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"You cant win with Jason Spezza as your captain."I have heard that phrase uttered countless times over the past few months, as the Ottawa Senators season has slipped away. In his first season as captain, Spezzas club has been a major disappointment. The Senators fell well short of expectations and predictably, Spezza is taking the lions share of the blame from his harshest critics. I have always said that the Spezza debate in this town is like Coke versus Pepsi. If you are a Coke drinker, its very hard to convince you that Pepsi is superior. The same goes for Spezza - those people who hate him cant be convinced otherwise. Its a black-and-white argument and its virtually impossible to sway someone from one side to the other.Anybody who has read or listened to me over the years knows that I fall into the camp of people who believe the Senators are a better team with Spezza down the middle. But in todays blog, I am not trying to convince anybody about Jasons ability as a player. You can judge that for yourself. What I do want to bring up is the idea that a captain is the person who sets the tone for how his team plays.The critics of Spezza will argue that because he has a penchant for turning over the puck and does not play as well defensively as some other players, he causes his entire team to play with a loosey-goosey mentality. If the guy wearing the "C" is taking risks with the puck, that is setting the tone for the 17 other skaters.Those people say that if Spezza was a real leader, he would play the game the right way in all three zones. He would be a rugged leader, who was more physical. He would be someone like Andrew Ladd of the Winnipeg Jets.If you were to write down all the characteristics you would want in a captain for a Canadian team, Ladd would meet all the criteria. He is from Maple Ridge, B.C. He plays the game the right way He has Stanley Cup rings with two different teamsAnd yet, the Winnipeg Jets are a team that is a mess defensively. They have given up 234 goals second-worst in the Western Conference.Their captain is there every night supposedly playing the game "the right way". His teammates see how he conducts himself on and off the ice. So why are they so bad defensively?Its because the captain can only do so much. And many times, we overrate the role of a captain on a hockey team. We assign certain characteristics to people and we have a hard time deviating from our original stance. In our minds, Ladd is a great captain so the problem is with his Winnipeg teammates.But if Ladd escapes the criticism in Winnipeg for failing to get the Jets to play a more structured game, why does Spezza take the heat in Ottawa for the exact same thing?The tricky thing for Spezza is that he is also trying to fill the skates of the previous captain Daniel Alfredsson, who had a mythical status in this town.But before Alfredsson had his breakthrough moment as captain in 2007 in leading the Senators to the Stanley Cup Final, he had just as many detractors in Ottawa as Spezza does now. There was a prevailing sentiment that "you will never win with Daniel Alfredsson as your captain." Those echoes reached a crescendo when Jason Pominville walked around him for the series-ending goal against the Buffalo Sabres in the 2006 playoffs.However, after Alfredsson won over his critics in 2007, he was good for life in Ottawa and was never blamed for any of the problems.When it comes to the team that fell off a cliff in 2007-08 with one of the great collapses in NHL history?"Dont blame Alfredsson, that was all Ray Emerys fault."How about the team that missed the playoffs in two of the next three years?"Lets blame Hartsburg and Cory Clouston. Alfie is a great leader."When the Senators made the playoffs in 2011-12, they did so with the worst goals-against average of any of the 16 teams to qualify for the playoffs. They were kind of a mess defensively that year, but did anybody blame Alfredsson?Of course not.Because they had made up their minds that he was not the problem. Being the captain is all about perception. Alfredsson was always a good leader in Ottawa. He didnt radically change his approach in 2007 when they went to the Stanley Cup Final. Things just finally worked out in his favour and as a result, all of the questions surrounding his leadership vanished overnight.Spezza probably needs time to grow into the captaincy in this town, so he can experience his own defining moment as the leader of this hockey team.Whether he gets that opportunity or not is an entirely different question. Adidas Curtis Lazar Jersey . Mark Teahen scored the go-ahead run in the home seventh on an error by Scott Sizemore, who had knotted the game with a solo homer in the previous half- inning. Paul Konerko then hit an RBI single which proved to be the winning run. Michael Frolik Jersey .com) - Scott Parel carded a 5-under 65 on Thursday and he grabbed a 1-stroke lead after one round of the season-opening Panama Claro Championship. http://www.cheapflamesjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-curtis-lazar-jersey . The Senators return from a lengthy layoff caused by Wednesdays attack on Parliament Hill to host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Cheap Adidas Flames Jerseys . The team announced the moves before Sundays game against Houston. Shaw was 1-4 with a 4.26 ERA in 43 games for the Diamondbacks. Bergesen was claimed off waivers from Baltimore on Friday. Dougie Hamilton Jersey . Now he has a complete game. Scherzer tossed a three-hitter in his 179th career start for his first complete game and Victor Martinez hit his 16th homer to lead the Detroit Tigers a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.WASHINGTON -- Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov enjoyed his time with Washington Capitals. Despite some nerves, he also had a good time in his first game against them. Alex Tanguay scored twice and Varlamov made 40 saves in his return to Washington as the Avalanche remained perfect under coach Patrick Roy with a 5-1 win on Saturday night. "I got too excited to play against my old team," said Varlamov, who was drafted by Washington in 2006 and traded to Colorado in 2011. "Thats why I think I am too nervous. In the warmups, my legs were shaking. The whole first period my legs were shaking. But after the first period, I feel so much better." It is the first time the Avalanche franchise is 5-0 since the 1994-95 season when the team was the Quebec Nordiques. "We take it one day at a time and just say, Why not? Why not us?" Roy said of Colorados early success. "Were working hard every day. Were humble. We know were playing against good teams." Roy was careful when asked if he sees some of himself in the 25-year-old Varlamov, who improved to 4-0 with a 1.00 goals against average. "I dont want to start comparing," he said, "but at the same time, hes playing outstanding. Both goalies have been, Wow, for us. What I like about Varly is hes always under control." Rookie Nathan MacKinnon added his first NHL goal and an assist, and Matt Duchene and Jamie McGinn also scored for Colorado. Paul Stastny earned two assists, including his 400th NHL point as Colorado went 3-0 on a trip that included stops at Toronto and Boston. Varlamov carried a shutout into the third period before Eric Fehr beat him at 2:03. "He played great. Hes been playing great," Washington coach Adam Oates said of Varlamov. "Everything they do right now is turning to gold." Michael Neuvirth made 23 saves for the Capitals (1-4) in his first start this season. Washington has lost three straight. "It starts in our end. Weve got to be stronger. Weve got to make sure pucks get out," Fehr said. "I think we need to want the puck a little bit more." Trailing 2-0 after one period, the Capitals put 19 shots on Varlamov in the second without scoring.dddddddddddd "He made a lot of big saves," Roy said. "I think we gave up like 14 scoring chances, which is a lot, but he was solid." Midway through the period, Fehr shot wide while Varlamov was out of position. Minutes later, Varlamov denied Tom Wilson in front. "The second period, thats a shame," Oates said. "We come out and dominate the period, probably our best period of the season." Colorado stretched its lead to 3-0 with 2:19 left in the second after the Capitals were caught with too many men on the ice. Stastny fed the 18-year-old MacKinnon in front, and MacKinnon -- the top pick in this years NHL draft -- beat Neuvirth. He celebrated by skating to the corner and jumping into the glass. Tanguay made it 4-0 with a short-handed goal at 1:19 of the third. Fehr spoiled Varlamovs shutout bid off a pass from behind the goal line by Jason Chimera. Tanguay opened the scoring at 6:42 of the first when his shot from the left circle deflected off a Washington stick and past Neuvirth. Later in the period, just after an Avalanche power play ended, Colorado made it 2-0. "I like our intensity. Theres no doubt about it," Roy said. "I thought we were very focused before the game. We jumped on them right at the start." Duchene skated in on the right side, worked around defenceman John Carlson and lifted the puck over Neuvirths shoulder for his third goal. Washington went 0 for 2 on the power play. Colorado hasnt allowed a power-play goal in 12 short-handed situations this season. NOTES: Avalanche LW Cody McLeod was assisted off the ice after he blocked Alex Ovechkins shot in the second period. ... Washington D John Erskine sat out with an upper body injury. LW Aaron Volpatti was also scratched. ... D Nick Holden, D Tyson Barrie and C Marc-Andre Cliche were scratched by Colorado. ... Washington D Nate Schmidt, recalled from Hershey of the AHL on Friday, made his NHL debut. ... The Nordiques were 7-0 in the 1985-86 season, the best start in franchise history. 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