The progression of Jason Spezza (and another reason to be glad Dany Heatley is gone)
by Sens_4_Life on Feb 12, 2010 11:29 AM EST
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PrintJason Spezza has been the victim of many rants from Ottawa Senators fans who don't like one aspect of his game or another. Some blamed him for too many blind passes, or his seemingly care-free attitude towards the game. However, I think this year we have seen a great progression in Jason Spezza's career. No longer does he seem to have that goofy attitude that most people were bothered by for some reason (never really figured that out). Jason Spezza has really emerged as a leader on the Ottawa Senators. And you can thank Dany Heatley for that.
I think with Heatley gone, Spezza is realizing he has a lot of talent by himself, and does not need to have Heatley on his left side ready to score a goal twenty times a game. Spezza is a game-breaker by himself. While having a rough start to the year, after taking time off to rest his (multiple) ailments, he is looking better than ever. On a rampage in the last dozen games, Spezza has already stricken Heatley's name from the team record book for his goal-streak. It isn't inconceivable for Spezza to be a hundred point player for years into the future.
Spezza is really emerging as a leader on this team, and in the future when it's possible, he might even end up with a letter on his sweater. Does anyone else notice how much more responsible and mature Spezza looks now? Do you feel more comfortable this year with Spezza compared to the past? Is this another reason to praise Clouston?
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Good post. Shame it comes amidst a flurry of Sens news.
Steve Yzerman should seriously consider Spezza as a possible replacement for Getz, considering his amazing play of late.
I hope he doesn't
I’d rather have Spezza rest his back and knee some more.
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
The Sens definitely needed Spezza to be this kind of player after they signed him to that contract. He’s just now becoming the core of the team that they will need once Alfie retires. Who knows, maybe Alfie plays until he’s 42, but either way the team definitely has to build for the future and hopefully Spezza is the one front and centre leading the team.
Great post.
Both Fisher and Spezza are now playing to their contracts. Watching Spezza, at least after his extended injury absence, has been amazing. Which is awesome for him, and has a lot to do with the fact that his crutch—Heatley—is gone.
by Peter Raaymakers on Feb 12, 2010 4:12 PM EST reply actions
Clouston needs some credit, too
Spezza’s role has become more clearly defined beyond “Heatley’s setup guy” in the new system. We saw him play strong defensively early in the year, and now he’s understanding his offensive role as well. There’s no reason to think he won’t continue to develop as long as he stays healthy.
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
Spezza was already a 100 point man
Had he played 82, in both 05/06 and 06/07. And he won the AHL scoring race with well over 100 during the lockout. The key to Spezza truly reaching the next level is his health, and this season he’s almost lucky that the knee injury occurred, or he would have been playing through back pain all year. Who knows how poor his production would have been in that event.
In any case, great post, and here’s to watching 19 tear through the scoring ranks for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs.
Maybe...
You can’t really assume a player would have reached x points if he was injured that year; who knows if he would have actually reached that amount. Having time off from injury also allows them to play better after more rest (so great health) than a full-seasoned player would have had (see Spezza this year). And the AHL is definitely a step down from the NHL, not to mention that Spezza was probably the best player in that lockout year with other elite players playing in other countries/leagues (very few NHLers played in the AHL that year if they were already established in the NHL). But yeah, Spezza still has the easy potential to reach 100 pts. Here’s hoping!
Spezza matures and the Sens are smiling
Nice post. Spezza took a while to mature. Being a successful scorer in Junior, no one insisted that he play defence. For whatever reason, when Jacques Martin insisted he play defence, he did not get the message. Now Clouston’s message finally got over there and that perhaps combined with the disappointment of no Olympics finally motivated Spezza to become an all-around player. It will be interesting to see if the Sharks with Heatley can win anything. I hope not.
Its not that Spezza didnt get the message when Martin asked him to play defence
I think its more than Martin pissed all over him when he didnt immediately adapt to his rigid system that all but strangled his offensive creativity. He didnt pick it up right away so Martin punished him, straight up. Spezza wasnt his guy and Martin didnt give a shit.
I call it the Cito Gaston school of coaching.
Cannot play with 'em, cannot win with 'em, cannot coach with 'em. Cant do it.
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