Jason Spezza has only been a member of the Dallas Stars organization for about a week, but the veteran center already feels he will be a great fit with his new employer.
"I'm just a piece to the puzzle,"
Spezza said Monday morning during his introductory press conference
at American Airlines Center. "You have to be willing to be
that in order to win in this League. I think it's a great fit, and to
have the young group and some of the young stars they have, you don't
see that very often and you hope to kind of grow with the group."
Spezza, 31, was acquired last Tuesday in a trade
with the Ottawa
Senators that sent young forwards Alex
Chiasson, Nicholas
Paul and Alexander
Guptill to Ottawa for Spezza and forward Ludwig
Karlsson. In 75 regular-season games with Ottawa last season,
Spezza scored 23 goals and 66 points. For his 11-year NHL career, he
has 251 goals and 687 points in 686 games. Spezza served as Senators
captain last season, but said wearing a letter on his jersey in
Dallas was not imperative.
"I think if you're a leader, you lead, and
if the team needs you to wear a letter, you wear a letter. But I
think naturally, I think I'm a leader and you don't need a letter on
your jersey to lead," Spezza said.
The seasoned center will wear No. 90 with the
Stars; he wore No. 19 during his time with the Senators, but it's
another change he welcomes.
"I've always had good luck with nines.
Nineteen is retired [Bill
Masterton] and obviously, 9 is retired [Mike
Modano]. [Tyler] Seguin's 91, so I thought I'd try No. 90. It's a
new spot and new number for me and hopefully it kind of sticks to be
a lucky number for me," Spezza said.
With Seguin centering the Stars' top line
alongside captain Jamie
Benn, from the moment Spezza was acquired the prevailing thought
was he would center Dallas' second line. However, general manager Jim
Nill doesn't think that will automatically be the case.
"I think it's a 1A and 1B. Jason
Spezza is in the prime of his career. He's an elite player.
Having Tyler
Seguin and Jason
Spezza out there as your two centermen coming out the door, when
we go on the road, other teams are going to have a tough time
matching up against us," Nill said.
Right after the trade, Spezza talked about it
being a tough decision for him to leave Ottawa, a place where he had
spent his first 11 NHL seasons. But with winning a Stanley Cup about
the only bullet point missing from his already impressive hockey
resume, he wanted to join an organization he felt had a great chance
at a title, a big reason why he wanted to come to Dallas.
"I think it's paramount to be in an
organization that's committed to winning. I think that word gets
around the League fast when a team has made a decision to try to be a
team that tries to compete every year and win," Spezza said.
"As a player, that's all you want, is that opportunity to
give yourself a chance to win."
Spezza discussed how much he is looking forward to
skating alongside such young talents as Benn and Seguin. But he's
also eager to renew his relationship with Stars coach Lindy
Ruff, who he played for during the 2009 IIHF World Championship
with Canada.
"He's a guy that's been around the game a
long time and has seen a lot of things, so I would imagine he has a
lot of his own views on how to play the game and I'm looking forward
to getting a chance to kind of work with him," Spezza said.
"I've heard nothing but good things [about him], and also, to
last in the game as long as he has, he's obviously a very smart
hockey man."
With one year remaining on his current contract,
signing Spezza to an extension is another storyline and a topic Nill
addressed for his newest center.
"I've spoken to Jason's agent. We're going
to let Jason get settled in here first," Nill said. "I
don't think it's going to be an issue. I just want him to get his
family in here, get settled and then we'll move forward from there."
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