Would you be in favour of retiring Spezza's number?

[SensTopLine]

no

The only living Senator that deserves to have his number retired is Alfie.

Spezza, in his first year as captain, literally bailed on the team instead of leading and giving it his own identity. Spezza was a very prolific scorer and immensely talented. I wish he didn't quit on this team but points alone don't get your number retired.
.

Don't kid yourself for a second if you think he bailed on the team and decided to jump ship. 3/4 of the fanbase and media ran Spezza out of town. I think it's safe to say that the feeling is mutual for Spezza and the fans to go their separate ways and now is too late to want to keep him or sign an extension.

 

[Rumcajs]

No thanks. Give him a video and an ovation but what did he ever do to get his number retired. Nothing!

 

[Burrowsaurus]

I was thinking Alfredssons number should be retired, but then I remembered that he wasn't totally honest about his position, left the team for his Euro friends, and never won anything. If he hadn't left I would support retiring his number, but he took a massive dump directly on the team. Fair enough, he wants to win, but that isn't "retirement" worthy.

And yes, I would support retiring Yzermans number before Spezza's. He did more for Canada than that ego driven, whining underachiever ever did.

You can make up a lot of things. But underachiever ?

 

[Jaromir Jagrbombs]

Nawh. If he spent his whole career here while continuing to put up ~ppg numbers then sure. #11 and eventually #4 are the only two numbers that should be up in the rafters IMO.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

0 cups. 0 retired numbers. We retire numbers for consistent losing now? Until our cup situation changes is don't want to see us retiring any numbers

 

[Senafan]

Alfie is the only player that merits it. Would be less bittersweet if he could somehow make amends with the fans before this was done, though.

Echoing the 'ring of honour' type idea for other Sens notables/pensioners like Neil, Redden, Phillips etc.

 

[OmniSens]

If he had been the age of 36-37 when leaving at still around a PPG, then I'd consider it. Maybe even a cup. But, nope.

 

[SensNation1]

Maybe next to the Stanley Cup banner he brings...

 

[ColinM]

Yes, but only after Alfredsson, Philips, and Neil have their number retired. I am also open to having Fisher and Redden's number retired on the basis of the number of years they spent with the team, but again not before Alfredsson, Neil, and Philips.

 

[SensNation1]

Number retired it's a honor. You have to be a very relevelant player for the franchise.

Men, Redden and Fisher ae guys who play with the Sens, but don't but the franchise in Superstar way. They are good players, no more.

 

[HavlatMach9]

i like the way the Leafs approach of acknowledging the great players that have played there.

 

[Legend Killer]

Yes, but only after Alfredsson, Philips, and Neil have their number retired. I am also open to having Fisher and Redden's number retired on the basis of the number of years they spent with the team, but again not before Alfredsson, Neil, and Philips.

Potentially 5 retired numbers from a team that hasnt accomplished much? Id rather have 0 retired than 5. Because we are such a young franchise I think we need to start somewhere and we should probably retire #11... I am a bigger fan of the Ribg of Honour idea...

 

[The Waffler]

11, 4, 19 and 25 are all quality numbers.

In 20 years this team might be full of numbers like 58, 75, 38, 42 if we keep retiring the good ones.

 

[DrEasy]

In terms of how much they deserve any kind of honor, it goes in this order IMO:

Alf > Neil > Phillips > Spezza > Redden

Some of the above guys have established some team records that are going to be hard to beat for a while, and thus deserve some honor:

By the time Alf retires, he will have the most G and A of any Senator in modern era history (total of 1108 pts, next in line is Spezza with 687). That deserves some honor. I wouldn't retire his number because of the way he left, but I'm in minority for holding this kind of grudge.

Neil has BY FAR the most PIMs by a Senator in modern history (2216: next in line is Phillips with 744). The way the game is changing this record will probably stand for a long long time. Deserving of recognition but probably not a retired number.

Phillips should be able to pass Alf in total GP by the end of this season (currently 1143, Alf has 1178), and given that 1-he's under contract for 2 years, that 2-the current coach LOVES him and that 3-he rarely gets injured, he will retire with a total GP record that will be hard to pass for a while. Also, I just don't see him going anywhere, so he'll be our first lifer with over 1000 games played with us. That's all deserving of some recognition as well, but no jersey, please.

 

[DrEasy]

By the way, among the Senator-only (in the NHL) career players, who's the one with the most games played? Phillips, Neil etc don't count as we don't know yet if they'll finish their career with the Sens.

The best I have so far is Tomas Jelinek who played 49 games in 92-93.

edit: Antti Tormanen played 50 games in 95-96.

 

[Ice-Tray]

No hockey heroes = No numbers retired.

Great careers, your favourite player growing up, awesome in the community, all have inherent rewards in themselves in the form of money, adoration, self satisfaction.

None are hockey heroics, and none deserve a jersey retirement.

I'm on board with: no cup = no jersey retirements.

 

[One M0RE YEAR]

A player like spezza should only have his number retired if he won a cup with the team. Alfie is an exception, for obvious reasons and even retiring #11 isn't a gaurantee.

 

[pepty]

The only number that should be retired is Alfies.

We'll wait and see how things develop-just maybe somewhere down the line number 65 will win that honour.

 

[sens83]

Is Speeza a hall-of-fame player? Is Phillips? Is Alfie?

Out of those three, the only one that is a sure-fire HOFer is Alfie. You retire his number.

 

[bert]

Retiring a players number that asked to be traded and refused to back check as the teams captain? haha common. May aswell retire Yuha Ylonen's number while were at it.

 

[Max Power]

There are no numbers the Sens should be retiring, period.

Alfi would have been debatable if he would not have left with controversy, but at this point there is none

 

[Knave]

Retiring a players number that asked to be traded and refused to back check as the teams captain? haha common. May aswell retire Yuha Ylonen's number while were at it.

What is with the number 19 and Ottawa? Yes, I went there.

 

[Rals]

Spezza was a great player but never put an indelable mark on the sens franchise. Do not retire.

Retire alfie 100%

 

[KA BLAMO]

I loved having Spezza on the team and already miss him, but he does not deserve to have his number retired.

 

[LatteLarrys]

Spezza? Certainly not. Alfie? Probably not.