Sometimes it's better to check than bet, even in hockey

I had an epiphany yesterday. Ray Emery is going to arbitration. Players who go to arbitration are usually awarded 1-year contracts based on their peers' salary. Ray Emery doesn't want a one-year contract, he wants a multi-year contract that will capitalize on his performance during the Senators' playoff run last year.

Whatever Emery was asking, contract-wise, our faithful GM, Bryan Murray, didn't want to give.

In poker, one can 'check' rather than bet to see whether his opponents will bet. This allows a player to gauge how strong his opponents' hands are. I think this is what Bryan Murray is doing.

Ray Emery will go to arbitration and be awarded some contract that will likely outrage everyone, myself included. But it will be a one-year contract, and this will give the Sens an extra year to gauge whether Emery is the goalie for the Senators. At the end of next year, all the bluffing must come to an end, but by then Murray will have a much better idea of what hand he has.

All those RFA offers for Emery never materialized, revealing yet another person who was bluffing, Emery's agent, J.P. Barry.