GAME DAY: Montreal Canadiens @ Ottawa Senators - 2:00pm ET - Sat. Jan. 30. 2010

Flo The Action wrote:yawn.... :blah:
i still think that spezza's play started going down this season when he came back early from injury (around the 15 game mark if i remember correctly) forcing him to play injured. we all liked how he played at the biggening and now. sure he makes 7 mill. sure he hasn't the track record to show he deserves it.
will he start earning it now? maybe
is it detrimental to this team to get rid of him? i don't think so.
could this be a savard like player?(for years having a bad rep and now showing that he was worth it). quite possibly.

not saying he's not gonna go back to his old ways. i think it's 50/50.
but if he is gonna play like he is now and we let him go, we are fool.

PKC wrote:

N4L wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

PKC wrote:

He scored a goal yesterday, and almost had another one on what should have certainly been called a penalty shot. I for one think Spezza's been fantastic since he came back from his injury. He just looks like he cares out there.

That end to end rush in OT is the kind of rush very few players in the league can pull off. He basically skated directly at 3 habs with 1 hanging off of him from behind and then went straight through them.

I just don't know what more you guys want the guy to do. He's gonna have to average 15 points a game for some of you to get off his back.

Honestly, I'd settle for what he's done over the last for games, plus just a tad more consistency when he's handling the puck (which has been better this year all around). He's been shooting more and driving to the net more, both of which are things he absolutely needs to keep doing.

We're not asking for the moon. We're asking for a $7mil, 1st liner to play like one -- with consistency, game in and game out. Don't like this four-game streak wipe out years of inconsistency and turnovers, etc., including a very poor 1st half to start this year.

Right there, that's why I havnt really said a whole bunch about him but this thread was going before I said a word. People bring up Spezza's short comings and look at the overall picture of The Sens and the game being played and people act like he is being bashed for no reason.

I agree with you guys on that front, he does need to shoot more and drive the net more, but you also have to take into consideration his style of play. He's not a power forward as much as some of you want him to be, he's a play maker. It's just now he's realizing he probably has the best shot on this team and is considerably better than his linemates' (with the exception of Alfredsson).

But the guy is a passer, first and foremost. He's played that way since he was six years old. And people on here just expect that to change. I don't think there's been anything wrong with his game lately and I don't see any reason for his play to regress again like it did earlier this year.

<BLOCKQUOTE>N4L wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE>rooneypoo wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE>PKC wrote:

He scored a goal yesterday, and almost had another one on what should have certainly been called a penalty shot. I for one think Spezza's been fantastic since he came back from his injury. He just looks like he cares out there.

That end to end rush in OT is the kind of rush very few players in the league can pull off. He basically skated directly at 3 habs with 1 hanging off of him from behind and then went straight through them.

I just don't know what more you guys want the guy to do. He's gonna have to average 15 points a game for some of you to get off his back.
</BLOCKQUOTE>

Honestly, I'd settle for what he's done over the last for games, plus just a tad more consistency when he's handling the puck (which has been better this year all around). He's been shooting more and driving to the net more, both of which are things he absolutely needs to keep doing.

We're not asking for the moon. We're asking for a $7mil, 1st liner to play like one -- with consistency, game in and game out. Don't like this four-game streak wipe out years of inconsistency and turnovers, etc., including a very poor 1st half to start this year.
</BLOCKQUOTE>

Right there, that's why I havnt really said a whole bunch about him but this thread was going before I said a word. People bring up Spezza's short comings and look at the overall picture of The Sens and the game being played and people act like he is being bashed for no reason.
</BLOCKQUOTE>


I agree with you guys on that front, he does need to shoot more and drive the net more, but you also have to take into consideration his style of play. He's not a power forward as much as some of you want him to be, he's a play maker. It's just now he's realizing he probably has the best shot on this team and is considerably better than his linemates' (with the exception of Alfredsson).

But the guy is a passer, first and foremost. He's played that way since he was six years old. And people on here just expect that to change. I don't think there's been anything wrong with his game lately and I don't see any reason for his play to regress again like it did earlier this year.

N4L wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:yawn.... :blah:
i still think that spezza's play started going down this season when he came back early from injury (around the 15 game mark if i remember correctly) forcing him to play injured. we all liked how he played at the biggening and now. sure he makes 7 mill. sure he hasn't the track record to show he deserves it.
will he start earning it now? maybe
is it detrimental to this team to get rid of him? i don't think so.
could this be a savard like player?(for years having a bad rep and now showing that he was worth it). quite possibly.

not saying he's not gonna go back to his old ways. i think it's 50/50.
but if he is gonna play like he is now and we let him go, we are fool.

See, this is somewhat reasonable. That's why in terms of trading the guy or not, I dont have an opinion because I trust Murray. What he has done with this team along with Clouston after what Muckler did to this team farm system and the spot Heatley left them in is amazing.

even for 7 mill, i don't expect spezza to be the best player defencively. if he can play like he has in the pas little while, i'm fine with that. i think we expect way too much from him.

Spezza will never be the leader of The Sens, but to actually help this team he has to be a guy that can be counted on in all situations. Like I said before, that Boston game where he was on in the last min of play, flipped the puck out of the zone to avoid some serious pressure from The Bruins was just about the smartest play I have ever seen Spezza make, that could have saved the game for The Sens. Who cares if he scored a goal that game, fact is when it mattered he was able to do the right thing and contribute to the win besides putting up a point or two.

Right now, even yesterday, you saw a lot of good, but as much good as you saw, there was an equal amount of bad. One that sticks out was trying to beat a D man at his own blueline with some fancy crap that and he turned it right over, thats cant happen. If that's the playoffs and Gonchar he is the guy who gives it up to, with Malkin and Crosby down low in the zone, it's in the net. If that happend in an OT game, Spezza would be shipped out of town right when the game finished. Those things will cost him and The Sens.

Offensivly, this is as good as I have seen him in a while and he's getting into dirty area's. He has changed his game a bit and he had to because what he was doing before was not working.

beerandsens wrote:

N4L wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

PKC wrote:

He scored a goal yesterday, and almost had another one on what should have certainly been called a penalty shot. I for one think Spezza's been fantastic since he came back from his injury. He just looks like he cares out there.

That end to end rush in OT is the kind of rush very few players in the league can pull off. He basically skated directly at 3 habs with 1 hanging off of him from behind and then went straight through them.

I just don't know what more you guys want the guy to do. He's gonna have to average 15 points a game for some of you to get off his back.

Honestly, I'd settle for what he's done over the last for games, plus just a tad more consistency when he's handling the puck (which has been better this year all around). He's been shooting more and driving to the net more, both of which are things he absolutely needs to keep doing.

We're not asking for the moon. We're asking for a $7mil, 1st liner to play like one -- with consistency, game in and game out. Don't like this four-game streak wipe out years of inconsistency and turnovers, etc., including a very poor 1st half to start this year.

Right there, that's why I havnt really said a whole bunch about him but this thread was going before I said a word. People bring up Spezza's short comings and look at the overall picture of The Sens and the game being played and people act like he is being bashed for no reason.

I agree with you guys on that front, he does need to shoot more and drive the net more, but you also have to take into consideration his style of play. He's not a power forward as much as some of you want him to be, he's a play maker. It's just now he's realizing he probably has the best shot on this team and is considerably better than his linemates' (with the exception of Alfredsson).

But the guy is a passer, first and foremost. He's played that way since he was six years old. And people on here just expect that to change. I don't think there's been anything wrong with his game lately and I don't see any reason for his play to regress again like it did earlier this year.

I don't want him to be a power forward. It's easy to recognize that he is a playmaker, but over the years he has not been a $7mil playmaker in my honest opinion. If his play was this strong for a longer period of time I would have more confidence that his impending NTC isn't a big deal. But this part of his game has been the exception, not the rule, so it's hard to just jump on board and forget all of the negatives we have seen since the cup run.

Hemlock makes a good point stating that Spezza isn't to blame for his own contract. And my goal isn't to blame Spezza. Murray has an opportunity to atone for his mistake if he truly believes he made a mistake and the return is decent.

I understand that people really believe Spezza has been playing good hockey, what I can't understand is how people think you can't even CONSIDER trading the guy... it's true that he would have to play ever better to warrant that much confidence from me and a few other posters here.

beerandsens wrote:^ well you don't have to worry about that trade possibility anymore

beerandsens wrote:^ well you don't have to worry about that trade possibility anymore

garblar wrote: you never know, kinda seems like burke is playing nhl10

garblar wrote:

beerandsens wrote:^ well you don't have to worry about that trade possibility anymore

you never know, kinda seems like burke is playing nhl10

SpezDispenser wrote:

garblar wrote:

beerandsens wrote:^ well you don't have to worry about that trade possibility anymore

you never know, kinda seems like burke is playing nhl10

True.

SpezDispenser wrote:

garblar wrote:

beerandsens wrote:^ well you don't have to worry about that trade possibility anymore

you never know, kinda seems like burke is playing nhl10

True.

marakh wrote:http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=515776&navid=DL|NHL|home