Door hits Leclaire on way out, goalie suing Sens

by jon.perlberg on Mar 26, 2011 3:09 PM EDT

A satirical spin on the Sens goaltending situation
*Please note: This article was written in jest, making light of Leclaire's ridiculous injury problems

OTTAWA -- So finally, after an injury-plagued existence in the Nation's Capital, GM Bryan Murray has acknowledged that goalie Pascal Leclaire will not be returning to the Senators. Unfortunately, in the midst of making his exit, Leclaire has been injured yet again.

Sens executives were clearly despondent upon hearing the news, given the fact that a number of them were heard uttering "don't let the door hit your ass on the way out" shortly before the incident occurred. The club's jinx to find a suitable netminder continues and now they are facing legal action from Leclaire for allegedly 'not providing a safe work environment'.

The Repentigny, Quebec native is seeking punitive damages in excess of $5 million dollars for 'pain and suffering' caused by this latest mishap.

This isn't the first time Pascal has presented a contentious legal matter to the Canadian club. In November 2009, he attempted to sue the organization, along with the puck that hit him in the face while he was, as he puts it "sitting on le bench" during practice.

Another puckstopper, another colossal disappointment. And so it goes for Ottawa--considered by many to be the 'goaltending graveyard of the modern world'. This particular death between the pipes being the most excruciating of all.

There's no telling what the future holds for Leclaire at the moment, but rumors indicate a reprised role as the 4th member of Alvin and the Chipmunks could very well be in the cards.

Leclaire in Ottawa, By the Numbers

48 games played
44 games started
26.8 start % (44/164 possible starts)
16-21-3 record
43.8 winning %
3.09 goals against average
.894 save %
0 shutouts

Originally posted on Guru Sports Network

Poll

Following the failed Pascal Leclaire experiment, will Craig Anderson be the Sens savior in net?

Yes

59 votes

No

16 votes

75 votes | Poll has closed

This FanPost was written by a member of the Silver Seven community, and does not necessarily reflect the beliefs or opinions of the site managers, editors, or Sports Blogs Nation, Inc.

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Comments

Unbelievable

Just curl up in a hole and die, Leclaire. You are completely useless.

by ojc on Mar 26, 2011 4:09 PM EDT reply actions

Satire, amigo

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Mar 26, 2011 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions

somebody actually took that seriously??

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Mar 26, 2011 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Sorry for the confusion, didn’t put the disclaimer up in time…my bad

by jon.perlberg on Mar 26, 2011 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions

It was just crazy enough that it could have been true. I take nothing in terms of Leclaire as a given.

by ojc on Mar 26, 2011 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Leclaire doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who would sue the team over getting hit by a door :)

If he felt his recent hip surgery was due to poor medical care from the team, I could see that being a lawsuit, but that’s not what the joke was here.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Mar 26, 2011 6:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I should have voted no

A yes vote just starts the digging of the hole in the graveyard, sigh

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Mar 26, 2011 4:43 PM EDT reply actions

He won’t be the saviour… but he’d definitely be better than whoever you guys had in net over the last few seasons.

In Lou We Trust/Twitter
I wish there was something I could do. But What?

by Kevin Sellathamby on Mar 26, 2011 4:59 PM EDT reply actions

I’m just worried we jumped the gun a little bit giving Anderson that 4-year deal…don’t get me wrong, he’s been solid so far but I can’t help but be pessimistic when it comes to the Sens goalie history…fingers crossed though!

by jon.perlberg on Mar 26, 2011 5:26 PM EDT up reply actions

I can understand. But your goaltending has nowhere to go except up right now, seeing as there were very few goalies who were worse than LeClaire.

In Lou We Trust/Twitter
I wish there was something I could do. But What?

by Kevin Sellathamby on Mar 26, 2011 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Welcome to the site!

I don’t understand the pessimism. Do you really believe that the play of past Sens goalies is somehow going to affect Anderson’s play? That’s the only reason I can think of to cite the team’s goalie history. Otherwise, it’s really quite irrelevant.

Do I think Anderson can keep up this level of play? No, I don’t. I think he’s going to come back down to earth a little bit. But like Kevin says, even if Anderson is just steady and not spectacular, that would be a major improvement over what we’ve seen in the past few years.

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by Mark Parisi on Mar 26, 2011 6:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Glad to contribute!

And no, I don’t truly believe that the performance of past Sens goalies will dictate Anderson’s play..I’m just very superstitious when it comes to sports…from Lalime’s collapse against the Leafs in that ‘04 game 7—letting 2 weak Nieuwendyk goals in, Tugnutt’s glove blowing up in another game 7 vs. the Sabres years before in OT, Hasek’s Olympic injury, Razor’s off-the-ice issues, and then Gerber and Leclaire to top things off…

Definitely a string of bad luck there…almost like the Madden curse! Obviously just a bunch of coincidences but it has been the Sens achilles heel on a number of occasions in the playoffs….

Hope Anderson will turn things around soon!

by jon.perlberg on Mar 26, 2011 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly!

Im quite happy with the confidence being displayed in net right now, i could see securing him to a contract…hell, i can even accept the 4 year deal (although it makes me nervous), but i will need one full season of the play hes been showing us to START feeling like we have a sniper-killer in our midst. Two years of this play and i will be wearing my Andy sweater in the desert in July. If he can perform like this into year 3, i MAY strongly consider the “S word”. Like the rest of you, its not Andy im nervous about, its the inevitable jinx he will suffer for as soon as a single Sens fan even thinks about calling anyone on this team a ‘saviour’…lets just agree to call him “our really good new guy” for a while. Deal?

Pog Ma Thoin!

by Adam in Vegas on Mar 27, 2011 5:26 AM EDT up reply actions

No deal!

I don’t believe in jinxes. I also don’t believe in saviors, so it balances out.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Mar 27, 2011 9:12 AM EDT up reply actions

Its obvious i dont believe in saviours, but ive been surprised before….not in a long time as far as Sens goaltending goes, of course. But “jinx” is a loose term, but sometimes it sure seems like there is one on us. Either way, it was a slight and somewhat pale attempt at sarcasm. Im just viewing our current situation in goal as building a dollhouse out of feathers…DONT BREATHE!!

Pog Ma Thoin!

by Adam in Vegas on Mar 29, 2011 8:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Awesomelarious post

Thanks!

As for the poll, I voted no—not because I don’t like Anderson and don’t think he can be a big difference maker for this team, but because I don’t want to bill anyone as a franchise saviour.

An Ottawa Senators fan blogging at www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Mar 27, 2011 12:26 AM EDT reply actions

Enough is enough with Leclaire

Good riddance to Leclaire.

I don’t expect Anderson to keep this up, but I really like the way he plays. He always is in position, makes the big stops more often than not, handles the defence well and doesn’t let in bad goals. It was only in a precious life that you could say that about any Sens goalie.

So far he’s been too good to secure us a number two pick, and he may play so well that we end up with the #5 pick.

by Marvellous on Mar 27, 2011 7:50 PM EDT reply actions

You have to feel for the guy

Leclaire had a lot of potential and when given a chance had some great games. Bad luck and a terrible defense did him in. I actually felt really good when they traded for him and feel bad that things went so wrong for him. Don’t kid yourself the Ottawa press were relentless in reminding him of our past failures and anything he did wrong was over dramatized in the papers. I hope he finds a team and proves us all wrong.

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Mar 28, 2011 12:26 AM EDT up reply actions

True

The Ottawa media has always been ruthless when players (and goalies) are struggling but I can’t say that I hope he proves us all wrong…I just wish he had proven us all right from the beginning with all the belief we had in him! I really thought he would be the goalie we could depend on but unfortunately it didn’t work out.

by jon.perlberg on Mar 28, 2011 1:02 AM EDT up reply actions

I felt the same way.

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by Mark Parisi on Mar 28, 2011 1:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Me too.

An Ottawa Senators fan blogging at www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Mar 28, 2011 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions

Its a bummer.

He is actually a solid goalie when hes not getting hit in the face with errant pucks, run over or breaking 50 bones in his body just reaching for a can of soup at home. The poor guy is made of stunt glass, look past him too fast and his femur explodes! I think he took an injury or two just from recovering too fast. You’ll have to excuse me, i had all these Pascal jokes lined up, and now that he will be shipping out, im trying to cash them in quickly.

Pog Ma Thoin!

by Adam in Vegas on Mar 29, 2011 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Right on

Gotta get those jokes out while they still count! haha…earlier this year, somebody said Pascal was “as durable as a Fabergé egg” after taking that puck in the face…thought that was a pretty good one too!

by jon.perlberg on Mar 29, 2011 9:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Poor dude

He really meant well and really wanted to do a good job here. Im sure he will find work somewhere…i mean, if Colorado would be willing to take Elliot in a straight-away trade. Anything is possible!

Pog Ma Thoin!

by Adam in Vegas on Mar 29, 2011 10:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Just so long as it isn't at the expense of the Senators that he proves us all wrong

by JonathanA on Mar 28, 2011 1:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Potential my ass

There’s an old Peanuts cartoon where Charley Brown is standing out on the baseball mound and he says “There’s no greater burden in the world than having alot of potential.” In Leclaire’s case, the moral of the story is pay a goalie for his proven past history… not his “potential”.

Every goalie has potential when he scores his first shutout in PeeWees but that doesn’t mean you sign him to a long term contract. Exaggerated, yes, but you get the point?

In the case of Anderson, I hope that he turns the tide in the Ottawa Senator’s goaltender saga, and that he does alot of standing on his head while the Sens fashion the rebuild… just please wait until next year to start standing on your head so we can surround you with something.

by Marvellous on Mar 28, 2011 8:16 AM EDT reply actions