OTTAWA -- Like everyone else Paul MacLean was surprised by Daniel Alfredssons
decision to sign with the Detroit Red Wings, but the Ottawa Senators head coach
says its time to move forward.
Jeremy Mathieu Jersey . "I was disappointed
like everybody," MacLean said Friday afternoon. "At the same time Daniels earned
the right to make that decision and hes made it and moved on and were moving on.
Were going to progress without him." MacLean believes the Senators have enough
leadership within its current group of players to fill any void left behind by
Alfredssons absence. "Its a great opportunity for a number of our players to
step into that leadership void and show they can be a bigger part of the team
than maybe theyve been in the past," MacLean said. "Its not just one guy thats
going to step up, one guy will represent as Daniel did with the captaincy, but
leadership isnt just a one person thing or a three person thing its an everybody
thing. With me its everybody and thats still going to be the expectation."
MacLean says he wants a captain that "does it right every day and is a good
representative of the team." "But the most important thing is you have to be
here every day and you have to do it right," he added. The two most likely
candidates are Jason Spezza and Chris Phillips. Both have been alternate
captains and are well respected by their peers and the coaching staff. There is
no set timeline as to when a new captain will be selected as MacLean plans on
conducting some due diligence. Players in consideration will be spoken to,
management and coaching staff will be asked for input. Players will not be given
a vote as to who they feel should be the next captain. "The process that
(general manager Bryan Murray) and I and my coaching staff have to go through is
sifting through it and finding whos going to be the best guy to represent the
whole group," MacLean said. In addition to Alfredsson, the Senators made a
number of other changes to its roster, most notably the addition of Bobby Ryan.
"He brings to us someone thats a bona fide guy thats scored 35 goals in the
league," MacLean said. "He shoots the puck in the net and thats something we
havent had here since Ive been here. "Having someone with that ability certainly
should help our confidence as a team as far as it comes to scoring goals." The
Senators struggled offensively last year averaging 2.33 goals-per-game to finish
27th in the league. Ryan will be counted on to boost those numbers. While its
anticipated that Ryan will play alongside Spezza, MacLean says chemistry will
have a lot to do with how lines are made. Ryan could play with Spezza,
Kyle Turris or even Mika Zibanejad. Heading into camp it doesnt appear that the
Senators have a lot of room for change, but MacLean has always been an ardent
believer that the best players play. The Senators rookies will take part in a
four-team rookie tournament starting next week and MacLean says close
consideration will be given to anyone who manages to excel when given the
opportunity. Following the rookie camp a number of players will be invited to
take part in the main camp and things will sort themselves out through
performance. "Were going to play eight exhibition games and were going to sort
out who the best players are or theyre going to sort it out themselves actually
and the best 23 guys are going to stay here and play," said MacLean. "If youre
not one of those 23 guys then well have to make arrangements for them to play
wherever that has to be, no matter what the circumstances are. The best players
are going to be here and play." Despite a rash of devastating injuries last
season the Senators advanced to the second round of the playoffs last season
,where they eventually lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games. MacLean
knows fans will be looking for much the same. "Consistency is the hardest thing
to do and the best way to success is to be consistent and if were consistent
then I think the (fans) are going to like where we are," he said.
Andres Iniesta Barcelona Jersey . The defence
is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first
half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the
Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night.
Gerard Pique Jersey . The Nashville Predators
were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two
assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a
4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night.
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. There was no hesitation from the 40th-ranked Pospisil, from Vernon, B.C., who
admitted that he cut back on his training sessions over the last few days to
conserve energy as the long ATP season finishes next week at the Paris
Masters.TORONTO -- Dustin Ackley hit his first career grand slam and Canadian
Michael Saunders belted two solo homers as the Seattle Mariners defeated the
Toronto Blue Jays 8-1 on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre. Ackley broke the
game open in the fourth inning when he belted a 3-2 pitch from Toronto starter
R.A. Dickey over the wall in right-centre field. That was more than enough
support for Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma, who allowed five hits and one
earned run over seven innings. Toronto (10-21) extended its losing skid to four
games while Seattle (15-17) has won three in a row. The Blue Jays have yet to
win a home series this year, dropping five and splitting one. They will try to
avoid the three-game sweep in the series finale Sunday. Saunders, from Victoria,
took Dickeys second pitch of the day over the wall in right field. The Blue Jays
loaded the bases in the bottom half of the frame but Iwakuma (3-1) struck out
Colby Rasmus and Rajai Davis to end the threat. Maicer Izturis walked to lead
off the second inning for Toronto and was forced out at second base when
Henry Blanco hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Seattle first baseman Kendrys Morales
was pulled off the bag when the throw was wide and swung his glove back in an
attempt to tag Blanco. Television replays appeared to show that it was a phantom
tag but Blanco was called out anyway. Manager John Gibbons came out to argue the
decision to no avail and Munenori Kawasaki grounded out to end the inning.
Dickey, who won the National League Cy Young Award last year with the New York
Mets, retired nine straight after the leadoff homer. But the veteran
knuckleballer got into trouble in the fourth inning. Morales hit a one-out
single and moved to second on a Michaeel Morse grounder.
Sergi Roberto Barcelona Jersey. Raul Ibanez
and Kelly Shoppach drew walks to load the bases before Ackley launched his first
homer of the year. Saunders hit his second home run of the game in the fifth
inning. It was his fourth homer of the year and the fourth multi-homer game of
his career. Seattle added another run in the sixth. Ibanez tripled and scored
when Shoppach doubled down the left-field line. Saunders struck again in the
eighth inning with an RBI double off reliever Brett Cecil that scored
Robert Andino. Dickey (2-5) pitched six innings, allowing six hits, seven earned
runs and two walks. He struck out five and his earned-run average rose to 5.36
from 4.50. Iwakuma, who owns a sparkling 1.61 ERA, walked three and had five
strikeouts. The Blue Jays finally got on the board in the seventh to end a
23-inning scoring drought. Rajai Davis walked, moved to third on a Henry Blanco
double and scored when Kawasaki hit a sacrifice fly. Seattle outhit Toronto 8-6.
The Blue Jays have lost 10 of their last 12 games and are 28th in the 30-team
major leagues. Announced attendance was 35,754 and the game took two hours 28
minutes to play. Notes: Right-hander Brandon Morrow (0-2) is scheduled to start
for Toronto on Sunday afternoon. The Mariners will counter with left-hander
Joe Saunders (2-3). ... The Blue Jays will open a four-game road series at Tampa
Bay on Monday. The Mariners will get the day off before continuing their road
trip with a two-game set against Pittsburgh. ... Toronto outrighted right-hander
Justin Germano to triple-A Buffalo on Saturday, a day after he was designated
for assignment. He allowed two earned runs over two innings in his lone
appearance with the Blue Jays this season.
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