Ray Emery is the King of Cool: Everybody Else just Schlumps
8 Comments Published by Sherry on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 1:40 PM.
The new Ottawa Senatrs webpage has an update on what Monsieur Emery is doing with his off-season. Apparently it includes hanging out in Hamilton, where Scarlett Ice HQ happens to be located:
RE: “Hamilton’s pretty good that way. People kind of recognize you, but leave you alone, you know? They aren’t too in your face and stuff like that. I was actually going to go to Los Angeles this summer; just because I was there (in the playoffs against Anaheim) and that’s the last thing they’re thinking about, you know what I mean? You can kind of do whatever you want (because) no one cares about the hockey player. But it’s pretty good back home. It’s something that’s different to get used to, but that’s good and bad. Having a long season like we did — it was a bit different towards the end of the year, just being that recognizable in a town like Ottawa.”
Brian McGrattan is also a Hamilton native. I'm sure they should be relatively easy to spot since I'm pretty sure most of the roads here aren't big enough for white Hummers anyways.
Pierre Dorion Added to Scouting Staff
Dorion will be responsible for scouting the amateur ranks in the United States, Canada and Europe. He joins the Senators' organization after spending the previous two seasons as an amateur scout for the New York Rangers.
I Sure Know How to Pick 'Em, Huh?
Redden and Ottawa, the love affair might be over.
He'd like it to be Ottawa, for the 11th consecutive year. He'd like to retain his position as a defenceman with the Senators, where he is the company's highest-paid employee. Why not? It's a good team in a nice city and he has a lot of friends here.
But now he's hearing talk that he's no longer wanted in the capital, and this time it's not coming from an unruly segment of callers to the all-sports radio shows. It's coming from his boss.
"Going into the summer I wasn't contemplating getting traded," Redden said from the west coast yesterday. "I know after this year, it'll be another unrestricted (situation) for me .... I guess we're going to see what they're thinking."
...
Redden probably wouldn't even sign a long-term deal with the Senators even if one was dangled.
After next season, the face of the team could be scarred drastically, as Dany Heatley and Mike Fisher are also eligible to become unrestricted free agents and a guy like Jason Spezza could find himself in possession of an offer sheet as a restricted free agent.
The "it's a great team" reason on the list for wanting to stay is in danger of meeting with an eraser.
"There are a lot of issues going on in Ottawa," said Redden.
Well, that's depressing.
Frankly, there have been trade rumours surfacing around Redden ever since this year's trade deadline considering how much of the payroll he eats up and how he had been underperforming. I wouldn't be surprised if he did get shipped out, but I'm just not yet prepared to see it. I'd imagine with all of the bruised egos that happened as a result of the vetoed trade, Redden would be a lot more flexible with waiving the NTC the next time around.
The thing is, and I've mentioned it before, Redden isn't the type of guy you want to walk away for completely nothing. However, it feels like unless the deal is spectacular, you would rarely get equal return for how well Redden is capable of playing. That's not a good enough reason to base a trade on, but it goes without saying that Murray needs to be cautious about the situation and needs to assess whether or not last season was just a blip on the radar or a telling trend.
Update at 12:38 pm
The Ottawa Senators have avoided arbitration with Chris Kelly and signed him to a new one-year deal. No financial terms yet but this is still incredibly good news that they could get this done before the hearing and Murray reveals that he was effective but a detriment to the team.
Not that Murray would ever say that about Kelly, he has been nothing but useful. Now that the RFAs have been taken care of, how about that forward we so desperately need, Murray?
Labels: chris kelly, front office, hamilton, ray emery, restricted free agents, signings, trade rumours, wade redden
Not gonna lie, he's a pretty cool dude. Have you seen the clip about his various suits? Emery is pimpin'.
I feel your pain. We can never keep anyone in Minnesota. They all go away because they are getting paid too much. Not quite the same thing as with Redden, but with the other players that might leave...I'm guessing Spezza might stick around for a good long while. Damn.
Obviously no hockey player has run into me because I would be all over that shit!
Kirsten - He is pretty awesome! I did see that clip and he is beyond pimpin' although I wonder how he managed to afford all those expensive suits on his old salary.
I hope Spezza sticks around, we've pratically adopted him. I'm not as optimistic about keeping Heatley but I think he is top priority right now.
KMS2 - That would have been different if you demanded his insurance information!
I'm actually more optimistic about Heatley than Spezza. Heatley seems to have found his stride in Ottawa, and there are rumours he's looking for a 7 year deal.
Something about Giggles makes me think that he'll hold out for more money.
I'm a huge Redden fan myself, and while I agree with him that "leaking" the information about the trade was in bad taste, I hope it motivates him to get his s*** together next season. This season was probably his worst, we only saw flashes of the brilliance that is Wade :)
Rachael, that's true. Spezza does seem like he would hold out for more money, but for some reason I feel like he might want to stick around more?
I would totally give Heatley the 7-year-deal...heck I'd lock him up for 15 years :P but then again, realistically, long-term deals are tricky, haha.
I feel the same way about Redden. He used to be by far my favourite player on the squad but the last season, plus the big paycheque just left things on a bitter note. I don't know what was up with him last season, and I'm willing to give him another chance. I just hope for his sake and the team's that he gets it together.
If that's what he wore on his salary before, imagine what he will be wearing now!
Kirsten, I hope the next one in his collection is a suit made of solid gold. If anybody can make it happen, it's him.
That would be heavy and hard to walk around in, but SO cool. You're right, if anyone can pull it off, it's Emery.