Actions Speak Louder Than Words

The Ottawa Senators have made a couple moves these last couple of weeks that I believe vindicate some of my personal feelings towards some high profile hockey players, not all of which synced with popular opinion.

Let's start with the report coming out of Ottawa that Wade Redden refused to waive his no trade clause, purportedly to San Jose. Normally a team that is on the verge of winning the Cup, or believes it will be competing for the Cup will load up on high priced veteran defenceman on the last year of their contract, and in fact they will trade good young prospects or solid middlemen to accomplish this feat (see last year's Petr Forsberg or Brad Stuart trade for examples). They do not let go of their short term high end players.

To me there is a clear message from Bryan Murray: Wade Redden is not a particularily important cog in this machine when it comes to winning the Stanley Cup.

Despite his pay level, his hype, and his fanfare, Wade Redden doesn't seem to have that much support from a guy who coached him for 2 years and has been his GM for one. A guy who has spent a lot of time evaluating Wade Redden's performance and impact has decided that he doesn't have much of an impact, or at least much of a necessary one.

I have been saying for quite some time that Wade Redden is an over rated hockey player, and judging from Bryan Murray's evaluation, and the fact Redden has been an overwhelming no show for most of the Team Canada 2010 roster predictions, the popular opinion is really starting to sway in that direction.

The other significant roster move the Senators made this week was the acquisition of Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore, two long time faves of mine. Although Cory Stillman was touted as a great addition as a secondary scorer for the Sens, in my mind it was Mike Commodore who was the key to the deal.

The defender has continued to add to his reputation as a steadying presence on the blueline, and as a champion.

Murray went out of his way to acquire Commodore, and he went out of his way to attempt to move Redden. Apparently the Senators believe Commodore has more of an opportunity to help them win the Cup than Wade Redden. The guy that has hair like a clown and was untouted his whole career is now considered more valuable than Wade Redden in terms of role in a championship run. Wow.

Am I reading too much into this?

You can never come home again...?

Wow. I mean, we all heard the rumours about Conroy coming back to Calgary (they've been around for a solid year or so) but as with every rumour, I just tended to ignore them. I heard an interesting take on the idea of Conroy coming back last time the rumours surfaced (beginning of the season or so I think), and it came from none other than ex-Flames GM Craig Button, the man who aquired Conroy in the first place (in exchange for a still underrated Cory Stillman). I'm paraphrasing here, but he essentially said bringing Conroy back would be a mistake because players never come back the way you remember them. Conroy played a huge role on this team, and because of the 03-04 playoff run, we all remember him with a rosy glow. Conroy will be under intense and perhaps unfair scrutiny to help this team to a similar (read: better) performance again this year, especially considering this time he was shipped into a generally adept team, rather than the rebuilding years mess he was jetisoned into last time around.

There is another peculiar thing thats bothering me about this aquisition. It's not that we had to give up Lundmark and a couple of picks, Jamie just wasn't working out (as I aluded to in my Mid Term Report). Its that when Conroy's contract with the Flames expired, he (as I understand) was basically told that he was not worth the amount of pay he wanted. In the end he saw sunnier skies in L.A., got the big contract, and proceeded to have 1.5 mediocre seasons. Losing Iginla as a linemate probably didn't help Craiger's cause, but we are essentially resigning him for more money than we initially believed he was worth and giving up several draft picks to do it. And, at least statistically, he's a worse player than the one we wern't willing to resign.

If this sounds strange to you, it's because it is strange, or it's at least a poorly executed strategy.

Is Calgary a better team than we were yesterday because of this trade? Absolutely we are. But is paying $3 million for a guy who we plan on slotting in on the third line a smart long term plan, keeping in mind salary cap constraints? You tell me.

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I Miss Mike Commodore

I've made no bones about it. I miss Mike Commodore. While Calgary was having its cinderella season, there is no doubt Mike Commodore was the cinderella player. Pressed into regular shift duty when Toni Lydman and Denis Gauthier went down, Commodore formed one half of 'The Dores' defensive duo. While it was Montadore that scored the famous beaver tail slap winner against the Sharks in OT, Commodore became famous for his gigantic red afro. I think though that fans appreciated him even more for his clutch play.


Commodore is back in town playing for the first time since Game 6 of the 2004 Western Conference Finals, and while Flames fans still feel the sting of that defeat, Commodore has surely soothed his somewhat by winning the Stanley Cup exactly one season later. Less than two full season in the NHL, and already a Stanley Cup Final veteran.

Another Calgary cast-off is joining Commodore tonight in a Flames reunion type of way. Cory Stillman was traded away for Craig Conroy, and I remember being furious at the time. Stillman was a proven playmaker, Conroy was some defensive centre. While the trade worked out for Calgary, with Conroy leading the way during the 2004 playoffs, the trade worked out even better for Stillman - eventually.

After languishing on a talented but hapless St. Louis Blues team where he got 2nd line ice time behind Weight and Tkachuck, Stillman was traded to the Lightning for a 2nd round pick (at least Calgary got SOMETHING back...). There he went on to have nearly a point a game season, and he won the cup with Tampa. He was benched for the finals, but his name got on the cup. He was criticized for being soft. Turns out he was hurt. Tampa wasn't willing to give him a multi-year deal, so he signed with the 'Canes, and ended up winning the cup again. But this time, nobody called him soft. Scoring key goals throughout the playoffs, Stillman proved he was a clutch performer.

Come to think of it - I miss Stillman too.

Andrew Ference said tonight's game will be like a benchmark for the team. I think right now the Ducks are the true benchmark, they're playing better than any other team and its showing in the win column. The 'Canes have without a doubt lost some of the mojo from last year, so its not as big a deal as maybe some are making it up to be. It is important though in the sense that the Flames are a team that needs to put forth a consistent effort game to game.

Keep an eye on the Huselius-Kobesew-Lombardi combo - Playfair has challenged them to be more consistent as well.