Madferret
7-25-05, 2:55 PM
No facelift for Sens: MucklerTeam doesn't plan buyouts, major lineup changes
By CHRIS YZERMAN, CP
The theory that the new collective bargaining agreement will force NHL teams to undergo facelifts won?t apply to the Ottawa Senators this year, according to general manager John Muckler.
When the Senators open the season Oct. 5 against Toronto at the Air Canada Centre, their fans can expect to see a team pretty similar to the one that last skated off that same ice surface in April 2004 after being beaten out of the playoffs by the Leafs.
Unlike teams such as the Philadelphia Flyers, which was the first club to purge itself of contracts over the weekend, Muckler confirmed Monday at the Senators? official 2005-06 season launch that Ottawa won?t follow suit, despite having just 10 players under contract for a total of $23.6 million US for next season.
That means they?ll retain the services of forward Bryan Smolinski (scheduled to earn $2.24 million in 2005-06) and defenceman Greg de Vries ($2.28 million) ? both rumoured to be headed out of Ottawa.
Under terms of the new CBA, teams are right now allowed the chance to buy out existing contracts at two-thirds of their value.
?We?re not going to do that,? Muckler said. ?We like our players. Our first priority is to keep them. ?I?m happy we?re in that position rather than in the position of a buyer.?
Muckler said he and assistant general manager Peter Chiarelli will sit down this week and start work aimed at getting several out-of-contract players ? Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat and Jason Spezza, among them ? back in uniform under the new $39-million salary cap.
While those three would likely still get healthy deals even with the cap in place, Muckler?s insistence that the team won?t buy out any players means there will be less money to go around for some of the team?s long-serving role players like Todd White and Chris Neil.
?I hope I?m in Ottawa, it?s a great city and a great organization,? Neil, a restricted free agent who would have made $700,000 last year, said after watching the team?s season-ticket and marketing kickoff at the Corel Centre. ?(But) no one knows if they?re here or not.?
Under the slogan ?This is a whole new game,? the Senators announced that they?re reducing the prices of some of their most expensive seats by as much as 33 per cent.
Season-ticket holders, who already were told that prices would be frozen for two-years in addition to receiving a five-per-cent rebate will also receive free player-signed replica jerseys.
Ottawa, which will open at home on Oct. 8 against a yet-to-be-announced opponent, will also discount other seats at the Corel Centre, including three early season Welcome Back Nights where all tickets will be half-price.
What would also likely help bring back fans is the fact that Senators coach Bryan Murray, who has yet to get behind the bench of the team he took over last off-season, wants the same kind of up-tempo team that Ottawa was capable of icing before the lockout.
He said he may try to take advantage of the new rule changes ? the removal of the red line and the league?s promise to eliminate obstruction, for example ? by putting together a line featuring Spezza, who was the American Hockey League?s top scorer during the lockout, at centre with swift-skating Havlat on the left side and high-scoring captain Daniel Alfredsson on the right.
Senators defenceman Chris Phillips, who will join teammates Wade Redden at Canada?s Olympic training camp next month, was also on hand to kick things off. He?s in favour of Ottawa retaining its previous look and excited about seeing the Senators perform under the new rules, which he thinks could appease disgruntled home fans.
?I hope that (the fans) see there had to be changes in the system and, unfortunately, it took some time to get those changes in place,? Phillips said. ?But they?ve done everything for the better of the game.
?Maybe that year off made (fans?) anticipation grow stronger for everybody and excited to get back at it.?
By CHRIS YZERMAN, CP
The theory that the new collective bargaining agreement will force NHL teams to undergo facelifts won?t apply to the Ottawa Senators this year, according to general manager John Muckler.
When the Senators open the season Oct. 5 against Toronto at the Air Canada Centre, their fans can expect to see a team pretty similar to the one that last skated off that same ice surface in April 2004 after being beaten out of the playoffs by the Leafs.
Unlike teams such as the Philadelphia Flyers, which was the first club to purge itself of contracts over the weekend, Muckler confirmed Monday at the Senators? official 2005-06 season launch that Ottawa won?t follow suit, despite having just 10 players under contract for a total of $23.6 million US for next season.
That means they?ll retain the services of forward Bryan Smolinski (scheduled to earn $2.24 million in 2005-06) and defenceman Greg de Vries ($2.28 million) ? both rumoured to be headed out of Ottawa.
Under terms of the new CBA, teams are right now allowed the chance to buy out existing contracts at two-thirds of their value.
?We?re not going to do that,? Muckler said. ?We like our players. Our first priority is to keep them. ?I?m happy we?re in that position rather than in the position of a buyer.?
Muckler said he and assistant general manager Peter Chiarelli will sit down this week and start work aimed at getting several out-of-contract players ? Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat and Jason Spezza, among them ? back in uniform under the new $39-million salary cap.
While those three would likely still get healthy deals even with the cap in place, Muckler?s insistence that the team won?t buy out any players means there will be less money to go around for some of the team?s long-serving role players like Todd White and Chris Neil.
?I hope I?m in Ottawa, it?s a great city and a great organization,? Neil, a restricted free agent who would have made $700,000 last year, said after watching the team?s season-ticket and marketing kickoff at the Corel Centre. ?(But) no one knows if they?re here or not.?
Under the slogan ?This is a whole new game,? the Senators announced that they?re reducing the prices of some of their most expensive seats by as much as 33 per cent.
Season-ticket holders, who already were told that prices would be frozen for two-years in addition to receiving a five-per-cent rebate will also receive free player-signed replica jerseys.
Ottawa, which will open at home on Oct. 8 against a yet-to-be-announced opponent, will also discount other seats at the Corel Centre, including three early season Welcome Back Nights where all tickets will be half-price.
What would also likely help bring back fans is the fact that Senators coach Bryan Murray, who has yet to get behind the bench of the team he took over last off-season, wants the same kind of up-tempo team that Ottawa was capable of icing before the lockout.
He said he may try to take advantage of the new rule changes ? the removal of the red line and the league?s promise to eliminate obstruction, for example ? by putting together a line featuring Spezza, who was the American Hockey League?s top scorer during the lockout, at centre with swift-skating Havlat on the left side and high-scoring captain Daniel Alfredsson on the right.
Senators defenceman Chris Phillips, who will join teammates Wade Redden at Canada?s Olympic training camp next month, was also on hand to kick things off. He?s in favour of Ottawa retaining its previous look and excited about seeing the Senators perform under the new rules, which he thinks could appease disgruntled home fans.
?I hope that (the fans) see there had to be changes in the system and, unfortunately, it took some time to get those changes in place,? Phillips said. ?But they?ve done everything for the better of the game.
?Maybe that year off made (fans?) anticipation grow stronger for everybody and excited to get back at it.?