SpezDispenser wrote:NEELY wrote:SpezDispenser wrote:I don't know about that at all Cash. There's no excuse for his play or the team's play really, but we've been playing some pretty good teams and Spezza has over a PPG now.
Let me know where he is at when the west coast road trip is over at the end of Nov.
Okay, but we've played Detroit, Toronto, Philly, Washington, Minny, Winnipeg and the Avs. The only two teams in there that are garbage are Minny and Wiinipeg, so he's faced 5 teams that I would consider either playoff teams, or close to it (perhaps the Avs and Toronto fit into a ? category) and he's tied for 4th in the league for points.
I'm not saying he doesn't have a long way to go - his giveaways last night alone drove me crazy, but it's not as if he's not producing against good teams.
Oh, but NEELY said he produces against bad teams, or when it doesn't matter (like when they are down five goals). What NEELY needs is an example where Spezza scores or assists on the tying or winning goal against a playoff-bound team, not while the Sens are on a powerplay, and when the Sens themselves are expected to make the playoffs (otherwise there is "no pressure" and it's a "nothing game").
Of course in order for the Sens to be a playoff-bound team, it will take more than a 39-year-old captain, a guy with two reconstructed knees and Spezza to drive the team bus, at which point NEELY will simply say that Spezza plays fine when surrounded by elite talent.
What he wants Spezza to do put this team on his back and drag them, kicking and screaming, into the playoffs. And do that on a consistent basis. Spezza just isn't that kind of player. No-one is that kind of player. *THAT* is the reason why I brought Mario in as an example but, of course, the only response NEELY could muster was that I shouldn't use Mario and Spezza in the same post. Completely missed that I was not comparing them, but simply stating that one of the greatest centers ever in this game could not put the team on his back and cary them into the playoffs until he was surrounded by *some* talent.