Der Fremde » Welcome to Ottawa on Dany Heatley Day in the nations capital

Its tough enough for the Blue Jays to be playing in the American League East to get even a sniff of the postseason. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Then youve got to worry about the other up and coming teams in the two weaker divisions in the "Junior Circuit". If you had to peg one team whom the Blue Jays will have to reckon with in 2014, it would be Kansas City. The Royals finished with an 86-76 record a year ago and missed the playoffs. However that record was 12 games better than the Jays 74-88. One bad month really cost KC a spot in the playoffs a year ago. They went 8-20 in May. Every other month, they were over .500 including 17-10 in September. Kansas City scuffled a bit to score runs in 2013 averaging four per game, but the Blue Jays werent all that much better at 4.40 runs per game. The big difference was in runs allowed by the starting rotation and the bullpen. The Royals starters had an ERA of 3.87 to the Blue Jays 4.81 which was well above the American League average of 4.17. As highly touted as the Blue Jays bullpen was, its ERA of 3.37 was no match for the Royals 2.55. This is in part because of the Royals spacier ballpark, but KC only gave up 155 home runs over the course of the season to the Jays ugly total of 195. If you want to talk team speed, the Blue Jays stole 112 bases, which was better than the league average of 95, but the Royals were even better swiping 153. You could argue the Royals will be even better in 2014. Although they lost Ervin Santana as a free agent, they added durable lefty and former Angel Jason Vargas to plug into the rotation. They also have an elite closer in Greg Holland who saved 47 out of 50 a year ago and a workhorse starter to lead the rotation in James Shields, who through 228.2 innings last season. The Royals also upgraded at second base and right field. They filled a major hole at the keystone by signing former Tiger Omar Infante to a four-year deal worth $30.25 million and traded for speedy right fielder Norichika Aoki, who will take over as their leadoff hitter. KCs secret weapon might just be 22-year-old right-hander Yordano Ventura. Though only 511", he throws consistantly in high 90s and has been known to hit between 100 and 102mph on occasion. Hes already earned a spot in skipper Ned Yosts rotation and is being touted as one of the top candidates for rookie of the year. Since Pittsburgh made the playoffs last season, Kansas City and the Blue Jays are the two teams that have gone the longest between post-season appearances. The Royals havent made it since they won the World Series over St. Louis in 1985. The Blue Jays of course, havent made it since winning their second straight World Series in 1993. The Blue Jays play the Royals seven times this season, from April 29 through May 1 in Missouri and then back in Toronto from May 29 through June 1. Those are seven games of their first 58 that could well prove whether the Jays are good enough to contend for a Wild Card spot, or which team of these two will wind up with the longest postseason drought when the 2014 season is all said and done. Around Spring Training Injuries turned right-hander Josh Johnson into arguably the biggest disappointment of the Blue Jays season a year ago. Unfortunately his luck hasnt changed much in San Diego. The 30-year-old right-hander is going to be out 4-to-5 weeks with a strained right forearm. Tough blow for the Texas Rangers. Their young second baseman Jurickson Profar is out 10 to 12 weeks with a slight muscle tear in his right shoulder. Profar was expected to shoulder the load at second since Ian Kinsler was dealt to Detroit as part of the Prince Fielder deal. Profar hasnt proven himself as a big league hitter yet, but his glove and arm are world class. Yes, its only spring training, but the Yankees have got to be a bit concerned that Derek Jeter is only hitting .114 and Mark Teixiera only .120. Great to see David Ortiz is probably going to end his career in Boston. After all hes been pretty much the face of the franchise for the last 10 years. Ortiz agreed over the weekend to a one-year, $15 million extension for 2015. He also has a vesting option for 2016 and there is a club option for 2017 by which time Ortiz will be 42 years old. Erik Bedard is looking for new gig. The 35-year-old southpaw and native of Navan, Ontario opted out of his deal with Tampa Bay after the fifth starters job went to 24-year-old Jake Odorizzi. Bedard just didnt want to go back to Triple-A at this stage of his career. Experienced Help We mentioned a couple of articles ago that a former Blue Jays third baseman, Roy Howell, was managing in Triple-A this season at Tacoma. Now another Ex-Jay, Tom Lawless, has taken over as interim manager at Oklahoma City in the Pacific Coast League. Lawless will be filling in for Ton DeFrancesco who was diagnosed with cancer while working in the parent Astros camp this spring. DeFrancescos cancer was caught early enough that he is expected to make a full recovery. Fake NBA Jerseys .com) - The Chicago White Sox have officially announced that the club has agreed to terms with utilityman Emilio Bonifacio on a one-year, $4 million contract that includes a team option for the 2016 season. Nike NBA Jerseys China .com) - The Los Angeles Kings werent playing their best hockey before the league went on break during the Winter Olympics. https://www.nbachinajerseys.us/ . The whole deflation of New England Patriots footballs is like a murder mystery without the violence or significance. On one side, this is a ridiculous issue.The Ottawa Senators are having a bit of an attendance issue in the early part of this season and Tuesday nights result in Philadelphia certainly wont help put more people in the seats. However, there will be a 2-for-1 promotion for Wednesdays home game against the Minnesota Wild. No, there wont be a discount on tickets for this game, but fans will get a chance to boo two villains for the price of one. And considering how ornery and agitated Sens fans are these days, this could be a perfect outlet to vent their frustrations. Dany Heatley and Matt Cooke roll into town as members of the Wild, meaning they would only need Alexei Yashin to centre their line to make it the most hated visiting trio in Sens franchise history. Based on recent history, Heatley and Cooke could very well be Villains 1 and 1A for the Sens fan base. So which player will receive the louder boos tonight? Lets analyze the case for both Heatley and Cooke. Dany Heatley The Dany Heatley saga is well-documented in this town, after the sniper demanded a trade in the summer of 2009. He cited a "diminished role" under head coach Cory Clouston as the catalyst for his departure. When Heatley made his first return to Ottawa on December 2, 2010, he was clearly public enemy No. 1 in this city. The Ottawa Sun ran a headline that screamed Suck It Up Princess and was accompanied by a large photo of Heatley with a super-imposed baby pacifier in his mouth. The sub-headline elegantly stated Heatley still loved by children…….in Africa. Roy MacGregor had the following passage in his Globe and Mail story that day, which perfectly captured the sentiment of the city towards their former hero. "Dany Heatley screwed up the federal by-elections. Dany Heatley is causing area house prices to drop. Dany Heatley is behind this week-long spit that passes for weather around here…Welcome to Ottawa on Dany Heatley Day in the nations capital, the day the San Jose Sharks leading scorer gets blamed for, as the Bible might put it, every little sparrow that falls." That night, fans showed up with old No. 15 jerseys that had the Heatley name plate altered to just spell "H-A-T-E". At one point during the game, a handful of fans came down and threw Heatley jerseys onto the ice in a staged protest. Urinals had Heatley action figures in them, giving a new meaning to the term number-one winger. Ottawa has never had an evening quite like that and unfortunately for the home team, Heatley and his Sharks skated away with a 4-0 win. But since leaving Ottawa, its not like Heatley has made Ottawa fans wish he stayed. His goal production has diminished in each of the last five years, going from 39 to 26 to 24 to 11. And last night at the Bell Centre, he scored a meaningless goal with only two seconds left in regulation time – only his third marker of the season. And for a player who once complained about his role on a team, its interesting to note that Heatley is playing only 14 minutes a night this season under Mike Yeo, marking the lowest ice time of his NHL career. Heatley is no longer a front-line pplayer in the NHL and, with his contract expiring at the end of this season, it will be interesting to see how many offers he receives as a free agent. Clearance NBA Jerseys. Ironically, this is the final year of the six-year deal he signed with the Sens in the fall of 2007. The terms of that contract called for him to receive a $4 million bonus on July 1, 2009, which the Senators grudgingly paid, even after Heatley had demanded a trade and refused to accept one to Edmonton. Owner Eugene Melynk was so incensed with that turn of events that he filed a grievance against Heatley and that case was only resolved in the past couple of weeks, although the terms of the settlement were not disclosed. So the book on Heatley is virtually closed for Sens fans. It seems like the pitchforks and torches have been put away and the hatred towards Heatley has been replaced with some level of indifference. Matt Cooke Matt Cooke could receive the lions share of boos tonight because the wound he caused is still fresh in the minds of Sens fans. It was only nine months ago that Cookes skate blade sliced the achilles tendon of Erik Karlsson in a game at Pittsburgh. At the time, Karlsson was arguably the most dynamic player in the game and since coming back from the injury, he has only shown flashes of his former brilliance. This will actually be Cookes fourth visit to Ottawa since the incident occurred and when he returned for his first visit in April, there were Wanted posters that were circulating with his name and face on it. Sens fans wanted Cooke to pay for his recklessness, with some suggesting he deliberately caused the injury. Even Eugene Melnyk went on the record to say he would consider launching an independent investigation into the matter to prove that Cookes actions were intentional. To Cookes credit, he faced the media and answered all of the questions about the incident and adamantly denied he purposely tried to slice Karlssons leg. And to Karlssons credit, he completely downplayed the situation when the two faced off in their second-round playoff series last spring. The Sens defenceman likely holds some deep-rooted anger towards Cooke, but he has done a very good job of masking it and trying to defuse the situation. Still, Sens fans and management cant help but wonder how good Karlsson would be if that incident hadnt occurred. And if Karlsson never regains his Norris Trophy form, Cookes ranking on the villain list will stay firmly at the top. Conclusion If I had to place my bet, I would think that Heatley would receive more boos than Cooke – if only because the fan base still hates the fact that he demanded a trade and had five years left on his contract. And in the case of Cooke, you can make the argument that what he did was an accident; whereas Heatleys decision was calculated and intentional. Both players had a negative impact on the Sens franchise, but only one of them was on the teams payroll when he chose his course of action. But while the Heatley vs. Cooke argument is debatable, we can probably agree on one thing: If the Sens dont play well tonight, they will be the ones getting the loudest boos from the hometown crowd. ' ' '