Forenregeln » holding off a late rally

There is some irony in the fact that Jason Spezza was finally traded on Canada Day. After all, there had been weeks of speculation that the star centre wasnt enamoured with the idea of playing in a Canadian market. But a few hours after the trade, Spezza wanted to make it clear that he wasnt leaving Ottawa because he couldnt stand the pressure and scrutiny that came with playing in the nations capital. “I dont think thats accurate," Spezza told TSN.ca. "My biggest motivator for a trade was to win. It will be portrayed however they want it to be portrayed, but the last thing I was worried about was coming out and doing interviews in front of my stall.” During the past month, it was widely reported that Spezza put the other Canadian teams on his no-trade list and that his desire was to go south of the border, where he would face less scrutiny. However, Spezza said the fact that most Canadian teams are struggling right now was the biggest reason why he put them on his no-trade list. He is never one to shy away from microphones and says he would welcome playing in a Canadian market again down the road if the opportunity arose. “It was more circumstance than anything of why those (Canadian) teams were on my list. I have one year left on my deal and I wanted to go someplace where I could win a Cup,” Spezza said. The troubling trend for Senators fans, however, is that Spezza is the latest superstar to have a somewhat messy departure from their city. In the summer of 2009, Dany Heatley demanded a trade and ultimately forced the clubs hand into trading him to San Jose. Last summer, Daniel Alfredsson and the organization had a sudden and bitter divorce, prompting the long-time captain to sign with Detroit as a free agent. Now that Spezza has been shipped to Dallas, it only adds to the growing perception that superstars have a short shelf life in Ottawa. But Spezza says the fans in Ottawa arent to blame for a number of players wanting to leave in a short window of time. “Its a fine market for stars, but just like any hockey market, its tough when youre not winning. All three situations are unique. I didnt make my decision because of Alfie and Alfie didnt make his decision because of Heater,” Spezza explained. “We all had our own reasons. There were some similarities, but in the end, each was a unique case.” In some ways, this does appear to be different than the Alfredsson saga from last summer, when the captain abruptly ended his tenure with the club. Spezza appeared to have a more calculated, long-term approach – far less emotional than the course Alfredsson seemed to take. But there is a striking similarity between Alfredssons comments last summer and the ones made by Spezza today. In each case, the captain felt like he had a better chance to win a Stanley Cup with a different organization. “All I can say is my goal is to win a Cup. I think Ottawa has a good chance. They have a good core of young players and a good nucleus. But for me right now, I just felt like Dallas was a great fit,” Spezza added. Spezza said he had discussions with Bryan Murray towards the end of the season and alerted the front office that he likely wasnt going to re-sign a contract extension beyond 2015. And rather than make it awkward for everyone during the 2014-15 season – constantly answering questions about his future – he felt it was best for all parties involved to make a preemptive move this summer. “I didnt have any interest in signing an extension and that kind of hinted to them that maybe it was time to move on. I met with Bryan and had some really good and frank discussions. And I was being honest with them when I said it was best for me and best for them if I moved on,” Spezza explained. Spezza was asked if he knew the regular season finale in Pittsburgh on April 13 would be his last game in a Senators jersey. He scored a brilliant goal in the shootout to secure a Senators 3-2 victory and he admitted, “It wasnt lost on me that it could have been my last goal with Ottawa.” Spezza said he stayed quiet for the past few weeks out of respect for the process, but once Murray told reporters at the NHL GM meetings last month that Spezza had indeed requested a trade, he knew the writing was on the wall. “Once Bryan went public, I knew it was probably done for me there,” he said. (Spezza also went out of his way to point out that he still has a terrific relationship with Murray and holds the Senators general manager in the highest regard). Spezza isnt sure how the crowd at Canadian Tire Centre would react to his appearance when he makes his return to Ottawa on January 29, 2015 in a Dallas Stars jersey, but he does want Senators fans to know that he does not hold a grudge against them – even though he was often seen as a lightning rod for criticism by the fan base. “My time in Ottawa was fond and I know a lot of people are upset," Spezza said. "I would have loved to have the storybook career, where you spend your whole life in one city and play for one team, but thats part of the hard decision we had to make. This didnt just happen overnight and I woke up one morning and said ‘I want to leave. There was a lot of thought put into this.” Tony Snell Jersey . -- Billy Donovans bench came up big, bailing out top-seeded Florida in a tight game against what was supposed to be an overmatched opponent. Jabari Parker Jersey . Team spokesman Donald Beauchamp said there was no new information on the 80-year-old Hall of Famers condition. The family has requested privacy. http://www.nbabucksproshop.com/Authentic-Greg-Monroe-Bucks-Jersey/ . Malone will become an unrestricted free-agent and as per the collective bargaining agreement, the Lightning will be responsible for two-thirds of the remainder of his contract over twice the length of the rest of the deal. Giannis Antetokounmpo Jersey . In mens doubles, Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Croatian Mate Pavic and Andre Sa of Brazil. Ray Allen Jersey . - This is just the warm-up act for 18-year-old William Nylander.LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Slovenia powered into the quarterfinals of the European basketball championship with a 73-65 victory over Greece on Sunday, with point guard Goran Dragic scoring 28 points. Slovenia joined Croatia in the last eight and its victory allowed Italy to advance as well, despite its 76-68 loss to Croatia. The host team nearly blew a huge lead but held on to send the home fans into a frenzy in Stozice Arena. Spain, the defending two-time champion, cruised past Finland 82-56. Spain, with two wins and two losses, plays Italy (2-2) in its final second-round game. Greece and Finland also still have a chance of making it to the last eight. Greece (1-3) plays Croatia (3-1), and Finland (1-3) goes against Slovenia (3-1). From the other group, France, Lithuania and Serbia have already advanced. Dragic scored his teams first 11 points, before his younger brother Dragan scored the next four to set the tone for the game. Goran Dragics impact was huge, at both ends of the court. After making one free throw, the NBA player grabbed an offensive rebound and dished out an assist for Nebojsa Joskimovics 3-pointer that put Slovenia up by 20 early in the third quarter. The lead quickly grew to 26, and Greece suffered even worse when forward Kosta Papanikolaou limped off with an ankle injury midway through the quarter. "Its a very bad ankle sprain," Greece coach Andrea Trinchieri said. "We came back with desire and passion in the second half but we missed the chance to close within three and that was that." While Goran Dragic had a rest in the fourth, Slovenias lead melted to six by the time he returned. He stole the ball and put in a layup -- his only points in the fourth quarter -- to make it 70-62. Greece miissed three straight 3-point attempts and Jaka Lakovic made three of four free throws to keep Slovenia ahead.dddddddddddd. Goran Dragic also had five rebounds and four assists, while his brother added 11 points. "We had a huge lead but it wasnt over," Goran Dragic said. "We knew they dont like to play fast, especially in the first two quarters. The key was our rebounding." Slovenia coach Boza Maljkovic said his teams 21 offensive rebounds made the difference. "We played well for 26 minutes, then we went down and I didnt like it." Vassilis Spanoulis led Greece with 21 and eight rebounds. Croatia trailed by 13 early and was down by five at halftime but outscored Italy 26-9 -- including a 10-0 run -- in the third to go ahead for good, holding off a late rally. Shooting guards Bojan Bogdanovic and Krunoslav Simon had eight points each during the run and point guard Roko Leno Ukic scored six straight to spark Croatias comeback. Bogdanovic finished with 18 points, while Luigi Datome had 24 for Italy. "I dont think we need to lose any confidence now. We lost the games against Slovenia and Croatia but we were not dominated and we dont need to fear Spain," Datome said. "The crucial moment was the third quarter, they went 10-0 and turned the game around." Italy cut the deficit to four with 2:44 left to play but Marco Cusin missed a dunk, Bogdanovic grabbed the rebound and Simon hit a jumper before sinking two free throws to end Italys hopes. Croatia got 21 points from its bench, compared to seven for Italy. Jose Calderon led Spain with 23 points, while Petteri Koponen had 17 for Finland. Spain had 15 more rebounds and 10 more assists than Finland, which dropped to 1-3. ' ' '