be more stable, but it won't get you to shore.

Anyways, Black Aces looks forward to another great year of NHL hockey and we'll be updating more regularly once training camps commence.

Fan vs Athlete: The Lessons of Patrick Roy and Jason Spezza

I don't necessarily want to revisit the worn topic of Senators fans booing Jason Spezza, which boiled over to the point where a mutually agreed trade out of town became a very real possibility this past summer.

But there's more to this story than the local skirmish it caused. Something that goes to the heart of all spectator sports and the increasingly strained relationship between fans who feel entitled to express themselves freely (believing that money has bought them that imaginary right), and the athletes who feel entitled to work in an environment that's free from constant hostility (believing they've worked all their lives for that right as well).

It's extremely rare to hear an athlete admit that the reaction of the crowd has gotten to them. Modern athletes almost unanimously claim that booing fans don't bother them, that their inherent professionalism acts as a wall against any negativity thrown their way by the beer soaked inhabitants of the upper stands.

They almost always trot out the tired line that "fans pay good money so they have the right to do what they want".

But anyone with an ounce of logic can see the defense mechanism a mile away. Athletes are just as sensitive as the rest of us. Don't buy the line for a minute.

So do fans really have the right to say anything they want? How far does that extend?

The first relevant quote here is from Ken Dryden's famous book The Game:

I am a professional, paid to do my job no matter the circumstances. ... I do only what I can. And by buying a ticket, does a fan acquire a right that a fan in the street has not? Opportunity, yes; access, yes; but any greater right? Does he acquire license to abuse me any way he likes, to say what he won't say to anyone else, anywhere else? Is that what I'm paid for, like a lightning rod, to stand in the place of everyman and attract and purge the resentments from his life? Am I supposed to take it and feel nothing? Is that all part of the game?

Maybe, the author quoted below, Michel Roy, father of Hall of Famer Patrick Roy, puts it more plainly, but no less importantly:

There's a difference between criticizing an athlete's poor quality of play and vilifying the athlete. Some spectators, for whom hockey is a release, fail to make that distinction. They take revenge on a third party for frustrations they are suffering at the hands of a boss, a spouse, a teacher, a colleague, a friend.

The context of Roy's quote (taken from his excellent book, Winning: Nothing Else)  is from the 1995 trade of his son Patrick, from the Montreal Canadiens to the Colorado Avalanche. During that season, inexperienced coach Mario Tremblay seemingly had it out for Patrick from the beginning, which culminated in Tremblay embarrassing the goalie by not pulling him during a 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the powerhouse Scotty Bowman-led Red Wings (Tremblay also had a near hysterical hatred of Bowman from when he toiled under the legendary coach as a player for the Canadiens in the 70's). When Tremblay finally pulled Roy (and after the goalie had stood up to the jeers of the hostile fans by raising his arms after a routine save), all hell broke loose on the bench as the goalie marched up to Team President Ronald Corey and said he had just played his last game for Montreal.

The Montreal fans and the rookie GM Rejean Houle were all too happy to comply with Roy's impulsive wishes and the club even hired a public relations firm to skew the media message, making Roy out to be the bad guy, similar to what Peter Pocklington tried to accomplish with the Wayne Gretzky trade less than ten years earlier.

The fans, despite having watched Roy deliver two near-miracle Stanley Cups in ten seasons that were totally dominated by either the Oilers or the Penguins, had a love/hate relationship with the goaltender and opinion at the time was largely supportive of the trade, logic and loyalty be damned.

Of course, we all know how that turned out for the Habs and their fans (many of whom would be loathe to admit supporting the trade in a revisionist history lesson, much like Senators fans won't admit to wanting Daniel Alfredsson out of town during a slump early in the 2006-2007 season).

Roy went on to win a Stanley Cup that very season in Denver and added one more for good measure in 2001. The Habs meanwhile, never really recovered from the disastrous trade and the even more disastrous hirings of Houle and Tremblay (neither of whom had any experience in their jobs prior) to run the franchise. They are only now getting back their respect around the league after a Cinderella-like playoff run thanks to another red hot goalie, Jaroslav Halak, who they then turned around and traded to the Blues this summer. Oops.

The Montreal fans seemed to have learned their lesson and likely know what got away from them this time.

Perhaps down in Ottawa, the fans have pulled themselves back from the brink of running their best offensive player out of town, and maybe saving themselves ten years of grief looking for another one to replace him.

Money May Dictate Cowen and Butler's Chances

Just a few quick thoughts....

With the loss of defensemen Anton Volchenkov and Andy Sutton, many Senators fans may be looking to a big body like Jared Cowen to possibly make the roster to make that back-end look more imposing.

I'm not discounting the kid - he may very well surprise and beat Chris Campoli for a spot. But Cowen's salary is going to work against him.

If Cowen makes the team and hits all his performance bonuses, the Senators would be on the hook for all of his 1.295 cap hit. Even if he doesn't hit his bonuses, he'll be a cap hit of just over 900 grand. That's a lot of dough when you consider the Sens (according to Cap Geek) are less than a million under the cap as of right now.

If you look at the money side of it, newly signed David Hale might make more sense for the Senators this season. Hale is cheaper (675 grand) and is a fairly robust physical player himself. Even Brian Lee (the horror), currently on a one-way deal, is a potentially cheaper option, making under 900 grand for the year.

If you look at the forwards, the Senators signed the much sought after Bobby Butler out of the college circuit and it looked like he would follow in the footsteps of Jesse Winchester in being eased into the lineup almost right away. But Butler will make 900 grand in the NHL if he makes the team, considerably more than the aforementioned Winchester, Ryan Shannon and Zack Smith, the players he will be competing against for a roster spot.

If the payroll remains status quo, I don't like the chances of seeing either Jared Cowen or Bobby Butler on the opening night roster unless their play in training camp so impresses Bryan Murray that he is forced to move some salary out to accommodate them.

Hopefully for their sake, they make Murray's choice tough.

Cupcakes

The quiet, hot days of summer summon strange conversations and stories in the hockey world, allowing the fan to ponder things that wouldn't get a fraction of a seconds attention during the busy season.

And so it has come to this.

Cupcakes.

If you at all follow the blog Puck Daddy, no doubt you've heard the quirky story of a lady beating the odds and getting her homemade cupcakes past the iron fence of modern day sports concessions and into the dilapidated Nassau Coliseum in Long Island for Islanders games this upcoming season.

Who cares right?

Well, we here at Black Aces do. Not really, but the marriage of cupcakes and NHL hockey have given rise to a mass of Tweeters coming up with their own cupcake jokes, some of which, below, were posted on Puck Daddy:

#nhlcupcakes

Greg's post Thursday about the New York Islanders cupcakes sparked a bit of a to-do on Twitter. The jokes obviously came rollin' in, and made it an odd trending topic for a bit of the late morning.

Some of the better ones:

@DaveLozo: "The Sidney Crosby Cupcake — it doesn't matter if you like it, it's getting crammed down your throat."

@blogesalming: "The Eklund Cupcake: Convinces you you're eating a cupcake and turns out to be urinal cake"

@DownGoesBrown: "The LA Kings cupcake: Fans love it, but don't understand how the icing works."

@psykovike: "Calgary Flames Cupcake... The 'baker' doesn't give a damn if you like it or not... What do you know about cupcakes..."

@radioactivesmrf: "The Chris Mason Cupcake, it's better than it looks. It would have to be..."

@Kevin_Singer: "The Dany Heatley cupcake: demands to be made at another bakery because current one isn't putting it on the right shelf"

And the winner...

@dear_gravity: "The Phil Kessel cupcake: has one nut inside."

Pretty good stuff there (well, the Kessel one was a little much maybe).

But over a particularly long day at work, I started swapping cupcakes with our pal Blood Red Army, and soon the shelves were overflowing with ideas. I thought, what the hell, it's summer. I can do an entire post about cupcakes. So here's what we came up with during our Friday sun-addled afternoon, mostly Senators related and BRA's epic blast at Luongo included.

Enjoy (or don't). We did.


Blood Red Army: The Alexie Kovalev: If you're not careful, it'll disappear before you even get it in your mouth.

Black Aces: The Filip Kuba: No one even noticed it was gone from the bakery shelf.

Blood Red Army: The Rick Dipietro: You'll still be paying for it in 12 years.

Black Aces: The Jonathan Cheechoo: Like fruitcake, whatever appeal it had faded a long time ago.

Blood Red Army: The Jason Spezza: He'll make you sick as he passes backwards through you.

Black Aces: The Jacques Martin: Sugar free, tasteless and bland, but good for you.

Blood Red Army: The Joe Corvo: Will request to be moved to a Duncan Donuts or other generic store.

Black Aces: The Bryan Murray: So sour it makths you talkth lithke thisth.

Blood Red Army:  The Ray Emery: It's chocolate with a white, snowy-frosting.  (Ed.'s Note: Allegedly)

Black Aces: The Martin Gerber: Stank so bad they had to shut the bakery early in 2009.

Blood Red Army: The Roberto Luongo: Decent, but overrated and extra greasy.

Black Aces: The Zdeno Chara: WAY too much yeast.

Blood Red Army: The Erik Karlsson: So slick it'll pass through you before you can even say number 2.

Black Aces: The Cody Bass: Fell through the crack on the bakers shelf and left to rot.

Blood Red Army: The Jarkko Ruutu: Bite in quick before it bites you.

Black Aces: The John Paddock: You get three quarters through it and end up throwing it in the trash.

Blood Red Army: The Bill Muckalt: A year later you'll still be wondering what happened.

Black Aces: The Mike Comrie: Don't buy or sell - the recipe was fucked to begin with.

Blood Red Army: The Don Cherry: Warning - must be split open to allow hot air to escape before eating.

Black Aces: The AlexeiYashin: You can't afford it.

Blood Red Army: The Chris Chelios: You just can't get it to stay down.

Black Aces: The Anton Volchenkov: Shot so full of raisins you wonder how it stays together.

Blood Red Army: The Wade Redden: Slowly rotted from too much sugar. (Ed.'s note: Allegedly)


And a few more for good measure from Black Aces who evidently had more time to kill than BRA.

The Chris Neil: Free tooth inside every one.

The Matt Carkner: Who knew people would like a molasses cupcake so much?

The Andy Sutton: Leaves the experts confused - is it good or is it just another cupcake?

The John Muckler: White icing, full of bones and smells funny.

The Dany Heatley: Smells like chicken, tastes like chickenshit.

Dog Days Are Here...

Still the best video of the year.



I'm already getting nostalgic for Andy Sutton's brief, but memorable time in an Ottawa uniform. It's a shame he's not going to be back.

Bob Probert Passes Away

I grew up in the 80's with split allegiances. I loved the Gretzky/Messier led Oilers, but my first favourite team was always the Detroit Red Wings (back when they were terrible in the early pre-Yzerman 80's and onwards).

And Bob Probert was a big part of those Red Wings later in the decade and he's still the toughest fighter in the history of the league if I do say so myself. Who can forget his legendary battles with Marty McSorley, Wendel Clark and Tie Domi? He was a superstar back when fighters were considered stars.

Unfortunately, Bob Probert passed away today at the very young age of 45.

Here are two of the great scraps he had with Tie Domi in 1992.

UPDATE 4:45; Murray Steals Gonchar From Pens .... Volchenkov Signs A Bargain Deal With NJ

Gonchar. 3 years. 5.5 million per.

Mindblowing deal.

I was ready to bury the Senators today for letting Anton Volchenkov walk away but never did I imagine the Senators would be able to hit a home run the other way by grabbing the best offensive defenseman in the market.

The term and the money are all ideal. Even if Gonchar begins to slow down, three years is not a long time. The cap hit is very, very reasonable for a player of Gonchar's capabilities and there is nothing to suggest Gonchar will be anything other than a godsend for the Senators power-play.

After ranking in the bottom 10 of the league with the man advantage, the Senators can now have a tandem of Gonchar and Erik Karlsson feeding pucks to Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Alexei Kovalev, assuming the Russian forward's knee is on the mend.

If anyone is worried about Gonchar slowing down, you have to think what his strengths are. Running the power-play and moving the puck out of the zone. Those skills don't really go away with age. Instead it's the physical grind and the minutes that are harder to handle. Gonchar is not going to be asked to do what Volchenkov did (nobody could do it better than Volchie anyways), so to me, the issue is moot unless Gonchar proves to be injury prone down the stretch of his career. It's a risk, but one well worth taking considering the circumstances.

It's interesting to note the Senators are simply exchanging one Russian with another, yet the direction of the team is now going to change completely. It's offense GM Murray is looking for and when you lose perhaps the best defensive defenseman in the league, it may not be a bad idea to swing the other way and go for one of the best offensive ones.

Yet, it's still a bittersweet moment for Ottawa. Volchenkov was a core player just entering his prime and the Senators will no doubt be poorer in their own zone with his loss. Yet with Gonchar's ability to move the puck, they may not be spending much time there anyways.

This also effectively puts an end to a theory, partly put forth on this very site, that star players would not want to play in this market with the successive Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza trade controversies.

Last year it was Kovalev and this summer it's Gonchar. To paraphrase David Spade in the movie Tommy Boy, Bryan Murray "could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves."

Bryan Murray created a hole by letting Volchenkov leave, but he more than strengthened the power-play, which frankly, was an embarrassment last season.

So, offense it's going to be.

And Murray may not yet be done. Let's see what else happens today.

***

Update: 4:45

Volchenkov signs with New Jersey for 6 years and only 4.2 million, not even close to the 5 million plus that everyone quoted as gospel.

This raises a few questions. It's hard to believe Murray wasn't willing to pay 4.2 to keep his best defenseman. Perhaps it was the term that Murray wasn't willing to meet. Then again, 6 years is not overtly excessive for a player just entering his prime like Volchenkov is.

It makes you wonder what could have been. For an extra 500, 000 dollars (a pittance), the Senators could possibly have kept Volchenkov and moved Filip Kuba's 3.7 million cap hit to another team, which would have given the Senators a far superior top four defense than they currently have now.

But maybe Volchenkov was determined to leave no matter what. Certainly, by playing in NJ, he now finds himself close to one of the biggest Russian communities in the United States, but he is also playing for a team that seems to have taken a step back, with an aging Martin Brodeur and an increasingly less mobile defense.

With Murray's penchant for revealing details of his negotiations, I'm sure we'll hear the full story soon enough.

But it's all just spilled milk now. Volchenkov is a huge loss for Ottawa and a big gain for New Jersey, but Murray made the best move possible by signing elite defenseman Sergei Gonchar.

It's just so tempting to imagine what could have been with both countrymen Gonchar and Volchenkov on the same team, possibly even the same pairing.

But that ship has sailed.

Murray Grabs Can't Miss Prospect At Draft

In the midst of taking all kinds of heat for his bizarre handling of the Jason Spezza "situation", Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray once again proved he's still got the goods when it comes to the draft and stocking the cupboards of his organization.

Admitting the forward he wanted was already taken by the time it was Ottawa's turn to pick in the 16th slot, Murray sent the pick to the Blues for last year's 17th overall pick, Swedish defenseman David Rundblad.

Great move, in my humble opinion.

Look at it this way: if Rundblad was available in this years draft, he would likely be a top-ten pick. In essence, Murray still got the best player available to him, even though he wasn't on anyone's radar.

Rundblad, from all accounts, is going to be a power-play guy, someone to complement fellow countryman Erik Karlsson, and has already established himself ahead of Patrick Wiercioch and possibly even Jared Cowan on the Sens depth chart for the future. Unfortunately, Sens fans will have to wait an extra year because he is going to stay in the Swedish Elite League for one more season.

The only downside is that this trade does nothing to help the Senators at forward, but that can be taken care of later, as the Senators still have too many wingers and not enough roster spots as it is. Funnily enough, according to Bruce Garrioch's article today, the Blues felt Rundblad was expendable because they already had so much blueline depth when it comes to offensive style rearguards. Now the Senators have that same problem, but to a much lesser extent.

Karlsson is already established so it will eventually fall to Rundblad and Wiercioch fighting each other for a roster spot in the coming years. Cowan is more of a Chris Phillips type so he'll be fighting other players, such as Matt Carkner for a place on the team.

Regardless, the Senators have a great squad of young defenseman who should be ready to go in two seasons time, and nearly all were brought in by Bryan Murray.

He may not be a fan favourite right now, but Murray still knows how to work a draft floor with the best of them.

Reason # 89 to not trade Jason Spezza

It would mean Alexei Yashin remains number two on the Senators all-time scoring list for at least 3 more bloody years with 491 points to Spezza's 475.

Once Spezz is shipped out, only Mike Fisher has a chance to break 500 points before another possible labour stoppage (he's got 324 points). But don't worry Yashin fans, a certain tabloid paper will cook something juicy up to get Fish traded to Nashville.

The great legacy of Yashin will remain intact....

As for the playoffs, Spezza is already in the number two slot with 46 points in 46 games (compared to Yashin's mark of 15 points in 26 games). Yet for some reason, the "fact" that Spezza is not a playoff performer gets repeated as gospel on talk radio all day long.

***

Have you noticed the winds of change? Is it my imagination or is there a major backlash going on amongst fans that isn't being properly addressed in the city's mainstream media? Virtually all of the Senators related blogs are vehemently opposed to dealing Spezza this summer yet the papers seem happy to focus on the failure of a poorly organized facebook rally and a few pint swilling fans on the Elgin Street strip to illuminate this story to the non-blog reading public.

Are the bloggers out of touch with the real fans, like the ones now famously quoted in the bizarre Sun article yesterday, or is it the curmudgeonly columnists who actually cover the team for a living who don't have the pulse of the city?

It seems to me that there is a curious and great divide here. I'm not saying one side is right over the other, but there are two drastically different narratives going on.

It's almost as if this fight isn't even about Jason Spezza anymore. It comes down to perception, something that is usually only an issue in politics.

It's about the established press in the city going about their business they way they have for years, creating villains and heroes like all good sportswriters tend to do. They haven't changed. Their audience has.

The story has been sold so many times before that it's just not working anymore. It was easy to buy the Dany Heatley and Ray Emery storylines, but it's rings false when it comes to the "aw shucks" personality of Spezza. "Do we have to do this .... again? To this guy?"

Fans feel like there's something more at stake this time. Maybe it's the reputation of their city. Maybe it's guilt. Maybe it's nothing more than something to argue about so we can all avoid real politics.

Whatever it is, there has never been such a passionate response to the hockey press in this city. Just read the comments under Don Brennan's article to see what I mean.

***

And just to point out that not all established press is salivating at a Spezza sacrifice, here's TSN personality James Cybulski on the matter:

"Another big thing to consider as everyone wants to give him the boot out of town is that he enjoyed playing in Ottawa for the most part. Despite being an easy target, he liked being a Senator - something you can't say the same about with other star players aside from captain Daniel Alfredsson. Dany Heatley, Zdeno Chara, and Alexei Yashin all preferred to play elsewhere. Sure it's now being reported that he "wouldn't object" to a trade, but how many times can one guy be told by fans and media how crappy he is before saying 'uncle'? "

TSN

Welcome To Hell

The worst/laziest article I have ever read: here

Peter at Silver Seven responds quite appropriately: here

Murray's Comments On Spezza Brings The Circus Back To Town

"He said he wouldn't object to it," Murray said. "He didn't come in and say, 'I have to be traded.' He didn't object to the fact that maybe it's time - the way (he's) been received - now maybe it's time."

"I said unfortunately, that doesn't happen," said Murray. "You signed a long-term contract. We committed to you, you committed to us...we're not going to make a bet for you."

TSN

First question that comes to mind is this: Why is Bryan Murray throwing Jason Spezza under the proverbial bus by revealing comments made in a private year end meeting? Especially so when Spezza denied to the media not very long ago that he wanted a trade out of Ottawa.

What does this accomplish? One, it makes Spezza look stupid for keeping the details of the meeting private when asked by the media. Two, it makes Spezza look like the bad guy (just listen to Murray's tone of voice as he half-heartedly reprimands Spezza, talking about honouring contracts etc.).

Three, it ignites a semi-dozing controversy that was pushed aside for awhile after Spezza's awkward non-denial/denial to the press and the result will be that an important Entry Draft for the Senators will get completely overshadowed by a re-run of the Dany Heatley circus.

Four, it weakens Murray's bargaining position around the league, with everyone and their grandparents knowing that Spezza wants nothing to do with this city and it's boorish fans anymore. Much like the Heatley crisis, Murray now has a ticking time bomb on his hands and the rest of the GM's can wait and watch him squirm all summer until they can wrangle a sweetheart deal like the one San Jose plucked from this organization.

Five, it completely covers up the fact that Murray admitted that he is about to let Anton Volchenkov, the team's best defenseman, walk for nothing, or possibly a mid-level draft pick if he can convince a team to make a mercy move before July 1st (it's highly unlikely he can land a similar package to the one Nashville got for Dan Hamhuis, but you never know). Notice how all the stories are about Spezza and not Volchenkov? As they say, when delivering bad news, might as well do it all at once so it doesn't seem so bad.

The end result? Two of the Senators best and in-their-prime assets are likely going to be leaving shortly, further eroding the skill, grit, heart and reputation of this now reeling organization.

How low can the Senators sink? Will there ever be a time when the team is not engulfed in controversy?

Who's next? Kovalev? Fisher?

Alfie? Remember folks, Alfredsson didn't rule out the possibility of leaving the team in order to win a Stanley Cup. That may very well be a reasonable option if the team is thinking of starting a rebuild with much older players like Matt Cullen and Andy Sutton.

Stay tuned....

Deadline Day For Volchenkov Looms...

A quick point of interest: Sam McCaig of Yahoo Sports ranks the top 50 unrestricted free agents this summer and (soon to be ex-Senator) Anton Volchenkov is 3rd on his list, just behind superstars Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrick Marleau. (As for the Sens other UFA's, Matt Cullen made the list but Andy Sutton did not - something I would disagree with.)

3. Anton Volchenkov, D, Ott – A shot-blocking, bodychecking, stay-at-home stud. No offense here, which brings his price down to $5-6 million, but few defensemen are more proficient in their own zone than Volchenkov.

Not to be a pessimist, but more and more it looks like the Senators are on the verge of making a huge mistake by letting the A-Train go to another team, quite possibly to a competitor in their own conference.

Here's a question to ponder: How did Bryan Murray not get this deal done a long time ago, when Volchenkov could have been done for well under 5 million? It's not like his penchant for sacrificing his body for the sake of the team only showed up in the past season. This sort of brinkmanship negotiating worked in the cases of Chris Kelly and Chris Neil, but will it work three times in a row?

How much will Murray have to pay another player to replace Volchenkov? 3.5 million? 4 million? It's a sad thing to ponder losing your best defenseman and toughest player over what will likely turn out to be 1 million dollars or less in salary difference.

Sad indeed. But Murray has pulled deals out of the fire before. Maybe he can do it again and keep this Senators team on the right path to a possible resurgence in the Eastern Conference. Without Volchenkov, nobody is going to be worrying about Ottawa's defense core outside of Erik Karlsson.

The countdown to Draft Day and July 1st gets shorter.....

But just to get things started, the Habs trade Jaroslav Halak to the Blues for a couple of prospects. Wow.

On the surface, this looks like a horrible deal for Montreal and a steal for the Blues who were already way overstocked with average prospects picked during Jarmo Kekalainen's scouting tenure.

Does Carey Price have the kind of mental toughness to survive life as an icon on Saint Catherine street? So far, he has only shown that the local fans have gotten into his head and made him miserable at times. With all that baggage, he now has to replace a modern folk hero in Halak who carried the Habs all the way to the Conference finals on his back.

Bob Gainey believed in Carey Price and now Pierre (The Ghost) Gauthier does as well. It should be an interesting year down the highway.

Welcome To Edmonton East

Yes, Senators fans, that's what it has come to.

For just a moment, pretend what it would look like to an outsider, from afar.

Since the lockout, both the Senators and the Oilers have made a trip to the Stanley Cup finals and lost.

And since that loss, both teams have fallen into a spiral of missing the playoffs and having some of their best players demand trades.

Everybody knows no one wants to play in Edmonton. Just ask the wives of Chris Pronger and Michael Nylander. It's a sad fact, but nonetheless a fact.

Now people are starting to wake up to the fact that Ottawa, through a vocal minority of permanently outraged, reactionary fans and a jaded, cynical press corps, has probably reached the level that Edmonton has sunk to, and, possibly, could be headed further south.

Because once the stink starts to fester around a franchise, it's awfully hard to get that new car smell back, no matter how many promotional DVD's extolling the city you send to the agents of superstars around the league.

At least Edmonton has a stable of future superstars to look forward to and a number one draft pick this summer. Ottawa's cupboards are only starting to fill up again with competent prospects, never mind any bonafide superstars outside the potential of ace Swede Erik Karlsson.

Of course, all this Edmonton East talk is brought on by the latest superstar turmoil in Bytown. And that would be Jason Spezza, whom Black Aces predicted would be the next superstar run out of town after the Dany Heatley saga.

So here we go again kids. Satisfied?

You've likely all heard the now infamous Spezza interview with Carolyn Waldo where he hems and haws his way through questions of his desire to stay in Ottawa. He answers that he'll be here because his contract says he'll be here. There was no ringing endorsement of the team or his future with them. To anyone with half a brain, it sounded exactly like a player who quietly asked his GM for a trade out of town if it was possible (after all, Spezza is nothing if not polite).

And this theory sounds all the more probable when you listen to Bryan Murray say that Spezza was "emotional" at his end of year meeting with him, where Spezza told Murray he was unhappy to be booed throughout the playoffs despite having 7 points in 6 games playing for a team that was without Alex Kovalev, Milan Michalek and Filip Kuba, thereby having to face the Pens shutdown crew every single shift. In my mind, that's actually a good performance, but the legions of Spezza haters in the crowd relished the opportunity to tell him how they really felt.

And by all indications, Spezza felt it. There is no real evidence here, but it's obvious that the kid wants out.

Who can blame him?

He's just following in a long line of Senators players since the lockout to be either discarded by poor management or demonized by an angry fan base who apparently are too young to remember a time when this city didn't even have an NHL team, and don't know how lucky they are that they now have one.

Regardless, here's the informal list.

Zdeno Chara was well liked in Ottawa but then GM John Muckler had to choose to sign one of Big Z or fan favourite Wade Redden in the summer of 2006. Muckler made a mistake in keeping Redden over Chara but the fans didn't seem to have a big problem with this until Redden started to decline rather quickly in the bizarre 2008 season. When he balked at waiving his no-trade clause, the fans turned on Redden,who was once a community hero and franchise defenseman, to the point that we was booed wearing the hometown sweater. Fans seem bitter even to this day, taking every opportunity to point out how bad he is on the Rangers, as if that somehow justifies their moronic behaviour.

Then it was Ray Emery. We all know what happened there. In a city that once literally burned an effigy of Alexei Yashin in the streets of Arnprior, the amount of scorn towards a young, promising, but cock-sure goalie was surprising. He got the boot and everyone believed the Senators "locker-room problems" had been solved.

Then Dany Heatley demanded a trade and gave no indication why, creating a neverending smorgasbord of rumours that live on to this day. The fan disgust was even worse than anything Yashin or Emery endured. Can you sense a pattern here?

It probably didn't help the city's fragile ego when Alexei Kovalev signed in Ottawa as a last resort because they offered him "the most money". He also said he wouldn't mind finishing his career in his beloved Montreal, where the fans loved him so much they actually held a protest outside the rink to convince Bob Gainey to just give him the money.

Predictably, the fans in Ottawa loathed Kovalev right from the start. That too follows a pattern of Senators fans being wary of pure skill players. Maybe they were burned too hard by the likes of Alexandre Daigle and Yashin. The sense of trust was lost forever.

That's the only way to rationalize a fan base turning almost completely against many of the main players who brought the Senators to the only Stanley Cup final in their modern era.

Emery, Heatley (and now possibly Spezza) are gone. A loud group of vocal fans were not happy with the recent Chris Neil contract and like to point that out every chance they get, as if he "snuck" one by the fans. Heart and soul defenseman Anton Volchenkov is about to leave town and the reaction so far has been..... "whatever". The fans would rather see Eugene Melnyk save some of that hard earned money rather than shell out for one of the most unique and physical defenseman in the game, a player who will give his body for the team every single night and never complain about it.

There is a collective shrug of the shoulders.

But let's go back to that word "unique" for a moment.

You could say that Heatley is a unique player. He's a pure sniper who was good for 50 goals nearly every season he wore the red and black. The Senators survived without him, but the fact is that the Sharks, with Heatley, went to the Conference final and finally shed some of their image as a playoff no-show, the same image Ottawa had before they acquired Heatley themselves from the Thrashers. Facts are facts.

But Heatley was not very well liked here even before his trade request and there were whispers he didn't like playing under the shadow of Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher, two players embraced by the community in a rare show of civic enthusiasm.

So be it. Heatley left. Ottawa was worse because of it but their character allowed them to battle back to the playoffs in a somewhat redeeming year. Other players stepped up in his absence and a lot of those goals were recovered.

But go back to Chara. There is no one like him in the NHL. A talent and force unto himself. Would the Senators have beaten the Ducks in that crucial final series, with Chara balancing out the size and leadership of Chris Pronger? We'll never know. A unique talent left Ottawa because of money and that will forever remain an unanswered question.

Look at Volchenkov. You could sign three beasts like Andy Sutton but it still won't be the same. Volchenkolv is a unique talent and deserves to be paid like one. It looks like the Senators won't do that and the fans don't seem too squeamish about it.

That's fine. Life goes on. But now let's look at the case of Spezza.

Let's pretend the warning signs are for real. Spezza wants out of town. Murray is forced to find a trade partner. He needs to get back a number one centre for this team. Is he going to find it?

Of course not. What kind of trade would make sense for both teams in the equation? The only trade that seems possible is trading one problem for another. You either trade Spezza for a top prospect and face a rebuilding era or you get back another expensive number one centre who was a problem for his old team. Like Vincent Lecavalier. Or pick your poison.

Spezza is one of the top 3 pure playmaking centres in the game and you're not going to get one of the other two in a trade. So, no matter who he gets traded for, the Senators will be worse off, at least in the short term.

The constant siphoning off of "unique" talent will take it's toll. It already has. This was once a team on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup. Now a first round defeat seems like a victory.

The new important word will be "mediocre". Because that is what this team is turning into (or already has) because there is no value placed on skill by their fan base, which in turn forces the management to have to trade these guys because they are unhappy.

The only reason Ottawa isn't in the bottom third of the league is because they have at least kept their unique character players such as Alfie, Fisher, Neil, Jarkko Ruutu, Chris Kelly and Chris Phillips. Given half a chance, a lot of fans would throw at least half these guys overboard as well. Just read the blogs and the message boards where the rabid hardcore fans reside.

The Senators now have a strong group of character guys that you need, but no team wins the Stanley Cup without the elite offensive players (or at least one, in the case of Carolina), especially in the "new NHL".

Just take a look at the current Cup final. Both Chicago and Philadelphia have many different components of skill and grit. Some players are pure goal scorers and are lucky to have one hit a night. Others carry their stick like a shovel and are there to bash brains in when needed. It's a formula that is tried and true.

But what's Ottawa's formula going forward? How do you win a Stanley Cup without a number one centre? Without an elite shutdown defenseman? Without a winger that will score you 40 to 50 goals a year?

If Jason Spezza has asked to be traded, as I believe he may have, the Senators are in a world of trouble going forward. Murray will never get equal value in a trade and he is in a situation where his franchise player, Alfredsson, needs to win now because of his age. If Murray decides he wants to tear it down, he has only one player in the stable who could possibly carry the tag of franchise player, and that's Karlsson.

That's what happens when you let unique talent either leave or get unhappy. You turn into a mediocre team. Sure, you save money for Eugene Melnyk, or you take that saved money and throw it away on average players to compensate for losing the better ones. Players like Michalek and Kovalev are good examples. They are fill-ins for losing a 50 goal scorer. Like someone once said, "Nice guys are nice, but get me some assholes who can play".

And where has Murray been when all this talent has become unhappy in the nations capital? He's sat by the sidelines as the fans and media rip into players beyond all reason and has barely lifted a finger to defend anybody. He has finally come out in defense of Spezza by saying that he's an easy target because when his game is off, he looks bad because he's not a physical player. That's a fairly tepid defense and has come far too late. The toothpaste is out of the tube.

Do you think old-school guys like Brian Burke or Glen Sather would let the fans and media get away with so many rip-jobs on their players without saying a word? If Murray is unhappy with a player, he should say it. Likewise, he should defend them to death as well. Murray didn't have any trouble ripping into broadcaster Jim Fox a few years ago when Fox suggested that Murray incited violence after a Kings-Sens game got out of control. We know Murray has the fire. So why isn't Murray protecting his most valuable assets when they get ripped all day long on team sponsor stations like the Team 1200, where making a mockery of Spezza and his personality has been a staple for years now?

Many people will be happy to see Spezza leave town, just like they were happy to see the others leave.

But haven't you noticed that the team just isn't that good anymore?

Can you connect the dots here at all?

Jacques Gets Some Glory... Finally

A big congratulations goes out to the Montreal Canadiens and their bevy of ex-Senators, including assistant coaches Perry Pearn, Pierre Groulx, GM Pierre Gauthier, Strength coach Lorne Goldenberg, Director of Player Development Trevor Timmins and, of course, Head coach Jacques Martin.

If any coach in the NHL was due for some playoff success, it's got to be Jacques.

I sit here completely astonished that the Habs were able to beat both the Caps and the defending champs Pens in two seven game series.

Simply unbelievable.

Jaroslave Halak is literally turning into this decade's version of Dominik Hasek, a Euro goalie who comes basically out of nowhere to lift an average but spirited team into the big time.

And what if Boston wins their series?

A Habs/Bruins conference final? Are you kidding me?

It will be epic.

The only downfall I can see is that, win or lose, the Habs fans will be insufferable next year in whatever building they take over.

***

Not a lot of posting happening at Black Aces lately, and that's on purpose. I need a break and some time to enjoy other things in life. Whenever something big happens in Senators land, we'll be back.

Until then... enjoy the playoffs. I certainly am.