Here is part 2 of my Senators year in review. If you missed part 1 yesterday, you can see my 10-6 stories of the year HERE.
Here is the rest of my countdown, from 5 to 1....
5.Karlsson Named Captain
October 2nd was a big day for the Ottawa Senators. A morning press conference that featured Eugene Melnyk making 2 big announcements - the expected re-signing of Bobby Ryan and then the..."but wait, there's more"...moment - the new Captain of the Ottawa Senators will be Erik Karlsson.
Karlsson became the Senators 3rd captain in 3 years after having Daniel Alfredsson own the letter for so many years.
It was definitely a turning point in the franchise, giving the "C" to a relatively young player who didn't even wear an "A" on a regular basis previously in his career.
Karlsson has had to adjust to the role, and still hasn't really demonstrated the "on-ice" part of what you would expect a captain to be and the lead by example style. However he seems to enjoy the spotlight and the responsibility that comes with it in dealing with the media on a constant basis and the rest of it will come.
4. Bryan Murray's Failing Health
The saddest and most heart-wrenching news of the season came when it was announced on July 7th that he was diagnosed with Cancer. Well-wishes poured in from around the league for the well-respected hockey man who had touched a lot of lives in his 30-odd years in the NHL.
The news became so much worse on November 13th when he revealed to Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated in a brave piece that the cancer is terminal and there is no cure for it. Murray chose to become an advocate of the colonoscopy, using his own situation and his failure to undergo the procedure that could have caught the disease perhaps years ago in its beginning stages as an example of what not to do.
Nobody knows how much time Murray has left, and the fact that he continues to do his job to the best of his ability despite obviously difficult circumstances. The day he had to relieve Paul MacLean of his duties as head coach (more on that in a moment) you really got a glimpse of the toll that the disease has taken on him as he seemed to have aged 15 years in a couple of months.
We all still send our best wishes to Murray as he continues his battle, and from a Senators standpoint they are working on planning for the worst, a plan that may or may not include former Penguins GM Ray Shero.
3. Bye Bye MacLean
Less than 2 years after winning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach, Paul MacLean was relieved of his coaching duties two months into a three year contract extension.
I wouldn't have waited to pull the plug, and would have done so after last year. Murray showed loyalty to his coach and gave him a chance to right the ship, but two months in, it was the same stuff.
Personally, I saw many things on and off the ice that led me to think that it was coming and it certainly wasn't a shock to me.
Dave Cameron stepped in as MacLean's replacement, moving up from assistant coach to his first gig as the head guy in the NHL. The jury is still out on whether or not the Senators are a different team with Cameron behind the bench, but they seem to be developing a different style of game focused on creating a forecheck and turnovers in the offensive end that results in spending less time in their own end. There have been mixed results so far, and the club still shuffles along.
2. Alfie's Homecoming
This could be a fact of 1 and 1A, but I have put the Daniel Alfredsson homecoming and retirement at #2. Perhaps because it really didn't affect the club on the ice, but more the reputation of both the player and the franchise.
Sixteen months or so after a messy divorce with finger pointing back and forth, Alfredsson couldn't get healthy enough to play for the Red Wings this season, and in conjunction with the Senators chose Ottawa as the place where he would announce his retirement.
Signing a one-day contract (for what it is worth) and taking the warmup with the team was a fitting end to the career of the man who was the face of the franchise and the captain for so many years. His speech to the fans in attendance and watching the game on TV was just like his career - succint, simple, to the point and pretty much perfect.
1. Jason Spezza Traded
The top story of the year for the franchise was the dealing Jason Spezza. The Senators centre was the best offensive talent the Senators had in their franchise history, but could never shake the reputation for being sub-par defensively. He spent a lot of years being the target of the fans whenever anything went wrong, and it was only a matter of time before that wore on him, and it finally did in the request to be moved along. The trade had a huge impact on the ice, which is why I have it as the #1 story. Not only was it the second year in a row that a key player, let alone the team captain, moved along, but it also thrust Kyle Turris into a role that he might not have been physically ready for.
Say what you will about Spezza's defensive deficiencies at times, but he was a true #1 centre and point producer that insulated Turris and took away many of the tougher matchups.
The proof is in the fact that with Spezza as the #1 pivot, Turris was +22 in more favorable matchups, while he has been conistently in the negatives this season without that insulation. Turris is on pace for about the same number of points this year as he did last season, in the mid 50's range, despite more responsibility and playing about a minute more per game than he did last year.
In the long run time will tell whether or not the Spezza deal was a good or bad thing, since the Senators goal scoring has dipped slightly but the goals against has been cut by almost half a goal per game. I am not saying that is all due to Spezza, because the goaltending has been infinitely better this season than it was last, and the shots against and scoring chances against haven't changed much.
The biggest asset that Murray got in exchange for Spezza hasn't even hit Ottawa yet, and that is current Team Canada World Junior team member Nick Paul, who looks like he will become a solid NHL regular in a couple of years.
So that it the year that was for the Ottawa Senators. Is there anything I missed? In the wrong order?
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Canada vs USA at the World Juniors has become the go-to game at the World Juniors, and last night's tilt was no exception.
Canada was full marks for the effort, although they seemed to spend too much time and effort in trying to get Jack Eichel off his game, culminating with the stupid penalty by Darnell Nurse late in the second period while the play was stopped.
In the end, it was an electric atmosphere, with drama, emotion and in the end the better team won. If not for an outstanding performance from Thatcher Demko it could have been out of range during the second period, but credit the US for not giving up and battling back, even if the two goals they scored in the third were more Canadian gifts than US earned. Thankfully the US returned the favor for Sam Reinhart's goal that turned out to be the game winner.
The 3rd USA goal that beat Eric Comrie short side was a terrible goal to give up and might have cost him getting another start in the tournament, because he was very good up to that point but seemed to lose focus in the dying minutes.
Curtis Lazar scored his third goal of the tournament, and for the second game in a row it came as a result of crashing the crease. It was a controversial goal, and I can see the American's point of view that maybe it shouldn't have counted, but it was called a goal on the ice and there was no evidence to show that it absoutely should have been overturned.
Max Domi was the crowd favorite and was named Canada's player of the game, but Sam Reinhart was head and shoulders the best player on the ice. I would have said Darnell Nurse through the first half of the game, but that penalty was selfish and simply dumb, and could have cost the team dearly in a 2-1 game.
I was there for the epic Team Canada comeback in Ottawa in 2009, and I was there for last night's game in Montreal. The 2009 game remains one of the top two sporting events I have ever attended, but last nights will probably find a spot in my personal top 5.
These two teams look destined to meet on January 5th in the gold medal game, although I can see Sweden having a bit of a say in that, as they look like the opponent for the US in the semi-finals barring an upset in the quarterfinals.