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"You cant win with Jason Spezza as your captain. Saints Jimmy Graham Limited Jersey ."I have heard that phrase uttered countless times over the past few months, as the Ottawa Senators season has slipped away. In his first season as captain, Spezzas club has been a major disappointment. The Senators fell well short of expectations and predictably, Spezza is taking the lions share of the blame from his harshest critics. I have always said that the Spezza debate in this town is like Coke versus Pepsi. If you are a Coke drinker, its very hard to convince you that Pepsi is superior. The same goes for Spezza - those people who hate him cant be convinced otherwise. Its a black-and-white argument and its virtually impossible to sway someone from one side to the other.Anybody who has read or listened to me over the years knows that I fall into the camp of people who believe the Senators are a better team with Spezza down the middle. But in todays blog, I am not trying to convince anybody about Jasons ability as a player. You can judge that for yourself. What I do want to bring up is the idea that a captain is the person who sets the tone for how his team plays.The critics of Spezza will argue that because he has a penchant for turning over the puck and does not play as well defensively as some other players, he causes his entire team to play with a loosey-goosey mentality. If the guy wearing the "C" is taking risks with the puck, that is setting the tone for the 17 other skaters.Those people say that if Spezza was a real leader, he would play the game the right way in all three zones. He would be a rugged leader, who was more physical. He would be someone like Andrew Ladd of the Winnipeg Jets.If you were to write down all the characteristics you would want in a captain for a Canadian team, Ladd would meet all the criteria.• He is from Maple Ridge, B.C.• He plays the game the right way• He has Stanley Cup rings with two different teamsAnd yet, the Winnipeg Jets are a team that is a mess defensively. They have given up 234 goals – second-worst in the Western Conference.Their captain is there every night supposedly playing the game "the right way". His teammates see how he conducts himself on and off the ice. So why are they so bad defensively?Its because the captain can only do so much. And many times, we overrate the role of a captain on a hockey team. We assign certain characteristics to people and we have a hard time deviating from our original stance. In our minds, Ladd is a great captain – so the problem is with his Winnipeg teammates.But if Ladd escapes the criticism in Winnipeg for failing to get the Jets to play a more structured game, why does Spezza take the heat in Ottawa for the exact same thing?The tricky thing for Spezza is that he is also trying to fill the skates of the previous captain Daniel Alfredsson, who had a mythical status in this town.But before Alfredsson had his breakthrough moment as captain in 2007 in leading the Senators to the Stanley Cup Final, he had just as many detractors in Ottawa as Spezza does now. There was a prevailing sentiment that "you will never win with Daniel Alfredsson as your captain." Those echoes reached a crescendo when Jason Pominville walked around him for the series-ending goal against the Buffalo Sabres in the 2006 playoffs.However, after Alfredsson won over his critics in 2007, he was good for life in Ottawa and was never blamed for any of the problems.When it comes to the team that fell off a cliff in 2007-08 with one of the great collapses in NHL history?"Dont blame Alfredsson, that was all Ray Emerys fault."How about the team that missed the playoffs in two of the next three years?"Lets blame Hartsburg and Cory Clouston. Alfie is a great leader."When the Senators made the playoffs in 2011-12, they did so with the worst goals-against average of any of the 16 teams to qualify for the playoffs. They were kind of a mess defensively that year, but did anybody blame Alfredsson?Of course not.Because they had made up their minds that he was not the problem. Being the captain is all about perception. Alfredsson was always a good leader in Ottawa. He didnt radically change his approach in 2007 when they went to the Stanley Cup Final. Things just finally worked out in his favour and as a result, all of the questions surrounding his leadership vanished overnight.Spezza probably needs time to grow into the captaincy in this town, so he can experience his own defining moment as the leader of this hockey team.Whether he gets that opportunity or not is an entirely different question. Saints Drew Brees Youth Jersey . The Anaheim Ducks left-winger got his revenge in the shootout. Ryan scored the only goal in the shootout, lifting the Anaheim Ducks to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers in the teams matchup in Europe on Saturday. Saints Jimmy Graham Pro Bowl Jersey.Y. -- Carmelo Anthony is unlikely to play Sunday against Dallas but J. RENTON, Wash. -- The Seattle Seahawks have called a news conference for Friday morning amid a report they have reached a contract extension with coach Pete Carroll. NFL Network reported Thursday night, citing a "source," that Carroll and the Seahawks had reached agreement on a contract extension. Carrolls original five-year deal with Seattle was set to expire after the 2014 season. The Seahawks announcement did not specify the nature of the news conference and team officials would not confirm the report of an extension for Carroll. Carroll reached the top of the NFL last season, leading the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl title. Lured away from USC in 2010 with the chance at complete control over the football operations, Carroll tore down then rebuilt the Seahawks roster into one of the best in the NFL. Hes 38-26 in four regular seasons with Seattle and 5-2 in the playoffs. Carroll has made competition the benchmark of his time in Seattle. Its why quarterback Russell Wilson and cornerback Richard Sherman have become stars -- because they were given opportunities in Carrolls system. Carroll, 62, is the second oldest coach in the NFL, but rarely appears his age. He came to Seattle because of the chance he didnt have in his two previous stops as an NFL head coach: control. Seattle gave him the reins to the franchise, and hired him before adding general manager John Schneider to the mix, a relationship that has been marked by stability and success. Carroll lacked control in his previous positions with New England and the New York Jets. But after a decade of winnning with the Trojans and having that control, it was something Carroll demanded if he was going to get back into the professional ranks and the Seahawks were willing. http://www.saintsstore.us.com/9-nike-elite-drew-brees-womens-jersey-nfl-new-orleans-saints-sweetheart-pink.html. Seattle also let Carroll imprint his attitude on the locker room. He wanted a fun atmosphere filled with accountability. Competition was at the crux of everything Carroll did from the day he inherited a 5-11 team. Carroll took Seattle to the playoffs in his first season despite a 7-9 regular season record. The Seahawks plateaued in 2011 going 7-9 again but took a jump in 2012 after drafting Wilson. The Seahawks went 11-5 in the regular season and reached the divisional round of the playoffs. The roster turnover had been completed and there were massive expectations going into 2013. Seattle matched and surpassed those expectations. Carroll guided Seattle to 13 wins in the regular season, the NFC West title and home-field advantage in the playoffs. Seattle knocked off New Orleans in the divisional round, then edged San Francisco in the NFC title game to reach its second Super Bowl. At the Super Bowl, Carroll got to celebrate the way he did watching USCs run of dominance in the mid-2000s. Seattles defence stifled the highest scoring offence in NFL history, humbling Denver in a 43-8 beating to give Seattle its first title. After the season Carroll sounded as if he was locked in to a long future with the Seahawks. "Were trying to do something really good for a really long time and we want to see how far we can go and someday, we look back and see what we accomplished," Carroll said. ' ' ' |
