The queries all revolved around center Alexei Yashin, the runner-up for the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player.

"I guess maybe I was naive in retrospect but that was one of the first questions I was asked at my press conference, 'What about Alexei?' " recalled Johnston. "I said, 'Well, what about him? What do you want to know about him?' "

	A lot of fans don't think the Senators need Alexei Yashin.

"At that point, we had eight or nine guys without one so I didn't quite understand where they were coming from with that," Johnston said. "I guess I was a little naive because it wasn't long before I knew exactly what they were referring to."

Yashin is gone, refusing to play until the club tears up the final year of his contract that is due to pay him $3.6 million and give him a substantial salary boost.

Johnston is resolute in saying if Yashin won't honor it, he won't play for the Senators or anybody else in the NHL this season.

It's just the latest dagger in the hearts of Senators fans, who watched their 103-point regular season team crash and burn in a four-game sweep by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Three of the four games were decided by a single goal.

The Senators might still have their crosses to bear but they're no longer a joke franchise like they were in the early years when former management was attempting to draft ineligible players, when they watched as their No. 1 draft pick overall dressed in a nurse uniform to promote trading cards, when the coaches office needed to be fitted with a revolving door in order to accommodate the number of changes, when the franchise looked as if it would fold at any second.

Now, they have the NHL coach of the year in Jacques Martin, some top-flight forwards, solid goaltending and a host of youngsters who someday could be stars.

Johnston, who is very well-liked around the league, has garnered plenty of sympathy for the pickle he's in regarding Yashin. Being an NHL GM under the best of circumstances is difficult enough but in a city where hockey is king and where the agent for his best player is prone to the worst kind of public hyperbole, if Johnston didn't know what he was signing up for, he sure does now.

"I didn't know what to expect," he said. "Even though I was an assistant general manager for a few months of last year, I wasn't in residence here. I didn't see the day-to-day operation. In my previous experience, I had limited exposure in contract negotiations. I had a little bit in New Jersey, preliminary stuff only and that was it. I had an idea what to expect. This year, because of the number of players we had to sign, it probably magnified it a little bit. I can't say I didn't expect it. But at the same time, it's been a learning experience."

Johnston said the way he deals with the Yashin situation is by not really dealing with it at all. He said it's not necessary to address it because Yashin has a contract and therefore, there's nothing to haggle over.

"If he were unsigned, to a degree it's in my control from the standpoint where I could spend some money but the owner would say, 'You're not going to spend that much.' In this situation, it's kind of out of my control in that he has a contract," Johnston said.

One player who might benefit from Yashin's absence is Radek Bonk. Bonk has been widely criticized as an underachiever throughout his young career after being taken with the No. 3 overall pick in 1994, but Johnston said he likes what he has seen so far.

"We were pleased with Radek's performance last year," said Johnston, referring to Bonk's 16-goal, 32-point season, though Bonk was held scoreless in the postseason. "It's a challenge for any player regardless of what team they're on, when you're a high-profile selection like that. The player doesn't have anything to do with this. You've seen what has happened to a lot of players who get into that. It can be tough to handle, the expectations from the fans and the media. Maybe the original projection was out of whack, but you have to move on. If Radek is moving on from that, he's going in the right direction."

Johnston said he can't really speak to where the Senators broke down in the playoffs. It was mentioned often that the club didn't have enough grit. He said he's heard that one.

"Maybe it's the right reason, I don't know," he said. "But to me, you don't go through 82 games and have a hundred and something points and don't have grit. I don't know if I'm kidding myself but I don't believe so. You don't throw out the baby with the bath water just because you were unsuccessful in a four-game playoff series and you forget what your success was in the other 82."

As good as Buffalo was, knocking off Ottawa, Boston and Toronto on its way to the finals, Johnston said Ottawa wasn't good enough.

"In spite of our success during the season, which you'd normally think you'd build on during the playoffs, it proved in some respects the team was still fragile," he said. "They were fragile to a little adversity. I was home watching the first game on the dish and I don't know if we could've played a better game. But unfortunately, we couldn't have played against a better goalie, either. It's experience. We had a successful experience (in the previous playoffs) so you think maybe that's an excuse. And maybe that's all it is, I don't know. Excuses are for losers."

As much as there is controversy north of the border regarding tax breaks for the Canadian franchises so they will all be able to stay afloat, Johnston said these are pretty healthy times for Ottawa. Gone are the days when the guys they plucked off the waiver wire (remember Norm Maciver?) wound up being the club's leading scorer. They have a new building, a decent fan base and more than enough talent to contend.

"It seems to me that we were closing in on 17,000 (attendance) average and that certainly would put us in the top third of the league," he said. "I've been here most of the summer and in terms of coverage and exposure and popularity of the team, it's from my perspective a hockey hotbed. To say there aren't some legitimate concerns, I don't think that's true either because there are. The pressure of the exchange rate, that affects not only Ottawa. That affects the rest of the teams in Canada.

"Arguably, we've got one of the nicest buildings in the league, we've got fan support. Obviously last year, the team had an outstanding season, you notice I didn't say playoffs. The problem is overstated, but to say there isn't some reality and concern over the longevity of it, I'm sure there is some concern. You can't go along losing $10 million a year before pretty soon, it doesn't take many years before you have some serious problems. I think the focus here is on this team being here five years from now, 10 years from now and 20 years from now. We're doing everything we can and hopefully it will prove to be true."

Despite not having Yashin, the GM said he's happy with the current roster and if Yashin elects to continue to sit, they'll live with that decision.

"Let's be honest, we're a better team with him,"he said. "But we've got a competing team and I hope that we don't have to prove that. If we do have to play without him, then we will. There's no mention here about trade. No, we're not trading him. And I guess the message has gotten out because nobody has asked. It's sad. He's a great talent, he can help our team. It would be great for hockey fans in all cities to watch this guy."