Wednesday Morning Wrap-Up

The Canadian Press wrote an interesting article on the economic state of the NHL and the Board Of Governors meeting that just took place.

"You have to have caution, and that's exactly the marching orders that (GM) Bryan (Murray) has," said Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. "I give him a number, I say 'assume this number' - and I won't tell you what that number is - but I say work on that kind of number and that's the budgeting and don't go beyond it.

"What I'm not going to do is cut cheques to buy out my contracts. Those are real dollars flying out the door, it's not hypothetical. So we're working on various scenarios and one of them is based on a significant downturn in the economy, if it happens." The problem, of course, is that it's clearly happening.

Senate's Note:  It nice to see that the Senators management and owner are taking a pragmatic approach to team spending.  They are not only worried about this year, but what is happening a few years down the line.  This kind of restrictive use of the cap will prevent Tampa Bay style signings (as entertaining as it was though), and will allow the team to have more flexibility down the road.  It also means that dipping into the often over priced free agent frenzy will be kept to a minimum, and restricted to either a franchise player or a cheap filler.  Either way its good to know that management has it covered whether the salary cap goes up, or drops down.

Update 11:40

Jian Ghomeshi of the CBC found time in his latest article to take a jab at the Senators.

I choked like the 2006 Ottawa Senators. Or the 2007 Ottawa Senators. Or the 2008 ... anyway, you get the idea.

Senate's Note:  I guess its becoming fashionable now to take pot shots at the Senators.  Pretty lame considering the Leafs haven't sniffed the playoffs in how many years?  All in all, I am starting to dislike the CBC more and more, especially after they forced us to watch curling (shudder) instead of a Senators game.