Burkholder Gets Testy with Team 1200 AJ Jakubec

(The Team 1200, Senator’s Post game show, opens with highlights of the Rangers 7 to 3 defeat of the Senators)

AJ Jakubec (AJ): Welcome to the Ottawa Senators post game show, Tonight’s performance by the Senators tonight was atrocious and something is fundamentally wrong with this team, I don’t know if its Ron Wilson, players, or a combination of things.

Dave Gross (DG): Well AJ, this year the Rangers have had their number, but tonight the team looked sluggish out of the gate and couldn’t really respond. After a team scores two goals in two minutes of the game it is hard to come back from that.

AJ: Ok I agree, but what is going on with this offense. The front office sold us on how high power this was going to be, with the acquisitions of Gaborik, Lecavalier, Ryder, Horton, and the list but they just haven’t really got it working.

DG: Let’s relax here a little, were only fifteen games into the season, no real team has really blown the doors away in the East. Even how mediocre this team has been there still only four points out of first place. The Rangers are one of the better teams in the league. They fought them hard in every game except this one. This game was one of those games that happen in a eighty two games season. They’ll move on

AJ: Dave quit making excuses for this team, Burkholder promised us a championship caliber team this season, and this has been nothing but championship quality. The locker room is most likely upside down with rumors floating around about a possible Michael Ryder trade, and Radek Dvorak getting angry about playing time. This team has a rift, and it’s got to be fixed, or addressed.

DG: Let’s open the lines to the callers, our number is six..one..three..seven..five..zero..twelve hundred.

AJ: We have a call from Al from Kanata, Al what’s on your mind.

AL: I put the blame on this loss tonight on the coach. He keeps changing the lines, and it seems like he is trying to force the offense which doesn’t seem to be working. After these fifteen games, he should be fired. What do you guys think?

AJ: I agree Al, he has been here four years now and I think the players are getting tired of hearing him, and they starting toning him out. You got to believe if he keeps going it could be over for him.

DG: Seriously guys the season is young, it’s a race not a sprint. The team is new with all the turnover it takes…..

AJ: Wait just a second Dave, we have a special guest on tonight’s show, it’s Ottawa Senators general manager Neil Burkholder.

Neil Burkholder (NB): Thanks for bringing me up to the front of the line. Like the fans I’m fuming right now about how we played. We played crappy tonight and Ron will address it, I’ll make sure he gets to work tomorrow on the off day and come together with something. AJ I heard some of your comments, I tuned in late, but AJ you need to calm down. The sky isn’t falling. It was one really sh(bleep)ty game, but it happens. No team has ever went eighty two and oh. Hearing you talk about Ron on how he has lost the team, and our locker room is shambles which is further from the truth.

AJ: So your saying Ron has complete control of the locker room?

NB: Yeah he does, I know you have to cover and make a story, but don’t be lying and causing the fans to get the pitch forks out. He has won in the past and will continue to win. It was one bad game, am I happy about it? No, but put it in context here. Look through every team right now and they all have a loss like that. The sky isn’t falling, so don’t make it out like it is, and what were you talking about
Michael (Ryder), and Radek (Dvorak)?

AJ: We’ll about Michael Ryder we heard a rumor from ESPN’s Pierre Lebrun that you were in talks of dealing him to a Western Conference team, but they stalled, and there were talks from four other teams.

NB: AJ it was just a rumor, I don’t know if you remember but last month the Mayans also had a rumor about the apocalypse. Did that happen?

(chuckles)

NB: Every GM in the league gets calls about players doesn’t mean you’ll trade him. Teams are probably calling Buffalo about Sidney Crosby, or calling Edmonton about Eric Staal. Talks happen, and Michael (Ryder) is a professional but we don’t see him going anywhere or anytime soon. I know when we were home against Pittsburgh yesterday he was fine and wasn’t a disturbance in our locker room. As for Radek (Dvorak) he is fine and understands he fits a role with our club on penalty kills. I don’t make the decisions on line ups so that is a question more for Ron Wilson, but Radek has been great, and hasn’t talked to me, or Ron (Wilson) about his playing time. Now I’ve always said nobody is ever untouchable in trade talks but I see nothing happening right now. Parting with our guys on the roster, we would like to add to our blue line eventually but we have to find a right suitor to get it together. We’re more focused on improving our club, then dismantling it, right now were waiting till February first so we can try out some undrafted free agents and bring ‘em in to fill roles.

AJ: So your saying that Michael Ryder isn’t going to be traded?

NB: I don’t see it happening anytime soon, or if ever. Like I said if a deal pops up down the road and it’s right we’d do it, but again this doesn’t pertain to just Michael Ryder, it pertains to anybody from Marian Gaborik to Carl Sneep. In today’s game nobody is untouchable; if you can get assets that make your team better you do it.

DG: Ok, let me take the reins here, CFO Erin Crowe told the media that your team has cut ticket prices for home games, which is the first time in years that has happened. How do you feel about it?

NB: Yeah we had too, our prices were insane, and fans weren't showing up. We have spent a lot of resources this off season to not go through last season again. Not making the playoffs isn’t going to be the norm for our franchise, and I believe the fans were wary about what the clubs future holds. We added some names in Marian (Gaborik), Vincent (Lecavalier), bringing back Nathan (Horton), and solidified our goalie situation in Niklas (Backstrom) really shows were committed to winning. We want the fans to be with us all the way, this season is going to be special, which I know some fans our rolling their eyes after a game like tonight’s but we’ll get there. Our team had a massive turnover, which we probably won’t see again to this magnitude again, we got the key building blocks, elite prospects coming down the pipe. So fans jump on, and together we’ll make history.

DG: Were right up against the break, Neil thanks calling and good luck rest of the way.

NB: Thanks guys, and AJ no hard feelings, come on out, and I’ll buy you a drink, deal?

AJ: None taken, and I’ll take that deal. That was Senators GM Neil Burkholder, and we’ll be right back.