Ottawa Senators Jason Spezza content with offseason changes, hopes for the best –NHL News Update
Ottawa Senators have certainly seen better days in their 20 year history, but after a dark and gloomy 2010-2011 regular season and a few tweaks here and there during the offseason, centre player, Jason Spezza, thinks that the team has readied itself for
the new upcoming season.
Team general manager, Bryan Murray, has been working hard himself during the offseason to make things happen. Adding new head coach, Paul MacLean, along with a number of young players from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Binghamton Senators,
are just a few of the many changes made.
"We're excited. We have a whole new staff coming in and a whole bunch of young guys who have had success in the AHL", said Spezza, referring to Binghamton Senators Calder Cup championship. "We're going be a good, hard-working team with some raw talent”.
Spezza, a 28-year-old from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was drafted by Ottawa Senators during round-one of the 2001 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft as the second overall. He has remained one of the highest scoring centre players, not only on the team,
but also in the league with his 57 point (21 goals, 36 assists) last season in 62 games.
Looking at the Northeast Division, in which Ottawa Senators are situated in, is surely a reason why they might be facing a slump recently. Having teams like Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs on the same list is bound
to give a challenge like no other.
"You look at our division there are no easy nights", said Spezza. "Toronto and Montreal are always big battles for us. Buffalo has spent a lot of money this summer and they're going to be a much-improved team. Boston is the champs”.
With reports of captain, Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek recovering and ready to return next season, really does put Senators at a good fighting position against basically any team in the league.
Alfredsson, who was limited to only 54 games last season, underwent back surgery in June to repair a disc problem and finally last week, announced that he is practicing on the ice without any protective equipment and is almost good to go.
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