In fairness, I seem to recall a certain mutual acquaintance of hours who spent the entire year bragging about how much better the Leafs are than the Senators... Until the Senators finished ahead of the Leafs in the standings.

Maybe there are trolls on both sides?
- Mr_Clean

Meh, they lost their starting goalie and dropped a couple of points behind the Sens who traded picks and prospects for rentals to try go for a run. I'm not worried.

Say what you will.... The quoted post is without question the work of a total moron.

It's honestly tough to figure out exactly what Ottawa's management strategy is these days..

In Bryan Murray we trust ??

It's honestly tough to figure out exactly what Ottawa's management strategy is these days..

In Bryan Murray we trust ??
- Erik6Karlsson5

This is what Sens President, Cyril Leeder was quoted as saying when they signed their $400m agreement with TSN for regional broadcast rights.

“It’s a watershed agreement,” said Leeder. “It’s going to increase the value of the club for sure. That’s going to bode well for the future. It’s good for Eugene, the club, the fans and it just adds more value to the organization."

The article (in the Sun) said that this deal plus the national deal with Rogers will result in the Sens being paid $40m just for broadcast rights during the coming season (2014-15).

So, now you need to ask yourself why are the Senators squeezing payroll right now. They could certainly afford to pay Spezza $7.5m and Hemsky $5.5m next year. Indeed the pressure will be on to reach the cap floor based on what is happening today. The problem is not next year. The problem is putting that kind of liability on the books in long term deals for older players. A new owner (or investor) does not want to be responsible for coming in and having to clean house.

My other observation would be the smoothing over of the casino controversy. Nobody on the Senator side has said anything negative about the city or the mayor for several months. I have seen a couple of stories about new local investors, a move downtown and possibly reopening the casino file. I believe the stage is being set for a major developer interest (perhaps local) to buy outright or invest substantially in the Senators.

One last note on the Sens financial activity. I am not sure I can figure out the motivation other than expanding their brand but the team announced last week that they are going to build 5 new outdoor rinks in Gatineau (part of a 20 rink program).

http://www.sensfoundation...rojects-in-western-quebec

There are dozens of ways I could respond to the name calling, but since the spirit of this entire website is meant to be hockey-related, and in is no way supposed to bleed over to real life, I'm going to stick to hockey, save this. Calling someone a moron over an internet forum is exactly the kind of ad hominem attack that defines what is wrong with the internet on the whole, especially when you're calling them a moron because they have an opinion different than yours. That way of backwoods hillbilly thinking is what leads people like Fred Phelps into lives of fear and hatred.

Of course I'm not actually a moron. With that, I'll let it go.

I stand behind my opinion. The Senators will get a good return for Spezza, they will be a much better team on the ice this year than they were last year, and I believe they will push for a playoff spot. Obviously I could be wrong, but Detroit is a year older, Tampa are likely to regress. Ottawa is set to improve, the Bruins are still the class of the division, and I can't get a read on Montreal. Toronto and Florida and Buffalo are all nothing more than spare parts still. I mean Florida has some decent young guys but they aren't ready to make that leap forward yet. Buffalo is nowhere close. Toronto, yeesh. They're gonna need to find a way to turn over the veterans and rebuild properly, because that is one seriously ugly roster. I mean, I personally hope that they keep following their usual trend of creating false hope, followed by a 12 game losing streak to miss the playoffs, but by just enough to avoid getting a blue-chip prospect in the draft.

Anyways, I didn't really come on here to talk about the way the division will play out. That's obviously just my opinion and I could be wrong. But with respect to the improved on-ice performance, and the improved roster, I really don't think that I am.
- the_terror

Have to be careful not to fall into the trap of believing things are okay because the Senators are in better shape than the Leafs. The Leafs have been a laughing stock for so long now people just take for granted that their 10 year old screw up will last forever. Last year they signed Clarkson to big dollars. This year they have given Phaneuf a $50m deal. The contract has not even kicked in yet and the Leafs are overwhelmed with buyers remorse and are trying to dump the contract.

Hard to explain, as people hate to let go of a perceived right, but if the Senators signed Spezza (or Hemsky) to a big dollar long term deal it would quickly cause them a Phaneuf type remorse (or the LaCavalier remorse, or the Semin remorse).

This is what Sens President, Cyril Leeder was quoted as saying when they signed their $400m agreement with TSN for regional broadcast rights.

“It’s a watershed agreement,” said Leeder. “It’s going to increase the value of the club for sure. That’s going to bode well for the future. It’s good for Eugene, the club, the fans and it just adds more value to the organization."

The article (in the Sun) said that this deal plus the national deal with Rogers will result in the Sens being paid $40m just for broadcast rights during the coming season (2014-15).

So, now you need to ask yourself why are the Senators squeezing payroll right now. They could certainly afford to pay Spezza $7.5m and Hemsky $5.5m next year. Indeed the pressure will be on to reach the cap floor based on what is happening today. The problem is not next year. The problem is putting that kind of liability on the books in long term deals for older players. A new owner (or investor) does not want to be responsible for coming in and having to clean house.

My other observation would be the smoothing over of the casino controversy. Nobody on the Senator side has said anything negative about the city or the mayor for several months. I have seen a couple of stories about new local investors, a move downtown and possibly reopening the casino file. I believe the stage is being set for a major developer interest (perhaps local) to buy outright or invest substantially in the Senators.

One last note on the Sens financial activity. I am not sure I can figure out the motivation other than expanding their brand but the team announced last week that they are going to build 5 new outdoor rinks in Gatineau (part of a 20 rink program).

http://www.sensfoundation...rojects-in-western-quebec
- spatso

With all the renovations and additions they plan on doing this summer to the CTC I'd be shocked if you saw a plan to move the team downtown anytime soon. I am an advocate of having the Sens downtown, but I think they missed their opportunity. But if new ownership takes over (which is very unlikely to happen anytime soon either), they may put forth some kind of plan.

As for the rink program, to me it's a waste of money and resources from the Sens point of view. What community doesn't have a rink, indoor or out, here in the Ottawa area?

With all the renovations and additions they plan on doing this summer to the CTC I'd be shocked if you saw a plan to move the team downtown anytime soon. I am an advocate of having the Sens downtown, but I think they missed their opportunity. But if new ownership takes over (which is very unlikely to happen anytime soon either), they may put forth some kind of plan.

As for the rink program, to me it's a waste of money and resources from the Sens point of view. What community doesn't have a rink, indoor or out, here in the Ottawa area?
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

The new rinks are a great idea! I live in Gatineau in the Plateau area and one of those rinks will be close to my place. Whenever I go to the Aylmer dog park in the winters I see tons of kids playing on the ice and most of them are sporting Sens jerseys. It's awesome to see the support from the younger generation on the QC side. This expansion into Gatineau/Hull/Aylmer is a long time coming and should have been done at least a decade ago! Honestly, the Sens have not done a lot to grow it's fanbase on this side of the river and it's nice to see them reaching out to this community. Also, getting to and from games isn't as bad anymore. Some people always have hangups about it but after the end of the third period back to my place is just over 30 minutes! The new HOV lane adds tons of room on the 417 and the parking is getting marginally better every year!

With all the renovations and additions they plan on doing this summer to the CTC I'd be shocked if you saw a plan to move the team downtown anytime soon. I am an advocate of having the Sens downtown, but I think they missed their opportunity. But if new ownership takes over (which is very unlikely to happen anytime soon either), they may put forth some kind of plan.

As for the rink program, to me it's a waste of money and resources from the Sens point of view. What community doesn't have a rink, indoor or out, here in the Ottawa area?
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

An article by Mark Sutcliffe, a business writer (Citizen) talked about another 6 to 8 year window in the CTC life cycle. Starting from planning to opening you would probably be at least 6 to 8 years away from the grand opening of a new sports/entertainment/shopping/casino complex built at a key transportation point on the new LRT in tandem with the downtown hotels and convention center.

I really like the outdoor rink project as a means of expanding the brand. Something is going on with the Senators that suggests a new business model is being implemented. Not a fan of Melnyk but I do like what I have seen since the casino fiasco blew up.

The new rinks are a great idea! I live in Gatineau in the Plateau area and one of those rinks will be close to my place. Whenever I go to the Aylmer dog park in the winters I see tons of kids playing on the ice and most of them are sporting Sens jerseys. It's awesome to see the support from the younger generation on the QC side. This expansion into Gatineau/Hull/Aylmer is a long time coming and should have been done at least a decade ago! Honestly, the Sens have not done a lot to grow it's fanbase on this side of the river and it's nice to see them reaching out to this community. Also, getting to and from games isn't as bad anymore. Some people always have hangups about it but after the end of the third period back to my place is just over 30 minutes! The new HOV lane adds tons of room on the 417 and the parking is getting marginally better every year!
- riceroni

Pageau could be an important piece in the puzzle. So much hoping for the kid to succeed at NHL level. He is a marketing dream if everything falls into place.

Jim Rutherford - new Pittsburgh GM

Could a random team like the devils be in play?
Keep saying they need offense and spezz could fit right in..
Also, Larsson seems like the odd man out, considering how they have 5d men signed to 1 way and are about to sign another to a 1way
- Trilla

The Devils would certainly be on the short list of other teams that would be inquiring about Spezza... and I could see Larsson or Henrique being the primary points of interest in the return. Just like last year when they traded for Schneider to take the reigns for Brodeur, the clock is really ticking on some of their key offensive talent like Jagr and Elias, and that's after losing Parise and Kovalchuk for nothing.

That actually raises quite an interesting question in terms of Spezza's preference at this point... joining a team that's in win-now mode where he would likely be played as a #2C (Anaheim, St. Louis), or joining a team where he'd be the #1C and a centrepiece of their offence (Nashville, New Jersey). I'm inclined to think that you want to find a team that's a good fit long-term, but his UFA status is coming up soon and that may or may not be his primary motivation at this point.