Bryan Murray Vs Dany Heatley: Who Blinks First?

At this point, I want this cry-baby. selfish wanker gone! I am not too picky on the return; but one thing is for sure: that cancerous posterior orifice cannot return nor set foot back into that Sens dressing room EVER...

It's front page news in today's Citizen. Wayne Scanlan paints the picture...

Heatley saga set to get messy
So many possibilities, including Sens filing a grievance against disgruntled player
Wayne Scanlan, The Ottawa Citizen, July 3, 2009

There is little doubt L'Affaire Dany Heatley will get even messier before it is resolved.
Will the recalcitrant winger be forced to show up in the Senators training camp despite his public demand to be traded?

Could he hold out, in a bid to force the club to deal him to one of his chosen destinations?

Is there a Swiss exile in Heatley's future, as was the case when Alexei Yashin held out against Rod Bryden, then-owner of the NHL club, several years ago?

Anything is possible, including the Senators filing a grievance against Heatley for damages caused.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Sportsnet.ca on Thursday that the Senators could make a case that Heatley has compromised his current Senators contract by making a trade demand.

There are "strong grounds upon which a claim can be pursued," Daly said in an e-mail. "The Ottawa franchise believes it has been damaged."

Yes, this could get very interesting.

When the Senators locked horns with Yashin (he said he had a verbal agreement from previous management that he would always be the highest paid Senator), then-owner Rod Bryden relished the battle. Yashin sat out the entire 1999-2000 season before being compelled to return to Ottawa by an arbitrator's ruling.

After closing out the 2000-2001 season, Yashin was traded by the Senators to the New York Islanders for Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt and the draft pick that netted Ottawa Jason Spezza.

Who knows if the Heatley-Senators situation would plunge to similar depths.

"He's an Ottawa Senator," Senators general manager Bryan Murray said emphatically on Thursday, a day after his July 1 attempt to trade Heatley fell through because Heatley balked at Edmonton as a destination.

Instead of having Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner and Ladislav Smid coming to Ottawa for Heatley, the impasse remains, with Murray suggesting any future deal would have to be sweeter after the Senators paid a $4-million U.S. advance to Heatley on July 1.

That is half of the entire 2009-10 salary due to Heatley according to his Senators contract. What if a team like Edmonton was able to repay that $4 million if it meant saving the deal?

Even though such an arrangement contravenes the Collective Bargaining Agreement, some believe the Players Association would not get in the way of it happening in this unusual set of circumstances.

At the moment, the sides are further entrenched than ever, with the Heatley camp annoyed Murray didn't find another deal and Murray frustrated at Heatley's refusal to join the Oilers. Heatley grew up down the highway, in Calgary.

Is there any doubt that Melnyk, like Bryden before him, would also be spoiling for a paper fight if he felt it necessary?

Melnyk has a history of responding vigorously to perceived threats.

When he was chairman of the Biovail pharmaceutical company he founded, Biovail launched a $4.6-billion lawsuit against multiple U.S. hedge funds and analysts in 2006, alleging they had conspired to drive down Biovail's share price and ultimately profit from it. The case was dismissed by a U.S. district judge earlier this year.

As the major shareholder of Biovail, but having resigned as CEO in 2007, Melnyk fought a lengthy battle with the company's board of directors over the makeup and direction of the board. In the end, he won a compromise, getting one of his chosen nominees approved.

Would the Senators, as the NHL's second-in-command Daly refers to as an option, consider filing a grievance against Heatley or his advisors at some future point?

Murray said on Thursday that "people above me" would decide that.

Best-case scenario for all involved is that the courts are not involved and hockey people find a way to resolve this mess.

Sorry, Dany only

This was what Senator Fans needed. Another reason to be frustrated by a Dany Heatley development.

To the surprise of few, Heatley was the only "Ottawa Senator player" among the 46 invited to Team Canada's orientation camp Aug. 24-27 in Calgary.

No Jason Spezza, no Mike Fisher, No Chris Phillips, though all three Ottawa players represented Canada at the recent world championships in Switzerland.

Heatley, as expected, was named to the camp roster despite being in the middle of a crapstorm in Ottawa over his request to be traded despite five years remaining on his $45-million U.S. contract.

Spezza told reporters on Thursday he was disappointed in the decision and would use the slight as motivation to make the Canadian Olympic hockey roster by his play early in the season.

Steve Yzerman, executive director of Canada's men's hockey team for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, said in a conference call that his management team has selected a group they feel will have the "youth, experience, size, speed, skill, grit -- all the elements that make up a championship team."

Spezza was among Canada's leading scorers at the worlds, but selectors feel the gifted offensive centre is too one-dimensional as a player.

Steven Stamkos, an NHL rookie last season but a tournament all-star for Canada at the worlds, was also left off the camp roster.

Yzerman and head coach Mike Babc0ck said there will be room for players not invited to camp to still make the team.

Still, it would be a shock if more than one or two not on today's list winds up in Vancouver.

Wayne Scanlan can be reached at wscanlan@thecitizen.canwest.com.

I wonder when Dany decided, in his heart that he no longer wanted to play in Ottawa?

Probably when Clouston called him out in the media. I met Dany at a local pub shortly after that and he was with his agent. I found it odd that Dany would be at a pub with his agent when most of his teamates were at a sports awards event in Ottawa.

rooneypoo wrote:Andy Strickland's take on the Heatley situation:


Don't Blame Heatley this Time!

Look, I know I’ve been critical of Dany Heatley since he requested a trade a few weeks ago, but he should not be taking the heat (no pun intended) with this Edmonton situation.

Several days ago Heatley presented Ottawa with a list of teams he would accept a trade to and solid sources tell me Edmonton was NOT one of them.

Why should Heatley accept a trade to a city he never said he would go to?

So now Ottawa wants to basically trash Heatley publicly for not agreeing to this deal?

This is Bryan Murray’s fault for constructing a deal to a team Heatley never suggested he would play for.

Murray asked Heatley’s agent to provide Murray with a trade request in writing which specifically states Heatley will accept a deal to a “mutually” agreed hockey club.

They never mutually agreed to go to Edmonton.

You can’t force a trade on a player who has a no-move in his contract.

Murray had to have the trade request in writing to prevent a Joe Corvo situation from happening. If you remember Corvo said he didn’t ask for a trade after he was eventually moved. The club said Corvo did request to be traded.

So now it’s being painted like the club is waiting on Dany, but if the club would make a deal with a team he has identified as an organization he’ll play for we wouldn’t have this circus forced upon us. This is not about Heatley wanting to accept a trade on his terms. This is about accepting a trade to a team he said he would play for.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=21943&blogger_id=5


The one glaring omission in all this is, of course, Murray's assertion that he got Heatley's camp's 'permission' to pursue talkes with EDM, on 3 different occasions, over the last weekend. If true, that makes the 'list' issue rather redundant.

Not sure how he thinks Murray is to blame for this. Murray has stated right after the trade request was made that he will try and accomodate Heatley but if the best offer came from a team not on Heatleys list then Heatley needed to decide what he wanted to do. Murray also stated if that was the case he would put the heat on Heatleys camp to consider their options.

I guess Heatley needs to look at his options.

I think this has truly become a game of chicken now.

Will Heatley succumb to the pressure of going to a team not on his list of preferred destinations to avoid playing in Ottawa this season?

Will Murray be concerned about losing even more value for, let's face it, the team's biggest asset?

Two questions with two guys seemingly on a collision course right now playing high stakes poker on both sides.

I dont see how LA doesnt make a serious pitch for Heatley. They have all the tools right now to get this done, cap space, assets, so on. They struck out in a large way during UFA time and watched every team around them get better.

Lombardi better pick up some balls and get something done because that Kings team is going to get trounced in The West, again.

On that note, Diddle Heatley.

Neely4Life wrote:I dont see how LA doesnt make a serious pitch for Heatley. They have all the tools right now to get this done, cap space, assets, so on. They struck out in a large way during UFA time and watched every team around them get better.

Lombardi better pick up some balls and get something done because that Kings team is going to get trounced in The West, again.

On that note, Diddle Heatley.

You know what would be exceptionally interesting...if Vancouver got into the bidding. Assuming Sundin doesn't re-sign, they have a big hole in their roster that they are going to want to fill especially considering the nuclear proliferation that went on in the rest of the division.

Vancouver has absolutly nothing to offer Ottawa besides Hodgson (who isnt going anywhere). They have a goaltender in Scheinder who is an attractive piece to some teams (not to Ottawa, 4 goalies now) but other then that, they are thin.

The suitors for Heatley are now thinner then they were before and Lombardi seriously better do something or he will just keep collecting those top 4-6 first rounders and get no where. The man is pretty pathetic from a managerial point of view, he is gutless and his teams will always be losers for the simple fact he never does anything to get them over the top.

I think it's almost time for SJ to table an offer. And seeing how their first offer was called 'disgusting' by Murray, the price is up. Clowe, Vlasic, Cheechoo for Heatley, Schubert.

Don't book it because nothing ever happens, but dog-ear it.

SpezDispenser wrote:I think it's almost time for SJ to table an offer. And seeing how their first offer was called 'disgusting' by Murray, the price is up. Clowe, Vlasic, Cheechoo for Heatley, Schubert.

Don't book it because nothing ever happens, but dog-ear it.

Why would the Sharks trade Clowe when they just re-signed him?

http://www.gmhockey.com/san-jose-jaws-f35/what-s-next-for-the-sharks-t2176-30.htm

From Pierre Lebrun this morning:

SHARKS RE-UP WITH EMERGING CLOWE
Pierre Lebrun, ESPN.com/July 3, 2009

Ryane Clowe and the San Jose Sharks have agreed to a four-year contract worth north of $3.5 million a season, a source told ESPN.com Thursday night.
The 26-year-old power winger from Newfoundland was a restricted free agent coming off a career-high 22 goals and 52 points in 71 games last season.
Clowe was drafted in the sixth round (175th overall) in 2001 by San Jose.

Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com.

davetherave wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:I think it's almost time for SJ to table an offer. And seeing how their first offer was called 'disgusting' by Murray, the price is up. Clowe, Vlasic, Cheechoo for Heatley, Schubert.

Don't book it because nothing ever happens, but dog-ear it. :)

Why would the Sharks trade Clowe when they just re-signed him?

http://www.gmhockey.com/san-jose-jaws-f35/what-s-next-for-the-sharks-t2176-30.htm

From Pierre Lebrun this morning:

SHARKS RE-UP WITH EMERGING CLOWE
Pierre Lebrun, ESPN.com/July 3, 2009

Ryane Clowe and the San Jose Sharks have agreed to a four-year contract worth north of $3.5 million a season, a source told ESPN.com Thursday night.
The 26-year-old power winger from Newfoundland was a restricted free agent coming off a career-high 22 goals and 52 points in 71 games last season.
Clowe was drafted in the sixth round (175th overall) in 2001 by San Jose.

Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com.

Because SD was trying to wheel and deal for him over at HF.

Phoenix> HF, eh...

Phoenix30 wrote:
Because SD was trying to wheel and deal for him over at HF.

Notice it wasn't me that started that thread though. There's general rumblings that Doug Wilson missed out on a lot of people this off-season by keeping the club status quo - and a lot of people in SJ aren't pleased.

This is the time for both teams to make a move IMO.

Neely4Life wrote:I dont see how LA doesnt make a serious pitch for Heatley. They have all the tools right now to get this done, cap space, assets, so on. They struck out in a large way during UFA time and watched every team around them get better.

Lombardi better pick up some balls and get something done because that Kings team is going to get trounced in The West, again.

On that note, Diddle Heatley.

Maybe LA really doesn't want Heatley considering his complete lack of character that he has displayed over the last few weeks.

Heatley probably won't make them a better team, the have some good young players in their system, why bargain the future for Heatley?