There is some irony in the fact that Jason Spezza was finally traded on Canada Day. Danuel House Rockets Jersey . After all, there had been weeks of speculation that the star centre wasnt enamoured with the idea of playing in a Canadian market. But a few hours after the trade, Spezza wanted to make it clear that he wasnt leaving Ottawa because he couldnt stand the pressure and scrutiny that came with playing in the nations capital. “I dont think thats accurate," Spezza told TSN.ca. "My biggest motivator for a trade was to win. It will be portrayed however they want it to be portrayed, but the last thing I was worried about was coming out and doing interviews in front of my stall.” During the past month, it was widely reported that Spezza put the other Canadian teams on his no-trade list and that his desire was to go south of the border, where he would face less scrutiny. However, Spezza said the fact that most Canadian teams are struggling right now was the biggest reason why he put them on his no-trade list. He is never one to shy away from microphones and says he would welcome playing in a Canadian market again down the road if the opportunity arose. “It was more circumstance than anything of why those (Canadian) teams were on my list. I have one year left on my deal and I wanted to go someplace where I could win a Cup,” Spezza said. The troubling trend for Senators fans, however, is that Spezza is the latest superstar to have a somewhat messy departure from their city. In the summer of 2009, Dany Heatley demanded a trade and ultimately forced the clubs hand into trading him to San Jose. Last summer, Daniel Alfredsson and the organization had a sudden and bitter divorce, prompting the long-time captain to sign with Detroit as a free agent. Now that Spezza has been shipped to Dallas, it only adds to the growing perception that superstars have a short shelf life in Ottawa. But Spezza says the fans in Ottawa arent to blame for a number of players wanting to leave in a short window of time. “Its a fine market for stars, but just like any hockey market, its tough when youre not winning. All three situations are unique. I didnt make my decision because of Alfie and Alfie didnt make his decision because of Heater,” Spezza explained. “We all had our own reasons. There were some similarities, but in the end, each was a unique case.” In some ways, this does appear to be different than the Alfredsson saga from last summer, when the captain abruptly ended his tenure with the club. Spezza appeared to have a more calculated, long-term approach – far less emotional than the course Alfredsson seemed to take. But there is a striking similarity between Alfredssons comments last summer and the ones made by Spezza today. In each case, the captain felt like he had a better chance to win a Stanley Cup with a different organization. “All I can say is my goal is to win a Cup. I think Ottawa has a good chance. They have a good core of young players and a good nucleus. But for me right now, I just felt like Dallas was a great fit,” Spezza added. Spezza said he had discussions with Bryan Murray towards the end of the season and alerted the front office that he likely wasnt going to re-sign a contract extension beyond 2015. And rather than make it awkward for everyone during the 2014-15 season – constantly answering questions about his future – he felt it was best for all parties involved to make a preemptive move this summer. “I didnt have any interest in signing an extension and that kind of hinted to them that maybe it was time to move on. I met with Bryan and had some really good and frank discussions. And I was being honest with them when I said it was best for me and best for them if I moved on,” Spezza explained. Spezza was asked if he knew the regular season finale in Pittsburgh on April 13 would be his last game in a Senators jersey. He scored a brilliant goal in the shootout to secure a Senators 3-2 victory and he admitted, “It wasnt lost on me that it could have been my last goal with Ottawa.” Spezza said he stayed quiet for the past few weeks out of respect for the process, but once Murray told reporters at the NHL GM meetings last month that Spezza had indeed requested a trade, he knew the writing was on the wall. “Once Bryan went public, I knew it was probably done for me there,” he said. (Spezza also went out of his way to point out that he still has a terrific relationship with Murray and holds the Senators general manager in the highest regard). Spezza isnt sure how the crowd at Canadian Tire Centre would react to his appearance when he makes his return to Ottawa on January 29, 2015 in a Dallas Stars jersey, but he does want Senators fans to know that he does not hold a grudge against them – even though he was often seen as a lightning rod for criticism by the fan base. “My time in Ottawa was fond and I know a lot of people are upset," Spezza said. "I would have loved to have the storybook career, where you spend your whole life in one city and play for one team, but thats part of the hard decision we had to make. This didnt just happen overnight and I woke up one morning and said ‘I want to leave. There was a lot of thought put into this.” Michael Frazier Jersey . "If we could score a six in every game, obviously I would be pretty excited," Jones said. "Its a long week but a short week. Its a pretty short round robin from what were used to so you dont want to get behind the eight ball early. Austin Rivers Jersey . The 25-year-old McIlroy, who is from Northern Ireland, was eligible to play for either Ireland or Team GB when golf makes its return to the Olympics in Brazil for the first time since 1904. https://www.rocketsrookiesshop.com/Clyde-Drexler-City-Edition-Jersey/ . His chance at winning a Stanley Cup in Philadelphia is over. Same with Jeff Carter. And Brian Boucher. Throw in Ville Leino and Dan Carcillo.Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has backed Emmanuel Adebayor and Connor Wickham to cause problems for Arsenal in Sundays Premier League clash. West Ham striker Andy Carroll scored a seven-minute hat-trick in the 3-3 draw with the Gunners last weekend and Pardew believes his target men can cause similar problems for Arsene Wengers defence.Players of that size, power and pace can terrorise defences, said Pardew, who will be unable to call upon the injured Dwight Gayle this weekend. Thats what we want Connor and Ade to do for us. Connors had some terrific games for us but just not enough of them. Palace boss Alan Pardew shows his frustrations on the touchline Weve really missed his presence at times. We took Adebayor in the last window because we were struggling to get Connor on the pitch.And Ade played well against Everton when he came on, so now Connors got competition, hes got to stay fit.Pardew managed Carroll at Newcastle and echoed West Ham boss Slaven Bilics recent comments that target men must work hard to stay in peak condition. Ed Chamberlin and Jamie Redknapp look ahead to Super Sunday I had Andy Carroll and I heard Slaven saying last week that the big guys, they need to really focus on looking after themselves, added Pardew. Gerald Green Jersey. hey are both heavy and aggressive players, who are quick, and that does make them more prone to injuries than most players.So they need to protect themselves in training sometimes and certainly protect themselves when they get injured, and look after themselves.We are educating Conor on that front. Its been stop-start with injuries for Connor and he hasnt had a run at it. Pardew reacts to Palaces goalless draw with Everton Weve been pleased with his progress and next year if we can stop this run of injuries he gets we can have a good player on our hands.Palace are unbeaten in their last three matches and lie 11 points clear of the relegation zone going into the weekend, although they have played a game more than Sunderland and Newcastle, who occupy the final two relegation places.Watch Arsenal v Crystal Palace on Super Sunday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 3:30pm, after Leicester v West Ham. 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