The Tale of Big Joe

Well, the sky, despite being visible above all our heads, reportedly continues to fall in the great city of Ottawa, Ontario. From what I have read during my extensive exam preparation procrastination, people continue to cry out for wholesale change. Talk radio yields similar opinions. I'll be the first to admit that I fear change like I once irrationally feared wasps (OK, so I still irrationally fear wasps, sue me. They will STING YOU WITHOUT REMORSE and laugh about it with their wasp buddies later. Bastards. At least bees die afterwards.) My personal fears notwitstanding, change isn't necessarily a bad thing, provided said change is reasoned. However, there is a certain group of fans in this city who cry out for irrational, reactionary panic. Borrowing a term from our esteemed colleague Jeremy Milks over at Black Aces, I shall henceforth refer to this group as "The Over the Edgers"

o⋅ver the edg·er [oh-ver thee ěj'ər] n. Euphemism for reactionary Ottawa Senators fans, aptly named after the equally obnoxious local radio show. " Those guys who wanted the Sens to trade Daniel Alfredsson for Craig Conroy in 2006 were total Over the Edgers."

It is my goal to stop the vindictive, unfair, and disparaging criticism being directed towards the Senators' star players emanating from this group. My reasons are are two-fold: 1) No free agent will want to come play/re-sign in a place where they will be tarred and feathered if they have the audacity to commit a turnover while attempting to jump start the team's offense or worse yet go into a slump. 2) Intense fan pressure to make irrational trades could lead to organizational pressure from the top on BM the GM to make such a move. This could take the form of selling off pieces of the team, draft picks, prospects. these types of deals are likely to net poor returns in a vain attempt to fix profound problems, in turn exacerbating said problems in the process. There's a term for franchises that do this type of thing: The Toronto Maple Leafs. See example below.

In my brief series of posts, I have already come to the defence of one Jason Spezza 1.5 times by my count. I feel very strongly about this as you can probably tell. Phone calls and written comments continue to saturate local media outlets with demands that he be traded. I'm not going to mention the Ottawa Senators for the remainder of this post, I'm just going to tell a horror story that I feel serves as a chilling cautionary tale.

THE TALE OF BIG JOE

Big Joe was a hockey player. A very good one at that. He played in a town in New England. Joe was 26, and just entering the prime years of his career. Now, Joe's team wasn't the greatest, but he loved that New England town, so much so that he signed a three-year agreement to stay there, and be part of the team for a very reasonable rate (3 years, $20M signed the previous summer.) He was willing to sign for even longer, but his mean ol' boss Mr. Sinden didn't think it was a good idea.

However, not everybody in that New England town liked Big Joe. Some people who watched him play hockey said he lacked "grit" and "heart." Others said he never played well when it mattered most. Some people criticized Joe for trying to make too many pretty passing plays, leading to turnovers which the team's pedestrian defence and sub-par goaltending couldn't make up for. The people who didn't like Big Joes talked a lot about the problems they had with him on the radio, on the internet, and in the newspapers. Joe's team continued to play poorly and the talk around town amplified. One chilly December 1st, Joe's Manager, a Mr. O'Connell, had heard enough talk. He sent Big Joe packing Californie' Way. He brought in Brad, Marco, and Wayne. Brad was defensively responsible, Marco was more "reliable" with the puck, and didn't take as many crazy chances. Wayne had the grit and heart the fans sought so. However, inexplicably, the team wasn't magically fixed. In fact, the three of them never really made up for the loss of Big Joe. They missed the playoffs that year, finished worst in their Division, and 13th in the Eastern Conference.

Three years and a day later, all that's left from Joe's legacy in little New England town is Marco, and the secondary scoring he provides. The team is doing quite well now, since Mr. Sinden and Mr. O'Connell left town, but one has to wonder what things would be like had Big Joe never left.

Oh, and what became of Big Joe? Ya he won the fricking Hart Trophy the year he was dealt, led the team in scoring, made a career secondary scorer into a Rocket Richard Trophy winner, and is now 1st-line centre on the best team in hockey.

DOES THIS FACT PATTERN SOUND FAMILLIAR TO ANY OF YOU? IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?