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Sunday, October 25, 1999
Who is laughing now?
The player went out for dinner with a friend of his who played for the Senators.
"Geez, this is the last place I want to come. You guys stink," he told the Ottawa player over dinner. "Why don't you tell them I have a drug problem?"
The deal never went through.
As the Senators climbed from those depths to become one of the league's elite teams and Stanley Cup contender, so has their desirablity as a destination.
"I'm very happy to be part of this good team," said centre Joe Juneau, the unrestricted free agent who had his first practice with the Senators Monday after agreeing to a two-year deal on the weekend.
Juneau, 31, could have gone to other situations - the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals were all interested - but the Senators were at the top of his list.
"I played here the last couple of years in the playoffs and I loved the great atmosphere. They're really knowledgeable fans. That's not to put down the fans in other places, but the way things were here in the playoffs were great.
"I was so close to the Stanley Cup the last two years and I really think this team has the potential to do it. I'm 31 now and I don't have many years left. I want to get the most out of it."
It's no wonder the Senators would have a high opinion of Juneau, a swift-skating playmaker. He played for the Capitals two years ago and they eliminated the Senators in the conference semifinals on their way to the final.
Last year, he played for the Sabres and they upset the Senators in the first round and went on the Stanley Cup final.
"He gives us more depth and more ammunition," said Senators coach Jacques Martin. "He gives us the element of speed, quickness and experience and the last two years he's gone to the final of the Stanley Cup. He's had some success in the league . It's nice to see guys like that looking at Ottawa as an organization and being a place they want to come."
Juneau should fit in well with the Senators, who stress good, two-way hockey. He knows his way around his own zone and his speed will be an asset for the Senators' feared transition game. He creates openings for his teammates by hanging onto the puck and drawing the opposition to him, then dishing off.
Juneau couldn't have arrived at a better time. The Senators, already without offensive leader and captain Alexei Yashin, who's holding out for a contract extension, found out on the weekend they've lost acting captain Daniel Alfredsson to a knee injury for the next two months.
The Juneau deal was in the works before Alfredsson, who was off to a hot start with eight points in eight games, was injured, but it looks like an even better move in the wake of Alfredsson spraining the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
Add Vaclav Prospal's ineffectiveness in a second-line centre's role and the Senators were in need of a boost up front. Prospal had been benched during the club's recent road trip and had slipped to the club's fourth line.
Journeyman centreman Shaun Van Allen, a defensive specialist and penalty killer, had won the job of centring the club's second line by default since it's too much, too soon to ask 19-year-old rookie Mike Fisher to take on that kind of responsibility.
The club's best line at both ends of the ice is Radek Bonk flanked by Marian Hossa and Magnus Arvedson. Bringing Juneau in will allow Martin to pull together a decent second line. He could put Juneau with shooter Shawn McEachern, who got just his first goal of the season Saturday, and Kevin Dineen, the cornerman who's been among the Senators most effective forwards lately. When Alfredsson returns, he'd be a good fit on the right side with Juneau and McEachern.
"He's a very good player and a great addition to the team," said McEachern, who's taken over the captain's role. "He's a fast skater and a great playmaker. He can add a lot to our power play, as well."
"This a grea addition for us, especially with Alfie going down," said goaltender Ron Tugnutt. "It might take him a couple of games to learn our sytem and then he's going to take off."
Just when Juneau will be ready to make his debut remains to be seen.
Hunting moose in Northern Quebec, not far from his home in Pont-Rouge, Que., tinkering with his airplanes (the gradute in aeronautical engineering owns three) and skating on his own haven't done much to keep Juneau in game shape.
He skated with his new teammates yesterday, but no decision has been made yet as to when he will play. The Senators play their next game Thursday when they host the Calgary Flames and have the Florida Panthers in the Corel Centre Saturday.
One of the sticking points in closing the deal was when the Senators would begin paying Juneau the base salary of $1.7 million US he will earn this year (with bonuses, he could push that to $2.5 million; the club holds an option on next year). He wanted to get paid when he showed up. The club wanted to start paying when he was ready to play. Juneau will get paid when he's ready to play and Martin has assured him that will be as soon as possible.
"It felt good to be on the ice with a bunch of guys," said Juneau, who started skating on his own when it looked like a deal with the Senators would get done.
"I had to get up some mornings at 5 a.m. to get the available ice, but I didn't have a choice. There were some days it was not easy to do it. It was tough to get motivated, but it worked out I got my number one choice."
Juneau said it was the first time since he was four years old that he wasn't working out with teammates at this time of year. But he made the most of the unexpected free time, taking the opportunity to go moose hunting with family and friends (he didn't have a permit to shoot; but said his brother bagged a moose).
"Sitting out was not something I chose to do, but I got the best out of it," he said. "There's a lot to life and you've only got one life to live. I wasn't going to stay at home and wait for a phone call."
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