Friday, June 26, 2009

Irony is sideways

The 6th Sens on Diminished Returns:
The fact that no one in the League is willing to pony up for the third most productive player in the last three years isn't a reflection that he's the shittiest 50 goal scorer out there, it's a reflection of how highly the Sens organization thinks of him.
Nice.

Thing is, that $4M payout on July 1st is a sticking point; teams don't want to deal and then pay, especially if they can get someone else to pay for them. Problem is, Heatley's value goes up after that payout -- while anyone retaining his services from September would still feel the cap hit, that's $4M in real money that they don't have to pay. So Heatley's asking price is only going to go up after July 1st.

My feeling is that we're going to be stuck with Heatley for the first two or three months of the season. THere will then be a deal to see him gone by Christmas. Unfortunately he'll be with the team long enough to be blamed for the inevitable low level of performance this year.

...or maybe that's a good thing. If we can scapegoat him, maybe the boo-birds will lay off of the rest of the team.

All things being equal, I'd like to see him gone so we can start building for the future, rather than continuing to drag along in the awful present.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Is that with, or without, Spezza?

We're already out of it, boys:

Sens have 40:1 odds to win 09-10 Cup
The Senators apparently are being given 40:1 odds to win the Stanley Cup next season. That's 22nd in the league, worse odds than even the Dallas Stars (25:1)--who, like the Senators, failed to make the playoffs last season--as well as the Montréal Canadiens (30:1)--who currently have seven forwards under contract--and the Columbus Blue Jackets (35:1)--a franchise who has played exactly four playoff games.
Sorry for reproducing the whole thing here, but a kick in the nuts like this is best savored in its completeness.

I wonder if that's better or worse than the Leafs?

Monday, June 22, 2009

Free-Floating Non-Specific Hostility

At this point I'm so sick of Dany Heatley that I'd just about trade him to anyone in exchange for not having to pay his sorry ass for the next five years.

OK, maybe that was kinda specific. Or maybe I'm just tired of laughing because its true:
Ottawa Senators: Uhhh.. wow this is tough. [...] I dunno. Being a Senators fan might be the worst gig in the NHL right now. Worse than the equipment manager that has to wash Zach Stortini's underwear.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Oh Dany Boy, The Pipes, The Pipes are callinnnn...

So. The Heater wants out.

Pardon me if I don't think this is the end of the world; in fact, I've said before that trading Heatley was the thing to do.

I think many of the Senators woes can be traced back to their cup run. The problem wasn't the success, the problem is that too many players got rewarded for the success. With Spezza, Alfredsson, and Heatley all got big-money contracts. The problem is that tying up money in the front line reduced its availability everywhere else. This means that you can't afford a sold second or third line, and instead have to fill out the roster with cheap more affordable third- and fourth-liners.

Oh, and Mike Fisher. Who is undoubtedly either an overpaid third/fourth liner, or a waaaay underperforming second-liner. But I digress.

While I am not sad to see him go, it does make me sad to see some of the venom being spewed by the blogging community. Heatly is being treated as a major traitor, one who should be tarred and feathered before being run over with several trucks. Some of the commentary is downright evil.

The thing is, I'm almost more on their side than on the keep-Heatly side. I've always thought he was a one-trick pony -- mind you, it is one hell of a trick. I've always thought his character was lacking after he drove his high-performance sports car (I'm going to say Ferrari because it's a cliche) into a tree, killing a team mate. Oh, and he had been drinking at the time. Oh, and all he got was community service.

If you or I had fueled ourselves with alcohol and driven a Ferrari into a tree, killing someone, you can be sure we'd get a little more than community fucking service. Well, even after adjusting for the fact that we'd be in for Grand Theft Auto too, as it's the only way I'll ever get behind the wheel of a Ferrari. But anyways.

It is totally undeniable, though, that Ottawa got the better part of that trade. The boy can play the game, and the on-ice results are really all that matters. (Thus, community service.) We can be thankful for the goals he's scored and the pizza we've eaten thanks to his efforts. Heatly is a tremendous asset who will continue to produce wherever he lands and I'm sure he'll make some GM very happy.

Still, at $7.5 mil per, he's over priced and taking up cap space that could be better used.

Hopefully this will get the boo-birds off of Jason Spezza's back for ten minutes.