I started paying closer attention to Jason Spezza's play this season. More specifically, I was wondering why it was that his passes in the offensive zone often wound up on the other team's stick.

I soon came to realize, with awe, the quality of Spezza's offensive skills. Spezza, like a good chess player, thinks a few moves ahead. He creates plays in his head, and expects the other Senators forwards to see the same plays that he sees, and to be where he is about to place the puck.

This pays off tremendously when a forward such as Nick Foligno is in the right place at the right time. Spezza's cross-ice pass to him recently against the Canadiens made the play and the subsequent goal look easy. It can backfire tremendously when the pass recipient is not in the right place, as was vividly demonstrated with Filip Kuba in overtime against the Thrashers.

Spezza thinks in terms of where he himself would be if he were on the receiving end of his own pass. Spezza can create a play out of nothing, as long as at least one other forward on the team is on the same page as he is. The problem is that few on the team have the abilities to match Spezza's offensive thinking.

This is very unlike Daniel Alfredsson, for example, who in his heyday was patient and could keep posessions of the puck for long periods of time in the offensive zone until he saw an opportunity on the ice and cashed in on that development. Spezza creates plays instantly, out of nothing, in the hopes that everyone will be in position to cash in on it.

Two things need to happen for this to work for the Senators. First, Spezza has to teach a bit of that creativity to his teammates so that there is a better chance that his plays will pay off. The other is that he has to take a page from Alfredsson and be willing to have more patience and keep puck possession longer. He will take  the punishment that comes along with puck posession, but can then react to his teammates' positioning instead of forcing a play to happen. A mix of both would give an amazingly potent offensive to Spezza's line.

GO SENS GO!!