Say what you want about Ray Emery, but his time here was anything but boring. There were the cars, the women, the rumors, the tardyness and oh ya, a Stanley Cup Finals appearance too. As we prepare to face our former franchise goalie for the first time, the question remains, was he treated fairly? Or made a scapegoat?I will first and foremost state that I AM a Ray Emery fan. Always was and still am. What can I say, I like the guy. Loved his swag, loved his personality, loved his play. Was he the best goalie in the NHL? No he wasn't, but he made the big save when he needed to and more importantly, he made me feel comfortable when he was in net.
I always thought that he was untreated fairly and blamed unjustly for a teams worth of problems. Was he partly to blame? Of course, but don't dare tell me that showing up late a few times single handedly brings down a team with that much talent. He was just the fall guy, the easiest target. He had the flashy cars and jewelery, and of course the notable car related problems. One should note he was never arrested or charged with anything ever. Even yesterday, many of the Senators players interviewed, said he was a great guy, a great teammate and the situation was severely overblown.
In all fairness, the guy was mad because he felt he lost his job unfairly, and let's be honest, he did. He had just taken the Sens to the SCF and signed a fat new contract, that rewarded his nice play. He has off-season surgery and when he's healthy, he finds out he's lost his job to Martin Gerber of all people. I always thought he should have been given the job back right away and started maybe 10 games in a row or so. He should have had the chance to get his game back but the chance never really came.
As a result, he became increasingly frustrated and his play suffered. The team admitted that he always used to be late, but they tolerated it because he was winning. Ah yes, the hyprocrisy that is pro sports. Do whatever you want when you're winning, when you're not, we will make you out to be a dressing room cancer. Aren't the Sens to blame partly for allowing it the season before and then expecting him to be different? A leopard doesn't change their spots as they say.
For all of you who villified him, really what did he do? He got into a fender bender and had a punctuality problem. How many people do you know at your work who are constantly a few minutes late? I'm gonna say a lot. Do you think they're awful people too? Don't get me wrong, he should have been there on time, but blaming our collapse on him was ridiculous.
The problem became so large that we finally decided to buy him out. You would think there would be a market for a young goalie with his potential, but there were no takers because of his percieved attitude problem. It's hard to feel sorry for a guy making millions to play a game, but I felt bad for Ray Emery.
He was forced to take a deal in the KHL, which I thought would be good for him. A great place to make some money, clear his head and re-focus his life. He had a good season in Russia and Philadelphia came calling, in what is looking like a genius move at the moment. Emery is in the top 10 of every major goalie catgeory in the NHL. Guess he wasn't finished after all.
I've said all along that I thought he would be a great goalie again, many of you laughed. The joke will be on all of us when he hoists the Stanley Cup this June as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, while we still pay part of his salary.
Welcome back to the show Ray. It's great to see you doing well again. I will be rooting for you, just not today when you play my beloved Sens. Circle January 3rd, 2010 on your calendars, as this will mark the 1st chance to see him play here at SBP. I for one will give the guy a standing ovation and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
-The Mayor
Thoughts?
2 comments:
Emery is a talented Goalie for sure, but he was heading in a downward spiral in Ottawa, same with Mcgratton (where did he end up shortly after he left the Sens?).
He had to "Clear his head" in more ways than one and the only way to do it was to leave Ottawa and spend a year in Russia to get his life back on track.
I would say he is as much to blame as the media and perhaps the Sens management on how things went down but now he's got himself together and he's just focused on hockey which is what he's always been good at.
Its a shame he had to leave but in my opinion, it was the only way he could get his life back on track.
It does not matter if he was treated unfairly, if he would have done what was expected of him when he signed his contract he would have avoided that whole situation. After the cup final I was that thrilled with his play but I thought we had a solid golie and maybe if Emery worked hard to improve his weaknesses we might have a great golie for years. Unfortunately Emery decided he did not need to put in the work in practice, he admitted as much, than he stunk up the joint. I do not feel sorry for Emery in the slightest, I would like to get paid millions not to do my job. I hope the Sens beat the Flyers tonight, and I hope that Chris Pronger breaks his leg.
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