Around the League Part XIII: The season's here, and so still is this thread!

[saskriders]

**** media running Spezza out of town.

And I guarantee Hemsky was going to whatever team Spezza did

 

[Caeldan]

**** media running Spezza out of town.

And I guarantee Hemsky was going to whatever team Spezza did

Yep. By trading Spezza we effectively moved Hemsky with him.

I wwould have loved to see a full season of those two together.

 

[BonkTastic]

**** media running Spezza out of town.

And I guarantee Hemsky was going to whatever team Spezza did

It was so nice of us to audition Hemsky & Spezza together for Dallas.

We're nice like that. Just nice guys, helpin' out Texas bros. Good ol' Canadian nice guys. We're just being nice all over the place.

... well luckily we're in the East

Ladies and Gentlemen, the official theme of the entire 2014/15 Eastern Conference.

 

[Super Cake]

Lol @ stars fans getting excited for spezza in a preseason game and it was a game against a possible bottom dweller next season.

Lets see how he stacks up in the regular season against more western teams.

 

[HavlatMach9]

he should stack up not too differently on the PP, they are rightly excited about that

 

[Super Cake]

I also have to add that it is still too early to declare that the Stars robbed Ottawa.

Didn't Coyotes fans say the same thing after the Turris trade?

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

1g 2a 3pts and a -2.
Classic Spezza.

...he was a minus player playing against a Florida team fielding nearly a dozen AHLers and teenagers?

He's got to fix that or Dallas fans won't love him for long.

 

[Knave]

It was so nice of us to audition Hemsky & Spezza together for Dallas.

We're nice like that. Just nice guys, helpin' out Texas bros. Good ol' Canadian nice guys. We're just being nice all over the place.





Ladies and Gentlemen, the official theme of the entire 2014/15 Eastern Conference.

We're branching out - at first it was just staff, particularly assistant GMs becoming GMs.

 

[Proust*]

Wow, Spezza racked up points on the PP! Who would have thought?

 

[Icelevel]

hemsky, spezza, seguin goal. that looks like fun.

not looking forward to playing dallas. spezza could humiliate us.

 

[BankStreetParade]

LOL @ Dallas fans re: Spezza's preseason game against Florida's AHL/ECHL team.

How does anyone know who "won" this trade? Why does everything always have to be analyzed instantly and a winner and loser declared before anyone even sees any sampling of results coming from the trade?

 

[Hale The Villain]

I thought we should have got more in return for Spezza given his status around the league as a #1 center, but Jim Nill is no fool. We were selling damaged goods. We've seen what happens to these skilled, one-dimensional scorers that grow old/are hampered by injuries - look at players like Brad Richards, Mike Richards, Rick Nash, Vincent Lecavalier - all were top line forwards a few seasons ago and now their value isn't close to what it was before. Spezza is in the same boat. We saw how pathetic he looked in the first 50 games of the 13/14 season; whether that was because of injury or not, it does not matter. The guy is an injury/year or two away from being regarded as highly as the players listed above.

The package may be underwhelming based on what we were expecting, but I think years later we'll be happy with the players/picks we got. Chiasson is well on his way to turning into a solid 2nd line forward that can put up 40-55 points a season. That's a pretty valuable player. I think Paul will emerge to be a prospect on the same level as a guy like Noesen or Puempel. Kid is going to break out huge this year. Guptill looks like a longshot prospect to me, but he's got NHL skill no question. And obviously we wanted a higher pick than a 2nd, but considering how deep the 2015 draft is looking, and how well our scouting staff has performed in recent years, I have no question that this teams scouting staff will be able to turn that 2nd into an NHL player.

Not a home-run return by any means, but it's still a step in the right direction for this franchise.

 

[Six Assets]

lots of jealous sens fans

its ok if spezza succeeds

 

[Benjamin]

Obviously Spezza is amazing offensively, especially on the PP. Cant wait to see their reactions once they start seeing his laziness and defensive game(Is it possible to see something that doesn't exsist?).

 

[aragorn]

**** media running Spezza out of town.

And I guarantee Hemsky was going to whatever team Spezza did

The media had absolutely nothing to do with Spezza leaving town. He had a good run here but never won the cup & last yr had a terrible minus yr. I for one won't miss him at all, in fact, I think the team will be a much better defensive team without him. I agree with the Villain Hale, his stock was dropping as was his play & he was starting to miss a lot of games due to injuries. We got younger & IMO we got a lot better without him. I thought the media wasn't harsh enough with his play & I doubt BM listens to what they say. Most on here think the media in this town don't know anything about hockey.

Signing Legwand & getting Chiasson back will replace Spezza's pts plus I think Stone will add some much needed offence to this team as well as Hoffman & Zibanejad should be better. I do wish they would have tried harder to keep Hemsky, although I'm quite sure he thought Dallas will be a much better team than Ottawa. BM also has a lot of cap space as well as a lot of assets that he can move to add whatever he needs to improve a weakness, I like our team more without Spezza.

 

[Benjamin]

Wow. I agree 100% with a post by aragorn.

 

[aragorn]

Wow. I agree 100% with a post by aragorn.

WOW ... The impossible happened.

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

lots of jealous sens fans

its ok if spezza succeeds

Yah man, he's going to take his killer instinct and supreme clutchness and win multiple Cups in Dallas.

 

[Knave]

Yah man, he's going to take his killer instinct and supreme clutchness and win multiple Cups in Dallas.

People joke about this but what exactly has Spezza won? A Spengler Cup on a team stacked with other Canadians?
He's good and there are some times where he appears to be on the verge of greatness but it's never happened. I don't see why it would now but you never know...
When you think of Spezza - "winner" isn't one of the things you think of... you think of stuff like "star", "talented", etc...

I'm not going to wish failure or success upon him - I've fallen upon indifference.

 

[Liliaceae]

lots of jealous sens fans

its ok if spezza succeeds

Most unappreciated Sens player. He's not hated they just don't give a **** about him.

May he kick our ***** each time we play him. I wish him the best in Dallas. I hope he thrives over there.

 

[Super Cake]

Regular season is almost here. Hockey is back baby.

 

[Ice-Tray]

I wish him well and hope that he's able to see success in Dallas. The usual suspects on here will always take their potshots when they can, no surprises there. Personally I think it's great that his new fanbase is warming to him. They have enough talent to let their stars be stars, which will bode well for the stars.

One good thing about him being gone is that as a topic he brought out the absolute worst in so many posters on this board. I've never seen this place be as miserable to visit as it has been for the last while. One bad thing is that the return was extremely underwhelming, and all are more likely to end up insignificant than the opposite, but we shall see.

Oh well, it was a break up, and they never go well; nothing left but to move on. We have the Ryan and Turris trades to continue to remind us that we have been on the receiving end of good trades as well.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

hemsky, spezza, seguin goal. that looks like fun.

not looking forward to playing dallas. spezza could humiliate us.

I wonder what's going to happen with Seguin. He was wildly successful in his "prove it" year after the dumping by Boston, and is adored in Dallas. Will it go to his head? Will he take a step back this year?

Spezza is starting his own "prove it" year right now. He has the ability to look very good...if his back cooperates. But long term, that's a different story.

It's like what one GM said, better to trade off that prime asset one year earlier than everyone thinks is the right time, than one year too late (slight paraphrasing). Did we do that? My gut says yes. Backs are such stupid, temperamental things. You can do everything right, and suddenly have a big sneeze and it goes out again.

 

[Icelevel]

I wonder what's going to happen with Seguin. He was wildly successful in his "prove it" year after the dumping by Boston, and is adored in Dallas. Will it go to his head? Will he take a step back this year?

Spezza is starting his own "prove it" year right now. He has the ability to look very good...if his back cooperates. But long term, that's a different story.

It's like what one GM said, better to trade off that prime asset one year earlier than everyone thinks is the right time, than one year too late (slight paraphrasing). Did we do that? My gut says yes. Backs are such stupid, temperamental things. You can do everything right, and suddenly have a big sneeze and it goes out again.

Seguin got stronger this off season and looks better now. I wouldn't expect a drop off. I'll predict he's a ppg guy the majority of his career. Better than everyone on our roster.

 

[Larionov]

So, bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics is now down to two - China or Kazakhstan.

Anyone still think the NHL will keep sending their players to the Olympics? I think we have seen the last of that for a while. Say hello to the World Cup, which will make far more $$$ for players and owners anyway...