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Tuesday, October 26, 1999
Joe's ready to go
Newest Sen hopes to play right away
The newest member of the Senators was about to meet his new teammates for the first time, take part in a real practice and face a throng of questions.
The nine-year NHL veteran managed to handle everything with ease and went home feeling pretty good about his first day as a Senator.
The Senators signed Juneau Sunday night to a one-year deal, plus an option, that will pay him a base salary of $1.7 million. With incentives he could end up earning $2.2 million US this season. Over two years, Juneau could make $4.4 million.
'VERY NERVOUS'
"I've been feeling very, very nervous, I don't know why," Juneau said after working out with the team. "I was walking down the hall and I saw the coach, I went in and started talking to some of the players and by the time I got on the ice I felt better already."
As nervous as the Pont-Rouge, Que., native was about meeting his teammates, he was even more anxious about practice.
"I thought I'd have a hard practice, but it's not like I threw up," he laughed. "My wind was okay, but the ice got very hard at the end."
Juneau admitted his first day as a Senator felt great. Life at home while the free agent waited for a team to sign him was good, but he was ready to return to work.
"I'm glad it's over with," he said. "I'm happy to be with this good a team."
The Senators are equally excited about their acquisition.
"He's a versatile player," said Sens coach Jacques Martin. "He can play left wing or centre. He can play special teams. He's a proven player in the NHL who has had real success."
Martin hasn't decided just where Juneau will play -- or when he'll join the lineup. When he finally does play, it's likely he'll see time on the powerplay, because 42 of his 114 career goals have been scored while his team had the man advantage.
"It's another dimension he brings to the club," Martin said. "We'll want to maximize those elements he brings to the table."
CAPTAIN KEEN
Captain Daniel Alfredsson thinks signing Juneau was a good move. Especially with last year's team-leading scorer, Alexei Yashin, still holding out and Alfredsson expected to miss up to 10 weeks due to a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
"He's a very skilled, tricky player," he said. "He's very good with the puck. He draws attention (to himself) and finds the open guy."
Rob Zamuner agreed that one of Juneau's greatest assets is his vision of the ice.
"He can thread passes and find the man in the open," added Zamuner. "He's a highly skilled player, hard working, who will fit in to our system very well."
Juneau said if things go well in practice during the next couple of days, he'd like to play Thursday when the Senators host the Calgary Flames at the Corel Centre, but is definitely shooting for Saturday when the Florida Panthers come to town.
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