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OTTAWA - For the second straight year the Ottawa Senators have lost their captain on the opening day of NHL free agency. The Senators traded Jason Spezza, who was coming off his first year as captain, to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday for winger Alex Chiasson along with prospects Alex Guptill, Nicholas Paul and a second-round pick in 2015. Ottawa prospect Ludwig Karlsson was also part of the trade. Last year the Senators bid farewell to longtime captain Daniel Alfredsson after he chose to sign with the Detroit Red Wings. News of Spezzas departure was much less shocking to Senators fans, as the 31-year-old had requested a trade following the end of the season. "It was a combination of things and the fact I have one year left on my deal," said Spezza, when asked for the reasons behind the trade request. "Only having one year left on my contract I thought it was fair talking to Bryan (Murray) now so we dont get into a situation next year where were always talking about if Im extending or why Im not extending or whats going on moving forward. "I felt like it was best for me to move on and this was the appropriate time to take care of all this through the summer so that I can have a fresh start during the season and move on and the team can move on as well." Senators general manager Bryan Murray acknowledged this was a very difficult deal to be made. "As I said all along you dont get equal value for a skilled point getter, but with the request being three or four times made to us, and in spite of what everybody else says we didnt encourage any movement, we were asked if it would happen," said Murray. "I didnt want to go through another summer of issues … Dallas was the one option that I had. Jim Nill was very straightforward in what he could offer me." Murray told reporters that a contract extension had been offered and refused by Spezza. He said three trade offers had been in play at the NHL draft last weekend, but disappeared as the days went by leaving the Dallas offer as the lone deal on the table. The Senators would like to add another centre to their lineup and Murray said hes working on a deal that he hopes to finalize soon. With Spezzas departure Murray sees the Senators forging a new identity and believes Chiasson will fit right in. "Weve always wanted to shift to a hard working, competitive team that we had two years ago and then last year for some reason we got off the track," said Murray. "Were going to try and get that back on track." Chiasson, who had 13 goals and 35 points with the Stars last season, is the centrepiece of the trade, but in no way will the 23-year-old replace Spezza. Love him or hate him, Spezza was a point-per-game player over his 11 seasons with the Senators. In 686 games Spezza scored 251 goals and had 687 points. Spezza is in the final year of his contract with a $7 million cap hit and $4 million in actual salary. Over the course of his career Spezza has often been a lightning rod for criticism, and things seemed to come to a head this season for the veteran centre. When asked whether or not he felt the criticism was fair, Spezza said it came with the responsibility of being a star player. "I was the highest paid guy on the team and the guy who had been there for a long time so fingers were pointed at me at times, but I also got credit at times," Spezza said. "When you play in a Canadian market and you play in a city like that and youre in the same spot for a long time if you expect not to have the finger pointing you have unrealistic expectations. So at times the finger was pointing at me, but it was the reality of the situation that I was in." Spezza said his decision didnt come lightly and that he will miss many things about Ottawa, but in the end he was looking for a team that would give him the best chance at winning a Stanley Cup. Fans will remember that Alfredsson uttered nearly the exact same words last year after signing with Detroit. With two of its top players bolting from the organization one has to wonder what effect this will have on the Senators reputation. Murray is clearly frustrated by the perception that Ottawa is being viewed as a frugal team thats not willing to spend. "Ive never had one player Ive called and asked if they would be interested in coming to Ottawa say No Im worried about the money on your team and I wouldnt come," said Murray. "Perception is what you make it to be and what you really believe to be true. I think players know they come here and are treated well." Despite losing Spezza and Alfredsson in the span of two years, Murray said the team wont be forced to go into a rebuild. "No, were past that," said Murray. "Were going to have a good hockey team. Were going to compete. We lose a little bit at centre ice, we gain a little bit on the wing, weve got a couple of young guys coming that are going to be a different brand of player…I think our team is going to be really competitive, hard working group of people. I think were going to be well off going forward." Joining Spezza in Dallas is Ales Hemsky, who turned down an offer from the Senators for a contract extension. Hemsky was acquired at the trade deadline and showed chemistry with Spezza, but knowing the captain wanted out left Hemsky with little reason to remain in Ottawa. Both players said they were looking forward to being reunited in Dallas. The Senators did re-sign left-wing Milan Michalek to a three-year, $12-million contract Tuesday. Murray said Michalek had been offered a five-year offer elsewhere, but chose to remain in Ottawa. Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys .The seventh-seeded Raonic was scheduled to play U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori of Japan, but was replaced in the Group B pool by Spanish substitute David Ferrer.Raonic, who was 0-2 at the year-end event, said he suffered the injury late in the first set of Tuesdays 6-3, 7-6 loss to Murray. Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . As the schedule flipped from November to December, they would go on to drop five straight, falling six games below the .500 mark before a franchise-altering trade turned them into an unrecognizable team. http://www.hurricanessale.com/authentic-...ricanes-jersey/. Kripps, of Summerland, B.C., and Edmontons Barnett used a terrific second run to move up two spots, putting the Canadian duo in medal contention with the final two runs set for Monday (11:15 a.m. ET, streaming live at cbc. Justin Faulk Jersey .com) - Demario Richard posted four touchdowns and Kweishi Brown came up with a key late interception as No.There was something about Saturdays 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake that felt more like a therapeutic breakthrough than a victory. Of course the three points against a largely first choice RSL team was monumental given the opportunity that presented itself when their chief playoff rivals surrendered a two-goal lead in Toronto, and lost their captain in the process. But when Pedro Morales was denied on a first half stoppage time penalty, the Whitecaps would have had 15 long minutes to reflect on the what if of that moment. Then 15 minutes later, they fell behind from a corner. At that point, the missed penalty and another glorious Morales chance created by Sebastian Fernandez, could have easily infected their young minds. Their recent frame of reference on losing would have included a terrific start in Portland erased by a succession of small mistakes. A week earlier in Dallas, Vancouver also had a tidy opening, but a fluke goal sucker punched them into game chasing mode. They eventually did pull even, only to again get undone by some simple errors. By MLS standards, the Whitecaps are a young side...not just in age, but in league games played. To say they are fragile is perfectly fair. The process of reversing that mentality has to start somewhere. Saturdays incredible pendulum swing of emotion between expansion cousins could be viewed as just that moment. Portland will be wondering how they allowed a Toronto team backk into a game that they were in control of, while also erasing the horrific Will Johnson injury from their minds and then figuring out how to get on without their captain for the last four games.ddddddddddddThe plight of the Whitecaps skipper was entirely different on Saturday at BC Place. He started slowly, but had a terrific opportunity that he probably would have finished in April. At times he looked like a player running on fumes while being asked by his manager to be better. It was as if the two glorious first half misses pushed him on, rather than set him back. The best evidence that an early season, fresh Pedro Morales was back came in the form of a 60-yard fizzed turf trimming ball to Nic Mezquida that had the crowd buzzing. He wasnt alone on the bounce back front. Kekuta Mannehs role in the winning goal, and a rampaging run moments later, reminded everyone in the stadium of the young mans ability...one that seemed to vanish over the last few months. Whitecaps supporters themselves must have felt a huge weight off their shoulders too. It was just the Caps third-ever win in September after 17 attempts. If momentum is the most difficult thing for a team to manufacture, then the Whitecaps somehow, against all of Saturdays long odds managed to achieve it. Now they need to try and hold onto it for dear life. 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