Alfie Speaks Out

SpezDispenser wrote:

hemlock wrote:
The homer in me does too, but rationally, I thank my lucky stars that BM is our GM. He's got the patience of a monk. The temptation to take less to rid himself of a problem must be huge.

Absolutely, he should be commended. But the Edmonton deal didn't exactly blow me out of the water to be honest.

Amen. I like Cogliano, but Smid and Penner don't really do it for me. To me, I'd rather have Cheechoo and Michalek+ then take on Cogs/Penner/Smid.

Penner is fat and lazy. Cheechoo's work ethic is still there. I think Cheechoo would get back to his previous form before Penner would.

Penner is also 100% capable of playing on a number 1 line and producing 20 plus goals a year. Cogliano has speed to burn and tons of offensive upside, perhaps the perfect 2nd line center. Smid, well, gonna need a replacement after A Train bolts, same mold.

That Edmonton deal was decent. Better then Cheechoo and Michalek anyways.

N4L wrote:Penner is also 100% capable of playing on a number 1 line and producing 20 plus goals a year. Cogliano has speed to burn and tons of offensive upside, perhaps the perfect 2nd line center. Smid, well, gonna need a replacement after A Train bolts, same mold.

That Edmonton deal was decent. Better then Cheechoo and Michalek anyways.

Agree to disagree I guess. I'd prefer the Michalek/Cheechoo plus a prospect package.

hemlock wrote:

N4L wrote:Penner is also 100% capable of playing on a number 1 line and producing 20 plus goals a year. Cogliano has speed to burn and tons of offensive upside, perhaps the perfect 2nd line center. Smid, well, gonna need a replacement after A Train bolts, same mold.

That Edmonton deal was decent. Better then Cheechoo and Michalek anyways.

Agree to disagree I guess. I'd prefer the Michalek/Cheechoo plus a prospect package.

As a fan of both teams I think edmonton would have won that deal hands down. I like Cogliano, but Penner's contract is an albatross and Smid is a third pairing Volchenkov.

Heatley is going to be traded, its only a matter of time. His value is at an all time low. No way that the Edmonton offer is the best that Heatley could have scored if his trade request hadn't gone public. Its better for Murray to let him try out for the Olympic team and play some great hockey, all the while helping the Senators in a critical year.

His trade value can only go up. Plus it gives us Ottawans some time to let Heatley know how we feel.

Makes no sense to trade a back-to-back 50 goal scorer for a bag of pucks and some draft picks. No SENSE.

“We’ve had players, and there have been teams before, where you have
guys that you don’t like on the team, but when it comes to stepping on
the ice, everybody just has to work towards the same goal,” said
Alfredsson.

I found this passage pretty interesting. I might be just reading too much into it, but it doesn't sound positive towards Heatley at all.

SpezDispenser wrote:“We’ve had players, and there have been teams before, where you have
guys that you don’t like on the team, but when it comes to stepping on
the ice, everybody just has to work towards the same goal,” said
Alfredsson.

I found this passage pretty interesting. I might be just reading too much into it, but it doesn't sound positive towards Heatley at all.

Like I said, that whole Alfredsson interview didn't seem welcoming/positive towards Heatley.

SpezDispenser wrote:“We’ve had players, and there have been teams before, where you have
guys that you don’t like on the team, but when it comes to stepping on
the ice, everybody just has to work towards the same goal,” said
Alfredsson.

I found this passage pretty interesting. I might be just reading too much into it, but it doesn't sound positive towards Heatley at all.

I don't think it was directed at anyone, it's just fact. No team in this league has players who all love each other. That's human nature.

jamvan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:“We’ve had players, and there have been teams before, where you have
guys that you don’t like on the team, but when it comes to stepping on
the ice, everybody just has to work towards the same goal,” said
Alfredsson.

I found this passage pretty interesting. I might be just reading too much into it, but it doesn't sound positive towards Heatley at all.

I don't think it was directed at anyone, it's just fact. No team in this league has players who all love each other. That's human nature.

Agreed. He's just saying that it's not unheard of to have an unpopular player on a team, but that as professionals you still have a single goal -- to win. I think it is pretty obvious that Heatley will not be welcomed back with open arms. He does not want to be here; he has quit on the team, in a way. I don't think Alfredsson or any other player need to state the obvious, or to avoid stating it. As of now, Heatley is an outside, biding his time until he is traded. That still does not preclude him from being a top contributor on the team, but everyone is well aware that he is not here long-term, and no-one is happy to see him in the dressing room.

N4L wrote:Penner is also 100% capable of playing on a number 1 line and producing 20 plus goals a year. Cogliano has speed to burn and tons of offensive upside, perhaps the perfect 2nd line center. Smid, well, gonna need a replacement after A Train bolts, same mold.

That Edmonton deal was decent. Better then Cheechoo and Michalek anyways.

I agree except until Cog's can win faceoffs I think he makes a better winger than a center.

Penner is going to be better this year and if he was on a line with Spezza, Penner could easily pot 25+. It had been posted that with Penner on the same line both Horcoft and Hemsky they had better numbers than when he was on a different line because of the intangibles he brought to a game that arent recorded.

Smid is coming into his own and will be a solid addition to the defence. It took time for Atrain and Phillips time to come into their own and it is no different with Smid.

SpezDispenser wrote:Holy cow, to me the direct translation there is: Diddle I wish he was traded by now, but I understand why he's not. We don't want him here really, but we'll try to deal with the rat bastard.

This is exactly what he said.
Except with another word instead of "Diddle". And probably a few more directed adjectives in addition to "rat bastard".

jamvan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:“We’ve had players, and there have been teams before, where you have guys that you don’t like on the team, but when it comes to stepping on
the ice, everybody just has to work towards the same goal,” said
Alfredsson.

I found this passage pretty interesting. I might be just reading too much into it, but it doesn't sound positive towards Heatley at all.

I don't think it was directed at anyone, it's just fact. No team in this league has players who all love each other. That's human nature.

It would definitely be unlikely for everyone on a team to be "best buds", but Alfie is known for his restraint when it comes to the media. What he said here is about as unrestrained as he could be without ripping the team apart.

I think it's obvious that after the last couple of years with the Redden/Emery fiascos that the guys who are here for the long haul don't want anymore unnecessary distractions hanging over the locker room.

It's time for everyone to move forward, and this Heatley situation only keeps this team back from accomplishing that.

PKC wrote:I think it's obvious that after the last couple of years with the Redden/Emery fiascos that the guys who are here for the long haul don't want anymore unnecessary distractions hanging over the locker room.

It's time for everyone to move forward, and this Heatley situation only keeps this team back from accomplishing that.

This will probably be even worse especially if Heatley doesn't play well. I have a bad feeling about Heatley coming back

Sens19 wrote:

PKC wrote:I think it's obvious that after the last couple of years with the Redden/Emery fiascos that the guys who are here for the long haul don't want anymore unnecessary distractions hanging over the locker room.

It's time for everyone to move forward, and this Heatley situation only keeps this team back from accomplishing that.

This will probably be even worse especially if Heatley doesn't play well. I have a bad feeling about Heatley coming back

It's not that he won't play well, he's just too elite of a hockey talent to simply "not play well". The concern lies about the first few weeks of the season, when journalists have close to unlimited access to the players, it's just going to be a gong show asking every player their thoughts about the Dany Heatley situation or questions to that effect. And then everytime the guy is held of the scoresheet, there are going to be questions asked in public if he's trying hard enough, if he cares, blah blah blah...the players know this, we know this, Murray knows this, and so does the media (since that's how they plan on selling papers and winning air time).

It's going to be a circus if this guy is here.

PKC wrote:

Sens19 wrote:

PKC wrote:I think it's obvious that after the last couple of years with the Redden/Emery fiascos that the guys who are here for the long haul don't want anymore unnecessary distractions hanging over the locker room.

It's time for everyone to move forward, and this Heatley situation only keeps this team back from accomplishing that.

This will probably be even worse especially if Heatley doesn't play well. I have a bad feeling about Heatley coming back

It's not that he won't play well, he's just too elite of a hockey talent to simply "not play well". The concern lies about the first few weeks of the season, when journalists have close to unlimited access to the players, it's just going to be a gong show asking every player their thoughts about the Dany Heatley situation or questions to that effect. And then everytime the guy is held of the scoresheet, there are going to be questions asked in public if he's trying hard enough, if he cares, blah blah blah...the players know this, we know this, Murray knows this, and so does the media (since that's how they plan on selling papers and winning air time).

It's going to be a circus if this guy is here.

Does anyone really remember how bad it was when Yashin was here for his last season?

God, I shudder to think of having another Yashin scenario on our hands here. I'd trade this guy for a six pack of Sidney Crosby Gatorade and expired tickets to the Phantom of the Opera at the NAC to avoid having that situation again.

Does anyone really remember how bad it was when Yashin was here for his last season

Let`s not forget that the Yashin scenario turned out very well for us. So if Dastardly Dan isn`t traded before camp, we`re going to have to put up with a little short term pain for long term gain. It`s not the ideal situation, but it`s better than giving away a former 50 goal score for minimal return.