Pat Burns on Jason Spezza

On 730AM Radio, every morning, Pat Burns has a daily 1/2 hour segment (it's awesome). He was talking about Jason Spezza and the fact that he had spent quite a bit of time with him during the world tournament last year.

Basically, he said that Spezz was a good kid; a guy that loves everything about hockey except hard work. Loves hanging out with the guys, loves to laugh and thinks everything is funny.

At one point, Burns pulled him aside and asked him what he wanted to do with his career. Asked him if he wanted to be another Lindros, a guy that had an impact, a bunch of medals but who never won anything in the NLH. He says Spezz looked at him with a "what are you talking about look" ...

Burns said that Spezza was lucky to play on a line with Heatley. Said Heatley was a very smart player who knows exactly what's going on on the ice and a tireless worker.

He finished the thing by saying that Spezza needed to gain maturity; preferably this century but he wasn't sure whether there was enough time left to the century.

Cheers.

Ouch. I just keep giving this guy time, because once he does mature, holy Dung...watch out.

I guess that this will add more fuel to the trade Spezza parade.

Don't look at it as a negative, why are guys like Hartsburg and Burns focusing on Spezza do you think? Because they care about him. If they didn't, they'd have no reason to say anything at all (other than Craig). But Burns obviously wants the most and best out of Spezza, and his approach is to be critical in hopes of angering Spezza into becoming a better player.

He said this stuff at the world championships, so if it didnt sink in there, then who knows if it will. I think his game is better all around this year, but time is running out for the guy and Murray will trade him if he thinks the Sens are just spinning their wheels with Spezza, despite him saying Spezza isnt going anywhere. You arnt going to say, "ya he is on the block".

I did not know about this Burns conversation until now, and I was always of the opinion that Spezza needs to sort a lot of things out, this just confirms it. Burns is also clearly saying that Heatley and Alfi make Spezza better, not the other way around.

Spezza needs to make Vermette a lot better than he is looking, and so far he has failed despite an improvement in his defensive game and where he turns the puck over on the ice.

People say "when he matures he will be unstoppable", well he may never mature, some people dont. Professional athletes arnt above normal human behaviours.

I hope it works. It's scary to think how good this guy could be if he finally got his Dung together.

An interesting story, Spezza was supposed to do a promo for Rogers TV/Mississauga Majors when the Sens were in town vs. the Leafs, however it fell through because he wanted the crew to either provide him with a limousine to transport him to the arena or else to come to his hotel room. Sucks cause I would have gotten to be a part of that shoot and met him.

On another Spezza/Mississauga related note, a local car dealership, Laurie Williamson (a guy btw) is running a contest to win a pair of tickets, transportation and accommodation to see Spezza and the Sens in April I think, in Ottawa. Spezza was in a video promo for that one.

I fully believe Spezza can be a better player, which is scary considering how good he is already. But there is something to him about his attitude, because he was bounced around in the OHL from team to team.

DashRiprock wrote:An interesting story, Spezza was supposed to do a promo for Rogers TV/Mississauga Majors when the Sens were in town vs. the Leafs, however it fell through because he wanted the crew to either provide him with a limousine to transport him to the arena or else to come to his hotel room. Sucks cause I would have gotten to be a part of that shoot and met him.

On another Spezza/Mississauga related note, a local car dealership, Laurie Williamson (a guy btw) is running a contest to win a pair of tickets, transportation and accommodation to see Spezza and the Sens in April I think, in Ottawa. Spezza was in a video promo for that one.

I fully believe Spezza can be a better player, which is scary considering how good he is already. But there is something to him about his attitude, because he was bounced around in the OHL from team to team.

Well ya, there are a ton of people who have been saying this for years and people choose to ignore it because he puts up good numbers. Spezza puts himself above everyone else and has for a long time. An extremely selfish person, again, it all goes back to him maturing. Its one thing to say all the right things, its another to actually believe it and put them into action.

And if that is true about the Major, that may be a MAJOR mistake considering Melnyk owns the team. I cant imagine even Spezza being that stupid.

This whole Spezza thing is annoying to me. Okay, the guy is really immature, we all know that...but at the same time, I've seen his game improving year after year. Especially the year we went to the Cup, he transformed into a defensively minded offensive player overnight. Yes, he still has some pretty nasty giveaways, but I do find that he will try to right his wrongs when he does that. If he can catch up to the guy, he will and he usually makes a nifty play to get the puck back, if the guy is too far for him to catch, our D usually have his back. All of our players know how Spezza plays, and they're very aware when he's on the ice. Yes, he needs to limit the turnovers, but overall, he's AWESOME! And when he's on, he's one of the best players in the league, turnovers or not. I think we should all be patient, it's only 12 games into the season, he can only get better...Right?

Well it is true, from what I am told. I showed up at the Hershey Center and was informed by my producers about the whole thing, and one of them is a closet Spezza fan.

TSN had an interview with Spezza today about Hartsburg calling him out. He didn't giggle once during the interview.

Progress?

I hope so.

SensGirl11 wrote:This whole Spezza thing is annoying to me. Okay, the guy is really immature, we all know that...but at the same time, I've seen his game improving year after year. Especially the year we went to the Cup, he transformed into a defensively minded offensive player overnight. Yes, he still has some pretty nasty giveaways, but I do find that he will try to right his wrongs when he does that. If he can catch up to the guy, he will and he usually makes a nifty play to get the puck back, if the guy is too far for him to catch, our D usually have his back. All of our players know how Spezza plays, and they're very aware when he's on the ice. Yes, he needs to limit the turnovers, but overall, he's AWESOME! And when he's on, he's one of the best players in the league, turnovers or not. I think we should all be patient, it's only 12 games into the season, he can only get better...Right?

Spezza is payed to make others better, an so far in his NHL career, he has not. Everyone not named Alfi or Heatey fail to produce with Spezza. His game away from the puck is getting a lot better, no one is saying its not, and it better be with his lack of production. All that said, he is making 7 million for what? To feed a puck to Heatley? No, he HAS TO make played around him better.

You think guys like Kevin Stevens would be anything without Lemieux? Not a chance. Spezza's job is to make others better, and he may not get any better. Can you imagine what Spezza's numbers would be without Heatley or Alfi? He wouldnt be a point per game player.

shabbs wrote:TSN had an interview with Spezza today about Hartsburg calling him out. He didn't giggle once during the interview.

Progress?

I hope so.

Haha, if we are basing Spezza's progress on not giggling in an interview haha, we r in trouble.

I would agree with you that he has played a lot better defensively this year. I think the line is having a hard time producing with Vermette on the wing but that things will get better. I just thought that Burns' insight was interesting. I would also love to have been a fly on the wall when Spezz got a talking to by Yzerman.

Again, everyone involved with the Senators, of course, and as well as Team Canada, want Spezza to improve. They like him obviously enough to want to help him.