This is now Spezza's Team

With Alfi departing and without the Sens coming out and saying it, this is now Spezza's team. There will be a day in the next 2 weeks or so where they announce that Spezza is now the captain of the Ottawa Senators and people should embrace this. This team needs to build around a new player, no question about it and especially because Spezza has 2 years left on his deal and they need to make sure that things are firmly focused on him, he is the franchise center here in Ottawa.

That said, today if they sign Clarkson it should be all the more reason to believe this was a Spezza based decision and one where he probably said "if you don't land Clarkson here in Ottawa I will make sure I follow him to Toronto" which is fair on his end. This is the time to move forward as the Ottawa Senators and not the Ottawa Alfie's. It had to happen at some point and I have always maintained that the team comes first... it still holds true.

Like him or not and a lot of people don't, Spezza is the guy that Ottawa has to support and stand with going forward. He won't be Alfie but maybe Spezza can create his own legacy as a Senator and make this city proud. Gotta give it a chance.

NEELY wrote:With Alfi departing and without the Sens coming out and saying it, this is now Spezza's team.  There will be a day in the next 2 weeks or so where they announce that Spezza is now the captain of the Ottawa Senators and people should embrace this.  This team needs to build around a new player, no question about it and especially because Spezza has 2 years left on his deal and they need to make sure that things are firmly focused on him, he is the franchise center here in Ottawa.

That said, today if they sign Clarkson it should be all the more reason to believe this was a Spezza based decision and one where he probably said "if you don't land Clarkson here in Ottawa I will make sure I follow him to Toronto" which is fair on his end.  This is the time to move forward as the Ottawa Senators and not the Ottawa Alfie's.  It had to happen at some point and I have always maintained that the team comes first... it still holds true.

Like him or not and a lot of people don't, Spezza is the guy that Ottawa has to support and stand with going forward.  He won't be Alfie but maybe Spezza can create his own legacy as a Senator and make this city proud.  Gotta give it a chance.

I like him. I can see him being the sort of guy to have written The Alfie a cheque from his own pocket if it was about money.

Would be nice to see The Gene get behind Spezza too with a few bucks spent on some support.

Spezza getting a close friend to play with, the C, and a young team around him to lead should be all he needs to resign here in Ottawa. If Clarkson doesn't get signed today that's a signal the Sens are in a lot of trouble on and off the ice. Clarkson signing IMO is the biggest move in Sens history at this point because the panic is starting to set in for people.

Spezza needs everyone who is a fan to support him even people like myself who are not his biggest fans. The media gets on him, the fans get on him, and it's over for him in Ottawa. Hopefully he is a leader and the leader the Sens need, again he doesn't have to be Alfi but he needs to bring something to his game on ice and a lot off it to show people this is the guy that should be there in Alfie's spot. Can he do it? No idea but he should be given enough rope to hang himself or be the guy that raises the Cup for the Sens. Hope it comes true.

I will be puting the C and #19 on my blank jersey

I'll never wear a #19 jersey but he's a guy that I will support without question now unless he proves he isn't the guy everyone had hoped for. Go Spezza, go Sens.

I love Spezza. He should have been the C, starting in 14/15.

NEELY wrote:I'll never wear a #19 jersey but he's a guy that I will support without question now unless he proves he isn't the guy everyone had hoped for.  Go Spezza, go Sens.  

This has pretty much happened.

I didn't put the c and #19 on my blank jersey

This just shows I really wanted him to work out... I was cheering for him and the Sens but it's totally blown up in everyones face.

NEELY wrote:I'll never wear a #19 jersey but he's a guy that I will support without question now unless he proves he isn't the guy everyone had hoped for.  Go Spezza, go Sens.  

LOL. Love the openended-ness of this...

"I love him if he's awesome, but if he sucks, Diddle him and run him out of town."

I was never sold on him but he had to be given a chance... it's been awful.

NEELY wrote:I was never sold on him but he had to be given a chance... it's been awful.

Ya, i've been gunning for spezza for years, waiting to see some signs of maturity. there has been times in the last couple of years where he's shown that maybe but now it's just a wrong. i'm not sure, maybe he doesn't even understand what needs to be done. the one thing we can see though is that it's not looking like he will put it together, he's looking at the down side of his career and we better act fast in parting ways before he becomes even less valuable.

This is ridiculous. It's been 20 games.

tim1_2 wrote:This is ridiculous.  It's been 20 games.

Seriously. Of course he isn't excellent at the job yet, he's barely had time to figure it out.