This summer came as a show to all NHL fans, especially those Senators fans, when former captain of 14 years Daniel Alfredsson decided to part ways with the Ottawa Senators. Leaving the Ottawa Senators after many years on the team, Alfredsson decided to take his skills to the Detroit Red Wings, a team he is expects will get him that NHL Stanley Cup Championship ring.
So with the shock of him leaving after almost two decades in mind, it took the Ottawa Senators a couple of months to decide who the next captain will be. On September 14th the Ottawa Senators officially announced that their top center player, Jason Spezza, has been named the official captain for the team. Spezza will be the team’s eighth captain; other captains included Laurie Boschman (1992-1993), Mark Lamb (1993-1994), Brad Shawn (1993-1994), Gord Dineen (1993-1994), Randy Cunneyworth (1994-1998), Alexei Yashin (1998-1999), and finally Daniel Alfredsson (1999-2013).
Jason Spezza was a likely team choice and a fan favourite. He has played his whole career in Ottawa along with Chris Phillips and Chris Neil who were both named as Spezza’s assistants. Spezza said he is very excited for the opportunity to be a captain for an NHL team and noted that every kid dreams about the opportunity.
I think the six foot three player will be a good captain. He has had an outstanding career that includes the 2004-2005 AHL MVP, as well as being an all star in 2008 and 2012. His international duties included 2 World Championships and 3 World Junior Championships along with the 2012 Spengler Cup. His top NHL scoring season was 2011-2012 with 84 points.
Spezza has only two years left on his contract but it will be likely that the thirty-year old player will sign a contract extension to continue his duties as the Captain for the Senators. It will be interesting to see as the pre-season is starting, how he will take on his duties of leading the team to what they hope will be a Stanley Cup.
When Alfredsson was injured, Spezza took on the role of being a leader, so it is not something he has not already done. Last season, Spezza was out due to an injury and only played a handful of games in the playoffs, but it was not enough to lead them to the finals.
Now that Spezza is 100% better he will be able to lead the team and make the decisions they need to get them as far as they can. We will see how he progresses over the season with his duties, but I believe that it was a good call from the Ottawa Senators.
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