A “Force United” No More, Jason Spezza Is Paying the Price

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

When you visited the Ottawa Senators website last season the Senators slogan, “A Force United,” was very prevalent. This season, the slogan has disappeared from the site and with it has gone Dany Heatley’s scoring and Jason Spezza’s status as an elite NHL player.

Through 20 games, Spezza has an alarming one goal to show for his efforts. To be fair, Spezza has always been more of an assists guy, but, having scored 32 goals in 2008-09, 34 goals in 2007-08, and 34 goals in 2006-07, Spezza is far off his usual 30-goal pace.

When Dany Heatley departed for San Jose this summer, there were two schools of thought on Jason Spezza. First, he would find a renewed passion for the game and instant chemistry with free agent acquisition Alex Kovalev, re-establishing himself as one of the NHL’s best puck distributors, keeping the nay-sayers at bay.

The flip-side was less than complimentary. Many prognosticators felt that the departure of Heatley would spell doom for Spezza, citing Heatley’s ability to deposit the puck as the true reason for Spezza’s success, and not Spezza’s passing skills.

When you look at the numbers, it would appear as if those that sided with Heatley’s scoring abilities outweighing Spezza’s passing were correct.

Sure, through 20 games, Spezza has 12 assists, which puts him on pace to register 40 plus assists on the season. That is well in line with his 41 assist performance in 2008-09, but well off his 58 assists in 2007-08 and 53 assists in 2006-07, not to mention his 73 assists in 2005-06.

For many Senator fans, it is not the depletion of points that has them concerned, it is the lack of creativity with the puck, and the lack of cohesion with his teammates that is most troubling.

Spezza and Heatley were household names for the better part of six seasons with the Senators, and were regarded within NHL circles as one of the League's fieriest combinations.

Now, with Heatley gone, Spezza has failed to rediscover the magic that he once shared with Heatley. And with Heatley not missing a beat alongside San Jose’s Joe Thornton, Spezza’s lack of scoring has been exposed.

Chemistry is a funny thing. At the best of times a combination such as Heatley and Spezza seems invincible. That said, when you take one or the other out of their comfort zone with new teammates, it has the potential for disaster.

The Senators are in a tough spot with Spezza. His inability to gel with his current linemates makes him a target to be traded. But Spezza’s lofty $8 million cap hit in 2009-10 through 2012-13 ($5 million in 2013-14) makes him almost untradeable.

Lack of performance and a massive salary will likely cost the Senators for years to come. The current landscape of the NHL’s salary cap does not allow teams to absorb deals of Spezza’s magnitude and, based on his performance to date, why would any team want to take such a big risk on Spezza?

For Jason Spezza and the Ottawa Senators, the only friend they have right now is time. Time to find Spezza’s game, time to find some chemistry with his linemates, and time for his contract to expire, which, admittedly, is a lot of time!

Spezza’s lack of results is not solely his fault. A good portion of the blame has to go to his linemates, who, for the most part, have let Spezza down. Alex Kovalev, who was expected to make sweet music with Spezza, has four goals and ten points in 19 games played, a poor showing for a player of Kovalev’s ilk and skills.

With an average of 19:58 in ice-time per game, Spezza is getting premium ice-time with the Sens. Head Coach Cory Clouston has been very patient with Spezza. That said, Spezza’s leash is getting shorter, the collar tighter, and by all accounts, Clouston’s patience, much like Senators general manager Bryan Murray’s, is wearing thin.

With their hands seemingly tied, Sens management will have little choice but to stay the course with their struggling veteran. After all, despite the slogan’s absence, the Senators must remain “a force united.”

Until next time,

Peace!