GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Montreal Canadiens - 3:00pm ET - Feb. 21st, 2009

Neely4Life wrote:There is always an excuse for Spezza, and if he is hurt, and it is his back, then we may have a lemon on our hands now dont we. A bad back at 25, it doesnt go away. Just more reason to get rid of him while we still can.

Take aways sure, he has the most ice of any forward aside from Alfi.

An injury prone, bad back, defensive liability, with a questionable attitude... def worth 49 mil.

Goodness. Mario had a bad back. And if that wasn't enough, he went out and got cancer! The really should ave gotten rid of him when they had the chance.

cash wrote:The Anaheim Ducks.

Getzlaf.

wprager wrote:

cash wrote:The Anaheim Ducks.

Getzlaf.

...wasn't the number 1 center when they won the Cup.

Spezza isnt a top center in the NHL. He is a good offensive guy, thats about it.

We can do the whole list of centers who are better than Spezza again, but we have been there.

Spezza is not a 7 million dollar player, and he is not a top center in the league. You can say he has all the potential to be, and I will agree with that, he does. He doesnt have the attitude to be or the drive. He will prob go on to have a career like Pierre Turgeon, tons of points, bounced around, never really amounted to much.

Spezza has done nothing to warrent a 7 million dollar salary. If he made 4.5 mil still on a 3 year contract, we wouldnt be having this discussion. Fact of the matter is, the next 6 years after this are riding on Spezza. If this goes on next year as well, and he has an NTC and chooses to stay here, then what?

EDIT: Also he has a bad back that may get worse... if his back is going to be a consistant bother, then he might have peaked in terms of production at a very young age.

There is nothng but potential keeping him here.

cash wrote:

wprager wrote:

cash wrote:The Anaheim Ducks.

Getzlaf.

...wasn't the number 1 center when they won the Cup.

you could argue either way on that one. He was turning into one, was he there yet? Dunno, maybe... thats a tough discussion.

cash wrote:The Anaheim Ducks.

Getzlaf and McDonald is way better than Fisher and Vermette.

Neely4Life wrote:Spezza isnt a top center in the NHL. He is a good offensive guy, thats about it.

We can do the whole list of centers who are better than Spezza again, but we have been there.

Ah yes, the good ol' fashioned "flavour of the month" list.

Spezza was 6th in scoring last season. He's a top player in this league.

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:Spezza isnt a top center in the NHL. He is a good offensive guy, thats about it.

We can do the whole list of centers who are better than Spezza again, but we have been there.

Ah yes, the good ol' fashioned "flavour of the month" list.

Spezza was 6th in scoring last season. He's a top player in this league.

If scoring was all that mattered we would have 3 or 4 cups.

Alfi is slowing down and so is Spezza's production... they are directly related.

Has Spezza proven he can play without Alfi and produce? Everyone knows the answer to this one, dont pretend it is anything but no.

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:Spezza isnt a top center in the NHL. He is a good offensive guy, thats about it.

We can do the whole list of centers who are better than Spezza again, but we have been there.

Ah yes, the good ol' fashioned "flavour of the month" list.

Spezza was 6th in scoring last season. He's a top player in this league.

Also, a top player in this league wouldnt get close to the amount of heat Spezza does. Other teams wouldnt call him "easy to play against" either.

Neely4Life wrote:

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:Spezza isnt a top center in the NHL. He is a good offensive guy, thats about it.

We can do the whole list of centers who are better than Spezza again, but we have been there.

Ah yes, the good ol' fashioned "flavour of the month" list.

Spezza was 6th in scoring last season. He's a top player in this league.

If scoring was all that mattered we would have 3 or 4 cups.

Alfi is slowing down and so is Spezza's production... they are directly related.

Has Spezza proven he can play without Alfi and produce? Everyone knows the answer to this one, dont pretend it is anything but no.

Put up 55 points in his rookie season without him.

Started out strongly to the 2005-2006 season without playing with him.

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:Spezza isnt a top center in the NHL. He is a good offensive guy, thats about it.

We can do the whole list of centers who are better than Spezza again, but we have been there.

Ah yes, the good ol' fashioned "flavour of the month" list.

Spezza was 6th in scoring last season. He's a top player in this league.

If scoring was all that mattered we would have 3 or 4 cups.

Alfi is slowing down and so is Spezza's production... they are directly related.

Has Spezza proven he can play without Alfi and produce? Everyone knows the answer to this one, dont pretend it is anything but no.

Put up 55 points in his rookie season without him.

Started out strongly to the 2005-2006 season without playing with him.

His rookie season he was loaded with tallent around him.

Ok, let me rephrase since you are going to nit pick every point to try and defend a 7 million dollar bomb of a contract. Has he proved he can be the go to guy? Has he proved that he can make others around him better? Has he proved that he can be counted on like a 7 million dollar player should be?

It wasnt to long ago Datsyuk and Zetterberg were considered easy to play against.

Neely4Life wrote:

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:Spezza isnt a top center in the NHL. He is a good offensive guy, thats about it.

We can do the whole list of centers who are better than Spezza again, but we have been there.

Ah yes, the good ol' fashioned "flavour of the month" list.

Spezza was 6th in scoring last season. He's a top player in this league.

If scoring was all that mattered we would have 3 or 4 cups.

Alfi is slowing down and so is Spezza's production... they are directly related.

Has Spezza proven he can play without Alfi and produce? Everyone knows the answer to this one, dont pretend it is anything but no.

Put up 55 points in his rookie season without him.

Started out strongly to the 2005-2006 season without playing with him.

His rookie season he was loaded with tallent around him.

Ok, let me rephrase since you are going to nit pick every point to try and defend a 7 million dollar bomb of a contract. Has he proved he can be the go to guy? Has he proved that he can make others around him better? Has he proved that he can be counted on like a 7 million dollar player should be?

He hasn't been the go-to guy and that's my biggest criticism of him. But in regards to making other players better, I don't think it's a coincidence that Alfredsson's production levels soared when he began playing with Spezza.

Also, in his rookie season, IIRC Bryan Smolinski was his line-mate. Not exactly a great talent.

Alfi produces every where he plays, and he played under Martin for almost 10 years. He was still almost a PPG there, and he is the most complete player on that team, still is.

When Alfi is out, Spezza is basically useless. When Spezza is out, the team wins.

Fact of the matter is, Spezza is not a 7 million dollar player. Spezza has not proven he can be the go to guy. Spezza's production has gone down in 2 consistant years now. Spezza also has a bad back that could very well be effecting his play, and he has had it for a while. Thats a lose/lose right there. A center with a 7 year deal who may not be able to stay healthy, and a center with a 7 year deal who decided to show up when he wants... you make the call.

Neely4Life wrote:

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:

asq2 wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:Spezza isnt a top center in the NHL. He is a good offensive guy, thats about it.

We can do the whole list of centers who are better than Spezza again, but we have been there.

Ah yes, the good ol' fashioned "flavour of the month" list.

Spezza was 6th in scoring last season. He's a top player in this league.

If scoring was all that mattered we would have 3 or 4 cups.

Alfi is slowing down and so is Spezza's production... they are directly related.

Has Spezza proven he can play without Alfi and produce? Everyone knows the answer to this one, dont pretend it is anything but no.

Put up 55 points in his rookie season without him.

Started out strongly to the 2005-2006 season without playing with him.

His rookie season he was loaded with tallent around him.

Ok, let me rephrase since you are going to nit pick every point to try and defend a 7 million dollar bomb of a contract. Has he proved he can be the go to guy? Has he proved that he can make others around him better? Has he proved that he can be counted on like a 7 million dollar player should be?

Is it possible to talk about something else other than Spezza. I think we all got your point on where you stand and for the most part its an agree to disagree opinion.

I didnt start the Spezza convo. Simly replied to a post and we have been discussing it ever since.

Like it or not, the decision that is going to be made about Spezza and his contract is prob the main issue in Ottawa right now.