Shows up late for final team meeting; rips into Sens fans
By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Ottawa Sun
In what may have been his final act with the Senators, Alexei Yashin showed up late. 

And many wondered if he was going to make it to the team's final meeting at all. 

"I don't care where he is," said captain Daniel Alfredsson before Yashin arrived at the Corel Centre. "I guess it shows how much he cares about the team." 

With only one point in the playoffs, the embattled Senators centre showed up an hour late for a meeting he thought was scheduled for 1 p.m. and then insinuated he's going to shop himself around this summer. 

"I thought the meeting was at 1 p.m. I didn't know it was at noon," said Yashin. "I wasn't trying to avoid (the media) ... not that I could anyway." 

HONEST MISTAKE 

Being nailed for what sources say was an honest mistake, the critics can add Yashin's tardiness to the list of reasons why he'll likely be traded before training camp opens in September. 

"I think he should have been here, but I don't know the reason either," said Senators winger Rob Zamuner. "Maybe he has a good reason." 

A restricted free agent who made $3.6 million US this season, Yashin, who will leave Monday to join Russia for the world championships in Germany, wouldn't say whether he'd consider returning to the Senators. 

"I don't want to answer this question (about his future)," said Yashin. "I'm a restricted free agent. I don't know what's going to happen. I want to look at my options in the summer. 

"I understand the disappointment. I know that people wanted us to play well. We played well and people wanted us to play our best in the playoffs. It didn't work out the way we wanted, but it's not like we didn't want to win." 

Yashin has only one assist in his last eight post-season games with the Senators. The club's top scorer during the regular season with 40 goals and 88 points, Ottawa needed its top player to have a chance at winning. 

While Yashin doesn't listen to the local call-in shows, he knows he's being skewered along with coach Jacques Martin by the fans for not playing up to his potential in the playoffs. 

Yesterday, he shot back. 

"I know that these people know the game better than I do because they get to watch (from the stands or on television)," said Yashin. "When I'm out there, I'm trying to do the best I can and so is the rest of the team. 

"I know that people expect me to score points and I guess I have to accept more blame because I didn't score more points. You win as a team and you lose as a team." 

The Senators must now decide if they're going to deal Yashin, and owner Rod Bryden told the Team 1200 yesterday that GM Marshall Johnston is free to make whatever decision he wants when it comes to Yashin. 

Bryden, who admitted he has Yashin pictured with his nine-year-old daughter on the screensaver in his Ottawa office, said he didn't believe the former all-star would tank it to get the Senators to trade him. 

WILL DEMAND MORE MONEY 

And Bryden is aware Yashin will demand more money. 

"I think every player gets paid as much as he can," said Bryden. "The only disagreement we had was that we didn't want him to be rewarded for not honouring a contract. He has every right to negotiate as hard, as long and any way he can. 

"If he had a good playoff, he could have been mayor of this city. I have no reason to think Alexei was not trying in the playoffs or hoping we would lose. He was one of a whole team ... none of whom played well." 

A long summer between the Senators and Yashin has just begun.