Where did our team go?

Somewhere between the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals and Saturday's Dany Heatley trade, the Senators lost nearly everything that made them perennial contenders for half a dozen years.

Last season, a streak of twelve consecutive playoff seasons came to an end. Building towards a championship ended, expectations changed, and the term 'rebuilding' somehow entered fans' vocabularies.

Victim of circumstance?

No matter what you think of his philosophy, or skills as a manager, you must admit that Bryan Murray has been in an unenviable situation. It seems that every trade he's made since 2007-08 has not been in order to make the Sens better, but rather, to minimize the damage of some impending catastrophe.

And the free agency has only made things worse:

Joe Corvo - File under: demanded trade, locker-room poison
Andre Meszaros - File under: impending free agent
Dany Heatley - File under: demanded trade, locker-room poison
Ray Emery - File under: locker-room poison
Tom Preissing - File under: left as free agent (maybe for the better, that one)
Wade Redden - File under: bad at hockey

...and let's not even get into Chara and Havlat--failures of past administrations.

Being proactive

Only rarely has Murray been to make a move to to improve the team (Vermette for Leclaire is the only one I can think of at the moment). Free agency, in fact, has been a boon, rather than a detriment, to the Senators for the first time in recent memory (see: Alex Kovalev, forget: Martin Gerber). Except for Kovalev and Pascal Leclaire, Murray has always been reactive, rather than proactive.

Turning assets like Heatley or Emery into returns for the team has not been easy, and in many ways (such as wins!) Murray has failed conclusively. For Corvo: Nothing. For Emery: Nothing. For Heatley... give it a season, but his record is not good.

As the image illustrates, little remains of the team that entered the 2007-08 season, and no one is more responsible for the success or failure of the team--especially in the upcoming season--more than Bryan Murray. He took an excellent team and made it into a mediocre one--receiving little in return for the bounty of talent he was handed. Now his task is to make that mediocre team good again.

He has molded the team in his image, there can now be no doubt of that. If this year, the team is a success, then the corner truly has been turned. If the team is a failure, then bring me Murray's head on a platter--I think he's done enough damage already.

Finally

I have been keeping my mouth shut lately, waiting for a certain millionaire ingrate to be shown the door. Now that he's gone, I feel I can enjoy talking hockey again.

Some will say that the Sens did not get enough back for the player in question. I think it may be the other way around. Michalek is a flashy player with a scoring touch, and a change of scenery may be just what Cheechoo needed to find his game again. The 56-goal season was probably an anomaly, but could he get 39? If he does, he matches the now ex-Senator's output for last season.

The Senators will fly under a lot peoples' radar this season. Nobody expects anything out of this group because of what has played out over the last season and a half. But on paper this is a young team with solid veteran leadership. Having finished out of the playoffs last year, expectations are low, and that can often translate into success.

Kovalev instantly makes the power play better. Karlsson might be ready to roll this year, and Binghamton is loaded with talent this year, which means when injuries happen there will be some talented call-ups who can contribute.

Perhaps most importantly of all, the Sens finally might have found a "franchise" goalie in Pascal Leclaire, provided he stays healthy. Although we don't like to think about him now, remember how loose the D used to play in front of Hasek, just knowing they could depend on him for a save if they messed up? Leclaire is still young, but he has that ability. And Brian Elliott proved he can play in this league last year.

Can't wait for the first pre-season game. Finally something positive to talk about now that the saga of the disgruntled whiner is over. When team success is less important than individual success to you, then you have no place on the team you're with. end of story.

Cheechoo and Michalek for Heatley - deal confirmed

Deal was reported by TSN.ca around 2:30 p.m.

Senators get Jonathan Cheechoo, Milan Michalek, and a second-round pick for Dany Heatley and a fifth-round pick. It's a done deal reported as completed by many media outlets. Bryan Murray has spoken publicly about the trade.

We knew things were getting down to business after ESPN reported that a deal with San Jose and Los Angeles was actually completed... although it didn't actually happen.

Senators fans should be excited about the result of this trade: Cheechoo is a former Rocket Richard trophy winner, though last season was his worst in many years - only 29 points.

In Michalek, the Senators get a young forward with tremendous potential. The 2003 draft pick had 23 goals and 57 points last season.

The trade certainly marks the end of an era for the Senators, who had Heatley on the path to becoming the team's next captain. The Ottawa Senators that exist now are a far cry from the team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007 - in terms of players, offensive and defensive styles, and coaching, it's all new.

Most importantly, we can stop talking about this whole damned situation.

More info and analysis to come...

Update: Looking at it from a cap situation, Cheechoo has two more years at $3-million (not a bad deal if he can return to any kind of form) and Michalek is the longer deal until 2013-14 at $4.3-million.

Looks like the deal is about equal for both teams, cap wise.

Update: Senators official press release on trade.

Update: Learned it's pronounced - 'mo-hall-lek' and he likes scoring goals.

Triple trouble for Heatley trade

Dany Heatley has been traded to the San Jose Sharks!!!! ....right?

"It's simply not true," Murray told ESPN.com Thursday night.

Lombardi told ESPN.com via text message: "It is complete bull."

"It is an absolute fabrication," Wilson told ESPN.com via text message Thursday night.

Soooo.... all three GMs involved in supposed three-way deal that would bring Alex Frolov and Jarrett Stoll to Ottawa say it isn't going to happen.

That's not to say that it won't happen this week. This preliminary report seems promising. Especially since it's ESPN reporting, and not Bruce Garrioch or Hockeybuzz.

Dany Heatley speculation article template

Have you noticed that the stories about Dany Heatley have become boring, repetitive and pointlessly speculative of late? Well that's because I wrote them all. That's right kids, I sold this template to numerous media outlets weeks ago, and they've been milking it ever since.

Are you an Ottawa sports writer in midst of the dead of summer? Nothing to report on other than golf? Then you might like to order the "Dany Heatley trade speculation template" too! Why write a story with the same old spin, when you could just fill in the blanks sell it to the Sun or Citizen for $100? Here's a free sample:


It's been ___ days since Dany Heatley requested a trade out of Ottawa, and GM Bryan Murray is still having trouble.

"It's been ________ (synonym for frustrating) trying to trade Dany, but my phone is still ________," (synonym for 'totally untouched since Edmonton called') Murray said today.

__________ (Western Conference team) is reportedly interested in the troubled winger, but salary cap issues have prevented the move.

_________ (Western conference team) would like to unload the __ -million dollar salary of underperforming winger _____________ (one of Dustin Penner, Patrick Marleau, or you fill in the blank), but in order for the deal to work under the cap, the Senators would also have to accept _________ (absolutely horrible player) as part of the package.

"We're looking at all our options," Murray said today.

The deadline that Murray has imposed on trading Heatley is only ___ days away, and Senators teammates are beginning to wonder what it will be like having the _________ (synonym for disgruntled) player back in the fold.

"It won't be a distraction," said _____________, (the only Senator player willing to answer this same stupid question again today). "He'll have to compete like anyone else."

__________________ (first 300 words of the first article you wrote about Dany Heatley wanting to be traded in May).

_________________ (first 100 words of Dany Heatley rejecting trade to Edmonton story).

Done! Send it to the printers!
Also available: "Ray Emery on cocaine? Maybe!" template - Now 20% off!
"Sens looking to make splash in trade market this year... for serious this time!" template "Remember when young people respected their elders? by Earl McRae" template
"O-train to be completed by June 20__" template

Senators schedule made easy

Last year, I posted about adding the Ottawa Senators' schedule to your google calendar (Gcal), as an easy way of keeping track of what games are game nights. Well, google has done the footwork this year and adding a sports team to your Gcal is now even easier. You'll never miss another game.

If they only added what channel the game was on, it would be perfect.

Alfredsson is a rock

When greedy players zig, Daniel Alfredsson zags.

You never have to worry about this guy. I think it's a testament to what a quality player he is. You have two prime examples of Ottawa Senators players saying and doing pretty damn stupid things over the past couple of weeks, and Alfie just lets it all roll off his back.

No silly comments, no trade requests. He's been through Alexi Yashin, Ray Emery, and Dany Heatley (not to mention the daily onslaught of questions that those people have created for Alfredsson), and the man has barely flinched. Even through several sales and financial uncertainty of his team, he has persevered and led this team throughout.

We, here at the Sens Army Blog, have a particular affection for Alfredsson. We continue to attempt to have his #11 pretired--that is, to have his jersey raised to the rafters, though he is still wearing it on the ice--a first in NHL history, and we'll continue to push for it, because he keeps giving us reason to.

(Honestly, click on that link and check them all out - it's remarkable)

Through all the shit that the team has been through over the past few years, including several coaching changes, a constant rotation of goalies (not sure if that includes Gerber... strange...), you know that Alfredsson is continually the heart and soul of not only the team, but also the fanbase.

As long as he's the captain, the Senators will be my team. Nuff said.

Jason Smith retires, everyone's happy

I don't have much time for this post, so I'll put it in point form:

1. Everyone loves Jason Smith, his toothless smile brings joy to children's hearts
2. As soon as he signed that contract last summer, he was overpaid
3. He didn't do great things as an overpaid player and sat out many games (benched)
   
4. Bryan Murray was never too worried about being over the cap for the upcoming season, now we know why. This must have been coming down the tubes for months.
5. The Senators' overcrowded defensive corps becomes a little less crowded, and much younger. Maybe too young.

...and we finally know what Pascal Leclaire's mask will look like. No Darth Leclaire this season (thank God).