UPDATE: Jason Spezza is reportedly happy to be in Ottawa, per CBC and multiple other sources.
While I really do believe Spezza isn't the kind of guy to force a hand or piss and moan to the front office, I'm equally doubtful that he's "happy" to be in Ottawa. It was overly obvious that the beating he was taking from the fans and media took a serious toll on him during the playoffs, and I'm not sure how a month hiatus could've changed his tune all that much.
A few interesting tweets from Ian Mendes, who is actually one of the more credible sources in the media today.
Volchenkov
Sens have contacted a couple of other teams to see if they are willing to trade for Volchenkov to give them a window before he is a UFA.
Spezza:
Bryan Murray will speak with Jason Spezza later this month to get an idea of where he is at - with respect to rumours that he wants out.
Murray said that in the end of season meeting with Spezza he was very emotional. GM wants to see how he feels now that 2 mths have passed.
Please, someone find me a picture of a train wreck. If the Ottawa Senators manage to lose yet another franchise caliber player this season, consider this franchise completely and utterly inept.
You can heap a ton of blame on Jason Spezza here. If it's true that he can't handle the intense scrutiny of the Ottawa media(read with sarcastic tone), then he's even softer than originally thought.
You can also heap a nice share of blame on Bryna Murray and Cory Clouston for this situation (or soon-to-be situation). Whether or not Jason Spezza was truly unhappy at season's end is anyone's guess, but the fact that it's grown into a serious problem means the front office and management has not done their jobs, period. Plenty of ultra-competitive franchises have unhappy players, but most of the time these situations blow over in time. In the rare Dany Heatley instance, the player must be moved, and the franchise is put in a tough spot.
But two years in a row? Give me a break. Bryan Murray, Cory Clouston, and the rest of the suits in Ottawa have done a fantastic job for the most part, but if this Spezza situation is extremely disheartening.
And lastly, place a ton of blame on the media. Even if Jason Spezza has trouble facin scrutiny, guys like Bruce Garrioch have done nothing but more harm in an effort to preserve their own jobs. Garrioch has been pumping out Jason Spezza trade rumors months before this was even an issue, and he's undoubtedly compounded a relative non-issue into something quite serious over the past few months.
Thanks(no thanks) to Garrioch, guys like Michael Traikos from the National Post are forced to jump onto the story, and do their own digging. The fact that this story is gaining momentum is only furthering the problem, and if Jason Spezza is sitting at home reading through all of these articles, he has to wonder whether it would be better for himself to spend his career elsewhere.
Asked yesterday about whether he wanted to reutrn to Ottawa, Spezza said yes. The only problem with his response? It was said in the most melancholic manner in the history of sports. The one where your boss tells you if you can run to the copy machine and rip off 40,000 pages, and you oblige without an argument. Actions, of course, always speak louder than words.
The saddest part in all of this is the fact that Jason Spezza has been the undeserved whipping boy for years in Ottawa. An entire team struggles in the playoffs, and Spezza is singled out for his mediocre play in the crunch time. Yes, it's understood that Spezza is arguably the most talented player on the roster, but it's all relative, and the difference in talent in the NHL nowadays is razor thin.
If(and some will say when) Jason Spezza is traded, Ottawa fans will be in near riot, and I don't blame them. A fan base that I've often ridiculed is NOT the culprit here - the simple booing of a player isn't anything more than a wake up sign, and athletes have to be resilient in professional sports. Plenty of players who have been harmlessly booed eventually benefit from such - Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, and Trent Edw-...........
This might read ike a rant, and quite frankly it is. I don't have a clue as to why this situation has spiraled violently in the past few months, and unfortunately this isn't the last time we're going to hear about this. Losing Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza (and Anton Volchenkov) in back to back years is going to absolutely crush this franchise, and it'll take a while for them to get back on their feet. There's just no way you can replace that level of talent, even if your scout team is perfect through free agency, the draft, and on the trade block.
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I'll be back tomorrow with some Roman Wick updates. Multiple sources, a few of which could be considered "insiders" to the whole ordeal, are telling me that Wick's deal is almost done, and he'll be across the pond in no time.
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