Eintracht Frankfurt » e admitted, “It wasnt lost on me that it co

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.” Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . - Titans quarterback Jake Locker will miss the rest of the season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, leaving Tennessee trying to rally with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Brandon Fusco Jersey .That sight softened the blow of what ended up as a 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.Knowing their teammate was fine after a scary headfirst fall in the opening minute of the game helped calm the Maple Leafs. http://www.falconsauthenticofficialonlin...ith-jersey.html. He wants to seize that opportunity. The trouble is, Firus has had more bumps on the road to Sochi than most. Last year, Firus had the skate of a lifetime in the short program at the Canadian championships when he landed his first triple Axel in competition and finished third in a stacked field. Justin Bethel Jersey . "We cannot stay the same way the whole season long," said Reyes. "This is not acceptable. Something needs to change because were a better team than what were showing right now. Its a long season and we just need to continue to push." Its been a frustrating week for the ballclub. Justin Bethel Falcons Jersey .C. -- Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe is resigning after 13 seasons at the school.The Golden State Warriors claimed an early lead in the NBA Finals with a 104-89 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening game of the series. The Cavaliers managed to keep Warriors stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson quiet, but ran into a strong bench performance from the reigning NBA champions.Curry and Thompson combined for only 20 points, but they were rescued by some poor Cavaliers shooting and superb efforts from bit-part players Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa. Splash Brothers Curry and Thompson made only eight of their 27 shots, with Curry contributing a below-par 11 points and Thompson only nine.But with the bench in red-hot form, and Draymond Green not far off a triple-double, fans at the packed Oracle Arena were still able to celebrate a home victory. Steph Curry managed only 11 points in a below-par performance but the Warriors were still big winners Green scored 16 points to go with 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Livingston led their scoring assault with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting.Clevelandds star players scored well, but their shooting was off target as they hit only 38 per cent of their shots from the floor.dddddddddddd LeBron James contributed 23 points for the Cavaliers, but their roster depth was exposed by Golden State LeBron James kicked off his sixth straight finals appearance with 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, while Kyrie Irving, who suffered a serious knee injury in the game one of the finals last year, scored 26 points, 11 of them on free throws.But, where Golden States bench players accounted for 45 points, only 10 came from Clevelands reserves, much to the delight of Warriors coach Steve Kerr.Weve talked about our depth for the last two years. We rely on a lot of people. 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